The Reading Life

By Vivian Lake
Puerto Rico Sun Book Editor

The Noise of Infinite Longing by Luisita Lopez Torregrosa (Rayo, $24.95, 286 pp)



Moving between past and present, Torregrosa begins her recounting when she and her five siblings meet for the first time in 10 years in Texas, after the death of their mother.
As the siblings get reacquainted, old conflicts and resentments begin to reappear, old patterns emerge. Torregrosa, the oldest, casts her memory back to Puerto Rico where they were all born, where their parents met and married, where conflicts and the pain they caused originated. As the oldest, she wants to set down the family history and the story of their parents' turbulent marriage for her younger siblings, who have accused her of distancing herself from them. There are other reasons for this which become clear later.
At first glance, they seemed like the perfect family. Their mother was an attorney who had been a cheerleader, an equestrienne and stage actress, their father a chemical engineer and later a doctor. Both were charming, beautiful and ambitious, it seemed any children they had would be very lucky indeed.
Unfortunately, the marriage was a combination of academic and professional success on the outside, and alcohol, infidelity and abuse on the inside. Her mother, a privileged and intelligent young woman, always told her daughters that their father supported her in her career, but the truth was quite different. His resentment at her achievement played itself out in countless infidelities and alcohol-fueled cruelties, which were glossed over and almost obliterated by their mother's spin control.
The story is told with intimacy, anger and love. As the first and most constant witness of her parents' story, she gives her siblings a difficult but precious gift: the unadulterated truth. She is also trying to come to terms with her feelings for her brilliant but flawed parents. A mother whose talent and accomplishments made her a woman ahead of her time, but whose emotional enslavement to the wrong man made her a stereotypical deceived wife; a father whose intellectual brilliance coexisted with a careless cruelty he unleashed on those closest to him.
This is also a story of a particular time and place, upper middle class post-war Puerto Rico, with its club memberships, high teas and balls, private schools and dinner parties, maids and drivers, hats and white gloves. It is a loving glimpse inside a bygone era.
Torregrosa leaves Puerto Rico to attend boarding school in Pennsylvania, and determined never to go back, begins to forge her own way and deal with the passionate, tumultuous and painful years that formed her. She pursued a career in journalism and is currently an editor at The New York Times.
This is a very rare thing -- a painful story wrought with limitless love.

Vivian Lake, a New York City-based freelance journalist, writes book reviews on, about or by boricuas and Latinos for Puerto Rico Sun. She also runs her own blog at www.bookauthority.blogspot.com.

source: National Council of La Raza press release

Troubling Indicators Signal Need for Initiatives to Reduce Teenage Births and Youth Violence

