The people of Puerto Rico have experienced one of the most intense electoral processes in their colonial history. In an unprecedented situation, the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) and the Citizen Victory Movement (MVC) joined together in a “Alianza de País” (“Country Alliance”).  The former—founded in 1946—is the historical representative of the independence option at the electoral level, and the latter was established in 2019 to group different ideological and political tendencies into a single “anti-neoliberal” electoral option.

[Leer en español]

This “Alliance” was built to channel the discontent with the traditional parties defending colonial capitalism (the New Progressive Party and the Popular Democratic Party) that have alternated in the limited governance of the country for the past seven decades. There is no doubt that this political-electoral agreement generated great expectations of “change” among broad sectors of our society, especially and notably, the youth. 

The evaluations made so far about the 2024 electoral process and its results have offered a limited interpretation of what happened on November 5. For that reason, we communists in Puerto Rico have the duty to make a critical evaluation of the electoral process, the class interests in conflict, the errors committed, the events of election day and its consequences for the country’s working class. Only in this way will we be able to build a solid, organized and combative resistance.

Elections and class struggle

In the recent elections, two national projects with contradictory class interests faced each other. On the one hand, the bourgeois project of dominant colonial capitalism was represented by the bipartisan PNP-PPD that has alternated in the colonial administration for the past 60 years. This sector was joined by the religious right-wing party, Proyecto Dignidad (“Dignity Project”). This “capitalist coalition” was openly and decisively supported by a group of more than 140 corporations, business associations and top capitalist managers under the name “Democracy is Prosperity.” The interest of this coalition was to openly defend unrestricted capitalism against what they perceived as a threat to their class interests.

 

On the other side of the electoral contest, was the “Alianza de País,” an electoral coalition between two social-democratic parties (PIP and MVC) and other sectors, including an important group of union leaders grouped under the “Coalición Sindical” (“Union Coalition”). Although the Alliance did not promote an openly anti-capitalist program, it presented some progressive proposals that—if implemented—would have caused a clash with the narrow limits of colonial capitalism. Among these proposals was the severing of ties with the Fiscal Control Board (JCF), an organization imposed by the US government to control the governmental budget in Puerto Rico.

Faced with these two national projects, we communists decided to offer our critical support to the “Alianza de País” as a progressive alternative to the two-party system of capitalist-colonialism that has dominated the political scene in our country for so many years. By defining our support as one of a critical nature, we recognized that the Alliance offered the possibility of achieving the important and necessary goal of breaking with the traditional two-party system, but that this was not enough to satisfy the interests of the working class. For this to happen, it is necessary for the working class to have its own political organization, its own revolutionary workers’ party.

Based on these initial clarifications, let us look at some of the electionresults and their implications.

The “defeat” of the two-party system

One of the main objectives of the “Alianza de País” was to defeat the two-party system, and this was partially achieved. Although it is true that the PPD was displaced to third place in terms of votes for the governorship, that institution continues to have control of a majority of the municipalities, increasing said control from 40 to 45 towns on the island. This fact is extremely important, because it means that the PPD will continue to have control over a significant part of the country’s public administration.

As if that were not enough, the PPD obtained the most voted national candidacy through the figure of Pablo José Hernández as resident commissioner – a non voting representative in the US Congress) with 45% of the votes. This result, although notable, cannot be interpreted as a direct support for this individual’s policies, but rather a vote to punish the PNP’s candidate, William Villafañe, who was part of the administration of the ousted former governor Ricardo Rosselló.

 

An important point to consider is that—in all likelihood—the youngest member of the Hernández dynasty will be in charge of leading and reorganizing the PPD. Other “fresh faces” will be part of this “renewal,” such as Héctor Ferrer Jr., who could be his counterpart as the resident commissioner candidate in 2028. These are two “young politicians” who suffer from the same old ideas, particularly their attachment to the colonialist hoax called the “Estado Libre Asociado” (usually known as “Commonwealth,” although it literally means “Free Associated State”)

We will have to wait to see how this bourgeois-colonial and self-proclaimed “centrist” reconfiguration turns out to know if they can appear as a credible alternative to defeat the PNP in the 2028 elections. We do not doubt that the strategy for those elections will be, once again, the call for a “useful vote” to attract sectors of the independence movement to allegedly prevent the triumph of “statehood.”

