Thursday, February 7, 2013

Who is Alejandro García Padilla? - Suffragio | Last Update: 2.8.13

Last Update: 2.8.13


Polémico el primer mes de García Padilla
El Nuevo Dia.com
A un mes de haber asumido la gobernación, la polémica por la alianza público-privada (APP) del aeropuerto internacional Luis Muñoz Marín parece opacar los aciertos que ha tenido Alejandro García Padilla en sus primeros 30 días de gestión. Asimismo, el ...

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Señalan a Lázaro como responsable
El Nuevo Dia.com
Lázaro, sin embargo, ha indicado que sí lo discutió con el gobernador Alejandro García Padilla. “Aquí lo importante es que nosotros, en la Junta, no vamos a atender ningún aumento de tarifa hasta que se presente un plan de cómo la agencia va a ser más ...

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Who is Alejandro García Padilla? 


Suffragio




Although voters in the United States chose to retain a Republican House of Representatives, a Democratic Senate and a Democratic president in Barack Obama, it wasn’t as good a night for incumbents in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Alejandro García Padilla (pictured above), a Puerto Rican senator, narrowly defeated Puerto Rico’s governor Luis Fortuño in Tuesday’s Puerto Rican gubernatorial election and Fortuño conceded the race earlier this afternoon – with over 96% of the votes counted, García Padilla leads with 47.85% to just 47.04% for Fortuño.
The result will cap what was generally a good night for García Padilla’s Partido Popular Democrático de Puerto Rico (the PPD, Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico), which also took back control of Puerto Rico’s Asamblea Legislativa (Legislative Assembly) from Fortuño’s Partido Nuevo Progresista de Puerto Rico (the PNP, New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico), and which also won the mayoral race in San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital and largest city.
So who is García Padilla? And how will García Padilla will his administration differ from Fortuño’s?
García Padilla, age 41, an attorney and former law professor, was elected to Puerto Rico’s Senate in 2008 as the PPD’s most popular vote-winner. He previously served as the secretary of consumer affairs under former PPD governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá from 2005 to 2008.
García Padilla’s victory first and foremost likely means an end to the austerity policies of his predecessor.
As governor, Fortuño has essentially eliminated Puerto Rico’s $2 billion budget deficit, but he’s done so by cutting public sector jobs and reducing spending on higher education, even while he reduced taxes 50% for individuals and 30% for business. The implementation of his economic program has drawn considerable attention in the United States, and Fortuño himself is somewhat of a star within the Republican Party — he and his wife had primetime speaking roles during the Republican National Convention in August. If Mitt Romney had won Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election, it seemed likely that Fortuño could even be elevated to a cabinet position in a Romney administration.
Fortuño, already on the ropes after losing two referenda earlier in the summer to reduce the number of legislators in Puerto Rico’s legislative assembly and to give judges the right to deny bail in certain murder cases (Puerto Rico, uniquely, entitles everyone to bail regardless of the crime), was never quite a favorite for reelection.
García Padilla ran a stinging campaign against the harshness of Fortuño’s austerity measures in the face of an economic climate even more troubling than on the U.S. mainland — the economy has been in recession for six years, unemployment remains relatively high at 13.6% and the poverty level has reached a staggering 45.6%. Meanwhile, crime is rising steadily, with over 1,000 murders in 2011 alone. Puerto Rico’s GDP per capita of just around $24,000, about half that of the United States, makes it already much less prosperous than the mainland.
That’s in spite of the fact that the wider Caribbean economy is otherwise growing. Puerto Rico is one of the largest islands in the Caribbean — if independent, it would be the fourth-largest country in the region after Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Moreover, its $96.3 billion economy is larger than either Cuba’s ($60.8 billion) or the Dominican Republic’s ($55.6 billion).
Despite Fortuño’s ties to the Republican Party, the PNP in the past has allied with both the Republican and Democratic parties on the mainland; the PPD, however, has always typically supported the Democratic party and García Padilla campaigned in Florida on behalf of Obama’s presidential campaign. As such, the gubernatorial election took on a more ideological contrast than normal, with García Padilla accusing Fortuño of running an ideological experiment with Puerto Rico’s finances.
Politics on the island typically have less to do with traditional U.S. ideological divides than with the Puerto Rico’s status vis-a-vis the United States. Puerto Rico is essentially a U.S. territory, known as a ‘commonwealth’ since 1952, and Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens. Fortuño’s PNP supports statehood, while García Padilla’s PPD essentially favors the status quo as a commonwealth. The much smaller, pro-independence Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño (PIP, Puerto Rico Independence Party) has not historically attracted much support.
As such, despite a qualified victory for statehood in Tuesday’s referendum, García Padilla’s victory further complicates an already cloudy path for Puerto Rico’s eventual statehood hopes. García Padilla has in the past called for a constitutional assembly to address Puerto Rico’s status, and it seems unlikely that García Padilla will spend much time taking up the PNP’s pet cause when voters will be looking to him to create jobs and reduce crime.
It seems much likelier that García Padilla will turn to reversing some of the harshest budget cuts by raising spending on education and public safety, given the PPD’s newly-won control of the legislative assembly. The PPD will now control both Puerto Rico’s Cámara de Representantes (House of Representatives), where it will hold 28 seats to just 23 seats for the PPD, and Puerto Rico’s Senado (Senate) with 18 seats to just eight seats for the PPD and one seat for the PIP.
Aside from the gubernatorial and legislative elections and the referendum, the PNP major of San Juan, Jorge Santini, was defeated after 12 years in office by the PPD’s Carmen Yulín Cruz, a member of Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives since 2009.
In the gubernatorial election, the PIP’s Juan Dalmau Ramírez won just 2.53%.
Fortuño came to office after winning a landslide victory in the 2008 election — he defeated Acevedo Vilá, by around 53% to 41% amid a corruption scandal — Acevedo Vilá was tried on federal charges relating to illegal campaign contributions after leaving office. Although he was found not guilty, the allegations severely hurt Acevedo Vilá and the PPD in the 2008 election.
 
