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The bad blood continues to ferment between Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands over rum taxes, as the two territories vie for perks to lure the lucrative industry. In the latest round, the U.S. Virgin Islands is accusing Puerto Rico and its backers of spreading “misinformation” related to a recent move by liquor company Diageo to open a rum plant in the Virgin Islands. Diageo, which owns Captain Morgan, is ending a long-standing relationship with Puerto Rico’s Destilería Serrallés. In a Nov. 13 letter to House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), Gov. John deJongh of the Virgin...

A broken fuel gauge at the Caribbean Petroleum Corp. (Capeco) gasoline depot contributed to an explosion that forced the evacuation of hundreds of people, a U.S. federal agency said Tuesday. The faulty equipment prevented Capeco workers at the Bayamón facility from discovering that one of the tanks was overflowing before the fuel vapors ignited, according to the preliminary findings of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. “Filling the tank without a functioning control system is the type of activity the CSB will examine very closely,” said Jeffrey Wanko, the lead case investigator. He said the agency will examine...

A country's consuls are usually low-key diplomats who handle issues like visa applications. But under President Hugo Chávez, two Venezuelan consuls in the United States have been anything but low-profile. One drew the FBI's attention for his close links to Puerto Rican pro-independence militants. Another sparked concerns over his ties to a website that has published several anti-semitic rants. Chávez has long been an exuberant salesman for ``21st Century Socialism,'' regularly bashing the U.S. ``empire'' and its ``lackeys,'' like Colombia next door and Israel farther afield. And his government has spent tens of millions of dollars selling that vision abroad....

Your humble correspondent has just returned from the Caribbean paradise of Culebra. Politics were far from my mind as I snorkled the Culebran reefs. However, on my way home, I picked up a copy of the Puerto Rico Daily Sun in the western outskirts of San Juan and a certain story by Robert Friedman of their Washington, D.C. bureau caught my eye because it had the word "rum" in the title: "Debate heats up in D.C. over rum rebate." As a lover of that delightful beverage, I naturally scanned the story which, much to my amusement, illustrated the state of...

I left the service after 22 years in one piece and alive. Today, I am humbled by my countrymen (in the Jeffersonian sense) who made the ultimate sacrifice. Thank you, brothers and sisters. May posterity learn who our true heroes were. War on Terror KIA from the Territory of Puerto Rico: PVT Francheska Velez, USA, KIA, November 5, 2009, Fort Hood, Texas SPC Israel Candelaria Mejías, USA, KIA April 5, 2009, Near Baghdad, Iraq SrA Jonathan Vega Yelner, USAF, KIA April 29, 2008, Near Bagram AB, Afghanistan CPT Ulises Burgos-Cruz, USA, KIA April 6, 2008, Balad, Iraq SGT Ricardo X....

(English-language translation) Discussion of a bill drafted in English provoked during today's session brief discussions in [that language] and a request for the bill to be translated into Spanish. The bill seeks to establish an agreement with the states over pest control. The request to translate the bill was made in English by Popular [Democratic Party] Senator Alejandro García Padilla. [New Progressive Party] Senator Melinda Romero answered him in Spanish that the bill and report will be translated. Romero explained that the bill seeks to include Puerto Rico in a pact with the states concerning pest management. To do so,...

Gov. Luis Fortuño said Tuesday it is not time to stage another general strike, but rather for all sectors to work together to jumpstart the economy. “I don’t think this is the moment to be halting the government, or much less the economy of Puerto Rico. We have much more to gain working together and that is what I feel we should do,” Fortuño said during a press conference when asked about a warning by the Todo Puerto Rico por Puerto Rico Coalition that another general strike was in the works. The Todo Puerto Rico por Puerto Rico Coalition on...

