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New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico)

The New Progressive Party (Spanish: Partido Nuevo Progresista, PNP) is a political party in Puerto Rico that advocates statehood.[3][4] The PNP is one of the two major parties in Puerto Rico with significant political strength and currently holds both the seat of the governor and of the resident commissioner.

New Progressive Party
Partido Nuevo Progresista
PresidentPedro Pierluisi
SecretaryHiram Torres Montalvo
FoundedAugust 20, 1967; 56 years ago (1967-08-20)
Split fromRepublican Statehood Party
HeadquartersSan Juan, Puerto Rico
Membership (2020)297,998[1]
Ideology
Political positionCentre[2] to centre-right[8]
Colors    Blue, white
Seats in the Senate
10 / 27
Seats in the House of Representatives
21 / 51
Municipalities
37 / 78
Seats in the U.S. House
1 / 1
Website
www.partidonuevoprogresista.net

The party is primarily contrasted by two other political parties: the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), which advocates maintaining the current colonial political status of Puerto Rico as that of an unincorporated territory of the United States with self-government, and the smaller Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), which advocates for the independence of Puerto Rico.[a][b]

In national/mainland politics, members are split, with some party members affiliating with the Republican Party and some with the Democratic Party,[10] although the PNP tends to be seen as slightly more conservative than the PPD overall.[5]

The party traces its history back to 1967. In that year, the Partido Estadista Republicano instructed its members to not participate in a referendum on statehood held that year. Unhappy with the mandate, several dissidents left the Statehood Party and founded the PNP afterwards.[10]

History edit

Foundation edit

The party traces its beginnings to an August, 1967 assembly in a sports complex (which is now known as el Estadio Country Club) in the sector of Country Club, San Juan, Puerto Rico. On January 5, 1968, the party was belatedly certified as an official political group by the State Elections Commission of Puerto Rico. The party had roots in a prior pro-statehood party led by Miguel Angel García Méndez. The incipient party campaigned unsuccessfully in favor of statehood in the Puerto Rico status referendum of 1967, even though the historical pro-statehood Puerto Rican Republican Party decided to boycott that plebiscite. Main party founder, president, and former statehood Republican Party standard-bearer Luis A. Ferré categorized the New Progressive Party as one which would not be aligned to any of the two major U.S. national parties.[citation needed]

Under Luis A. Ferré, the NPP came to power in January 1969, after defeating Luis Negrón López, the gubernatorial candidate from the Popular Democratic Party (PDP) in the November 1968 elections. Smaller vote totals were obtained by the Partido del Pueblo led by Governor Roberto Sánchez Vilella and the candidate from the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), Antonio González. The governing party was saddled by Sánchez Vilella's break-away candidacy, who had feuded with the PPD founder and former Governor Luis Muñoz Marín.

1970s edit

 
Carlos Romero Barceló, Governor of Puerto Rico (1977-1985)

Four years later, in 1972, Ferré lost to the reunified PDP's candidate, Senate President Rafael Hernández Colón, by the biggest[citation needed] percentual margin since the NPP's founding (7.3%); however, in 1976, under the leadership of San Juan Mayor Carlos Romero Barceló, the NPP returned to power. Romero Barceló would face Hernández Colón three times for the governorship.

1980s edit

In the 1980 general elections, Carlos A. Romero Barceló won reelection by a narrow margin of approximately 3,000 votes. A prominent event during Romero Barceló's term, the Cerro Maravilla incident, would end up overshadowing Romero Barceló's governorship. The incident involved the killing of two young men who had gone to Cerro Maravilla, site of a major communications facility for the island, with the intention of sabotaging the facilities. After arriving at Cerro Maravilla the two men were ambushed and killed by the state police. Initially, it was reported that the two young men had been shot because they resisted arrest; as the investigation progressed, however, it became clear the men had been shot, execution style, while under police custody. The opposition party, the PDP (which was in control of the legislature at the time), organized hearings in which they attempted to prove the whole incident was planned by the administration of Gov. Romero Barceló.[11] Further scandals erupted when it became known that an undercover police agent who was with the two men had actually engineered the whole plan. This, combined with the fact that the then-mayor of San Juan, Hernán Padilla, left the party to form his own party (Partido Renovación Puertorriqueña, PRP), helped Hernández Colón get elected to a second non-consecutive term in 1984. In 1988, San Juan Mayor and former Resident Commissioner Baltasar Corrada del Río ran as the NPP candidate for governor but lost the race to Hernández Colón, who won a third term.

1990s edit

The NPP came back to power in 1993 when Pedro Rosselló, a pediatric surgeon who had been its unsuccessful congressional candidate in 1988, became governor by defeating Luis Muñoz Marín's daughter, Senator Victoria Muñoz Mendoza, the PDP candidate for governor.

Rosselló launched an anti-crime campaign known as "Mano dura contra el crimen" ("Strong hand against crime") in which the Puerto Rico National Guard was used to assist the Island police force. During Pedro J. Rosselló's term, a number of large-scale infrastructure projects were undertaken, including the "Tren Urbano" (Metro Rail System), the "Superaqueduct",[citation needed] the construction of the Puerto Rico Convention Center and the Puerto Rico Coliseum. His policies also included a push toward privatization of public entities and free health care for the poor.

He led the NPP in a campaign for Puerto Rican statehood in 1993, in which locally enacted plebiscites were held to consult the Puerto Rican public on their position regarding the political status of the island with the United States. He supported the proposal for a referendum in Puerto Rico to define the political status of the island. However, the bill died in committee in the U.S. Senate. Nevertheless, Rosselló carried out another plebiscite in 1998 which gave electors four options plus a fifth one, "None of the Above". The opposing Popular Democratic Party led a campaign to boycott the plebiscite, charging it was structured to favor the ruling NPP party's statehood goals, and called the electorate to vote for the "None of the Above" option. The boycott was successful, as the None of the Above column garnered more votes than all of the other options. Rosselló, however, argued before Congress that statehood had obtained more votes than any of the other political status options in the plebiscite as he claimed that the fifth option ("None of the Above") was an undefined vote in terms of status.