 

Puerto Rico News Review - 2.7.13

Mike Nova's starred items
 


NPR

'Don't Give Up On Us': Puerto Ricans Wrestle With High Crime
NPR
Puerto Rico's population is declining. Faced with a deteriorating economy, increased poverty and a swelling crime rate, many Puerto Ricans are fleeing the island for the U.S. mainland. In a four-part series, Morning Edition explores this phenomenon ...
4 Puerto Rico policemen suspended amid evidence-planting probeWashington Post
Puerto Rico Climbs Most in Year as Redemptions Rise: Muni CreditBloomberg
Puerto Rican Lawmaker Says Airport Lease Will be Bad for IslandHispanically Speaking News
Worcester Telegram
all 9 news articles »
 




Puerto Rico police urged to investigate gay man's death as possible hate crime
Washington Blade
A Puerto Rican LGBT advocate continues to urge local authorities to investigate the murder of a gay hairstylist as a possible hate crime. El Nuevo Día reported on Thursday that Richard Soto Vélez, 20, confessed to killing Milton Medina Morales on Feb ...






Puerto Rico police urged to investigate gay man's death as possible hate crime
Washington Blade
A Puerto Rican LGBT advocate continues to urge local authorities to investigate the murder of a gay hairstylist as a possible hate crime. El Nuevo Día reported on Thursday that Richard Soto Vélez, 20, confessed to killing Milton Medina Morales on Feb ...



via Videos by IH8MACS on 2/7/13
Just some quick random clips from hang gliding in Puerto Rico.
From:IH8MACS
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via alejandro garcia padilla - Google Blog Search by Kevin Lees on 11/7/12
Alejandro García Padilla (pictured above), a Puerto Rican senator, narrowly defeated Puerto Rico's governor Luis Fortuño in Tuesday's Puerto Rican gubernatorial election and Fortuño conceded the race earlier this afternoon ...

UN GIRO RADICAL AL SISTEMA DE JUSTICIA

En medio de una crisis de seguridad, y con las peores cifras en el esclarecimiento y procesamiento criminales, todos los componentes del sistema de justicia -Policía, tribunales y Departamento de Justicia- deben dar un giro radical en su funcionamiento para lograr un clima de garantías que reemplace el clima prevaleciente de impunidad.

La marcha de la intolerancia

ANTONIO QUIÑONES CALDERÓN Enfrentado a las incoherencias del liderato político, y de otras especies, que se daban de continuo en el debate público, mi maestro, Mike Santín, solía repeti

Perlas

Mario Alegre BarriosYa lo he dicho antes: Twitter me roba la paz. No soy ornitólogo, pero estoy convencido de que el avecilla que identifica esa aplicación es todo menos una paloma: no es sosiego lo q

