Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana: A Shift in Puerto Rican Politics

Citizens celebrate the resignation of former Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rosselló. Photo by Wikimedia Commons.

After the #RickyRenuncia Protests of the summer of 2018, Puerto Ricans were anxious for a change. On top of suffering from the worst hurricane in decades and receiving grossly insufficient aid from the federal government—which, to make matters worse, was then withheld by ex-governor Roselló—the island routinely has its finances mishandled by the Financial Oversight and Management Board (commonly, “the Fiscal Board”) appointed during President Obama’s second term. Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana (M.V.C.), a new third party, drew on the energy of these protests and provided the people with a viable alternative to established status quo politics. Ana Irma Rivera Lassén, an Afro-Puerto Rican civil rights lawyer, formed the party on a platform of progressive policies centering on three main ideas: decolonization, the rescue of current political institutions, and social, economic, environmental and fiscal reconstruction. The M.V.C. was officially certified in September of 2019 by the Puerto Rico State Commission of Elections (C.E.E.). 

Since then the M.V.C. have put up candidates for every position in the island’s elections this year, most notably the gubernatorial candidate, Alexandra Lúgaro. She was an independent candidate to the position of governor in the 2016 elections who presented the biggest challenge the two-party system has seen. Lúgaro won 11.3% of the total vote and sowed the seeds for another run this year. This time around, she ran under the M.V.C. party label. Sharing a common platform with her other party colleagues, she calls for the rejection of the Fiscal Board that has made severe cuts to the island’s budget along with the implementation of a state of emergency to address the increase in femicides from the past couple of years. This marks a separation from the usual platforms of the mainstream political parties on the island which center their differing stances on the political status of the island, arguing for either statehood, free association, or independence. The two dominating parties, the New Progressive Party (P.N.P., the statehood party) and the Popular Democratic Party (P.P.D., the free association/commonwealth party) have been in power since the 1930s, leaving little room for third parties to gain traction of any sort. 

The M.V.C. supports decolonization through a constitutional assembly as the primary self-determination process for Puerto Rico. Shifting the focus from the status of the island to actual policies that address a wide range of issues allows them to expose the weaknesses of the main parties, and raging corruption. The P.N.P. has adopted the language of decolonization to gain support, many of them equating decolonization to joining the union. However, the United States has been the source of many of the island’s economic problems, one of them being the federally-appointed Fiscal Control Board, and there is no guarantee that statehood will relieve us of those problems. Drawing on a progressive-left platform to counter the decades-long “Statehood will save us” narrative presented by the incumbent party, Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana presents an eighteen-chapter Programa de Gobierno (Government Program) that provides policies to address the economic depression and socio-political issues. They prioritized transparency within the government, calling for a complete audit of the island’s finances. They also call for the protection of natural ecosystems, which the incumbent party had begun to sell to private corporations for further development. 

The rapid rise and success of the M.V.C. should not be viewed as a surprise. In addition to their progressive policies, their election night wins can be attributed to tireless organizing and campaigning. Their operations quickly moved to host events online through platforms such as Facebook Live and Zoom. The party also took advantage of phonebanking and online outreach to strengthen their connection with voters, a tactic less common on the island than it is in the States. Additionally, their efforts Lúgaro has 14.21% according to the most recent vote count, up 3% from the previous election. Even better, the party elected two of its members to the Puerto Rican Senate and two of its members to the Puerto Rican House of Representatives. The successes of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (P.I.P.), another third party in this election, should not go unnoticed. Although they’ve been around longer, they came in fourth in the gubernatorial elections, with their candidate Juan Dalmau at 13.72%. Together, Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana and the Puerto Rican Independence Party took up about a third of the total vote, a little less than the winning candidate Pedro Pierluisi of the statehood party, who only won 32.93% of the vote. 

What do the successes of the M.V.C. in this election mean for the island? While many people dismiss the party as only appealing to the younger generations, there is a larger political shift taking place that does not preclude any demographic. This party has given hope to many, catalyzing a refusal to accept the continued inaction by the current government. Puerto Ricans have gone through the most demoralizing events in the island’s recent history: a devastating earthquake, an economic recession that drove many to flee the island, and unforgiving cuts to the public school system and the island’s most notable public university. The moments wherein these individuals should have been allowed to rely on the government to provide necessary assistance, the people in power turned their backs on their constituents, a central theme in the governing style of the two main parties.

A week after the election, 200 boxes of uncounted ballots were found, potentially changing the outcome of many tight races on the island. This type of electoral disaster is not uncommon. Long wait times and the sudden decrease of registration offices have made it extremely difficult for Puerto Ricans to vote. This year’s election has created an unprecedented level of uncertainty and continues to sow doubt in the democratic process, especially when the current President of the C.E.E. only took office in September after his predecessor's resignation People are tired of the corruption, the lack of transparency, and the inefficacy of the government. Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana is one of the two rising challengers, the other being the Puerto Rican Independence Party, to what people see as a system that no longer works. Their successes should not be dismissed as a singular event — in fact, it is emblematic of a larger movement centered around the rejection of the two-party system and the corruption it brings. While this new party is not Puerto Rico’s panacea, it will be vital in holding this next administration accountable. Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana is actively working to end the current two-party system and give the people hope beyond voting the lesser of two evils. 

Serena Tsui is a staff writer at CPR and a rising senior studying Civil Engineering and Political Science at the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.