In the 1996 elections, the NPP candidate, Rosselló, defeated opponent Héctor Luis Acevedo (PDP), the mayor of San Juan at the time, and Representative David Noriega (PIP), for a second term, after obtaining more than one million votes and the largest[citation needed] landslide of any gubernatorial candidate since 1964.

In 1998, the sale of the state-owned Puerto Rico Telephone Company (PRTC) to GTE for $1.9 billion[citation needed] led to a general strike organized by labor unions and backed by opposition forces. Rosselló's popularity along with the NPP's took a hit due to the backlash, as well as to several major corruption cases.

2000s edit

Rosselló stepped down[citation needed] as governor after eight years in power in 2001. His period as governor was marked by the Vieques protests and major economic growth[citation needed] due to the coincidence of the emerging Internet. In 2000, Carlos I. Pesquera, Secretary of Transportation under Rosselló, ran for governor. Pre-election polls had him at a considerable advantage over his PDP opponent, San Juan mayor Sila María Calderón. As the election grew closer, Calderón closed the gap as Pesquera's image was harmed by a PDP campaign focusing on corruption under Rosselló's tenure.

It also did not[citation needed] help Pesquera that the Acting US District Attorney Guillermo Gil said in June 2000 (three months before the November 2000 election) "corruption has a name and it is called the New Progressive Party" while announcing a grand jury indictment. The grand jury had accused 18 people — including two mayors from Rosselló's NPP — of running an extortion scheme that skimmed $800,000 in kickbacks from a $56 million government contract.[citation needed] During a news conference, Gil told journalists that the extorted money had ended up in the coffers of the NPP. This and other actions by Gil were object of many ethics complaints to the US Department of Justice by NPP leaders.

In this environment, the NPP lost the 2000 election, losing the Governor's seat, the Resident Commissioner, and the state legislature. This was the first[citation needed] election since its creation that the NPP suffered a vote reduction. Leo Díaz assumed the NPP Presidency, but it was short-lived as Pesquera returned to occupy the position after defeating Díaz.[when?]

Turmoil consumed the NPP during the first two years of the 2001–2005 term. The Secretary of Education, under the Rossello's administration, Víctor Fajardo, was charged and convicted by federal agencies of appropriating millions of federal funds directed to the Education Department.[12] The former House Speaker and Republican National Committee Man, Edison Misla Aldarondo was also charged with extortion by the US Attorney's Office, and was forced to resign.[13] In an ironic turn of events, NPP figures charged with federal corruption crimes were also charged with corruption by the Puerto Rico Justice Department using new anti-corruption state laws that the NPP had enacted. In 2001, Calderon named a Blue Ribbon Committee that was dedicated to investigate government transactions under Rossello's two terms.

2003 NPP primaries for Governor edit

In July 2002, several of the party's leaders were involved in an incident at the Office of Women's Affairs. Pesquera led a group of pro-statehood advocates and the press into the government office whose administrator had refused[citation needed] to display the American flag alongside the flag of Puerto Rico, as required by law. A jury acquitted Pesquera and other followers of any wrongdoing.[vague]

In March 2003, Rosselló, who had been living in the Commonwealth of Virginia, returned to the island, responding[citation needed] to the many calls and visits he received from prominent citizens and politicians. Rosselló subsequently defeated Pesquera in the NPP primary for the gubernatorial nomination.

2004 General Elections edit

Rosselló's prior administration was repeatedly painted as corrupt,[by whom?] while his PDP opponent (Calderón chose not to run for re-election), Resident Commissioner Aníbal Acevedo Vilá (PDP) was initially behind in the polls. After his performance in televised debates, Acevedo's campaign gained momentum, aided in part[citation needed] by the favorable press he received from the island media outlets. In pre-election polls, Rosselló led by double digits, but ultimately Rosselló lost by some 3,000 votes[citation needed] (1,200 votes went as write-in for Carlos Pesquera) proving that once again that corruption matters to Puerto Rican voters. Rosselló challenged the electoral results alleging that split ticket votes, which had always been counted before, were now illegal. After a lengthy court battle decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, Acevedo Vila was certified as governor.

Senate conflict edit

As 2005 began, Rosselló became a Senator for the Arecibo district after Senator Víctor Loubriel resigned from the seat to which he'd been elected, effectively gaining a seat for which he did not run. Thus started a struggle between Senate President Kenneth McClintock and Rosselló for control of the Senate Presidency. The dispute ended in a stalemate as McClintock refused to leave the position, a stance respected by the PDP minority senators and five other NPP senators. This led to the expulsion from the party of McClintock as well as two of the NPP senators who backed him, a matter which led McClintock to file suit in San Juan Superior Court, winning the case, which was confirmed by the Puerto Rico Supreme Court in a 5-1 ruling.[citation needed] The infighting ended[citation needed] when Rosselló was defeated in the 2008 primary and when McClintock co-chaired Sen. Hillary Clinton's successful Democratic primary campaign and helped lead her[how?] to a record-setting 68-32% victory in the waning days of her bid for the Democratic nomination.[vague]

2008 NPP primaries for Governor edit

 
Luis G. Fortuño, Governor of Puerto Rico (2009-2013)

On March 7, 2007, Rosselló stated that he was no longer interested in the Senate Presidency and then focused his attention in preventing Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño from winning the March 2008 gubernatorial primary, and allowed his name to be placed in nomination for the party's gubernatorial primary.[citation needed] McClintock and four other senators won in San Juan Superior Court a suit to nullify the sanctions and expulsions that the party leadership has levied against them. The Puerto Rico Supreme Court confirmed the lower court decision by a 5-to-1 vote.[citation needed] As a result, McClintock and his supporters were recognized as NPP members and free to run under the party banner. Shortly after the primary polls closed on March 9, 2008, Pedro Rosselló conceded the victory to Luis Fortuño after a large[citation needed] margin of votes in favor of his opponent in the NPP party primaries for the presidency of the party and gubernatorial nomination. Rosselló admitted defeat even before the votes were completely tallied claiming Fortuño as the next candidate of the PNP party.[citation needed] On March 10, 2008, Rosselló sent[citation needed] the media a written statement regarding his future in which he confirmed he will be retiring from active politics and will not be campaigning for any candidate, however he would finish his term as senator for the Arecibo District, which he did.