Somos estudiantes del Instituto Tecnológico de Puerto Rico (San Juan). Cada semestre enfrentamos el mismo problema y éste no es la excepción.
Se trata de los sobrantes de la beca federal Pell del semestre pasado (agosto-diciembre 2012) que aún no hemos recibido y tampoco se nos ha dado alguna explicación.
Hemos tratado de comunicarnos con la oficina de Educación Técnica y los resultados han sido infructuosos. Siempre tenemos que esperar hasta diciembre del semestre en curso para poder recibir dicho sobrante, que tampoco comprendemos porque ya que las demás instituciones del país las reciben a mitad de semestre.
Hay estudiantes que se graduaron en mayo del 2012 y tampoco lo han recibido. Lo poco que sabemos es que justifican su tardanza por el cambio de gobierno, lo que no cuadra ya que el gobierno actual entró en enero del 2013 y este dinero estaba supuesto a ser entregado no más tarde de diciembre del 2012.
Hemos creado una cuenta de correo electrónico, estudiantes_itpr@hotmail.com, para que por favor, alguien del Departamento de Educación nos dé una respuesta.
Apreciamos la atención a este asunto.
Karen Vázquez
Cataño
Nos sentimos complacidos y orgullosos con la producción de la Opereta Cofresí. Fue un espectáculo bien pensado con el cual la Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico culminó las celebraciones de su centenario. Así se “resucitó” la opereta que no se presentaba desde 1978 y la cual fue un trabajo arduo de muchos puertorriqueños, entre ellos Antonio Martorell, y que trabajaron con alegría para darle forma y cohesión a la partitura para poder llevar a cabo su presentación.
La música hermosa de nuestro Rafael Hernández estuvo bien instrumentada por la Orquesta Sinfónica dirigida por Roselín Pabón; el coro de voces, la escenografía, el vestuario, la luminotécnica que nos recordaba piezas de arte; las actuaciones, como por ejemplo el del personaje dominicano. Y, por supuesto, los cantantes Ilca López, Rafael Dávila, Guido Lebrón, y Elaine Ortiz Arandes son una muestra destacada de las voces que integraron los personajes. Todos estuvieron excelente. El libreto de Pablo Cabrera a partir de Gustavo Palés Matos y su dirección artística estuvo a nivel de las mejores operetas presentadas de cualquier teatro de prestigio.
Sabemos que volveremos a ver y apreciar la Opereta Cofresí por mucho tiempo para satisfacción de nuestra cultura puertorriqueña.
Zoé Corretjer Lloréns, P.h.D.
En singular se dice el ala; en plural, las alas.
Si aumenta el agua y la luz, pagaremos más IVU. Todos los almacenes, distribuidores, comercios utilizan agua y luz en sus operaciones, así que estos se verán afectados por el aumento y se lo pasarán al costo de los productos.
De estos artículos todos los que tengan que pagar IVU pagarán más porque serán más caros. Pagaremos más por el agua y la luz y, además, más IVU por el mismo artículo.
Hasta la gasolina subirá, aunque no pague IVU los distribuidores y estaciones utilizan energía eléctrica para poder venderla.
El precio de la taza de café, desayuno, almuerzo y comida de los trabajadores que tienen que comer fuera durante su día de trabajo también aumentará.
La Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica (AEE) y la Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AAA) tienen toda la razón, hay que aumentar el costo para cuadrar con los bonistas. Pero, ¿y el pueblo trabajador qué? Están pensando al revés.
Las soluciones responsables son aquellas que crean ahorros y evitan los aumentos. Ideas hay, lo que falta es implementarlas. Usar eficientemente estos recursos y dejar de dar excusas. No se requiere estudios, enmiendas, ni más leyes, lo que hace falta es acción. Pero, es más fácil subir las tarifas.
Francis Hayes
Es indignante cómo estos gobernadores se dejan manejar con ideas descabelladas y falta de respeto para este pueblo. ¿Cómo es posible que ante la criminalidad rampante, desempleo, la salud y la educación en precario, este gobierno hable de celebrar unos juegos panamericanos?
Señor gobernador Alejandro García Padilla no siga en lo mismo, vamos a resolver y darle prioridad a lo que hay que atender. No perdamos más el tiempo.
Luego aparecen hablando de trenes con el Secretario de Obras Públicas. Aquí sí que botaron la bola. No habrá notado este secretario que la agencia que dirige es un desastre.
Hay que poner en orden lo que tenemos y luego buscar alternativas para mejorar.
Jairo Vázquez
Arroyo
3527
1557
3213
2517

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Orden de juez federal expresa serias reservas sobre la capacidad económica del Gobierno de Puerto Rico para implementar las mejoras requeridas



El Departamanto de Justicia de Estados Unidos y el gobierno de Puerto Rico tendrán hasta el 15 de febrero



Dijo que estaba arrepentido del crimen que cometió mientras era trasladado a una celda en la Comandancia de Mayagüez



