Free Republic

Ricardo Rosselló with the pro-statehood New Progressive Party (PNP) was elected Governor of Puerto Rico during yesterday’s general elections. With 97% of the island’s polling stations reporting, Rosselló (the son of former Governor Pedro Rosselló) received 41.76% of the vote compared to 38.93% for former Secretary of State and pro-Commonwealth Popular Democratic Party (PPD) candidate David Bernier. According to additional information posted on the Commonwealth Elections Commission website this morning, Rosselló carried 46 of the island’s 78 municipalities, Bernier carried 23, and the remaining 9 were not yet called due to a 0.5% or less difference between the two candidates....

With permission, I am sharing an email below that I received from an American friend who recently moved to Puerto Rico and participated in his first election there today: Relating to the discussion about voter ID laws on a recent CD post featuring a video by filmmaker Ami Horowitz that investigated the commonly held belief by liberals in America that voter ID laws are racist and discriminate against the poor and uneducated, let me describe my first experience voting in a Puerto Rican election today. First, you have to obtain a voter ID card before you are allowed to vote...

He should. The island is a burden. He can make it the jewell of Latin America as the Castro's and Maduro's are on the run. Dump out all the Puerto Ricans in our jails. Independence is in the heart.

With each passing day, more compromising of national security, self-serving and self-enriching behaviors, frauds, scams and general malfeasance on the part of Hillary Clinton come to light via new Wikileaks data dumps. But the news media’s obsession with things Donald Trump has said consistently overshadows things Hillary Clinton has actually done. Revelations have now surfaced that Clinton backed the Puerto Rico Debt Relief Bill, a plan to help the financially struggling U.S. commonwealth deal with a $70 billion debt it managed to rack up, after a top Clinton fundraiser –who just happens to be a lobbyist for the Puerto Rican...

Following 13 hours of deliberation, the jury in the federal case against the codefendants in accountant Anaudi Hernández's corruption scheme reached a final guilty verdict on all counts against the four codefendants. Former Administrator of the Labor Development Administration (ADL) Sally López Martínez was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit fraud against federal programs and electronic fraud; one count of conspiracy to commit electronic fraud and deprive the state of honest services; three counts of electronic fraud through a scheme at ADL; and one count of receiving bribes. She faces a maximum prison sentence exceeding 100 years....

Love, solidarity, understanding, responsibility, and education are some of the words that may describe the work done by the Manuel Fernández Juncos Boys' Home located in [the] Miramar [section of San Juan]. This not-for-profit institution which houses and provides support services to boys 8 to 18 years of age who have been victims of abuse, abandonment, and neglect is known to be a helping hand to all the boys and young men who live there through education, sports, work, and discipline. "I'm fine. Very happy. Being in this home has been a very beautiful experience because I have done so...

[Puerto Rico] Health Secretary Ana Ríus Armendáriz spoke about the possibility that the mayaro virus, which is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, may arrive to the island. This comes following the reporting of the first case in Haiti, which may result in spreading to the Dominican Republic, and, subsequently, to Puerto Rico. "It has a low incidence [and] produces severe pain. Once this virus reaches the Dominican Republic, it is a matter of time before it gets here," Ríus said during an interview with [radio station] WKAQ 580. The mayaro virus, which is common in the tropical zones of...

A government press conference about the massive blackout that has left a large part of the Puerto Rican population without service from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) might be held around 8:00 AM at the Emergency Operations Center. Earlier in the morning, Governor Alejandro García Padilla reported that close to 1,079,583 customers have PREPA service already. In addition, the Department of Transportation and Public Works stated that, despite the restoration of service to some parts of the [San Juan] Metropolitan Area, the Urban Train will not resume service immediately. "Rigorous safety tests have to be done," the agency...

<p>A big fire erupted at an electricity plant that powers most of Puerto Rico on Wednesday, causing a blackout that swept across the U.S. territory of 3.5 million people.</p> <p>The Electric Power Authority said two transmission lines of 230,000 volts each failed. Executive Director Javier Quintana told reporters that he expected most power to be restored by Thursday morning, adding that airports, hospitals, police stations and water plants would get priority.</p>

Hundreds of passengers on board a packed ferry are being forced to abandon ship after a blaze broke out on board. US Coastguards raced to the scene after receiving reports that a huge fire caught hold of a massive ship carrying more than 500 people. A number of people are feared to be in the water - according to the Coastguard - but it is not yet known if any are injured. Lifeboats According to reports, the vessel is a passenger ferry that caught fire just a mile outside San Juan bay in Puerto Rico. The US Coastguard revealed it...

