in partnership with the Center for Puerto Rican Studies (CENTRO) at Hunter College


The State of Puerto Rican Politics: Aquí y Allá
Presented by Amílcar Barreto and Angelo Falcon
 
This page requires a web browser that can display objects. We recommend <I>Netscape Navigator</I>.
MELONISMO IS ALIVE AND WELL -- Green (PIP) on the outside, red (PPD) on the inside

I want to talk about watermelons -- melones. For those of you who know Puerto Rican politics, you know exactly what I'm talking about, others will be slightly puzzled. A watermelon, a fruit that is green on the outside and red on the inside. The colors correspond to the politcal parties of Puerto Rico. Green is the color of the independence party. Red is the color of the pro-Commonwealth party. This year the leaders of the independence movement were saying melonismo is overwith. From here on end, people who claim to be independentistas are actually going to vote for the independence party. We're going to break our record, we're going to get 8 maybe 9 -- who knows maybe 10% of the vote. We're going to stop lending our votes to the Commonwealth party.

Historically, many people with separatist tendencies voted for the the commonwealth party because of fears of what would happen if the statehood party got into power. Well, what happened in the year 2000? Melonismo is alive and well. The independence party got 5.2% of the island-wide vote. When it came to the independence party's at-large seats, the independentistas pulled over 10% of the vote. So there's a huge discrepancy between what the PIP gets for certain legislative seats, especially at large seats and what they get for the governor's race. That tradition has continued.

Something else that's come out of the 2000 elections. Finally, most people understand that despite rumors that the statehood movement has been growing in Puerto Rico, what we see and what we have seen really since the late sixties, are frozen cleavages in Puerto Rico. The commonwealth movement and the statehood movement are extremely close. When it comes to a plebiscite, the commonwealth movement will usually pull a couple of points ahead but really Puerto Rico has an entrenched 2 1/2 party system. Two big parties that get about the same percent of the vote and a small third party. Those numbers have not changed significantly since really the late sixties, early 1970's. Frozen cleavages.

Party loyalty? People are still extremely loyal to their parties and I would say about 95% of the Puerto Rican public on the island votes according to their party. You could have like what recently happened in the Missouri election, a dead man on the ballot but if he's of your party, you will give him the vote. And there's about 5% of the electorate that swings and they could go one way or the other. That's why politicians don't bother usually during many campaigns talking the status question because those who are true statehooders are going to vote PNP, those who are true estado librista will vote for the Partido Popular, regardless. They talk about other issues because really it's those other issue that will appeal to that swing 5% of the electorate.



<< back to lecture excerpt list