via Puerto Rico Report by KG on 2/6/13
As immigration reform moves forward, Congress must act to reverse the legacy of infamous Supreme Court rulings that still trespass on Puerto Rico’s right of self-determination and equal citizenship
By Howard L. Hills*
I. Redeeming the promise of equality in America
As our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico enter the twelfth decade of a struggle for self-determination, a new potential setback has emerged, the irony of which would be almost as cruel as nine decades fighting overseas for democratic rights of foreign peoples that Puerto Rico is denied back at home.
It could be regarded as profoundly unfair and demoralizing for Puerto Rico if 11 million people who entered the U.S. unlawfully are given a path to full enfranchisement and equal citizenship rights, while the 4 million U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico remain disenfranchised in a less than equal citizenship status. How would Puerto Ricans explain that to their children?
How will anyone explain an outcome in which millions of non-citizens who enjoy many of the blessings of our way of life without first complying with our laws are given preferential treatment over our law-abiding fellow Americans in Puerto Rico in seeking equality? Who will explain how non-citizens unlawfully present in America will be fully embraced and integrated into American society before the tried, tested and true patriotic American families of Puerto Rico who have lived under the American flag lawfully for 114 years?
II. Allegiance and equality
Along with U.S. citizenship conferred in Puerto Rico by Congress in 1917 came the duty of allegiance that accompanies it. In America equality is the quid pro quo for allegiance. The denial of equality based on Puerto Rico’s allegiance to America is the corrosive legacy of the 1922 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Balzac v. Puerto Rico.
Former U.S. Attorney General Thornburgh has called for the Congress and/or the federal courts to repudiate the obsolete imperialistic doctrine of the 1922 Balzac case, and mandate timely self-determination as a basis for action by Congress leading either to incorporation and statehood or independence for Puerto Rico.
Thornburg also has noted that failure to do so will be inconsistent with the very human rights principles regarding universal suffrage and equal rights the U.S. holds up in criticizing undemocratic regimes around the world.
III. The missing link in legal policy on Puerto Rico status
A milestone in the discourse on self-determination leading to equal citizenship for Puerto Rico was publication by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in 2007 of a brief history of American territorial law and policy in the Twentieth Century by former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh.
In “Puerto Rico’s Status: A Time to Decide,” Thornburgh’s thesis is that application of the imperialist legal and political model for territorial governance under the Insular Cases should have ended once Congress conferred U.S. citizenship in Puerto Rico back in 1917. At least that would have been the result if not for the 1922 ruling by the Supreme Court that deviated from nearly 150 years of anti-colonial American territorial law dating back to the Northwest Ordinance.
Thornburgh demonstrates that the paramount legal and historical significance of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Balzac v. Puerto Rico is that the Court deviated materially from the line of earlier territorial law decisions known as the “Insular Cases.” Thornburgh argues that it perversely validates Balzac to simplistically denominate that ruling as one of the Insular Cases, thereby giving the false impression the 1922 ruling cogently and cohesively sustained the jurisprudence of those earlier territorial law cases.
To the contrary, the lead Insular Cases (DeLima v. Bidwell, Downes v. Bidwell, Dorr v. United States), each confirmed the authority of Congress under the Territorial Clause to govern non-citizens under the national protection of America and residing in overseas territories newly acquired from Spain but not incorporated into the union.
IV. A forgotten phrase is smoking gun proving Balzac case flaws
The most pronounced effect of non-incorporation is that residents of the territory are for the most part beyond the reach of the Constitution, except as provided by Congress under statutory territorial policy concocted on an ad hoc basis.
Thus, in Downes v. Bidwell the U.S. Supreme Court stated that unincorporated territory status was a temporary arrangement enabling the U.S. to govern the territory under the Territorial Clause until Congress conferred citizenship. Specifically, the court stated that, “… in the case of Porto Rico and the Philippines…the civil rights and political status of the native inhabitants . . . shall be determined by Congress. In all these cases there is an implied denial of the right of the inhabitants to American citizenship until Congress by further action shall signify its assent thereto.”
In contrast, the court’s rulings in the Rasmussen case (Alaska) and the Mankichi case (Hawaii) held that upon coming under U.S. sovereignty a territory populated by U.S. citizens is incorporated, which ushers in application of those parts of the Constitution not applicable only to states, and integrates the body politic of the territory into the nation until full equal rights and duties of citizenship are achieved through admission to statehood.
Thornburgh was the first to argue that the Supreme Court’s ruling in the 1922 case of Balzac v. Puerto Rico was a radical departure from both the unincorporated territory doctrine of the Insular Cases as applied to non-citizens and the citizenship based incorporation doctrine of the Alaska and Hawaii cases.
Thus, Thornburgh was able to sustain his thesis that Balzac misappropriated the unincorporated territory doctrine of the Insular Cases, as it applied to non-citizens “until Congress…shall signify its assent” to citizenship. The Balzac court then wrongly applied that pre-naturalization doctrine of non-incorporation to Puerto Rico after Congress had naturalized the population and conferred citizenship on all persons born there in 1917.
The term “metaphysical purgatory” was recently used to describe Puerto Rico’s current status, but it is an understatement. Thornburgh has at times been more stark, calling territorial status under Balzac a “constitutional nowhere land.” But Ronald Reagan beat them both to the punch when he noted that as a territory Puerto Rico “…is neither a state nor independent, and therefore has an historically unnatural status.”
* Formerly lead Counsel for White House National Security Council on territorial political status affairs and U.N. decolonization proceedings; Former lead Counsel for political status treaty negotiations and economic development programs, U.S. Department of State. Views expressed are those of the author and no other party.

The United States did not veto the appointment of Gen. Moises Garcia Ochoa as defense secretary, the Mexican government said.

A growing number of Americans support President Barack Obama’s stance on illegal immigration, and there is better support than in the past for the idea of offering citizenship to immigrants who meet certain requirements and for increasing border monitoring, according to a national survey released Wednesday.


Bleacher Report


Forensic Evidence Clears 2 Men in Death of Hector Camacho
Bleacher Report
Puerto Rico police say forensic evidence has cleared two men suspected in the killing of popular boxer Hector "Macho" Camacho. Police spokesman Alex Diaz told The Associated Press on Wednesday that evidence also showed the suspects' impounded car ...
Men questioned in Camacho slaying releasedUPI.com

all 5 news articles »




Finding Puerto Rico's Mofongo in Miami
Caribbean Journal
MIAMI — A rich mash featuring plantains and seafood, meat or vegetables, mofongo is Puerto Rico's unofficial national dish. And in Miami, Chef Jimmy Carey brings a taste of authentic mofongo to the city's up-and-coming Wynwood neighbourhood at his ...



via Gov. Louis Fortuño - Google Blog Search by Danica Coto, Associated Press on 1/2/13
Luis Fortuno in November, thanks in part to support from labor unions angered when Fortuno laid off more than 20,000 government workers to help close a budget deficit. Garcia said one of his priorities is to create jobs on an ...




