PnP

"The PNP wanted to minimise, as much as possible, the killings of people involved or engaged in drug activities," Azurin said.

PNP leader Mark Golding, asked by Reuters about the witness testimony, said: "I am not aware of this, and I've never seen anything at any PNP meeting to suggest that there is any truth to this allegation."

The currently dominant New Progressive Party, or PNP, favors statehood.

The PNP’s Pedro Pierluisi won with just 33 percent of the votes.

On March 2, Rep. Darren Soto, a Democrat from Florida, and Jenniffer González, Puerto Rico’s nonvoting congressional representative and a PNP member who caucuses with the Republicans, introduced a statehood bill with 49 co-sponsors.