New York – Without mentioning specific names, Washington, D.C.-based Commissioner Jennifer Gonzalez Colon alleged that members of the team of her primary rival for governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Pierluisi, bribed her. So that he does not aspire to the highest position in the country.
The stateswoman said that this approach was So he aspired to be re-elected to the position in the federal capital and abandoned the primary race.
Gonzalez, who was Puerto Rico’s sole representative in Congress for two terms, added that “the people who didn’t want it” were the ones who tried to buy it.
At a conference this week in which she announced measures to facilitate and increase the use of renewable energy in Puerto Rico, including clean energy vehicles, the PNP activist confirmed what she had indicated in a previous appearance, but again without identifying anyone specifically. , arguing that time will prove him right.
“When I made the statement that it was last Monday night, I did, specifically, Some campaigns believe they can succeed. “The people who did this know who they are,” he said.
“Time will prove me right,” he responded to the press’s insistence on identifying the alleged bribery by name.
“People who know they did it, know it, and realize it,” he repeated.
“They are the ways in which many of these people understand that they can control the overall outcome; That they can control what happens… My values are not for sale and neither are my principles. This may have worked for other candidates; This may have worked for candidates who were offered campaign pay or changed positions, but not for me.
Pierluisi: “Another chaos”
In response to his opponent’s statements, Pierluisi classified the matter as “just another joke.”
“This seems like another joke,” Pierluisi stated when asked by a reporter from El Nuevo Día.
“It reminds me of when he also started making accusations that public servants were being discriminated against or persecuted, and it turned out that nothing concrete came to light after those accusations were made; And now it comes with that, without really any kind of data…”
“Another gossip,” the governor insisted, “sounds like pure gossip.”
When the journalist asked her that this alleged approach came from her brother-in-law Andrés Guillimar, she replied: “Again, let him point it out directly… This sounds like another joke. Completely unnecessary. I will not devote a second of my time to this kind of insinuation. When directed Accusations, you have to get to the point, be direct, face to face; we shouldn’t sow tares like this.”
The Resident Commissioner officially announced that she would face Pierluisi in the primaries in September last year, a few days after she announced that she was pregnant with her husband, Jose Jovin Vargas.
Recent statements by Gonzalez Colon are evidence that the political temperature toward the June 2 primaries on the island is rising.
There are about 50 days left until the primary election The National Progressive Party and the People’s Democratic Party, ahead of the general elections scheduled for 5 November.
The issues that divide Pierluisi and González Colón
This is not the first time that the two rivals have clashed in recent weeks over various issues. The most important of these are malfunctions in the electrical power system, the Public Electric Power Authority (PREPA) debt settlement plan, and additional increases in the electricity bill as a result of its implementation.
In statements to the press after the governor’s fourth message on the situation on April 2, the commissioner questioned that Pierluisi had not provided details on the energy issue.
Weeks ago, in March, The official said her rival was “insulting” her. By detracting from his proposal for the local government to provide a financial bailout that would avoid increases in subscribers’ bills to pay bondholders.
Gonzalez Colon’s statements came after Pierluisi indicated that she was speaking without knowledge When he insisted on the issue of ransom.
Another issue that divided the candidates is Proposal to hold consultations on the situation as part of the general elections.
The governor was shy in resolving the colonial political situation. Tonight, the governor was to announce a political status referendum – coinciding with the general elections next November – to confirm the electoral mandate of the people of Puerto Rico who, in the 2020 referendum, demanded an absolute congressional majority and federal political equality. With the state. There is no reason or excuse for not holding this referendum at this stage.. “This referendum should be with non-colonial and non-territorial political status alternatives, in accordance with the federal bill approved in Congress in December 2022,” the state said in a statement also in response to the president’s letter.
González Colón is one of the authors of the Puerto Rico Status Act that was approved in the House of Representatives shortly before the conclusion of the 117th session.
With the start of the new Congress, legislation was introduced again, HR2757. Its sister bill in the Senate, H.R. 3231, was introduced last November by New Mexico Democrat Martin Heinrich. However, so far, none of the versions have reached the committee, which is a precursor to any vote in the plenary session.
Any project to resolve Puerto Rico’s status must be approved by the midterm sessions of both chambers.
The governor maintained his position that now is not the time to call for a Creole consultationThis is partly because it is awaiting the results of legislation introduced in Congress in this direction. The governor can, if he wishes, order the holding of the referendum through Law 165 of 2020 without the need for the approval of the Legislative Council.
Creole referendums are not binding or have the force of law at the federal level, so they are ultimately symbolic processes.
Read on:
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The Democratic Party of Puerto Rico maintains that spending on the symbolic presidential ballot in the November 5 election will be minimal
