Monday Apr 29, 2024

GOOD MORNING April 29, 2024

The San Juan Daily Star, the only paper with News Service in English in Puerto Rico, publishes 7 days a week, with a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday edition, along with a Weekend Edition to cover Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Resident commissioner, mayors reject tax exemptions for LUMA

By THE STAR STAFF

Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón, a primary candidate for the New Progressive Party (NPP) nomination for governor, on Sunday rejected government plans to give preferential treatment to LUMA Energy contractors as part of amendments to Puerto Rico’s incentives law.

González Colón in a written statement asked Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia to immediately reverse what she characterized as a disastrous proposal.

“Once again, the governor puts [electrical transmission and distribution system operator] LUMA’s interests above the people and municipalities,” she said. “No contractor or subcontractor of an agency or municipality is exempt from paying construction fees and taxes.”

“Why exempt contractors from LUMA, a company with a history of hiring subsidiaries and related companies?” the resident commissioner added. “How does this decree benefit our people? This measure takes $600 million from the municipalities that use it to offer essential services to the people.”

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municipal evaluation, as established by law,” he said. “Likewise, we clarify that contractors and subcontractors of Public-Private Partnership entities conducting work on the electrical network have to pay taxes and licensing fees to the municipalities without any exemption.”

Tax incentives are an important economic development tool, for promoting new investments, increasing the competitiveness of local companies, and attracting capital, among other objectives. However, when the incentive request does not comply with some of those objectives, proceeding with the incentive could be counterproductive, Cidre Miranda said.

The news comes a month after the DDEC chief said the Internal Revenue Service announced that it was investigating Puerto Rico’s exemptions to individual investors, known as Act 22, which is now part of the Incentives Code.

“The important thing about all this is that Puerto Rico, like the United States, is a country of law and order,” he told a New York publication. “Here everything is out in the open, and any information they need from any of our … decrees in the Department of Economic Development we are always eager to give it to them.”

“Here, the only one who benefits is LUMA, without anything in return that favors our people. It’s as simple as that,” González Colón said. “I call for all procedures in favor of the granting of this decree to be immediately paralyzed.”

In recent weeks, the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC by its Spanish acronym) has circulated to municipalities a draft decree under Act 60 of 2019, known as the Tax Incentives Code, that would provide LUMA with a series of tax benefits under the provisions applicable to businesses dedicated “to the production or sale of green energy on a commercial scale for consumption.”

The benefits listed in sections 2071 and 2072 of the incentives code include a 4% preferential rate on “green energy income” and exemptions of 75% on real and personal property, 50% on municipal license payments established by ordinances and 75% by construction taxes.

The Puerto Rico Mayors Association, comprising Popular Democratic Party mayors, has publicly objected to the exemptions, which would exempt LUMA contractors from paying business taxes, known in Spanish as “patentes,” to municipalities. PREPA already has an agreement with towns based on contribution in lieu of taxes, known as CELI.

The Mayors Federation, which groups NPP mayors, said the move will take away some $604 million from municipalities.

DDEC Secretary Manuel Cidre Miranda said that although the agency is seeking the tax incentive for LUMA, “it is necessary to clarify that it has not been approved.”

“At present, this is in the process of interagency and

Cidre Miranda defended the agency’s effort in supervising Law 22 under the argument that there has been an increase in the revocation of decrees in recent years.

Genera PR wants plan to demolish Vega Baja plant to be confidential

By THE STAR STAFF

Genera PR, which in January 2023 signed an agreement to operate Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority legacy power plants, wants the island’s energy regulator to keep under wraps the draft plan to decommission the Vega Baja power plant submitted this month, arguing it may lead to misunderstandings and qualifies as a trade secret.

The private operator of the power plants said the draft plan presented on April 17 contains sensitive information that is “inherently dynamic and provisional.”

“As a work in progress, the draft decommissioning plan reflects current strategies and plans contingent upon further evaluation and modification by the [Puerto Rico] Energy Bureau. Such changes could significantly alter its content and directives,” Genera PR said in a request to the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) dated April 24. “Public disclosure at this stage could lead to misunderstandings and misrepresentations about the intent of the decommissioning strategy, underscoring the need for confidentiality.”

Further compounding the need for confidentiality, Genera PR said the draft decommissioning plan includes details critical to developing an ongoing public procurement process

Genera PR said a draft plan for the demolition of the Vega Baja power plant contains sensitive information that is “inherently dynamic and provisional.”

still under consideration by the PREB.

“Such fluidity necessitates that the plan remains confidential in accordance with Article 4.2 of Regulation 8815,” Genera PR said. “Disclosing the information contained in the draft decommissioning plan at this juncture would not only contravene Regulation 8815 but also threaten the transparency of the ongoing procurement process, thereby undermining Genera’s position as the issuing authority.”

Genera PR further underlined the need for confidentiality by highlighting the proprietary nature of the draft decommissioning plan’s analysis. The analysis, derived from a comprehensive understanding of the market and leveraging insights from past experiences, incorporates methodologies that are not readily accessible to the public or competitors in the energy sector. If disclosed, the analysis could compromise Genera PR’s competitive advantage, the operator said.

The draft plan, which is part of Genera PR’s responsibility to decommission power plants, outlines how the operator intends to approach, execute, record and complete the decommissioning services, including the permitting, demolition, decontamination, waste disposal and dismantling in preparation to host new battery energy storage units. In parallel, Genera said it has published a request for proposals for the demolition of the plant.

Genera also seeks to support the grid with battery energy storage and believes 430 megawatts (MW) of BESS systems can reduce load shedding by 90%. The private operator launched a tender recently to buy 430 MW of battery energy storage and a Peaker request for proposals seeking 330 MW of new generation. Both tenders are slated to be awarded before the end of May.

DACO-Justice Dept. pact proposed to investigate complaints of unlawful real estate practices

By THE STAR STAFF

At-large Rep. José “Che” Pérez Cordero has proposed establishing a collaborative agreement between the Department of Justice and the Department of Consumer Affairs (DACO by its Spanish acronym) to work on complaints associated with violations of Law 10-1994 (Law to Regulate the Real Estate Business and the Profession of Real Estate Broker, Seller or Company in Puerto Rico), including the illegal practice of continuing to advertise and market properties for sale or rent even though they are no longer available.

“In the past few months, we have received multiple allegations of actions committed by some real estate brokers, whose conduct tarnishes the image of the vast majority of these professionals,” Pérez Cordero said. “From the illegal practice of continuing to advertise and market properties for sale or rent despite the fact that they are no longer available

to discriminating against people who have financial assistance from the government to buy their residence, that has been the denunciation and we are going to do something.”

“After a meeting with DACO Secretary Lisoannette González and officials from the Department of Housing, we agreed to create a collaborative agreement between DACO and [the] Justice [Department] to assign a special prosecutor to evaluate the complaints that the department receives about the practices of a small group of real estate brokers,” the New Progressive Party legislator added. “This prosecutor will have the power to evaluate each case and refer it for the possible filing of criminal charges, if necessary.”

Pérez Cordero’s statements come after meeting extensively with the head of DACO and officials from the Housing Department, where it was revealed that about 10% of all complaints received by DACO are associated with violations of Law 10-1994.

“I call on any consumer who feels that a real estate broker has broken the law or committed discriminatory actions, to go to DACO to file a complaint,” Pérez Cordero said. “You can reach out to the agency through their social media platforms, DACO a tu Favor, on both Facebook and Instagram. The important thing is to protect the rights of consumers.”

On March 28, Housing Secretary William Rodríguez Rodríguez stated that no person can be discriminated against by a realtor if they use government assistance in the form of purchase vouchers as part of their resources to acquire a residence. Engaging in the practice of placing ads for the sale of properties, both on Facebook Marketplace, as well as on

Clasificados Online and other similar websites saying that government vouchers are not accepted for the purchase of a house is illegal, he stressed.

Several years ago, the practice of continuing to market properties already sold or rented on platforms such as Facebook Marketplace and Clasificados Online, to name a few, became almost the norm, to the detriment of consumers in Puerto Rico. Law 125-2019, which was enacted during the previous four-year governmental term, prohibits the practice.

Rep. José Pérez Cordero

González Colón recognized for efforts on behalf of veterans

By THE STAR STAFF

The military support organization Disabled American Veterans recognized Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón during its 50th convention late last week.

“As resident commissioner I have visited our troops in different parts of the world and have had the unique privilege of appreciating the importance of the work our military performs,” González Colón said in a written statement. “Through my visits to active military personnel, conversations with their families, and meetings with veterans, I have witnessed the commitment of our soldiers and those who served in the Armed Forces, and how exhausting it is for

them to be away from their families during their missions. Hearing and feeling the concern of our soldiers, who shared with me their pain of being away from their families, has always touched my heart.”

The award, which was presented to the resident commissioner by the commander of DAV Puerto Rico, Delvis Collazo, reads: “For her work during the past eight years as resident commissioner and her commitment to the island’s veterans, especially with the Puerto Rico Chapter of Disabled American Veterans.”

The DAV’s Psychosocial Recovery Program is provided as a community-based, recovery-oriented alternative offering growth and skill development interventions, and support for veterans with mental health-related conditions and behaviors.

The Puerto Rico Chapter of Disabled American Veterans recognized Jenniffer González Colón for “her work during the past eight years as resident commissioner and her commitment to the island’s veterans.”

Retired police seek access to fiscal board documents on pension negotiations

By THE STAR STAFF

The Financial Oversight and Management Board and retired police officers are involved in a dispute over whether a commonwealth court or the federal court overseeing the U.S. territory’s bankruptcy should decide what documents are public.

The latest move relates to a lawsuit filed in 2021 by the oversight board because the government enacted laws, and demanded their implementation, which illegally created new pension debt obligations without board approval.

The Financial Oversight and Management Board argued in a motion last week that retired police officers do not have the right to seek documents in a case in which the oversight board and the island government negotiated changes in police’s early retirement pension benefits.

A group of retired police officers has asked the federal Title III bankruptcy court to refrain from ruling on their request to obtain documents related to negotiating changes to the benefits. Instead, they are asking that a commonwealth court in a related case be allowed to

Psychiatrists make strides at annual convention

By THE STAR STAFF

With the participation of prominent psychiatrists from Puerto Rico, the San Juan Capistrano Hospital System held the 2024 Annual Psychiatrists Convention over the weekend, which included a day dedicated to continuing education and knowledge sharing on current challenges in the field of mental health.

“This event showcased the advances and innovations in psychiatry and mental health in modern times,” said Marta Rivera, executive director of the San Juan Capestrano Hospital System. “The activity brought together a very diverse and committed community of mental health professionals from Puerto Rico, all of them focused on education, advances in medical research, new technologies, therapies and clinical approaches that are transforming medical psychiatric practice on the island. Among the highlights of the convention were topics such as: adequate pharmacological management of breastfeeding mothers, best practices and treatments for patients with opioid abuse, and the

transition of a person with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) from adolescence to adulthood.”

Dr. Dessie Vega, the faculty president at San Juan Capestrano Hospital, noted that the event “has not only been an opportunity to learn and grow professionally, but also to strengthen ties within our community and foster excellence in psychiatric care.”

“We had the opportunity to participate in educational sessions taught by nationally and internationally recognized Puerto Rican psychiatrists and collaborate with colleagues to exchange ideas and best practices, and address common challenges in mental health care,” she said. “Attendees at the convention discussed broad topics about treatments such as electroconvulsive therapies (ECT) as a safe and effective method for mental health patients.”

As part of the convention’s schedule of activities, the wellknown psychiatrist Dr. Lelis Nazario Rodríguez, director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Program of the Medical Sciences Campus at the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras, offered a workshop that provided practical tools for the identification, prevention and management of the symptoms of “burnout” (also

decide which documents Puerto Rico law requires the government to disclose.

The oversight board argued in an April 23 motion that retired police officers do not have the right to seek documents in the case, in which the board and the central government negotiated changes in police’s early retirement pension benefits.

The oversight board also asked that the Title III court change its final order to allow the board to keep all documents used in the negotiation confidential.

“Movants’ makeweight procedural niggling should be rejected, and the court should modify the final stipulation to protect from disclosure ‘interim versions of all documentation used in reaching final agreement on the interim stipulation and this final stipulation and related communications,’” the oversight board’s reply said.

The Annual Psychiatrists Convention included a day dedicated to continuing education and knowledge sharing on current challenges in the field of mental health.

known as Burnout Syndrome), and how doctors and health professionals can overcome it.

Leading psychiatrist Arnaldo Cruz Igartúa gave a keynote lecture on comorbid mental disorders with the addition of controlled substances, many of them consumed and acquired illegally.

In addition to the conferences and workshops offered, the convention served as a networking event where psychiatrists shared their performance experiences, which marked an advance in communication for these mental health professionals in Puerto Rico.

Crackdowns at 4 college protests lead to more than 200 arrests

By ANNA BETTS, MATTHEW EADIE and NICHOLAS BOGEL-BURROUGHS

More than 200 protesters were arrested Saturday at Northeastern University, Arizona State University, Indiana University and Washington University in St. Louis, according to officials, as colleges across the country struggle to quell growing pro-Palestinian demonstrations and encampments on campus.

More than 700 protesters have been arrested on U.S. campuses since April 18, when Columbia University had the New York Police Department clear a protest encampment there. In several cases, most of those who were arrested have been released.

At Washington University in St. Louis, more than 80 arrests were made and the campus was locked down Saturday evening, university officials said in a statement, adding that campus police were still processing arrests. Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for the 2024 presidential election, was among those arrested, along with her campaign manager and another staff member, a spokesperson for the campaign said.

Earlier in the day, at Northeastern in Boston, protesters had set up an encampment on the campus’s Centennial Common this past week that drew more than 100 supporters. The administration had asked the protesters to leave, but many students did not.

Around dawn Saturday, Massachusetts State Police officers

arrived at the encampment and began to arrest protesters, putting them in zip-tie handcuffs and taking several tents down. They said they had arrested 102 protesters. It was unclear how many of those arrested were students, but the university said students who showed their university IDs were being released.

