Pedro Rosselló
Encyclopedia
Pedro Juan Rosselló González, M.D., (roseˈʎo; born April 5, 1944 in San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
, Puerto Rico), is a Puerto Rican
Puerto Rican people
A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...
physician and politician who served as the sixth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001. He was President of the New Progressive Party
New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state...
from 1991 to 1999 and 2003 to 2008, and served as Senator for the District of Arecibo from 2005 to 2008.
Rundown
In 1988 Rosselló was the New Progressive Party
New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state...
(NPP) candidate for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico
Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico
The Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico is a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives elected by the voters of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico every four years...
. He was not successful in that 1988 electoral bid. From 1990 to 1991 he successfully challenged former Governor and then-NPP President Carlos Romero Barceló
Carlos Romero Barceló
Carlos Antonio Romero Barceló is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the fifth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the second governor to be elected from the New Progressive Party and also Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001, making him one of the more successful...
for the NPP’s presidency. He was thereafter elected Governor of Puerto Rico in 1992 and in 1996 was re-elected by the widest electoral margin up to that date. He also served as President of the Council of State Governments
Council of State Governments
The Council of State Governments is a nonpartisan non-profit organization in the United States serving the state governments. It serves state legislatures, state courts, and executive branch officials and agencies, and is the only multi-branch organization of state governments in the United...
as well as Chairman
Chair (official)
The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is typically elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chairman presides over meetings of the assembled group and conducts its business in an...
of the Southern Governors' Association, and Democratic Governors Association
Democratic Governors Association
The Democratic Governors Association is a Washington, D.C. based 527 organization founded in 1983, consisting of U.S. state and territorial governors affiliated with the Democratic Party. The mission of the organization is to provide party support to the election and re-election of Democratic...
. In 1999 he announced he would not seek a third term and retired from active politics in 2001.
In 2003 Rosselló made a comeback, winning the NPP's 2004 gubernatorial nomination in primaries against then-NPP President Carlos Pesquera
Carlos Pesquera
Carlos Ignacio Pesquera Morales Ph.D. is a Puerto Rican civil engineer and former politician. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico in the elections of 2000. He is married to Irasema Rivera, an agronomist, and has one son and one daughter...
. However, he lost the 2004 gubernatorial race to Aníbal Acevedo Vilá
Aníbal Acevedo Vilá
Aníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer. He served as the eighth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. He is a Harvard University alumnus and a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico School of Law,...
by an unprecedented and a rigorously disputed razor-thin margin. Soon after an elected NPP Senator from Arecibo resigned his seat and Rosselló filled the vacancy. From 2005 to 2006 Rosselló unsuccessfully sought to remove Senate President Kenneth McClintock
Kenneth McClintock
Kenneth D. McClintock-Hernández is the current Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. Mr. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton presidential campaign's National Hispanic Leadership Council in 2008, co-chaired Clinton's successful Puerto Rico primary campaign that year and served as the...
from his seat and replace him. In 2008 Rosselló lost the NPP’s 2008 gubernatorial nomination to then-Resident Commissioner and current Governor Luis Fortuño
Luis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
. Thereafter he completed his term as Senator and retired from active politics.
Education and professional career
After completing his elementary and secondary education at Academia Santa Teresita and Academia del Perpetuo SocorroAcademia del Perpetuo Socorro
Academia del Perpetuo Socorro was founded in 1921 as a Catholic parochial school pertaining to the Perpetuo Socorro Parish at the Archdiocese of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The school is located in Miramar in Puerto Rico's capital city of San Juan...
, both located in San Juan, Rosselló moved to the mainland United States to attend college. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree, Magna Cum Laude at the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
in 1966, as well as several academic and athletic distinctions. After graduation, he continued his studies in medicine at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, which he completed in 1970, also graduating Magna Cum Laude. Later he specialized in general and pediatric surgery at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. Following his residency at Harvard, he practiced medicine in Puerto Rico while also attending the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus
University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus
The University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus —or Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Ciencias Médicas in Spanish— is a state university located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is one of the eleven campuses of the University of Puerto Rico...
where he earned a Master's in Public Health (MPH) degree in 1981 (also graduating Magna Cum Laude). He later pursued a graduate degree in Education from the InterAmerican University of Puerto Rico
Interamerican University of Puerto Rico
The Inter American University of Puerto Rico —or Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico in Spanish, and often referred as "Inter"— is a private university system in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1912 in San German, Puerto Rico. The University has campuses in Aguadilla, Arecibo, Barranquitas,...
