Rosselló Calls for Statehood During Lulac Annual Convention

Ricardo Rosselló on stage with his daughter, Claudia Beatriz, at the 2016 Lulac convention. (Screengrab from Ricardo Rosselló’s Twitter page)

SAN JUAN – New Progressive Party President and gubernatorial candidate Ricardo Rosselló called for equality and statehood in his speech during the League of United Latin American Citizens’ (Lulac) 87th Annual National Convention in Washington, D.C.

Rosselló was guest speaker at the Presidential Awards Banquet, along with U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

“It is time to fight and unite to ensure Puerto Rico becomes the first Latin American state of the United States,” Rosselló said.

“Everyone knows the difficult economic situation Puerto Rico is going through, but now is the time to exit the crisis like a phoenix, to achieve that Puerto Rico becomes the first Hispanic state of the American nation,” the politician said to cheering attendees

He took the opportunity to speak about the plan he proposes to turn Puerto Rico into a “global destination, not only in tourism, but also in healthcare, education and investment.”

Rosselló also issued a warning to the federal government, saying it “cannot talk about the struggle for democracy in Venezuela and Cuba when denying those same rights to the American citizens who live in Puerto Rico.”

Lulac’s 2016 convention ends Sunday. The event is the oldest and largest gathering of Latino leaders in the U.S. This year’s event featured a keynote address by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Housing Secretary Julián Castro, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy and U.S. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer also addressed issues of concern to the Latino community.

Other government officials such as Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack also spoke at the convention.

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