Carolina is a city and municipality located on the northeast coast of Puerto Rico. It lies immediately east of the capital San Juan and Trujillo Alto;north of Gurabo and Juncos;and west of Canóvanas and Loíza. Carolina is spread over 12 barrios plus Carolina Pueblo. It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area,and home to Puerto Rico's main airport,the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport.
The University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo is a public college in Arecibo,Puerto Rico. It is part of the University of Puerto Rico. UPR-Arecibo was previously the Colegio Regional de Arecibo and Colegio Universitario Tecnológico de Arecibo.
David Enrique "Quique" Bernier Rivera is a Puerto Rican dentist and politician that has served in various roles in public service in Puerto Rico. Bernier first served as executive director of the Office of Youth Affairs of Puerto Rico and was later confirmed as the youngest Secretary of Sports and Recreation of Puerto Rico in history. Four years later,he was unanimously confirmed as Secretary of State of Puerto Rico for the administration of Alejandro García Padilla. He was the 2016 candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico of the Popular Democratic Party.
JoséErnesto Aponte de la Torre was a Puerto Rican politician,and was the mayor of Carolina,Puerto Rico for 22 years.
JoséLuis Dalmau Santiago is an attorney and politician. He is the current President of the Senate of Puerto Rico.
The Popular Democratic Party is a political party in Puerto Rico that advocates to continue as a Commonwealth of the United States with self-governance. The party was founded in 1938 by dissidents from the Puerto Rican Liberal Party and the Unionist Party and originally promoted policies on the center-left. In recent years,however,its leaders have described the party as centrist.
The 2012 Popular Democratic Party primaries were the primary elections by which voters of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) chose its nominees for various political offices of Puerto Rico for the 2012 general elections. They were held on March 18,2012 and coincided with the Republican Party primaries in the island.
The Senate of Puerto Rico majority and minority leaders are Puerto Rican Senators who are elected by the party conferences that hold the majority and the minorities respectively. These leaders serve as the chief Senate spokespeople for their parties and manage and schedule the legislative and executive business of the Senate. By rule,the Presiding Officer gives the Majority Leader priority in obtaining recognition to speak on the floor of the Senate. The Majority Leader customarily serves as the chief representative of his or her party in Senate.
JoséA. "Josian" Santiago Rivera is a Puerto Rican politician. He became the mayor of the municipality of Comerío as a member of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) at the 2000 general elections,and was re-elected in 2004 and 2008. In 2010 Santiago became the president of the Asociación de Alcaldes de Puerto Rico,the organization that regulates cooperation between most mayors affiliated to the PPD.
The free association movement in Puerto Rico refers to initiatives throughout the history of Puerto Rico aimed at changing the current political status of Puerto Rico to that of a sovereign freely associated state. Locally,the term soberanista refers to someone that seeks to redefine the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States to that of a compact with full sovereignty. The term is mostly used in reference to those that support a compact of free association or a variation of this formula,commonly known as Estado Libre Asociado (ELA) Soberano,between Puerto Rico and the United States. Members of the independence movement that are willing to pursue alliances with this ideology are occasionally referred to as such,but are mostly known as independentistas. Consequently,soberanismo then became the local name for the free association movement.
The Secretary of Corrections and Rehabilitation of Puerto Rico is responsible for structuring,developing,and coordinating the public policies of Puerto Rico over its correctional system and the rehabilitation of its adult and young population.
Rossana López León is a Puerto Rican politician and public servant from the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). López was elected to the Senate of Puerto Rico in 2012. Before that,she served as Director of the Office of Affairs of the Elderly.
Carlos “Charlie”Delgado Altieri is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the mayor of Isabela from 2001 to 2021. He has also served as the president of the Popular Democratic Party since August 20,2020 until February 23,2021. He was the Popular Democratic Party nominee for Governor of Puerto Rico in 2020,losing to New Progressive Pedro Pierluisi. He is also a candidate for the 2024 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election.
Heriberto Vélez Vélez is a Puerto Rican politician and the current mayor of Quebradillas. Vélez is affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) and has served as mayor since 2005. Has a bachelor's degree in Education,with a concentration in mathematics from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico.
Manuel Natal Albelo is a former member of the 29th House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. Natal is currently affiliated with the Citizen's Victory Movement party after being previously affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party and a legal advisor for Charlie Hernández,another member of the House,before becoming a legislator. He was a member of the free association movement,colloquially known as soberanistas. Elected at the age of 27,Natal is one of the youngest legislators in the history of Puerto Rico and was the youngest legislator to serve at the time of his election. He was the Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana party's nominee in the 2020 San Juan mayoral election,which he lost to senator Miguel Romero of the New Progressive Party.
Alexandra Lúgaro Aponte is a Puerto Rican attorney,businesswoman,and politician who was a candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico during the 2016 and 2020 elections,finishing in third place both times. In 2016,running as an independent,Lúgaro obtained a total of 175,831 votes (11.13%). In 2020,Lúgaro ran as the candidate of the Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana.
During the first two decades of the 21st Century,the concept of a sovereign form of association has experienced its largest growth since it was first proposed. The 2000s marked the first time that an incumbent governor ran on a platform advocating sovereignty,when Aníbal Acevedo Viládid so for the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). The term soberanista was popularized as a consequence,and the ideological breach within the party widened as the conservative wing backed the territorial Commonwealth. During the 2010s,free association recorded its best performance at the polls,finishing as runner-up of the 2012 status referendum. This decade also marked the first time that another party presented supporters of free association in the ballot,with the participation of the Movimiento Unión Soberanista (MUS).
General elections were held in Puerto Rico on November 3,2020,to elect the officials of the Puerto Rican government who will serve from January 2021 to January 2025,most notably the position of Governor and Resident Commissioner. In addition,there was a non-binding status referendum to ask voters if Puerto Rico should become the 51st state of the Union.
Orlando Aponte Rosario is a Puerto Rican politician affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). He was elected to the Puerto Rico House of Representatives in 2020 to represent District 26.
The 2024 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election will be held on November 5,2024,to elect the governor of Puerto Rico,concurrently with the election of the Resident Commissioner,the Senate,the House of Representatives,and the mayors of the 78 municipalities. Incumbent New Progressive Party Governor Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia is running for re-election to a second term in office.