Primary backlash edit

Most[citation needed] of Rosselló's supporters were elected in the primary and endorsed Fortuño as their candidate for governor. However, several[who?] prominent NPP members demonstrated strong opposition to Fortuño's candidacy and victory.

Ramírez[who?] was a candidate for Resident Commissioner in the primaries and was openly supporting Rosselló. She lost to Fortuño's candidate, Pedro Pierluisi, and to another Rosselló supporter who was also defeated, former Senate President, Charlie Rodríguez. When Ramírez was asked by the media if she will vote for Fortuño, she replied "My vote is secret".[citation needed]

Another strong voice against Fortuño was NPP former President Leo Díaz. Díaz accused Fortuño and his wife of having ties to PDP law firms and to colonialist interests. At a November 4, 2007, rally called "Con Fuerza para Vencer" (With the Strength to Win), Díaz said, "In this primary the life of this party is in jeopardy. The other candidate, Fortuño, isn't a real statehood defender! He should explain why he has ties with PDP's law firms and why the colonialist special interests are financing his campaign[...]".[14][full citation needed] He has since rejoined party activities and chairs[citation needed] Santini's 2012 reelection efforts.

San Juan mayor Jorge Santini also made strong statements against Fortuño during the primary campaign, as he supported Rosselló. He said that Fortuño wasn't a "full-time leader" and that he "made arrangements with other causes".[15][full citation needed] He subsequently campaigned for Fortuño, both in 2008 as well as 2012.

2008 elections edit

On November 4, 2008, the NPP retained and expanded super-majorities in the Legislative Assembly, and won both the Resident Commissioner and Governor race by a landslide.[citation needed]

2010s edit

2012 election and plebiscite edit

While Gov. Fortuño failed to win reelection on Nov. 6, 2012, his running mate Pedro R. Pierluisi Urrutia became Puerto Rico's top vote-getter[clarification needed]. In a separate matter, in 2012, the NPP won by wide[citation needed] margins the two questions posed in a separate political status plebiscite ballot. Fifty-four percent[citation needed] rejected the continuation of the current territorial political relationship with the United States while 61%[citation needed] of those choosing another political status voted for statehood.

2016 election edit

On November 8, 2016, the NPP's gubernatorial candidate Ricardo Rosselló beat the PDP's candidate, former Secretary of State David Bernier, to become the Governor of Puerto Rico. In the same election, Jenniffer González became the new, and first female, Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico.[16] The New Progressive Party became the majority in the Legislative Assembly by winning 21 seats of the Senate and 34 seats of the House of Representatives.[citation needed] However, the PDP retained a majority of the mayoralty races in the island, with a total of 45 out of 78 municipalities.[citation needed] The New Progressive Party (PNP) won a total of 33.[citation needed]

2020s edit

2020 election edit

On September 24, 2020, Jorge Báez Pagán became the first openly gay member of the House of Representatives in the island's history.[17] In January 2021, the new delegation of 21 PNP elected officials pledged to not increase taxes citing an unemployment rate of 14% in Puerto Rico.[18] Instead governor Pierluisi opted for cuts in pensions to balance the budget, which was received with protests from 18 unions in Puerto Rico.[19] The protestors rather favoured Bill 120, proposed by PNP representative Lourdes Ramos, to guarantee a "dignified retirement".[19]

Electoral history edit

In legislative elections edit

[citation needed]

Gubernatorial Elections edit

[citation needed]

Resident Commissioner Elections edit

[citation needed]

Affiliation with national parties edit

Three NPP gubernatorial candidates registered nationally as Republicans (Luis A. Ferré, Baltasar Corrada and Luis G. Fortuño) while five NPP gubernatorial candidates registered nationally as Democrats (Carlos Romero Barceló, Carlos Pesquera, Pedro Pierluisi, Pedro Rosselló and Ricardo Rosselló). When Fortuño was governor, his top administration officials were also split in national politics. His last chief of staff, Miguel Romero, and his Secretary of State (and first in line of succession), Kenneth McClintock, are Democrats, while his last Attorney General, Guillermo Somoza, is a Republican. House NPP Leader Jenniffer González and Senate Minority Leader Larry Seilhamer are Republicans.

edit

The party is strongly associated with the color blue in Puerto Rico because of its logo. Since the logo features a palm tree, many Puerto Ricans call the NPP "La Palma". The use of the coconut palm tree as a symbol by the PNP persists to this day.

The logo's original[citation needed] version consisted of a light blue palm tree, partially encircled by words in a semicircle (the exact color hue for the logo being that of the United Nations flag, as a result of a personal request from party founder Luis A. Ferré[citation needed]). The original logo had the party's name surrounding it; eventually,[when?] the words "estadidad, seguridad, progreso" ("statehood, security, progress" in English) substituted the party name. The logo later[when?] enclosed the palm tree in a blue oval and reversed its colors. The tonality of blue used in the newer logo was eventually[when?] changed to a deep navy blue, as to liken it to that of the canton of the United States' flag.[citation needed]

In 2014, the party approved the new logo, which now includes the word "Igualdad" (equality).[citation needed]

