CHECKMATE: DAYS THAT CHANGED THE HISTORY OF PUERTO RICO - PART II
By José E. Velázquez Luyanda
Part 1: “Checkmate: Days that Changed the History of Puerto Rico,” provided a survey for the reader of the Summer of 2019 in Puerto Rico, especially for those unfamiliar with the details of the historical moment. I chronicled events leading to the forced resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosello on August 2, 2019 and the complex internal feud within the ruling party, the New Progressive Party (Partido Nuevo Progresista). These internal divisions played out like a complex game of chess as the Puerto Rican people watched, having just participated in a movement of civil disobedience that shook the ruling class in its bootstraps. The main chess master was Senate President, Thomas Rivera Schatz, who engineered the removal of Rosello’s hand picked successor, Pedro Pierluisi, when the Puerto Rico Supreme Court unanimously ruled on August 7th that his selection as governor was unconstitutional. The Senate, who had refused to ratify his nomination, played a master move leading to checkmate of Rosello and Pierluisi. That evening, the Secretary of Justice, Wanda Vázquez Garced was sworn in as governor, based on the constitutional line of succession. Now in Part II, I will chronicle the new chess game wherein the very future of the PNP and its ability to survive the political crisis was at stake.
During the first week of August, both Ricardo Rosello and Pedro Pierluisi left the county for safer quarters in the United States. Rosello was allowed to keep his security detail by order of the Police Commissioner, based on received death threats. The PNP leadership, now firmly in the hands of Rivera Schatz, executed its new chess move, holding a press conference to announce their support for Resident Commissioner, Jennifer González-Colón, as eventual governor, upon Wanda Vázquez’s expected resignation. Rivera Schatz made clear that Vázquez should designate González, present at the leadership meeting, as Secretary of State and then resign. He claimed that Vázquez was governor because of his taking the issue to the highest court, not because she had the support of the PNP, as he had previously called for her resignation as Secretary of Justice. The PNP leadership announced that they would meet with Vázquez to hear her out, as González announced that she would not ask to be named Secretary of State but would be available if Vázquez decided to resign.
In a long interview in El Nuevo Día the evening of August 8th, Wanda Vázquez openly broke with the PNP leadership, stating that she would remain as governor until November 2020 and not entertain the naming of anyone else, indicating that she was not “political” and did not aspire to be governor after November 2020. In her own strategic chess move, she showed a resolve not to succumb to political pressure, arguing that the office did not belong to political structures, but to the Puerto Rican people, and asked the country for a chance to govern, as indicated by the Puerto Rican Constitution.
By the beginning of the second week in August, a counter offensive to Rivera Schatz’s move to remove Governor Vázquez was clearly underway. The Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce called for stability and indicated its willingness to work with Vázquez. Continuing her chess moves, she and the Secretary of Education met with the leadership of the five organizations representing teachers, lending her support for salary increases, pensions, and the Christmas bonus, while continuing to support charter schools. Distancing herself from the Rosello administration, Vázquez indicated a willingness to issue a state of emergency concerning domestic violence, as demanded by feminist organizations, something she previously opposed as Secretary of Justice. (Later on September 5th, she would issue a state of national alert on violence against women- different from a state of emergency-partially meeting some of the demands raised by feminist groups who pledged to continue their struggle).
By the middle of August, Rivera Schatz now in full retreat announced his willingness to collaborate with Wanda Vázquez. The Federation of PNP Mayors met with her and announced they would accompany her to Washington, D.C. to ask for more federal funds. In an effort at bi-partisanship Vázquez announced that she would also meet with the Federation of PPD Mayors. On August 13th, Jennifer González exercised her last chess move, meeting with Vázquez, stating that she would desist in trying to be the governor and work together instead.
Vázquez next chess moves included meeting with the president of the Fiscal Control Board, José B. Carrión, and its Executive Director, Natalie Jaresko. In an attempt to help stabilize the country, they gave her a vote of confidence, stating that there would be no need for new austerity measures. The leaders of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives also publicly declared their support, and Vázquez and Schatz were present together in an activity at the Llorens Torres public housing complex to shore up the PNP’s support among the poor (La Estadidad es para los pobres).
