A 51‑member advisory council is approved to advance statehood push.

Longtime statehood advocate and former San Juan Mayor Hernán Padilla warned that the statehood cause cannot advance without organized, sustained work both in Puerto Rico and in the states.

By THE STAR STAFF

A group of veteran advocates for Puerto Rico statehood convened by attorney Gregorio Igartúa has approved a resolution to create a 51‑member Statehood Advisory Council (Consejo Asesor de la Estadidad) composed exclusively of leaders 65 years and older who would advise on political, educational and congressional outreach efforts to advance the island territory’s admission as a U.S. state.

The proposal stemmed from frustration with the New Progressive Party (NPP) over its setting aside of efforts to achieve statehood, Igartúa said. Last week, President Donald Trump stated that granting statehood to Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. would be a “disaster” for the United States. He claimed that admitting them as states would add four Democratic senators, dramatically impacting the Electoral College, and warned that Democrats would immediately eliminate the filibuster to achieve this. 

Igartúa, a longtime advocate for island statehood and a Republican, blasted Trump over his remarks, saying that it would be illegal to condition how Puerto Ricans will vote as a prerequisite for statehood.

The resolution, presented during a gathering of longtime pro-statehood leaders at a restaurant in San Juan on Friday, seeks to formalize a high‑level committee of senior figures with decades of political and organizational experience.

According to the document, the council would serve as a permanent ideological and strategic advisory group, working alongside the NPP’s existing Misión Estadista structure to strengthen the movement’s messaging, historical continuity and national outreach.

The committee, so far, has 12 members. They are former San Juan Mayor Hernán Padilla, attorney Luis Batista Salas, Peter Muller, former Sen. Orlando Parga, publicist Pedro Rivera Casiano, Héctor Ramos, Francisco “Pompi” González, former Puerto Rico Supreme Court Justice Edgardo Rivera, Tiody de Jesús, Helcías Bermúdez, Ivette Chardón and Igartúa.

“You have become the wise people of statehood,” said Padilla, urging attendees to assume a more active role beyond attending periodic meetings. He was accompanied by his daughter, Ingrid Padilla, who said the pro-statehood movement has to bring the eight million Puerto Ricans living in the mainland toward the statehood cause.

Hernán Padilla, one of the movement’s most influential elder statesmen, warned that the statehood cause cannot advance without organized, sustained work both on the island and in the states. He emphasized that the NPP’s mission must extend “beyond” Puerto Rico and that older leaders have a responsibility to mentor younger advocates and mobilize diaspora communities.

“Statehood is the reason we have a political party. … Statehood is the reason for the New Progressive Party,” he said. “And if statehood is the reason for the New Progressive Party, something is wrong because we are not enough to mobilize Puerto Rico.”.

Igartúa, who has long pushed for federal recognition of Puerto Rico as an incorporated territory, framed the new council as a necessary evolution for a movement that, he argued, must modernize its structure and strategy.

The resolution calls for members to advise on congressional engagement, develop educational programs, preserve the movement’s historical record, and recommend recognition of distinguished “estadistas” as official “próceres” (founding fathers).

Muller, who read the resolution aloud creating the committee, said the NPP’s upcoming 60th anniversary underscores the need for institutional renewal. He described the group as “yesterday’s youth” -- leaders with the experience and political memory to guide the next phase of the statehood campaign.

“We have to be more proactive,” Muller told the audience. “... I don’t want to stay at home waiting for others to do the work.”