Party leaders edit

Party presidents edit

Gubernatorial nominees edit

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Party platform 2012 (in Spanish) p. 248. "El Partido Popular Democrático reafirma que el Estado Libre Asociado es la opción de estatus que mejor representa las aspiraciones del Pueblo de Puerto Rico."[9]
  2. ^ Party platform 2012 (in Spanish) p. 248 "El Partido Popular Democrático apoya firmemente el desarrollo del Estado Libre Asociado hasta el máximo de autonomía compatible con los principios de unión permanente con los Estados Unidos y la ciudadanía americana de los puertorriqueños. El Partido Popular rechaza cualquier modificación de estatus que se aparte de estos principios y que atente contra nuestra nacionalidad puertorriqueña o que menoscabe nuestra identidad lingüística y cultural."[9]

References edit

  1. ^ [Primaries of the New Progressive Party Governor Island Results]. Puerto Rico State Commission on Elections (in Spanish). 2020-09-02. Archived from the original on 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  2. ^ a b https://manhattan.institute/article/is-puerto-rico-our-greece
  3. ^ a b Political parties of the Americas, 1980s to 1990s: Canada, Latin America, and the West Indies. Charles D. Ameringer. London, England: Greenwood Press, 1992. p. 530.
  4. ^ a b Blanco, Richard Manuel (Spring 1988). Party Identification in Puerto Rico (Thesis). Florida State University. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  5. ^ a b Arrarás, Astrid; Power, Timothy J. (August–December 2007). "The social basis of separatism: Explaining support for the Puerto Rican Independence Movement". Revista de Estudos e Pesquisas sobre as Américas. 1 (1): 61–81.
  6. ^ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/10/03/who-are-trumps-political-allies-in-puerto-rico-explaining-the-islands-political-factions/
  7. ^ https://www.primerahora.com/noticias/gobierno-politica/notas/tildan-de-hipocrita-a-pierluisi/&ved=2ahUKEwj2rrLgjdOAAxVeSjABHZxXDq8QFnoECA4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw0oQU-f9ThCqmebJo8H_Zow/
  8. ^ http://suffragio.org/2013/10/22/the-next-debt-crisis-in-the-united-states-may-require-a-puerto-rico-bailout/
  9. ^ a b "Plataforma de Gobierno 2012" (in Spanish). Popular Democratic Party. May 2, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  10. ^ a b (in Spanish). WAPA-TV. March 15, 2012. Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  11. ^ Univision. ""Estoy parada aquí por los que ya no pueden pararse": la protesta pacífica de Mariana Nogales, de Victoria Ciudadana, en el funeral de Romero Barceló". Univision (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  12. ^ Puerto Rico Herald January 24, 2002 (accessed 3 November 2006)
  13. ^ Puerto Rico Herald January 8, 2002 (accessed 3 November 2006)
  14. ^ Leo Diaz Urbina's speech at "Con Fuerza para Vencer" (Spanish) November 4, 2007
  15. ^ Santini's speech at "Con Fuerza para Vencer (Spanish) November 4, 2007
  16. ^ "Puerto Rico celebrates 1st female US Congress representative". Associated Press – via Yahoo.
  17. ^ "Juramentado el primer legislador abiertamente gay en Puerto Rico". Metro Puerto Rico. from the original on January 3, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  18. ^ "Delegación del PNP en la Cámara asegura que no avalará aumentos de impuestos". El Nuevo Día (in Spanish). 2021-01-02. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  19. ^ a b Kunzmann, Marcel (17 January 2021). "Gewerkschaften in Puerto Rico mobilisieren gegen drohende Rentenkürzung". amerika21 (in German). Mondial21 e. V. Retrieved 28 November 2022.

