Puerto Rico News

Front Page Photo: Harvesting the future - Gov. Fortuno and Manati Juan Aubin Manzano tour a pineapple plantation in the northern coastal town as part of the governor's foucus on promoting local agriculture in lieu of food imports. During the visit, Fortuno Administration officials vowed to revitalize the ailing agriculture industry by providing the needed technology and support to open new markets.

Developing egg production, coffee and leafy vegetables markets are some of the new strategies the Agriculture Department is looking to boost the sector during the new fiscal year, said Agriculture Secretary Javier Rivera Aquino Wednesday. He noted that the agency has already received a number of proposals that fit with the public policy established.

"We have a number of projects in the area of egg production that we feel could produce a dramatic growth in the sector;' he said "Through financing from the Economic Development Bank guaranteed by the Integral Agricultural Development Fund, weve already secured a number of structures that were in disuse, which we will put back into operation."

Furthermore, he said the agency is working on increasing the production of leafy vegetables.along the southern region. They are also searching for ways to improve the quality and yield of locally harvested coffee, in order to broaden its reach.

"Puerto Rico'scoffee business is a bit tight and we have to look for new horizons. In fact, the governor has already approached the government of Israel and it is possible that we will be conducting a commercial mission to that country next year;' said Rivera Aquinon.

"The main crop will be Puerto Rican coffee. But for that to happen, we have to meet expectations,' he said

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Bermuda police have arrested a second suspect in connection with a fraud investigation involving an offshore investment group in this wealthy mid-Atlantic British enclave, a spokesman said Wednesday.

STARS AND STRIPES - 08/07/09 - Photo: Seth Robson / S&S -- Staff Sgt. Juan Medina-Torres, 32, of Puerto Rico, and others from Task Force 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, shown on June 26, are training Iraqi security forces in the Najaf area, but the trust between the two groups is still growing slowly.

NAJAF, Iraq — The security agreement requiring U.S. units to pull out of Iraqi cities relies in large part on trust that the Iraqi security forces can protect U.S. soldiers and civilians when they do go into town, military officials say.

But American troops, who have closed their last outpost in this city of almost a million Shiites, could be excused if they do not entirely trust local police. U.S. soldiers report seeing police taking cover seconds before a roadside bomb detonated on the main road into town in May, striking a U.S. vehicle carrying Cpl. David A. Schaefer, 27 of Belleville, Ill.

The father of three, known as "Schaf" by his friends, died May 16 in Baghdad of wounds suffered in the attack, according to a Department of Defense press statement.

The man in charge of U.S. troops in Najaf, and neighboring Qadisiyah province, said this week that the Najaf police were clearly implicated in the bombing.

"[Iraqi police] were 100 meters away from the site of the attack," said Lt. Col. Steve Miska, commander of Task Force 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment. "Some of them were hiding behind buildings waiting for the bomb to go off."

Weeks have passed but Iraqi authorities claim little progress in their investigation.

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Puerto Rican relatives of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor - the New York-born federal appeals judge who is vying to be the first Hispanic justice on the high court - hope to attend her confirmation hearings in Washington.

Actor Benicio del Toro met with convicts inside a Puerto Rican prison Monday, offering encouragement to a jailhouse theatre group and a few tips from his own Oscar-winning career.

A special independent prosecutor (SIP) has been designated to head a local probe of former Sen. Jorge De Castro Font, who is awaiting sentencing on federal convictions in a shakedown scheme he orchestrated while serving at the Capitol.

The decision by the panel of former judges at the SIP Office to assign a SIP to De Castro Font’s case was unanimous, according to panel president Berta Mainardi Peralta.

“After a rigorous analysis of the case file the panel has decided to launch a deeper investigation to determine whether to file local charges against De Castro Font,” Mainardi Peralta said in a statement.

SIP Ernie Cabán Santiago will have 90 days after completing the investigation to issue a report on his recommendations about the course to follow in the case.