A Northeastern spokesperson, Renata Nyul, said the demonstration had been “infiltrated by professional organizers” and that the “use of virulent antisemitic slurs, including ‘Kill the Jews,’ crossed the line.”

Protesters denied both claims, and a video appeared to show that it was a pro-Israel counterprotester who used the phrase, as part of his criticism of the pro-Palestinian protesters’ chants. In response to that video, Nyul stood by her initial comments, adding that “any suggestion that repulsive, antisemitic comments are sometimes acceptable depending on the context is reprehensible.”

After protesters had been removed from the encampment by police and then handcuffed and brought into a nearby building, they moved to block a nearby alley where police vehicles were parked. They cheered in support when one of the arrested protesters — wearing a Northeastern sweatshirt — waved through the building’s windows with zip-tied hands.

Alina Caudle, a sophomore at Northeastern University, reiterated the protesters’ demands that the university disclose its investments and divest from companies that protesters view as supporting Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.

“We want them to divest our money that we’re paying for our tuition,” Caudle said. “Our administration is not listening to us.”

Caudle said she believed the vast majority of students in the encampment were Northeastern students, along with a large amount of Jewish students and faculty supporting the protest. By 11 a.m. Saturday, the majority of the encampment was cleared. A moving company had been brought in to load up the tents, snacks and other items that had been scattered throughout the grounds.

The mass arrest at Northeastern was the second early-morning crackdown on protesters at a Boston campus in less than a week. Early Thursday, Boston Police officers arrested 118 people at Emerson College after protesters refused to move and formed a barricade.

More than 2,500 miles away, at Arizona State, school police arrested 69 people early Saturday after they set up an unauthorized encampment, which was in violation of university policy, school officials said.

The school said that the protesters had created an encampment and that the group was instructed multiple times to disperse.

“While the university will continue to be an environment that embraces freedom of speech, ASU’s first priority is to create a safe and secure environment that supports teaching and learning,” school officials said in a statement.

Three people were also arrested at the school in relation to a protest Friday, officials said.

At Indiana University Bloomington, where university police had arrested 33 people at an encampment this past week, campus and state police arrested 23 more protesters Saturday. Officials said a group had “erected numerous tents and canopies on Friday night with the stated intention to occupy the university space indefinitely.”

Schools across the country have used differing strategies over the past week to tamp down protests. Some have backed off and sought to de-escalate tensions, while at other colleges, like the University of Southern California and Emory University, police have rushed in to break up encampments and arrest students and faculty members, among others.

At some demonstrations, there were some reports of injuries, but in many cases, the arrests have been peaceful, and protesters have often willingly given themselves up when officers moved in.

On Saturday, there appeared to be increased police presence on several campuses, though not all of them have made arrests. At the University of Pennsylvania, more than a dozen campus police officers were stationed along barricades, with more than 100 protesters in an encampment and about a dozen pro-Israel counterprotesters across the campus walk.

Across the country at the California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, officers were stationed all over the now-closed campus after protesters occupied two buildings this past week. About three dozen protesters were inside an encampment.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, April 29, 2024 6

Northeastern University police escort a pro-Palestinian demonstrator from the encampment on the school’s campus in Boston, Mass., on Saturday, April 27, 2024. Hundreds of protesters have been arrested across the country. Nearly 200 protesters were arrested on Saturday at Northeastern University, Arizona State University and Indiana University, according to officials, as colleges across the country struggle to quell growing pro-Palestinian demonstrations and encampments on campus. (Sophie Park/The New York Times)

Conservative justices take argument over Trump’s immunity in unexpected direction

By ADAM LIPTAK

Before the Supreme Court heard arguments last Thursday on former President Donald Trump’s claim that he is immune from prosecution, his stance was widely seen as a brazen and cynical bid to delay his trial. The practical question in the case, it was thought, was not whether the court would rule against him but whether it would act quickly enough to allow the trial to go forward before the 2024 election.

Instead, members of the court’s conservative majority treated Trump’s assertion that he could not face charges that he tried to subvert the 2020 election as a weighty and difficult question. They did so, said Pamela Karlan, a law professor at Stanford University, by averting their eyes from Trump’s conduct.

“What struck me most about the case was the relentless efforts by several of the justices on the conservative side not to focus on, consider or even acknowledge the facts of the actual case in front of them,” she said.

They said as much. “I’m not discussing the particular facts of this case,” Justice Samuel Alito said, instead positing an alternate reality in which a grant of immunity “is required for the functioning of a stable democratic society, which is something that we all want.”

Immunity is needed, he said, to make sure the incumbent president has reason to “leave office peacefully” after losing an election.

Alito explained, “If an incumbent who loses a very close, hotly contested election

knows that a real possibility after leaving office is not that the president is going to be able to go off into a peaceful retirement but that the president may be criminally prosecuted by a bitter political opponent, will that not lead us into a cycle that destabilizes the functioning of our country as a democracy?”

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson took a more straightforward approach. “If the potential for criminal liability is taken off the table, wouldn’t there be a significant risk that future presidents would be emboldened to commit crimes with abandon while they’re in office?” she asked.

Supreme Court arguments are usually dignified and staid, weighed down by impenetrable jargon and focused on subtle shifts in legal doctrine. Thursday’s argument was different.

It featured “some jaw-dropping moments,” said Melissa Murray, a law professor at New York University.

Michael Dorf, a law professor at Cornell University, said that “the apparent lack of self-awareness on the part of some of the conservative justices was startling.” He noted that “Justice Alito worried about a hypothetical future president attempting to hold onto power in response to the risk of prosecution, while paying no attention to the actual former president who held onto power and now seeks to escape prosecution.”

In the real world, Karlan said, “it’s really hard to imagine a ‘stable democratic society,’ to use Justice Alito’s word, where someone who did what Donald Trump is alleged to have

done leading up to Jan. 6 faces no criminal consequences for his acts.”

Indeed, she said, “if Donald Trump is a harbinger of presidents to come, and from now on presidents refuse to leave office and engage in efforts to undermine the democratic process, we’ve lost our democracy regardless what the Supreme Court decides.”

The conservative justices did not seem concerned that Trump’s lawyer, D. John Sauer, said his client was free during his presidency to commit lawless acts, subject to prosecution only after impeachment by the House and conviction in the Senate. (There have been four presidential impeachments, two of Trump, and no convictions.)

Liberal justices asked whether he was serious, posing hypothetical questions.

“If the president decides that his rival is a corrupt person, and he orders the military or orders someone to assassinate him,” Jackson asked, “is that within his official acts for which he can get immunity?”

Sauer said “that could well be an official act” not subject to prosecution.

Justice Elena Kagan also gave it a go. “How about,” she said, “if a president orders the military to stage a coup?”

Sauer, after not a little back and forth, said that “it could well be” an official act. He allowed that “it certainly sounds very bad.”

Justice Clarence Thomas, who participated in the case despite his wife Virginia Thomas’ own vigorous efforts to overturn the election, was not so sure.

“In the not-so-distant past, the president or certain presidents have engaged in various activity, coups or operations like Operation Mongoose when I was a teenager, and yet there were no prosecutions,” he said, referring to the Kennedy administration’s efforts to remove Fidel

Castro from power in Cuba.

Murray said she was struck by that remark, apparently offered “as evidence that there was a long-standing history of executive involvement in attempted coups.”

Alito also turned to history. “What about President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s decision to intern Japanese Americans during World War II?” he asked. Could that have been charged, he asked, as a conspiracy against civil rights?

Prompted by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Sauer added another requirement to holding a former president accountable. Not only must there first be impeachment and conviction in Congress, but the criminal statute in question must also clearly specify in so many words, as very few do, that it applies to the president.

The court will issue its ruling sometime between now and early July. It seems likely to say that at least some of Trump’s conduct was part of his official duties and so subject to some form of immunity.

The court is unlikely to draw those lines itself, instead returning the case to Judge Tanya Chutkan, of the U.S. District Court in Washington, for further proceedings.

“If that’s the case,” Murray said, “that could further delay the prospect of a trial, which means that whatever is ultimately decided about the scope and substance of presidential immunity, the court will have effectively immunized Donald Trump from criminal liability in this case.”

There is a live prospect, Karlan said, that “there won’t be a trial until sometime well into 2025, if then.”

Sending the case back to the trial judge, she said, “to distill out the official from the private acts in some kind of granular detail essentially gives Trump everything he wants, whether the court calls it immunity or not.”

A television camera’s monitor shows the Supreme Court in Washington, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. In arguments on Thursday, the justices appeared to signal two ways they could help Donald Trump as he fights charges that he plotted to overturn the 2020 election. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times)

OFERTA DE ABRIL, MAYO Y JUNIO

Stocks

Lofty US stocks leave investors punishing earnings disappointments

Richly valued U.S. stocks are leaving investors with little tolerance for disappointment, raising the stakes ahead of a week in which two more technology and growth giants are set to report.

Strong reports from Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet on Thursday helped propel the S&P 500 to its biggest weekly gain since early November following its first 5% pullback of the year. The S&P 500 is up about 7% in 2024 and some 24% since late October.

But investors punished a disappointing forecast from Meta Platforms. The Facebook parent’s stock tumbled over 10% on Thursday after its report. A sales warning saw shares of industrial bellwether Caterpillar fall 7%.

More broadly, S&P 500 companies that have topped analyst earnings estimates this quarter have seen their shares outperform by a median of just 0.2%, JPMorgan strategists said. By contrast, those that have missed earnings estimates have had their shares lag by a median of 4%, the biggest such underperformance for misses in at least eight years.

Earnings reports have been “pretty good,” said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments. But “anyone that’s missed in any way is paying a pretty heavy price.”

More earnings are in store in the coming week from the so-called Magnificent Seven group of companies that drove markets higher last year. Amazon reports on Tuesday and Apple on Thursday. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will release its latest monetary policy statement after concluding its two-day meeting.

Some believe the market’s nearly unabated run higher over the past six months has made investors less forgiving of earnings setbacks. The S&P 500 trades at 20 times forward earnings estimates, well above its historic average of 15.7, according to LSEG Datastream.

“We cautioned that potential earnings beats might not lead to equity upside during the results season, given the already strong equities run leading up to the earnings season, and stretched positioning...,” the JPMorgan strategists said. “Indeed, stock price reactions in the US (have) been underwhelming so far.”

Shares of Tesla surged 12% earlier in the week after the company said it would introduce new models by early 2025. Some investors attributed that to bargain hunting after a painful selloff this year, which left the bar for good news much lower. Tesla shares remain down over 30% for the year.

Rising Treasury yields could be another factor. Companies’ projected future profits are more heavily discounted in analysts’ models when bond yields rise, as investors can now get a higher reward from risk-free government debt. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield hit 4.74% this week, its highest level since early November, following more evidence of stronger than expected inflation.

Overall, however, 78% of S&P 500 companies have topped analysts’ earnings estimates for the first quarter, with earnings on pace for a 5.6% rise from a year earlier, LSEG IBES said on Friday.

Solid corporate results have grown more important as

MOST ASSERTIVE STOCKS

climbing Treasury yields and stubborn inflation have raised uncertainty about stocks, said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services.

Corporate profits are “coming through at a level that can provide support for the market and kind of overcome some of the wobbliness in the inflation and the interest rate environment here,” Carlson said.

Earnings could take a backseat if bond yields keep marching higher or inflation data remains stronger than expected.

PUERTO RICO STOCKS

COMMODITIES CURRENCY

The

Biden to confer with Netanyahu on a possible cease-fire and hostage deal

By PETER BAKER

President Joe Biden spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Sunday to discuss the prospects of a possible cease-fire deal to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, while repeating his warnings about a new Israeli assault on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, officials said.

The call came just hours after Secretary of State Antony Blinken left Washington for his latest trip to the Middle East aimed at scaling back the war in Gaza. Blinken will start in Saudi Arabia, where he will see Egyptian and Qatari officials who have served as intermediaries with Hamas in the cease-fire and hostage talks, which remain in a stalemate.

Blinken is expected to visit Israel while in the region this week, although the State Department has not announced an itinerary beyond his stop in Riyadh, where he will also attend a meeting of the World Economic Forum. The secretary has been a critical player in the Biden administration’s efforts to broker a cessation to the war, increase humanitarian aid and win the release of more than 100 hostages believed to still be in Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attack.

The call also came three weeks after Biden told Netanyahu that he would rethink his support for Israel’s war unless the coun-

try did more to facilitate the delivery of food and other supplies to Gaza and limit civilian casualties. Since then, humanitarian aid to Gaza has increased substantially, and Biden advisers credit Israel with responding to the president’s demands, although U.S. officials acknowledge that the aid is still not as much as is needed.

Israel has withdrawn some of its forces from southern Gaza but says it is still planning a major assault on Rafah, where about 1 million Palestinians have taken refuge. Biden administration officials have expressed concerns about the possible operation, and Israeli officials have said they will take that feedback into consideration and consult further with U.S. counterparts.

In a statement after the call, the White House said Biden “reiterated his clear position” on any Rafah operation and reviewed with the prime minister the “ongoing talks to secure the release of hostages together with an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.”

“The president and the prime minister also discussed increases in the delivery of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, including through preparations to open new northern crossings starting this week,” the statement said. “The president stressed the need for this progress to be sustained and enhanced in full coordination with humanitarian organizations.”

The statement made just passing reference to the recent clash between Israel and Iran, saying only that Biden “reaffirmed his ironclad commitment to Israel’s security following the successful defense against Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone attack earlier this month.”

Israeli and U.S. forces, with the help of European and Arab allies, shot down nearly all of more than 300 missiles and drones fired by Iran at Israel this month in retaliation for Israel’s killing of senior Iranian officers. Israel, heeding pleas by Biden for restraint, fired back only a token counterattack, and both sides have indicated they want to avoid further escalation.