San Juan -- Findings of an 18-month study on the status of children in Puerto Rico, released this week by the National Council of La Raza as part of its KIDS COUNT Puerto Rico Project, underscore the need for the island to reduce teenage births and curb violence against youth.
These findings are highlighted in a new report, 2004 KIDS COUNT Puerto Rico Data Book, which offers the first-ever and most comprehensive view to date of children in Puerto Rico and links their overall status to the island's future well-being.
"We can share both good and not-so-good news about children and youth in Puerto Rico. Indeed, the book's findings show that there are signs that key health trends are moving in the right direction," noted NCLR President Raul Yzaguirre.
Specifically, highlights of the study show that the percentage of low birth weight babies and the child mortality rate for children aged one to 14 years old have begun to decline since 1999. In particular, when compared with data for the 50 states, Puerto Rico has a child mortality rate similar to that of Maine, Maryland, and Oregon (21 per 100,000 children one to 14 years of age).
"We believe that public education efforts, programs that support children and families, and public policy that places children's issues high on the agenda will ensure that we will continue to see improvements in these areas," Yzaguirre said.
Yet, there are two specific sets of issues which are troubling for children and youth, he said.
First, while the trend since 1997 shows that the number of births to teenagers is declining, comparative data show that Puerto Rico has the highest birth rate to teenagers of all 50 states. In 2000, there were 49 births for every 1,000 15- to 17-year-old adolescent girls on the island, followed by Washington, DC and Mississippi, in which there were 48 and 44 births, respectively, for every 1,000 teenage girls in that age group. Culebra had the highest number of births to teenagers (123 per 1,000) followed by Barceloneta, with 103 per 1,000, while Camuy and Aguada were the municipalities with the lowest number of births to adolescents in this age group, 24 per 1,000 and 26 per 1,000, respectively.
"We know that children born to teenagers who are unprepared to care for them tend to face a range of health, education, and social problems. But we also know that programs like 'Proyecto Aurora in Camuy' can help provide educational and other opportunities to young people, to offer them guidance with their decisions and with their families," he said.
Second, one of the report's most alarming findings relates to youth deaths, particularly homicide, among adolescents. From 1990 to 2000, Puerto Rico lost 1,500 youth to homicide and 93% of these were male.
"These deaths represent not only a personal and tragic loss, but also a loss of talent and contributions by young people who were entering the prime of their lives, who should have been entering college and the workforce and preparing for new opportunities. We need collective efforts from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to reverse this trend and to protect children from violence," Yzaguirre said.
The analysis "which sets the groundwork for a series of data books on different issues facing children and youth on the island suggests that there is an immediate opportunity to begin to address some of these concerns.
"One of the best ways that lawmakers and others can demonstrate that children are a priority is to promote strategies that support accurate, reliable, and consistent data collection, in order to track progress, identify problems, and make timely and useful investments to strengthen the outlook for children in Puerto Rico," Yzaguirre suggested.
Availability of quality data from the Puerto Rico Department of Health facilitated the preparation of this data book and underscores how such data can be used to help Puerto Rico address pressing social and other concerns.
"Often children's issues don't get the attention they deserve, and this book demonstrates that part of the problem has to do with how well we can document what is happening. We also have an opportunity to showcase these issues and to raise their visibility, as political candidates shape elements of their policy agendas and discuss current social policy concerns," Yzaguirre concluded.
Click here to access the research report.
####
This research was funded, in part by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, through its support of NCLR's KIDS COUNT Puerto Rico Project, and by the UPS Foundation, through its support of the NCLR Scholar in Residence fellowship. We thank them for their support, but acknowledge that the findings and conclusions presented in this data book are those of the authors and NCLR alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of these funding sources, KIDS COUNT-Puerto Rico Advisory Committee Members, or others who contributed to the data book's completion.

our culture, our history

Interesting site to visit:

http://www.boricuazo.com/ (a site in Spanish)

It has interesting features including:
* a cool section called "Reto Borincano" which challenges your knowledge. Take the test -- let's see how good you do.
* a photo gallery called "Encantos del Paraiso" featuring different towns.
* historical information and interesting research on stuff you probably didn't know about boricuas.

