The New Progressive Party is a political party in Puerto Rico that advocates statehood. The PNP is one of the two major parties in Puerto Rico with significant political strength and currently holds both the seat of the governor and of the resident commissioner.
The Bureau of Diplomatic Security, commonly known as Diplomatic Security (DS), is the security branch of the United States Department of State. It conducts international investigations, threat analysis, cyber security, counterterrorism, and protection of people, property, and information. Its mission is to provide a safe and secure environment for officials to execute the foreign policy of the United States.
The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico is the highest court of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority to interpret and decide questions of Puerto Rican law. The Court is analogous to one of the state supreme courts of the states of the United States and is the highest state court and the court of last resort in Puerto Rico. Article V of the Constitution of Puerto Rico vests the judicial power in the Supreme Court, which by nature forms the judicial branch of the government of Puerto Rico. The Supreme Court holds its sessions in San Juan.
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, from 2009 to 2013.
Kenneth Davison McClintock-Hernández is a politician who served as the twenty-second Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, one of the four longest serving in that post. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s National Hispanic Leadership Council in 2008, he co-chaired her successful Puerto Rico primary campaign that year and served as the Thirteenth President of the Senate of Puerto Rico until December 31, 2008. He chaired Luis Fortuño’s Incoming Committee on Government Transition in 2008 and the Outgoing Committee on Government Transition in 2012, the only Puerto Rican to serve in both capacities. He was sworn into office as secretary of state on January 2, 2009, by Chief Justice Federico Hernández Denton, fulfilling the role of lieutenant governor in the islands. He was appointed by Governor Pedro Pierluisi as a member of the Civil Rights Commission on February 8, 2024, a nomination pending Senate confirmation.
Harry B. "Skip" Brandon founded Smith Brandon International, Inc. with Gene M. Smith in 1996. Smith Brandon International is a boutique corporate investigations and risk consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. Brandon is currently company COO. He is a former deputy assistant director of national security and counterterrorism for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He retired from the FBI in 1993 after 23 years.
General elections were held in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, to elect the officials of the government that would serve for the next four years, most notably the Governor of Puerto Rico.
The Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association (PRSSA) —Spanish: Asociación de Estudiantes Estadistas de Puerto Rico— is a Puerto Rican non-profit student organization dedicated to promoting statehood for Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1979, and remained active for two years, becoming inactive 1981–1993, active again 1993 to 1997, inactive once more 1997 to 2007, when it was reactivated once again.
The Córdova & Fernós Congressional Internship Program is a publicly funded internship program created in 1993 through legislation authored by then Puerto Rico senator and current Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock and signed into law by Gov. Pedro Rosselló. Administered by a joint committee of the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly and run by The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars (TWC), the program provides the opportunity every year for 40 college students to experience a semester-long internship in an assigned congressional office of either chamber, in the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, or at Telemundo or Univision. By law, placement preference is given to the offices of Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner, currently Pedro Pierluisi (D-PR), and of congressmen of Puerto Rican heritage, including Reps. José Serrano (D-NY), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and Raúl Labrador (R-ID).
The Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development and Commerce is the executive department of the government of Puerto Rico responsible for the economic development in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and all its commerce related matters.
The secretary of state of Puerto Rico leads all efforts promoting the cultural, political, and economical relations between Puerto Rico and jurisdictions within the United States or foreign countries. It was created by Article IV of the Constitution of Puerto Rico, establishing the secretary as acting governor when the governor is unable to perform his duties—a post equivalent to that of a lieutenant governor. As such, the Secretary of State is first in line of succession to the governorship of Puerto Rico.
Miguel Alberto Romero Lugo is a Puerto Rican lawyer, who is the current Mayor of San Juan. He was also Secretary of Labor and Human Resources of Puerto Rico (2009–2012) and former Chief of Staff of Puerto Rico during Governor Luis Fortuño's administration (2012–2013) and senator for the San Juan District (2017–2020).
