Anders Heli Hansen
Friday, August 9, 2013
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Unfairly Playing With Puerto Rico’s Political Status
Unfairly Playing With Puerto Rico’s Political Status
One thing is certain — President Obama has inexplicably decided to stand by inaction and ignore the loud voices of a clear majority in Puerto Rico asking for permanent change.- Javier Ortiz
Before Congress left for August recess, the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing on to discuss the future political status of Puerto Rico. Although President Obama’s Puerto Rican Task Force has publicly stated that resolving Puerto Rico’s political status is the territory’s most pressing issue, no one from the Obama administration attended or participated in this hearing.
By remaining on the sidelines, President Obama’s White House has decided to cast aside the will of the people of Puerto Rico.
In November 2012, 54 percent of Puerto Rico’s residents voted to reject their commonwealth’s status as an unincorporated territory, and 61 percent of voters cast their ballot in favor of statehood for Puerto Rico, with a full 72 percent of the eligible electorate participating.
In December 2012, the White House unequivocally stated that "the results were clear, the people of Puerto Rico want the issue of status resolved, and a majority chose statehood in the second question." A White House spokesman added, "Now it is time for Congress to act and the administration will work with them on that effort, so that the people of Puerto Rico can determine their own future."
Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/opinion/2013/08/07/unfairly-playing-with-puerto-ricos-political-status/#ixzz2bKx6IH42
By Javier Ortiz
Fox News Latino
One thing is certain — President Obama has inexplicably decided to stand by inaction and ignore the loud voices of a clear majority in Puerto Rico asking for permanent change.- Javier Ortiz
Before Congress left for August recess, the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing on to discuss the future political status of Puerto Rico. Although President Obama’s Puerto Rican Task Force has publicly stated that resolving Puerto Rico’s political status is the territory’s most pressing issue, no one from the Obama administration attended or participated in this hearing.
By remaining on the sidelines, President Obama’s White House has decided to cast aside the will of the people of Puerto Rico.
In November 2012, 54 percent of Puerto Rico’s residents voted to reject their commonwealth’s status as an unincorporated territory, and 61 percent of voters cast their ballot in favor of statehood for Puerto Rico, with a full 72 percent of the eligible electorate participating.
In December 2012, the White House unequivocally stated that "the results were clear, the people of Puerto Rico want the issue of status resolved, and a majority chose statehood in the second question." A White House spokesman added, "Now it is time for Congress to act and the administration will work with them on that effort, so that the people of Puerto Rico can determine their own future."
Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/opinion/2013/08/07/unfairly-playing-with-puerto-ricos-political-status/#ixzz2bKx6IH42
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
NEWS ALERT ! - Gunman kills head of Venezuela opposition party
Gunman kills head of Venezuela opposition party:
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A gunman riding on the back of a motorcycle has killed a Venezuelan opposition leader in the home state of the late President Hugo Chavez.
A colleague says Pablo Uzcategui was shot twice Monday night as he drove through the Barinas state capital with his son.
National Assembly lawmaker Carlos Berrizbeitia says the killing of Uzcategui was not a robbery. He says Uzcategui's wife was driving behind her husband with the couple's two daughters and witnessed the killing.
Congratulations Governor... I wish you were as effective getting us GOP support for HR 2000
(WOW ! Fortuno continua teniendo logros profesionales y personales con los Republicanos en EEUU, ..... pero, y para Puerto Rico que? ..y por que no usa esas relaciones para conseguir respaldo para el proyecto H.R.2000 de Pierluisi? mj)
By CB Online Staff
Former Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño has been named to board of advisors at Media Group of America, LLC, a Republican-led company launched in the wake of the GOP’s disappointing showing in the 2012 elections in the U.S.
Since leaving office after one term in January, Fortuño has been serving as a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of the Steptoe and Johnson, an international law firm with offices in Beijing, Brussels, Century City, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York and Phoenix.
Fortuño, who works out of the law firm’s Washington office, practices in the corporate, securities, and finance group and the government affairs and public policy group. He is also continuing the expansion of Steptoe’s Latin American practice.