With the immediate threat of a wider war seemingly fading, Biden and his team could shift their attention back to Gaza. Under a U.S.-sponsored cease-fire proposal, Israel would halt hostilities for six weeks and release hundreds of Palestinians held in its prisons in exchange for the release of 40 hostages held by Hamas, mainly women, older men and those with health conditions. Later stages of the deal would then extend the ceasefire and result in more hostages being freed.

U.S. officials have said that Israel has accepted the plan and that it is being blocked by Hamas. Israel put a new counterproposal on the table Friday, raising the prospect of a more sustained end to hostilities. Hamas,

Tornado kills 5 in Guangzhou, a Chinese city

By VIVIAN WANG

Atornado that swept through the southern Chinese economic hub of Guangzhou killed five people and damaged scores of factory buildings Saturday.

The tornado struck about 3 p.m. and injured another 33 people as it slammed through the Baiyun district, in the city’s northern suburbs, the local government said. It lasted about four minutes. Hailstones, some with diameters of around 2 inches, also fell over parts of the city.

Videos shared by Chinese official media showed transmission towers and power lines igniting and debris swirling in the air, against a backdrop of a giant funnel that had darkened the midafternoon sky.

Guangzhou, a sprawling city of 19 million people and a manufacturing and technology hub, has been battered this month by heavy spring downpours. Flooding across

Guangdong province, of which Guangzhou is the capital, had already led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of people last week.

The flow of warm, humid air from the South China Sea had led to the accumulation of a “large amount of unstable energy” near the ground, according to the Guangzhou government.

Authorities said a total of 141 factory buildings were damaged by the tornado and latest rains. Guangdong’s meteorological authorities said the tornado had been a level 3 out of 5, which signals wind speeds between 136 and 165 mph.

Search and rescue work had been concluded by Saturday evening, state media said. But officials warned that torrential rains and heavy wind and lightning would likely continue in Guangzhou in the coming days, as China prepares for a five-day Labor Day holiday beginning Wednesday.

One video shared by the Guangzhou government reminded residents not to go outdoors in heavy hail, or if they had to, to wear helmets.

The brown waters of the Pearl River flow through the heart of Guangzhou, much of which is very low-lying and has a long history of flooding.

The city has undertaken extensive efforts over the past few decades to improve its resistance to the inundations that have long accompanied the annual arrival of heavy rainstorms in late spring.

Municipal regulations have required in re-

2024. Biden

set to speak with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, three weeks after telling him that he could rethink U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza. (Michael A. McCoy/The New York Times)

which has demanded a permanent end to the war as part of any deal, said Saturday that it had received the proposal and was considering it.

rains

cent years that new apartment buildings have shops, not apartments, on the ground floor. The goal is to minimize the risk to human life during floods.

Janet Yellen, the U.S. treasury secretary, visited Guangzhou during an official visit to China earlier this month. The city recently held the Canton Fair, a major trade exhibition.

San Juan Daily Star

Monday, April 29, 2024 9

President Joe Biden disembarks from Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, on April 26,

was

Russia bombs power plants and Ukraine targets refineries in dueling attacks

By MARC SANTORA

As Russian missiles streaked through the skies above Ukraine before dawn Saturday, once again targeting the nation’s battered energy grid in a broad and complex bombardment, Ukrainian drones were flying in the other direction, taking aim at vital oil and gas refineries and other targets inside Russia.

The Ukrainian air force said its air defense teams had intercepted 21 of the 34 Russian cruise and ballistic missiles fired from land, air and sea-based systems, but the attack caused extensive damage to four thermal power plants and other crucial parts of the power grid in three regions.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it had shot down 66 Ukrainian drones over the Krasnodar region, which is just across the Kerch Strait in southern Russia, east of the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

Veniamin Kondratyev, head of the regional government, said the Ukrainian drones had targeted two oil refineries, a bitumen plant, and a military airfield in Kuban.

The Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, said the Ukrainian military operation had targeted the Kushchevsk airfield and the Ilsky and Slavyansk oil refineries. The airfield housed “dozens of military aircraft, radars and electronic warfare devices,” the agency said in a statement, adding, “The SBU continues to effectively target military and infrastructural facilities behind enemy lines, reducing Russia’s potential for waging war.”

The Kremlin tightly controls information about Ukrainian attacks, often making it difficult to assess their impact, and it was unclear how much damage the drone strikes caused.

Russia has also outlawed criticism of its war

Mothers and their children await evacuation from a hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine, after reports that the building may have been targeted

Russian

on

April 26, 2024. (Mauricio Lima/The New York Times)

effort, aggressively stifling any voice deemed critical of the military and arresting hundreds of people as part of a widespread crackdown on dissent. On Friday, Russian authorities arrested a journalist from the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, Sergei Mingazov, for reposting information on social media at the outset of the war about Russian atrocities, according to Russian officials and his lawyer, Konstantin Bubon.

Although the Russian authorities routinely deny or play down the impact of Ukrainian strikes inside Russia, the attacks on oil and gas facilities have been hard to hide. Britain’s mili-

tary intelligence agency estimated last month that such strikes had disrupted at least 10% of Russia’s oil refinery capacity. On March 1, the Kremlin imposed a six-month ban on gasoline exports in what appeared to be an effort to avoid shortages and prevent spikes in domestic prices.

Ukraine has vowed to increase attacks inside Russia, using its expanding fleet of domestically produced long-range attack drones, even as the strikes on oil and gas infrastructure have stoked tensions between Kyiv and Washington. The Biden administration has publicly condemned the attacks, worried that they could lead to even greater Russian retaliation and drive up prices in global energy markets.

“Those attacks could have a knock-on effect in terms of the global energy situation,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, told Congress this month. “Ukraine is better served in going after tactical and operational targets that can directly influence the current fight.”

The Biden administration’s stance is out of step with other allies, which have supported Ukraine’s use of its domestically produced weapons to go after what it considers legitimate military targets.

About one-third of Russia’s national budget comes from oil and gas, and Ukrainian officials have said that attacks on the facilities strike at the heart of the Kremlin’s wartime economy. They also hope, over time, to undermine Rus-

sia’s ability to wage war, since refined oil products such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel are essential for keeping any large army moving.

“Ukraine has the right to strike legitimate military targets outside the territory of their country to defend itself,” Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary-general, said this month when asked about strikes on Russian oil and gas facilities.

But the Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid are also taking a growing toll as Moscow seeks to undermine Ukraine’s domestic arms industry, throttle its economy, deepen the suffering of millions of civilians and undermine the state’s ability to function.

Since resuming large-scale bombardments on power production facilities in late March, Russia has focused many attacks on thermal and hydro power plants, which are important in keeping the overall system in balance during peak periods of usage.

Before Saturday’s attack, Russia had destroyed 80% of Ukraine’s thermal power generation capacity, energy officials said. The extent of the damage after the latest bombardment was still being determined Saturday, energy officials said, but the cumulative impact is growing and threatens to cause lasting problems.

“The large-scale damage that Russia has caused recently cannot be repaired in a few weeks or even months,” Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in a statement, urging people “to use electricity sparingly.”

Although U.S. military assistance is flowing into Ukraine for the first time in months, Ukraine’s air defense systems remain stretched and short on ammunition. Ukraine is particularly vulnerable to Russian ballistic missiles, which can only be routinely countered by advanced U.S.-made Patriot batteries.

“We urgently need Patriot systems and missiles for them,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday at a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a consortium of about 50 nations that have provided military and humanitarian aid to Kyiv. “This is what can and should save lives right now.”

After Russia bombarded the Ukrainian energy grid in the winter of 2022-23, Kyiv’s allies supplied three Patriot batteries. But it has run low on the interceptor missiles they use. Germany has said it will supply a fourth Patriot battery soon, and Ukrainian officials are engaged in an urgent diplomatic drive to secure more of the systems and the munitions they require.

by

forces

Friday,

Trump’s immunity case was settled more than 200 years ago

By JESSE WEGMAN

Did the American Revolution actually happen? If it did, was it a good thing?

This is more or less what Justice Elena Kagan seemed to be wondering during the oral arguments in Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 immunity case at the Supreme Court on Thursday morning.

“Wasn’t the whole point that the president was not a monarch and the president was not supposed to be above the law?” she asked.

Like her, I had assumed those questions were answered decisively in the affirmative more than 200 years ago. But now, after almost three hours of circuitous debate and bizarre hypotheticals at the Supreme Court, I’m not so sure.

The right-wing justices seemed thoroughly uninterested in the case before them, which involves a violent insurrection that was led by a sitting president who is seeking to return to office in a matter of months. Instead, they spent the morning and early afternoon appearing to be more worried that prosecuting Trump could risk future malicious prosecutions of former presidents by their political rivals. And they tried to draw a distinction between official acts, for which a president might have immunity from prosecution, and private acts, for which no immunity would apply.

The upshot was that a majority of justices appeared prepared to send the case back down to the lower courts for further unnecessary litigation, which would almost certainly

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eliminate any chance of a trial being held before Election Day.

So let’s remember how we got here. The case began last year with special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of the former president on charges of obstruction, fraud and conspiracy relating to his central role in the effort to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election, which resulted in the deadly attack at the U.S. Capitol. This scheme was, by a long shot, the most egregious abuse of authority by any president in history. It has resulted in multiple federal and state indictments of Trump and his associates, some of whom have already pleaded guilty to elements of the broader plot.

In short, the justice system is doing its job by trying to hold to account a former president for subverting the last election before he runs in the next one. That is a very important job! And yet the right-wing justices are saying, essentially, not so fast — and maybe not at all.

The federal Jan. 6 trial should have been underway for almost two months by this point. Instead, Trump managed to derail the prosecution with an off-the-wall appeal that he is absolutely immune from prosecution for his actions up to and on Jan. 6, which he claims were taken in the course of his official duties — even though the president has no role in overseeing how states run their elections. The lower courts, in opinions by judges appointed by both Republicans and Democrats, dispatched this appeal with ease. But the Supreme Court decided to take the case anyway, scheduling it for the final argument day of the term.

The arguments Thursday tracked with this oddly leisurely pace, laced with hypothetical arguments.

For instance, Justice Samuel Alito asked, what if an incumbent president “loses a very close, hotly contested election?” Without immunity, there is a risk he won’t be able to “go off into a peaceful retirement” because of the fear that he will be criminally prosecuted by his political opponent. “Will that not lead us into a cycle that destabilizes the functioning of our country as a democracy?”

It was the literal inverse of the case before them. Michael Dreeben, the lawyer arguing the case for Smith, responded by pointing out that the justice system has a built-in mechanism for ensuring that prosecutions are fair: It’s called a lawsuit.

“There is an appropriate way to challenge things through the courts with evidence,” Dreeben said. “If you lose, you accept the results.” Trump, of course, did not accept his losses in more than 60 lawsuits, which is why we are all in this spot today.

Still, the right-wing justices seemed impervious to the urgency of the matter before them.

“I’m not focused on the here and now of this case,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh said. “I’m very concerned about the future.”

But the here and now of this case is vital, and the outcome should not be a close vote. The former president violated his constitutional obligation to ensure that the laws are faithfully executed. He is now running to be elected again. The threat is not what some hypothetical future commander in chief might do but what the defendant in this lawsuit has already done and has openly promised to do again.

Peterson/The New York Times)

(Mark

In fact, Trump’s lawyers argued in this case that he would be immune from prosecution for ordering SEAL Team Six to assassinate one of his political rivals.

This is, as the nation’s founders would certainly agree, completely bonkers. Several of them had personally taken up arms to fight for independence from a king who existed above the law. As a group of the nation’s preeminent historians argued in a brief to the court, there is no evidence that any of the founders, including those who supported a powerful executive, imagined creating one who could abuse his authority without consequence.

James Wilson, a central figure in drafting the Constitution, asked then whether the president enjoyed “a single privilege or security that does not extend to every person throughout the United States. Is there a single distinction attached to him in this system more than there is to the lowest officer in the republic?” The answer is obviously no.

If a majority of the court sends the case back down to the lower courts with orders to reexamine the distinction between official and private acts, which seems likely, the resulting delay and lack of urgency in this case could well prevent a trial from being held before November. If Trump wins the election, he will shut down the prosecution and implement his extreme version of executive impunity. And the Supreme Court will have effectively blessed it, all while maintaining plausible deniability.

The Jan. 6 immunity case has always been constitutionally offensive, and the Supreme Court could dispense with it easily. As Rick Pildes, a constitutional scholar, pointed out online while following the oral arguments, the justices have all the facts they need in order to decide, at the very least, which of the acts Trump is charged with are indisputably nonofficial, and thus not immune from prosecution.

The trial could continue based on those acts alone. If the court declines that route and prolongs this case, the “future” that the right-wingers profess to be so concerned about looks very bleak. The future looks like a president who really can shoot someone in broad daylight and get away with it.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, April 29, 2024

A supporter of former President Donald Trump wears a Revolutionary War-era costume outside a presidential campaign rally in Latrobe, Pa., on Sept. 3, 2022.

Padre

de niño con autismo expresó sentir coraje ante diagnóstico

POR EL STAR STAFF

PONCE – Ante el diagnóstico de autismo de Miguel, el primer sentimiento de su padre Daniel Muñoz. T fue coraje, además de frustración, tristeza, dolor y cuestionarse el porqué. Uno de sus mayores pensamientos eran el bienestar de Miguel cuando él y su esposa Luisa Morales faltaran. Ahora, tiempo después siente esperanza del futuro que Miguel puede tener. Este testimonio fue parte de lo que cerca de 200 personas escucharon durante el Simposio: “La inclusión es la solución” que celebraron la pasada semana en Ponce las organizaciones sin fines de lucro, Reborn Family Center y el Centro Ponceño de Autismo (CEPA).

“Las familias y todos los que están cerca de niños y personas con un diagnóstico de autismo necesitan mantenerse informadas para que puedan atender las necesidades que puedan surgir. Nosotros creemos que sí es posible una inclusión exitosa, pero todos debemos poner de nuestra parte para lograrlo. Este evento tuvo el propósito de que conocieran información que los ayudará en los diferentes espacios de la sociedad y erradicar los juicios negativos ante el desconocimiento”, mencionó la directora de CEPA y psicóloga clínica, la Dra. Laura Deliz Bauzá.