Education Corner

Taking Latino Generations to a Supernatural Dimension

By Manuel Hernández

In a universal world where the “natural world” governs many of our educational outcomes, it is necessary that we Latino leaders take the present and up and coming generations to live within a supernatural dimension. For American Latinos to have a leadership role in the world of American politics, education, higher education, science, computers, cyber-space, high-tech and global enterprise, the American educational system must produce supernatural leaders who can become pro-active visionaries in all institutions in the United States. Although Latinos have gained ground in sports, fashion, music and entertainment, they continue to lag behind in education. Thus, a transition from the naturalto the supernatural dimension is essential. Only then will we obtain results and take the Latino generations into a supernatural dimension where academic results become part of our every day lives. In education,results are measured and exhibited in charts, diagrams, statistics and reports.
However, for too many Latinos, the American educational system isa hurdle to high for them to jump. The supernatural dimension demands that we go beyond statistics. The “natural world” depicts a reality, butit is up to all of us to awaken and believe in ourselves. Going beyond the natural may seem highly unlikely, but concrete and specific gains ineducation are the result of hard work, dedication, motivation and inspiration. When Jaime Escalante decided to go beyond traditional paradigms and prepare Latino teens in East Los Angeles for the Advanced Placement Exams, the system labeled him a fool. But when his redefining work transcended and obtained results, even the system became a believer,and the reality was overwhelmed by the supernatural.
The United States Census Bureau expects the number of Latinos to almost double from 35 million to 63 million by 2030. Latinos will make up 25 percent of the kindergarten–12th grade population by 2025. There is no doubt that Latinos are the fastest growing minority and represent a valuable and integral part of the United States. But Latinos are 13 percent of the population, and yet a mere 6 percent in higher education.In many states, Latinos have the highest dropout rate and the lowest test scores, and many are not prepared to enter institutions of higher learning. At the present, only 17 percent of Latino fourth-graders at the national level read at their grade level, and the percentage is even lower in mathematics. As a consequence, Latinos have become aware that the educational development of their community is intrinsically related to their struggles to achieve economic, social and political justice in the United States of America. But we Latinos must begin to cast away traditional ways of thinking and take our children to a different level where we govern ourselves by what we believe in not by what we see with the natural eye.
The assessment and causes are the same for Latinos across America.The strategies governors, mayors and school administrators are implementing are different, but the mirror of assessment does not reflect tangible, definite and transcending results. Why? The process ofimproving educational standards begins with Latino parents. Many Latinofamilies who lack the resources must be empowered to address their children’s needs. Latinos support public education, but they are seekingstrategies to improve the education of their children. For teens to make progress in higher education registration, it is imperative that they receive the educational opportunities that in the past have not been available to them. Why not take advantage of the so-called Latino vote momentum to sway the disussion towards education? Without education,the ever-growing population risks its voice in America.
Educational opportunities become available when we begin actingupon our faith. When we let trifles govern our mindsets, children suffer the consequences. Instead of an on-going and endless futile debate on who is responsible, what language should we speak or what party represents the voice of our communities, let us build and construct upon our values and strengths. The walls of Jericho seemed invincible, but an unpractical but supernatural strategy brought down what naturally seemed impossible.
Declaring the supernatural will take us not only to believe but also to do and act on behalf of our children. It is not the work of one,but one will need to reconstruct and redesign a strategy that will makethe difference and enhance educational standards for Latino children and other Americans as well. Only in the supernatural will the present educational assessment displayed in charts and statistics become part ofthe past. The transition from one level to the next is a process in itself. After anguish, pain and sorrow are buried, a whole new dimensionwhere the supernatural reigns and a new educational horizon surfaces are the outcomes of the sacrifice and efforts of all.

(Manuel Hernandez is the author of Latino/a Literature in The English Classroom, Editorial Plaza Mayor, which is available for purchase. For more information, contact Hernandez.)

Hernandez contributes essays about education issues to Puerto Rico Sun. Hernandez may be reached at mannyh32@yahoo.com.

pr politics

Want to know more about the three major political parties in Puerto Rico? Want to know more about the candidates running for governor? Take a look at the following sites:

The pro-commonwealth Popular Democratic Party (gubernatorial candidate is Resident Commissioner Anibal Acevedo Vila): www.ppdpr.net (site features surveys and questions, videoclips, news and party information)

The pro-statehood New Progressive Party (gubernatorial candidate is former Gov. Pedro Rossello): www.rossello.com (site features a mailbox to write to Rossello, a virtual chat, photo gallery and information.)

The Puerto Rican Independence Party (gubernatorial candidate is the PIP's Ruben Berrios Martinez): www.independencia.net (site features news and columns, party information and photos. Information is available in English and Spanish at this site.

Worth visiting all the sites. The elections in Puerto Rico are in November.

photos

Puerto Rico Sun photos are also featured in the following sites:

clarisel.fotopages.com
worldisround.com (travel article -- puertorico)
flickr.com/photos/clarisel/

Thanks.

the boricua vote here and there

Commentary

By Clarisel Gonzalez, puertoricosun.com

San Juan - Two years ago, a Mexican-American friend visited me from Texas and asked me what was up with "the commonwealth" status.

"What's that all about?" he asked.

Well, I explained to him that Puerto Ricans are US citizens and have to follow federal laws. But we don't have a right to vote for president or pay federal income taxes.

The way we are now I joked is like shacking up with a lover with limited benefits rather than getting married with all the benefits.

"Hey," he responded, "I prefer the lover then."

"Who wants to pay federal income taxes?" he asked.

If he were a Puerto Rican living here, he'd probably be for remaining a US commonwealth every time just because we don't have to pay federal income taxes.

"Voting for president is overrated," he joked.

If my friend were here, he probably would have been among the thousands who spent July 25th in Ponce celebrating the 52nd anniversary of Puerto Rico's government as a US commonwealth or "free associated state."

