Editing Luis A. Ferré (section)

===Representative===
In 1948, Puerto Ricans were allowed to elect their governor; previously the position was filled by appointment by the United States president. [[Luis Muñoz Marín]] was elected governor of Puerto Rico. A movement began which aimed to adopt a [[Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)|commonwealth]] relationship with the United States of America. In 1951, a [[referendum]] was held to decide whether to approve or not the option granted by the [[United States Congress]] to draft Puerto Rico's first constitution. Ferré abstained from participating in the process; the pro-statehood party to which he belonged favored the 1951 [[referendum]]. He believed that the process would mean "an acceptance of a colony and condemn the people to a perpetual condition of second class citizenship". Ferré later participated in the constitutional assembly created by the [[referendum]], which drafted the constitution.<ref name="Univision">{{cite web|url=http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?chid=3&schid=0&secid=0&cid=281161|title=Falleció el ex gobernador Luis A. Ferré|date=October 22, 2003|publisher=Univision|language=es|access-date=October 13, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051109151741/http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?chid=3&schid=0&secid=0&cid=281161|archive-date=November 9, 2005}}</ref>

In 1952 the [[Constitution of Puerto Rico]] was adopted, renaming the body politic of the territory of Puerto Rico as the [[Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)|Commonwealth]] of [[Puerto Rico]]. Ferré was elected as a member of the [[Constitution of Puerto Rico|Constitutional Assembly]]. That same year Ferré was elected representative in the [[Puerto Rico]] House of Representatives. He ran under the [[Republican Statehood Party]] ("Partido Estadista Republicano") and officially assumed his duties as representative on January 11, 1953.
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