Puerto Rico delegates at odds over DNC platform despite unanimous support for Harris

The DNC platform backed a bill that left out Puerto Rico's current territorial status, while the RNC platform omitted explicit support for statehood for Puerto Rico from their platform.

Puerto Rican delegates at the Democratic and Republican national conventions backed their respective presidential nominees, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump — even though both parties changed their official platforms on Puerto Rico, not aligning with some delegates' views on statehood or the future of Puerto Rico.

The platform approved at the Democratic convention in Chicago this week states the party’s explicit support for a bipartisan bill that seeks to change Puerto Rico’s territorial relationship to the U.S. through a federally binding vote — leaving out Puerto Rico's current territorial option.

Under the terms of the bill, known as the Puerto Rico Status Act, Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. territory would choose among three nonterritorial status options: statehood, independence and sovereignty in free association with the U.S.

By contrast, Democrats broadly included Puerto Rico's current territorial status in their 2020 and 2016 platforms, saying it should be up to the people of Puerto Rico to determine their status.

Last month, the Republican platform removed language supporting Puerto Rican statehood, which it had included in 2020 and 2016.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/dnc-platform-puerto-rico-statehood-rnc-status-rcna167783

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