In further moves consolidating her power, Vázquez met with the PNP caucus in the Senate and House of Representatives, and indicated that she would also meet with key legislators of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) and the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP). She appointed
Senator Zoé Laboy Alvarado as Chief of Staff (Secretaría de la Gobernación) and Elí Díaz Atienza as her representative on the Fiscal Control Board. These choices were viewed as showing her determination to govern independently of the PNP leadership. The stability of the government was enhanced as the Senate began its 2nd session, which will last until November 2019. Meanwhile, the Government Office of Ethics indicated that a possible investigation of irregularities by Rosello and the members of the chat group could take more than two years, moving any possible criminal charges to the backburner. In a rebuke to Rosello, Vázquez announced that his security detail would end on September 2nd, so as to signal that this chapter had passed.
During the third week of August, the country took a few days off from political maneuvers as a result of a murder that shocked the country, President Trump’s tweets, and the projected path of Tropical Storm Dorian. The media was dominated by the murder in Fajardo of Arellys Mercado Ríos on Sunday August 18th, allegedly over a cell phone issue. The suspect Jensen Medina Cardona reported to the authorities and was immediately arrested. His bail was set at $300,000, which he posted and was released. What many considered a low bail, immediately set off a wave of angry denunciations throughout the country, leading to an amended bail of $ 1,150,000 and Cardona’s subsequent detention. Meanwhile, on August 23rd, in the middle of President Trump seemingly joking about buying Greenland, which resulted in an international embarrassment, the New York Times reported that in 2018 Trump also joked about exchanging Puerto Rico for Greenland.
Notwithstanding Trump’s tweets, the country prepared for Tropical Storm Dorian by shutting schools and closing government offices. In the middle of these preparations, President Trump tweeted that Puerto Rico was one of the most corrupt places on Earth; denounced San Juan Mayor, Carmen Yulín Cruz; stated that he was the best thing that has happened to Puerto Rico; and repeated the false allegation that the U.S. gave Puerto Rico $92 billion dollars after Hurricane María. In a statement worthy of an Uncle Tom award, Resident Commissioner Jennifer González expressed surprise by Trump’s remarks, but agreed with his criticism of the mayor of San Juan. Trump’s remarks were roundly denounced by organizations like the NAACP and many representatives of the Puerto Rican diaspora (Latino Justice; National Puerto Rican Agenda; Power4PR; and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, among others).
Tropical Storm Dorian, which ultimately missed Puerto Rico, also brought to the surface the effects of climate change, as the media reported on the rapid erosion of the beach in Ocean Park (San Juan). Reports indicated that 60% of all beaches throughout Puerto Rico were suffering from rapid erosion, needing for the government to address this issue. A bill to stop construction on beach areas for the next twenty years had previously stalled in the legislature.
As September rolled in, having brought a level of stability and normalization to the government, Governor Vázquez showed her true coattails in support for the Fiscal Control Board (FCB). On September 5th, she met with the FCB who reaffirmed that they would cut public employee pensions, though Vázquez meekly said she would do everything in her power to reverse this decision. Meanwhile, President Trump announced a reassignment of $402.5 million for the PR National Guard for his wall with Mexico, with very little opposition from the Puerto Rican government.
Now the time had arrived for Governor Vázquez to make her debut among those who hold the real realms of power -the U.S. Congress- scheduling along with the Presidents of the Senate and Assembly a trip to Washington D.C. during September 8-12. While in Washington, she indicated her support for the renewal of the members of the Fiscal Control Board, claiming to have built a new relationship with the FCB. Though the issue of the constitutionality of the process used to name the members of the FCB is scheduled for U.S. Supreme Court hearings in October, the control of Congress and the Fiscal Control Board over Puerto Rico are not at issue.
On September 16th, Vázquez and Schatz met in Puerto Rico with Congressman Raúl Grijalva, Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, to discuss his proposed changes to the PROMESA law during scheduled hearings in late October. With a Republican majority in the Senate, little change is expected. In another show of support for austerity plans, Governor Vazquez signed off on the controversial debt restructuring plan for the Authority of Electric Energy, which will lead to higher rates and privatization. In a televised message on September 27th, the governor endorsed the FCB’s plan presented to the Federal Bankruptcy Court as the only way to regain fiscal sustainability and budget autonomy. This restructuring will also possibly mean an end to any auditing of the debt.
