Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) secretary general Juan Dalmau Ramírez warned that the new Democratic majority in the US Congress leaves Puerto Rico at a disadvantage because the island is governed by figures who have aligned themselves with Republican Trumpism. Speaking on NotiUno 630’s 'Normando en la Mañana' the day after the midterm elections, Dalmau pointed to Governor Jenniffer González Colón, Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz and the House speaker as self-declared Trumpist Republicans, saying this could mean less access to congressional initiatives on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Medicaid, Medicare, recovery funds and energy.
With Democrats controlling both chambers, he said Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández Rivera 'is out of excuses’ and directly questioned whether he supports ICE continuing to operate in Puerto Rico, whether he backs eliminating the Fiscal Control Board, and whether he will move on Medicaid and Medicare. Dalmau called González Colón’s government corrupt without qualification, citing the cases of Francisco Domenech, Verónica Ferraiuoli and Family Department Secretary Suzanne Roig, plus the death of a 4-year-old child days after entering that agency’s custody.
He also criticized campaign fundraising during crises over water and power, said the nearly $4 million in the governor’s committee concerns him for its origins rather than its size, and described the PNP feud between González Colón and Rivera Schatz as a fight for access to power. Reviewing his own record as a gubernatorial candidate, 2.7% in 2012, 14% in 2020 and 31% in 2024, Dalmau said he does not shun his responsibility in future processes toward a broader alliance, said his cabinet would include people of different affiliations chosen on merit, such as former federal police monitor Arnaldo Claudio and emergency management official 'Nino' Correa, whom the governor removed.
He said the new Democratic majority offers a chance to revive the status debate and that his US ties do not include House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries: 'I don’t have to fill anyone’s suitcases with money.'