The Republican Party of Puerto Rico () is the local affiliate of the national

United States Republican Party The Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), is a Right-wing politics, right-wing political parties in the United States, political party in the United States. One of the Two-party system, two major parties, it emerged as t ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. The affiliation started in 1903. The party does not participate in the November elections mandated by the Constitution of Puerto Rico for local registered political parties because it is not a registered party in Puerto Rico for local electoral purposes. Instead, the party holds its own elections to select the Puerto Rico delegates to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...

and holds

presidential primaries Each of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five territories of the United States holds either primary elections or caucuses to help nominate individual candidates for president of the United States. This process is designed t ...

on the last Sunday of February. The Republican Party of Puerto Rico's ideology supports

statehood A state is a political entity that regulates society and the population within a definite territory. Government is considered to form the fundamental apparatus of contemporary states. A country often has a single state, with various administrat ...

for Puerto Rico. The local affiliate is based in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

History

The origin of the Republican Party of Puerto Rico can be traced to the aftermath of the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

. Once the Spanish–American War came to an end in 1898, Puerto Rico became a territory of the United States. At that point, the former Spanish colonial-era parties that existed in Puerto Rico were forced to redefine themselves given the new political reality created by the change in sovereignty. On July 4, 1899, the dissenting wing of one of such parties, the Partido Autonomista (

Autonomist Party The Autonomist Party (; ) was an Italian-Dalmatianist political party in the Dalmatian political scene, that existed for around 70 years of the 19th century and until World War I. Its goal was to maintain the autonomy of the Kingdom of Dalmati ...

), which had just formed

Partido Autonomista Ortodoxo Partido, partidista and partidario may refer to: * Spanish for a political party, people who share political ideology or who are brought together by common issues Territorial subdivision * Partidos of Buenos Aires, the second-level administrative ...

in 1897, founded a party with an ideology of annexation to the United States and called it Partido Republicano de Puerto Rico (Republican Party of Puerto Rico). This new party favored joining the United States as a federated state and was led by Dr.

José Celso Barbosa José Celso Barbosa Alcala (July 27, 1857 – September 21, 1921) was a Puerto Rican physician, sociologist and political leader. Known as the father of the statehood movement in Puerto Rico, Barbosa was the first Puerto Rican, and one of th ...

. In 1903 the Republican Party of Puerto Rico affiliated itself with the U.S. Republican Party. In 1924 Partido Republicano de Puerto Rico split into two factions: one faction joined with the Union Party to form the Alianza (The Alliance), a pro-autonomy group, and the other faction, renamed itself ''

Partido Republicano Puro Partido Republicano Puro (Pure Republican Party), also known as Partido Constitucional Histórico, was a political party that existed in Puerto Rico from 1924 to 1932. The party's main goal was the annexation of Puerto Rico into the American Uni ...

'' (Pure Republican Party) and joined with the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

to form the pro-statehood ''

Coalición The Coalition () was an electoral alliance in Puerto Rico. The Coalition was formed in 1924, composed of Partido Republicano Puro and the Socialist Party. It was generally in favor of statehood A state is a political entity that regulates soc ...

'' (The Coalition). The 1924 split brought Partido Republicano de Puerto Rico to an end,Ileana M. Rodriguez Silva. ''Silencing Race: Disentangling blackness, colonialism, and national identities in Puerto Rico.'' Palgrave Macmillan. 2012. p. 19. and ''Coalición'' became the de facto pro-statehood ideology.

Ideology

The Republican Party of Puerto Rico believes in equal and full citizenship rights for U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico, and that this can only be achieved through statehood for Puerto Rico.

Republican presidential primaries 2016 results

Notes

References

External links

Republican Party of Puerto RicoPuerto Rico Statehood Student Association
{{US Congress by State 1899 establishments in Puerto Rico Political parties established in 1899