Dyhalmaris Hernández, trabajadora social clínico y directora de Reborn, mencionó por su parte que “en este evento tuvimos la participación de distintos expertos en

una jornada donde los presentes tuvieron la oportunidad de recibir información valiosa. Al final del día sentimos que nuestro propósito de educación y concienciación se cumplió”.

Por su parte, Dra. Ruthmarie Hernández Torres, psicóloga clínica, experta en atención temprana y neurociencia cognitiva dijo, “todos tenemos una responsabilidad en la integración. Especialmente en las comunidades de fe porque una iglesia que no se ocupa de las necesidades de la sociedad, no es en esencia evangelio”. Esto como parte del panel “Inclusión en Comunidades de Fe”.

Además de la inclusión en las comunidades de fe, en el evento se habló sobre la inclusión en la vida adulta, la comunidad, en los ambientes universitarios, la inclusión laboral y la ideología y ciencia.

Participantes contaron que recibieron mucha información tanto en la inclusión para niños, como en la de adultos que casi no se menciona. “El simposio fue excelente. Las personas que hablaron me ayudaron muchísimo porque sé que la información que recibí puedo llevarla a otros y ayudarlos también”, comentó Aida Vega del Programa HeadStart de Guayama.

Finalmente, el padre de Miguel reflexionó, “querido Dios tengo un hijo de educación especial y siento coraje, ¿ahora me entiendes? ¿Por qué no lo enviaste antes a mi vida?”. Miguel tiene hoy 13 años, sus padres se han educado y tratan de enseñar con su ejemplo que la inclusión

si es la solución.

Las presentaciones estuvieron a cargo de la Dra. Laura Deliz Bauzá, la Dra. Moraima García Rohena, el Dr. José L. Cordovés Avilés, Luz Dary Zapata, Yanira Colón Martínez, la Dra. Ruthmarie Hernández Torres, la Dra. Luisa Morales Torres, las Lcda. Kanyra Oliveras Martínez y Lcda. Lidael Collazo Reyes y el Dr. Rafael Oliveras Rentas.

El simposio se logró gracias a la colaboración y auspicio de empresas como Id Media Lab, Plan de Salud Menonita, el Programa de Salud Pública de la Ponce Health Sciences University, el Ponce Research Institute, Laboratorio Ponceño, Fideicomiso José Ramón Álvarez y Gloria Figueras Suro, CG Printing, Ahorro Muebles, Triple SSS y Advanced Signs.

Investigan incidente con supuesto ofensor sexual en Santurce

SAN JUAN – Las autoridades investigaron en la tarde del viernes, un incidente con un hombre que está registrado como ofensor sexual, en la calle Central a la calle Roosevelt, en Miramar, Santurce.

Según informó el padre de una menor de 17 años, que ella salió de un colegio y mientras iba

caminando por la calle, un individuo semidesnudo, y mostrando sus partes íntimas, se bajó de una camioneta Land Rover Discovery, color negro.

El sujeto fue descrito como alto, de ojos claros, llevaba una mascarilla negra y vestía camisa negra, mahón largo azul, correa oscura.

De acuerdo a la querella, la adolescente le solicitó ayuda a un guardia de seguridad que se encontraba en una residencia privada y cuando el

individuo se dio cuenta que el guardia de seguridad iba a confrontarlo éste se montó en su guagua y se marchó del lugar.

Tras lo sucedido, se verificó la tablilla y otra información brindada, y se confirmó que pertenece a un ofensor sexual registrado.

Este caso será referido a los agentes de la División de Delitos Sexuales de San Juan, los cuales continuarán con la investigación.

‘Challengers’ review: Game, set, love matches

By MANOHLA DARGIS

You can always feel filmmaker Luca Guadagnino trying to turn you on — he’s a zealous seducer. His movies are sleek divertissements about ravishing people and their often sumptuously rarefied sensibilities and worlds. I tend to like his work, even if it can be overly art-directed and feel too (excuse the verb) curated to stir the soul along with my consumer lust. I am moved when a father tenderly comforts his son in “Call Me by Your Name”; my most vivid memories of “A Bigger Splash” are its striking setting and a dress that Tilda Swinton wears.

Guadagnino’s latest, “Challengers,” is about a continually changing love triangle involving two besotted men and a sharp, beautiful woman with killer instincts and personal style. Largely set in the world of professional tennis, it is a fizzy, lightly sexy, enjoyable tease of a movie, and while someone suffers a bad injury and hearts get broken (or at least banged up), for the most part it’s emotionally bloodless. Even so, it’s a welcome break in tone and topic after Guadagnino’s Grand Guignol adventures in “Suspiria,” a take on a Dario Argento horror film, and “Bones and All,” about two pretty cannibals hungrily and moodily adrift.

Written by novelist and playwright Justin Kuritzkes, “Challengers” is fairly straightforward despite its self-consciously tortured narrative timeline. It tracks three tennis prodigies — friends, lovers and foes — across the years through their triumphs and defeats, some shared. When it opens, the troika’s onetime brightest prospect, Tashi (Zendaya), has been retired from playing for a while and is now coaching her husband, Art (Mike Faist), a Grand Slam champ rapidly spiraling downward. In a bid to reset his prospects (he’s a valuable property, for one), he enters a challenger tournament, a kind of minor-league event where lower-ranking professionals compete, including against injured higher-ranking players.

That match takes place in New Rochelle, New York, an easy drive from Flushing, Queens, and the home of the U.S. Open, which Art has yet to win. It’s while in New Rochelle that he and Tashi dramatically reconnect with Patrick (Josh O’Connor), the errant member of their complicated three-way entanglement. A rich boy who cosplays as poor (well, at least struggling), Patrick met Art when they were children at a tennis academy. By 18, they were tight friends and perhaps something more; the movie coyly leaves just how close to your imagination, even as it fires it up. It’s at that point that they met Tashi, then a fast-rocketing star.

Soon after the movie opens in 2019, it jumps to the recent past (“two weeks earlier”) and then starts bouncing around back and forth in time like a ball flying over the net, with the New Rochelle match serving as the story’s frame. (The 2019 date may be a nod to an epic men’s final at Wimbledon that year in which, after nearly five hours, Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer.) Turning back the clock can be a cheap way to make movies appear more complex than they actually are. Here, though, as the story leaps from past to present — from when Tashi, Art and Patrick were feverishly young to when they were somewhat less young — time begins to blur, underscoring that the passing years haven’t changed much.

All three leads in “Challengers” are very appealing, and

The stars of “Challengers,” from left, Mike Faist, Zendaya and Josh O’Connor, in Los Angeles in April 2024. Ambition, jealousy and “erotic amusement” are entangled in director Luca Guadagnino’s new movie about three tennis pros at different stages of their careers and lives. (Chantal Anderson/The New York Times)..

each brings emotional and psychological nuance to the story, whatever the characters’ current configuration. They’re also just fun to look at, and part of the pleasure of this movie is watching pretty people in states of undress restlessly circling one another, muscles tensed and desiring gazes ricocheting. Guadagnino knows this; he’s in his wheelhouse here, and you can feel his delight in his actors. With cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, he shows them off beautifully, caressing them in light so that they look lit from within. Even during the fantastically staged and shot — and very sweaty — New Rochelle match, they glow.

Much like her character, Zendaya gives the movie a jolt of glamour, which draws you to Tashi, even as the writing keeps her frustratingly distant. Tashi is, in many ways, the shrewdest and toughest of the three friends, and it’s she who artfully finesses Art and Patrick to bookend her body, perched on a bed soon after they meet. Zendaya is more convincing off the court than on it. Yet whatever doubts you have about her as a sports sensation are immaterial simply because the actress’ own magnetism is undeniable. Hers is a charismatic force field — call it stardom — that in old Hollywood once turned ordinary mortals into gods.

For his part, Faist opens up the puppyish Art, letting you to see the character’s vulnerability, which makes him sympathetic until it makes him just sad. But it’s O’Connor who pushes the material toward something like depth. O’Connor played such

an insufferable version of the young Prince Charles in the series “The Crown” that I had a difficult time separating the actor from his character. Patrick is an altogether different kind of off-putting type; he swaggers and smirks and, in one scene, drops his towel in the sauna. It’s a bit of sly gamesmanship; it’s also flirting. His confidence gives him an erotic charge that fires up Art and Tashi, and neither seems able to quit him even after drama and disaster upend the trio.

That disaster is a big deal, or it’s meant to be, but Guadagnino is better at blissfully gliding along the surfaces of life than he is at digging too far beneath them. Which is fine, really! One of the other pleasures of “Challengers” is that despite some tears, tightened jaws and its fussy chronology, the movie isn’t trying to say anything important, which is a relief. It wants to engage and entertain you, and it does that very nicely. A dreamy movie is sometimes all you want, and if it inspires you to pick up a racket or a date, or just rewatch a delight like Ernst Lubitsch’s 1933 “Design for Living,” about a different sexy trio, so much the better.

‘Challengers’

Rated R for pillow talk and some discreet lovemaking. Running time: 2 hours 11 minutes. In theaters.

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The San Juan Daily Star Monday, April 29, 2024 13

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A remote island draws thousands of turtles each year. Could it attract tourists?

By RICCI SHRYOCK

Each year, thousands of baby green sea turtles clamber across a beautiful, white-sand paradise that is one of the largest hatching sites of this species in the Atlantic, adorably making their way to the sea. There’s one noticeable absence: people.

The spectacular hatching events take place between August and December on Poilão Island, a tiny, uninhabited speck off the coast of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa. It is the southernmost island of the 88 that make up the Bijagós archipelago, a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Last year, turtles laid more than 44,000 nests on its 1.4 mile-long beach.

While the masses of turtles seem to have little trouble finding the spot to lay their eggs — some swim more than 600 miles across the North Atlantic — it’s hard to imagine somewhere more challenging for human turtle-lovers to reach.

The country’s tourism minister, Alberto Demba Touré, said that access is a main challenge. “We want to increase the tourists who go to the Bijagós,” he said. Last year, UNESCO declared its support for the Bijagós Islands to seek World Heritage List status, which, if successful, would increase its visibility and strengthen its environmental protections.

Turtle conservation programs have become a staple of resorts in many popular destinations, including in Hawaii, Mexico and throughout the Caribbean. Guinea-Bissau may like to capture a meager sliver of that pie, but it would be with steep challenges.

Politically fragile Guinea-Bissau has very little infrastructure and is one of the world’s poorest and least touristed nations. Most flights to Bissau, the country’s sleepy capital on the mainland, require a connection in Lisbon, Portugal, or Dakar, Senegal. Then, from Bissau, it’s a bumpy one-hour drive to the coast, and five to seven hours in a speedboat (depending on the route) to Poilão Island.

A limited number of tourists, usually no more than a dozen at a time, are allowed to visit the Poilão Island, which is part of the João Vieira and Poilão Marine National Park. The island is considered sacred by the archipelago’s residents and no construction is allowed on it.

A plane, to a truck, to a speedboat

Last fall I traveled to Poilão at the height of hatching season to witness the baby turtles make their way from nest to sea, and to see how the local workers monitor and ensure the survival of the tens of thousands of hatchlings each year.

I started in Bissau, a riverside city of a half-million, after flying there from my home in Dakar.

The next morning, another visitor and I climbed into a truck that took us to the coast. I had booked my Poilão trip with a hotel on one of the islands, Orango Parque Hotel, which arranged boat transport, park fees, meals, a guide and simple accommodations for three nights. The whole arrangement cost about $1,470.

We left the capital’s main paved avenue for potholed small lanes. An hour later, we reached the dock, near an abandoned hotel among the mangroves, where I climbed into a white speedboat.

Hatchlings are placed in a bucket until it is safe for them to be released on Poilão Island off the coast of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, Oct. 30, 2023. While the masses of turtles seem to have little trouble finding the spot to lay their eggs — some swim more than 600 miles across the North Atlantic — it’s hard to imagine somewhere more challenging for human turtle-lovers to reach. (Ricci Shryock/The New York Times)

For three hours, we sped through the open ocean, passing small, mostly uninhabited islands of the Bijagós. We occasionally passed fishermen — a half-dozen men in brightly painted, long wooden boats — who waved as we buzzed by.

A stop to meet the priestesses

Eventually, we landed on a beach at the hotel on Orango Island, the largest in the archipelago, where we would spend two nights before continuing the journey. We were shown to our small round houses that contained a single comfortable room, and given a lunch of fresh fish and rice.

“Conservation can protect what is ours, so that we don’t lose it and so that our children who are born tomorrow can know it,” said Nene Ecane, one of the priestesses, in the Bijagós language via a translator.

Landing on Poilão

When it was time to leave Orango, another speedboat — smaller than the one the day before — drove us through clear waters for two hours. We spotted dolphins and da Silva banged his hand on the side of the boat. The dolphins came closer and jumped alongside us.

While most of the speedboat journey from Bissau had been smooth, near Poilão the boat hit rougher waves. It was just before sunset when we landed. Occasional patches of volcanic black rocks, vital for green sea turtles, dotted the small beach.

As we unloaded the boat, a half-dozen workers from the João Vieira and Poilão Marine National Park greeted us, including Tumbulo Garcia Bamba, the park’s adjunct director.

“It’s good for tourists to come and learn and see how we work here for the turtles,” he said. He said he hopes that more attention to the turtles of Poilão will lead people outside of the region to respect the environment.

Poilão Island, a tiny, uninhabited speck off the coast of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, Oct. 30, 2023. Green sea turtles swim hundreds of miles to nest on a spectacular West African archipelago — getting there is quite a journey for humans, too. (Ricci Shryock/The New York Times)

Eduardo da Silva, a boat captain and guide at the hotel who grew up on the island, said tourists can learn a lot from the way Bijagós residents interact with nature.

“On Orango, we have always been conservationists,” he said.

