New York – Nelson Albino, an independent candidate for the Senate at-large in Puerto Rico, said that the idea that there are no Donald Trump supporters on the island is not true and that the inclination toward the Republican candidate for the presidency of the United States has been taking place since before Hurricane Maria.
“That all Puerto Ricans are against Trump is not true. There are many Puerto Ricans who live on the island who have changed their opinion about the figure and image of Donald Trump, even before Joe Biden arrived at the White House. The Biden administration has campaigned for Trump for free among Puerto Ricans, but before Biden arrived, there were already Puerto Ricans who in 2016 had a negative opinion of Trump, but with the passage of time, they began to change their minds,” said Albino, who is part of the “Latin Americans for Trump” coalition, in an interview with El Diario.
According to Albino, the supposed increase in sympathy for Trump among Puerto Ricans is partly due to the fact that, during the hurricane emergency, the Republican publicly questioned real challenges facing the island, such as the corruption that locals repudiate every day.
“When Donald Trump said in that tweet that the people of Puerto Rico were wonderful, but their politicians were corrupt, the liberal sector quickly began to say that Trump called Puerto Ricans corrupt, when that was not the case, he was calling politicians corrupt. Then, many of those who were detractors of President Trump began to ask how is that possible, and many people answered that that was what Puerto Ricans had been saying for 30 years. He did not say anything different that we did not say. Puerto Ricans spend their time complaining about political leadership; he only told one truth. And from that moment on, many people began to see Trump in a different way,” argued the political leader.
Although polls show that the majority of Latinos lean toward Democratic candidates and are registered with that party, in recent years, the Republican Party has made progress in terms of the favor of voters in this population, despite the anti-illegal immigration discourse outlined by leaders like Trump.
For example, the results of a New York Times/Siena College poll released in March, when Biden was still a contender for the nomination, showed that Trump would get 46% support among Hispanic voters versus 40% for Biden.
However, the pollsters clarified that because Latino voters make up 15% of the electorate, the margin of error is wide, or 10 percentage points.
According to Albino, states like Florida are exemplifying this trend, particularly among Puerto Rican voters.
“In the national electorate, among Puerto Ricans living in the states, for the first time in history, in 2022, there was a state where the majority of Puerto Ricans voted Republican, in Florida, in the election of Ron DeSantis. 55% of Puerto Ricans voted for a Republican candidate, whose positions are not very different from those of Trump,” said the person in charge of Puerto Rico and other territories in the Republican National Hispanic Assembly (RNHA).
It should be noted that the above has been disputed by Democratic leaders in the state who claim that DeSantis lost in the counties with the highest concentration of Puerto Ricans, Orange and Osceola.
Trump’s actions after Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
Trump’s figure became more controversial in terms of Puerto Rico, precisely, following his visit to the island in October 2017, just after the hurricane. Images of Trump throwing paper towels to victims at the Calvary Chapel church in Guaynabo went viral and were taken by sectors on and off the island as an offensive gesture toward Puerto Ricans who were just recovering from the onslaught of the storm.
“When one thinks about social media, inevitably, the image that comes up many times and is shared is the moment when Trump throws those rolls of paper towels, which was something that outraged many sectors; we are not talking only about Democrats. How do you understand that Trump and his team have worked, if that is the case, to try to remedy the impact that this had on public opinion? Because the reality is that the people who saw those images think that Trump does not care about Puerto Rico…”, asked El Diario.
“There were supposed to be lines there and everyone in a disciplined and orderly manner would go to the table to pick up those items that were there and would have the opportunity to greet the president… The line was not kept in order, something very typical, unfortunately, among us, who sometimes do not follow instructions, and it got out of control. Obviously, Trump, in order to control the group that was there, improvised and started throwing something; he was not going to throw a can of beans because it was going to hurt a person… That was what happened there. What happened is that immediately the photo of him throwing paper went viral, and quickly that was the narrative that was sold…”, argued the interviewee.
