By The Star Staff
Popular Democratic Party (PDP) President Jesús Manuel Ortiz González on Tuesday appointed Pablo José Hernández Rivera, the PDP candidate for the resident commissioner post, as the party’s assistant secretary of federal and international affairs.
The appointment was one of the programmatic commitments announced by Ortiz González during his campaign for the party presidency.
According to PDP regulations, the assistant secretary will be responsible for “attending to the affairs of Puerto Rico in the Federal Capital, maintaining direct communication with political parties and other nonpartisan organizations of the United States and other countries that have a social democratic philosophy, similar to that of the Popular Democratic Party.”
Ortiz González said that “many years ago the PDP stopped doing consistent work in Washington, and we are not going to wait for Pablo José to win the resident commissioner post to begin to recover the lost ground.”
“We will work hand in hand on all issues related to economic development, health, security, political status and other efforts that are addressed from the federal capital,” he said.
Hernández Rivera, meanwhile praised Ortiz González as a leader who “keeps his promises” and who has “demonstrated great effectiveness in his beginnings as president,” highlighting among his achievements “the reevaluation of the amendments to the Electoral Code.”
Regarding his appointment, Hernández Rivera said his immediate priorities will be to: 1) prevent the approval of the Puerto Rico Status Act (H.R. 2757); 2) strengthen the relationship with the Democratic Party of the United States; and 3) establish relations with international parties with a social democratic philosophy similar to that of the PDP.
“We will begin work this week, since we will have an event with the leader of the Democratic minority in the House and future speaker, Hakeem Jeffries,” Hernández Rivera said.
The resident commissioner hopeful held a meeting with Jeffries on May 22, in which he urged Democrats to stand firm against Republican-led budget cuts to prevent debt default.
“It is important for Puerto Ricans to know: Non-payment and cuts can affect beneficiaries of Social Security, the PAN [Nutrition Assistance Program], Medicare and the health card, and would put at risk tens of billions of dollars in federal funds for the reconstruction of Puerto Rico,” Hernández Rivera said after that meeting.