One day during my stay, da Silva took me to meet the local priestesses. Orango is a matriarchal society; today the priestesses still make decisions about when certain harvests take place and what is allowed to happen on sacred grounds. I offered the women two unlabeled, neon-green bottles of cana, alcohol made from sugar cane, which I had bought for this purpose from a roadside stand when leaving Bissau. After a short ceremony with the cana, the priestesses spoke about how they base their community decisions on what will ensure a continued balance with the environment.

A mad dash to the sea

Other than our individual tents, which were set up a few dozen feet from the beach, there were few other signs of human life. There is no cell reception.

But we were not alone. All along the beach lay thousands of buried turtle eggs. Every few steps there was another underground sea turtle hatchling family, the park workers told us. Many nests had markers, but not all. We walked gingerly.

The workers, many of whom are from the Bijagós Islands, not only count and monitor the hatchlings, but also help them make their way safely to the sea.

Even though the nests are just 20 or so feet from the ocean, the 2-inch-long hatchlings are susceptible to many threats during their brief journey to the water — specifically birds, which wait in the nearby trees ready to snatch them.

We followed the workers throughout the early evening as they dug up nests — sometimes they were chest-deep in sand. They gathered dozens of just-hatched turtles into buckets and held them at the campsite until nightfall and high tide, when it was safer to release them.

A few hours later, in the darkness, the workers took the buckets of turtles back to the beach and let them go. All at once, a few hundred small hatchlings made their mad dash for the safety of the sea. Under the starlight, they used their small front flippers to quickly — and adorably — push their way through the sand to the water.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, April 29, 2024 14

How to avoid one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer

By TED ALCORN

When spring turns to summer and warm weather lures more people outside, skin cancer may be at most a distant concern. But experts say it’s important to take the risk seriously.

The ultraviolet rays in sunlight are a leading risk factor for skin cancer, which will affect 1 in 5 Americans over their lifetime. That includes melanoma, among the deadliest types. About 100,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma each year in the United States, and about 8,000 die from it annually, according to the American Cancer Society.

Fortunately, there are simple ways to reduce your risk and to detect possible cases early while they are most curable. Therapies approved over the past 15 years have also transformed the treatment of melanoma, extending and improving the lives of patients even with late-stage cases.

Here’s what to know about melanoma, its treatments and how to protect yourself.

What is melanoma?

More than five million nonmelanoma skin cancers are diagnosed annually in America. “If you see something, say something,” a catchy warning from the Department of Homeland Security about possible terrorist threats, applies as well to skin lesions that, if ignored, could become fatal.

(Gracia Lam/The New York Times)

Melanoma is a cancer that typically starts in skin cells known as melanocytes that make the skin’s pigment. Compared with more common skin cancers that begin in squamous or basal cells, melanoma is more likely to spread to other parts of the body.

“It truly has a very aggressive behavior and biology behind it,” said Dr. Michael Davies, chair of the melanoma medical oncology department at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Most melanomas appear as flat or slightly elevated blotches of dark color on skin that has been frequently exposed to ultraviolet light, such as the scalp, face, arms, back and legs (though they can occur on areas that have never been exposed to the sun, too). In a smaller share of cases, the growth may appear as a dark- or red-colored bump and grow down into the skin, which can make it more difficult to detect.

A less common form, lentigo maligna melanoma, mostly afflicts older adults who have had significant sun exposure, and often appears as abnormally shaped tan or brown spots on their heads or necks. An even rarer type, called acral lentiginous melanoma, occurs on the hands and feet (specifically the soles, palms, fingers, toes or nail beds) and accounts for more than half of melanoma cases in those who are not white. (Musician Bob Marley died from this type of melanoma, which was at first misidentified as a bruise.)

Melanoma can also occur in the eyes or mucosal membranes such as inside the nose or throat, but these cases are rare.

Who’s at risk? And can melanoma be prevented?

Melanoma is thought to be caused by a mix of genetic and environmental factors. One of the leading hazards is

exposure to ultraviolet light, including from the sun and indoor tanning. A history of severe, blistering sunburns can raise your risk, as can living close to the equator or at a high elevation, where the sun’s rays are more intense.

The best way to reduce your risk is to avoid unnecessary exposure to UV light. The sun’s rays are strongest between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., so limit your time outside during those hours. Wear protective clothing and eyewear and regularly apply sunscreen of at least SPF 30.

Dr. Shanthi Sivendran, a medical oncologist and senior vice president at the American Cancer Society, also warned against using tanning lamps and beds, which significantly increase melanoma risk. Twenty states and the District of Columbia have barred minors from using tanning beds, in part because of this concern, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. But six states (Alaska, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota) do not restrict them from doing so.

People with lighter skin are more vulnerable to damage from UV light. But Sivendran said that didn’t mean those with darker skin shouldn’t also remain vigilant. “You can get melanoma regardless of what your skin color is,” she said.

It’s also important to know if melanoma runs in your family, which can heighten your risk. And people with compromised immune systems are also more likely to develop melanoma. While about half of cases occur in people age 66 and older, younger people can also develop melanoma.

How can I detect melanoma?

Spotting melanoma early is vital, because nearly all cases that have not spread to other parts of the body are curable. However once the disease reaches the lymph nodes or more distant organs, five-year survival rates decrease sig-

nificantly.

There are no standard guidelines for skin cancer screening, but clinicians can examine your skin for abnormalities during annual checkups. Dr. Kelly Nelson, a dermatologist at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, also recommended that patients conduct their own regular head-to-toe self exams.

To distinguish melanomas from ordinary moles or irritations, dermatologists suggest checking for the “ABCDEs”: spots that have an asymmetrical shape, a notched or scalloped border, an unusual color pattern, a diameter larger than 6 millimeters, or a spot that has evolved over time.

But in practice, Nelson said, patients often have trouble making these distinctions. She recommended looking out for “ugly ducklings,” meaning abnormalities that stand out for any reason.

How is melanoma treated?

For cancers that haven’t spread, a doctor will likely cut out the growth along with a margin of surrounding skin. They also may conduct a biopsy of nearby lymph nodes to assess the risk of the cancer spreading and help the doctor decide if further treatment is needed.

While melanoma is more likely to be deadly if it reaches distant parts of the body, major advances in treatment have improved the outlook, even for those who didn’t catch their cancer early.

These include treatments that harness the immune system to fight tumors and targeted therapies that directly attack cancer cells.

There are more innovations on the way. In February, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first cancer treatment using tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, known as TIL therapy, for use against melanomas that have not responded to other treatments. And scientists are also testing a vaccine tailored to the specific genetic makeup of a patient’s cancer in a late-stage clinical trial.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN

MUNICIPIO DE TOA ALTA REPRESENTADO POR SU HONORABLE ALCALDE CLEMENTE AGOSTO

LUGARDO

Peticionario Vs. ADQUISICIÓN DE SOLAR DE 7,721.8153 M.C. EN EL BARRIO CONTORNO, TO ALTA; HÉCTOR LUIS

RODRÍGUEZ ROQUE Y WANDA ADAMES BÁEZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

TOA ALTA; R-G

FEDERAL SAVINGS

BANK, JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE; FULANO DE TAL Y FULAN DE TAL, POSIBLES TENEDORES DE PAGARÉ

Partes con Interés Civil Núm.: BY2024CV01267.

Sala: SALA 403. Sobre: EXPROPIACIÓN FORZOSA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO

RICO, SS.

A: JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE, A TODA PERSONA

IGNORADA, A QUIENES PUEDA PERJUDICAR LO SOLICITADO, LOS QUE

TENGAN CUALQUIER

DERECHO REAL SOBRE LA FINCA OBJETO DE ESTE PROCEDIMIENTO.

La parte peticionaria ha radicado en este Tribunal una Solicitud para que se declare a su favor, el título mediante el proceso de expropiación de la siguiente finca: Rústica: BARRIO CONTORNO de Toa Alta. Lote: Cabida: 7,721.8153 Metros Cuadrados. Linderos: Norte, José Luís Rosado Cases y Eugencia Torres. Sur, con Rafael Morales Rodríguez y José Pérez de León. Este, con Rafael Morales Rodríguez. Oeste, con Carretera número 165 y José Pérez de León. Enclava una casa remodelada en bloques y hormigón reforzado. Se forma por agrupación de la finca 976, inscrito al folio 72 del tomo 51 de Toa Alta y de la finca 11198, inscrito al folio 163 del tomo

235 de Toa Alta. Representa a la parte peticionaria, la abogada cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono es el siguiente: ISAMAR CORREA RUIZ

(RUA 16886)

Edificio San Juan Towers Ave. Ponce de León 1250 - Suite 600 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00907

Teléfono: (787) 370-1700

Móvil: (787) 452-0188

Email: icorrea@correapartners.com

Habiéndose dictado Orden por el Honorable Tribunal para que la solicitud de la peticionaria sea publicada por tres (3) veces en el término de veinte (20) días en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, comparezcan a alegar sus derechos dentro de los veinte (20) días de la última publicación el edicto, se les apercibe que si no comparecieren a contestar dicha petición dentro del término establecido, se dictará sentencia concediendo el remedio solicitado, sin más citarle ni oírle. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, a 8 de marzo de 2024. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA.

KATHERINE SANTIAGO RODRÍGUEZ, SUB SECRETARIA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE HUMACAO

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. OSCAR LEÓN VÉLEZ

SU ESPOSA LIZETTE MORALES MALDONADO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES

COMPUESTRA POR AMBOS

Demandados

Civil Núm.: HSCI2016-1099. (208). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. AVISO DE PÚBLICA SUBASTA.

A: LOS CODEMANDADOS DE EPIGRAFE Y AL PÚBLICO EN GENERAL:

El Alguacil que suscribe por la presente anuncia y hace constar que en cumplimiento de una Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe 27 de abril de 2017, notificada el 8 de mayo de 2017, y de un Mandamiento de Ejecución emitido el día 4 de mayo de 2022, que le ha sido dirigido por la Secretaria del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Humacao, procederá a vender en subasta, y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América, y/o giro postal, dinero en

efectivo, cheque de gerente o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal, o letra bancaria, con similar garantía de todo título, derecho o interés de los demandados de epígrafe sobre el inmueble que adelante se describe. Se anuncia por la presente que la primera subasta habrá de celebrarse el día 15

DE MAYO DE 2024 A LAS

10:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Humacao, sobre el inmueble que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar marcado con el #14 del bloque F, en el plano de inscripción de la Urbanización Olympic Ville, localizada en el barrio Quebrada Arenas del término municipal de Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, tiene un área superficial de 523.8826 metros cuadrados y sus colindancias son las siguientes: por el NORTE, con alineación de 37.592 metros lineales con el solar #15 del bloque F; por el SUR, con una alineación de 43.755 metros con el solar #13 del bloque F; por el ESTE, con una alineación de 14.027 metros lineales con la propiedad del señor Guillermo Pedraza y por el OESTE, con una alineación de 12.60 metros lineales con la calle #8. ENCLAVA: Una casa de concreto para una familia. FINCA: Número

14480, inscrita al tomo 270 del sistema de folio móvil de Las Piedras (Sección de Humacao).

Dirección física: Olympic Ville F-14 Las Piedras PR 00771. El siguiente pagaré consta inscrito en la propiedad antes mencionada y es el que se pretende

ejecutar: HIPOTECA: Por $118,354.00, con intereses al 7% anual, en garantía de un pagaré a favor de Doral Financial Corporation d/b/a H.F. Mortgage Bankers, o a su orden, que vence el 1ro de noviembre de 2030. Según escritura #692, otorgada en San Juan, el 31 de octubre de 2000, ante Edgardo Del Valle Galarza, inscrita al tomo 270 del sistema de folio móvil de Las Piedras, inscripción 2da. AMPLIACION Y MO-

DIFICACION DE HIPOTECA:

Se amplía la hipoteca de la inscripción 2da, antes relacionada, en la suma de $15,308.87, para un nuevo principal de $133,662.87, con intereses al 5.50% anual y vencerá el 1ro de abril de 2041. Según escritura #98, otorgada en San Juan, el 30 de marzo de 2011, ante Ana Cristina Díaz Velazco, inscrita al folio 47 del tomo 307 de Las Piedras, inscripción 4ta.

CANCELACION PARCIAL Y

MODIFICACION DE HIPOTECA: Cancelada parcialmente la hipoteca de la inscripción 2da,

en la suma de $1,341.09, para un nuevo principal de $132,321.78; se modifica el interés, que será al 4.50% anual y vencerá el 1ro de enero de 2044. Según escritura #1601, otorgada en San Juan, el 26 de diciembre de 2013, ante Magda V. Alsina Figueroa, inscrita al folio 47 del tomo 307 de Las Piedras, inscripción 6ta. La referida hipoteca grava el bien inmueble antes descrito. Según surge del estudio de título, la propiedad se encuentra afecta a los siguientes gravámenes posteriores: HIPOTECA: Por $17,900.00, con intereses al 9.950% anual, en garantía de un pagaré a favor de Doral Bank, o a su orden, que vence el 1ro de junio de 2020. Según escritura #29, otorgada el 27 de mayo de 2005, ante Néctor Robles Abraham, inscrita en virtud de la ley 216 del 2010 para agilizar el Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, al folio 124 del tomo 261 de Las Piedras, inscripción 3ra, con fecha de 30 de enero de 2014. CANCELACION PARCIAL Y MODIFICADA DE HIPOTECA: Cancelada parcialmente la hipoteca de la inscripción 3ra, antes relacionada, en la suma de $755.31, para un nuevo principal de $17,144.69; se modifican los intereses al 5.75% anual y vencerá el 1ro de noviembre de 2023. Según escritura #314, otorgada en San Juan, el 30 de octubre de 2013, ante Carlos José Mangual Santiago, inscrita al folio 47 del tomo 307 de Las Piedras, inscripción 5ta.

