The president of the PPD, Héctor Ferrer, speaks during press conference June 11, 2017. (Felipe Torres / CB)
SAN JUAN – The president of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP) minority said Monday that the White House shifted the matter of the Puerto Rico status referendum held Sunday by leaving it in the hands of the U.S. Congress.
“The NPP [ruling New Progressive Party] is so desperate that it is celebrating its defeats. The White House position is the same as the federal Justice Department’s, disassociate itself from the results of this rigged plebiscite. [Gov.] Ricardo Rosselló and the NPP leadership have suffered two defeats in less than 24 hours, “Héctor Ferrer said in a written statement released by his office.
Ferrer was reacting to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s answer to a question during a briefing Monday, when he was asked whether President Trump had a reaction to the vote in Puerto Rico, “the nonbinding measure calling for statehood as the first choice of the people for their future?”
“This matter is something that’s going to be determined now that the people have spoken in Puerto Rico. This is something that Congress has to address. So the process will have to work its way out through Congress,” Spicer replied…(read more by Caribbean Business )