. During his college years, Rosselló became an avid tennis player that led him to be named the captain of Notre Dame's Men's tennis team, a P.R. 5-time-Mens-Champion, and also to play for Puerto Rico's team in regional championships, including the Central American and Caribbean Games. He was inducted into the Puerto Rico Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004.
Rosselló started his professional career alternating as an instructor at Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
and as an assistant professor at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, where he would later become an associate professor.
He became Chief of Pediatric Surgery and later Chief Surgeon at the University of Puerto Rico Children's Hospital. In 1985, Rosselló was named Health Services Director for the city of San Juan by then Mayor Baltasar Corrada del Río
Baltasar Corrada del Río
Baltasar Corrada del Río is a former politician from Puerto Rico. He held various high political offices in the island, including President of the Puerto Rico Civil Rights Commission, Resident Commissioner , Mayor of the capital city of San Juan , Puerto Rico's 15th Secretary of State and...
.
Run For Resident Commissioner
Rosselló began his political career in 1988 when he ran for the post of Resident Commissioner of Puerto RicoResident Commissioner of Puerto Rico
The Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico is a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives elected by the voters of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico every four years...
, (the island's non-voting observer/representative in the United States Congress) losing to incumbent Jaime Fuster
Jaime Fuster
Jaime B. Fuster Berlingeri was a politician who served as an Associate Justice to the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico...
of the Popular Democratic Party
Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
The Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth....
(PPD). Nevertheless, he was the candidate from the New Progressive Party
New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state...
(PNP) for whom the most votes were cast in the 1988 Elections. This positioned him well to become the party's next leader.
After leading a "Statehood Crusade" throughout the islands of Puerto Rico, in 1991 he became president of the PNP, successfully leading an opposition to a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
sponsored by the then Governor of the island, Rafael Hernández Colón
Rafael Hernández Colón
Rafael Hernández Colón is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the fourth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for three non-consecutive terms, from 1973 to 1977 and from 1985 to 1993. An experienced politician, Hernández holds the record for being the youngest Governor of Puerto Rico,...
. In 1992 he successfully ran for Governor of Puerto Rico
Governor of Puerto Rico
The Governor of Puerto Rico is the Head of Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since 1948, the Governor has been elected by the people of Puerto Rico...
, defeating Victoria Muñoz Mendoza
Victoria Muñoz Mendoza
Victoria "Melo" Muñoz Mendoza is a former politician from Puerto Rico. She is the daughter of the first democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Muñoz Marín, founder of the Popular Democratic Party and his second wife, Inés Mendoza...
of the PDP
Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
The Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth....
.
Governor (1993–2001)
As governor, Rosselló launched an anti-crime campaign known as "Mano Dura Contra el Crimen" (literally, "Strong hand against crime") in which the Puerto Rico National GuardPuerto Rico National Guard
The Puerto Rico National Guard is the component of the United States National Guard in the U.S. Territory of Puerto Rico. It comprises both Army and Air National Guard components with a total authorized strength of 10,000 soldiers and airmen. The Constitution of the United States specifically...
was used to assist state police in detering the ever-increasing crime wave that had begun in the late 1980s. This crime-fighting initiative managed to reduce violent crimes in half by the time he left office in Jan. 2001. His administration was also characterized for investing in large-scale infrastructure projects which included a train system, dubbed Tren Urbano
Tren Urbano
The Tren Urbano — or Urban Train in English — is a fully automated rapid transit that serves the metropolitan area of San Juan, which includes the municipalities of San Juan, Bayamón and Guaynabo. It is electrified by third rail at 750 V DC...