HIPOTECA: Por $17,694.18, sin intereses, en garantía de un pagaré a favor del Secretario del Departamento de Desarrollo Urbano y Vivienda de los Estados Unidos de América y vencerá el 1ro de enero de 2044. Según escritura #1602, otorgada en San Juan, el 26 de diciembre de 2013, ante Magda V. Alsina Figueroa, inscrita al folio 47 del tomo 307 de Las Piedras, inscripción 7ma. AVISO DE DEMANDA: Dictada en el Caso Civil #HSCI201601099, Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Humacao; seguido por Banco Popular de Puerto Rico (demandante) versus Oscar León Vélez, su esposa Lizette Morales Maldonado y la sociedad legal de gananciales compuesta por ambos (demandados). Se reclama el pago de la deuda garantizada con la hipoteca de la inscripción 2da., por $118,354.00 (ampliada a $133,662.87 y reducida a $132,321.78, posteriormente), adeudado la suma de $126,993.95, más intereses y otras sumas, o la venta de esta

finca en pública subasta. Anotada al tomo Karibe de la Sección de Humacao, finca #14480 de Las Piedras, anotación A y última, con fecha de 29 de junio de 2017. La subasta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer al demandante, total o parcialmente según sea el caso, de la referida sentencia que fue dictada por las siguientes sumas: $126,993.95 por concepto de principal, más $287.41 por concepto de recargos por atraso, más intereses al 4.5% anual a partir del 1 de julio de 2016 hasta su completo pago, más 4% de todo pago en atraso, más la cantidad estipulada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados, así como cualquier otra suma que contenga el contrato de préstamo. Y PARA CONOCIMIENTO DE LAS PARTES INTERESADAS y del público en general, se advierte que los autos de este caso y demás instancias están disponibles para ser inspeccionadas en la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia Sala Superior de Humacao, durante las horas laborables. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad del inmueble y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante, incluyendo el gravamen por las contribuciones sobre la propiedad inmueble adeudadas, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistentes, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda responsable de los mismos sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá Libre de Cargas y Gravámenes posteriores. Los tipos mínimos a utilizarse para la subasta son los siguientes: El inmueble antes descrito ha sido tasado en la suma de CIENTO

DIECIOCHO MIL TRESCIENTOS CINCUENTA Y CUATRO DÓLARES ($118,354.00) para que dicha suma sirva de tipo mínimo en la primera subasta a celebrarse. De no producirse remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta del antedicho inmueble, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA en el mismo lugar antes mencionado, el día 22 DE MAYO DE 2024 A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA, sirviendo como tipo mínimo para dicha segunda subasta, una suma equivalente a las dos terceras (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo pactado para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de SETENTA Y OCHO MIL NOVECIENTOS DOS DÓLARES CON SESENTA Y SEIS CENTAVOS ($78,902.66) para la finca antes descrita. De no producirse re-

mate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta del antedicho inmueble, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA en el mismo lugar antes mencionado, el día 29 DE MAYO DE 2024 A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA, sirviendo como tipo mínimo para dicha tercera subasta, una suma equivalente a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo fijado para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de CINCUENTA Y NUEVE MIL CIENTO SETENTA Y SIETE DÓLARES ($59,177.00) para la finca antes descrita. En testimonio de lo cual, expido el presente aviso, el cual firmo y sello, hoy 16 de abril de 2024, en Humacao, Puerto Rico.

JENNISA GARCÍA MORALES, ALGUACIL REGIONAL, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA DE HUMACAO. YELITZA VELÁZQUEZ, ALGUACIL CONFIDENCIAL #370.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA REGIÓN JUDICIAL DE FAJARDO SALA SUPERIOR BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. ENRIQUE TOME HERNANDEZ

Demandado Civil Núm.: FA2023CV00300. (307). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO, EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. AVISO DE VENTA EN PÚBLICA SUBASTA. Yo, SANDRALIZ MARTÍNEZ

TORRES, ALGUACIL CONFIDENCIAL #737, Alguacil de la División de Subastas del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Fajardo, a la demandada y al público en general, les notifico que, cumpliendo con un Mandamiento que se ha librado en el presente caso, por el Secretario del Tribunal, con fecha 19 de marzo de 2024 y para satisfacer la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe el 2 de febrero de 2024, notificada y archivada el ese mismo día procederé a vender en pública subasta, al mejor postor en pago de contado y en moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América, todo derecho, título e interés que haya tenido, tenga o pueda tener la deudora demandada en cuanto a la propiedad localizada en el: Municipio de Culebra, Puerto Rico, los bienes inmuebles se describen a continuación: Condominio Costa Bonita Beach Resort - Unit 3203, Culebra, PR 00775. “HORIZONTAL PROPERTY: Residential unit 3203 of Cluster 32 which forms part

of The Costa Bonita Resort Condominium Regime, located at Los Frailes Ward, Culebra, Puerto Rico. Squared shaped one-story unit, with a total construction area of 534.11 square feet, equivalent to 49.62 square meters. This unit shares part of the ground floor of cluster 32 with residential unit 3204. The main entrance is located on the East, side of the unit leading to the foyer which is a limited common element of Cluster 32. Its boundaries are; by the North, with a common wall that separates it form Residential unit 1304 and with the foyer which is an interior limited common element; by the South, with exterior common areas of the Condominium, by the West, with exterior common areas of the condominium and by the East, with exterior common areas of the condominium. Residential unit 3203 contains a living/sleeping area or bedroom, a kitchenette, a bathroom, a closets, an owner’s closet, an air conditioning closet and a covered balcony are. This unit has the exclusive use and enjoyment of the following limited common elements of the Costa Bonita Beach Resort Condominium. The foyer and access stairways of Cluster 32 which give access to the units forming part of such cluster. Finca #1930 de Culebra, inscrita al tomo Karibe. Registro de la Propiedad de Fajardo. Con el importe de dicha venta se habrá de satisfacer a la parte demandante las cantidades adeudadas, según la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, por el Tribunal de Primera Instancia Sala de Fajardo, cuyas cantidades ascienden a $143,660.97, de principal, 6.5% de intereses los cuales continúan acumulándose hasta el saldo total de la deuda; cargos por demora los cuales continúan acumulándose hasta el saldo total de la deuda, más contribuciones, primas de seguro adeudados los cuales continuarán en aumento hasta el saldo total de la deuda, más costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados. El tipo mínimo para la subasta será la suma de tasación pactada, la cual es $162,119.00 para la propiedad descrita. Si no produjere remate o adjudicación la primera subasta, se procederá a una segunda subasta y servirá de tipo mínimo la cantidad de $108,299.33. Si tampoco hubiere remate ni adjudicación en esta segunda subasta, se procederá a una tercera subasta, en ésta el tipo mínimo será la cantidad de $81,224.50. Si se declarase desierta la tercera

subasta se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse a opción del demandante. Para el lote descrito, la PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a cabo el día 8 DE MAYO DE 2024, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA. De no comparecer postor alguno se llevará a efecto una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 15 DE MAYO DE 2024, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA. De no comparecer postor alguno se llevará a cabo una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 22 DE MAYO DE 2024, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA. La subasta o subastas antes indicadas se llevarán a efecto en mi oficina, localizada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Fajardo. Del Estudio de Título realizado no surgen gravámenes posteriores. Se le advierte a los licitadores que la adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el mismo acto de la adjudicación en moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica, giro postal o cheque de gerente a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal y para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda(s) aquella(s) persona(s) que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de los licitadores y el público en general y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general, una vez por semana durante el término de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, y para su fijación en tres (3) lugares públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta, tales como, la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía y se le notificará además a la parte demandada vía correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. Se les advierte a todos los interesados que todos los documentos relacionados con la presente acción de ejecución de hipoteca, así como la de la subasta, estarán disponibles para ser examinados en la Secretaría del Tribunal. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titulación y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere al crédito de ejecutante, continuarán subsiguientes entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, April 29, 2024 16

posteriores, previa orden judicial dirigida al Registrador de la Propiedad de la sección correspondiente para la cancelación de aquellos posteriores. Y para conocimiento de la demandada, de los acreedores posteriores, de los licitadores, partes interesadas y público en general, expido el presente Aviso para su publicación en los lugares públicos correspondientes. Librado en Fajardo, Puerto Rico, a 16 de abril de 2024. JORGE

A. ORTIZ ESTRADA, ALGUACIL REGIONAL INTERINO #622. SANDRALIZ MARTÍNEZ TORRES, ALGUACIL CONFIDENCIAL #737.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE BAYAMÓN

WILMINGTON SAVINGS

FUND SOCIETY, FSB, NOT INDIVIDUALLY BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR FINANCE OF AMERICA STRUCTURED SECURITIES

ACQUISITION TRUST

2018-HB1

Demandante Vs. GILBERTO PÉREZ

FELICIANO, T/C/C GILBERTO PÉREZ

SANCHEZ; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

Demandados

Civil Núm.: BY2022CV02258. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA - IN REM. EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

A: GILBERTO PÉREZ

FELICIANO, T/C/C

GILBERTO PÉREZ

SANCHEZ; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA.

Yo, EDGARDO ELÍAS VARGAS SANTANA, ALGUACIL

AUXILIAR PLACA #193, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Bayamón, a los demandados, acreedores y al público en general con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se describe, y al público en general, por la presente CERTIFICO, ANUNCIO y HAGO CONSTAR: Que el día

29 DE MAYO DE 2024, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Bayamón, Bayamón, Puerto Rico, procederé a vender en Pública Subasta, al mejor postor, la propiedad inmueble que más adelante se describe y cuya venta en pública subasta se ordenó por la vía ordinaria mediante Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, la cual se notificó y archivó en autos el día 29 de febrero de 2024. Los autos y todos los documentos

correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría durante horas laborables. Que en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta a celebrarse, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA para la venta de la susodicha propiedad, el 5 DE JUNIO DE 2024, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA; y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 12 DE JUNIO DE 2024, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que ha sido liberado por la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Bayamón, en el caso de epígrafe con fecha de 5 de abril de 2024, procederé a vender en pública subasta y al mejor postor, todo derecho, título e interés que tenga la parte demandada de epígrafe en el inmueble que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar número trece (13) del Bloque “WJ” de la Urbanización Santa Juanita, radicado en el Barrio Minillas de Bayamón, Puerto Rico, que comprende un área de trescientos un metros y treinta centímetros cuadrados (301.30 m.c.), colindan por el NORTE, con el Solar número doce (12); por el SUR, con el Solar número catorce (14); por el ESTE, con la Calle Jesús T. Piñeiro-Norte; y por el OESTE, con el Solar número siete (7). Finca Número 24,291, inscrita al folio 96 del tomo 534 de Bayamón Sur. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección I de Bayamón. Dirección de la Propiedad: WJ-13 Jesús T. Piñero St., Santa Juanita Dev, Bayamón, PR 00956. La subasta se llevará a cabo para satisfacer, hasta donde alcance, el importe de las cantidades adeudadas a la parte demandante conforme a la sentencia dictada a su favor, a saber: de $166,768.39 en concepto de principal con interés al 5.060% anual, los cuales continúan acumulándose, así como la cantidad líquida estipulada en los documentos del préstamo para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado en caso de reclamación judicial y que correspondan a intereses y cargos por demora posterior a dicha fecha, y la suma de $16,800.00 equivalente al 10% de la suma principal original pactada, estipulada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; más recargos acumulados hasta la fecha en que se pague la deuda; más cualquiera suma de dinero por concepto de contribuciones, primas de seguro hipotecario y riesgo, así como cualesquiera otras sumas pactadas en la escritura de hipoteca, todas cuyas sumas están

líquidas y exigibles. La hipoteca a ejecutarse en el caso de epígrafe fue constituida mediante la escritura número 20 otorgada el día 31 de marzo de 2015, en Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, ante el Notario Público Mario E. Pérez Acosta y consta inscrita al tomo Karibe de Bayamón Sur, finca número 24,291, Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección I de Bayamón. Por la presente se notifica a los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante o acreedores de cargos o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca del actor y a los dueños, poseedores, tenedores de o interesados en títulos transmisibles por endoso o al portador garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito del actor que se celebrarán las subastas en las fechas, horas y sitios señalados para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les conviniere o se les invita a satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, otros cargos y las costas y honorarios de abogado asegurados quedando subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. Que la cantidad mínima de licitación en la primera subasta del inmueble antes descrito será la suma de $168,000.00 según se establece en la escritura de hipoteca antes relacionada. En caso de que el inmueble a ser subastado no fuera adjudicado en su primera subasta se ordena la celebración de una segunda subasta de dicho inmueble, en la cual, la cantidad mínima será una equivalente a 2/3 parte de aquella, o sea la suma de $112,000.00; desierta también la segunda subasta de dicho inmueble, se ordena la celebración de una tercera subasta en la cual, la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado para la primera subasta, es decir la suma de $84,000.00. La propiedad se adjudicará al mejor postor, quien deberá satisfacer el importe de su oferta en moneda legal y corriente de los Estados Unidos de América en el momento de la adjudicación, entiéndase efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, y que las cargas y gravámenes preferentes, si los hubiese, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad no está sujeta a gravámenes anteriores y/o preferentes según surge de las constancias del Registro de la Propiedad en un estudio de título efectuado a la finca antes

descrita. Una vez efectuada la venta de dicha propiedad, el Alguacil procederá a otorgar la escritura de traspaso al licitador victorioso en subasta, quien podrá ser la parte demandante, cuya oferta podrá aplicarse a la extinción parcial o total de la obligación reconocida por la sentencia dictada en este caso.

La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Si el producto de la venta fuere insuficiente para satisfacer la cantidad reclamada, se procederá a la ejecución de la sentencia en contra de la parte demandada por el remanente de las sumas no satisfechas, mediante embargo y venta en ejecución de cualesquiera otros bienes propiedad de la parte demandada en cantidad suficiente para dejar cubierta y totalmente satisfecha a la parte demandante cualquier deficiencia o parte insoluta de la sentencia dictada a su favor según dispuesto en la sentencia dictada en este caso.

