Puerto Ricans are finally taking out the trash

By Jenaro Abraham

On Sunday October 27th, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, serving as the opening act at a Trump rally, called Puerto Rico an “island of garbage.”

In the US, Republicans scrambled to save face for the egregious comment, while Democrats attempted to score political points by pinning the comment to Trump’s causal racism, in light of the impending election. But on the island, Puerto Ricans were busy filling the streets in their support for gubernatorial candidate Juan Dalmau, secretary general of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP).

Through an electoral Alliance known in Puerto Rico as La Alianza between the PIP and Citizens Victory Movement (MVC) – a progressive party with a compatible party platform – Puerto Ricans of all walks of life have been mobilizing support for a slate of shared candidates in what could be the first dethroning of the Puerto Rican nation’s colonial duopoly. It would also be the first time a pro-independence candidate wins Puerto Rico’s governorship, while other non-traditional candidates from social movements such as Ana Irma Rivera Lassén, an Afro-Puerto Rican feminist activist, might win the race for resident commissioner (Puerto Rico’s nonvoting delegate to Congress). 

Some conservative news outlets in Puerto Rico have Mr. Dalmau trailing the PNP governor candidate and Trump fanatic Jenniffer Gonzalez by a mere 2 points, while others have Mr. Dalmau up by a few. Aiding this uptick in support for the PIP are artists such as Bad Bunny, Residente, Kany Garcia, and Ricky Martin, who have thrown their weight behind Alianza candidates. More support has also come from Puerto Rican politicians in the US such as AOC and Nydia Velazquez.

With caravans of thousands of cars making their way from one side of the main island to the other, one of the central messages of La Alianza has been uprooting colonial corruption, which for Puerto Ricans which essentially, and coincidentally means “taking out the trash.”

However, this is no easy task as both ruling pro-colonial parties – the New Progressive Party (PNP) and the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) – have been in power for the better part of seven decades and have longstanding ties to both the Republican and Democratic parties, along with their corporate interests.

How Colonial Corruption came to be: 

Taken from Spain as war booty in the 1898 Treaty of Paris, Puerto Rico fell to US rule under the plenary powers of Congress. Subsequently, its economy and institutions were molded to fit US corporate and Congressional Interests. Whether it be through sugar, light industry, military pursuits of the Cold War or tax incentives, Puerto Rico’s options for development were constrained by empire. Self-serving US Maritime laws passed by Congress in 1920 further constrained Puerto Rico’s economy, while the inability to vote in US presidential elections or have voting representation in Congress thwarted possibilities for challenging colonialism through legal means.  

The combination of these economic and political constraints compelled a cadre of colonial elites in the pro-statehood PNP party and the pro-status quo PPD party to indulge in patterns of clientelism.

While Puerto Ricans in the pro-colonial parties were able to go to Congress and beg for pork barrel and other federal funds, congresspeople were able to use their connection to Puerto Rican politicians to win US elections. Similarly, the PNP and the PPD would win local elections through their public connections to US politicians. Money cemented these relationships, as the PPD and PNP bought votes via private contracts emanating from federal funds, and through public sector employment reserved for party members. However, over the last 20 years amid a congressionally induced economic crisis, politics in Puerto Rico have been changing.

As tax-incentives for US corporations timed out, and the lack of tax revenue hindered the archipelago’s ability to fund the basic functions of government, the PNP and the PPD indulged in a series of austerity measures. These included cuts to essential services such as healthcare and education, the privatization of many of the nation’s public enterprises, and the laying off of tens of thousands of public sector workers, thus triggering a brain drain. As the nation’s tax base diminished, so did Puerto Rico’s ability to reinvest in the nation’s electrical grid, let alone respond to natural hazards, like hurricanes.

To make up for revenue loss, colonial elites indulged in unsustainable and predatory bond emissions. As Puerto Rico’s debt ballooned to $73 billion USD, Congress, under President Barack Obama, created a fiscal oversight board to prevent Puerto Ricans from defaulting and ensure debt repayment. Not a single member of this board is appointed by the Puerto Rican people. Thwarting whatever remaining autonomy Puerto Rico has over its finances, the board has the power to strongarm Puerto Rico’s officials by setting the budget and even vetoing the fiscal decisions of its governor and legislature.

La Alianza taking out the Trash

As Puerto Ricans are stuck in a colonial bind of the US Congress’ creation, their actions have empowered an elite group of politicians that have undercut the nation’s ability to sustain itself. Consequently, Puerto Ricans have opted to support La Alianza in mass. 

For Puerto Ricans, this new movement attempts to “take out the trash” by cleansing the state of its nodes of US-backed colonial corruption. For Dalmau and La Alianza, this new electoral front will provide political opportunities for Puerto Ricans to change course and work towards a Puerto Rico that is economically self-sufficient, democratic, and free of US-backed clientelistic corruption schemes that are instrumentalized to exploit. 

However, for Democrats, Progressives, and other politicians eager to get the Puerto Rican vote, this is an opportunity to make amends for the US’ imperialist past and demand that Congress take responsibility for dumping its trash in Puerto Rico.