Rising Youth Support for Puerto Rican Independence Challenges Mainstream U.S. Narratives

Kamala Harris referenced Puerto Rico’s status in a speech that largely focused on the Electoral College and the Supreme Court, while media coverage sidelined her comment. Rafael Bernabe’s new work, Obstinate Star, asserts that the island’s independence cause is experiencing a resurgence, especially among youth, exemplified by Juan Dalmau’s near-31 percent vote share in the 2024 gubernatorial election. The narrative recounts historic figures such as Ramón Emeterio Betances, Eugenio María de Hostos, and Antonio Valero, linking early anti-colonial uprisings to later alliances with Cuban revolutionaries and Latin American leftists.

Bernabe also examines the shifting strategies of groups like the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, the Puerto Rican Socialist Party, and the Pro-Independence Movement, noting their varied relationships with U.S. leftist organizations. The analysis concludes that the independence movement remains ideologically diverse and that understanding its history is essential for U.S. progressives engaging with the Puerto Rican diaspora.