Fortuño, who headed the island’s statehood New Progressive Party and is a member of the national Republican Party, narrowly lost his bid for a second term as governor last November. He continues to serve as the Republican National Committeeman for Puerto Rico. (Como??? si ya no vive en PR!!)
Under his leadership, Puerto Rico downsized its bloated government, reined in deficit spending and implemented the biggest tax cut in the island’s history. He is also credited on Wall Street with keeping Puerto Rico’s credit rating from sinking to junk level.
Steptoe was contracted by the government during Fortuño’s tenure to design the Law 154 tax strategy, which levied an excise tax on multinational firms operating on the island and provided the financing for the tax reform, the former governor’s signature achievement while in office.
Fortuño’s signature public-private partnerships law paved the way for two of the largest recent infrastructure investment projects in the Americas — one in Puerto Rico’s highway system and the other at its hub airport.
While governor, Fortuño served as president of the Council of State Governments (2011-2012) and as chairman of the Southern Governors Association (2011-2012). He also served on the board of directors of the Center for Best Practices of the National Governors Association (2010-2012) and was appointed by President Obama to be one of ten governors serving in the Council of Governors (2010-2012).
Prior to his election to La Fortaleza, Fortuño served four years as resident commissioner in Congress, the island’s sole representative on Capitol Hill. During that time, he served as vice-chair, and then chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference. He also was co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Spain, part of the Hispanic Conference Caucus.
Earlier in his public service career, he served as Puerto Rico’s Economic Development & Commerce secretary during the Rosselló administration, and simultaneously as executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Co. and president of the Hotel Development Corp.
In private practice in Puerto Rico, Fortuño was a partner in the McConnell Valdés law firm, and later a founding partner of the boutique firm Correa, Collazo, Herrero, Jiménez & Fortuño. He has represented Fortune 500 companies in regulatory, financial, real estate, mergers and acquisitions, and other corporate matters throughout Latin America.
Fortuño earned his juris doctor from the University of Virginia and his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He is admitted to the practice of law in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and is a member of the American Law Institute.
Formed in March 2013, MGA Holdings houses three core businesses that collectively address challenges and opportunities evident in the aftermath of the 2012 electoral campaign.
Fortuño, who works out of the law firm’s Washington office, practices in the corporate, securities, and finance group and the government affairs and public policy group. He is also continuing the expansion of Steptoe’s Latin American practice.
Fortuño, who headed the island’s statehood New Progressive Party and is a member of the national Republican Party, narrowly lost his bid for a second term as governor last November. He continues to serve as the Republican National Committeeman for Puerto Rico. (Como??? si ya no vive en PR!!)
Under his leadership, Puerto Rico downsized its bloated government, reined in deficit spending and implemented the biggest tax cut in the island’s history. He is also credited on Wall Street with keeping Puerto Rico’s credit rating from sinking to junk level.
Steptoe was contracted by the government during Fortuño’s tenure to design the Law 154 tax strategy, which levied an excise tax on multinational firms operating on the island and provided the financing for the tax reform, the former governor’s signature achievement while in office.
Fortuño’s signature public-private partnerships law paved the way for two of the largest recent infrastructure investment projects in the Americas — one in Puerto Rico’s highway system and the other at its hub airport.
While governor, Fortuño served as president of the Council of State Governments (2011-2012) and as chairman of the Southern Governors Association (2011-2012). He also served on the board of directors of the Center for Best Practices of the National Governors Association (2010-2012) and was appointed by President Obama to be one of ten governors serving in the Council of Governors (2010-2012).
Prior to his election to La Fortaleza, Fortuño served four years as resident commissioner in Congress, the island’s sole representative on Capitol Hill. During that time, he served as vice-chair, and then chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference. He also was co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Spain, part of the Hispanic Conference Caucus.
Earlier in his public service career, he served as Puerto Rico’s Economic Development & Commerce secretary during the Rosselló administration, and simultaneously as executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Co. and president of the Hotel Development Corp.
In private practice in Puerto Rico, Fortuño was a partner in the McConnell Valdés law firm, and later a founding partner of the boutique firm Correa, Collazo, Herrero, Jiménez & Fortuño. He has represented Fortune 500 companies in regulatory, financial, real estate, mergers and acquisitions, and other corporate matters throughout Latin America.