Men questioned in Camacho slaying released
UPI.com
6 (UPI) -- Two men questioned in the deaths of retired boxer Hector Camacho and a friend in Puerto Rico are free after two months in jail on other charges, officials say. Jesus Naranjo Adorno and Joshua Mendez Romero were described as persons of ...

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New York Times


36 Hours in San Juan, Puerto Rico
New York Times
San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, poses no such problems. True, as with any major metropolis, you could pass a week in the city and still not probe all its corners. (As it turned out, I did: planning a weekend visit, I was forced to extend my stay ...

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via Caribbean Business on 2/7/13

PR bonds rally after long slide, selloff

Puerto Rico’s bonds are rebounding after a sustained slide as a strengthening U.

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via FT World News's Facebook Wall by FT World News on 2/7/13
The CIA’s drone programme may be classified as covert, but it is increasingly in the public spotlight. John Brennan’s confirmation hearing will offer a rare moment of public scrutiny of the war on terror – and the ethics of targeted killings.

We give you the full briefing on Obama, Brennan and the drone issue: http://blogs.ft.com/the-world/2013/02/in-the-picture-obama-brennan-and-the-drone-issue/

Photo by Getty




via Puerto Rico News - Archive Links's Facebook Wall by Puerto Rico News - Archive Links on 2/7/13
Ariel Gonzalez: A Supposedly Gay-Friendly Cuban Writer Questions Richard Blanco's Manliness

It was inevitable that Richard Blanco's selection as Obama's second inaugural poet would provoke a response from a predictably vocal segment of the Cuban …


Ariel Gonzalez: A Supposedly Gay-Friendly Cuban Writer Questions Richard Blanco's Manliness

via Videos matching: puerto rico news by fyinewsyoumissed on 1/3/13
pls subscribe for updates and breaking news.-this video shocked me! Puerto Rico has 3.7 million residents, a storied capital, more than 300 miles of stunning coastline, an average temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit -- and, in 2011, a homicide rate more than five times that of the mainland US and higher than that of Mexico. It badly needs federal help to curb this drug-fueled violence. But so far, the US government is treating Puerto Ricans as if they were second-class citizens. Geography is partly to blame for Puerto Rico's plight. If Mexico had the misfortune to be, in the late Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz's words, "so far from God, so close to the United States," Puerto Rico's bad luck is to be so close to South America and to the southern US It is an ideal transshipment point for illegal narcotics in the Americas. And with open ocean between it and Africa and Europe, it's a good point of departure for illicit shipments to those two continents. As the US and Mexico have cracked down on the drug trade, traffic has shifted to the Caribbean. The National Drug Intelligence Center reports that cocaine seizures along sea routes between Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands more than tripled between 2009 and 2010. Plenty of the stuff is still getting through: The price of cocaine in the area dropped by roughly one-third between 2008 and 2010, suggesting there is no lack of supply. Upward of 80 percent of what arrives by plane or boat goes on to the eastern United States <b>...</b>
Views:5389
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Time:44:59More inNews & Politics




Puerto Rico police urged to investigate gay man's death as possible hate crime
Washington Blade
A Puerto Rican LGBT advocate continues to urge local authorities to investigate the murder of a gay hairstylist as a possible hate crime. El Nuevo Día reported on Thursday that Richard Soto Vélez, 20, confessed to killing Milton Medina Morales on Feb ...



SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's police chief has suspended four officers suspected of planting a gun in a man's car and charging him with possession of an illegal weapon. Hector Pesquera says his department ...

via puerto rico police department - Google Blog Search by hadeninteractive on 1/4/13
Puerto Rico's police force is the second largest in U.S. states and territories, second in size only to that of New York City. The Puerto Rican police force includes more than 17,000 officers. Puerto Rico has a high level of violent ...




Man fatally shot at Puerto Rico festival that lures thousands to capital's ...
Edmonton Journal
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Police say a 32-year-old man has been fatally shot in front of hundreds of onlookers at a street festival in the colonial district of Puerto Rico's capital. Police say Julio Ramos Oliver was standing with friends in a packed ...

and more »




Puerto Rico governor has activated the National Guard to help fight drug ...
VOXXI
MAY 11, 2010 – DEA Caribbean Division, ATF and Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD) agents executed 70 arrest warrants while targeting a violent drug trafficking organization in Operation Tower Kings. DEA and PRPD agents restrain a defendant who ...




NPR


'Don't Give Up On Us': Puerto Ricans Wrestle With High Crime
KUHF-FM
Before he ran the police force, which is responsible for the entire island of more than 3.5 million people, Pesquera spent years leading the FBI bureau in Miami. The picture wasn't pretty when he returned to Puerto Rico. He came home to a fleet of ...
4 Puerto Rico policemen suspended amid probeCharlotte Observer

all 9 news articles »

via puerto rico police - Google Blog Search by unknown on 12/26/12
Police reformation is set to occur in Puerto Rico following an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department.





