New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico)

The New Progressive Party is a Puerto Rican political party best known for its support of Puerto Rico becoming the fifty-first state of the United States. Formed in August 1967, the New Progressive Party (or Partido Nuevo Progresista) has opposed rival parties that want Puerto Rico to remain an independent US commonwealth or to become an independent country. New Progressive politicians tend toward the center of the political ideology range, adopting ideas similar to both US Democrats and Republicans; however, they are known to be slightly more conservative. The New Progressive Party is one of the two main parties in Puerto Rico. As of 2021, its candidates have held the commonwealth’s governorship since 2017. On January 2, 2021, New Progressive leader, Pedro Pierluisi, assumed the office, and in January 2025, Jenniffer González-Colón became governor.

Background

The modern era of Puerto Rican political history began near the end of the nineteenth century. After centuries of domination by Spain, Puerto Rico gained independence in 1897. This was exceedingly short-lived, as one year later, US forces invaded the island during the Spanish-American War. Upon its defeat in the war, Spain ceded its interests in Puerto Rico, as well as territories such as the Philippines and Guam.

American military forces held Puerto Rico for two years while legislators in the United States debated the fate of the island. In 1900, the Foraker Act declared Puerto Rico as a territory of the United States and established civilian rule, though it did not grant US citizenship to the Puerto Rican people. This act began a long and complex relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States that continues to dominate Puerto Rican political debates well into the twenty-first century.

A 1917 congressional act granted citizenship to Puerto Ricans, largely spurred by renewed interest in the island following the establishment of the Panama Canal. The newly granted citizenship status led to a large increase of Puerto Ricans moving to the US mainland. Until 1947, American presidents had appointed Puerto Rican governors. This practice ended amid a wider push to give more independence to the territory.

By 1952, Puerto Rico had its own constitution and was classified as a commonwealth. Puerto Ricans could vote for their own governors and other leaders, as well as engage in many independent decisions and activities relating to internal affairs. The United States handles most of Puerto Rico’s external affairs and greatly influences policies relating to legal procedures, military operations, and various aspects of the island’s economy and infrastructure. Puerto Ricans are exempted from US federal taxes, cannot vote in presidential elections, and have minimal participation in the federal government.

Overview

The modern Puerto Rican government is modeled on that of the United States. It features an executive branch, legislative branch, and judicial branch occupied by elected officials who share powers and responsibilities. The governor, as chosen by popular vote, heads the executive branch. The legislative branch includes two houses, the Senate and House of Representatives, tasked with creating new laws. The judiciary includes a court system culminating in a Supreme Court.

As in the United States, the Puerto Rican government comprises elected officials representing various political parties. Each party strives to gain the greatest control over the government and, thereby, to have the most influence over the commonwealth’s decisions until the next election. Since 1968, Puerto Rico’s government has been mainly built on the two-party system. The overall structure resembles that of the United States, where left-leaning Democrats and right-leaning Republicans vie for control. However, in Puerto Rico, the main differentiation between the parties is not one of left-right political ideology but rather their perspectives on Puerto Rico’s relationship to the United States.

The two main parties are the New Progressive Party (Partido Nuevo Progresista) and the Popular Democratic Party (Partido Popular Democratico). The New Progressive Party is known for its pro-American stance and its support for Puerto Rico becoming an American state. The Popular Democratic Party supports policies that maintain the existing relationship and Puerto Rico’s largely independent commonwealth status. Since the 1960s, voters in Puerto Rico have given some 95 percent of their votes to candidates of these two parties, which regularly exchange control of government. A third, much smaller major party is the Puerto Rican Independence Party (Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño), which pushes for a third option of reconfiguring Puerto Rico as a new country independent of the United States.

Supporters of the New Progressive Party are sometimes known within Puerto Rico as penepés, progresistas, or estadistas (“statehooders”), and have adopted blue as their symbolic color. Their opponents in the Popular Democratic Party are called populares and use the color red. New Progressives use the emblem a white palm tree on a blue background, surrounded by the words Estadidad, Progresso, Igualdad, and Seguridad (Statehood, Progress, Equality, and Security).

New Progressives trace their political roots to August 1967, when a faction of pro-statehood voters, the Republican Statehood Party, split over policy disputes. Since that time, the New Progressives have grown in power and membership. Their main goal is statehood, under the belief that the benefits of full participation in the US system would lead to increased Puerto Rican prosperity. Their other positions tend toward the ideological center as they share ideas of both Democrats and Republicans in the United States. However, within Puerto Rico, voters generally view the New Progressives as slightly more socially conservative than their rivals in the Popular Democratic Party.

New Progressive Party officials have held the governorship of Puerto Rico since 2017 despite numerous controversies and challenges. Ricardo Rosselló took office in 2017; however, he resigned in 2019 after online conversations were released in which he and his supporters reportedly espoused bigoted perspectives, planned media manipulation, and mocked the problems of Puerto Rican citizens. Following Rosselló’s departure, fellow New Progressive Pedro Pierluisi briefly took office as de facto governor. That lasted less than a week before the Puerto Rican Supreme Court declared his selection violated constitutional procedures. Pierluisi left office on August 7, 2019.

That same day, New Progressive politician and attorney Wanda Vázquez Garced assumed the governorship, a post she held until the elections of November 2020. By that time, voters had faced years of problems in Puerto Rico, ranging from government corruption to natural disasters, all compounded by the global coronavirus pandemic of 2020. However, voters once again invested their trust in the New Progressive Party, electing the former governor, Pedro Pierluisi, back to the office he had been prompted to vacate in 2019. Pierluisi resumed the governorship on January 2, 2021, focusing on economic recovery following Hurricane Maria and the impact of COVID-19. In late 2024, PNP politician Jenniffer González-Colón was elected Governor of Puerto Rico. As she was sworn into office in early 2025, the country experienced a power grid breakdown and an ongoing economic crisis.

Bibliography

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Kaufman, Alexander C. "Jenniffer González-Colón, A Pro-Statehood Trump Ally, Wins Puerto Rico Governor's Race." Huffington Post, 6 Nov. 2024, www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/puerto-rico-governor-jenniffer-gonzalez-colon-wins‗n‗671ffc6fe4b0a4f117c7df65. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.

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