On the other hand, the PNP, with total control of government posts, demonstrated several things: that it has total control of the electoral system; that it is the only party that maintains a solid base of members and that its strategies based on demagogy, misinformation and fear mongering are, as they have always been in the past, extremely effective.

The PNP is a phenomenon that must be studied carefully for its contradictions, since it is the party that embraces large sectors of the working and impoverished masses of Puerto Rico and, nevertheless, it is the one that has historically implemented fiscal and political adjustments contrary to its interests. This time will not be different, especially with the overwhelming “electoral mandate” that it obtained at the polls. It will not be surprising if all the pending capitalist counter-reforms are implemented in the first months of the PNP’s new mandate.

All this leads us to conclude that, contrary to what has been generally argued , the two-party system remains the dominant force in the government administration. In this sense, considering the PPD as a dying institution, headless and without support constitutes a great tactical error. We must emphasize this point: the party that embodies colonialism is neither mortally wounded nor will it disappear; on the contrary, it will continue to be a major player on the political-electoral arena, at least in the medium term.

About the Dignity Project (PD)

The most conservative wing of Puerto Rican politics, including the evangelical community, was expecting to do better in these elections. The PD was betting on the island’s western districts which, however, voted massively for the PNP. This means several things, among them, that the fear campaign against the Alliance exerted so much pressure that it pushed this sector back to its original source (the PNP) and that the image of Jennifer Gonzalez as a Christian, heterosexual woman and representative of “American” values worked. In addition, the lack of primaries for the governorship in the PD and the imposition of its candidate created internal division.

That party must quickly resolve its organizational problems if it wishes to continue being the refuge of island conservatism. There is no doubt that the big winner of this whole process was PD politician Joanne Rodríguez Veve, who so far remains the second most voted candidate for the Senate, only surpassed by María de Lourdes Santiago (PIP). For this reason, it is possible that Rodríguez Veve will emerge as the person called to lead the reorganization of the PD and as a possible candidate for governor in 2028.

The Citizen Victory Movement (MVC) has been weakened

Undoubtedly, the results obtained by the MVC have their origin in internal and external problems. The main one is its organizational concept of “Network of Networks,” which was a mistake from the moment it was implemented. This type of organizational framework is the fundamental problem that restricts the growth of the MVC, as well as its democratic functioning.

The lack of a solid structure and committees in the municipalities limited the MVC’s regional candidacies (beyond San Juan) from making progress. For the most part, local campaigns were carried out independently and in isolation, although they were under the Movement’s banner. In short, for the MVC to continue being a political force, it must urgently discard this mode of governance that has repeatedly demonstrated its ineffectiveness. The most advisable thing is that they adopt a model that encourages grassroots work and facilitates the political education of members and sympathizers.

On the other hand, the work carried out by the MVC’s Electoral Commissioner’s Office was extremely deficient. Its lack of leadership provoked the disqualification of important at-large candidacies of incumbent legislators. This error generated a desperate, late and insufficient write-in (direct nomination) campaign in a scenario historically dominated by the integral vote or, at most, the mixed vote. The net results speak for themselves: from the four legislators that the MVC had during this four-year period, it was not able to elect a single one of them. In our opinion, not foreseeing that the traditional parties would do everything possible to disqualify MVC candidacies by from the race is a clear indication of the lack of direction and negligence of this Office.

That said, it seems that the relationship some sectors of the MVC established with the Democratic Party was not a successful strategy; especially, the support that resident commissioner candidate Ana Irma Rivera Lassén offered to presidential candidate, Kamala Harris. This support had a negative impact the PIP base and a large part of the left due to the role that the current vice president of the United States has played in imperialist wars and the Palestinian genocide.

The lack of support for Rivera Lassén’s candidacy for Resident Commissioner was due to various and complex elements. First, and regardless of her personal merits, the reality is that her projection and message did not appeal to the majority of the people; second, as we mentioned above, her questionable support of Kamala Harris; third, the the fact that large sectors of the PIP did not vote for her despite the Alliance agreement; and fourth, the possibility that certain sectors would identify her to the “woke” movement in the United States.