4 Puerto Rico policemen suspended amid probe
Charlotte Observer
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico's police chief has suspended four officers suspected of planting a gun in a man's car and charging him with possession of an illegal weapon. Hector Pesquera says his department is investigating the case after he ...

and more »

via puerto rico police corruption - Google Blog Search by Andrew Ramonas on 10/6/10
Indictments were unsealed in Puerto Rico against 89 police officers and 44 other individuals, who allegedly provided security in undercover drug deals for hundreds of dollars in payments. About 1,000 members of the FBI ...

The Justice Department&rsquo;s Civil Rights Division and the government of Puerto Rico have agreed to sweeping changes to the commonwealth&rsquo;s large and troubled Police Department intended to help overcome a ...

Using social media, activists are organising and spreading calls for peace in the US territory, where both drug-related violence and alleged police corruption are major issues. ... Executive Director, ACLU of Puerto Rico aclu-pr.

via puerto rico police corruption - Google Blog Search by Stabroek editor on 6/19/12
“There are cases of police corruption but it is no different than other police forces in the world,” he said. The 180-page ACLU report comes nine months after the U.S. Justice Department released a report that said Puerto Rico's ...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's police chief has suspended four officers suspected of planting a gun in a man's car and charging him with possession of an illegal weapon. Hector Pesquera says his ... The investigation comes after the Puerto Rican government recently signed an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to reform an agency long accused of corruption, illegal killings and civil rights violations. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.




A Death Penalty Case in Puerto Rico
New York Times
Lawyers familiar with the case say the United States attorney's office in Puerto Rico asked Mr. Holder to seek a life sentence without parole because there is no clear proof Mr. Casey knew the victim was a law enforcement officer. Mr. Holder, however ...






Ex-Puerto Rico Police Pleads Guilty in Porn Case
ABC News
A former police commissioner for Puerto Rico's capital has pleaded guilty to one count of child pornography in a plea agreement with U.S. authorities. Hilton Cordero Rosario is expected to serve 10 years in prison as a result of Friday's plea. His ...

and more »


Washington Post


Puerto Rico police clear 2 suspects in Macho Camacho's death
Washington Post
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico police say forensic evidence has cleared two men suspected in the killing of popular boxer Hector “Macho” Camacho. Police spokesman Alex Diaz told The Associated Press on Wednesday that evidence also showed ...
Forensic Evidence Clears 2 Men in Death of Hector CamachoBleacher Report

all 5 news articles »



via puerto rico law enforcement - Google Blog Search by webmaster@ice.gov (ICE) on 8/6/12
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), working jointly with the Puerto Rico Police Department and other members of the Caribbean Corridor ...

via puerto rico law enforcement - Google Blog Search by hadeninteractive on 1/4/13
Puerto Rico's police force is the second largest in U.S. states and territories, second in size only to that of New York City. The Puerto Rican police force includes more than 17,000 officers. Puerto Rico has a high level of violent ...

via puerto rico law enforcement - Google Blog Search by webmaster@ice.gov (ICE) on 2/1/13
The HSI investigation stemmed from a Puerto Rico Police Department referral Oct. 15, 2012, alerting HSI that White-Ayala had committed a sexual aggression against a 14-year-old. White-Ayala had his initial hearing before ...

Ex-Puerto Rico police pleads guilty in porn case. A former police commissioner for Puerto Rico's capital has pleaded guilty to one count of child pornography in a plea agreement with U.S. authorities. The Associated Press ...

Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico A former police commissioner for Puerto Rico's capital has pleaded guilty to one count of child pornography in a plea agreement with U.S. authorities.

via puerto rico police - Google Blog Search by webmaster@ice.gov (ICE) on 2/4/13
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The former commissioner of the San Juan Police Department pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gustavo Gelpi. U.S. Immigration and Customs ...

via puerto rico police - Google Blog Search by The Huffington Post News Editors on 12/22/12
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The U.S. Justice Department and Puerto Rico's government signed an agreement Friday to reform the island's police department, which has long been accused of corruption, illegal killings and civil ...


NACLA


Our Resistance, Part II: An Interview with Rafael Cancel Miranda
NACLA
He was interviewed by Juan Antonio Ocasio Rivera, a Puerto Rico–based activist, social worker, and professor, who has written for several online publications, including CounterPunch, Upside Down World, and New York Latino Journal. The first part of the ...






Carlos Cases es nombrado nuevo jefe del FBI para Puerto Rico e Islas Vírgenes
Terra Chile
Carlos Cases fue nombrado nuevo jefe de la Oficina Federal de Investigaciones (FBI, por sus siglas en inglés) para Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes, informó hoy a través de un comunicado la agencia de seguridad estadounidense. El nuevo primer oficial ...

and more »




NPR


Puerto Ricans Wrestle With High Crime
WBUR
Before he ran the police force, which is responsible for the entire island of more than 3.5 million people, Pesquera spent years leading the FBI bureau in Miami. The picture wasn't pretty when he returned to Puerto Rico. He came home to a fleet of ...
4 Puerto Rico policemen suspended amid probeKFDM-TV News

all 9 news articles »

via puerto rico fbi - Google Blog Search by By EDMUND H. MAHONY, emahony@courant.com on 11/14/12
Puerto Rico Nationalist Gets 5 Years For 1983 Wells Fargo Robbery; Only Gerena At Large. Norberto Gonzalez Claudio is escorted by FBI agents after a court appearance in San Juan,. Norberto Gonzalez Claudio is escorted ...

via puerto rico fbi - Google Blog Search by By EDMUND H. MAHONY, emahony@courant.com on 11/12/12
When the FBI captured Gonzalez in Puerto Rico last year, he was one of two fugitive members of the militant group Los Macheteros still wanted for the 1983 Wells Fargo robbery. The other, Victor Gerena of Hartford, remains at ...


