Free Republic

President Hugo Chavez said Saturday he may expel a top U.S. Embassy official for allegedly plotting against his government from Puerto Rico. Venezuela's socialist leader said he has information that leaders of the political opposition were meeting with U.S. advisers in Puerto Rico to discuss how to prevent a referendum on term limits from passing. "I'm investigating the possible presence of a U.S. Embassy official in Caracas at this meeting," said Chavez, without naming the official. "If I confirm it, I will throw him out of the country.

Attorney General nominee Eric H. Holder Jr. repeatedly pushed some of his subordinates at the Clinton Justice Department to drop their opposition to a controversial 1999 grant of clemency to 16 members of two violent Puerto Rican nationalist organizations, according to interviews and documents. Details of the role played by Holder, who was deputy attorney general at the time, have not been publicly known until now. However the new disclosures are of particular interest because Republican senators vow to revisit Holder's role during his confirmation hearings next week.

Former Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá and former Governor's Office Secretary Aníbal José Torres are two of the targets of an investigation federal authorities are conducting related to alleged payments made by developer and PFZ [Properties, Inc.] owner Joel Katz involving the Costa Serena project, sources told EL VOCERO. According to the sources, the case is before a grand jury. Katz is said to have paid "thousands of dollars" in installments during the negotiation process for the buying and selling of the land. The sources maintain that Katz and other witnesses have appeared before the grand jury. Katz was the person...

Republicans' focus on recovering after sharp blows in the past two elections has put a spotlight on an unlikely star: Puerto Rico's new governor, Luis Fortuño. As he was sworn in Friday, the Republican Governors Association was effusive. "Luis Fortuño proves that principled Republicans can appeal to voters everywhere," said the group's chairman, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. "He is the type of leader the party needs to revive its base and expand its appeal." Party leaders view Mr. Fortuño, 48 years old, as an example for Republicans as well as someone who can reach out to Hispanics and other...

(English-language translation) The sight of three sumptuously-dressed potentates giving the first Christmas gifts has been portrayed in innumerable ways: in classical paintings, in greeting cards, and even in some billboard on a public square. We know their names: Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar. Standing on one side of the stable, in the company of animals, shepherds, and a few angels fluttering around the beams. They sing John Henry Hopkins' immortal Christmas carol "We Three Kings of Orient Are", and each one describes the meaning behind the gift he carries. There is only one problem. The Bible never mentions only three kings...

Once again we have a politician who is indicted on corruption charges and once again we have a news organization who "conveniently" neglects to mention his party label. You will look in vain for the party name of Puerto Rico Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila in this United Press International report: SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Dec 29, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Puerto Rico's governor, indicted on corruption charges, posted a video on the popular social networking site Facebook admitting to making mistakes.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Dec 29, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Puerto Rico's governor, indicted on corruption charges, posted a video on the popular social networking site Facebook admitting to making mistakes. During the four-minute video, Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila apologized to Puerto Ricans saying he "committed errors." However, he did not address specific charges against him or admit to any criminal wrongdoing, according to the video posted Sunday. A federal indictment handed down earlier this year accused the Puerto Rican governor...

(English-language translation) Several reasons, among these the economic situation and the aging population in some residential areas, forced the Catholic Church to restructure the network of schools that belong to the Archdiocese [of San Juan], eliminating six of the existing fifteen, Archbishop Roberto González Nieves reported today. [The affected schools are] Colegio Nuestra Señora de Altagracia, Academia Cristo Rey, Colegio La Milagrosa, and Colegio San Luis Rey in Río Piedras; Colegio Madre Cabrini in San Juan; and Colegio Sagrada Familia in Bayamón. They will cease operations once the school year ends. Some 1,337 students will be affected. González admitted this...

(English-language translation) Governor-elect Luis Fortuño warned yesterday that, starting in January, 11,000 public employees will be laid off and advocate offices will be merged in order to reduce goverment expenses. According to Fortuño, close to 11,000 hirings that were made during the second half of the year were "illegal" since they were made during the election-year hiring freeze the Legislature enacted since July of this year. Fortuño announced the layoffs when asked if he was going to fulfill his campaign promise to lay off one public employee: Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá. "And the illegal appointments that were made during the...

