Puerto Rico News Digest For April 24, 2017

PONCE COP DIES AFTER SHOOTING

From Officer.com:

"A Puerto Rico police officer succumbed Wednesday of injuries he sustained in a shooting Sunday. Agent Benjamín De los Santos-Barbosa and three other officers attempted to stop a vehicle with an illegal window tint when the driver led them on a pursuit, according to The Officer Down Memorial Page. The driver -- who was on parole for narcotics charges -- led the officers on a pursuit until he encountered a broken down vehicle. The suspect then backed into the patrol car and opened fire as he exited his vehicle, hitting De los Santos-Barbosa in the head. Other officers returned fire, striking the suspect. The man was taken into custody and charged with 15 counts including murder, narcotics violations and weapons violations..."

GROUP TO FORGE AHEAD WITH DEBT AUDIT

From Caribbean Business:

"The Frente Ciudadano por la Auditoría de la Deuda, a group that is pushing for Puerto Rico’s debt to be audited, announced Friday that it will join a University of Puerto Rico (UPR) student protest to demand that the public debt be investigated and to defend public education. The “family-oriented, artistic” and educational event will take place Sunday, April 23..."

PR GROUPS VISIT CUBA FOR BAY OF PIGS CELEBRATION

From Telesur:

"A delegation of 40 members from the Juan Rius Rivera Brigade representing several social organizations in Puerto Rico celebrated the 56th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs victory last week in Cuba, showing their commitment to the elimination of foreign military bases in the world including the illegally occupied U.S. base at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay.At the site of the failed military invasion of Cuba by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary forces, Puerto Rican activists showed solidarity with Cuba and the ideals of the Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. The brigade seeks to highlight the solidarity between to the two island nations by organizing delegations to Cuba every year..."

Puerto Rico News Digest For April 17, 2017

FEDS WANT COMMONWEALTH IN STATUS REFERENDUM

From Caribbean Business:

"Including the commonwealth in the June 11 political-status plebiscite, as demanded by the U.S. Justice Department, has affected work procedures for the Puerto Rico State Elections Commission (CEE by its Spanish acronym)...Gov. Ricardo Rosselló and his advisers evaluated Saturday U.S. Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente‘s observations, in which he overrode the referendum as enacted for excluding the territorial status as a viable alternative. The governor said his administration will make the necessary adjustments to be backed up by the federal government, and Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz affirmed these amendments will be approved as early as next Tuesday..."

PREGNANT WOMAN GUNNED DOWN IN VIEQUES

Brenda Concepción Gerena, age 19 and four months pregnant, was shot at around 2:15 on Sunday morning along with her 17-year-old stepsister in front of their house in the Esperanza sector of the island municipality of Vieques. The pregnant woman died at Centro Médico in Río Piedras about four hours later, after both women were taken there by helicopter. The deceased victim's stepsister, María Jiménez Gerena, was not critically injured. The two victims had been involved in a dispute with unidentified people in a different part of town earlier that evening. So far in 2017, Puerto Rico has tallied 188 reported murders.

POLICE DETAINS FOUR MIGRANTS IN MONA PASSAGE

From AP/NZ Herald:

"Police say they have detained four migrants in a northwest coastal area commonly used by people from the Dominican Republic to get into this U.S. territory. Officers said they detained a man and a woman Saturday afternoon aboard a 28-foot wooden boat with an outboard motor just off an area beach. They said another man and a woman were detained at a nearby landing area on the beach. The travelers' country of origin was unknown..."

Puerto Rico News Digest For April 1, 2017

REGGAETON TAX PROPOSED TO PAY DEBT

The head of Puerto Rico's internal revenue agency ("Hacienda"), Raúl Maldonado Gautier, proposed today the imposition of a tax on all reggaetón music purchases and public performances as a way to help the island's government boost its coffers in light of the billions of dollars in debt it faces. "Reggaetón is so prevalent in Puerto Rican society, and it generates so many millions of dollars, that I think taxing it as we do any other economic resource makes a lot of sense", said Gautier. "We estimate that we can cover at least a quarter of our approximately $70 billion in debt just by charging a small tax on every twerk performed in a typical reggaetón video." Fans of the genre, a combination of reggae, rap and latin rhythms, balked at the suggestion of the tax, and were considering staging a protest march in San Juan featuring souped-up Japanese cars, women dancing in thongs and a parade float featuring a giant blunt.

TRUMP PROPOSES BUILDING WALL AROUND PR

US President Donald Trump made a controversial proposal during a recent interview on Fox News: building a wall around Puerto Rico. "Puerto Rico has huge debt, and people keep leaving there and coming into America. We need to stop that. We'll build a huge wall, a magnificent wall, around that island. Then they'll have to stay there and figure out their problems", said the President. When asked how he would pay for the wall, Trump responded, "I'm thinking a tax on tacos. That's what they eat down there, right? Or cigars. A tax on cigars". Trump was then distracted by a fly that was buzzing around the studio and promptly forgot all about the idea.

GOVERNOR ROSSELLO REVEALED TO BE A ROBOT

During a recent press conference at La Fortaleza, Governor Ricardo Rosselló was revealed to really be a sophisticated robot after the metallic faceplate containing his face fell off while answering a reporter's question. The absence of the plate revealed  several circuits and electronic parts inside the Governor's head, and his speech became halting and repetitive, eventually stopping altogether, as smoke came out of the robot's ears. The robot uttered the word "plan" several times before seemingly shutting down. When questioned by the press as to whether he was aware that Rosselló had been a machine all along, Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz said, "I guess I had some suspicions. He's still better than the previous guy, though". When presented with the same question, Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez simply responded, "Yeah, I knew".

UNION WITH CHINA PROPOSED FOR REFERENDUM

A recently formed political organization proposed a new status formula for June's referendum on Puerto Rico's political status: union with the People's Republic of China. The leader of the group "Sino-Boricua Alliance", Juan Sanchez, spoke to the press on Friday, and offered several reasons as to why they believe Puerto Rico becoming part of China makes sense: "Chinese people have been present in Puerto Rico for centuries. Plus, both peoples have a love of eating rice, and uhh, well, China is an emerging superpower and they have a lot of cash". Sanchez, who wore a traditional changshan tunic and Fu Manchu-style moustache during his remarks, added, "We're willing to do whatever it takes to convince China to accept us if the U.S. kicks us out. We can learn karate, wear those pointy straw hats, eat with chopsticks...Puerto Ricans are an adaptable people." Sanchez closed the press conference by performing several botched martial arts moves before falling on the ground holding his leg in pain.




April Fool's!