The Working People's Party ( or PPT) was a Puerto Rican

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

political party. It was founded on December 5, 2010, in the city of

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 ...

, by a group of activists, students, teachers, professors, union workers, actors, and public and private employees. As of 2016, the party had no opinion on the issue of the

political status of Puerto Rico The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico () is an unincorporated territory of the United States. As such, the archipelago and island of Puerto Rico is neither a sovereign nation nor a U.S. state. The U.S. Constitution does not apply directly or un ...

, instead saying that they believe the decision should be made by the people of Puerto Rico in a referendum. The party was de facto dissolved in late 2016 after opting not to renew its registration, with most of its members joining the

Citizens' Victory Movement (, generally abbreviated as MVC) is a Puerto Rican political party founded in 2019. It ran in the 2020 general elections on an anti-colonial platform, proposing a constitutional assembly to determine a final decision regarding the relationsh ...

Certification

The party worked to get the 100,000 endorsements required by the new electoral law of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

in order to enroll with the

Puerto Rico State Commission on Elections The Puerto Rico State Commission on Elections (, CEEPR or CEE-PUR) is the government agency of the executive branch of the government of Puerto Rico that oversees and manages elections in Puerto Rico as well as guaranteeing the right to vote to it ...

(CEE). On June 1, 2012, the CEE (Comisión Estatal de Elecciones) certified the PPT as an official party after getting the required number of endorsements.

Electoral performance

The party's candidate for

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Rafael Bernabe Riefkohl Rafael Bernabe Riefkohl (born 5 March 1959) is a Puerto Rican historian, sociologist, professor and politician who currently serves as a member of the Puerto Rico Senate representing the Citizens’ Victory Movement since 2021. He was the candid ...

, obtained more than 17,000 votes in the November 6, 2012 election, turning the party into the fourth most-voted political force in that electoral event. Their campaign slogan was: "Para romper el cerco electoral, abre paso, vota PPT", which roughly translates as "To break the electoral barrier, take a step, vote PPT". In 2016, Rafael Bernabe was once again the PPT candidate for governor. Mariana Nogales was the candidate for

Resident Commissioner Resident commissioner was or is an official title of several different types of commissioners, who were or are representatives of any level of government. Historically, they were appointed by the British Crown in overseas protectorates (such a ...

. Bernabe received 5,373 votes for governor (0.34% of the vote), finishing in 6th and last place. Nogales received 18,871 votes for resident commissioner (1.29% of the vote) and finished 4th.

References

{{Authority control 2010 establishments in Puerto Rico 2016 disestablishments in Puerto Rico Defunct democratic socialist parties in the United States Defunct political parties in Puerto Rico Left-wing nationalist parties Political history of Puerto Rico Political parties disestablished in 2016 Political parties established in 2010 Socialism in Puerto Rico State and local socialist parties in the United States