“So, why didn’t the president, if that was the case, clarify it? Don’t you think that to avoid the discussion from spreading in that direction, the correct thing to do would have been to say that what happened was this or that, or that my intention was not negative in throwing the paper at Puerto Ricans as it is being interpreted? Shouldn’t that have been the answer if in reality it has nothing to do with what is being raised on social media and more?” this newspaper asked.
“Well, I am not in President Trump’s mind, but I am going to put myself in his shoes. If I had been in the president’s shoes and had to clarify something as ridiculous as that, I would be insulting the intelligence of Puerto Ricans. There are people who will believe that he was, in fact, throwing paper towels in an offensive way, but most people will not see it that way,” he replied.
Trump’s opponents also question the restrictions imposed by his administration on federal funds for the reconstruction of the island and the delays this caused in the process.
Regarding this, Albino argued that part of the funds that Trump sent to Puerto Rico were already allocated and could have been used.
“It was the government of Puerto Rico that put up with them, because I know this and I know construction developers who have applied for CDBG funds, for many federal funds to carry out various construction projects and various other projects, and it is the local government that has put obstacles in their way,” he said.
“But FEMA is the agency that releases the funds and then COR 3 (Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience) can disburse them…”, added El Diario.
“But, when they got to the disbursement of COR 3, many of those funds were released and ended up in the pockets of COR 3 and are in Banco Popular accounts earning interest, they began to be released when the projects were given to soul friends…”, he alleged.
Republican platform without statehood, what does it mean?
A more recent debate impacting the island that has recently come to light is the failure to mention statehood or the status issue in general in the updated Republican Party platform that was ratified at the national convention held last week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The Party Platform Committee document merely mentions the importance of the five US territories, including Puerto Rico, in all political aspects of the political process.
“The territories of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico are vitally important to our national security, and we welcome their increased participation in all aspects of the political process,” reads the text released by the Republicans.
In this regard, Albino analyzed that the drop in support for statehood by Republican leaders is the result of several factors.
“The Republican Party has always historically cared about (the issue of statehood)… Gerald Ford supported it; he introduced a bill in Congress to annex Puerto Rico as a state; Ronald Reagan supported statehood; George Bush, Sr. The problem that statehood for Puerto Rico is now experiencing a decline in support and sympathy in conservative sectors is due to several factors. The first is that the US has been divided since the time of Barack Obama’s presidency. The political division between liberals and conservatives in the US did not begin with Trump; this has been dragging on since the time of Obama. Obviously, there is a balance of power in Congress, particularly in the Senate, where annexing a state would completely change the composition of Congress,” he said.
“Is there a fear among Republicans that if a plebiscite is held to resolve the status of Puerto Rico and the statehood option wins, Puerto Rico will be Democratic and the Republicans will lose seats? Is that a real debate within the ranks of the Republican Party?” this newspaper asked.
“This debate is real because of a false perception. The false perception is that, since in Puerto Rico we have never elected politicians based on whether they are Republican or Democrat, but rather whether they are statehood supporters or state-liberal supporters or independentists, the majority of our elected officials have been elected with Republican votes. For example, you have the case of Pedro Pierluisi; he is a Democrat and a delegate of the Democratic Party, but he wins the elections with Republican votes because of the statehood issue…When you have governors, state senators, state representatives, resident commissioners who when they go to Washington do not want to meet with Republicans and meet with Democrats because it is the party they belong to, if I am a Republican congressman who does not know what the political framework is like in Puerto Rico…well, I am going to believe that Puerto Rico would be a liberal territory,” he said.
“Is the fact that there is no direct mention of statehood in this government program not a sign that this is simply not the issue that Trump is going to focus on in terms of Puerto Rico if he is elected?” El Diario asked.
“We won’t know that until he is president, because if there’s one thing I love about Donald Trump, it’s that this guy is unpredictable. That same thing was said in 2016, and in 2020, and I remember when in his agenda for Puerto Rico when he was campaigning, he proposed and even in the rally he held in Stafford, Florida, he spoke directly about Puerto Rico… he was talking about creating special economic zones where he was going to include several states and Puerto Rico… he was going to include Puerto Rico because of the pharmaceutical industry. Here, quickly, the local political leadership opposed that saying that Trump was reviving Section 936 and the colonial tax haven…,” he highlighted.