Federal authorities were rounding up Tuesday morning 10 people, including singer Aldo Matta and a local developer, after a federal grand jury indicted them in a $15 million mortgage fraud scheme, FBI Special Agent in Charge Luis Fraticelli said. U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez scheduled an 11:30 a.m. press conference to discuss the arrests, which reportedly took place in San Juan, Bayamón, Caguas and the state of Florida. The victims of the fraud were reportedly several local financial institutions, the FBI chief said. The indictments were handed up Oct 30. “These people were dedicated to a fraud scheme that took...

Note: The following text is a quote: Home • Briefing Room • Presidential Actions • Executive Orders THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary __________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release October 30, 2009 EXECUTIVE ORDER -------------------------------- AMENDMENTS TO EXECUTIVE ORDERS 13183 AND 13494: By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including 40 U.S.C. 101, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Executive Order 13183 of December 23, 2000, as amended, is further amended as follows: (a) The preamble is amended by deleting ", includingPublic Law 106-346." (b)...

More than 100 federal agents entered the smoldering Caribbean Petroleum Corporation fuel depot on Sunday as the investigation began in earnest into the cause of an explosion that rocked the San Juan metro area early Friday morning and sparked a massive fire that burned for more than two days. The blast registered 2.8 on the Richter scale and the ensuing blaze sent up an enormous tower of toxic smoke that forced the evacuation of some 1,500 residents from communities surrounding the Bayamón facility. Marcial Orlando Félix, the head of the federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Bureau in Puerto Rico...

While government officials withheld speculation on the cause of the blast as fire brigades continued to battle the ensuing fire, union leaders called Friday evening for officials from the Caribbean Petroleum Corp. to explain what caused the powerful explosion and massive fire at the company’s fuel facility near San Juan Bay. Ricardo Santos, an official at UTIER, the largest electrical utility union in Puerto Rico, said information had begun to circulate that work had been done at the facility to try to stop a leak on Thursday afternoon. The blast, which rocked the San Juan metro area, occurred at around...

<p>CATANO, Puerto Rico — An explosion at a Gulf gasoline facility Friday rocked a neighborhood outside Puerto Rico's capital, causing minor injuries and forcing evacuations as firefighters raced to prevent additional blasts.</p> <p>Several columns of black smoke and flames were rising from the Caribbean Petroleum Corp., a gasoline warehouse and distribution center on San Juan's bay that owns the Gulf brand in this U.S. Caribbean territory.</p>

A large explosion has rocked an industrial complex in Puerto Rico's capital San Juan. No word on causes or casualties.

Thousands of marchers converged in [the] Hato Rey [section of San Juan] and rallied for much of the day as the general strike against government layoffs and a range of other grievances was carried out without incident Thursday. The tensest moment came late in the day as University of Puerto Rico students continued to block the Las Américas Expressway in both directions between Piñero Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue. Police Department officials initially opted not to confront the students and agreed to let them carry out what UPR law student Kevin González called an “act of civil disobedience.” However, when the...

Gov. Luis Fortuño reiterated his call for calm as the general strike got underway Thursday morning to protest his administration’s dismissal of more than 16,000 government workers. “What is vital here is that if we respect the rights of others, we will have a much more peaceful and fruitful coexistence,” the governor said in a radio interview. Asked if he was respecting the rights of others, Fortuño replied: “Every day I try to be better than the day before.” The governor expressed confidence that violence would not mar the protests, which will culminate in a massive rally on Roosevelt Avenue...

(English-language translation) No one can question that the past few weeks have been very difficult for the Puerto Rican people. The government's decision to dramatically cut the public payroll to relieve the deficit that accumulated during the past years has had a direct and indirect impact on most Puerto Ricans. It involves a painful decision, so much to whoever makes it as to whoever is affected by it. The natural and anticipated reaction is to have raised, as it did, public expressions of protest. Finally, a call to a general strike tomorrow seems to have united a variety of labor,...

