The Puerto Rican Independence Party (Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño, PIP) is a Puerto Rican political party that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from United States suzerainty.
The party was founded on October 20, 1946, by Gilberto Concepción de Gracia (1909–1968) and his colleague Fernando Milan Suarez. They felt the independence movement had been "betrayed" by the Partido Popular Democrático, whose ultimate goal had originally been independence.
Those who follow the PIP ideology are usually called independentistas, pipiolos, or sometimes just pro-independence activists in the anglosphere.
During the 2008 elections, the PIP lost official recognition for the second time, obtaining 2.04% of the gubernatorial vote. Loss of recognition was official on January 2, 2009. The minimum vote percentage to keep official recognition is 3.0% as per the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico law. The party also lost both of its seats in the legislature, where they had had one seat in each house.
In May, 2009, the party submitted more than 100,000 signed petitions to the Puerto Rico's elections commission and regained legal status.
During the 2012 elections, the PIP lost official recognition for the third time, obtaining 2.5% of the gubernatorial vote. Loss of recognition will be official on January 2, 2013. The minimum vote percentage to keep official recognition is 3.0% as per the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico law. For the 2016 election, Senator María de Lourdes Santiago was the party's nominee. She obtained 33,452 votes and came in fifth place, with 2.1% of the vote. |
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Leader |
Rubén Berríos MARTINEZ |
Founded |
20 October 1946 |
Party Colour |
Green and white |
Ideology |
Social democracy,
Puerto Rican independence |
Political Position |
Centre-left |
Youth Wing |
Juventud PIP |
Seats in the Senate |
1/30 |
|
Seats in the House of Representatives |
1/51 |
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Seats in the Municipalities |
0/78 |
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Status |
Active |
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