Stunned onlookers posted photos of a large boat with smoke billowing up into the sky Hundreds of passengers on board a packed ferry are being forced to abandon ship after a blaze broke out on board. US Coastguards raced to the scene after receiving reports that a huge fire caught hold of a massive ship carrying more than 500 people. According to reports, the vessel is a passenger ferry that caught fire just outside San Juan bay in Puerto Rico. The US Coastguard revealed it was racing to the location to support frantic efforts to rescue those on board.

The newest statistics were released a day after the U.S. surgeon general visited Puerto Rico and said he expected 25 percent of people on the island will be infected by Zika by year's end.

First and for most as Creator of your heart I am the mentor you seek as to how to walk in loving kindness for this "IS" your heartbeat. So any time your heart seems out of sorts truly it is because you have left this foundation to walk in un-forgiveness or judgment of another heart that I created to walk in this very thing the commandment to love me first and others in this very same manner for I am Judge and Savior not man, woman or child . Therefore guard your heart by living in My love but to...

With a population of more than 20 million, Florida is the country's largest swing state. And its population is changing — thanks to Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico's stagnant economy has brought tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans to Florida each year over the last decade. Large numbers have settled in the area near Orlando. A popular gathering spot for Puerto Ricans and Latinos in Orlando is the café and lunch counter in Sedano's market. "It's where you get retirees," says Jimmy Torres, who's been in Orlando for three years. "People like me." Torres still has one foot in Puerto Rico....

Installation was completed on the world's largest radio telescope on Sunday morning as the last of 4,450 panels was fitted into the center of the big dish. ... In the first two or three years after its completion, the telescope will undergo further adjustment, and during that period Chinese scientists will use it for early-stage research. After that, it will be open to scientists worldwide, said Peng Bo, director of the NAO Radio Astronomy Technology Laboratory. Scientists can also carry out remote control and observation in other cities such as Beijing, more than 2,000 kilometers from the telescope site, said...

The purpose of this post is to alert the Puerto Rico Ping List to live U.S. Senate proceedings that greatly affect the island today. Others are welcome to it and chime in, of course. The Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) undergoing the 60 vote rule at the U.S. Senate. For newcomers to the subject, Puerto Rico sub-divisions have no access to U.S. bankruptcy courts, the island is broke, and this basically opens a new bankruptcy chapter for the island and other territories, and also provides for the establishment of a fiscal control board to get the...

Citizens in democratic nations are right to worry when they see intrusions on self-government. Many Puerto Ricans thus are understandably concerned about the powers of the oversight board prescribed in legislation the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed to assist the commonwealth. The Senate is about to take up the proposed law, which has drawn criticism in Washington and Puerto Rico for impinging on its sovereignty. The alarm is misplaced. Consider what happened in 2013 when the city of Detroit was facing circumstances frighteningly similar to those Puerto Rico is experiencing today...Had the protests succeeded, Detroit would not be going...

About 1.1% of blood donors in Puerto Rico are testing positive for the Zika virus. The blood screening suggests that about 25% of the island’s population will catch Zika this year. The Zika virus is spreading “rapidly” in Puerto Rico and now likely afflicts 2% of the island’s population with active infections, public health officials reported on Friday, based on tests of blood donors. At current infection rates, one-quarter of the island’s 3.5 million people will eventually acquire the mosquito-borne illness, U.S. CDC officials said. Current estimates are that 1% to 13% of babies born to women infected with Zika...

A giant statue of the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus was unveiled in Arecibo on the northern coast of Puerto Rico on Tuesday (June 14). Russian-based sculptor, Zurab Tsereteli, created the 268 ft (81,68 meter) monument from 2,500 pieces of bronze and steel manufactured in Russia and some 2,000 sq. ft (185.80 sq. meters) of copper sheets. The statue, entitled 'Birth of a New World,' and weighing in at 6,500 tons, is almost twice the height of New York's Statue of Liberty without its base, and is double the height of Rio's Christ the Redeemer. The artwork took over 110,000 hours...

ORLANDO, Fla. — Ortiz. Rivera. González. Almodóvar. As the names of the victims of Sunday’s massacre here rolled out, this slice of the United States — known as the unofficial 79th municipio, or municipality, of Puerto Rico — felt a communal shudder. It was a roll call of Puerto Ricans, gay and straight, who had gathered to dance and hear salsa music at the club and died in the barrage of bullets. Like so many others, they were here, in this booming Central Florida metropolitan area of nearly 400,000 Puerto Ricans, because it has become a Puerto Rican touchstone: Spanish...