Finally, there were external forces that affected the MVC’s performance, including: the complexity of the mixed and write-in vote; the PNP’s control of the absentee and early voting processes; the problems with the voting machines; the lack of registration of young people; and, finally, the disproportionate bombardment of messages of fear, discredit and demagogy by both the PNP and the business sector.

It is important to note that the bourgeoisie’s attacks were concentrated exclusively against the MVC, but due to the internal problems mentioned above, the Movement was unable to counteract these messages in an articulate and consistent manner. In short, the MVC was unable to coordinate a combative message—in the form of a political offensive—that would appeal to the discontent of marginalized populations that survive on federal aid.

Finally, the MVC lost its electoral franchise, so it will have to address all institutional deficiencies as soon as possible in order to begin re-registration. That is, if the leadership comes to an agreement and manages to channel the MVC’s internal contradictions in a productive manner.

About the race for mayor of San Juan

Manuel Natal’s defeat in San Juan was due to several factors, including his failure to attract more votes from the PPD; being perceived as distant from the needs and interests of the working people of San Juan; demographic change; and the fact that incumbent Miguel Romero used the municipal budget to mobilize poor communities by handing out money and paving the streets.

Another element to consider was the public disclosure—by a PPD candidate in San Juan—of an internal MVC document criticizing the party leadership for not having adequately addressed accusations of alleged sexual harassment. This letter was used by the other parties to discredit the MVC as well as the candidates mentioned in it, which had to devote great efforts and time to defend themselves from the accusations. We are convinced that this matter had a major negative impact on the results in San Juan.

The Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) is strengthened

Without a doubt , the results show that the “Alliance” favored the PIP and, above all, the candidacy of Juan Dalmau as gubernatorial candidate. The PIP emerged strengthened and with its base intact, at least for the next four years. For this group, the vote was historic since it had not been able to position itself as the largest opposition party since the 1952 elections.

This result has begun to create suspicion among some groups who argue that the PIP took advantage of the effort made by the MVC. The above statement could be understood from the numbers of the integral vote of the PIP core (a slight increase of 5%), which apparently did not buy into the idea of the “Alliance.” The “placeholder” candidacy of the PIP’s resident commissioner obtained votes that were supposed to be destined for the MVC candidate. However, the numbers show that the sum of both candidacies does not even come close to second place.

As for the legislature, as expected, María de Lourdes Santiago and Denis Márquez (from the PIP) positioned themselves as the at-large candidates with the greatest support in their respective positions. However, the big surprise of the elections was Adriana Gutiérrez, candidate for the House of Representatives for San Juan’s District 4. Whether she prevails or not, she should begin to emerge as an important figure within the party as her leadership continues to develop.

In that same scenario, there is the possibility that the so-called “minority law” will be applied and some additional legislative seats will be assigned to the PIP. The electoral balance rules can add additional seats in the House which, with Denis Márquez and Adriana Gutiérrez, would boost the political weight of the PIP delegation. This would represent a historic milestone in every sense and would provide the PIP with greater political projection. If this group of representatives does a good job overseeing the PNP administration, the 2028 elections could be much more favorable to them.

The future of the “Alliance”

From our point of view, the future of the “Alliance” depends on two factors. First, it depends on the capacity of the MVC leadership to reorganize the party, specifically if it manages to productively address internal contradictions (ideological and organizational). Second, the “Alliance” will have a future to the extent that the two parties that comprise it recognize that there are more elements that unite them than those that separate them. Both are parties with a social democratic ideology whose aspiration revolves around attenuating the crudest aspects of capitalism (a somewhat illusory feat in a context of capitalist-colonial exploitation). Likewise, both parties have recognized that the political status of Puerto Rico is not resolved in the elections every four years and have committed to decolonization through a status assembly.

Now, if this reorganization of the MVC happens as soon as possible and the the PIP is generous enough, there could be talks about the unification of franchises. This could happen in the context of two scenarios: the fusion of both formations into a single party or each group continuing with its own identity and participating in elections under a single franchise. This last option would be a fairly novel way of overcoming the obstacles of the current Electoral Code; of course, this means that both groups could be left without their own electoral franchise in the next elections.

