PUERTO RICO HERALD: Navy Destroyers Begin Shelling Vieques

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Fas Alzamora Announces Heads Of 18 Committees

December 7, 2000
Copyright © 2000 ASSOCIATED PRESS. All Rights Reserved.

SAN JUAN (AP) - Senate President-elect Antonio Fas Alzamora on Thursday announced the heads of 18 committees, as well as the consolidation of some of those panels.

The Finance Committee will be chaired by Sen. Modesto Agosto Alicea; Government and Public Safety by Roberto Prats Palerm; Nominations by Bruno Ramos Olivera; Juridical by Eudaldo Baez Galib and International and Federal Affairs by Jose Ortiz Daliot.

Education and Culture will be chaired by Margarita Ostolaza Baez, Municipal Government and Public Corporations by Sixto Hernandez Serrano; Health and Environmental Issues by Maribel Rodriguez Hernandez and Social Well-being and Special Communities by Yasmin Mejias Lugo.

The Housing, Urban Affairs and Infrastructure Committee will be headed by Jose L. Dalmau Santiago; Agriculture, Natural Resources and Energy by Cirilo Tirado Rivera; Tourism, Recreation and Sports by Angel M. Rodriguez Otero and Youth Affairs by Jorge Alberto Ramos Velez.

Sen. Velda Gonzalez de Modesti will chair the Women's Affairs Committee; Sen. Juan Cancel Alegria will head Commerce and Technological Development Committee; Rafael Rodriguez Vargas will lead the Industrial Development and Cooperatives; and Roberto Vigoreaux the Banking and Consumer Affairs.

December 7, 2000
Copyright © 2000 PuertoRicoWOW News Service. All Rights Reserved.

For the first time since the transition began Nov. 21, the process was opened to the press in a meeting attended by Secretary of State Angel Morey, Insurance Commissioner Juan Garcia, Treasury Secretary Xenia Velez and Gov.-elect Sila Calderon team Co-Chairman Enrique Vila del Corral, among others.

VIEQUES (AP) - U.S. Navy destroyers began bombardments with inert ordnance in the Vieques firing range Wednesday at 8 a.m., announced spokesman Jeff Gordon.

He said six destroyers will participate in the maneuvers, firing from sea to shore. Two of the six destroyers will be practicing Wednesday, and others will join them for the four-day exercises.

In related news, re-elected Senate President Trent Lott, and other members of the Congress, said they would reconsider the Vieques case owed to the change in administration of Gov.-elect Sila Calderon, according to published reports.

"I would like to meet with her on this issue," said Lott after stating that he has met previously with Calderon.

December 6, 2000
Copyright © 2000 PuertoRicoWOW News Service. All Rights Reserved.

SAN JUAN — San Juan Mayor-elect Sen. Jorge Santini announced Wednesday the appointment of Lt. Col. Adalberto Mercado as the incoming Commissioner of Public Safety for the municipality.

Mercado, who has been commander of the San Juan region for the past year, is considered by members of the Police Department as an asset to the force and was recommended to the new post by Police Superintendent Pedro Toledo.

A graduate from the FBI Quantico National Academy in Virginia, Mercado also has a masters degree in public administration from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) Rio Piedras Campus and is currently a professor at the Criminal Investigations and Police Sciences College of the Puerto Rico police.

SAN JUAN (AP) - Once he finishes his term as governor, Pedro Rossello will travel to Boston to offer a course on the health reform at the Kennedy School of Government Policy Institute, according to published reports.

The course, titled "A Nation with Liberty, Justice and Health Care for All," will run through summer 2001.

"Hours after the transfer of power on Jan. 2, I will leave Puerto Rico and won't return until the following summer," said Rossello, adding that the course also will analyze the way in which the states can achieve the goal of offering health care for all.

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope John Paul II has named a Puerto Rican native to lead the diocese of Tyler, Texas, the Vatican said Tuesday.

The pope's choice, Monsignor Alvaro Corrada del Rio, 58, is a Jesuit who has been serving as an auxiliary bishop in Washington, D.C.

Corrada del Rio, who will have jurisdiction over 33 counties, was one of the leading activists in an effort to force the U.S. Navy out of its training ground on the island of Vieques.

Corrada del Rio is the brother of Baltazar Corrada del Rio, a former mayor of San Juan and now a Puerto Rico Supreme Court judge.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - President Bill Clinton's main adviser on Vieques, Jeffrey Farrow, told The Associated Press that the White House is preparing legislation that would transfer an additional 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares) of land, part of an abandoned weapons depot, to the Puerto Rican government.

Clinton has said the transfer is needed as a sign of good will toward Vieques' 9,400 residents.

The White House wants to try to pass the bill during the waning weeks of Clinton's term - but whether it reaches Congress will likely depend on who is declared the U.S. president. If George W. Bush wins, the bill is likely to be left by the wayside.

Both Bush and Al Gore have said they will stand by the main agreement, which calls for a referendum among Vieques residents on whether the Navy should leave. If the Navy loses the vote, Clinton has promised that it will close the training ground by May 2003.

SAN JUAN (AP) - New Progressive Party (NPP) President Carlos Pesquera said there is still no date for the caucus to choose the House leader next year and that there are no vacancies in the party.

Pesquera declined to comment on speculation that he will resign as president because his wife has told him to.

"We are committed to the party and to an effort to determine what I'm going to be doing as of Jan. 1 in a personal and familial way. Those things have equal priority for me," Pesquera said.

San Juan - The U.S. Navy will on Dec. 31 cede the 3,240 hectares (8.000 acres) it owns on the western part of Vieques island, a Navy spokesman announced Friday.

The area is used to store ammunition, wash military vehicles and has not been environmentally contaminated, according to a study cited by the Navy.

Of the hectares handed over, 1,700 (4,197 acres) will go to Vieques , 1,220 (3,012 acres) to the U.S. Interior Department and 320 (790 acres) to the Puerto Rican government, Navy spokesman Sixto Escobar told EFE.

Island fans of NBC's Emmy-winning weekly series "The West Wing," about the inner workings of the White House under fictional President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen), on Wednesday night were treated to an episode which tackled the issue of Puerto Rico's statehood.

In the episode, Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) is assigned to research whether the president should support the nomination of the fictional character, Mario Aquino, former resident commissioner for Puerto Rico and decorated Korean War hero, who has been nominated to appear on a U.S. stamp.

The problem? Aquino supported statehood for the island, and the administration can't be seen as supporting any one option, says Lyman to his assistant, Donna (Janel Moloney).

When Donna points out the injustice of having 3.8 million Puerto Ricans who can be drafted to fight in a war but can't vote for president, she also says islanders could get fed up and opt for independence.

"That's impossible," scoffs Lyman. "They are too dependent on U.S. manufacturing, which represents 40% of their gross national product and 24% of their employment."

Fas Alzamora Announces Committee Heads

Transition Process Opened Up For The Press

Navy Destroyers Begin Shelling Vieques

Mercado S.J. Police Commissioner

Rossello To Offer Harvard Course

Pope Names Corrada del Rio Bishop

Bill Could Give More Navy Land To P.R.

Pesquera: No Vacancies In The NPP

Navy To Hand Over 8,000 Acres Dec. 31

'West Wing' Tackles Statehood