Puerto Rico mayor, Trump critic announces run for governor
ASSOCIATED PRESS / 2017
In this photo, San Juan, Puerto Rico Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz attends a House Democratic Leaders news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Cruz announced today that she is running for governor of the U.S. territory.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico >> The mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital announced today that she is running for governor of the U.S. territory.
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz is a polarizing figure who became an outspoken critic of U.S. President Donald Trump after Hurricane Maria hit in September 2017 as a Category 4 storm.
“Trump and his followers here and over there clung to the idea that everything was fine,” she said during her speech to supporters as they clapped.
Cruz also is a co-chair for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign and was a nominee for TIME Magazine’s 2017 Person of the Year. She said that if elected, she plans to hold a constitutional assembly to decide the future of Puerto Rico’s political status.
Cruz also said she wants to eliminate a federal control board overseeing the island’s finances and allow government agencies to declare bankruptcy if needed, among other things. Puerto Rico is mired in a 12-year recession and trying to restructure some of its more than $70 billion public debt.
Cruz is a member of the Popular Democratic Party, which supports the island’s commonwealth status.
She will face Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party in general elections of November 2020. Rossello is seeking a second term.
