Protesters March Against Federal Oversight Board

And in Puerto Rico, activists took to the streets for an Election Day protest against a federally appointed oversight control board with sweeping powers to run Puerto Rico’s economy. Jocelyn Velázquez of the Promises Are Over movement helped organize the protest.

Jocelyn Velázquez: "Today we celebrate the elections in Puerto Rico, and it is a futile exercise, because there is an oversight control board imposed by the United States government that is going to take the transcendental decisions about our future. It was indispensable not only to take this demand to the national level, but take it to the international level, too. In Puerto Rico, there is no democracy and no participation. The electoral exercise is simply a pantomime of what a democracy is."

On Tuesday, Puerto Ricans elected Ricardo Rosselló of the New Progressive Party as governor. Rosselló is a conservative who strongly favors U.S. statehood for Puerto Rico.

Protesters March Against Federal Oversight Board