Although she didn’t officially announce her campaign, a Primera Hora interview with San Juan mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz published on Tuesday said that she will very likely running for governor of Puerto Rico in 2020, either as the official nominee of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) or through a new organization.
“The answer to that question is yes… there is an evaluation process that has not closed the doors to a candidacy for governor,” Yulín Cruz said in Spanish. “But it will be for something different. To transform the country. It won’t be for more of the same. It will be to create alliances, to open up new spaces…”
The interview noted that Yulín Cruz was very critical of the current PPD, the island’s pro-commonwealth party of which she is part of. In the interview, Yulín Cruz was calling for a new way to look at Puerto Rico’s problems, instead of relying on how traditional politics and the island’s political class have failed the island. Here is a clip in Spanish from the interview:
Since Hurricane María struck Puerto Rico more than six months ago, Yulín Cruz has garnered national and global attention for her public critiques of President Trump and pro-statehood Puerto Rico governor Ricardo Rosselló. Previously, Yulín Cruz has played down running for governor.
“I have said that this is not the time for political calculations,” she told Al Jazeera in March.
The latest decision by Yulín Cruz came around the same time that she and other Puerto Rican women in politics called for an end to the Fiscal Control Board.
Colectivo compuesto por @CarmenYulinCruz @marialourdespip @mariluguzmanMUS @elartedemorir Wilma Reverón y @AlexandraLugaro anuncia pedirá audiencia en el Congreso para pedir derogación de PROMESA. “Nos disponemos a asumir esa responsabilidad”. Mira el comunicado pic.twitter.com/JaKi0SstQh
— Julio Rivera-Saniel (@riverasaniel) April 2, 2018
