Liza Fernández Rodríguez is a Puerto Rican attorney and politician affiliated with the New Progressive Party (PNP). Fernández was a member of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico from 2005 to 2012, and of the Senate of Puerto Rico from 2012 to 2013. In December 2012, after her electoral defeat, Fernández was confirmed as a Superior Judge.
Luisa "Piti" Gándara Menéndez is a Puerto Rican politician and wife of former Governor of Puerto Rico Aníbal Acevedo Vilá. As Acevedo Vilá's wife, Gándara served as First Lady from 2005 to 2009. In 2013, Gándara was elected by the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) to fill the vacancy left by Jorge Colberg Toro as representative at-large in the 29th House of Representatives.
The 16th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico will meet from January 2, 2009, to January 1, 2013. All members of the House of Representatives and the Senate were elected in the General Elections of 2008. The House and the Senate both have a majority of members from the New Progressive Party.
Héctor Jose Ferrer Ríos was a Puerto Rican politician and attorney. He served as a legislator in the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico from 2001 to 2012 for three consecutive terms. He was the president of the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico (PPD) from 2008 to 2011, and later from 2017 to October 2018
Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto is a Puerto Rican politician who served as mayor of the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico from 2013 to 2020. From 2009 through 2013, Cruz served in the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico.
Jorge Colberg Toro is a Puerto Rican politician, a former Member of the House of Representatives and a College Professor. He served as a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives from 2003 to 2013. He also was Secretary for Public Affairs for the former governors Sila M. Calderon and Alejandro García Padilla and Secretary General of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP). Currently, he is a Government and Public Policy College Professor at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, a political, legislative and government consultant, speechwriter and a TV & Radio political analyst.
Brenda López de Arrarás is a Puerto Rican politician. She was a member of the Puerto Rico Chamber of Representatives from 2009 until 2021, and is affiliated to the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) and served as the party's vice president. She was the first woman, who reached that position, unanimously elected.
Severo E. Colberg Ramírez (1924–1990) was a Puerto Rican politician. He served as a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, and was the Speaker from 1982 to 1985. He was affiliated to the Popular Democratic Party (PPD).
Oreste Ramos Díaz is a Puerto Rican intellectual, lawyer, politician and former senator. He served as a member of the Senate of Puerto Rico from 1977 to 1996, representing the New Progressive Party (PNP).
The 25th Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the 17th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico and will meet from January 2, 2013, to January 1, 2017. All members were elected in the General Elections of 2012. The Senate has a majority of members from the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). The body is counterparted by the 29th House of Representatives of Puerto Rico in the lower house.
The free association movement in Puerto Rico refers to initiatives throughout the history of Puerto Rico aimed at changing the current political status of Puerto Rico to that of a sovereign freely associated state. Locally, the term soberanista refers to someone that seeks to redefine the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States to that of a compact with full sovereignty. The term is mostly used in reference to those that support a compact of free association or a variation of this formula, commonly known as Estado Libre Asociado (ELA) Soberano, between Puerto Rico and the United States. Members of the independence movement that are willing to pursue alliances with this ideology are occasionally referred to as such, but are mostly known as independentistas. Consequently, soberanismo then became the local name for the free association movement.
Eduardo Ferrer Ríos is a Puerto Rican politician. He was elected to the Puerto Rico House of Representatives in the 2012 general election. Ferrer is the brother of former Representative and President of the PPD Héctor Ferrer.
María Milagros Charbonier Laureano is a Puerto Rican lawyer and politician. She was elected to the Puerto Rico House of Representatives on the 2012 general election. She also served as Secretary General of the New Progressive Party (PNP). She is known for her controversial views against the LGBT community. She was arrested by the FBI in August 2020, and faces 13 charges of corruption for numerous crimes, which include theft and money laundering, perpetrated specifically through a kickback scheme.
Jorge Luis Navarro Suárez is a Puerto Rican politician affiliated with the New Progressive Party (PNP). He has been a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives since 2004 representing District 5.
Víctor L. Parés Otero is a Puerto Rican politician affiliated with the New Progressive Party (NPP). He replaced Liza Fernández as a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives from 2012 to 2013 representing District 4.
Manuel Natal Albelo is a former member of the 29th House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. Natal is currently affiliated with the Citizen's Victory Movement party after being previously affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party and a legal advisor for Charlie Hernández, another member of the House, before becoming a legislator. He was a member of the free association movement, colloquially known as soberanistas. Elected at the age of 27, Natal is one of the youngest legislators in the history of Puerto Rico and was the youngest legislator to serve at the time of his election. He was the Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana party's nominee in the 2020 San Juan mayoral election, which he lost to senator Miguel Romero of the New Progressive Party.
During the first two decades of the 21st Century, the concept of a sovereign form of association has experienced its largest growth since it was first proposed. The 2000s marked the first time that an incumbent governor ran on a platform advocating sovereignty, when Aníbal Acevedo Vilá did so for the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). The term soberanista was popularized as a consequence, and the ideological breach within the party widened as the conservative wing backed the territorial Commonwealth. During the 2010s, free association recorded its best performance at the polls, finishing as runner-up of the 2012 status referendum. This decade also marked the first time that another party presented supporters of free association in the ballot, with the participation of the Movimiento Unión Soberanista (MUS).
Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana (MVC) is a Puerto Rican political party founded in 2019. It ran in the 2020 General Elections on an anti-colonialism platform, proposing a constitutional assembly to determine a final decision regarding the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico.
The 2020 Puerto Rican general elections was held on November 3, 2020 to elect the officials of the Puerto Rican government who will serve from January 2021 to January 2025, most notably the position of Governor and Resident Commissioner. In addition, there was also a non-binding status referendum to ask voters if Puerto Rico should become the 51st state of the Union.
A special election to elect shadow senators and shadow representatives from Puerto Rico was held on May 16, 2021. Voters chose two special delegates to the United States Senate and four special delegates to the United States House of Representatives. Their work is to demand that the US Congress respect and enforce the results of the 2020 status referendum, and admit Puerto Rico as the 51st state of the Union.