The Coalición Todo Puerto Rico por Puerto Rico’s plans for Thursday’s looming general strike began to take shape Monday as it claimed initial victories in its protest against the dismissal of more than 16,000 government workers: The postponing of the Public-Private Partnership Authority conference and the shuttering of the University of Puerto Rico system for the full week. The PPP conference had been slated for Oct. 15-16 at the Convention Center to showcase investment opportunities for specific local projects. The Fortuño administration is making a push for PPPs to undertake much-needed infrastructure projects and repairs that the government simply cannot...

Union leaders snubbed Police Superintendent José Figueroa Sancha’s request for a meeting Monday to discuss plans and security for the general strike scheduled for Thursda[y] to protest the dismissal of more than 16,000 government workers. Union leader Federico Torres Montalvo said they stood up Figueroa because he had echoed comments by [Governor Luis Fortuño's] Chief of Staff Marcos Rodríguez-Ema characterizing protesters as “terrorists.” What the two Fortuño administration officials said was that truckers who blocked ports facilities may be in violation of federal anti-terrorism laws. “We are not terrorists and if the superintendent thinks we are terrorists, then we are...

A coalition of labor groups will aim to paralyze economic activity around Plaza las Américas [Mall] as part of the general strike convened for Thursday to protest the Fortuño administration’s dismissal of more than 16,000 government workers. The protest by the Coordinadora Sindical and the Frente Amplio de Solidaridad y Lucha aims to bring the commercial hub around the Caribbean’s largest shopping center to a halt. Luis Pedraza Leduc, spokesman for the Coordinadora Sindical, confirmed that the aim of the protest is to cripple business. The demonstration is apparently separate from the protests being organized by the Coalición Todo Puerto...

The University of Puerto Rico system will be shuttered all week due to the planned general strike by island labor unions scheduled for Thursday to protest the dismissal of more than 16,000 government workers. Interim UPR President Miguel A. Muñoz declared an academic and administrative recess at all 11 campuses system-wide, with the exception of the Medical Sciences Campus, where steps were being taken to ensure services to patients. “The safety of all the students and the university community in general is and should be our biggest priority. We can’t permit elements from outside the university system to undermine the...

(English-language translation) A new bomb threat was reported at noon at the Cruz A. Matos Environmental Agencies building, for which emergency personnel investigate the incident. Environmental Quality Board spokesman Luis Antonio Ocasio reported that personnel in the building are being evacuated. "The bomb threat was made from the same pay-telephone number where the last threat was called in on Tuesday," Ocasio explained. During Tuesday's incident, a graffiti message which read "Thanks for leaving me without food" was also noticed on the building. In addition, a fire was reported on the seventh floor of that building, which houses the permits division...

(English-language translation) Santurce - Scores of police officers, including the Tactical Operations Division, continue to surround Minillas Government Center allegedly to take security measures following an incident involving Governor Luis Fortuño, according to statements from Consumer Affairs Secretary Luis Rivera Marín. Security in the place is so tight that reporters were not granted access to the government complex's parking area, forcing members of the press to park on the highway and thus block sidewalks and access ramps for the disabled. "You already know what happened to the Governor, so this is not speculative. We have to ensure security and integrity....

Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum? Well not quite. Last year the plant of the company that produces Captain Morgan Rum announced that it was moving from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.The Move was based on a the Virgin Islands subsidizing the production Captain Morgan Rum throughout the 30-Year Deal. Rum is an industry that gets subsidized from the federal government out of U.S. rum taxes, the Virgin Islands planned on using the money from the Rum Taxes to pay the Morgan manufacturers. Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are now fighing in Congress. Puerto Rico wants...

WASHINGTON - "When I die I want to reincarnate in Puerto Rico", said the Vice President of the United States, Joseph Biden, last night at a reception honoring the Hispanic Heritage Month. Biden, who in the past has supported statehood for Puerto Rico met a group of Hispanic civic and political leaders at his official residence in Washington, D.C.

