Portal:Puerto Rico/News/Archive

Please add old news from the Portal:Puerto Rico/News page. Remember to include the month, day, and year of the news.

2007

May

• May 5, 2007: Local economists expressed serious concerns over Puerto Rico's economic condition when it was revealed that the Government's public debt equaled 76% of the island's gross national product (GNP) in 2006-2007, making it one of the most indebted countries by percentage in the world, even more than the United States. (El Nuevo Día)

• May 5, 2007: Concerns are raised that the newly implemented Sales and Use Tax and the reduction in budgeted expenditures will not be enough to reduce the Puerto Rico Government's fiscal deficit for the 2006-2007 year. (El Nuevo Día)

• May 5, 2007: José Aponte de la Torre, long-time mayor of the Municipality of Carolina, dies of respiratory failure. He was 65. (Primera Hora)

• May 9, 2007: Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party is formally inscribed as a political party for the 2008 general elections after opposition from 2 of the 3 registered parties is withdrawn. (La Voz)

• May 20: The Puerto Rico Republican Party delegation convenes in Yauco to elect its Committee members as it prepares for primaries for the 2008 general elections. Among those elected include current Aguadilla and Yauco mayors Carlos Mendez and Abel Nazario, as well as current House Representative Jennifer González. (El Nuevo Día)

• May 20: In a widely speculated move, former Governor and current Senator Pedro Rosselló officially announced his intentions to seek the New Progressive Party's nomination for Governor in the 2008 general elections. (Primera Hora)

• May 21: The Puerto Rico Housing Department announces that a new apartment complex slated for El Condado will be built by real estate magnate Donald Trump, through one of his companies. The cost of each apartment will range between $1-$6 million. (El Nuevo Día)

• May 22: After tense negotiations between the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and its employees' union UTIER bog down, UTIER announces a 24hr strike for May 23. (El Nuevo Día)

• May 23: José Carlos Aponte Dalmau assumes office as mayor of Carolina, Puerto Rico, just 18 days after the death of his father and former incumbent Carolina mayor, José Aponte de la Torre. (El Nuevo Día)

• May 25: 6 former members of The Mission of the Virgin Mary of the Well, (Misión de la Virgen del Pozo in Spanish) in Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico reveal dark secrets of the excomulgated and former Roman Catholic group, including torture and sexual abuse by its leader Juan Ángel Collado Pinto. (El Nuevo Día)

• May 31: The Puerto Rico Department of Health states that a reduction of 16,000 (25.6%) smoking adults in Puerto Rico since 2005 could translate into $56 million in future health care savings for the island. (El Nuevo Día)

June

• June 5: Medalla beer wins the top prizes and awards in Australia, Barcelona and New Zealand competitions, beating out various other competitors. (El Nuevo Día)

• June 8: Puerto Rican Víctor Caraballo is sentenced to death by a Miami judge for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of 18-year-old Ana María Ángel in 2002. (El Nuevo Día)

• June 9: Puerto Rican boxer Miguel Cotto defeats Zab Judah by T.K.O. at Madison Square Garden, maintaining his title as WBA Welterweight Champion. (El Nuevo Día)

• June 10: More than 2.5 million Puerto Ricans gather at New York City for the 50th annual Puerto Rican Day Parade. (El Nuevo Día)

• June 14: United Nations special committee on decolonization calls on US to expedite Puerto Rico's self determination, text also requests General Assembly to consider question. PR press calls the resolution a 'historic one'.(UN resolution)(El Nuevo Dia)

• June 15: Jonathan Vega Rivera is arrested for the murder of neurophysiologist Elías Algarín Algarín on June 9. Bail is set at $750,000. (El Nuevo Día)

• June 24: Boxing promoter Don King meets with Puerto Rican boxer Felix "Tito" Trinidad to discuss his possible return to boxing in 2008. (El Nuevo Dia)

• June 25: Puerto Rican boxing legend Felix "Tito" Trinidad begins to train for his return to boxing in early 2008. (El Nuevo Día)

• June 26: 23-year-old Alex Trujillo, a criminal charged with multiple crimes, including murder, is sentenced to only 20 years in prison after several irregularities caused the other charges to be dismissed. (El Nuevo Día)

July

• July 11: A federal investigation discovers more than 120 doctors who allegedly received special treatment by the PR Medical Examination Board to grant them licenses without meeting necessary criteria. (El Nuevo Día)

