Around the time the 100th anniversary of the invasion of Puerto Rico by American forces during the Spanish–American War was about to be celebrated (or protested, depending on someone's political view) in 1998, NPP Secretary of State (and later senator) Norma Burgos suggested in a newspaper article, that Puerto Ricans such as Julio J. Henna had petitioned United States president William McKinley for an invasion, as to relieve Puerto Ricans of Spanish rule. In her article, she wanted to open the debate on whether Henna and other petitioners actually wanted McKinley to annex Puerto Rico to the United States and that, by using that as an excuse, McKinley had consented. In other words, Burgos established the theory of Puerto Rico being "invaded by invitation" by American troops.