For this to happen, the MVC would have to, as we mentioned, abandon its current dysfunctional structure and adopt one that helps strengthen its bases at the municipal level where it can meet with the bases of the PIP, both for militancy and political education. Otherwise, MVC would be destined to lose electorally, always remaining at the mercy of the decisions of the PIP; in short, the “Alliance” would be subordinated to the needs of that group.

The “Alliance” demonstrated that its strength is in urban areas and that it has great support among sectors of the youth, the working class and a large number of artists. Achieving second place for the governorship, despite the anti-communist campaign of the bosses and the two-party system, indicates that there are large sectors of the people who have lost their fear of communism, socialism and national independence and thus, finally, that real change is possible.

The “bourgeois coalition”

Another historic event was the organization of the national and foreign bourgeoisie into a Political Action Committee (PAC). On its official website, Democracy is Prosperity clearly and openly stated that its main interest was to promote and support candidates who defended the free market economy, democracy and economic prosperity. 

This is extremely illustrative of what these elections meant to this group. For Democracy is Prosperity, the MVC represented socialism and communism; that is why all the propaganda focused on discrediting and demonizing the MVC and not the PIP. To do this, these corporations invested more than two million dollars—on radio, television, press and social networks—and pressured their respective employees to vote against the Alliance. Each and every one of the candidacies they promoted were from the PNP, PPD and PD, many of which won seats in the legislature. In short, the capitalists openly organized to defend their class interests. They understood that there was a great possibility that the “Alliance” would come to power and potentially change the rules of capitalist accumulation. In short, they feared that labor reforms would be made that would limit capitalist exploitation.

The political participation of trade unions

These elections had another novel element, the creation of the Trade Union Coalition or “Coalición Sindical,” a group that brought together more than 25 unions in the country and presented a political program entitled “Proposals for the Country We Deserve.” The development of this program and its campaign “Don’t get dressed, you won’t go” (“No te vistas que no vas”) named after a popular proverb, undoubtedly constituted a turning point in the development of the class struggle in Puerto Rico. In very concrete terms, it is significant that the leadership of an important sector of the working class organized in unions has developed and publicly promoted a program of demands to bring about political change and defeat the two-party system. As if this were not enough, both leaders and rank-and-file workers of the Trade Union Coalition expressed—although only in private—their enthusiastic support for the “Alianza de País.”

Although we recognize the efforts of these unions to influence the electoral contest, we must also recognize that the effort was timid, late and ineffective. This was definitely due to several reasons, including the fact that they did not create a Political Action Committee (PAC) in time to carry out the campaign and the distancing of the Puerto Rican Workers Union (SPT-SEIU 1996) from collective work in support of the MVC.

It is important to point out that in 2020 SPT helped to organize the MVC and also created the first union Political Action Committee (PAC) in Puerto Rico with the help of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The SPT was so important to the MVC that its internal union problems were dragged into the party and provoked controversies that implicated its candidates in San Juan, forcing them, days before the elections, to use their public appearances to defend themselves instead of focusing on explaining their proposals.

The main limitations of the Trade Union Coalition campaign were twofold. The first was that its proposals were not discussed with the rank-and-file in union meetings or assemblies. Only two private sector unions discussed the electoral issue and support for the Alliance in their assemblies: the Movimiento Solidario Sindical (MSS) and the Unión de Trabajadores de la Industria Licorera de Ponce (UTILP). In the other unions, the discussion remained at the leadership level, so the workers did not benefit from the discussion of the political program that their leaders were promoting.

The second limitation was financial. Beyond the millions of dollars that the traditional parties spent on their campaigns, the capitalist-colonial candidacies received the benefit of a campaign of over two million dollars from the capitalist Super-PAC Democracy is Prosperity. However, Trade Union Coalition’s campaign “Don’t get dressed, you’re not going” was developed with a budget of barely five thousand dollars.