Abel Nazario Quiñones is former senator at large of the 26th Senate of Puerto Rico and was mayor of Yauco, Puerto Rico. He was first elected in 2000 representing the New Progressive Party (PNP). He was reelected in 2004, 2008 and 2012. Nazario is also the vice president of the PNP and also for the local Republican Party. He was arrested on 12 September 2018 by the FBI for illegal appropriation of federal funds.
José Figueroa Sancha is a former superintendent of the Puerto Rico Police Department and former deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Puerto Rico. After being appointed by governor of Puerto Rico Luis Fortuño as superintendent in 2008, he resigned in 2011 amidst criticisms in the middle of a crime wave in the island.
José Emilio González Velázquez is a Puerto Rican politician and Senator. He has been a member of the Senate of Puerto Rico since 2004.
José Ernesto "Pichy" Torres Zamora is a Puerto Rican politician and former Secretary General of the New Progressive Party (PNP). He was a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives from June 10, 2010, when he replaced Iris Miriam Ruíz, until 2013. He won a seat in the PR House of Representatives in 2016 and currently he serves as the Speaker Pro Tempore of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives.
Héctor Pesquera is a former Superintendent of the Puerto Rico Police and the Puerto Rico Commissioner of Safety and Public Protection. Graduated at Colegio San José High School. In 1968 he earned a bachelor's degree in business and financial administration from the University of Puerto Rico. On October 18, 1976, Pesquera was sworn in as Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Once he completed inicial training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia he was assigned to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he worked in the organized crime, counterintelligence, and terrorism divisions. He was in charge of the SWAT program in San Juan during the 1979 Pan American Games. In July 1982, Pesquera was transferred to Tampa, Florida, where he worked on terrorism and international counterintelligence matters. In November 1984, Héctor Pesquera was assigned to FBI's headquarters in Washington D.C. to be in charge of the Cuban affairs program and was also assigned other responsibilities with all the countries of Central and South America. Pesquera served for 27 years in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) until his retirement in 2003. He then served as Coordinator for the United States Department of Homeland Security at the Broward County Sheriff's Office from 2003 to 2008, and as Assistant Director of Safety Affairs of the Port of Miami from 2008 to 2012. In 2012, he was named chief of Puerto Rico's police. In an interview with NPR in early 2013, Pesquera stated that Puerto Rico needed more help from the United States in its war against criminals, stating the proverbial "out of sight, out of mind" as it related to how people on the mainland seemed to be out of touch with the issues on the Island. He resigned on November 30, 2013.
Intelligence sharing is "the ability to exchange intelligence, information, data, or knowledge among Federal, state, local or private-sector entities as appropriate." Intelligence sharing also involves intergovernmental bilateral or multilateral agreements and through international organizations. Intelligence sharing is meant to facilitate the use of actionable intelligence to a broader range of decision-makers.
The Intelligence Center for Counter-Terrorism and Organized Crime is the Spanish domestic intelligence agency responsible for the prevention of terrorism, organized crime and other violent radical organizations by managing and analyzing all internal information of the country. It was formed in October 2014 by merging of the National Anti-Terrorism Coordination Center and Intelligence Center against Organized Crime.
Telegramgate, also known as Chatgate or RickyLeaks, was a political scandal involving Ricardo Rosselló, then Governor of Puerto Rico, which began on July 8, 2019, with the leak of hundreds of pages of a group chat on the messaging application Telegram between Rosselló and members of his cabinet. The messages were considered vulgar, misogynistic, racist, and homophobic toward several individuals and groups, and discussed how they would use the media to target potential political opponents. The leak came in the midst of allegations by former Secretary of Treasury of Puerto Rico, Raúl Maldonado Gautier, that his department boasted an "institutional mafia" that Rosselló was involved in. The leaks also came a year after a previous scandal, dubbed WhatsApp Gate, involving other members of Rosselló's cabinet.