Se dispone, conforme con la sentencia dictada en este caso que, una vez efectuada la subasta y vendido el bien inmueble, los adjudicatarios sean puestos en posesión del mismo dentro del término de veinte (20) días por el Alguacil de este Honorable Tribunal y los actuales poseedores lanzados del referido inmueble. Y para la concurrencia de licitadores y para el público en general, se publicará este Edicto de acuerdo con la ley, mediante edicto, en un periódico de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, una vez por semana, por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, y para su fijación en tres (3) lugares públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía, y se le notificará además a la parte demandada vía correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. EN TESTIMONIO

DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto de Subasta para conocimiento y comparecencia de los licitadores, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, a 15 de abril de 2024. EDGARDO ELÍAS VARGAS SANTANA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #193, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA DE BAYAMÓN.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE TOA BAJA FINANCE OF AMERICA

REVERSE, LLC

Demandante V.

Monday, April 29, 2024

SUCESIÓN DE ÁNGEL LUIS LOZADA RAMÍREZ

T/C/C ÁNGEL L. LOZADA

RAMÍREZ T/C/C ÁNGEL LOZADA RAMÍREZ T/C/C ANGEL LUIS LOZADA

T/C/C ÁNGEL L. LOZADA

T/C/C ÁNGEL LOZADA

COMPUESTA POR ÁNGEL

LUIS LOZADA PLUGUES, JUAN CARLOS LOZADA PLUGUES, MARÍA LOZADA, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRE DESCONOCIDO; SUCESIÓN DE MARÍA DE LOS ÁNGELES PLUGUES

PIÑEIRO T/C/C MARÍA DE LOS ÁNGELES PLUGUEZ

PIÑEIRO T/C/C MARÍA DE LOS ÁNGELES PLUGUEZ

PINERO T/C/C MARÍA

PLUGUEZ DELOZADA

T/C/C MARÍA PLUGUEZ

DE LOZADA T/C/C MARÍA

PLUGUEZ T/C/C MARÍA

A. PLUGUEZ PINEIRO

T/C/C MARÍA A. PLUGUEZ

COMPUESTA POR ÁNGEL

LUIS LOZADA PLUGUES, JUAN CARLOS LOZADA PLUGUES, MARÍA LOZADA, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRE

DESCONOCIDO; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS

MUNICIPALES; Y LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

Demandados

Civil Núm.: TB2023CV00045.

Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA - IN REM. EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

A: SUCESIÓN DE ÁNGEL LUIS LOZADA RAMÍREZ

T/C/C ÁNGEL L. LOZADA RAMÍREZ T/C/C ÁNGEL LOZADA RAMÍREZ T/C/C

ANGEL LUIS LOZADA

T/C/C ÁNGEL L. LOZADA

T/C/C ÁNGEL LOZADA

COMPUESTA POR ÁNGEL

LUIS LOZADA PLUGUES, JUAN CARLOS

LOZADA PLUGUES, MARÍA LOZADA, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRE DESCONOCIDO; SUCESIÓN DE MARÍA DE

LOS ÁNGELES PLUGUES

PIÑEIRO T/C/C MARÍA DE LOS ÁNGELES PLUGUEZ

PIÑEIRO T/C/C MARÍA DE LOS ÁNGELES PLUGUEZ

PINERO T/C/C MARÍA

PLUGUEZ DELOZADA T/C/C MARÍA PLUGUEZ

DE LOZADA T/C/C MARÍA

PLUGUEZ T/C/C MARÍA A. PLUGUEZ PINEIRO T/C/C MARÍA A. PLUGUEZ

COMPUESTA POR ÁNGEL

LUIS LOZADA PLUGUES, JUAN CARLOS LOZADA PLUGUES, MARÍA LOZADA, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRE DESCONOCIDO; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS

MUNICIPALES.

Yo, EDGARDO ELÍAS VARGAS SANTANA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #193, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Bayamón, a los demandados, acreedores y al público en general con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se describe, y al público en general, por la presente CERTIFICO, ANUNCIO y HAGO CONSTAR: Que el día 29 DE MAYO DE 2024, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Bayamón, Bayamón, Puerto Rico, procederé a vender en Pública Subasta, al mejor postor, la propiedad inmueble que más adelante se describe y cuya venta en pública subasta se ordenó por la vía ordinaria mediante Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, la cual se notificó y archivó en autos el día 20 de febrero de 2024. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría durante horas laborables. Que en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta a celebrarse, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA para la venta de la susodicha propiedad, el 5 DE JUNIO DE 2024, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA; y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 12 DE JUNIO DE 2024, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que ha sido liberado por la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Bayamón, en el caso de epí-

grafe con fecha de 8 de abril de 2024, procederé a vender en pública subasta y al mejor postor, todo derecho, título e interés que tenga la parte demandada de epígrafe en el inmueble que se describe a continuación:

URBANA: Solar número siete del Bloque “CM” en el Barrio Sabana Seca de Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, con un área de trescientos diez metros cuadrados con cincuenta centímetros cuadrados, en lindes por el NORTE, en trece metros cincuenta centímetros, con el solar número diez; por el SUR, en trece metros cincuenta centímetros, con la Calle Doctor Salvador Carbonell (según Plano Calle quinientos veinticinco); por el ESTE, en veintitrés metros, con el solar número seis; por el OESTE, en veintitrés metros, con el solar número ocho. Finca número 8,414, inscrita al folio 227 del tomo 137 de Toa Baja. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección II de Bayamón. Dirección de la Propiedad: CM7 Dr. Carbonell St., Levittown Dev. Toa Baja, P.R. 00949 t/c/c Dr. Carbonell CM-7, Quinta Sección, Levitown, Toa Baja, PR 00949. La subasta se llevará a cabo para satisfacer, hasta donde alcance, el importe de las cantidades adeudadas a la parte demandante conforme a la sentencia dictada a su favor, a saber: de $167,303.15 en concepto de principal con interés al 5.060% anual, los cuales continúan acumulándose, así como la cantidad líquida estipulada en los documentos del préstamo para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado en caso de reclamación judicial y que correspondan a intereses y cargos por demora posterior a dicha fecha, y la suma de $22,500.00 equivalente al 10% de la suma principal original pactada, estipulada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; más recargos acumulados hasta la fecha en que se pague la deuda; más cualquiera suma de dinero por concepto de contribuciones, primas de seguro hipotecario y riesgo, así como cualesquiera otras sumas pactadas en la escritura de hipoteca, todas cuyas sumas están líquidas y exigibles. La hipoteca a ejecutarse en el caso de epígrafe fue constituida mediante la escritura número 54 otorgada el día 14 de marzo de 2014, en San Juan, Puerto Rico, ante la Notario Público Rosa E. Permuy Calderón y consta inscrita al folio 158 del tomo 730 de Toa Baja, finca número 8,414, Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección II de Bayamón. Por la presente se notifica a los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante o acreedores de cargos

o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca del actor y a los dueños, poseedores, tenedores de o interesados en títulos transmisibles por endoso o al portador garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito del actor que se celebrarán las subastas en las fechas, horas y sitios señalados para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les conviniere o se les invita a satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, otros cargos y las costas y honorarios de abogado asegurados quedando subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. Entiéndase: Hipoteca Revertida en garantía de un pagaré a favor del Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, o a su orden, por la suma principal de $225,000.00, con intereses al 5.060% anual, vencedero el día 26 de abril de 2097, constituida mediante la escritura número 55, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 14 de marzo de 2014, ante la notario Rosa E. Permuy Calderón, e inscrita al folio 58 del tomo 730 de Toa Baja, finca número 8,414, inscripción 11ma. Que la cantidad mínima de licitación en la primera subasta del inmueble antes descrito será la suma de $225,000.00 según se establece en la escritura de hipoteca antes relacionada. En caso de que el inmueble a ser subastado no fuera adjudicado en su primera subasta se ordena la celebración de una segunda subasta de dicho inmueble, en la cual, la cantidad mínima será una equivalente a 2/3 parte de aquella, o sea la suma de $150,000.00; desierta también la segunda subasta de dicho inmueble, se ordena la celebración de una tercera subasta en la cual, la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado para la primera subasta, es decir la suma de $112,500.00. La propiedad se adjudicará al mejor postor, quien deberá satisfacer el importe de su oferta en moneda legal y corriente de los Estados Unidos de América en el momento de la adjudicación, entiéndase efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, y que las cargas y gravámenes preferentes, si los hubiese, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad no está sujeta a gravámenes anteriores y/o preferentes según surge de las constancias del Registro de la Propiedad en un estudio de título efectuado a la finca antes descrita. Una vez efectuada la venta de dicha

cha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Bayamón, Cuarto Piso, Oficina de Alguaciles de Subastas, el 6 DE JUNIO DE 2024, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para, con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante, el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor ascendente a la suma de $124,556.31 por concepto de principal, más la suma de 38,305.99 en intereses acumulados 15 de agosto de 2023 y los cuales continúan acumulándose a razón de 3.529% anual hasta su total y completo pago; más la sumas de $6,679.19 en seguro hipotecario; $5,915.00 de cargos por servicio; $2,661.26 de seguro de la propiedad; $1,500.00 de tasaciones; $760.00 de inspecciones; $9,736.40 en mantenimiento a la propiedad; $4,138.80 en adelantos pendientes; más la cantidad de 10% del pagare original en la suma de $14,100.00, para gastos, costas y honorarios de abogado. A tenor con la Regla 44.3 de Procedimiento Civil se condena a la parte demandada a pagar intereses aplicables sobre el importe de la presente sentencia incluyendo costas y honorarios de abogado, desde esta fecha y hasta que sea satisfecha. La venta en pública subasta de la referida propiedad se verificará libre de toda carga o gravamen posterior que afecte la mencionada finca, a cuyo efecto se notifica y se hace saber la fecha, hora y sitio de la PRIMERA, SEGUNDA Y TERCERA SUBASTA, si esto fuera necesario, a los efectos de que cualquier persona o personas con algún interés puedan comparecer a la celebración de dicha subasta. Se notifica a todos los interesados que las actas y demás constancias del expediente de este caso están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables para ser examinadas por los (las) interesados (as). Y para su publicación en el periódico The San Juan Daily Star, que es un diario de circulación general en la isla de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, así como para su publicación en los sitios públicos de Puerto Rico. Expedido en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy 9 de abril de 2024. FRANCES TORRES, ALGUACIL REGIONAL. EDGARDO ELÍAS VARGAS SANTANA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #193.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE SAN JUAN

YOMARIES RAMÍREZ OLMO, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA COMO YOMARIES BENÍQUEZ

Demandante V. IRIS AMANDA

PERDOMO PEREZ, DORAL FINANCIAL CORPORATION, BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO, JOHN DOE

Demandadas

Civil Núm.: SJ2024CV03012.

Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVADO POR LA VÍA JUDICIAL. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: JOHN DOE COMO TENEDOR DESCONOCIDO DEL PAGARÉ a favor de Doral Financial Corporation, o a su orden, por la suma principal de $124,000.00, con intereses al 7.25% anual, vencedero el día 1 de agosto de 2013, constituida mediante la escritura número 372, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 30 de julio de 2004, ante el notarios Manuel A. Guzmán González, e inscrita al folio 293 vuelto del tomo 753 de Santurce Norte, finca número 1,998, inscripción 18va, como Asiento Abreviado extendidas las líneas el día 5 de marzo de 2014, en virtud de la Ley número 216 del día 27 de diciembre de 2010.

Por la presente se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda incoada en su contra dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación del presente edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: HTTPS://WWW. PODERJUDICIAL.PR/INDEX. PHP/TRIBUNAL-ELECTRONICO, salvo que se represente por derecho propio. Si usted deja de presentar y notificar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente, sin más citarle y/o oírle. Los abogados de la parte

demandante son.

ABOGADOS DE LA PARTE

DEMANDANTE:

Lcdo. Reggie Díaz Hernández

RUA Núm.: 16,393

BERMUDEZ & DIAZ LLP

Suite 209

500 Calle De La Tanca

San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901

Tel.: (787) 523-2670

Fax: (787) 523-2664

rdiaz@bdprlaw.com

Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y el sello de este Tribunal, hoy 9 de abril de 2024. GRISELDA

RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA GENERAL. MARÍA

SERRANO SOTO, SECRETARIA DE SERVICIOS A SALA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO

DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE

FIRSTBANK

PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs.

LOURDES VÁZQUEZ BORRERO

Parte Demandada

Caso Civil Núm.: PO2024CV00732. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA Y COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: LOURDES VÁZQUEZ BORRERO.

POR LA PRESENTE se les emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá radicar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired.ramajudicial.pr/ sumac/, salvo que se presente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá radicar el original de su contestación ante el Tribunal correspondiente y notifique con copia a los abogados de la parte demandante, Lcda.