The Political Future: Puerto Rico 2020
In late September, the FCB’s proposal for an 8.5% reduction in public employee pensions, now supported by Vázquez, touched off a new round of protests by public employees and their allies. Governor Vázquez now leads a government, two years after Hurricane María, where federal assistance has been slow, along with unprecedented requirements and bureaucracy by FEMA and HUD, and where thousands of homes are stilled covered by blue tarp roofs. As a consequence of the political feud within the PNP, Puerto Rico is now being governed without a designated Secretary of State, next in line for any succession to the governorship. Real questions remain about how the 2019 summer of protests will affect the upcoming November 2020 elections in Puerto Rico.
A promising development has been the mass meetings of People’s Assemblies (Asambleas de Pueblo), held throughout various cities in Puerto Rico and the United States. These meetings, which began in early August, have focused on the auditing of the debt; possible constitutional changes; repudiation of the traditional political parties; issues of sovereignty; climate change; attacks on public education; problems of displacement; and gentrification; among others. On August 8th, I attended the People’s Assembly at the Placita Roosevelt in Hato Rey, as several hundred people broke up into several subcommittees to address various issues and reported back to a plenary session that same night. These meetings are self-sustaining, democratic, and involve various levels of political participants from newcomers to veteran activists. Expanding throughout Puerto Rico and the diaspora, there are plans to eventually have a national people’s assembly.
Another promising development has been the Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana (Citizen’s Victory Movement) organized on March 11, 2019 with the support of independent legislator Manuel Natal Albelo (previously PPD); independent candidate for governor in 2016, Alexandra Lúgaro; 2016 gubernatorial candidate Rafael Bernabe (PPT), and the influential labor leader, Roberto Pagan. Alexandra Lúgaro’s progressive independent candidacy in 2016 received 175,831 votes (11.13%), which many claimed drained votes from and contributed to the defeat of the PPD (39%). Victoria Ciudadana has electoral aspirations and is involved in a campaign to submit 47,000+ voter applications to register as a political party, hoping to gather support among thousands who have abstained or tired of corrupt political parties. The movement proposes a comprehensive program to “rescue public institutions; social, economic, environmental, and fiscal reconstruction; and decolonization.” Its position on decolonization includes the equitable participation of all options, including statehood, independence, and free association, along with support for United Nations involvement in the process. On September 8th, the movement held its first General Assembly with 400 delegates, proposing to build a movement of grass root networks. In October it will announce whether it has been able to reach its goal to register as an official electoral party, define its electoral objectives and candidates, and how it will maneuver through the complex process of the November 2020 elections.
An important note for the political future of Puerto Rico is that according to the 2017 Census, Generation Z (less than 22 years old) is now 19.7% of the population. The Post- María effect was evident even when several hundred young people marched in a Statehood Revolution Movement on September 2nd, asking for Puerto Rico to become an incorporated territory of the U.S. as a preliminary step toward statehood, while at the same time denouncing party lines, corrupt politicians, and Donald Trump, along with raising issues of poverty. This march was characteristic of the increasing use by the statehood movement over the last few years of patriotic words (like Patria) and anti-colonial slogans usually associated with the pro-independence movement.
One of the main questions for the November 2020 elections is whether the PNP will be able to survive the Rosello debacle and maintain much of its electoral support. It’s important to note that Ricardo Rosello won the 2016 elections with only 42% of the vote. The scheduled time for the PNP declaration of candidates for governor has been set for the month of December 2019.
On September 19th, Pedro Pierluisi in an interview indicated that his conscience was clear, and short of declaring his candidacy, that he was ready to take on anyone in the PNP primaries. He declared his support for holding a “Statehood, Yes or No” plebiscite on the same day of the November elections, whose results would be endorsed by the U.S. Congress.