NPR


Puerto Ricans Wrestle With High Crime
WBUR
Before he ran the police force, which is responsible for the entire island of more than 3.5 million people, Pesquera spent years leading the FBI bureau in Miami. The picture wasn't pretty when he returned to Puerto Rico. He came home to a fleet of ...
4 Puerto Rico policemen suspended amid probeKFDM-TV News

all 9 news articles »

via fbi puerto rico police - Google Blog Search by The Historian on 10/6/10
New York Times – In what officials described as the largest investigation into police corruption in the history of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Justice Department on Wednesday announced the indictments of 89 ...

A former Police of Puerto Rico officer was sentenced today to 181 months in prison for her role in providing armed security for a drug transaction, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Rosa E. Rodriguez-Velez of the District of Puerto Rico, and Special Agent in Charge Joseph S. Campbell of the FBI's San Juan Field Office. Yamil Navedo Ramirez, 39, was sentenced today by U.S. District ...

via fbi puerto rico police - Google Blog Search by Gabe Gutierrez, NBC News on 11/23/12
Earlier this year, Hector Pesquera, the former head of the FBI's Miami division, was named superintendent of the Puerto Rico police. He told NBC News that weeding out corruption within his department has been a priority ...

via fbi puerto rico police - Google Blog Search by Andrew Ramonas on 10/6/10
Indictments were unsealed in Puerto Rico against 89 police officers and 44 other individuals, who allegedly provided security in undercover drug deals for hundreds of dollars in payments. About 1,000 members of the FBI ...

A former director of the FBI office based in Puerto Rico was nominated Thursday to lead the island's troubled police department, which U.S. justice officials have accused of corruption, illegal killings and civil rights violations.


via fbi puerto rico police - Google Blog Search by webmaster@ice.gov (ICE) on 8/6/12
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), working jointly with the Puerto Rico Police Department and other members of the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force, arrested ... The initiative is composed of HSI, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Puerto Rico, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Puerto Rico Police ...

via puerto rico drugs trade - Google Blog Search by MaritimeSecurity.Asia on 1/12/13
In his first executive order, Garcia Padilla has activated the National Guard to fight drug trafficking, and weapons trafficking, in seaport and airports. Puerto Rico governor activates the National Guard to fight drug trafficking ...

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (Washington, DC, United States), classifies Puerto Rico as a "high-intensity drug-trafficking area" because it is an established route for illicit drugs produced in South America (16).

As the U.S. and Mexico have cracked down on the drug trade, traffic has shifted to the Caribbean. The National Drug Intelligence Center reports that cocaine seizures along sea routes between Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin ...

via puerto rico drugs trade - Google Blog Search by webmaster@ice.gov (ICE) on 12/14/12
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The leader of a major drug trafficking organization arrested during the execution of Operation Grayskull by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) ...

via puerto rico drugs trade - Google Blog Search by The Huffington Post News Editors on 1/11/13
In 2011, an estimate by an economist at the University of Puerto Rico's Mayaguez campus indicated that $9 billion in drug trafficking activities may have been contributing to 20 percent of Puerto Rico's Gross Domestic Product ...

via puerto rico drugs trade - Google Blog Search by Gabe Gutierrez, NBC News on 11/23/12
Federal agents and local police are cracking down on drug trafficking in Puerto Rico. NBC News speaks with an ICE agent ... The drug-trafficking crackdown comes as Puerto Rican police fight to reclaim the trust of residents.

via puerto rico drugs trade - Google Blog Search by Kelly Hamilton on 11/27/12
A rising drug trade has led to a massive murder rate in Puerto Rico. With resources stretched thin in all aspects of government, the United States cannot afford to let this situation in Puerto Rico expand. Sign the petition to demand that the U.S. ...


NBC Latino


Opinion: Is Puerto Rican statehood the next “Latino” issue for conservatives?
NBC Latino
The LPCP rolled out an A list of guests, which included Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Luis Fortuño, the former Republican governor of Puerto Rico and one of the island's most ...






New York Times


36 Hours in San Juan, Puerto Rico
New York Times
Perhaps because it's a popular stop on Caribbean cruise tours, the central city is so chockablock with stores selling tacky gewgaws that you could conceivably furnish an entire apartment with merchandise announcing its provenance in Puerto Rico ...