External links edit

progressive, party, puerto, rico, some, this, article, listed, sources, reliable, please, help, improve, this, article, looking, better, more, reliable, sources, unreliable, citations, challenged, removed, november, 2017, learn, when, remove, this, template, m. Some of this article s listed sources may not be reliable Please help improve this article by looking for better more reliable sources Unreliable citations may be challenged and removed November 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message The New Progressive Party Spanish Partido Nuevo Progresista PNP is a political party in Puerto Rico that advocates statehood 3 4 The PNP is one of the two major parties in Puerto Rico with significant political strength and currently holds both the seat of the governor and of the resident commissioner New Progressive Party Partido Nuevo ProgresistaPresidentPedro PierluisiSecretaryHiram Torres MontalvoFoundedAugust 20 1967 56 years ago 1967 08 20 Split fromRepublican Statehood PartyHeadquartersSan Juan Puerto RicoMembership 2020 297 998 1 IdeologyCentrism 2 Puerto Rican statehood 3 4 Factions Conservatism 5 6 Liberalism 7 Political positionCentre 2 to centre right 8 Colors Blue whiteSeats in the Senate10 27Seats in the House of Representatives21 51Municipalities37 78Seats in the U S House1 1Websitewww wbr partidonuevoprogresista wbr netPolitics of Puerto RicoPolitical partiesElectionsThe party is primarily contrasted by two other political parties the Popular Democratic Party PPD which advocates maintaining the current colonial political status of Puerto Rico as that of an unincorporated territory of the United States with self government and the smaller Puerto Rican Independence Party PIP which advocates for the independence of Puerto Rico a b In national mainland politics members are split with some party members affiliating with the Republican Party and some with the Democratic Party 10 although the PNP tends to be seen as slightly more conservative than the PPD overall 5 The party traces its history back to 1967 In that year the Partido Estadista Republicano instructed its members to not participate in a referendum on statehood held that year Unhappy with the mandate several dissidents left the Statehood Party and founded the PNP afterwards 10 Contents 1 History 1 1 Foundation 1 2 1970s 1 3 1980s 1 4 1990s 1 5 2000s 1 5 1 2003 NPP primaries for Governor 1 5 2 2004 General Elections 1 5 3 Senate conflict 1 5 4 2008 NPP primaries for Governor 1 5 4 1 Primary backlash 1 5 5 2008 elections 1 6 2010s 1 6 1 2012 election and plebiscite 1 6 2 2016 election 1 7 2020s 1 7 1 2020 election 2 Electoral history 2 1 In legislative elections 2 2 Gubernatorial Elections 2 3 Resident Commissioner Elections 3 Affiliation with national parties 4 Party logo 5 Party leaders 5 1 Party presidents 5 2 Gubernatorial nominees 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 External linksHistory editFoundation edit The party traces its beginnings to an August 1967 assembly in a sports complex which is now known as el Estadio Country Club in the sector of Country Club San Juan Puerto Rico On January 5 1968 the party was belatedly certified as an official political group by the State Elections Commission of Puerto Rico The party had roots in a prior pro statehood party led by Miguel Angel Garcia Mendez The incipient party campaigned unsuccessfully in favor of statehood in the Puerto Rico status referendum of 1967 even though the historical pro statehood Puerto Rican Republican Party decided to boycott that plebiscite Main party founder president and former statehood Republican Party standard bearer Luis A Ferre categorized the New Progressive Party as one which would not be aligned to any of the two major U S national parties citation needed Under Luis A Ferre the NPP came to power in January 1969 after defeating Luis Negron Lopez the gubernatorial candidate from the Popular Democratic Party PDP in the November 1968 elections Smaller vote totals were obtained by the Partido del Pueblo led by Governor Roberto Sanchez Vilella and the candidate from the Puerto Rican Independence Party PIP Antonio Gonzalez The governing party was saddled by Sanchez Vilella s break away candidacy who had feuded with the PPD founder and former Governor Luis Munoz Marin 1970s edit nbsp Carlos Romero Barcelo Governor of Puerto Rico 1977 1985 Four years later in 1972 Ferre lost to the reunified PDP s candidate Senate President Rafael Hernandez Colon by the biggest citation needed percentual margin since the NPP s founding 7 3 however in 1976 under the leadership of San Juan Mayor Carlos Romero Barcelo the NPP returned to power Romero Barcelo would face Hernandez Colon three times for the governorship 1980s edit In the 1980 general elections Carlos A Romero Barcelo won reelection by a narrow margin of approximately 3 000 votes A prominent event during Romero Barcelo s term the Cerro Maravilla incident would end up overshadowing Romero Barcelo s governorship The incident involved the killing of two young men who had gone to Cerro Maravilla site of a major communications facility for the island with the intention of sabotaging the facilities After arriving at Cerro Maravilla the two men were ambushed and killed by the state police Initially it was reported that the two young men had been shot because they resisted arrest as the investigation progressed however it became clear the men had been shot execution style while under police custody The opposition party the PDP which was in control of the legislature at the time organized hearings in which they attempted to prove the whole incident was planned by the administration of Gov Romero Barcelo 11 Further scandals erupted when it became known that an undercover police agent who was with the two men had actually engineered the whole plan This combined with the fact that the then mayor of San Juan Hernan Padilla left the party to form his own party Partido Renovacion Puertorriquena PRP helped Hernandez Colon get elected to a second non consecutive term in 1984 In 1988 San Juan Mayor and former Resident Commissioner Baltasar Corrada del Rio ran as the NPP candidate for governor but lost the race to Hernandez Colon who won a third term 1990s edit The NPP came back to power in 1993 when Pedro Rossello a pediatric surgeon who had been its unsuccessful congressional candidate in 1988 became governor by defeating Luis Munoz Marin s daughter Senator Victoria Munoz Mendoza the PDP candidate for governor Rossello launched an anti crime campaign known as Mano dura contra el crimen Strong hand against crime in which the Puerto Rico National Guard was used to assist the Island police force During Pedro J Rossello s term a number of large scale infrastructure projects were undertaken including the Tren Urbano Metro Rail System the Superaqueduct citation needed the construction of the Puerto Rico Convention Center and the Puerto Rico Coliseum His