Island Justice Secretary Antonio Sagardía referred the case to the SIP Office in early April, saying there was sufficient evidence to warrant the referral.

The SIP Office deals with potential crimes committed by public officials. Under the law, the Justice Department refers cases against ranking public officials to a panel of three former judges at the SIP Office in order to shield such cases from claims of partisan bias. The judges weigh the merits of the case and determine whether to assign it to a SIP for further investigation and potential prosecution.

In January, De Castro Font pleaded guilty to 21 federal corruption charges — 20 counts of honest services wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit extortion — related to his taking a series of payoffs in exchange for favorable legislative action during his years in the Senate and the House of Representatives. In exchange, prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of about 10 years, versus the 20 years he was facing.

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Flanked by a dozen mayors, Gov. Luis Fortuño announced Monday the receipt of nearly $20 million under the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which provides funds for town governments to purchase and redevelop foreclosed homes as affordable housing.

Some 11 towns received $17.6 million under the program, and the island government received a total of $19.6 million, Fortuño said.

The funding is aimed at buying and renovating foreclosed homes and then selling them to low- and medium-income residents. The funding can also be used to develop community installations like shelters or group housing and to provide counseling on housing to potential beneficiaries.

“This multi-million dollar injection of funds opens the doors for people with low- and medium-income to buy a dignified and secure home, while providing tools to mayors to rehabilitate downtown areas and other forgotten zones in their municipalities,” Fortuño said.

Municipal Affairs Commissioner Omar Negrón said the emergency program was a one-shot deal that requires municipalities to use the money in a expedited fashion. Towns have 18 months to assign funding and four years to spend it. Thirty-nine of the island’s 78 towns qualified for participation in the federal program, and of these 22 submitted competitive bids for the money. Of these, 11 were chosen.

[For full report open link.]

A group of doctors from Puerto Rico were gathered in front of the White House last week.

They want President Obama to adopt a single payer health care system.

If not for the entire United States, then at least for Puerto Rico.

The Puerto Rico College of Physicians and Surgeons petitioned Obama to support a pilot program that would create a single-payer system administered by the government that would provide universal health coverage to all residents of Puerto Rico.

Dr. Eduardo Obarra Ortega told Single Payer Action last week that almost every doctor and legislator he speaks with supports single payer in principle.

[You Tube pitch for donations. Open link.]

“They say — yes I agree with you, it’s social justice, it’s very good, we believe in it,” Ortega said. “But when it comes to taking action, things change. There are very many interests involved so it’s kind of difficult. It’s the same as here. I’m sure if you ask person by person most of them would say — of course I believe in good health for every American. No one is going to say I don’t want health care for everyone but when it comes to doing it, it changes.”

The proposed single payer pilot program would end the island’s multi-tiered system, under which those who need the most coverage receive the least health care.

Puerto Rico has enough hospitals, clinics and private physicians to adequately care for its population if there a single-payer health program, Ibarra said.

Dr. Herbert Goldman, a practicing doctor in the U.S. Virgin Islands, also made the trip to support the Puerto Rican doctors. Dr. Goldman used to practice in Puerto Rico.

Goldman told Single Payer Action that he believes single payer is possible in the United States.

[You Tube interview of Dr. Goldman advocating Single Payer System. Open link.]

“Revolutions happen,” Dr. Goldman said. “And a revolution in health care may happen because things are going so badly.”

“The average doctor has more people doing billing than helping them take care of patients,” Dr. Goldman said. “Not all doctors are there to be businessmen. Some of us want to take care of patients. They say don’t rock the boat. But the system is so inefficient and it’s heading over a cliff.”

July 2, 2009 - Following is a portion of the testimony presented by former Puerto Rico Gov. Carlos Romero Barceló given in the U.S. House of Representatives June 24. The remainder will appear in CARIBBEAN BUSINESS July 16. As we discuss H.R. 2499, we must ask ourselves: Why are we involved in seeking congressional action to sanction a “self-determination process for the people of Puerto Rico”?

