pedro rosselló, governor of puerto rico (1993-2001)
the npp came power in 1993 when pedro rosselló, pediatric surgeon had been unsuccessful congressional candidate in 1988, became governor defeating luis muñoz marín s daughter, senator victoria muñoz mendoza, pdp candidate governor.
rosselló launched anti-crime campaign known mano dura contra el crimen ( strong hand against crime ) in puerto rico national guard used assist island police force. during pedro j. rosselló s term, number of large-scale infrastructure projects undertaken, including tren urbano (metro rail system), superaqueduct , construction of puerto rico convention center , puerto rico coliseum. policies included push toward privatization of public entities , free health care poor.
he led npp in campaign puerto rican statehood in 1993 in locally enacted plebiscites held consult puerto rican public on position regarding political status of island united states. supported proposal referendum in puerto rico define political status of island. however, bill died in committee in u.s. senate. nevertheless, rosselló carried out plebiscite in 1998 gave electors 4 options plus fifth one, none of above . opposing popular democratic party led campaign boycott plebiscite, charging structured favor ruling npp party s statehood goals, , called electorate vote none of above option. boycott successful, none of above column garnered more votes of other options. rosselló, however, argued before congress statehood had obtained more votes of other political status options in plebiscite claimed fifth option ( none of above ) undefined vote in terms of status.
in 1996 elections, npp candidate, rosselló, defeated opponent héctor luis acevedo (pdp), mayor of san juan @ time, , representative david noriega (pip), second term, after obtaining more 1 million votes , largest landslide of gubernatorial candidate since 1964.
in 1998, sale of state-owned puerto rico telephone company (prtc) gte $1.9 billion led general strike organized labor unions , backed opposition forces. rosselló s popularity along npp s took hit due backlash, several major corruption cases.
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