Argeo T. Quiñones-Pérez and Ian J. Seda-Irizarry discuss in this piece the crisis in Puerto Rico. Austerity is being imposed with dire consequences for the population. The Democratic primary, won by Hillary last night, divided the left. Quiñones and Seda suggested that Bernie was the hope of those that wanted to start the process of decolonization. In their words:

Electoral culture here has it that the vote should not be wasted. Regarding presidential hopefuls, Puerto Rican Democrats will probably favor Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders, although the latter has a more progressive stance on the island’s issues. The 2008 Democratic primaries in Puerto Rico gave Clinton a victory by a two to one margin over Barack Obama. Among the pro-independence and socialist left there is an ongoing debate about whether participating in Democratic primaries and voting for Sanders is a good and acceptable option. People supporting this alternative understand that with Sanders there is a greater possibility of starting a decolonizing process.

A more detailed discussion of the crisis by the same authors is available here in their paper “Wealth Extraction, Governmental Servitude, and Social Disintegration in Colonial Puerto Rico.”