Regardless of the limitations of the Coalición Sindical’s campaign, we must acknowledge its positive aspects. They developed a political program to defend the interests of the working class and promoted it, even if in a limited way. This is much more than what other unions did, which opted for absolute silence during the electoral campaign or, worse still, participated in meetings sponsored by PNP Senator Thomas Rivera Schatz.

It should be noted that, although the Alliance candidates were the only ones who signed on to the Trade Union Coalition’s political program, the Alianza’s candidate for Governor Juan Dalmau did not highlight the demands of the workers’ program during his campaign. This shows – once again – that if the working class wants to promote its political interests in the elections, it can only do so through its own political party.

There is no doubt that, with the election of Republican Jenniffer González, privatizations and attacks on labor rights and the rights of public sector unions will continue, especially against those who joined and dared to call for a “punishment vote” against them. In short, the organized working class will have to overcome its differences and continue to unite in order to counteract the continuing implementation of austerity policies. The discussion of this issue is urgent and should be a priority on the agenda of the various trade union organizations.

On the plebiscite survey

It is not surprising that, faced with the decline in voters, the PNP once again resorted to the old and effective strategy of mobilizing its base through plebiscites. On this occasion, the “Estado Libre Asociado” (ELA) did not appear as an option on the ballot; instead, there was “Free Association,” which was characterized by the PNP as an option “equal to independence.” 

It is important to note that, despite the call by independence leaders to leave the ballot blank, the Independence option received 293,224 votes (31%) and Free Association 116,834 (13%), adding up to 410,058 (44%) between them versus the 540,635 (57%) for “statehood.” If we add to this data the 169,448 blank ballots and another 13,080 “badly voted” (i.e., spoiled) ballots, the total percentage of the vote in favor of “statehood” drops to 47.7%. This data shows that, over time, the Puerto Rican people have overcome their fear of national sovereignty.

As for the presidential poll, the final numbers gave a landslide victory to Vice President Kamala Harris with 724,947 (73%) over Donald Trump with 263,270 (27%). This crushing victory confirms that Puerto Rico, if incorporated as a state of the United States, would be a Democratic state. That is why, recently, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell proposed that the majority of his party would block any attempt to include new states into the United States. So, in order to continue administering the colony, the PNP will have to continue selling the illusion of “statehood” to its followers, even if they know that this alternative has been ruled out in advance.

What to do in this situation?

Our position, as communists organized around Rumbo Alterno, on the last elections was clear:

We communists in Puerto Rico welcome and support the political initiative of the “Coalición Sindical,” although we recognize the limitations of the political program they have presented. We also offer our critical support to the “Alianza de País,” since it entails a break with the two-party system that has shackled the working class and strangled our country. By defining our support for the Alianza as one of a critical nature, we recognize that the break it offers us is important and necessary but it is not enough. We have to go further. [emphasis added]

Thus the time has come to go further. The tasks of the communists remains the same: to educate and organize the working class to confront its exploiters. Our next steps must be based on the fertile ground left by the election results. For example, to develop organizational and training centers in those geographic areas that left a positive balance for the “Alliance”—or rather—for leftist, socialist, communist and national independence ideas. We must focus on the training of cadres within the multiple sectors and it is possible to reach an advanced layer of workers in the unions and outside of them, including non-conventional workers inserted in professional, salaried jobs and non-profit organizations.

This last electoral process has shown that the bourgeoisie will not hesitate to enter the political arena directly; in fact, we are convinced that from now on they will always do so. On the other hand, there are tens of thousands of people who are looking for a political alternative. It is time for the working and marginalized class of the country to have a working-class, independent party that offers radical answers to the problems we suffer in this colony. In the meantime, we must continue to influence all those spaces and fronts that are available.

To end the exploitation of the working class in Puerto Rico—and internationally—it is not enough to limit ourselves to promoting “good government” or “fighting corruption”: we have to end capitalism, which is the source of all exploitation and social oppression. And to succeed in this anti-capitalist struggle, as a working class we need to have our own political party that represents our own class interests. That is our priority. To accomplish this historic and necessary task, we call on the workers in our country. Join Rumbo Alterno!

If you have any comments on this or any other article, write to us at: rumboalterno@gmail.com