A Britten-Norman Trislander, the kind of small aircraft that disappeared off the Dominican Republic Monday with 12 on board. A small Caribbean airplane that vanished into thin air Monday was allegedly stolen by a fired Dominican Navy cadet who may have been trying to carry illegal immigrants to America, the plane’s owner told FOXNews.com. Luis Perez, the Puerto Rico-based owner of the aircraft charter company, said his twin-engine plane was stolen by an unlicensed pilot named Adrian Jimenez. Authorities told him Jimenez was a student of the Dominican Republic Armed Forces and a former Navy cadet. “They took his pilot’s...

WASHINGTON - The United States Mint today announced six new designs that will grace the quarters issued next year to honor the District of Columbia and the five United States territories: the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, United States Virgin Islands and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The coins will be put into circulation in approximately two-month intervals throughout the year. "Like the 50 State Quarters® Program before it, these new quarters will encourage Americans to appreciate the unique history of the District of Columbia and the territories of the United States," said United States Mint Director...

(English-language translation) Vote recounts in the municipalities of Vega Alta and Guánica ended with results similar to those on the night of the November 4 elections. Therefore, Guánica will remain under the control of incumbent [Mayor] Martín Vargas with the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), and Vega Alta under Isabelo Molina with the New Progressive Party (PNP). Vargas is currently facing charges of misuse of public funds for allegedly using his official credit card for personal purchases. PNP Elections Commissioner Edwin Mundo told the Associated Press that, following the recount process on Wednesday, all races were resolved, except one for Senator-at-Large...

Breaking radio reports. No print or web source yet. Federal Judge Barbadoro has dismissed 15 of 24 corruption charges that weighed over Puerto Rico Governor (Democrat) Aníbal Acevedo Vilá. Details are sketchy, but apparently 13 of the charges have been dropped altogether but two can still be filed again. Related threads: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2010202/posts http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2064806/posts

Most notable among the petitions for clemency granted during Holder’s tenure is the request from 16 members of a Puerto Rican Marxist terrorist group, the Armed Forces of National Liberation, known by its Spanish acronym FALN, which engaged in a robbery and terror campaign in both the U.S. and Puerto Rico during the 1970s and 1980s. The clemency petition, which was supported by Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-N.Y.), Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.) and Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), became the subject of fiery controversy after it was revealed that none of the convicted terrorists had renounced violence and that their victims had not been...

PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic-The ocean glows a milky turquoise. Tiny waves lap at the powder-beige sand, in no rush to reach the line of postcard-perfect palm trees. Hundreds of luxury villas are positioned to take in the view, but there are no guests. There are no roofs either; neatly tied bundles of red tiles are stacked outside. The wind slams doors and rustles the yellowed newspaper taped to the windows. The paralyzed work scene at the Cap Cana resort, a development including four luxury hotels, three golf courses and a mega-yacht marina, is a victim of the global financial crisis...

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) thought that it had things all wrapped up in Puerto Rico this year. This most powerful of American unions even held its annual convention on the sunny isle to showcase its power to overawe its intended prey. Apparently the small, local teachers union had other ideas, though. The SEIU blew into Puerto Rico to gobble up the Federación de Maestros de Puerto Rico (FMPR), or in English, the Puerto Rican Federation of Teachers. The SEIU’s plan was to add that small union its ever growing list of unions it has gobbled up and quashed...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico voted today, in what early results show to be record numbers, to elect fiscal and social conservative Luis G. Fortuno as the next governor of Puerto Rico - making him the Island's first Republican governor since 1968. Fortuno, Puerto Rico's current sole representative in the U.S. Congress, ran in a four-way gubernatorial race as president of the Island's pro-statehood New Progressive Party. His running-mate, Pedro R. Pierluisi, also won, becoming the Island's next representative to Congress. Preliminary results show Fortuno has won solidly the gubernatorial election...