• July 16: The Puerto Rican team wins the gold medal in gymnastics and the bronze medal in Taekwondo at the 2007 Pan American Games. (El Nuevo Día)

• July 25: The 55th anniversary of the establishment of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is celebrated in Comerío, a rural municipality in Puerto Rico. (El Nuevo Día)

August

• August 2: 88 doctors who fraudulently obtained their licenses are arrested by the U.S. Justice Department. (El Nuevo Día)

• August 4: Santos Padilla Ferrer, mayor of Cabo Rojo, dies from heart failure. He was 50 years old. (El Nuevo Día)

• August 4: Amateur video captures the apparent "execution" of an unarmed man in the hands of a Puerto Rico police officer in Humacao. (El Nuevo Día)

• August 26: Iván Calderón defeated Hugo Cazares to become the eleventh Puerto Rican boxer to win world championships in two divisions. (El Nuevo Día)

• August 30: A large oil spill is spotted off the coast of Guanica, stretching to Cabo Rojo. Emergency work crews from across the island are called to help the clean-up. (El Nuevo Día)

September

• September 12: David Bernier, the P.R. Secretary of Sports, proposes to Major League Baseball to withdraw Puerto Rico from the MLB draft, excluding the island from many requirements in order to compete with other Latin American countries. (MLB.com)

• September 19: Orlando José Pérez Jiménez, a Venezuelan Consul, alleges that, after its 4 month shutdown, Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) is trying to reestablish its operations and transmissions from Puerto Rico. (El Universal)

• September 21: Ramón Calderón, president of Holsum Puerto Rico, bids $139 million and subsequently acquires Pueblo Supermarkets of Puerto Rico and its assets in an effort save it from bankruptcy. (El Nuevo Día)

• September 21: 52 Puerto Rican pilots arrive at San Juan after one year of military service in Kuwait. (El Nuevo Día)

• September 21: Accord Ship Management, an Indian cargo ship operator, is found guilty of illegally dumping oil waste in Puerto Rico waters, and is fined $1.75 million and banned from U.S. waters and ports for three years. (Forbes.com)

• September 21: The Arecibo Observatory, the largest radio telescope in the world, is threatened by lack of funds assigned by the National Science Foundation. (Washington Post)

• September 27: 6 years after leaving the island of Vieques, the US Navy and various federal and local government offices reach an accord to clean up parts of the island which were contaminated by decades of military exercises. (EPA)

• September 27: Bio Celsius is ordered to pay $2.4 million for the cleaning and proper disposal of more than 4 million pounds of biomedical waste from hospitals and clinics, which had been illegally stored in their facilities for months. (Forbes.com)

October

• October 3: The Puerto Rico Ports Authority decides not to move loose cargo dock operations from the current San Juan Port to the new Port of the Americas for at least another 8 years. The transfer proposal had been met with criticisms from the city of San Juan, shipping companies, and dock workers. (Chron.com)

• October 8: An accidental ammonia leak from the Cerveceria India plant in Mayaguez sends people to the hospital and causes several traffic accidents. (Forbes.com)

• October 10: A controversial law is passed requiring a stricter dress code for motorcyclists to improve protection as well as reducing the allowed blood-alcohol level for riding. With this law, Puerto Rico now has the strictest requirements for motorcycle driving in the United States. (Associated Press)

• October 21: Over 3,000 Puerto Rican police officers have left the 18,000 strong force since January 2007 for U.S. mainland policing jobs as a result of numerous scandals plaguing the Department. (BaltimoreSun.com)

• October 12: Communities and activists protest the apparent mass killing of pet animals by a government contractor by throwing them of a 50 ft high bridge in Barceloneta. They were confiscated from residents in 3 public housing projects, against HUD and government instructions. (CNN.com)

• October 22: NASA selects Joseph Acaba as an austronaut for space shuttle mission STS-119, scheduled for November 2008. Acaba will become the first Puerto Rican ever to visit space. (AllHeadlineNews.com)

• October 27: During excavation of a dam to control flooding in Ponce, a pre-Columbian indigenous site is found, with villages, burial grounds, and other important artifacts. The site is preliminary considered on of the most important finds in recent decades. (International Herald Tribune.com)

• October 30: Over 30 medical doctors are arrested for illegally obtaining their medical license through bribes to the local Medical Examiners Board. After previous arrests in August, a total of 118 doctors have been arrested and indicted. (International Herald Tribune.com)