But it's more complicated than that.

While boricuas here vote in massive numbers in local elections, they can't vote for president. In Puerto Rico, we don't vote for federally elected officials and we don't have voting representation in Congress. There's something not too democratic about that.

But things seem to be changing. Pro-statehood and pro-independence supporters say there is growing bipartisan consensus in the US that commonwealth is only temporary, and that the political status issue must be resolved.

A large group favors "perfected commonwealth'' as the best option, which would provide broader autonomy while another significant group favors "statehood.'' Only about 5 percent of the population favors independence.

Puerto Ricans opted to keep the status quo over statehood in the most recent nonbinding plebiscite of 1998 on the island.

While the divide over status continues to be in the heart of Puerto Rican politics here the whole year every year, boricuas are listening closely this election year to what the presidential candidates have to say, specifically on this hot-button issue. Puerto Ricans stateside are too.

That's why it's important for Puerto Ricans stateside to register and vote because they can actually elect a president and influence change.

Far too often, Puerto Ricans who live in the good old USA are just not taking full advantage of their clout. Many Puerto Ricans stateside seem to take their votes for granted and that, too, has to change for the good of boricuas there and here.

But there is a movement to help draw more stateside Puerto Rican voters, and it seems to have a positive impact. It's a nationwide nonpartisan movement that was actually launched by Puerto Rico Gov. Sila M. Calderon of the ruling pro-commonwealth Popular Democratic Party.

Now, let's see if stateside boricuas who register actually vote in November. For now, the picture is looking pretty, judging by what has been accomplished so far.

At a July activity in Yonkers, NY, just north of New York City, Mari Carmen Aponte, executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, announced the next expansion phase of what she says has become the nation's largest Hispanic voter education, registration and mobilization campaign.

"I am proud to announce that our nonpartisan voter registration effort has registered 250,000 new voters nationwide including over 100,000 right here in New York State," Aponte states on a July 15 press release on the PRFAA website.

Eight days later, at a Puerto Rican activity in Ohio, Aponte states that the number had actually climbed to 280,000 registered new voters nationwide including more than 5,500 in Ohio, home to many boricuas.

Mainland Puerto Ricans have the opportunity to play a crucial role in this year's presidential, state and local elections as Democrats and Republicans alike aggressively court the Latino vote. The mainland Puerto Rican population has grown to 3.4 million, a 28.5 percent jump in the last 10 years alone, according to the 2000 census.

Meanwhile, the nationwide, nonpartisan voter registration and education program "Que Nada Nos Detenga" that Calderon launched in July 2002 to empower Puerto Ricans and Hispanics across the nation by encouraging them to become more engaged in their own communities does seem to be working. Aponte states the campaign is on target to register 300,000 new voters by the November 2004 elections.

So far, the campaign has proven to be a good, impressive civil rights movement even though it also seems to contradict the fact that US citizens on the island don't have the same right to vote for president.

Nonetheless, good things are happening for mainland boricuas who should probably follow the example of island boricuas when it comes to voting.

According to PRFAA, voter registration and participation rates on the island are higher than any state in the United States. In Puerto Rico, voter registration is 95 percent and participation rates are 86 percent in elections here. But the story is different when boricuas move to the mainland with voter registration and participation dropping to about 40 percent, partly because of apathy and language issues.

It really is important for stateside boricuas to cast their votes in the upcoming presidential election to improve the quality of life in their own stateside communities as well as in Puerto Rico.

So, Boricua, please vote. Voter registration and participation matters for all of us whether we are here or there! It's about political leverage.

As Calderon states: "We are mobilizing Puerto Ricans and raising awareness of their potential impact on elections in New York, as well as issues that affect their communities and the Island. All citizens play an important role in the political process and should have the information and the opportunities to help control how decisions are made that affect their daily lives."

According to PRFAA: "the campaign's success can be seen in exit poll data made available following the 2002 elections where polls showed a 70 percent increase in turnout among first-time Puerto Rican voters. In addition, 87 percent of Puerto Ricans surveyed in 2002 said they were aware of the voter registration campaign and 54 percent said they were motivated to vote because the campaign drew a clear link between voting and benefits for their community. Since the campaign's launch in July 2002, major voter registration rally events have been held in New York, New Jersey, Florida and Pennsylvania - all states with large Puerto Rican populations."