Puerto Rican Gov. Luis G. Fortuno is intent on making clear he's a different kind of leader — the sort who pays for even his official expenses with his own credit card. "I get reimbursed once they have checked that indeed my expenses were correct. And I think everybody should live like that," said the photogenic 48-year-old, who eagerly whipped out a personal credit card and then jokingly challenged a reporter to poke through his wallet and verify there was no government-issued credit card to be found. Given that the man he unseated as governor, Anibal Acevedo Vila, stood trial...

Puerto Rico is planning a new wave of layoffs for government workers to help close a $3.2 billion budget deficit. Gov. Luis Fortuno has said his austerity plan could involve cutting as many as 30,000 public sector jobs, including nearly 8,000 people who were fired in May. The government is expected to announce a second round of layoffs at a news conference Friday. The U.S. Caribbean territory faces an unemployment rate of more than 15 percent, higher than anywhere on the U.S. mainland.

(English-language translation) In the opinion of Governor Luis Fortuño, a 5-year-old child should not read a book meant for adolescents, nor should 13-year-olds have access to texts written for adults. "In society, we must have all types of texts and books available, of course. As a father, I have to say that there are books that are appropriate when a child is 5 years old. There are others that are appropriate when he is 12, 13 years old; and there are others that are appropriate when he reaches 18, 20. Those that are for 18- to 20-year-olds should not be...

(English-language translation) [Puerto Rico] Governor Luis G. Fortuño ordered that the flags of the United States and Puerto Rico fly at half-staff yesterday in all government departments, offices, and agencies to remember the victims who died in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The Governor's observance was one of several held in the island to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attack against the Twin Towers in New York. Over 2,000 people of different nationalities died on September 11, 2001 in New York when two commercial airliners crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, which is...

Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum. With little fanfare, a deal is moving forward to direct billions in U.S. tax dollars to an unlikely beneficiary -- the giant British liquor producer that makes Captain Morgan rum. Under the agreement, London-based Diageo PLC will receive tax credits and other benefits worth $2.7 billion over 30 years, including the entire $165 million cost of building a state-of-the-art distillery on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Virgin Islands officials say the arrangement complies with the letter and spirit of tax law and will help the islands' sagging economy. The...

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(English-language translation) SAN JUAN - The Union Coalition will march on Thursday to alert Puerto Ricans about the continuing layoffs in the government, which they assure go beyond what was ordered in fiscal-emergency Law 7. Roberto Pagán with the Puerto Rican Workers Union complained on Monday that [Governor] Luis Fortuño's administration is continuing to rely on the layoffs to improve the Commonwealth's fiscal situation. "The reality is that Fortuño's government insists on laying off public employees despite the disaster this policy has caused," he indicated during a press conference by the Union Coalition, which brings together three labor unions. The...

(English-language translation) SAN JUAN - A long riot left an undetermined number of people injured, including police officers, on busy Universidad Avenue in Río Piedras early Friday morning. The [Commonwealth] Police [Department] released a brief report about the incident in which it is mentioned that five San Juan municipal police officers were injured, but no mention is made of how many civilians were hurt during the brawl in which officers several times threw tear-gas bombs at the mob which, in turn, threw cans and stones at police. Sergeant Wilberto Soto with the Municipal Police told Commonwealth Police officers that the...

(English-language translation) Yesterday's media headlines in Puerto Rico and the United States leave no room for doubt over the historical impact the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor as the 111th justice to join the United States Supreme Court has. The fact that the judge, the daughter of Puerto Rican parents, is the third woman to reach the highest court in the U.S. is in itself historic. In addition, however, she is the first member of the Hispanic community to join this body which interprets the application of the American Constitution. This factor is a transcendental step in making the Supreme...