The Puerto Rico pro-statehood party's (PNP) Luis Fortuño, a Republican and the current island Congressman, is poised to win the election by a wide margin. Exit polls as follows: Univisión - Luis Fortuño 53% PNP - Luis Fortuño 57% El Nuevo Dia - Luis Fortuño 58% The current governor, Democrat and pro-staus quo (PPD), is trailing with less than 40% in all exit polls and preliminary results. Gov. Anibal Acevedo-Vila has been indicted by a Federal Grand Jury on 24 corruption charges. It seems we've been liberated from the liberals and socialists after eight years of hell. Vote wisely, USA.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: Eight federal prosecutors will be in charge of looking after the Puerto Rico's general election process next Tuesday, to make sure no electoral fraud occurs and to observe any situation that may take place in the voting schools. In a letter sent to the Commonwealth’s State Elections Commission President Ramón Gómez, US District Attorney Rosa Emilia González said that the group of federal prosecutors observing the electoral process will be headed by prosecutors Ernesto López Soltero and José Ruiz. This is the first time federal authorities have participated in the transparency of the island’s electoral process,...

(English-language translation) SAN JUAN - Eight days before the elections, Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá made a televised address on Monday in which he spoke about the federal indictments against him, which he described as "injurious", and asked the people to make their own judgement. "These accusations against me are false, injurious, and I am not going to tolerate them. Perhaps those who believe the most important thing in life is money may ignore things such as these, but not me," the Governor said in a calm and serene tone. The Chief Executive emphasized that, among the 24 indictments the U.S....

SAN JUAN (Reuters) - Hurricane Omar strengthened on Wednesday as it bore down on Puerto Rico and the small islands of the northeastern Caribbean, and could be a "major" storm by the time it reaches them, U.S. forecasters said. The 15th tropical cyclone of a busy Atlantic hurricane season formed north of the Dutch island of Curacao on Tuesday, briefly preventing Venezuela from loading tankers with crude oil and knocking out power at the OPEC nation's 200,000 barrel-per-day Puerto La Cruz refinery. The U.S. National Hurricane Center predicted Omar would grow into a Category 2 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson...

(English-language translation) A strong earthquake was felt throughout all of Puerto Rico, with the strongest intensity in the town of Las Piedras, where the Seismic Network reported damage. The quake had an intensity of VI according to the Modified Mercalli Scale which measures earthquakes on a scale of I to X. Those measuring VI are characterized by a strong quake with a potential to cause slight structural damage. "At the moment of generating this bulletin damage has been reported; additional reports of minor damage can be expected considering the size and location of this earthquake," the Seismic Network reported on...

The Senate Finance Committee has published a summary of some of the additions to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. There are many provisions in the bill that will directly benefit millions of Americans -- what's called the "AMT patch," for instance, which will protect 20 million middle class Americans from seeing a tax increase in 2009. Or tax deductions for tuition, and for teacher expenses. Corporations will see extensions of popular tax cuts -- for research and development, or renewable energies. But there's also some other stuff. My colleague Z. Bryon Wolf points out that it bears mentioning that all...

Nine people have been arrested in connection with a drug importation ring that shipped cocaine from Puerto Rico to New York City hidden in boxes of children's toys and puzzles, officials said Tuesday. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent-in-Charge John Gilbride said the five-month investigation revealed that Jose Diaz, 28, of Bronx, N.Y., directed associates in Puerto Rico to ship kilograms of cocaine concealed inside children's toy tool boxes and large toy container boxes to New York City. The organization then used U.S. Postal Service Express Mail to deliver the packages to addresses in Manhattan and the Bronx

(English-language translation) SAN JUAN - In addition to claiming the lives of four people, the strong tropical wave that has been affecting the island since yesterday established a record rainfall of over 24 inches in some areas within a 24-hour period. Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá reported today that over 24 inches of rain fell in the Municipality of Patillas, which exceeds the record established in 1985 with the rains that affected the Mameyes community of Ponce, where 185 people died. "We expect rain to continue falling throughout the entire island today," the Governor warned during a press conference where he...

As part of our special investigation "Mission Creep: US Military Presence Worldwide," we asked a host of military thinkers to contribute their two cents on topics relating to global Pentagon strategy. (You can access the archive here.) The following dispatch comes from Katherine T. McCaffrey, an assistant professor of anthropology at Montclair State University in New Jersey and author of "Military Power and Popular Protest: The US Navy in Vieques, Puerto Rico".