policies also included a push toward privatization of public entities and free health care for the poor He led the NPP in a campaign for Puerto Rican statehood in 1993 in which locally enacted plebiscites were held to consult the Puerto Rican public on their position regarding the political status of the island with the United States He supported the proposal for a referendum in Puerto Rico to define the political status of the island However the bill died in committee in the U S Senate Nevertheless Rossello carried out another plebiscite in 1998 which gave electors four options plus a fifth one None of the Above The opposing Popular Democratic Party led a campaign to boycott the plebiscite charging it was structured to favor the ruling NPP party s statehood goals and called the electorate to vote for the None of the Above option The boycott was successful as the None of the Above column garnered more votes than all of the other options Rossello however argued before Congress that statehood had obtained more votes than any of the other political status options in the plebiscite as he claimed that the fifth option None of the Above was an undefined vote in terms of status In the 1996 elections the NPP candidate Rossello defeated opponent Hector Luis Acevedo PDP the mayor of San Juan at the time and Representative David Noriega PIP for a second term after obtaining more than one million votes and the largest citation needed landslide of any gubernatorial candidate since 1964 In 1998 the sale of the state owned Puerto Rico Telephone Company PRTC to GTE for 1 9 billion citation needed led to a general strike organized by labor unions and backed by opposition forces Rossello s popularity along with the NPP s took a hit due to the backlash as well as to several major corruption cases 2000s edit Rossello stepped down citation needed as governor after eight years in power in 2001 His period as governor was marked by the Vieques protests and major economic growth citation needed due to the coincidence of the emerging Internet In 2000 Carlos I Pesquera Secretary of Transportation under Rossello ran for governor Pre election polls had him at a considerable advantage over his PDP opponent San Juan mayor Sila Maria Calderon As the election grew closer Calderon closed the gap as Pesquera s image was harmed by a PDP campaign focusing on corruption under Rossello s tenure It also did not citation needed help Pesquera that the Acting US District Attorney Guillermo Gil said in June 2000 three months before the November 2000 election corruption has a name and it is called the New Progressive Party while announcing a grand jury indictment The grand jury had accused 18 people including two mayors from Rossello s NPP of running an extortion scheme that skimmed 800 000 in kickbacks from a 56 million government contract citation needed During a news conference Gil told journalists that the extorted money had ended up in the coffers of the NPP This and other actions by Gil were object of many ethics complaints to the US Department of Justice by NPP leaders In this environment the NPP lost the 2000 election losing the Governor s seat the Resident Commissioner and the state legislature This was the first citation needed election since its creation that the NPP suffered a vote reduction Leo Diaz assumed the NPP Presidency but it was short lived as Pesquera returned to occupy the position after defeating Diaz when Turmoil consumed the NPP during the first two years of the 2001 2005 term The Secretary of Education under the Rossello s administration Victor Fajardo was charged and convicted by federal agencies of appropriating millions of federal funds directed to the Education Department 12 The former House Speaker and Republican National Committee Man Edison Misla Aldarondo was also charged with extortion by the US Attorney s Office and was forced to resign 13 In an ironic turn of events NPP figures charged with federal corruption crimes were also charged with corruption by the Puerto Rico Justice Department using new anti corruption state laws that the NPP had enacted In 2001 Calderon named a Blue Ribbon Committee that was dedicated to investigate government transactions under Rossello s two terms 2003 NPP primaries for Governor edit In July 2002 several of the party s leaders were involved in an incident at the Office of Women s Affairs Pesquera led a group of pro statehood advocates and the press into the government office whose administrator had refused citation needed to display the American flag alongside the flag of Puerto Rico as required by law A jury acquitted Pesquera and other followers of any wrongdoing vague In March 2003 Rossello who had been living in the Commonwealth of Virginia returned to the island responding citation needed to the many calls and visits he received from prominent citizens and politicians Rossello subsequently defeated Pesquera in the NPP primary for the gubernatorial nomination 2004 General Elections edit Rossello s prior administration was repeatedly painted as corrupt by whom while his PDP opponent Calderon chose not to run for re election Resident Commissioner Anibal Acevedo Vila PDP was initially behind in the polls After his performance in televised debates Acevedo s campaign gained momentum aided in part citation needed by the favorable press he received from the island media outlets In pre election polls Rossello led by double digits but ultimately Rossello lost by some 3 000 votes citation needed 1 200 votes went as write in for Carlos Pesquera proving that once again that corruption matters to Puerto Rican voters Rossello challenged the electoral results alleging that split ticket votes which had always been counted before were now illegal After a lengthy court battle decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Acevedo Vila was certified as governor Senate conflict edit As 2005 began Rossello became a Senator for the Arecibo district after Senator Victor Loubriel resigned from the seat to which he d been elected effectively gaining a seat for which he did not run Thus started a struggle between Senate President Kenneth McClintock and Rossello for control of the Senate Presidency The dispute ended in a stalemate as McClintock refused to leave the position a stance respected by the PDP minority senators and five other NPP senators This led to the expulsion from the party of McClintock as well as two of the NPP senators who backed him a matter which led McClintock to file suit in San Juan Superior Court winning the case which was confirmed by the Puerto Rico Supreme Court in a 5 1 ruling citation needed The infighting ended citation needed when Rossello was defeated in the 2008 primary and when McClintock co chaired Sen Hillary Clinton s successful Democratic primary campaign and helped lead her how to a record setting 68 32 victory in the waning days of her bid for the Democratic nomination vague 2008 NPP primaries for Governor edit