The influence that Puerto Rican voters living in the continental United States could have in the tight presidential race between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris stole the world’s attention.
This happened after a comedian who opened at a Donald Trump rally in New York last Sunday referred to Puerto Rico as a “garbage island”causing a huge indignation.
These comments also angered many Puerto Ricans who reside in the US insular territory and who, despite not being able to vote in the presidential elections, will go to the polls on November 5 to elect their new local government, in a vote described as “historical” by some analysts.
And, for the first time, a candidate who openly supports the independence of Puerto Rico appears in second place in the polls to win the governorship.
This is Juan Dalmau, an experienced politician and lawyer who graduated from Harvard University and leads an alliance between the Puerto Rican Independence Party and the Citizen Victory Movement.
If Dalmau achieved the governorship, he would be one of the most important electoral milestones in Puerto Rico since 1952 when Puerto Ricans went to the polls to endorse the status of Commonwealth of their island, which allows them to have their own Constitution and government with limited powers, always subordinated to Congress and the president of the United States.
What the polls say
The candidate has a difficult path, since his main opponent, who appears first in the polls, is Jennifer Gonzalezwho is a member of the ruling party that defends the annexation of the island as a US state.
González also has an enormous political structure and millions of dollars in donations to boost his campaign. She is also the non-voting representative of Puerto Ricans in the US House of Representatives and has more than two decades of experience in the political arena.
In a survey published on October 28, carried out by the company Gaither International and commissioned by various media on the island, González obtained the favor of 31% of those consulted, compared to the 29% from Dalmau.
In third place, with 18%, is Jesús Manuel Ortiz, who is active in a party that defends Puerto Rico’s current relationship with the United States, and in fourth place is Javier Jiménez, from a far-right group.
The undecided, who could be the ones that tip the balance, represent 12%.
These projections are an exponential leap for Dalmau, who is running for the governorship for the third time. In 2020, it obtained 13% of support and in its first attempt, in 2012, only 2%.
However, the support it has before the elections does not indicate that the majority of Puerto Ricans want to form a sovereign country and separate from the United States, according to an expert consulted by BBC Mundo.
Behind the popularity of Dalmau there is much more complex reasons.
Fed up with corruption
For decades, the parties in Puerto Rico They have presented themselves to the voters highlighting their preferences on the status that the island should have (associated territory, independent country or annexation to the US as a state) more than its public policy proposals.
And since the Commonwealth was approved, the option of independence has always been left behind. That’s why it’s unusual the support that Dalmau is receiving in this electoral cycle.
On this occasion, according to political science professor Javier Colón Morera, the independence candidate He managed to convey to Puerto Ricans that the gubernatorial election is not strictly linked to a change in the relationship with the United States.
“The vote for Dalmau cannot necessarily be interpreted as a vote for independence,” says the expert from the University of Puerto Rico.
Although during the first half of the last century the island experienced significant economic development, which improved the quality of life of its inhabitants, in more recent years the politicians who alternated power have been marked by corruption and one questionable administration of public spending.
Puerto Rico has a debt of more than $70 billion dollars, which limits its economic development, and its residents must face the intermittency of basic services such as electricity, few job opportunities and a crisis in the health system.
“Dalmau had the ability to promote the idea that there are other avenues, such as improving public administration and that any change in the relationship with the United States is not decided in general elections,” says Colón Morena.
The charisma of the candidate
The former senator has never stopped defending independence publicly. His proposal is that it be defined in a “democratic” way in a future process that has yet to be defined.
Colón Morera highlights that this message resonated with voters because the ability of the independentista to speak in a “simple and without arrogance” wayand because it has also shown to be good at debating”.
“Politics is also about charisma,” says the political scientist who graduated from Boston University. “And Dalmau has it,” he adds.
The ruling party Jenniffer González, who has been in her current position in the US Congress for eight years, It is also close to the peopleand is distinguished by carrying out picturesque campaigns, with music and symbols that appeal to a large number of Puerto Ricans.
Looking ahead to the November 5 election, his strategy has been to attack Dalmau’s defense of independence and insist that, if elected, he would jeopardize Puerto Ricans’ right to freedom. American citizenship already at Washington money transfers.
Gonzalez too links her opponent to governments in the region that she considers “totalitarian”such as that of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, due to the long-standing relationship of Puerto Rican independence activists with leftist movements that oppose the United States.
Dalmau has defended himself against the allegations by criticizing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and questioning his re-election in the elections held in July that were highly criticized by the international community.
For many voters in Puerto Rico, Dalmau’s speech in favor of independence is their biggest motivation not to vote for him. For others, that is a thing of the past.
An unprecedented alliance
Although the polls measure only four candidates for the governorship, in reality they are five people that will appear on the voting ballots.
In Puerto Rico, alliances between political parties are prohibited.
So the independentistas and the Citizen Victory Movement, a party that brings together politicians of all status preferences, had to separately nominate two candidates for the most important positions on the island (the governor and the representative of Puerto Rico in Washington). to comply with the electoral law.
But in practice They decided to campaign together in favor of Dalmau and Ana Irma Rivera Lassen, an MVC senator who wants to occupy Puerto Rico’s seat in the US Congress.
They also chose to join forces for several important mayoralties, such as San Juan, the capital, and some legislative seats.
An alliance like this, which allowed Dalmau to expand his voter base, is unprecedented in Puerto Rico.
“Within the MVC there are people who defend Puerto Rico being a state and, they even currently have an elected legislator who believes in this idea. The alliance between both parties helped show that a victory for Dalmau does not mean the independence of the island,” said Professor Colón Morena.
The support of Puerto Rican artists
Another important factor for the success of the independence candidate’s candidacy is the support he has received from important Puerto Rican personalities, who even invested money in messages against Jenniffer González and her party.
Artists of the stature of Ricky Martin, Bad Bunny and René “Resident” Pérezto mention a few, endorsed Dalmau and spread messages in his favor among their millions of followers on social networks.
Radio and television presenters also did it, as well as influencerswho present him as a candidate who represents a “change.”
Some of these famous They led the protests that in 2019 led to the resignation of former governor Ricard Rossellóafter in a Telegram chat he mocked Puerto Ricans and spread homophobic and misogynistic messages.
“Bad Bunny paid for an extensive media campaign that included billboards against González’s party, which has a huge advantage in terms of political donations. The ads showed the crisis in the electrical and educational system, among other problems experienced on the island,” says Colón Morena.
This week the singer announced that he also invested about $140,000 dollars in television ads in which he exhorts the population to “vote for change.”
It remains to be seen what impact these supports will have on Puerto Rican voters.
The truth is that if Dalmau achieves victory, beyond his independence ideas, “he will have the challenge of demonstrating that the island can have a unity government, in which the important thing is good administration,” the professor emphasizes.
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