, a new convention center in San Juan, now officially named the Pedro Rosselló Convention Center
Pedro Rosselló Convention Center
The Pedro Rosselló Convention Center is the largest convention center in the Caribbean, located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is the centerpiece of the San Juan Convention District, which now includes a large 500-room convention center hotel, operated by the Sheraton chain, and water fountains and...
and a massive aqueduct
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
system which linked two major water reservoirs on the island. His policies also included a push towards reducing the size of government and taking government out of areas in which it should not act as a direct competitor of the private sector.
Under his administration, a healthcare reform bill was approved
Puerto Rico Health Reform
The Puerto Rico Health Reform , locally referred to simply as the Reform is a government-run program which provides medical and healthcare services to indigent and impoverished citizens of Puerto Rico by means of contracting private health insurance companies, as opposed to the traditional system of...
. Rosselló's Health Reform made Puerto Rico one of the few jurisdictions in the entire world to have had virtually 100% of its population covered by health insurance. Additionally, under this Reform, Puerto Rico became the only jurisdiction in the USA to have nearly 100% of its infants under the age of 2 vaccinated. He led two campaigns for Puerto Rican statehood in 1993 and 1998 in which locally enacted plebiscites were held to consult the Puerto Rican electorate on the political status with the United States. He supported the congressional Young Bill
Young Bill
The United States-Puerto Rico Political Status Act was a bill proposed in the United States Congress to help refine the political status of Puerto Rico. The senior sponsor of the bill was Representative Don Young, Republican of Alaska...
, which sought to carry out a referendum in Puerto Rico to define the political status of the island. However, the bill died in committee in the Senate of the United States. Nevertheless, Rosselló carried out a non-binding plebiscite in 1998 which gave electors four options and a fifth None of the Above
None of the above
None of the Above or against all is a ballot option in some jurisdictions or organizations, designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in a voting system...
column. The opposing Popular Democratic Party led a campaign to boycott the plebiscite and called the electorate to vote for the None of the Above column. The boycott was successful, as the None of the Above column – which did not represent any kind support for any status option – garnered 50.3% of the total votes.
In the 1996 elections he defeated rivals Héctor Luis Acevedo
Héctor Luis Acevedo
Héctor Luis Acevedo is a politician from Río Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico. He is the son of Héctor N. Acevedo and Toñita, both public servants...
(PPD
Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
The Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth....
), who was mayor of San Juan at the time, and Representative David Noriega (PIP
Puerto Rican Independence Party
The Puerto Rican Independence Party is a Puerto Rican political party that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from United States suzerainty....
), winning a second term after obtaining more than one million votes and the largest victory margin since 1964.
In 1998, a 45% stake of the state-owned Puerto Rico Telephone Company
Puerto Rico Telephone Company
Claro is the largest Puerto Rican telecommunications services company. It is headquartered in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, and has operated for almost a century offering voice, data, long distance, broadband, directory publishing and wireless services for the island residents and businesses. It was...
(PRTC) was sold to a consortium led by GTE
GTE
GTE Corporation, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System....
(now Verizon) and Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, with another stake set aside to benefit allof the company's employees. This sale led to a general strike organized by several labor unions. A similar attempt to privatize PRTC in 1988, under then Governor Rafael Hernández Colón
Rafael Hernández Colón
Rafael Hernández Colón is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the fourth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for three non-consecutive terms, from 1973 to 1977 and from 1985 to 1993. An experienced politician, Hernández holds the record for being the youngest Governor of Puerto Rico,...
, led to a similar strike which doomed the sale. Rosselló was successful in his plan to sell PRTC. The Telecommunications Act of 1996
Telecommunications Act of 1996
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the first major overhaul of United States telecommunications law in nearly 62 years, amending the Communications Act of 1934. This Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, was a major stepping stone towards the future of telecommunications, since this was the...
deregulated the monopolies many regional telephone and cable television companies held. From then on, PRTC's telecommunications monopoly would no longer be able to properly compete in the environment and the losses to the government would have been onerous. The sale price was 2 billion dollars, which union leaders described as "ridiculously low" (PRTC generated about a 100 million dollars of yearly profit at the time of the sale).
Vieques controversy
In April 1999, a U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
bomber misfired its missiles at a practice range and struck the main watch-post on the island of Vieques, killing David Sanes
David Sanes
David Sanes Rodríguez was a native of Vieques, Puerto Rico whose death became a rallying point for those opposed to the U.S. military presence on and use of his home island for live-fire bombing practice...
