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SAN JUAN — Two prominent surrogates of Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton stumped for the candidates Wednesday, a sign of how important this U.S. island territory's primary next month has become.
Michelle Obama toured the capital of San Juan for her husband, who remains in a marathon fight for the Democratic presidential nomination. Her first visit to the island coincided with Chelsea Clinton's second trip here to pitch her mother's candidacy.
In the city's colonial district, Michelle Obama greeted the steering committee for her husband's campaign. She said only Puerto Ricans should decide whether the island will continue its commonwealth status, become a U.S. state or opt for independence.
"That's an issue that should be decided by the voters here. Self-determination is a critical part of democracy," Michelle Obama told a local TV reporter.
Much of Puerto Rican politics revolve around the island's relationship to Washington, with islanders about evenly divided on the issue.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy denied Chelsea Clinton permission to campaign on a former bombing range on the outlying island of Vieques. The range was closed in April 2003 after years of protests over two errant bombs that killed a security guard.
Hillary Clinton's campaign wanted to use the site as a setting to discuss her plan to clean up the land and give some of it to residents. But Navy spokeswoman Lt. Lara Bollinger said no one is allowed to campaign on federal property.
Instead, the former first daughter held an event nearby and spoke with residents about her mother's concerns and plans for Vieques and the island of Culebra, campaign spokesman Philippe Reines said.
Hillary Clinton has run much stronger among Hispanics throughout the campaign, but Obama is contesting the Spanish-speaking commonwealth, which holds one of the last primaries on June 1 with 55 delegates at stake.
Obama has 1,887 delegates, leaving him just 139 short of the 2,026 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination. Clinton has 1,718 delegates, according to the latest tally by The Associated Press.
Obama, an Illinois senator, suffered an embarrassment here earlier this year when his most prominent Puerto Rican supporter, Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila, was charged with conspiring to violate federal campaign laws, defraud the IRS and give false testimony to the FBI.
As one of seven superdelegates from the island, Acevedo will cast one of Puerto Rico's 63 votes at the Democratic convention. The total includes one delegate who will be named later.