In the first place, because the vast majority of the people of Puerto Rico aren’t satisfied with the existing legal, constitutional, political and economic colonial relationship with our nation, called “Commonwealth.”

In the second place, because we, the vast majority of U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico, believe in democracy. We are tired and upset with our undemocratic colonial (or territorial, if you wish) relationship with the nation of our citizenship, where we are denied the right to vote in national elections and to be fully represented in Congress. We have been disenfranchised U.S. citizens for 92 years. It is time to end it.

In the third place, because our so-called “commonwealth” relationship with the federal government has been rejected by a majority of the voters in the last two referendums held in 1993 and 1999. Therefore, we are now being ruled by the president and Congress without the consent of the people of Puerto Rico.

In the fourth place, because we are tired of being lied to and hoodwinked by the political leaders who advocate and defend the disenfranchisement of all U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico; by those who cynically claim to believe in democracy, yet are willing to remain disenfranchised forever, as long as they don’t have to pay federal income taxes; and by those who want to participate and be treated equally in all federal programs, but don’t want to contribute to the U.S. Treasury, as do our fellow citizens in the 50 states.

H.R. 2499, like its predecessor H.R. 900, seeks to move Congress and the president into more active roles in providing the 4 million disenfranchised U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico with a process by which to achieve full sovereignty or to share the nation’s sovereignty as equal partners with the 50 states of the union.

To provide a process that will achieve a solution to Puerto Rico’s unsolved states dilemma, we must start by officially unmasking “Commonwealth” so the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico won’t be lied to and deceived.

[Open link for full commentary.]

Thousands of Puerto Ricans lined the streets in Camden on Sunday to party and celebrate their heritage at the annual Parada San Juan Bautista.

Eight suspects were arrested, one was already in custody in an unrelated case. Two others are still on the loose.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Discount carrier Spirit Airlines has reportedly acquired Air Jamaica in a government-led effort to privatize the island's money-losing national airline.

Newly released documents from Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's service on the board of a Puerto Rican civil rights organization show the group opposed Robert Bork's nomination to the high court more than two decades ago.

I was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico but I've lived in the United States since I was four years old.

A self-described spiritual healer accidentally dropped a candle into a tub where a client was bathing in alcohol Friday, leaving her with burns over half her body, police said.

Caribbean Busniess Online - July 2, 2009: Local chapter insists both measures diminish chances of local families to acquire or refinance a home by reducing their purchasing power The Puerto Rico Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has called for the repeal of the notary law and the new property-tax increase on nonexempt properties, urging the government to instead adopt solutions that don’t directly affect the pockets of potential and existing homebuyers.

“If you haven’t been involved in a mortgage-related transaction within the past year, you are probably unaware that last August House Bill 4454 became Law 239, which immediately made effective a new 1% fixed-rate fee on all mortgage-related transactions, making it harder for a person to acquire a home or make a residential or commercial transaction,” said local MBA President Steven Vélez.

The transaction, Vélez added, was approved by the Legislature on the last day of the ordinary session under the cover of night, without the due process of public hearings and with the strong opposition of several private-sector organizations such as the MBA, the Bankers Association and the Home Builders Association.

Concerned about the economic impact the new fixed-rate fee would have on consumers’ pockets, Vélez said the MBA left no stone unturned in its efforts to speak at all pertinent forums and alert the public. In spite of the MBA’s efforts, Law 239 was approved.

[Open link for full story in Caribbean Business Online.]

We now know the name of one of the drivers killed in a head-on crash yesterday afternoon.

DON BURK/The Times-Union Joshua Newsteder, a former pilot in the U.S. Navy, and a commerical pilot, is now hoping to start a Jacksonville-based airline that would start flying later this year from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico.

For Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, being Puerto Rican is wrapped up in the Caribbean island's exotic cuisine.

"I FEEL so small," bleated Amelia, my 10-year-old, as she surveyed her surroundings in El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico.