Editing Politics of Puerto Rico (section)

=== 20th century ===
==== 1900-1940 ====
The [[Partido Republicano Puertorriqueño]] won the elections in 1900 and again in 1902. The new government of Puerto Rico, organized under the [[Foraker Act]] of 1900, was a mixture of the British and the American system, somewhat similar to that established for the [[territory of Orleans]] after the [[Louisiana Purchase]]. The House of Delegates was elected directly by the voters (male, propertied) and the equivalent to the Senate was the Cabinet appointed by the Governor and by the [[President of the United States]]. [[Luis Muñoz Rivera|Muñoz-Rivera]] exiled himself to [[New York City|New York]] after the defeat, but returned once the Federal Party was no longer useful and joined [[Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón]] in organizing the [[Union of Puerto Rico|Union Party]], also with them was [[José de Diego]].

Matienzo Cintrón had been a Republican, supporting statehood. But two years into the new government, he realized that statehood would not be granted and the desired equality as citizens was not feasible under the United States. He brought with him other former Republicans and practically all of Muñoz-Rivera's Federalists into a party that was to bring about the union of all political groups. He was successful, they won the elections of 1904 and all subsequent elections until the 1920s when another defection of Republicans allowed for the creation of yet another party bringing into it persons supporting a status change.

The [[Union Party (Puerto Rico)|Union Party]], initially supported statehood or an autonomous government, it then later added independence. In fact, Matienzo-Cintrón went from statehood advocate to autonomist to independence advocate as a result of eight years of American civil government in Puerto Rico. The Union Party, from the very beginning, was against the colonial government established under the ''[[Foraker Act]]''. Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón, [[Manuel Zeno Gandía]], [[Luis Lloréns Torres]], Eugenio Benítez Castaño, and Pedro Franceschi started to organize the [[Puerto Rican Independence Party|Independence Party]] in 1912,{{citation needed|date=October 2009}} which paved the path for similar movements. The Union Party quickly gained the attention of the colonial governors, all Republicans, who were willing to work closely with them because of their control of the House of Delegates. The local Republicans protested bitterly and, at one point, they took statehood out of their platform – not reinstating it until the early 1920s. Many in the Union Party leadership were lawyers who had contracts with the sugar operations recently bought out and enlarged by the new American owners, thus establishing a close relationship between the nascent middle classes and the American corporate interests.

A coalition between the pro-independence Union Party presided by [[Antonio R. Barceló]] and the pro-statehood [[Partido Republicano Puertorriqueño]] presided by [[José Tous Soto]] called the "[[Alianza Puertorriqueña]]" was formed. Differences between Barceló and Tous Soto and [[Félix Córdova Dávila]], the [[Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico|resident commissioner of Puerto Rico]] in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]], as to the goals of the alliance became apparent. The Unionist sector of the alliance decided to disaffiliate themselves from the "Alliance." Because of legal reasons, Barceló was unable to use the name "Union Party" and in 1932, founded the "[[Liberal Party of Puerto Rico]]". The Liberal Party's political agenda was the same as the original Union Party's agenda and urged independence as a final political solution for Puerto Rico.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} After the Liberal Party was defeated in the 1936 elections, an assembly was held in [[Naranjales, Las Marías, Puerto Rico|Naranjales]] on May 31, 1937, in which [[Luis Muñoz Marín]] presented his ideas as to how the party should be run, however, the majority of the party members objected and blamed him for their defeat. Muñoz Marín considered this action the same as having been expelled from the party.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} Muñoz Marín and his followers, among which were included [[Felisa Rincón de Gautier|Felisa Rincon de Gautier]] and [[Ernesto Ramos Antonini]], held an assembly in the town of [[Arecibo, Puerto Rico|Arecibo]] founded the ''[[Partido Liberal Neto, Auténtico y Completo|Partido Liberal, Neto, Auténtico y Completo]]'' ("Clear, Authentic and Complete Liberal Party"), claiming to be the true Liberal Party. The Partido Liberal, Neto, Auténtico y Completo, an independent political party, later became the [[Popular Democratic Party (Puerto Rico)|Popular Democratic Party]] (PPD) which would ironically end up promoting the "Estado Libre Associado" (Free Associated State) status that Barceló, as president of Union Party, had asked for in 1923 under Campbell Bill and which Muñoz Marín had always opposed, instead of independence.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

The [[Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican Nationalist Party]] was founded in 1922. It strongly criticized the American colonial regime for its menace to the Spanish and Latin American roots of the Puerto Rican culture. It also advocated for complete independence. The PNP began to grow with the leadership of [[Pedro Albizu Campos|Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos]], who was later jailed by the colonial regime under charges as a subversive leader. On March 21, 1937, a peaceful march was organized in the southern city of [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]] by the nationalists after receiving authorization from the pertinent authorities.<ref>American Gunfight: The Plot to Kill Harry Truman: And the Shoot-Out That Stopped It. Simon and Schuster. 2005. {{ISBN|0-7432-8195-0}}. Accessed 2009-10-09.</ref> The march was organized to commemorate the abolition of slavery and to demand the release of [[Pedro Albizu Campos|Albizu Campos]] from federal prison. The permit, however, was revoked by the U.S.-appointed governor of the Island [[Blanton Winship]] minutes before the march was to start. The march turned into a bloody event when the Insular Police<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.llmc.com/TitleLLMC.asp?ColID=3&Cat=136&TID=7037&TName=Ponce%20Massacre,%20Com.%20of%20Inquiry,%201937 |title=Law Library Microform Consortium |publisher=Llmc.com |access-date=2011-06-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214194610/http://llmc.com/TitleLLMC.asp?ColID=3&Cat=136&TID=7037&TName=Ponce%20Massacre%2C%20Com.%20of%20Inquiry%2C%201937 |archive-date=2010-12-14 }}</ref> ("a force somewhat resembling the [[National Guard of the United States|National Guard]] of the typical U.S. state" and which answered to governor Winship<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.llmc.com/TitleLLMC.asp?ColID=3&Cat=136&TID=7037&TName=Ponce%20Massacre,%20Com.%20of%20Inquiry,%201937 |title=Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Civil Rights in Puerto Rico. The Commission, 70p, np, May 22, 1937 |publisher=Llmc.com |access-date=2011-06-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214194610/http://llmc.com/TitleLLMC.asp?ColID=3&Cat=136&TID=7037&TName=Ponce%20Massacre%2C%20Com.%20of%20Inquiry%2C%201937 |archive-date=December 14, 2010 }}</ref>) opened fire upon, what a U.S. Congressman and others reported were unarmed<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.llmc.com/TitleLLMC.asp?ColID=3&Cat=136&TID=7037&TName=Ponce%20Massacre,%20Com.%20of%20Inquiry,%201937 |title=Law Library |publisher=Llmc.com |access-date=2011-06-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214194610/http://llmc.com/TitleLLMC.asp?ColID=3&Cat=136&TID=7037&TName=Ponce%20Massacre%2C%20Com.%20of%20Inquiry%2C%201937 |archive-date=2010-12-14 }}</ref> and defenseless<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cheverote.com/reviews/marcantonio.html|title="Five Years of Tyranny", Vito Marcantonio|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112031601/http://www.cheverote.com/reviews/marcantonio.html |archive-date=2012-01-12 }}</ref> cadets and bystanders alike<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.llmc.com/TitleLLMC.asp?ColID=3&Cat=136&TID=7037&TName=Ponce%20Massacre,%20Com.%20of%20Inquiry,%201937 |title=The "police riot" shot at the demonstrators as well as the crowd standing by |publisher=Llmc.com |access-date=2011-06-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214194610/http://llmc.com/TitleLLMC.asp?ColID=3&Cat=136&TID=7037&TName=Ponce%20Massacre%2C%20Com.%20of%20Inquiry%2C%201937 |archive-date=2010-12-14 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cheverote.com/reviews/marcantonio.html |title=US Congressman Vito Macartonio |publisher=Cheverote.com |access-date=2011-06-13 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112031601/http://www.cheverote.com/reviews/marcantonio.html |archive-date=2012-01-12 }}</ref> killing 19 and badly wounding over 200 more,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cheverote.com/reviews/marcantonio.html |title=Over 200 were wounded |publisher=Cheverote.com |access-date=2011-06-13 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112031601/http://www.cheverote.com/reviews/marcantonio.html |archive-date=2012-01-12 }}</ref> many in their backs while running away.<ref>{{cite web|author=Antonio de la Cova |url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/ponce-1937.htm |title=Photos of police shooting with rifles (from positions previously occupied by marchers and bystanders) at bystanders running away |publisher=Latinamericanstudies.org |access-date=2011-06-13}}</ref><ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120112031601/http://www.cheverote.com/reviews/marcantonio.html '''Five Years of Tyranny''', Speech before the U.S. House of Representatives.]}} The entire speech is contained in the ''Congressional Record'' of August 14, 1939. It is reported in the Cong. Rec., and various other publications elsewhere, that among those shot in their backs was a 7-year-old girl, Georgina Maldonado, who "was killed through the back while running to a nearby church"</ref> It came to be known as the [[Ponce massacre]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cheverote.com/reviews/marcantonio.html |title=Report of the ACLU as echoed by U.S. Congressman Vito Marcantonio |publisher=Cheverote.com |access-date=2011-06-13 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112031601/http://www.cheverote.com/reviews/marcantonio.html |archive-date=2012-01-12 }}</ref>

==== 1940–1968 ====
[[Luis Muñoz Marín]] founded the [[Partido Popular Democratico (Puerto Rico)|Popular Democratic Party]] (PPD) in 1940. Their slogan was ''Pan, Tierra y Libertad'' (Bread, Land and Liberty). The party favored independence from the United States in its initial stages but social and economic reform were priorities in their political agenda.

