Puerto Rican congressional representatives back Alliance candidates
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Puerto Rican congressional members Nydia Velázquez Serrano (D-N.Y.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) voiced their backing for the exit of the Financial Oversight and Control Board along with LUMA Energy from the island during a press event in San Juan on Wednesday.
“Indeed, we are advocating for [their removal],” Velázquez Serrano remarked when questioned by reporters. “It’s time for the board to pack up and leave.”
Ocasio-Cortez stated the oversight board “acts as an instrument that undermines our sovereignty and resources on the island.”
“We need to safeguard our essential resources and put an end to the systems that favor corporations over the hardships faced by our people,” she asserted. “The board must be disbanded, and we need to eliminate them.”
Velázquez Serrano emphasized that “We must be earnest when we discuss the removal of LUMA.”
“There needs to be a transition and a legal review to communicate honestly with the public about the feasibility of this matter,” she added.
The congresswomen representing New York endorsed the primary candidates of the “Alianza de País” (Alliance) formed by the Citizen Victory Movement and the Puerto Rican Independence Party for the upcoming general elections on Nov. 5.
“Today, with my face to the sun, I give my full support to Juan Dalmau for governor, Ana Irma Rivera Lassén for resident commissioner, and Manuel Natal for mayor of San Juan,” Velázquez Serrano proclaimed emphatically.
The press event, originally planned for Tuesday, was deferred due to the health status of Griselle Morales Rodríguez, wife of Juan Dalmau, who remained hospitalized on Wednesday following an acute cerebral hemorrhage.
Later on Wednesday, Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón, the New Progressive Party candidate for governor, reacted to the remarks made during the press conference, stating that Velázquez “voted for” the oversight board.
“In essence, she supported the PROMESA legislation that is currently imposing these demands on us,” González Colón responded to inquiries from journalist Luis Enrique Falú on “Día a Día” (Telemundo).
In reference to Velázquez’s comments on the departure of LUMA Energy, González Colón expressed, “I find it quite disheartening that she discusses this issue when she opposed the funding for Puerto Rico in the bipartisan bill that allocated Medicaid and infrastructure funds.”
“It is incredibly easy to politicize matters when you have power in New York while Puerto Ricans here lack electricity,” she continued.
Regarding the endorsement of the Alliance candidates by both congresswomen, González Colón remarked: “It makes sense; they are two independentistas supporting fellow independentistas.”