On September 21st, the PNP leadership met and affirmed Senator Rivera Schatz as president of the PNP, until a candidate for governor is chosen, who then automatically presides over the party. As quoted in El Nuevo Día, Schatz declared: “Nothing happened to the PNP. The PNP is solid and united. It was Ricardo Rosello who had the problem. Not the PNP.” Pierluisi did not attend the meeting. Political pundits predict that Pedro Pierluisi and Jennifer González will battle it out in the primaries, along with Iván González Cancel, a cardiovascular surgeon who ran against Luis Fortuño en 2011.
Another central question for the November 2020 elections is the internal dynamics within the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). On August 13th, the media reported that the utilities were turned off at the central offices of the PPD for lack of payment. Reportedly the PPD had only $800 in its bank account. Earlier this year, the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto, announced her campaign to become the PPD candidate for governor. In October, Yulín Cruz confirmed discussions in February about her running for Resident Commissioner with David Bernier as candidate for governor. Many in the PPD saw the 2016 gubernatorial candidate, David Bernier, as an alternative to the more radical Yulín Cruz, and the best choice to maintain party unity. However, the Bernier option has now been eliminated by his personal decision on October 3, 2019 to not seek the governorship. Members of the PPD now await the convention scheduled for October 11-13th and a possible primary between Mayor Yulín Cruz; Charlie Delgado, Mayor of Isabela; former Senator, Roberto Prats; Senator and Minority Spokesperson, Eduardo Bhatia Gautier; and Ex-Secretary of Treasury, Juan Zaragoza Gómez. The PPD still has an electoral debt from 2016 and reportedly had only $4694 in the bank in early October.
A central question for Carmen Yulín Cruz’s candidacy will be her ability to win the primary within the PPD and maintain the unity and enthusiasm of the PPD machinery, especially at the municipal level. Furthermore, will her support for a sovereign Free Association be able to rally other progressive and pro-independence forces to her campaign, as she has done as mayor of San Juan? David Bernier’s candidacy in 2016 unsuccessfully attempted at the last minute to broaden its support beyond the PPD base, asking for support among followers of Alexandra Lúgaro. Though the PPD received 39% of the vote, Bernier received less votes and percentage than any PPD candidate ever. The results of the 2016 election reflected a shrinking base for both PNP and PPD candidates, an increase in an independent voting pattern, the impact of migration on reducing the electorate, and increased voter abstention.
For its part, the November 2020 elections will also test the traditional position of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), which has always insisted on a vote for its gubernatorial candidate and its entire line on the ballot. In practice, the great majority of pro-independence supporters reject this position, as they did in their support for Carmen Yulín Cruz for mayor of San Juan and for other candidates for governor in previous elections, while maintaining support for the PIP’s legislative candidates. The reality of the independence movement is that its supporters are politically dispersed and not aligned with any organized group, weakening its ability to affect events in the country. Earlier in September, Governor Vazquez met with PIP legislators, Senator Juan Dalmau Ramírez and Representative Denis Márquez to listen to ther proposals which include immediate constitutional amendments to allow for a recall election of the governor, a special election for gubernatorial replacement, and a second round of elections among the top two candidates, if no candidate for governor reaches an absolute majority. Furthermore, the PIP is calling for an Asamblea para un Nuevo Puerto Rico (Assembly for a New Puerto Rico) which would develop a new relationship with the United States based on non-colonial and non-territorial alternatives to be negotiated with the U.S. Congress before being put to a vote by the Puerto Rican people. These proposals have received a resounding “no discussion” from the PNP leadership who sees them as attempts at forging an anti-statehood alliance.
In conclusion, much of the strength of the Summer of 2019 was its spontaneity and the unity of the people, irrespective of political party, around one issue – the resignation of Ricardo Rosello. There were plenty of elephants in the room (forgive me, chupacabras) that took on secondary aspects– the elimination of the Fiscal Control Board, environmental and feminist issues, and the always-present issue of the colonial condition of Puerto Rico. As the people continue to organize and struggle, no organized force has yet to develop as an alternative to the traditional political parties. It is often said that after Hurricane María everything has changed for Puerto Rico. There is a lot of truth to that statement. Hopefully after the Summer of 2019, things will not go back to politics as usual.
