At a time when the Popular Democratic Party (PDP), the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PRIP), the Working People’s Party (PPT, by its Spanish acronym), and other political organizations have decreed a boycott, representatives from the Movimiento Amplio Soberanista (‘Large Sovereignty Movement’, or MAS, by its Spanish acronym) and the MARCHEMOS movement told the governor they would be participating in the plebiscite to represent the alternatives for free association and independence.

Rosselló Nevares met in Fortaleza with MAS representative Iván Rivera and Michael González of MARCHEMOS, in order to talk about the importance of bringing a decolonizing message to the United States government and representing each one of the alternatives.

González has long-time ties with the governor, since both he and Rosselló Nevares belonged to a group called ‘Boricua, ahora es!’. Meanwhile, Rivera has long been acquainted with current Secretary of Public Affairs Ramón Rosario, since they both participated in the Radio Isla program ‘Hablando claro’.

‘It’s very important to be clear for the record. ‘Boricua ahora es’ was a cross-sectional movement that included the participation of people favoring independence and sovereignty. I think there are corporate members of the Popular Party who insist that ‘Boricua ahora es’ was Dr. Ricardo Rosselló’s launching pad to obtain the governor’s seat, and that is not true. ‘Boricua ahora es’ was our project towards decolonization,’ González asserted.

In 2012, ‘Boricua, ahora es!’ advocated for a status change in the island through a plebiscite gathering the decolonization ideologies of independence, statehood, and free association, as recognized by international law. This was also Rosselló’s entryway to his candidacy for governor with the New Progressive Party.

This group—led by Rosselló, and constituted by Joel Isaac Díaz (free association), Michael González Cruz (independence), Carlos R. Ruiz Cortés (independence), Edwin Pagán (statehood), the late Professor Luis Delgado (sovereignty), and others—sought to ‘inform and insist before the US Congress that 54% of Puerto Rican voters had made their choice against being a United States territory. If they wanted us to speak up, we did,’ explained ALAS chairman, Dr. Gladys Escalona.

González explained that MARCHEMOS is a political action committee established to educate, mobilize, and defend independence.

‘The only way we have to effectively fight the Fiscal Control Board is to vote for independence on June 11. It’s true that the mainland’s government in Washington put their foot down by forcing the Puerto Rican government, the governor, and the legislature to include the colonial form of government in this ballot,’ González commented after the meeting.

‘However, I, as an independence supporter, couldn’t care less if the plebiscite has the colonial endorsement or not, because both plebiscites are tainted by colonialism, which is a crime against humanity,’ he added, stating that this referendum gives Puerto Ricans the chance to eliminate Puerto Rico’s colonial status.

For his part, Samuel Quiñones García, president of the MARCHEMOS movement, defended González and claimed that ‘there’s a smear campaign from people who don’t want us to defend independence, because they believe they have the exclusive right to defend this ideal.’

‘But I have to mention the fact that he joined partisans for Free Association; It’s libelous and slanderous for anyone to say that, since this man is friends with the governor—his political rival—, we are not defending independence,’ he affirmed.

For his part, the governor emphasized today that his trip to Washington D.C. with Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz was meant to inform the US Congress on the works done in the island regarding the plebiscite and the amendments made to it, based on the recommendations issued by the US Justice Department.

‘We spoke with both Republican and Democrat leaders, and we told them we would be calling them to action in regards to this issue (the plebiscite),’ Rosselló concluded.