Editing Luis Muñoz Marín (section)

===Senator===
By the 1930s, Puerto Rico's political scenario had changed; the only party actively asking for independence was the [[Puerto Rican Nationalist Party]]. That organization's president, [[Pedro Albizu Campos]], occasionally met with Muñoz Marín. He was impressed by the substance of Albizu's arguments, but their styles to achieve autonomy and social reforms were different.<ref name="p.51">Bernier-Grand et al., p. 51</ref>

In 1932, [[Antonio R. Barceló]] abandoned the Coalition, which by this time had weakened, and he worked to establish a new independence movement. Barceló adopted several of Muñoz Marín's ideas of social and economic reforms and autonomy, using them to form the ideology of the [[Liberal Party of Puerto Rico]].<ref name="p.51"/> Muñoz Marín joined the Liberal Party and led ''La Democracia'', which had become the party's official newspaper. He had decided to become a politician to achieve reform.<ref name="p.51"/> In speeches, he discussed ways to provide more land, hospitals, food and schools to the general public.

On March 13, 1932, Muñoz Marín was nominated by the party for the post of senator. Although the party did not win a majority in the 1932 elections, Muñoz Marín received enough votes to gain a position in the [[Puerto Rican Senate]].<ref name="p.52">Bernier-Grand et al., p. 52</ref> Shortly after, Rudy Black, a reporter for ''La Democracia'', arranged a meeting between him and [[Eleanor Roosevelt]]. Wanting her to see Puerto Rico's problems personally, he persuaded her to visit the main island.<ref name="p.53">Bernier-Grand et al., p. 53</ref>

In August 1932, Muñoz Marín received [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] in [[Fort San Felipe del Morro]] and ''[[La Fortaleza]]'' before traveling to ''El Fanguito'', a poor sector that had suffered much damage in the hurricane. When photos of her visit were published, former American governors and the incumbent were outraged to have been overlooked.<ref name="p.54">Bernier-Grand et al., p. 54</ref> Following his wife's report, [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] included Puerto Rico in the [[New Deal]] program. Muñoz Marín became a popular political figure due to his involvement in the program, which provided for considerable investment of federal funds in Puerto Rico to develop infrastructure and housing.<ref name="p.54"/>

Following the government police massacre of Nationalist protesters at the [[University of Puerto Rico]] in [[Río Piedras, Puerto Rico|Río Piedras]] in 1935 (the [[Río Piedras massacre]]) and again at [[Ponce massacre|Ponce]] in 1937, the US Senator [[Millard Tydings]] from Maryland supported a bill in 1936 to give independence to Puerto Rico.<ref name="Gatell"/> (He had co-sponsored the [[Tydings–McDuffie Act]], which provided independence to the [[Philippines]] after a 10-year transition under a limited autonomy.) All the Puerto Rican parties supported the bill, but Muñoz Marín opposed it. Tydings did not gain passage of the bill.<ref name="Gatell">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/2510353 Frank Otto Gatell, "Independence Rejected: Puerto Rico and the Tydings Bill of 1936"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007112911/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2510353 |date=October 7, 2018 }}, ''Hispanic American Historical Review'', Vol. 38, No. 1 (Feb., 1958), pp. 25–44, accessed 15 December 2012</ref>

Muñoz Marín criticized the bill for what he said would be adverse effects on the island's economy. He compared it to a principle known as ''Ley de Fuga'' (Law of flight). This was the term for a police officer arresting a man, releasing him, and shooting him in the back while the policeman retreated, claiming the suspect had "fled."<ref name="p.55-56">Bernier-Grand et al., pp. 55–56</ref>

As a result of his opposition to the bill and disagreement with Antonio R. Barceló, Muñoz Marín was expelled from the Liberal Party. Muñoz Marín's expulsion severely affected his public image.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

He created a group named ''Acción Social Independentista'' (''ASI'') ("Pro-Independence Social Action") which later became the ''[[Clear, Net, Authentic, and Complete Liberal Party|Partido Liberal Neto, Auténtico y Completo]]''. This organization served as opposition to the Liberal Party, which was led by Barceló.<ref name="Foundation 2"/>

Along with many liberal democratic administrators from the New Deal relief organization known as the [[Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration]] (PRRA), in 1938, Muñoz Marín helped create the [[Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico]] (''Partido Popular Democratico'', or PPD).<ref>{{Cite book|title=Puerto Rican Politics and the New Deal|last=Mathews|first=Thomas|publisher=University of Florida Press|year=1960|location=Gainesville|pages=243}}</ref> The party committed to helping the ''jíbaros'', regardless of their political beliefs, by promoting a minimum wage, initiatives to provide food and water, cooperatives to work with agriculture, and the creation of more industrial alternatives.<ref name="p.58">Bernier-Grand et al., p. 58</ref> Muñoz Marín concentrated his political campaigning in the rural areas of Puerto Rico. He attacked the then common practice of paying off rural farm workers to influence their vote, insisting that they "lend" their vote for only one election. The party's first rally attracted solid participation, which surprised the other parties.<ref name="p.60">Bernier-Grand et al., p. 60</ref>