, a civilian employee of the Navy. The protests that followed on the small island gathered international attention (see Navy-Vieques protests). Governor Rosselló supported the immediate exit of the Navy, appearing before the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Armed Services Committee pressing the Senators, among them John Warner
John Warner
John William Warner, KBE is an American Republican politician who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term United States Senator from Virginia from January 2, 1979, to January 3, 2009...
and James Inhofe, to immediately take action so that the Navy could withdraw its troops from the island. In 2000, Rosselló and then President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
signed an agreement that the Navy would withdraw from Vieques by the year 2003, if voters in Vieques ratified the agreement in a referendum. The agreement included $40 million in public works in Vieques. After Clinton and Rosselló left office, the administration of the next Governor of Puerto Rico, Sila Calderón, rescinded this agreement. Despite political grandstanding from the Calderón administration calling of an earlier withdrawal, the Navy left Vieques on May 1, 2003, the very same date President Clinton and Governor Rosselló had agreed upon.
Retirement, return and election results (1999–2004)
In June 1999, Rosselló, announced he would not seek a third term in the elections of 2000. He moved to the Boston area where he taught on the faculty of the JFK School of Government at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. Later he moved to Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, where he first served as a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars , located in Washington, D.C., is a United States Presidential Memorial that was established as part of the Smithsonian Institution by an act of Congress in 1968...
and later taught public health at George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
in Washington, DC.
In 2003, Rosselló returned to politics and won his party's nomination for the gubernatorial candidacy in a primary election against his successor as PNP leader, Carlos Pesquera
Carlos Pesquera
Carlos Ignacio Pesquera Morales Ph.D. is a Puerto Rican civil engineer and former politician. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico in the elections of 2000. He is married to Irasema Rivera, an agronomist, and has one son and one daughter...
. In the 2004 Puerto Rico Elections
Puerto Rico General Elections of 2004
The Puerto Rico General Elections of 2004 took place on Election Day, Tuesday, November 2, 2004. After a count by the State Commission of Elections, the winner was inaugurated to a four-year term as Governor of Puerto Rico on January 2, 2005....
the PNP won majorities in both houses of the Legislature, the mayorships of 42 of the island's 78 municipalities and the Resident Commissioner post in the U.S. Congress. However, the position of governor was given then to incumbent Resident Commissioner Aníbal Acevedo Vilá
Aníbal Acevedo Vilá
Aníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer. He served as the eighth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. He is a Harvard University alumnus and a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico School of Law,...
who won by razor-thin margin in a highly controversial PR Supreme Court decision that many still hold was politically motivated.
Senator (2005–2008)
Rosselló was able to gain a seat in the Senate of Puerto Rico
Senate of Puerto Rico
The Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an...
when Victor Loubriel, an elected first-time district senator representing Arecibo
Arecibo
Arecibo may refer to:*Arecibo, Puerto Rico, a municipality located by the Atlantic Ocean*Arecibo Observatory, a very sensitive radio telescope located approximately south-southwest from the city of Arecibo...
, decided to resign his seat two days after being sworn in. The senator's resignation gave the New Progressive Party a seat it could fill, so Rosselló announced his intentions of filling the vacancy and was selected to the post through an internal party procedure. Rosselló officially assumed duties as a Senator of Puerto Rico on February 13, 2005.
Prior to assuming office, Rosselló announced his intentions to remove Senate President Kenneth McClintock
Kenneth McClintock
Kenneth D. McClintock-Hernández is the current Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. Mr. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton presidential campaign's National Hispanic Leadership Council in 2008, co-chaired Clinton's successful Puerto Rico primary campaign that year and served as the...
and be elected to replace him. An internal power struggle within the New Progressive Party between Rosselló and McClintock led to a split within the NPP Senate delegation in May 2005. After a caucus meeting, eleven of the seventeen senators elected by the New Progressive Party voted for Rosselló, with the other six boycotting the meeting. McClintock and five other senators, Orlando Parga
Orlando Parga
- Early life:Orlando Parga-Figueroa is a former Senator of Puerto Rico born in Mayaguez and currently resides in Caguas with his wife, Teresita. His father, Orlando Parga Tossas, was a leader of the StatehoodRepublican Party and a right-hand man to SRP leader Miguel A. García Méndez...