“If this paragraph in the government programme should not be interpreted as an inclination to ignore the status issue and a rejection of statehood, how should it be interpreted?” the newspaper continued.
“I interpret it this way: if we want to be a state, we have to behave like a state, because that was the precedent established by the territories that requested statehood and were granted it,” he replied.
“The 2016 program did have that reference, so why not now? What was the mediation that brought about that change?” the newspaper insisted.
“The false perception that exists in the conservative Republican sector that does not know Puerto Rico is that Puerto Ricans are democrats because democrats are the ones who will always speak on our behalf,” he said.
“ Statehood must be earned,” says Albino
According to the Trump supporter, statehood must be earned, as it is a political decision rather than an economic one. Albino added that the leadership of the ruling New Progressive Party (PNP) on the island is asking for statehood in the opposite way or as a demand.
“You have to convince Congress to give it to you. The only ideal of status here that is a human right and that is recognized by the United Nations as a universal right of the people is independence. The ideal of statehood is not a right, it is something that we have to negotiate with Congress, and Congress has to accept it because that is what the Constitution says,” he said.
Albino also questioned whether the discourse linked to statehood for Puerto Rico is closely linked to a call for parity in federal funds.
“The problem with the statehood lobby is that it has always been about lobbying for socialist welfare statehood; increase my SNAP coupons, Social Security, Medicare, and the congressmen don’t want to hear that. The congressmen, the few who have met with one person or another, when they talk about statehood, what they want is ‘what do you have to offer the Union’….so, when the lobbying for statehood is leftist, the perception that will be created is that Puerto Rico would be a Democratic state,” he said.
His work at the Republican National Hispanic Assembly (RNHA)
Albino’s ties to Republicans in the United States are key to his work as part of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly. The Republican National Hispanic Assembly is a political entity founded in 1967 that seeks to promote the interests of Hispanic communities within the Republican Party. The group was created as a sequel to the Spanish-Speaking Advisory Committee of the Republican National Committee (RNC).
As National Committeeman, Albino is in charge of promoting the Assembly’s efforts in Puerto Rico and other territories. The independent Senate candidate explained that the Puerto Rico chapter was “practically invisible” for several years.
“In the case of Puerto Rico, this organization was dormant for a long time. The people in charge of it were linked to the Republican Party in Puerto Rico, but unfortunately the chapter had no membership; the state chapter was dormant, it did not carry out activities or anything. They did not even have a page on social media. In other words, it was a phantom. Then the national leadership asked me to rebuild the state chapter,” he said.
On the reasons, he indicated that he could not argue because he was not part of the organization at that time, although he revealed that it was one of the concerns that the national leadership had.
“Regarding his relationship with the local Republican Party…I don’t have a bad relationship with the president of the local Republican Party, although we have never been friends. But, we don’t have a relationship of enmity…The Republican Party of Puerto Rico is very closed to the people who are in the ‘core’, in its leadership, and they are not very open in that sense, and unfortunately they don’t invite us to anything or work together with us unlike the other state Republican parties,” he revealed.
Albino acknowledged that the above affects the inclination that Puerto Ricans may have towards the postulates of the community.
“The problem is that the Republican Party of Puerto Rico has become a subsidiary of the PNP, just like the Democratic Party…So, you have the PNP controlling the two local national parties…they have turned the national parties into social clubs for liberals and conservatives to share, and it should not be that way,” he said.
Challenges in Puerto Rico for the Republican Hispanic National Assembly
One of Albino’s tasks as head of the territories is to mobilize votes for the party and to have more Republican candidates on the island run for elective positions at the local level.