(English-language translation) SAN JUAN - Puerto Rico Corporation for Public Broadcasting President Israel “Ray” Cruz confirmed that he will submit a plan to the Workers' General Union (UGT) on Friday to lay off an undisclosed number of its members. "We are submitting a layoff plan tomorrow which includes a group of union members," Cruz told radio station WKAQ. According to Cruz, a one-hour cut in the workday was discontinued on Thursday following the protest the UGT held the day before in front of [PBS affiliate] WIPR in Hato Rey. "Also because of a complaint that was filed against me on...

NEW YORK — New York City is buying one-way plane tickets for homeless families to leave the city. It's part of a Bloomberg administration program to keep the homeless out of the expensive shelter system, which costs $36,000 a year per family. More than 550 families have left the city since 2007. All it takes is for a relative to agree to take them in. ~ snip ~ Families have been sent to 24 states and five continents, mostly to Puerto Rico, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. City officials say none of the relocated families have returned to city

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, July 27, 2009 – Tech Sgt. Alyson Angeles-Kimbrell has found in the Air Force Reserve a way to make a big difference in her life and that of many others. Air Force Tech Sgt. Alyson Angeles-Kimbrell spoke at the 2009 League of United Latin American Citizens convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico, July 20, 2009. Angeles-Kimbrell has helped herself and many others through the Air Force Reserve. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Angeles-Kimbrell was here earlier this month to attend the 2009 League of United Latin American Citizens convention on a quest to...

There are two waves moving across the Caribbean with one being in the Bahamas and the second moving through Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Could they become a concern for the U.S.? Find out by reading the full post at http://www.dopplerdale.com

(English-language translation) Over 400 Puerto Rico National Guard troops left yesterday for Fort Lewis in Washington, where they will receive training to accomplish their mission in the Horn of Africa. Puerto Rico National Guard Adjutant General Antonio J. Vicéns said that, following the month-long training, the 65th Infantry Battalion will head to Africa to support a security mission. "This is the first 65th Infantry Battalion of National Guardsmen from all states that will perform a mission in the Horn of Africa," Vicéns stated. The soldiers departed in the morning from Luis Muñoz Marín Airport, where Vicéns and their relatives bid...

If you didn't before, you sure do now. That's why he's got that grin on his face. It's not rum in the Captain's barrel, you see. It's your booty. According to Bloomberg.com, Diageo Plc, the maker of Captain Morgan rum, was essentially given... wait for it... $2.7 billion in tax incentives to move its production from Puerto Rico to the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). That's a lot of other people's money to be rearranging like barstools on our Titanic of an economy. WHAT'S A PIRATE'S FAVORITE LAW? TAaaRrrP. The article notes that USVI Governor John deJongh, Jr. had no idea...

A tsunami? The apocalypse? No, it's just the moon... SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – It's only the moon, emergency officials in Puerto Rico are telling nervous islanders who have feared that recent extreme tides portend a tsunami or biblical catastrophe. Waters receded up to 50 feet (15 meters) this week during low tide on Puerto Rico's southern coast, sparking a flurry of calls to seismology and geological agencies from people worried about natural disasters or supernatural events. Tsunamis are sometimes preceded by a dramatic drop in sea level. "There are people who have said it's a biblical sign," said Pedro...

WASHINGTON - Estados Unidos deberá responder en dos meses la querella presentada por un abogado puertorriqueño ante la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) en reclamo del voto presidencial. Santiago Cantón, director ejecutivo de la CIDH -que responde a la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA)-, notificó al abogado Gregorio Igartúa que a partir del 22 de abril el gobierno de Estados Unidos tendrá dos meses para exponer sus puntos de vista. Igartúa denunció en 2006 ante la CIDH el hecho de que los residentes de Puerto Rico no tienen derecho a votar por el presidente de Estados Unidos. Cantón le...

It's been said that conservatism has different meanings for different people. It may not be textbook, but without a whole lot of navel gazing, here's what it means to me and what Free Republic is all about: In a word, Freedom! In two words, Preserving Freedom. In a handful of words as stated by our Founding Fathers, to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity! America was founded on the proposition that all men are created equal by God and that our unalienable rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness are granted directly by God...