, Luz Arce, Migdalia Padilla, Carlos Díaz, and Jorge de Castro Font
Jorge de Castro Font
Jorge Adolfo de Castro-Font is a former Puerto Rican Senator and former member of the House of Representatives. Originally, he was a member of the Popular Democratic Party but became an independent representative in 2001 after inner disputes with his party...
, refused to follow the caucus' decision, denying the unanimous consent required by Senate Rules 2 and 6 to remove a President, thus permitting McClintock to remain as Senate President. The party directorate subsequently recommended that McClintock, Parga, and de Castro Font be expelled from the Party, and that Arce, Padilla, and Díaz be censured and prohibited to run for re-election under the party's flag or logo. However, in August 2005 the party's General Assembly only took action to expel de Castro Font, leaving the status of McClintock and the other four senators in limbo after approving in August 2006 a generic censure resolution that did not name any officeholders by name. The sanctions were nullified by San Juan Superior Court Judge Oscar Dávila Suliveres on May 8, 2007. The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, in a 5-to-1 decision, affirmed the lower court decision. Three of the disciplined senators (De Castro, Arce, Padilla) who ran for renomination, except for Díaz Olivo, were renominated in the March 2008 primary and were re-elected in the general elections.
On January 16, 2007, Rosselló led the party caucus in the Senate to a reprimand of two more NPP senators, fellow Arecibo senator José Emilio González and Bayamón senator Carmelo Ríos for voting in favor of a concurrent resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that would turn Puerto Rico's bicameral legislature into a unicameral legislative system, increasing the number of reprimanded caucus members to eight of the total of sixteen elected in 2004. Both González and Rios expressed their lack of concern over the reprimand and were handily renominated in the March 2008 primary and reelected in the November 2008 general election.
March against U.S. colonialism in Puerto Rico
On February 21, 2006, Pedro Rosselló set out to make a stand against what he calls "U.S. persistent colonialism in Puerto Rico" by organizing a "March for the End of Colonialism" (La Marcha por el Fin de la Colonia). The stated purpose of the march was to expose the colonial status of Puerto Rico, and exhort the United States Congress to pass a bill that would allow the self-determination
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
of the people of Puerto Rico, with congressionally mandated non-territorial, non-colonial options. Rosselló is a vocal and prominent supporter of statehood for the island, wanting Puerto Rico to become the 51st state of the (United States). The march covered the complete perimeter of Puerto Rico, tracing its coastline for 16 days and 271.3 miles. The United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
has not acted on any requests from the march's organizers.
NPP Presidency
On June 7, 2007, Senator Rosselló officially ended his bid for the Senate Presidency, stating in an article in El VoceroEl Vocero
El Vocero is a Puerto Rican newspaper that is published in San Juan.Published since 1974, El Vocero was at first the third of the four largest Puerto Rico newspapers, trailing El Mundo and El Nuevo Día and leading The San Juan Star in sales...
newspaper that he was no longer interested in the post, held since 2005 by fellow party member Kenneth McClintock
Kenneth McClintock
Kenneth D. McClintock-Hernández is the current Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. Mr. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton presidential campaign's National Hispanic Leadership Council in 2008, co-chaired Clinton's successful Puerto Rico primary campaign that year and served as the...
. On April 19, 2007, he published a third book, El Triunvirato del Terror, (The Triunvirate of Terror) on the power centers that he believes control Puerto Rico's economy and government.
On April 28, 2007, Rosselló revealed to various party leaders that in March, 2006, he had signed a sworn statement assuring that he would not make a fourth run for the governorship in 2008, and that he intended to abide by the result. During the April 25, 2007 U.S. House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs hearing on Puerto Rico's political status, he was seen treating McClintock very cordially, which suggests that the tension levels between them had eased somewhat, suggesting he may have wanted to help reunite the party as it prepares for the 2008 electoral campaign against incumbent Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá
Aníbal Acevedo Vilá
Aníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer. He served as the eighth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. He is a Harvard University alumnus and a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico School of Law,...
and assume a different non-elective role within the statehood movement to which he has devoted nearly two decades of his life. .
