List of political parties in Puerto Rico

According to Puerto Rico Electoral Laws[1], the State recognizes any political party with 5% or more of the total voters.

Table of contents

1 Major parties 2 Other parties 3 Past parties 4 Political organizations 5 External links 5.1 Official sites 6 References

Major parties

Historically, there have been three major political parties in Puerto Rico:

Name (in English)	Local name (in Spanish)	Current leader	Abbreviation (in Spanish)	Ideology
New Progressive Party	Partido Nuevo Progresista	Pedro Rosselló	PNP	pro-US statehood
Popular Democratic Party	Partido Popular Democrático	Aníbal Acevedo Vilá	PPD	pro-commonwealth
Puerto Rican Independence Party	Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño	Rubén Berríos	PIP	pro-independence

The PPD and PNP have exchanged the Governor's seat since 1948, but the PIP has also had an impact on the election: many consider that the small group of PIP voters could have made a difference as to which of the other two major parties won some of the close elections. This latter phenomena is locally referred to as the watermelons (or melones in Spanish), because of the party colors of those who vote for the PPD (red) but in reality support the PIP (green).

Other parties

Name (in English)	Current leader	Ideology
National Democratic Party of Puerto Rico	Celeste Benitez	part of the U.S. Democratic Party
National Republican Party of Puerto Rico	Tiody de Jesus	part of the U.S. Republican Party

Past parties

Name (in English)	Local name (in Spanish)	Abbreviation (in Spanish)	Members nickname	Time Lapse
Puerto Rican Socialist Party	Partido Socialista Puertorriqueño	PSP	socialistas (socialists in English)	1970s, 1980s
Puerto Rican Renewal Party	Partido Renovación Puertorriqueño	PRP	renovacionistas	mid 1980s

Political organizations

• National Hostosian Congress - Congreso Nacional Hostosiano (umbrella organization for pro-independence activists)
• New Independence Movement - Nuevo Movimiento Independentista
• Pro ELA (in favor of a freely associated republic status)
• United Statehooders - Estadistas Unidos

External links

• CIA World Factbook: Puerto Rico
• Elections in Puerto Rico

Official sites

• Commonwealth Elections Commission of Puerto Rico (see: General Information)
• Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
• Puerto Rican Independence Party

References

1. Central Intelligence Agency (USA). The World Factbook (2003). United States of America.
2. Commonwealth Elections Commission of Puerto Rico (2003). Puerto Rico Electoral Law. Puerto Rico.