“We are a political electoral organization. What I mean by that is that the purpose for which the organization was created in 1967 was to mobilize the Hispanic vote for the Republican Party. In the case of Puerto Rico, to continue mobilizing Puerto Ricans for the Republican ranks. We want more officials like me to take the step into local politics, because that is another gross error that the Republican Party of Puerto Rico has committed, that the issue of national politics has been limited only to the debate for the position of resident commissioner in Washington… There we are divided between Republicans and Democrats, but there is no such debate in state positions, such as governor, legislature, mayorships. That debate does not take place, and one of my personal purposes with my candidacy and the organization is that this debate between Republicans and Democrats in Puerto Rico continues to grow and increase, because we are the only territory of the five in which this debate does not take place,” Albino outlined, while indicating that the entity works hand in hand with the RNC.
Albino does not see himself represented by the PNP
Although Albino favors statehood for the island, he stressed that he does not feel represented in the PNP. That was the reason he decided to run independently for a seat in the Legislature.
“The national Democratic and Republican parties do not nominate candidates at the local level in Puerto Rico… I think that it should not be that way, but, unfortunately, because of the political structure of the island, they do not do so. So, that leaves us with the options of the local parties. In my case, I am ideologically a statehooder… but there is a small problem, that in addition to being a statehooder, I am a Republican and conservative. The PNP was founded in its beginnings as a conservative Republican party, but the current leadership is not like that. Well, unfortunately, the leadership of the New Progressive Party (PNP) does not represent me, and the party platforms have gone more to the left or center-left, and do not represent me. The rest of the political parties on the island do not resemble the postulates of a Republican Party either, and I prefer to be independent,” he explained.
Discriminated against for being a Trump supporter?
“When you filed your candidacy, you said that you had suffered discrimination. What were you referring to and from whom?” El Diario asked.
“The problem that we have faced mainly in Puerto Rico, my candidacy per se, has been the invisibility of my candidacy by the local media, by the corporate press. I have to say this, because unfortunately there have been moments on television programs on the main local channels in Puerto Rico where they mention the certified candidates for the Senate by accumulation, and particularly, the independent candidates, and they leave my name out… That has led to even my supporters, people who have expressed to me that they are going to vote for me, writing to me on my networks asking me if I withdrew from the race because they do not mention my name in the analysis and in the segments, and that is discriminatory because I am already certified, I complied with the endorsements required by electoral law, and I should at least be mentioned on the list of certified candidates,” questioned the independent candidate.
“My question is whether this is a generalization, because it is one thing for a media outlet to have someone like you mention expressing an opinion on certain issues, and another thing is for the media in Puerto Rico to strategically and intentionally say, ‘We are not going to cover Nelson Albino or give him space; that is my question,’” this newspaper asked.
“If the facts were different, I would tell you something different. But, when you have media outlets that call you three times to confirm an interview, and three times they leave you hanging; they don’t even call you to tell you that the interview isn’t going to happen…or when they make a post where the commentator on their social networks shares, ‘meet the independent candidates that are going to be on the ballot,’ and they mention all of them except Nelson Albino…There are so many coincidences and I don’t believe in coincidences, and much less in politics,” he said.
More anti-corruption oversight at local level among their proposals
Among his campaign promises are measures against government corruption, such as empowering the Comptroller General of Puerto Rico with additional powers to file charges, thereby freeing federal authorities from control of the cases.
“Although I have my ideals as a statesman, a Republican, and most of the people who have expressed to me that they are willing to vote for this servant share those ideals; I also have people who are not necessarily Republicans or statesmen, and they will also vote for me. I am a person who comes to the Senate to oversee and create true transparency; not half-way transparency; not half-way oversight. I come to bring proposals such as, for example, giving powers to officials in certain positions such as the Comptroller of Puerto Rico who is empowered by the Constitution to audit officials, but only to present charges, and if there is a violation of law, then he refers it to the Department of Justice which is controlled by the governor on duty with a secretary, which is a position of trust,” he added.
Another of his proposals is to decentralize the Department of Family and Education. He also mentioned his intention to end the “insurance cartel” in reference to the public health and medical personnel crisis on the island.
Keep reading:
Trump’s government program does not mention the issue of status or a plebiscite for Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico: Democratic Party platform includes language for status project without the Commonwealth
“Power 4 Puerto Rico” argues that the Democratic platform is not democratic in terms of the status plebiscite