(English-language translation) The most recent [Puerto Rico election] poll by El Vocero and Univisión indicate that 57% of those interviewed favor [Resident Commissioner and] New Progressive Party (PNP) candidate for Governor Luis Fortuño, while 29% would vote to re-elect [incumbent] Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá [with the Popular Democratic Party (PPD)]. Fortuño’s current lead over Acevedo is 28 percentage points. When comparing to the poll published on May 29, it was observed that the PPD leader shortened by 4 [percentage] points the lead the PNP leader had at the time. Other candidates, and the [number of] undecided [voters], also increased their...

(English-language translation) [Puerto Rico's] legislators moved - chairs and all - to Roberto Clemente Coliseum to honor during a special session the Puerto Rican soldiers who fought in the United States war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Within the framework of the observance of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Popular Democratic Party (PPD) and New Progressive Party legislators held a special session in which they spoke for over an hour to the hundreds of soldiers and their families who arrived at the Coliseum. The main speech was given by San Juan Mayor Jorge Santini. At a cost of $80,000 - not...

(English-language translation) Amid fanfare, the Puerto Rico Professional Baseball League reappeared yesterday with a formal introduction to the media of its new name [now in English], Puerto Rico Baseball League, and a new logo. Its President José A. Andreu García announced that the season, which begins on November 6, will be dedicated to the late manager José "Ronquito" García. After a one-year recess, the "new league" emphasized that it comes with a change, revealing countless innovations that should delight both local and foreign fans since there will be interleague games with the Dominican Republic. "A recess was announced one year...

Daddy Yankee has gone on the defensive after his endorsement of Republican presidential nominee John McCain prompted Fat Joe to dub him "a sellout." "A man does not sell out when he backs his ideals," the Latin Grammy-winning reggaetón artist told the New York Post from his home in Puerto Rico. Yankee's unwavering support of the Arizona senator shocked several in the hip-hop community, but that doesn't mean Yankee is about to stop backing the man he feels is best suited for the gig. "I don't care who I piss off," Yankee told the Post, while promoting the movie he...

b. Cultural Nationalism: The Silent Discriminatory Motive - Chief U.S. District Judge JOSE FUSTE SYLVIA DIFFENDERFER, et al. plaintiffs v. RAMON E. GOMEZ-COLON, et al., Defendants. -- Excerpt from "Opinion and Order" by Chief U.S. District Judge JOSE ANTONIO FUSTE - S/José Antonio Fusté -- September 2, 2008 b. Cultural Nationalism: The Silent Discriminatory Motive According to our experience as a federal judge, born, raised, and educated in Puerto Rico, we find that the only logical explanation for Defendants’ position against a bilingual ballot is a disguised form of discrimination rooted in cultural nationalism. Since 1898, Puerto Ricans have responded...

Russian, Delta Jets Nearly Collide Over Caribbean WASHINGTON (AP) ― Federal authorities say two airliners were a minute away from colliding when they turned away from each other over the Caribbean this week. The National Transportation Safety Board says the Delta Air Lines flight and a Russian-registered passenger jet were heading toward each other north of Puerto Rico on Thursday when cockpit alarms went off. In a statement Friday, the NTSB says the pilot of the Russian plane -- a Transaero Boeing 737 -- descended 200 to 300 feet to avoid Delta Flight 485. The planes were 33,000 feet over...

(English-language translation) After hearing the pertinent parties out, Federal Judge José Fusté ordered that the ballots for the November 4 general elections [in Puerto Rico] be printed in English and Spanish. Fusté ordered the parties to begin to join efforts "immediately" towards having ready any changes to the ballots by September 5, so that they may be submitted to the Olés of Puerto Rico print shop on September 6. The ballots will begin to be printed on September 10. Olés of Puerto Rico owner Angel Figueroa pointed out during a hearing to show cause that printing the ballots in both...

[Phoenix] - John McCain made it clear who his daddy was Monday morning. Daddy Yankee, the hip-hop star from Puerto Rico, endorsed the Republican candidate Monday morning. Wearing black aviator shades in the library of Central High School here, Daddy Yankee said, “I believe in his ideals and his proposals to lead this nation…He’s been a fighter for the Hispanic community.”

