Benicio Del Toro is calling for new political power for Puerto Rico.

The 51-year-old actor says intermittent blackouts since Hurricane Maria last year could be mitigated if the island's residents had the ability to vote for president or had a representative in the U.S. Congress.

"The issue with Puerto Rico is a little bit more complicated than just about the hurricane," Del Toro said of his home island. "For the last 100 years – the fact that citizens, American citizens that live on the island don't have a voice in Congress and don't have a voice for their president. They can't vote for their president. That's confusing. That needs to change."  

Del Toro lives in Southern California but visited the island after Hurricane Maria and has many relatives there, including his father. As for the U.S. territory's power problems, Del Toro says: "Management could be better if those American citizens have their voice heard."

Del Toro - who had roles in the last "Avengers" and "Star Wars" movies - spoke at the recent CinemaCon theatre owners convention in Las Vegas, where he was promoting a sequel to his 2015 thriller "Sicario."