The [[Puerto Rican Independence Party]] was formed six years later by dissidents who saw the PPD moving away from the ideal of independence. During that period, the colonial regime appointed the first Puerto Rican governor, [[Jesús T. Piñero]], until 1948 when the people elected Luis Muñoz Marín, the first elected [[governor of Puerto Rico|governor]].

The years of 1944–1948 were crucial ones in the direction of the country. Luis Muñoz Marín shifted his goals from independence to state-like autonomy to accommodate better economic circumstances. This led to the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] to enact the Public Law 81-600 which led to the Congressional approval of a local constitution drafted by a constitutional assembly elected by Puerto Rico and the renaming of the United States unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, using the same official name as the commonwealths of the U.S. states of [[Kentucky]], [[Massachusetts]], [[Pennsylvania]] and [[Virginia]], as well as that of other sovereign nation countries such as [[Australia]]. The alternative pro-independence Tydings bill had languished in Congress.

In the 1950s, the [[Puerto Rican Nationalist Party]] denounced the [[Constitution of Puerto Rico|Constitution]] and [[Luis Muñoz Marín|Muñoz Marín]] support as a sham, and staged a series of uprisings in 1950, known as the [[Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s]], of which the most notable were the ones in [[Jayuya Uprising|Jayuya]], [[Utuado Uprising|Utuado]] and [[San Juan Nationalist revolt|San Juan]], plus the attack on [[Blair House]], and the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1954. Twenty-three people were killed and more than 50 were injured.

[[Governor of Puerto Rico|Governor]] Muñoz Marín inaugurated the new status called ''Estado Libre Asociado''—or '' Free Associated State'' in English—and raised the [[Puerto Rican flag]] along with [[La Borinqueña]], the official anthem of Puerto Rico, for the first time on July 25, 1952—date in which Puerto Ricans celebrate the [[Constitution of Puerto Rico]].

==== 1968–1999 ====
The [[New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico|New Progressive Party]] (PNP) was founded in August 1967 by [[Luis A. Ferré]], a month after the July 23, 1967, local plebiscite and the year before the PNP won the 1968 elections. The party saw the ideology of annexation as a U.S. state as a [[civil rights]] issue. The creation of the New Progressive Party polarized the political arena to a great degree as radical independence groups were formed in the 1970s and the [[Puerto Rican Socialist Party]] (PSP), a [[Marxist]] and [[Cuba]]-friendly party, was created. Two of the radical groups were labeled as terrorist groups by the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. Government]], [[Los Macheteros]] and the [[Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (Puerto Rico)|Armed Forces of National Liberation]] (FALN). These groups were viewed by many pro-independence followers as freedom fighters.

In 1972, the PNP lost to a reunified Popular Democratic Party (PPD). [[Rafael Hernández Colón]] became the undisputed leader of the PPD at age 36. He was, as the fourth elected [[Governor of Puerto Rico|governor]], in favor of adding more powers to the commonwealth status. One of his projects was the Puerto Rican owned marine transportation. In order to control the costs of marine transport in Puerto Rico, the marine company ''[[SeaLand|Sea Land]]'' was bought to form ''[[Navieras of Puerto Rico]]'' in 1974.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.joc.com/clouds-lift-navieras-line-after-first-profit-12-years_19880504.html|title=Clouds Lift for Navieras Line After First Profit in 12 Years|website=www.joc.com|access-date=2020-03-04}}</ref>

The fifth governor was [[Carlos Romero Barceló]], a supporter of annexation as the U.S. state of Puerto Rico. Under his administration, Section 936 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Tax Code ({{usc|26|936}}) was implemented as an economic incentive. This allowed American companies to profit in the island without paying taxes. His administration was shadowed by the [[Maravilla Hill case|Cerro Maravilla (Maravilla Hill)]] affair, where two independence activists were killed by police agents. This created a [[Watergate scandal|Watergate]]-like scandal that was later investigated by the Senate.

In 1980, Romero Barcelo was reelected Governor by a controversial 0.2% margin, but lost control of the Senate and, a year later, the House of Representatives to the PPD. Independence radical groups placed bombs on 11 jet fighters in 1981 in the Muñiz Base (a U.S. [[military base]]), and the U.S. removed all of its fighter aircraft from Puerto Rico. [[Rafael Hernández Colón]] became the head of government for the second time in 1984, was reelected in 1988 and remained in power until 1992.

[[Pedro Rosselló]] became the sixth elected Governor in 1992. He pushed the political status dilemma in [[Washington, D.C.]], and sponsored two local non-binding referendums, one in 1993 and another in 1998. While he was elected to a second term, his last four years were met with mounting allegations of corruption. After Rosselló's second term ended, former Speaker of the House [[Edison Misla Aldarondo]] (PNP) was jailed as well as many members of Rosselló's party. Most of the corruption allegations were based on extortion and appropriation of public funds.