Note: The following text is a quote: ICE nabs man at LMMIA with 172 fraudulent credit cards SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A 28–year–old man was arrested Monday at the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (LMMIA) for credit card fraud following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Secret Service investigation. Alexis De Jesus, a United States citizen residing in New York, arrived at the LMMIA from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and was referred to a secondary inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspectors. The search of De Jesus and his luggage revealed 172 fraudulent credit...

Do not believe the nattering nabobs of negativity. The Nationwide Tax Day TEA Party/Tax Revolt was a huge success!! What we need now is MORE and LOUDER!! Obama has no clue. Being confronted by millions of fed-up citizens is new to him. He never expected the otherwise docile American people to rise up against his wannabe Marxist/fascist totalitarian regime. He's now lashing out at us through the Dept of Homeland Security as if We the People are his enemy. Well, we are! And he now knows it. And he's scared witless!! And the media has been reduced to the speechless,...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A jury found Puerto Rico's former governor not guilty Friday on all nine counts of conspiracy, money laundering and lying to the FBI, concluding his monthlong corruption trial. Anibal Acevedo Vila, who could have faced 20 years in prison if convicted, was the first governor to be charged with a crime since the island became a semiautonomous U.S. commonwealth in 1952. His former adviser Luisa Inclan was also cleared of similar charges. Authorities last year accused Acevedo and 12 associates of participating in an illegal scheme to pay off more than $500,000 in campaign...

As residents of Washington D.C. anxiously await the fate of their representational seat in the House, several lawmakers see it as fuel for Puerto Rico gaining a more instrumental voice on Capitol Hill. “The D.C. Voting Rights bill sends the right message to all members of Congress and in that sense it is also good for Puerto Rico,” said Rep. Pedro Pierluisi (D-P.R.), who supports the bill that would add a representational vote in the House for D.C. residents. “To me it is amazing that in the 21st century the U.S. Congress keeps ignoring the wishes of the people of...

‘Misguided’ criticism of corporate travel increasing tourism-industry woes Puerto Rico has lost about $20 million in cancelled group business this season, according to tourism-industry estimates. While the driving force behind the lost business has been the instability of the economy, industry officials say recent “misguided” criticism of corporate travel is worsening the situation. The Puerto Rico Convention Bureau alone has lost about 10 large groups that would have pumped about $5 million into the island economy, said its President & CEO Ana María Viscasillas. Since the bureau controls about 25% of the corporate meeting and events market, it’s likely lost...

Just three months ago, the state's second-largest bank joined scores of other troubled lenders when it cashed a check for $525 million from the federal government to prop up its bottom line. Today, Associated is preparing to drop tens of thousands of dollars - and maybe more - to send about 100 employees to a posh Puerto Rican resort as a reward for a job well done. Making the trip will be everyone from backroom workers to the CEO, Paul Beideman. On Wednesday, Beideman stood by his decision to send scores of employees on a midwinter junket, despite the bad...

Michael Steele owes his dramatic victory in the race for Republican National Committee chairman to votes from island territories outside the 50 United States. Now, the question is what else he owes them. The residents of the five territories, from Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea to the tiny Northern Marianas in the Pacific Ocean, provided Steele with a bloc of 15 votes - one more than his margin of victory - when they swung into his camp late in the balloting last week. Now, a leading committee member from the Virgin Islands, former shadow Senator Holland Redfield, said they...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A pregnant American tourist was killed Wednesday after she was abducted during a morning jog. Stuffed into the trunk of a car, she made a desperate call for help. About an hour later, she was found dead with her throat slashed. Based on Sara Kuszak's description of her kidnapper's car, police arrested a local man whose clothing was covered with blood. He was not immediately charged. "He saw the woman and kidnapped her," said Lt. Angel Ocasio. "He didn't take anything. He stole her life." The man was located because the FBI picked up a...