nbsp Luis G Fortuno Governor of Puerto Rico 2009 2013 On March 7 2007 Rossello stated that he was no longer interested in the Senate Presidency and then focused his attention in preventing Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuno from winning the March 2008 gubernatorial primary and allowed his name to be placed in nomination for the party s gubernatorial primary citation needed McClintock and four other senators won in San Juan Superior Court a suit to nullify the sanctions and expulsions that the party leadership has levied against them The Puerto Rico Supreme Court confirmed the lower court decision by a 5 to 1 vote citation needed As a result McClintock and his supporters were recognized as NPP members and free to run under the party banner Shortly after the primary polls closed on March 9 2008 Pedro Rossello conceded the victory to Luis Fortuno after a large citation needed margin of votes in favor of his opponent in the NPP party primaries for the presidency of the party and gubernatorial nomination Rossello admitted defeat even before the votes were completely tallied claiming Fortuno as the next candidate of the PNP party citation needed On March 10 2008 Rossello sent citation needed the media a written statement regarding his future in which he confirmed he will be retiring from active politics and will not be campaigning for any candidate however he would finish his term as senator for the Arecibo District which he did Primary backlash edit Most citation needed of Rossello s supporters were elected in the primary and endorsed Fortuno as their candidate for governor However several who prominent NPP members demonstrated strong opposition to Fortuno s candidacy and victory Ramirez who was a candidate for Resident Commissioner in the primaries and was openly supporting Rossello She lost to Fortuno s candidate Pedro Pierluisi and to another Rossello supporter who was also defeated former Senate President Charlie Rodriguez When Ramirez was asked by the media if she will vote for Fortuno she replied My vote is secret citation needed Another strong voice against Fortuno was NPP former President Leo Diaz Diaz accused Fortuno and his wife of having ties to PDP law firms and to colonialist interests At a November 4 2007 rally called Con Fuerza para Vencer With the Strength to Win Diaz said In this primary the life of this party is in jeopardy The other candidate Fortuno isn t a real statehood defender He should explain why he has ties with PDP s law firms and why the colonialist special interests are financing his campaign 14 full citation needed He has since rejoined party activities and chairs citation needed Santini s 2012 reelection efforts San Juan mayor Jorge Santini also made strong statements against Fortuno during the primary campaign as he supported Rossello He said that Fortuno wasn t a full time leader and that he made arrangements with other causes 15 full citation needed He subsequently campaigned for Fortuno both in 2008 as well as 2012 2008 elections edit On November 4 2008 the NPP retained and expanded super majorities in the Legislative Assembly and won both the Resident Commissioner and Governor race by a landslide citation needed 2010s edit 2012 election and plebiscite edit While Gov Fortuno failed to win reelection on Nov 6 2012 his running mate Pedro R Pierluisi Urrutia became Puerto Rico s top vote getter clarification needed In a separate matter in 2012 the NPP won by wide citation needed margins the two questions posed in a separate political status plebiscite ballot Fifty four percent citation needed rejected the continuation of the current territorial political relationship with the United States while 61 citation needed of those choosing another political status voted for statehood 2016 election edit On November 8 2016 the NPP s gubernatorial candidate Ricardo Rossello beat the PDP s candidate former Secretary of State David Bernier to become the Governor of Puerto Rico In the same election Jenniffer Gonzalez became the new and first female Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico 16 The New Progressive Party became the majority in the Legislative Assembly by winning 21 seats of the Senate and 34 seats of the House of Representatives citation needed However the PDP retained a majority of the mayoralty races in the island with a total of 45 out of 78 municipalities citation needed The New Progressive Party PNP won a total of 33 citation needed 2020s edit 2020 election edit On September 24 2020 Jorge Baez Pagan became the first openly gay member of the House of Representatives in the island s history 17 In January 2021 the new delegation of 21 PNP elected officials pledged to not increase taxes citing an unemployment rate of 14 in Puerto Rico 18 Instead governor Pierluisi opted for cuts in pensions to balance the budget which was received with protests from 18 unions in Puerto Rico 19 The protestors rather favoured Bill 120 proposed by PNP representative Lourdes Ramos to guarantee a dignified retirement 19 Electoral history editIn legislative elections edit House of Representatives Election year ofoverall seats won 1968 25 51 nbsp 251972 15 54 nbsp 101976 33 51 nbsp 181980 25 51 nbsp 81984 16 51 nbsp 91988 15 53 nbsp 11992 36 53 nbsp 211996 37 54 nbsp 12000 20 51 nbsp 172004 32 51 nbsp 122008 37 51 nbsp 52012 23 51 nbsp 142016 34 51 nbsp 112020 21 51 nbsp 13 citation needed Senate Election year ofoverall seats won 1968 12 27 nbsp 121972 8 29 nbsp 41976 14 27 nbsp 61980 12 27 nbsp 21984 8 27 nbsp 41988 8 27 nbsp 1992 20 29 nbsp 121996 19 28 nbsp 12000 19 28 nbsp 2004 18 27 nbsp 12008 22 27 nbsp 42012 8 27 nbsp 142016 21 30 nbsp 132020 10 27 nbsp 12 citation needed Gubernatorial Elections edit Election year PNP Candidate Votes Vote Outcome of election1968 Luis A Ferre 400 815 43 6 100 nbsp 43 6 Won1972 Luis A Ferre 563 609 43 4 100 nbsp 0 2 Lost1976 Carlos Romero Barcelo 703 968 48 3 100 nbsp 4 9 Won1980 Carlos Romero Barcelo 759 926 47 2 100 nbsp 1 1 Won1984 Carlos Romero Barcelo 768 959 44 6 100 nbsp 2 6 Lost1988 Baltasar Corrada del Rio 820 342 45 8 100 nbsp 1 2 Lost1992 Pedro Rossello 938 969 49 9 100 nbsp 4 1 Won1996 Pedro Rossello 1 006 331 51 1 100 nbsp 1 2 Won2000 Carlos Pesquera 919 194 45 7 100 nbsp 5 4 Lost2004 Pedro Rossello 959 737 48 2 100 nbsp 2 5 Lost2008 Luis Fortuno 1 025 965 52 8 100 nbsp 4 6 Won2012 Luis Fortuno 884 775 47 1 100 nbsp 5 7 Lost2016 Ricardo Rossello 649 791 41 8 100 nbsp 5 3 Won2020 Pedro Pierluisi 406 830 32 9 100 nbsp 8 8 Won citation needed Resident Commissioner Elections edit Election year PNP Candidate Votes Vote Outcome of election1968 Jorge Luis Cordova 400 815 43 6 100 nbsp 43 6 Won1972 Jorge Luis Cordova 563 609 43 4 100 nbsp 0 2 Lost1976 Baltasar Corrada del Rio 703 968 48 3 100 nbsp 4 9 Won1980 Baltasar Corrada del Rio 760 484 47 7 100 nbsp 1 1 Won1984 Nelson Femadas 769 951 45 3 100 nbsp 2 4 Lost1988 Pedro Rossello 824 879 46 6 100 nbsp 1 3 Lost1992 Carlos