Fortuño earned his juris doctor from the University of Virginia and his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He is admitted to the practice of law in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and is a member of the American Law Institute.
Formed in March 2013, MGA Holdings houses three core businesses that collectively address challenges and opportunities evident in the aftermath of the 2012 electoral campaign.
SIGUEN DANDO PALOS A CIEGAS
EMPINADO CAMINO EN EL CONGRESO
El Vocero
6 de agosto de 2013 -
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| El Comisionado Residente (al centro) reconoció que el proyecto HR 2000 no cuenta con el apoyo de la mayoría republicana en la Cámara federal. EL VOCERO |
El presidente del Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP), Pedro Pierluisi, reconoció ayer que la Cámara de Representantes federal representa un obstáculo para que Puerto Rico se convierta en el estado 51.
La confesión de Pierluisi surge en reacción a las manifestaciones que hicieran la activista pro estadidad y exlegisladora del PNP, Miriam Ramírez de Ferrer y el líder independentista Manuel Rodríguez Orellana a un diario capitalino anticipando que el proyecto HR 2000 morirá en el Congreso ya que no cuenta con los votos necesarios para su aprobación.
“Doña Miriam a quien yo respeto muchísimo y cuidado que le ha dedicado toda su vida a nuestra causa, ella ha dado una opinión de qué probabilidad tiene que se apruebe el HR 2000 se apruebe y bueno, ella conoce a sus colegas republicanos, ella sabe que son conservadores, son más duros, pues ya llevamos 120 y seguimos tratando y yo sé que ella me puede ayudar y yo quiero que ella me ayude a convencer a unos cuantos más”, expresó Pierlusi. (MJ: DE LA BOCA PARA AFUERA?)
“Pero ella lo dice porque ella conoce a su partido y sabe por ejemplo, yo lo he dicho públicamente, que hay un escollo en la Cámara para que la mayoría le de paso a una medida que llegue al pleno de la Cámara. Pero ustedes saben que yo llevo años por allá y conozco los procesos por eso es que le estoy hablando de que sería bueno que tengamos un proyecto paralelo en el Senado porque en el Senado no tenemos ese escollo”, añadió.
Aseguró que las probabilidades en ese cuerpo son mayores ya que es dominado por demócratas en cuyas filas, dijo, la causa estadista cae como anillo al dedo porque es una causa de derechos de derechos humanos.
“Quién puede estar opuesto a que a los puertorriqueños se les permita votar por el presidente y tener representación en las filas congresionales, en las filas demócratas”, cuestionó Pierluisi, al tiempo que él mismo respondió “muy pocos” en clara referencia a los congresistas boricuas, Nydia M. Velázquez y Luis Gutiérrez.
Para Pierluisi, la oposición de los republicanos a que Puerto Rico sea admitido como estado, puede estar basada en la teoría de que la Isla sería un estado demócrata que llevaría una mayor representación de ese partido al Congreso.
“Yo como demócrata les digo que esa presunción no es correcta y que aquí en Puerto Rico vamos a tener con toda probabilidad representantes y senadores de ambos partidos y que a nivel de la presidencia dependerá del candidato”, afirmó.
Le salió al paso a Rodríguez Orellana y al liderato independentista que piensa que Estados Unidos no concederá la estadidad a Puerto Rico y dijo que están equivocados.
Las expresiones de Pierluisi se produjeron luego de la reunión del Directorio del PNP, la cual concluyó con una resolución de rechazo contundente a la condición territorial actual como opción para resolver el problema de estatus en Puerto Rico y en la que proclamaron que la vista de la semana pasada en el Senado federal fue la estocada final al Estado Libre Asociado.
Asimismo, el Presidente de la Palma dijo oponerse a una Asamblea Constitucional de Estatus, porque, según este, el Pueblo ya rechazó el estatus actual. Celebró que la vista pública en el Comité de Energía y Recursos Naturales en el Senado generó mucho interés y fue comentada en el Congreso. Sobre la participación del gobernador Alejandro García Padilla en dicho foro, indicó que fue un desorden, y que el mandatario colapsó al no poder abogar por su causa.
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