Rafael Hernández Colón is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the fourth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1973 to 1977 and as the sixth Governor of Puerto Rico from 1985 to 1993 for a total of three terms. An experienced politician, Hernández holds the record for being the youngest Governor of Puerto Rico, having won his first term at the age of 36. Hernández is also the person who has run for governor the most times, a total of five. During his terms as governor, Hernández Colón's administration was known for trying to invigorate the Puerto Rican economy as well as defending the current political status of the island.
Tomás Batista is one of Puerto Rico's greatest sculptors. He is the creator of some of Puerto Rico's most notable monuments.
Luis Lloréns Torres, was a Puerto Rican poet, playwright, and politician. He was an advocate for the independence of Puerto Rico.
Ricardo E. Alegría Gallardo was a Puerto Rican scholar, cultural anthropologist and archeologist known as the "father of modern Puerto Rican archaeology".
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.
The International Wrestling Association is a conglomerate of professional wrestling promotions that originated in Puerto Rico and currently operates there and in the state of Florida. Founded in 1999 by promoter Victor Quiñones as a novel promotion, it quickly entered an agreement to serve as a development territory for the World Wrestling Federation that lasted until 2001. During its first decade, IWA grew to rival the long-standing World Wrestling Council (WWC). Its business model relies on pushing younger talents, using veterans and foreign wrestlers to get them over with the public.
Héctor Soto is a former volleyball player from Puerto Rico, who was a member of the Men's National Team that ended up in sixth place at the 2007 FIVB Men's World Cup in Japan and received the Best Scorer individual award. He played in the 2006 FIVB World Championship, being also named Best Scorer of the tournament.
Pedro Julio Serrano is an openly gay and HIV+ human rights activist and executive director of Puerto Rico Para Tod@s, a non-profit organization that strives for inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals and for social justice for all in Puerto Rico since 2003. He currently works as Senior Advisor of San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz and collaborates with the reform of the Puerto Rico Police Department.
Alejandro Javier García Padilla is a Puerto Rican politician and attorney who served as the 11th governor of Puerto Rico from 2013 to 2017. Prior to this position, García Padilla held various roles in the political landscape of Puerto Rico; first as Secretary of Consumer Affairs, and then as a member of the 24th Senate of Puerto Rico and as president of the Popular Democratic Party. Locally, he is a staunch advocate for maintaining the current political status of Puerto Rico as that of an unincorporated territory of the United States with self-government, while at the national level he is allied with the Democratic Party.
Ricardo "Ricky" Antonio Rosselló Nevares is a Puerto Rican politician, scientist, businessman, author, and commentator. Since 2017, Rosselló has served as the 12th governor of Puerto Rico. He is the son of former Governor of Puerto Rico Pedro Rosselló.
Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto is a Puerto Rican politician who is the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico. She has served as mayor of San Juan since 2013. From 2009 through 2013, Cruz served in the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico.
The Budget of the Government of Puerto Rico is the proposal by the Governor of Puerto Rico to the Legislative Assembly which recommends funding levels for the next fiscal year, beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30 of the following year. This proposal is established by Article IV of the Constitution of Puerto Rico and is presented in two forms:
Alberto Bacó Bagué is a lawyer, a certified public accountant (CPA), and a legal and commercial advisor that served as Director of the Puerto Rico Economic Development Bank from 1990 to 1993. Previous to that Bacó served as Executive Vice President of the Puerto Rico Government Development Bank from 1989 to 1990. He also served as General Counsel at the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions from 1986 to 1989, and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Puerto Rico from 2004 to 2006. In his private life Bacó served as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Marvel International and Bohío International from 2005 to 2011.
Melba Acosta Febo is a corporate executive, attorney, and certified public accountant. She is a former president of the Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico and a former chief public finance officer of Puerto Rico. Acosta also served as the Secretary of the Treasury of Puerto Rico, director of the Puerto Rico Office of Management and Budget and chief of staff of the municipality of San Juan.
Carlos Rivas Quiñones is an attorney and economist, and a former Director of the Puerto Rico Office of Management and Budget. Rivas was previously the Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Financing of Housing Authority. He was also an Associate at McKinsey and Company. Rivas has a juris doctor from Stanford University and a bachelor's degree in Economics from Princeton University.
Manuel Natal Albelo is a lawyer and a member of the 29th House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. Natal is currently an independent, previously affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party and was a legal advisor for Charlie Hernández, another member of the House, before becoming a legislator. He is 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 the youngest legislator currently serving.
The Puerto Rican government-debt crisis is a financial crisis affecting the government of Puerto Rico. The crisis traces back its history to 1973 when the government began to spend more than what it collected. To cover that imbalance, the government issued bonds rather than adjust its budget. That practice continued for four decades until 2014 when three major credit agencies downgraded several bonds issues by Puerto Rico to "junk status" after the government was unable to demonstrate that it would be able to pay its debt. The downgrading, in turn, prevented the government from selling more bonds in the open market. Unable to obtain the funding to cover its budget imbalance, the government began using its savings to pay its debt while warning that those savings would eventually exhaust and that it would thus eventually be unable to pay its debt. To prevent such scenario, the United States Congress enacted a law known as PROMESA, which appointed an oversight board with ultimate control over the commonwealth's budget. As the PROMESA board began to exert that control, the government sought to increase revenues and reduce its expenses by increasing taxes while curtailing public services and reducing worker's benefits. Those measures further compounded the crisis by provoking social distrust and unpleasantness in the general population.
Víctor A. Suárez Meléndez is a Puerto Rican lawyer and politician who was the 24th Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, as well as being the current executive director of the Puerto Rico Convention Center District Authority. Prior to his current position, Suárez served in various roles in public service, including as executive director of the Puerto Rico Ports Authority, as Secretary of Consumer Affairs, as deputy mayor of Carolina, and as Puerto Rico Chief of Staff. Before he joined the government, Suárez worked as an operations manager for Colgate-Palmolive and as a private-practice lawyer. He also worked as a consultant for various public and private entities in matters such as process reengineering, projects management, organizational restructuring and development of efficiency indicators.