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Conservative Leaders Call for Puerto Rico Statehood
Christian Post
The announcement will come at a Tuesday morning press conference with Alfonso Aguilar, executive director of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles; Luis Fortuno, former Republican Governor of Puerto Rico; Niger Innis, national outreach ...
Puerto Rico and its big drainage dilemmaVOXXI
Conservative Leaders to Press for Puerto Rican StatehoodThe Herald | HeraldOnline.com

all 7 news articles »




Puerto Rico governor has activated the National Guard to help fight drug ...
VOXXI
Alejandro Garcia Padilla, governor of Puerto Rico, looks to the celebrating crowd in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on election night. (AP Photo/Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo). In a move that should surprise few, recently inaugurated Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro ...






Puerto Rico Governor Activates The National Guard To Fight Drug Trafficking ...
Huffington Post
Hot Crazy Important Weird. Follow: Video, Puerto Rico Crime, Latino Politics, Puerto Rico Activates National Guard, Puerto Rico Drug, Puerto Rico Drug Trafficking, Latino Voices News. In a move that should surprise few, recently inaugurated Puerto Rico ...

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Former Puerto Rican Governor Joins Steptoe
The BLT: Blog of Legal Times (blog)
Elected in 2008, Fortuño, a Republican, implemented the largest tax cut in Puerto Rico's history and slashed government spending. His term ended January 2. Prior to being elected Governor, he served as Puerto Rico's Congressional delegate for four years.
Former Puerto Rico governor joins Steptoe - Fabiani & Company's Conafay ...Politico (blog)
Washington DC law firm hires former Puerto Rico governor who lost re-election bidMontreal Gazette
Steptoe & Johnson | Former Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuño Joins SteptoeLinex Legal (press release) (registration)
The Hill (blog)
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García Padilla y su familia aún se acostumbran a La Fortaleza
El Nuevo Dia.com
A un mes de su llegada a La Fortaleza, el gobernador Alejandro García Padilla contó que su familia aún se adapta un nuevo estilo de vida familiar que alteró toda su rutina diaria. Reconoció que el Palacio de Santa Catalina todavía necesita de unos ...






Puerto Rico police urged to investigate gay man's death as possible hate crime
Washington Blade
A Puerto Rican LGBT advocate continues to urge local authorities to investigate the murder of a gay hairstylist as a possible hate crime. El Nuevo Día reported on Thursday that Richard Soto Vélez, 20, confessed to killing Milton Medina Morales on Feb ...






Puerto Rico police urged to investigate gay man's death as possible hate crime
Washington Blade
A Puerto Rican LGBT advocate continues to urge local authorities to investigate the murder of a gay hairstylist as a possible hate crime. El Nuevo Día reported on Thursday that Richard Soto Vélez, 20, confessed to killing Milton Medina Morales on Feb ...



SAN JUAN – Puerto Rico Gov.-elect Alejandro Garcia Padilla on Tuesday joked about his command of English after he had to ask a U.S. reporter to speak more slowly. Garcia Padilla, who narrowly defeated incumbent Luis Fortuño in the Nov.


Mike Nova's starred items

via alejandro garcia padilla - Google Blog Search by Rocio Gonzalez on 11/9/12
Puerto Rico has a new governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, and he is very different from Gov. Luis Fortuño. A look at Puerto Rico's new governor.


Wired


Vulnerability Lets Hackers Control Building Locks, Electricity, Elevators and More
Wired
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO — A critical vulnerability discovered in an industrial control system used widely by the military, hospitals and others would allow attackers to remotely control electronic door locks, lighting systems, elevators, electricity and ...

and more »




New FBI Director in Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands
ABC News
Cases also has worked at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and at an FBI office in Puerto Rico, where he was honored for his participation in one of the bureau's largest public corruption cases that targeted local law enforcement officials. Cases said ...
FBI Names New Special Agent in Charge of Puerto Rico Officeticklethewire.com
New FBI data: January gun sales background checks drop by 10 percent; big ...Washington Post

all 3 news articles »




Three Men Convicted in Puerto Rico in Final Operation Guard Shack Prosecution
7thSpace Interactive (press release)
Salinas Acevedo, Santiago Cordero, and Rivera Ruperto were charged in a superseding indictment returned in the District of Puerto Rico on September 30, 2010, in addition to 87 other law enforcement officers and 43 other individuals as part of the FBI ...






Puerto Rico police urged to investigate gay man's death as possible hate crime
Washington Blade
A Puerto Rican LGBT advocate continues to urge local authorities to investigate the murder of a gay hairstylist as a possible hate crime. El Nuevo Día reported on Thursday that Richard Soto Vélez, 20, confessed to killing Milton Medina Morales on Feb ...



via puerto rico police - Google Blog Search by hadeninteractive on 1/4/13
Puerto Rico's police force is the second largest in U.S. states and territories, second in size only to that of New York City. The Puerto Rican police force includes more than 17,000 officers. Puerto Rico has a high level of violent ...




Puerto Rico governor has activated the National Guard to help fight drug ...
VOXXI
MAY 11, 2010 – DEA Caribbean Division, ATF and Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD) agents executed 70 arrest warrants while targeting a violent drug trafficking organization in Operation Tower Kings. DEA and PRPD agents restrain a defendant who ...