Romero Barcelo 908 067 48 6 100 nbsp 2 0 Won1996 Carlos Romero Barcelo 973 654 50 0 100 nbsp 1 4 Won2000 Carlos Romero Barcelo 905 690 45 6 100 nbsp 4 6 Lost2004 Luis Fortuno 956 828 48 8 100 nbsp 3 2 Won2008 Pedro Pierluisi 1 010 304 52 7 100 nbsp 3 9 Won2012 Pedro Pierluisi 905 066 48 4 100 nbsp 4 3 Won2016 Jenniffer Gonzalez 713 605 48 8 100 nbsp 0 4 Won2020 Jenniffer Gonzalez 490 273 40 8 100 nbsp 8 0 Won citation needed Affiliation with national parties editThis article needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information July 2020 Three NPP gubernatorial candidates registered nationally as Republicans Luis A Ferre Baltasar Corrada and Luis G Fortuno while five NPP gubernatorial candidates registered nationally as Democrats Carlos Romero Barcelo Carlos Pesquera Pedro Pierluisi Pedro Rossello and Ricardo Rossello When Fortuno was governor his top administration officials were also split in national politics His last chief of staff Miguel Romero and his Secretary of State and first in line of succession Kenneth McClintock are Democrats while his last Attorney General Guillermo Somoza is a Republican House NPP Leader Jenniffer Gonzalez and Senate Minority Leader Larry Seilhamer are Republicans Party logo editThe party is strongly associated with the color blue in Puerto Rico because of its logo Since the logo features a palm tree many Puerto Ricans call the NPP La Palma The use of the coconut palm tree as a symbol by the PNP persists to this day The logo s original citation needed version consisted of a light blue palm tree partially encircled by words in a semicircle the exact color hue for the logo being that of the United Nations flag as a result of a personal request from party founder Luis A Ferre citation needed The original logo had the party s name surrounding it eventually when the words estadidad seguridad progreso statehood security progress in English substituted the party name The logo later when enclosed the palm tree in a blue oval and reversed its colors The tonality of blue used in the newer logo was eventually when changed to a deep navy blue as to liken it to that of the canton of the United States flag citation needed In 2014 the party approved the new logo which now includes the word Igualdad equality citation needed Party leaders editParty presidents edit Main article List of Presidents of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico 1967 1974 Luis A Ferre 1974 1987 Carlos Romero Barcelo 1987 1988 Baltasar Corrada del Rio 1988 1989 Ramon Luis Rivera 1989 1991 Carlos Romero Barcelo 1991 1999 Pedro Rossello 1999 2000 Carlos Pesquera 2000 2001 Norma Burgos 2001 2001 Leonides Diaz Urbina 2001 2003 Carlos Pesquera 2003 2008 Pedro Rossello 2008 2013 Luis Fortuno 2013 2016 Pedro Pierluisi 2016 2019 Ricardo Rossello 2019 2020 Thomas Rivera Schatz 2020 present Pedro Pierluisi Gubernatorial nominees edit Main article List of gubernatorial nominees from the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico 1968 Luis A Ferre won 1972 Luis A Ferre lost 1976 Carlos Romero Barcelo won 1980 Carlos Romero Barcelo won 1984 Carlos Romero Barcelo lost 1988 Baltasar Corrada del Rio lost 1992 Pedro Rossello won 1996 Pedro Rossello won 2000 Carlos Pesquera lost 2004 Pedro Rossello lost 2008 Luis Fortuno won 2012 Luis Fortuno lost 2016 Ricardo Rossello won 2020 Pedro Pierluisi wonSee also edit nbsp Puerto Rico portal nbsp Politics portalList of political parties in Puerto Rico Politics of Puerto Rico 51 star flagNotes edit Party platform 2012 in Spanish p 248 El Partido Popular Democratico reafirma que el Estado Libre Asociado es la opcion de estatus que mejor representa las aspiraciones del Pueblo de Puerto Rico 9 Party platform 2012 in Spanish p 248 El Partido Popular Democratico apoya firmemente el desarrollo del Estado Libre Asociado hasta el maximo de autonomia compatible con los principios de union permanente con los Estados Unidos y la ciudadania americana de los puertorriquenos El Partido Popular rechaza cualquier modificacion de estatus que se aparte de estos principios y que atente contra nuestra nacionalidad puertorriquena o que menoscabe nuestra identidad linguistica y cultural 9 References edit Primarias del Partido Nuevo Progresista Gobernador Resultados Isla Primaries of the New Progressive Party Governor Island Results Puerto Rico State Commission on Elections in Spanish 2020 09 02 Archived from the original on 2020 09 21 Retrieved 2022 03 12 a b https manhattan institute article is puerto rico our greece a b Political parties of the Americas 1980s to 1990s Canada Latin America and the West Indies Charles D Ameringer London England Greenwood Press 1992 p 530 a b Blanco Richard Manuel Spring 1988 Party Identification in Puerto Rico Thesis Florida State University Retrieved 22 September 2017 a b Arraras Astrid Power Timothy J August December 2007 The social basis of separatism Explaining support for the Puerto Rican Independence Movement Revista de Estudos e Pesquisas sobre as Americas 1 1 61 81 https www washingtonpost com news the fix wp 2017 10 03 who are trumps political allies in puerto rico explaining the islands political factions https www primerahora com noticias gobierno politica notas tildan de hipocrita a pierluisi amp ved 2ahUKEwj2rrLgjdOAAxVeSjABHZxXDq8QFnoECA4QAQ amp usg AOvVaw0oQU f9ThCqmebJo8H Zow http suffragio org 2013 10 22 the next debt crisis in the united states may require a puerto rico bailout a b Plataforma de Gobierno 2012 in Spanish Popular Democratic Party May 2 2012 Retrieved August 8 2013 a b Historia del PNP in Spanish WAPA TV March 15 2012 Archived from the original on 2014 01 09 Retrieved August 8 2013 Univision Estoy parada aqui por los que ya no pueden pararse la protesta pacifica de Mariana Nogales de Victoria Ciudadana en el funeral de Romero Barcelo Univision in Spanish Retrieved 2021 09 20 Puerto Rico Herald January 24 2002 accessed 3 November 2006 Puerto Rico Herald January 8 2002 accessed 3 November 2006 Leo Diaz Urbina s speech at Con Fuerza para Vencer Spanish November 4 2007 Santini s speech at Con Fuerza para Vencer Spanish November 4 2007 Puerto Rico celebrates 1st female US Congress representative Associated Press via Yahoo Juramentado el primer legislador abiertamente gay en Puerto Rico Metro Puerto Rico Archived from the original on January 3 2021 Retrieved January 5 2021 Delegacion del PNP en la Camara asegura que no avalara aumentos de impuestos El Nuevo Dia in Spanish 2021 01 02 Retrieved 2021 01 11 a b Kunzmann Marcel 17 January 2021 Gewerkschaften in Puerto Rico mobilisieren gegen drohende Rentenkurzung amerika21 in German Mondial21 e V Retrieved 28 November 2022 External links editNew Progressive Party on Twitter New Progressive Party on Facebook Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title New Progressive Party Puerto Rico amp oldid 1207426737, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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