2008 NPP Governor's Candidacy Primary
During a PNP assembly on May 22, 2007 a large group of delegates unanimously acclaimed him as the party's candidate for Governor. However, given his original intention NOT to run, he officially announced that he would allow his name to be placed on the ballot, but he would not carry out a campaign for reelection. His candidacy papers were filed at the State Elections Commission on June 1, 2007. His candidacy was contested by Luis FortuñoLuis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
, the current Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, with whom he had shared the ballot in 2004. Fortuño had also announced officially his pre-candicacy for the party's nomination for governor.
On March 9, 2008, Rosselló conceded the victory to Luis Fortuño
Luis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
after a large margin of votes in favor of his opponent. Rosselló admitted defeat even before the votes were completely tallied proclaiming Fortuño as the next gubernatorial candidate of the party. A day later, Rosselló sent the media a written statement regarding his future in which he confirmed he would be retiring from active politics and would not be campaigning for any candidate, committing to complete his term as senator, which he did on December 31, 2008.
Gubernatorial library
Groundbreaking ceremonies on November 7, 2007, fifteen years after his first election as Governor, marked the beginning of the construction of the Pedro Rosselló Gubernatorial Library at Turabo UniversityTurabo University
University of Turabo is a private, non-profit, and secular university system in Puerto Rico.-Accreditations:*Council on Higher Education of Puerto Rico *Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools*US Department of Education...
's campus in centrally-located Caguas, Puerto Rico
Caguas, Puerto Rico
Caguas , founded in 1775, is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey....
. To be built at a cost of $3.5 million, half of that through legislative appropriations, Puerto Rico's second gubernatorial library will house documents currently stored in 5,000 boxes. While the library is being built, the Rosselló collection is available to the public. Former First Lady Maga Rosselló participated in the ceremony, as well as the Ana G. Méndez University System
Ana G. Mendez University System
The Ana G. Méndez University System —or Sistema Universitario Ana G. Méndez in Spanish— is a private institution of higher education in Puerto Rico...
president José Méndez
José Méndez
José de la Caridad Méndez was a Cuban right-handed pitcher and manager in baseball's Negro Leagues. Born in Cárdenas, Matanzas, he died at age 41 in Havana. Known in Cuba as El Diamante Negro , he became a legend in his homeland. He was one of the first group of players elected to the Cuban...
.
Personal life
Rosselló married Irma Margarita "Maga" NeváresIrma Margarita Neváres
Irma Margarita "Maga' Neváres is the wife of former Governor of Puerto Rico Pedro Rosselló and served as First Lady from 1993 to 2001.Neváres and Rosselló married in August 9, 1969. They had three children: Juan Oscar , Luis Roberto , and Ricardo .-References:...
on August 9, 1969. They have three sons: Juan Oscar (b. 1971), Luis Roberto (b. 1973), and Ricardo (b. 1979) and several grandchildren. The family’s roots in Puerto Rico go back several generations, to ancestors who migrated from Mallorca
Mallorca
Majorca or Mallorca is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea, one of the Balearic Islands.The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Cabrera Archipelago is administratively grouped with Majorca...
, Balearic Islands, an archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
of Spanish islands in the Mediterranean.
Publications
- Campos, Cielos y Flamboyanes: Con Pedro Rosselló de 1988 a 1997 – ISBN 1881714098. Published in 1997.
- El Status es el Issue – biography written by Alberto Goachet and authorized by Rosselló. Published on January 12, 2005.
- The Unfinished Business of American Democracy – published on October 27, 2005.
- El Triunvirato del Terror – published on April 19, 2007
External links
- Rosselló's campaign website
- Rosselló's achievements in office 1993–2000
- Rosselló's official senate profile webpage
- U.S. State Department biographical profile on Pedro Rosselló
- Yale Medical Review article on Pedro Rosselló (former alum of the school)
- The Puerto Rican Senate official site
- The Puerto Rican Senate official site
- Proof of the recent survey
- http://www.bibliotecarossello.pr