For now, we closely follow how the presidential candidates court the stateside boricua/Latino vote and what promises they make. After all, stateside boricuas/Latinos do have a say on who they will vote in as the nation's president, and it is to our benefit to have as many boricuas stateside voting.

President Bush reactivated a task force last year to clarify legal options for the island and appointed as co-chair a White House adviser who has said Puerto Ricans eventually would have to choose sovereignty or statehood.

Last spring, Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry released a position paper saying that the political status here "remains undetermined." He supposedly would deal with island issues such as the economy and political status.

Something has to be done to bring real change. Puerto Rico needs to decide its future. And, it's about time Congress address the situation and allow Puerto Ricans decide.

July 2004

the story of a springfield latina

BOSTON, July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a transcript of a speech by Eimy Santiago at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, July 28, 2004:
Buenas noches! Mi nombre es Eimy Santiago. Tengo 21 anos. Y te quiero contar una historia de como John Kerry ayudo mejorar mi vida.
Good evening! My name is Eimy Santiago. I am 21 years old. And I want to tell you about how John Kerry helped save my life. From this stage to my street in Springfield, Massachusetts, it's only a 90-minute drive. But it is a world away. Growing up, I didn't always make the right choices. When I was 14, I ran away from home and into a world of trouble. I fell into a bad crowd. I sold and used illicit drugs. I was trapped in an abusive relationship. Then, I got pregnant and dropped out of high school. A lot of people gave up on me. For a while, I even gave up on myself.
That's when a program called Youthbuild changed my life. And Youthbuild has had no greater champion than Senator John Kerry. Because of John Kerry, a small state effort has become a national program focused on education and community service. Because of John Kerry, thousands of young people like me have been given a second-chance to earn their G.E.D. Because of John Kerry, we have learned job skills like construction by building affordable housing for the homeless and thousands of low-income families. And because of John Kerry, I started to believe in myself again. He even came to my class in Springfield. There I was a high school dropout and seven months pregnant. And John Kerry looked at me, he listened to me, he shook my hand, and he said, "You can make it." And today, I am making it. Thanks to Youthbuild: I earned my G.E.D. I became an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer, and with the money I earned, I enrolled in my local community college. It hasn't been easy. My little girl Alex is now three and stays with day care and my family. I work full-time in the afternoons and at night. I go to school full-time in the mornings, and am proud of my grades -- a 3.8 average!
Across America today, there are millions of young people like me, trying to make something of ourselves, studying hard and working hard. And I think it's time that we had a president that worked just as hard for us! America deserves a president who means it when we talk about "leaving no child behind." John Kerry thinks it is unacceptable that nearly half of Hispanic, African-American, and Native American youth do not graduate from high school. Under President Kerry, the quality of a child's education will not depend on the wealth of that child's neighborhood. Education will be funded, classes will be smaller, and teachers will be paid better. And America deserves a president who is committed to helping students afford a college education. Under President Kerry, young people will be able to pay for four years tuition at a public university, in return for serving their communities. And working students like me will get the training and technical skills we need for today's workforce.
Tomorrow, I will go back to Springfield, back to my job and in the fall, back to school. Next spring, I hope to graduate with an associates degree in human services. For a career, I want to help other young people turn their lives around. And for the future, I want to give my little girl Alex a better life. All because a senator named John Kerry believed in a young woman like me. That's the difference John Kerry made in my life. Just imagine the difference President Kerry will make for America! I cannot think of a better way to thank him than to nominate John Kerry to be President of the United States of America! Vota por John Kerry!
Source: Democratic National Convention Committee
CONTACT: Peggy Wilhide of the Democratic National Convention Committee,+1-617-366-3100
Web site: http://www.dems2004.org/

 

our music

Featured Site:
Check out 
http://www.musicofpuertorico.com/

An educational resource published by the Music of Puerto Rico Foundation, a non-profit corporation to help enhance an appreciation of Puerto Rican music and to instill a sense of pride in Puerto Ricans for their music.
The foundation's complete mission statement.

 
..a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring Puerto Rican music...from the soft rhythm of the Puerto Rican  danza, to the traditional  folk music, and  plenas, to hot  salsa, and the latest in  reggaeton.

