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Para ver esta página en español, oprima aquí. Acevedo Vilá Wants Clinton's Directives HonoredPesquera Calls For Unity And Prayer On ThanksgivingGovernor Accused Of Breaking Vieques PromiseNPP Senate Delegation Asks For Rodriguez's ResignationA Carry-On Crown
Acevedo Vilá Wants Clinton's Directives Honored By José A. Delgado November 22, 2001
WASHINGTON - The directives of ex-president Bill Clinton regarding Vieques represented "a step forward," and the government of Puerto Rico would insist on using those directives to build a better alternative for Vieques residents, affirmed Resident Commissioner Anibal Acevedo Vilá. "We have maintained all along that the directives did not manage to satisfy the desires of the people of Vieques, nor did they include sufficient guarantees, but they did represent a step forward," he said. Just as high military officials want to resume using live fire for US Navy training exercises in Vieques, the Puerto Rican government has warned Navy Secretary Gordon England that this proposal would represent a violation of Clinton's orders, emitted in January of 2000. "I TRUST that Secretary England will not grant this petition, and that the White House understands that it would be wrong and contrary to Clinton's directives," said Acevedo Vilá during an interview with El Nuevo Día. "The directives have not been revoked, and it is indeed curious to me that General James Jones, commander of the Marine Corps, and Admiral Vernon Clark, Chief of Naval Operations, did not mention them in their letter to Secretary England," Acevedo Vilá indicated. Clinton's directives have prohibited the use of live fire in Vieques, in anticipation of a federal referendum which is now set for January 25th, and whose cancelation is being promoted by President George W. Bush.
NPP Calls For Unity And Prayer On Thanksgiving Day November 21st, 2001 SAN JUAN (AP) - New Progressive Party (NPP) President Carlos Pesquera announced that his party will participate in an event known as "Puerto Rico unites in prayer." Pesquera said in a prepared statement that the NPP will participate in the event through its mayors and municipal committee presidents. "We will thank God and ask for our brothers who are in need today," said the NPP president. "Our island is going through difficult times. It is necessary to bring solace to all corners of Puerto Rico. We should promote the transformation of an environment of confrontation and strife, to one of constructive dialogue and hope," Pesquera added in a prepared statement.
Calderon Accused Of Not Keeping Her Promise To Vieques November 21st, 2001 PONCE (AP) - Ponce Mayor Rafael Cordero Santiago accused Gov. Sila Calderon on Wednesday of not keeping the promise she made to the Vieques people to fight for the ousting of the U.S. Navy from the island municipality as soon as possible. "I believe the governor should have keep fighting for the ousting of the Navy from Vieques and should have rejected the (federal) referendum that she herself deemed immoral," the mayor said. Cordero Santiago is the first Popular Democratic Party leader to lash out against the governor for allegedly breaking her promises to the people of Vieques.
NPP Senate Delegation Ask For Rodriguez's Resignation November 20, 2001 SAN JUAN (AP) New Progressive Party (NPP) Senate Minority Leader Kenneth McClintock asked Popular Democratic Party (PDP) Sen. Maribel Rodriguez to resign her post and save the Senate Ethics Committee the responsibility of having to recommend her expulsion for failing to report donations as requested by the State Elections Commission (SEC). To prove Rodriguez's "scheme to tamper with political donations," McClintock presented copies of several checks issued for a fund raising campaign, that were made out in her name instead of her campaign committee. According to McClintock, Rodriguez requested checks for tickets to a post Christmas activity held on Jan. 8, six days after she was sworn in as senator, to be made out in her name and to be deposited in her personal account. "This corrupt practice has driven the senator to commit several crimes," McClintock said. One of the alleged crimes is that by trying to disguise donations and depositing them in her private account, she has avoided the reports requested by the SEC. Secondly, she allegedly requested donations from corporations when the electoral law prohibits such type of donations and only allows individual donations, the NPP legislator said. McClintock added that the delegation would file a complaint to request for her immediate expulsion from the Senate before the Ethics Committee. Rodriguez welcomed any investigation and denied that she had requested check donations to be deposited in her personal account.
A Carry-On Crown By JAMES BARRON November 20, 2001 So Miss America, KATIE HARMAN, is out of the lineup for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and Miss Universe, DENISE M. QUINONES is in. Ms. Harman, who said she was disappointed at losing a traditional appearance for Miss America and the television time that goes with it, will sing "America the Beautiful" at the Thanksgiving Day parade in Philadelphia. Ms. Quinones, of Puerto Rico, will be singing, too – the hit "I Believe I Can Fly." "It's going to be a different version, a shorter version, with a backup choir," she said by telephone from Thailand. The obvious question was, is she nervous? "Not now," she said. "Probably, yeah, Thursday morning, I'll feel something in my stomach. I think I'll be O.K." But first she must fly to New York. She has logged more than 150,000 miles in the last few months, which raised another question: Does airport security check her crown? "On the last couple of trips, they haven't told me to open the box," she said. "They just did the X-ray."
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