(English-language translation) In addition to allegedly approving legislative bills and cabinet appointments in exchange for money, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are investigating alleged acts of money laundering and bank fraud by New Progressive Party Senator Jorge de Castro Font, sources to EL VOCERO reported. According to the sources, this is why the IRS joined the investigation which began in March. EL VOCERO anticipated on July 8 that federal authorities were investigating the alleged approval of bills in exchange for money coming from "large interests", as well as the confirmation of cabinet members....

(English-language translation) Two [mainland-born] Americans who live in [Puerto Rico] asked Federal Court to order the Commonwealth Elections Commission (CEE) to print in English [in addition to Spanish] the ballots for the November 4 general elections [in the island]. Once the suit was filed, Judge José Fusté, who presides over the case, scheduled a hearing for August 27 in which the defendants, CEE Chairman Ramón Gómez and the election commissioners [representing the island's four registered political parties], must provide the judge reason why he should not meet the plaintiffs' demands. Plaintiffs Sylvia Diffenderfer and Robert McCarroll are requesting that the...

He — Ray Otero, superintendent, ordinary luckless guy — should have the cash, the car, the sexy Swedish girlfriend. The numbers alone demanded it: Last year, he spent $30,000 on the lottery. The winner, Richie Randazzo, spent a measly thirty bucks or so a week. “When I heard he won, I got so mad — I said to myself, ‘I can’t believe it,’ ” Mr. Otero said the other day, recalling how the television crews descended on his friend in a free-for-allish media display. “I spend all that money and the” — unprintable fellow — “wins? It’s wrong. I mean,...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A federal grand jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico, today returned an indictment against Puerto Rico Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila, a senior aide and a former campaign director for wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez announced. Today's indictment follows an earlier indictment, returned on March 24, 2008, which charged these same defendants and others with related crimes. The five-count indictment returned today in U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico, charges Acevedo...

Five years after arriving in Central Florida, El Nuevo Día Orlando, the region's only daily Spanish-language newspaper, is closing. The paper, which has a total of 50 employees, will cease operations Aug. 29., said José F. Serra, spokesperson for the Ferré-Rangel family. They own two newspapers in Puerto Rico -- El Nuevo Día and Primera Hora -- and started the Orlando operations in Sept. 2003. "Unfortunately, the losses have been consistent throughout the five years, and we came to the conclusion that we couldn't continue producing the paper," Serra said.

(English-language translation) Regional Director of the Office of Improvements to Public Schools and Popular Democratic Party candidate for House of Representatives District 20 Elvin Camacho Vélez was indicted on charges of theft to federal programs and extortion after allegedly soliciting and accepting $12,000 to cover expenses for his political campaign during transactions that were recorded. "Basically, we caught him red-handed....the evidence is solid," said Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Luis Fraticelli during a press conference along with U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez and other officials from that agency. Rodríguez indicated that, between June 18 and 30 of this year,...

(English-language translation) As it turns 70 years old, the [pro-Commonwealth] Popular Democratic Party (PPD) faces its worst crisis brought on not only by the federal [corruption] charges against its principal leader, [Governor] Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, but also by the complicated economic situation the island has experienced under his administration. Three prominent PPD members interviewed by this daily could not agree on whether Acevedo will win [re-election in] the November elections. They did agree the PPD is at a crossroads, that the federal indictments are a dark page in the party’s history, and that the cost-of-living increases the island has been...

(English-language translation) Police in Glendale County, Arizona confirmed yesterday that 44-year-old Glendaly Vigoreaux Echevarría, daughter of the late [Puerto Rican] TV producer Luis Vigoreaux and actress Lydia Echevarría, was found dead by her husband Paul Hacker in their home on Frier Drive in Glendale, Arizona. According to Glendale Police report PD 08-77459 signed by Sergeant Jim Toomey, agency detectives are investigating Glendaly Vigoreaux's death as a suicide, as confirmed by the autopsy performed by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office. The report indicated that officers responded to a call on Tuesday, July 15 at 9:58 AM from the residence of...