Check it out.

send e-cards

community news blurbs

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA RAZA KIDS COUNT PUERTO RICO PROJECT TO RELEASE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE DATA BOOK ON CHILDREN IN PUERTO RICO

San Juan --  The National Council of La Raza KIDS COUNT Puerto Rico Project will release the 2004 KIDS COUNT Puerto Rico Data Book, which presents data on the major population, health, and socioeconomic characteristics of the child population, for the island as a whole, at a news conference Aug. 2 in Guaynabo.
The report presents a mixed picture of the status of children and youth in Puerto Rico. In terms of positive trends, the 2004 KIDS COUNT Puerto Rico Data Book shows that the number of low birth weight babies and the rate of infant and child mortality declined from 1990 to 2000. In addition, the number of births to teenagers, while still high and concentrated in specific municipalities, has also dropped, both for adolescents 15 to 17 years old and for girls under 15 years old.
But the book also highlights several worrisome indicators: child and youth homicide in Puerto Rico is alarming; during the last decade Puerto Rico lost more than 1,500 youth to homicide and 93% of these were males. Moreover, the proportion of children born to and living with only one parent increased from 1990 to 2000. The data book concludes with several recommendations and points to challenges and opportunities for policy-makers, the private sector, and nonprofit and community-based organizations to improve the lives of children in Puerto Rico.
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Puerto Rico Self-Determination has a New Forum

Washington, DC--(HISPANIC PR WIRE – US Newswire)--July 26, 2004--The Citizens’ Educational Foundation – US (CEF), is pleased to announce the launching of a new initiative that provides another forum for the discussion of Puerto Rico Self-Determination: http://www.LetPuertoRicoDecide.org. As the name implies, the new website can be found at: http://www.letpuertoricodecide.org. “Our goal with “Let Puerto Rico Decide.org”, is to provide the public with an action-oriented site that would permit them to learn about the issue of Puerto Rico self determination and then be able to actually do something about it,” said CEF Executive Director, Jose E. Aponte. Mr. Aponte also added that, “With this website, the public will not only be able to support Puerto Rican self-determination by contacting their members of Congress, as well as President Bush and the campaign of Senator Kerry, but they will also be able to remain active on this issue by participating in the new CEF web log called Blog Puerto Rico.” “Blog Puerto Rico is our effort to take part in this new media wave that has already had, and will continue to have, a significant impact on the candidates and the overall electoral process. Blog Puerto Rico will introduce an ongoing discussion about the unfinished business of American democracy represented by the issue of Puerto Rico’s unresolved political status dilemma,” Aponte said. This year, for the first time, Bloggers will actually be given press credentials in both party conventions. For those who wish to conduct additional research on the issue of Puerto Rico self-determination, CEF still has its original website http://www.cefus.net, where the status issue is discussed in greater detail and the public has access to a growing number of resources and materials. The Citizens’ Educational Foundation-US is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that promotes the right of the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico to a process of Self-Determination.

puertoricosun directory

I have created a directory of resources on interesting sites to visit for information about boricuas.

Check out the "Puerto Rico Sun" directory: www.10minuteflash.com/sites/25139

Clarisel

In honor of 9/11 Victims
SCORCHED EARTH
By Fernando A. Zapater

It keeps creeping upon me
As an invisible tower of hatred
You perceive it through your senses
Where you feel the fire burn unto your soul
I despise you suicide victims
For you are the perpetrators
Of your own invincible weaknesses
How can I avenge your threat of killing me?
Life is a destiny, it is also a tyranny
With being alive, and all its serendipity
When things happened and the culprit vanished
Where do I unleash my anger?
Darkness of night was afraid of my tongue of fire
The sun was scared of the burning hatred of my desires
Tell me earth where do I unleash my anger
The one that burns my life with hateful anxieties
For every time I fall, I push you down as I get up
I’m only a human that stumbled once upon,
One more time
Mother earth where do I unleash my anger
Brother sun, sister moon, tell me siblings where I do
Tell me mother I wish not to scorch your face
Please tell me soon, my next breath might be combustion.

Copyrighted 2002 Fernando A. Zapater
Fernando A. Zapater contributes his poetry to puertoricosun.com. He is from Ponce.