(English-language translation) The negotiations between Puerto Rico and Venezuela for the purchase of more economical oil remain a mystery. The respective secretaries of the Department of State and the Department of Consumer Affairs (DACO), Fernando Bonilla and Jorge Suárez, have not made public the outcome of that country's visit this past weekend. "I believe they're being very cautious about not turning this into a fiasco and, therefore, they don't want to reveal the negotiation in case this cannot be accomplished and thus avoid a possible negative damage to the effort[.] That is why there is silence," was the opinion of...

Al-Qaeda Draws New Recruits Via Internet Al-Qaeda is using the Internet to recruit vulnerable young people to its terrorist network, according to a programme aired on Saudi Arabian TV late on Tuesday. Umm Osama, the founder of al-Qaeda's first women-only website, al-Khansa, joined several others on the programme to discuss how they renounced jihadist ideology. Among those who sought a response to this question was an imam from the Medina mosque, Saleh Ibn Awad al-Mudamsi, and the father of a young al-Qaeda suspect held in an Iraqi prison. Read More Qaeda Targets U.S. Oil Interests in North Africa U.S....

Puerto Rico archeological find mired in politics Posted on Tue, Jul. 01 By FRANCES ROBLES U.S. archaeologist Nathan Mountjoy sits next to stones etched with ancient petroglyphs and graves that reveal unusual burial methods in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The archaeological find, one of the best-preserved pre-Columbian sites found in the Caribbean, form a large plaza measuring some 130 feet by 160 feet that could have been used for ball games or ceremonial rites, officials said. SAN JUAN -- The lady carved on the ancient rock is squatting, with frog-like legs sticking out to each side. Her decapitated head is dangling...

(English-language translation) With six weeks to go before the United States Congress adjourns, [pro-statehood] New Progressive Party (PNP) candidate for Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi considers "uphill" the effort to address the political-status bill PNP Chairman [and incumbent Resident Commissioner] Luis Fortuño is promoting. During a visit to Washington, D.C., Pierluisi met yesterday with Senator Ken Salazar, who is promoting in that chamber the status bill Fortuño drafted in the House of Representatives and who warned him that he foresees difficulties in its being considered before the current session ends. Although Salazar reiterated his commitment to the status issue, "he was...

(English-language translation) Understanding that Spain has "a moral debt" to Puerto Rico after ceding the island [to the United States] following the Spanish-American War, Popular Democratic Party (PPD) Senator Eudaldo Báez Galib asked the government of Spain to intervene to help solve the problem of the [island's political] status. Báez sent a letter to Spain's Consul-General in Puerto Rico Carlos Vinuesa Salto asking him to go before the International Court of Justice to present Puerto Rico's case. "The historical moment has come for Spain to tend to its affairs with Puerto Rico. Among these, the mere fact that Puerto Rico...

(Abridged English-language translation) Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá said yesterday that he will sign the bills approved by the Legislature freezing salary increases for representatives and senators. Although he indicated that the initiative is insufficient, the acknowledged that, at least, it involves freezing increases. "If I receive the bill, I will logically sign it, but the legislative reform the island expects and which all the candidates of the Popular Democratic Party are committed to is much more profound," the Governor clarified. The approved measures suspend automatic salary and per diem increases for legislators for four years, but they do not address...

(English-language translation) (AP) - The leaders of the three party delegations in the [Puerto Rico] House of Representatives released yesterday the report that rejects Resolution 99, thus eliminating all possibilities of its being approved by that chamber. "Ninety-nine has died. May it rest in peace," said Puerto Rican Independence Party Representative Víctor García San Inocencio once the report that rejects the measure proposing a referendum on giving constitutional sanction to marriage strictly between one man and one woman was released. However, García explained that some legislator might present a similar bill, but it would need the whole House's consensus. The...

(English-language translation) “Stowaway rats” that enter the Port of Old San Juan through cruise ships and other vessels will not have to fear the old city’s cats if Commonwealth Veterinarian Carlos Carazo accomplishes his plan to eliminate the sterilized-cat colonies the “Save A Gato [Cat]” group is trapping and sterilizing to control the population. However, the National Park Service (NPS), the federal agency having custody over [Fort] El Morro, has determined that “it is necessary to keep a cat colony in order to prevent diseases caused by rats.” According to a letter Carazo sent NPS last week, “the Department of...