Marjaliisa Colon Villanueva, al PO BOX 7970, Ponce, P.R. 00732-7970; Teléfono: 787843-4168. En dicha demanda se tramita un procedimiento de cobro de dinero y ejecución de hipoteca bajo el número mencionado en el epígrafe. Se alega en dicho procedimiento que la parte Demandada incurrió en el incumplimiento del Contrato de Hipoteca, al no poder pagar las mensualidades vencidas correspondientes a los meses de octubre de 2023, hasta el presente, más los cargos por demora correspondientes. Además, adeuda a la parte demandante las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado en que incurra el tenedor del pagaré

en este litigio. De acuerdo con dicho Contrato de Garantía Hipotecaria la parte Demandante declaró vencida la totalidad de la deuda ascendente a la suma de $78,735.91, el cual se compone de un primer principal por la suma de $78,005.17, y un principal diferido por la suma de $730.74 más intereses por la suma de $78,005.17 a razón del 5.25% anual, así como todos aquellos créditos y sumas que surjan de la faz de la obligación hipotecaria y de la hipoteca que la garantiza, incluyendo la suma estipulada para para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado. La parte Demandante presentó para su inscripción en el Registro de la Propiedad correspondiente, un AVISO DE PLEITO PENDIENTE (“Lis Pendens”) sobre la propiedad objeto de esta acción cuya propiedad es la siguiente: URBANA: Apartamento A guión doscientos uno (A-201), sito en el Condominio Plaza El Batey, el cual ubica en el Barrio Ensenada del Municipio de Guánica. El apartamento tiene un área superficial de ochocientos veinte y uno punto quinientos veinte (821.520) pies cuadrados, equivalentes a setenta y seis punto trescientos quince (76.315) metros cuadrados. Su configuración es de carácter rectangular. Colinda, al Norte, con Calle Los Artesanos, en veintitrés pies con diez pulgadas (23’-10”); por el Sur, con Calle Las Flores. En veintitrés pies con diez pulgadas (23’-10”); por el Este, con el apartamento A guión doscientos dos (A-202), en treinta y siete pies con una pulgada (31’1”). El apartamento consiste de una sala, un comedor, una cocina, tres cuartos dormitorios con sus “closets”, un baño, área de “laundry” y un balcón. El apartamento tiene su puerta principal conectando a un vestíbulo, en el cual se encuentra escaleras que conducen al primer y tercer nivel, lo que constituye un elemento común de donde se obtiene acceso al exterior del edificio. El apartamento A guión doscientos uno (A-201) participa en los gastos, ingresos y derechos en los elementos comunes generales de Plaza El Batey en tres punto treinta y tres por ciento (3.33%) del total. A este apartamento le corresponde el estacionamiento designado número doscientos uno (201). Inscrita al folio al folio ciento noventa (190) del tomo doscientos dieciocho (218) de Guánica, finca número siete mil cuatrocientos dieciséis (7,416), Registro de la Propiedad de San Germán. SE LES APERCIBE que de no hacer sus alegaciones responsivas a la demanda dentro del término aquí dispuesto, se les anotará la rebeldía y se dictará Sentencia, concediéndose el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, sin

más citarle ni oírle. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal en Ponce, Puerto Rico. A 10 día de abril de 2024. CARMEN G. TIRÚ QUIÑONES, SECRETARIA. EREINA AGRONT LEÓN, SUB-SECRETARIA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN

MIGDALIA

RIVERA POLANCO

Demandante V. THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION A/K/A THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK NA; JUAN DEL PUEBLO Y JUANA DEL PUEBLO Y CUALQUIERA PERSONA DESCONOCIDA CON POSIBLE INTERÉS EN LA OBLIGACIÓN CUYA CANCELACIÓN POR DECRETO JUDICIAL SE SOLICITA

Demandados Civil Núm.: SJ2024CV01808. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

A/K/A THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK NA; JUAN DEL PUEBLO Y JUANA DEL PUEBLO COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES Y CUALESQUIER PERSONA DESCONOCIDA CON POSIBLE INTERÉS EN LA OBLIGACIÓN CUYA CANCELACIÓN POR DECRETO JUDICIAL SE SOLICITA.

Por la presente se le notifica que ha sido presentada en este Tribunal una Demanda en su contra en el pleito de epígrafe. En este caso la parte demandante ha radicado una Demanda para que se decrete judicialmente el saldo de un (1) pagaré hipotecario a favor de The Chase Manhattan Bank National Association, o a su orden, por la suma principal de $50,900.00, con intereses al 10% anual, vencedero el día (no surge día) de enero de 2015. Dicho pagaré fue suscrito en San Juan el día 11 de diciembre de 1984 ante el notario Raul J. Villa Selles, garantizado por hipoteca constituida mediante la Escritura número 5, sobre la

siguiente propiedad: URBANA: PROPIEDAD HORIZONTAL: Apartamento número Setecientos Nueve (709), residencia en forma irregular que radica en el séptimo nivel del Condominio Segovia, localizado en la Calle Sergio Cuevas Bustamante de la Urbanización Roosevelt de Rio Piedras. El apartamento tiene un área privada aproximada de mil doscientos cuarenta y tres pies cuadrados equivalentes a ciento quince metros cuadrados con cuarenta siete centímetros. Está compuesto de la siguiente forma: balcón, sala - comedor, cocina, tres cuartos, un ‘walk-in-closet’, dos baños y un ‘laundry’. Su puerta principal de entrada está localizada al Norte del corredor que distribuye el resto de los apartamentos, a la circulación vertical y las demás dependencias del piso correspondiente. Son sus colindancias y medidas lineales aproximadamente las siguientes: por el NORTE, en una distancia de cuarenta y seis pies con cinco pulgadas, equivalentes a catorce metros con quince centímetros, con la fachada Norte del edificio que da la Calle Sargento Luis Medina; por el SUR, en dos alineaciones diferentes: una de treinta y nueve pies con seis pulgadas, equivalentes a doce metros con cuatro centímetros con el corredor que da acceso a los apartamentos, y otra de seis pies con once pulgadas equivalentes a dos metros con once centímetros, con los closets de metro contadores de agua y electricidad; por el ESTE, en una distancia de veintisiete pies y dos pulgadas, equivalentes a ocho metros con veintiocho centímetros, con la pared exterior del edificio, que da a la zona de los elevadores; y por el OESTE, en dos alineaciones diferentes: una de diez y nueve pies y dos pulgadas, equivalentes a cinco metros con ochenta y cuatro centímetros, con el cuarto de transformadores eléctricos y con el closet de metro contadores de agua y electricidad. A este apartamento le corresponde como parte integral del mismo y área privada, el área de estacionamiento marcada con el número ciento veinticuatro cubierto. FINCA Número 30,688, inscrita al folio 1 del tomo 1,065 de Rio Piedras Norte. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección II de San Juan. La parte demandante alega que dicho pagaré ha sido saldado según más detalladamente consta en la Demanda radicada que puede examinarse en la Secretaría de este Tribunal. Por tratarse de una obligación hipotecaria y pudiendo usted tener interés en este caso o quedar afectado por el remedio solicitado, se le emplaza por este edicto que se publicará una vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general de

Puerto Rico. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// www.poderjudicial.pr/index. php/tribunal-electronico, salvo que se represente por derecho propio. Debe notificar con copia de ella a la abogada de la parte demandante la Lcda. Lizbet

Aviles Vega, Urb. Los Sauces, Calle Pomarrosa #222, Humacao, PR 00791; Tel. (787) 3540061, dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto, apercibiéndole que de no hacerlo así dentro del término indicado, el Tribunal podrá anotar su rebeldía y dictar sentencia concediendo el remedio solicitado en la Demanda sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal, en San Juan, Puerto Rico, hoy día 9 de abril de 2024. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA. MICHELLE RIVERA RÍOS, SUB-SECRETARIA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA TRIBUNAL SUPERIOR DE TOA ALTA

JUAN CARLOS OJEDA

FELICIANO Y CARMEN IVELISSA MONTAÑEZ BERMENE, Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS

Demandantes V. NATIONSTAR

MORTGAGE, LLC H/N/C

MR. COOPER, COMO ÚLTIMO TENEDOR CONOCIDO DEL PAGARÉ HIPOTECARIO EXTRAVIADO; SUCESIÓN DE CARMEN

MILAGROS GRACIA RÍOS COMPUESTA POR

ANNJANNETTE ROSADO

GRACIA, ARLENE

JEANNETTE ROSADO

GRACIA Y RAMÓN

ENRIQUE ROSADO

GRACIA Y RAMÓN

ENRIQUE ROSADO

GRACIA; CARIBE

FEDERAL CREDIT UNION; Y JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE, COMO TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DE UN PAGARÉ HIPOTECARIO EXTRAVIADO

Demandados

EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS.

A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE:

Se emplaza y notifica que se ha presentado una demanda en este caso en la cual en síntesis la PARTE DEMANDANTE alega que se constituyó una hipoteca en garantía de un pagaré con fecha del 18 con intereses al 5.325% por ciento anual, vencedero el 1° de agosto de 2023, suscrito bajo el testimonio número 5937-A, ante la Notario Georgette M. Rodríguez Figueroa. Dicha deuda fue garantizada por una hipoteca constituida por la escritura número 943-A, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 18 de julio de 2003 ante la misma notario, inscrita al folio 229 del tomo 549 de Toa Baja, finca número 7138, inscripción séptima (7ª). La obligación garantizada por dicha hipoteca fue pagada en su totalidad y está vencida, quedando solamente por cancelar el pagaré que la garantizaba. La PARTE DEMANDANTE manifestó que nunca recibió el pagaré original para su cancelación y desconoce su paradero, por lo que concluyo que el pagaré estaba extraviado. Pueden examinar la demanda en su totalidad en los autos de este Tribunal. El abogado de la parte demandante es:

Lcdo. Arsenio Comas Rodón, RUA: 11344 P.O. Box 270386 San Juan, PR 00927 Tel. 765-3027 Fax: 765-3043 acomas@comasrevuelta.com Deberán notificar su contestación dentro de los próximos treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este edicto. Deberán presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal. Se les apercibe que, de no hacerlo, el Tribunal podrá conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda. La PARTE DEMANDADA deberá radicar el original de la contestación de la demanda en este Tribunal, con copia a la PARTE DEMANDANTE. DADO bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal y por orden del mismo, hoy 22 de abril de 2024. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. MARÍA E. COLLAZO, SUBSECRETARIA.

Civil Núm.: TA2024CV00377. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ HIPOTECARIO EXTRAVIADO. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA,

CARIBE FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

Demandante Vs. ÁNGEL DANIEL MEDINA, PERLA IVELISSE RODRÍGUEZ WALKER Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS

Demandados Civil Núm.: CA2024CV00148. (403). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO; PROCEDIMIENTO ORDINARIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A: ÁNGEL DANIEL MEDINA, PERLA IVELISSE RODRÍGUEZ WALKER Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS - P.O. BOX 965, CAROLINA, PR 009860965.

Quedan emplazados y notificados de que en este Tribunal se ha radicado una demanda en su contra sobre Cobro de Dinero. Se le notifica para que comparezca ante el Tribunal dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto y exponer lo que a sus derechos convenga, en el presente caso. Se le notifica que deberá presentar su alegación a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https.//unired.poderjudicial. pr., salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Centro Judicial de Carolina, Sala Superior, y enviando copia a la parte demandante: Lcda.

Andrea C. Chaves Figueroa; P.O. Box 193813, San Juan, PR 00919; achaves@esqlegalpr.com. Se le apercibe y notifica que si no contesta la demanda radicada en su contra dentro del término de treinta (30) días de la publicación de este edicto, se le anotará la rebeldía en su contra y se dictará sentencia en su contra, conforme se solicita en la demanda, sin más citársele ni oírsele. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal a 12 de abril de 2024. LCDA. KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA GENERAL. LILLIAM ORTIZ NIEVES, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

Estado libre asociado de Puerto Rico TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRI-

Monday, April 29, 2024 20

MERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE MAYAGÜEZ JAIME ALFREDO PABÓN ORTIZ, LUDAI RODRÍGUEZ FAZZI Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES POR AMBOS COMPUESTA

Demandantes Vs. MARIA IVETTE PERRY

Demandados

Civil Núm..: MZ2024CV00241.

Sobre: PROCEDIMIENTOS

ESPECIALES. (INJUNCTION

PRELIMINAR Y PERMANENTE: SENTENCIA DECLARATORIA) (VIOLACION A CONDICIONES RESTRICTIVAS DE USO Y EDIFICACIÓN).

EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: MARIA IVETTE PERRY - DIRECCIÓN FÍSICA: 12911 SHORT HILLS DR., CLARKSBURG, MD 20871; DIRECCIÓN POSTAL: 12911

SHORT HILLS DR., CLARKSBURG, MD 20871.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y se le notifica que la parte demandante ha presentado ante este Tribunal demanda del caso de epígrafe en su contra. Este Tribunal ha ordenado que se le cite a usted por edicto que se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general. Se les notifica que deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajuducial. pr; salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Mayagüez y enviando copia al representante legal de la parte demandante: Lcdo. Juan Carlos Toro Sepúlveda, PO Box 6246, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00681. Teléfono (787) 528-6450, correo electrónico: juancarlos_toro@yahoo. com. Se le apercibe y notifica que, si no contesta la demanda radicada en su contra dentro del término de treinta (30) días de la publicación de este edicto, se le anotará la rebeldía en su contra y se dictará sentencia en su contra, conforme se solicita en la Demanda, sin más citarle, ni oírle. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, a 11 de abril de 2024. LCDA. NORMA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. JOSSIE D. BOBÉ RODRÍGUEZ,

SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL CAGUAS

SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. FREDDIE GARCIA RUIZ

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: CG2023CV00302.

(Salón: 802). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA: PROPIEDAD RESIDENCIAL. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

REGGIE DÍAZ HERNÁNDEZRDIAZ@BDPRLAW.COM.

A: FREDDIE

GARCIA RUIZ..

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 18 de abril de 2024, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha 19 de abril de 2024. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, el 19 de abril de 2024. LISILDA MARTÍNEZ AGOSTO, SECRETARIA. ZAIDA AGUAYO ÁLAMO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO SUN WEST MORTGAGE COMPANY, INC. POR SÍ Y COMO AGENTE DE SERVICIOS DE BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO, QUIEN A SU VEZ ES SUCESOR EN DERECHO DE POPULAR MORTGAGE, INC.

Demandante V.

JOHN DOE Y RICHARD DOE; SECRETARIO

DEL DEPARTAMENTO FEDERAL DE VIVIENDA Y DESARROLLO URBANO, COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES DE LS PAGARÉS

Demandado

Civil Núm.: CE2024CV00045.

Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD DOE como posibles tenedores desconocidos del pagaré.

Por la presente se les notifica que se ha presentado en este Tribunal la Demanda de epígrafe. En la demanda se alega que el pagaré otorgado el 14 de agosto de 2006 ante la Notario Público Namyr I. Hernández Sánchez, bajo affidávit número 3,787, a favor de Popular Mortgage, Inc., o a su orden, por la cantidad de $60,000.00, con intereses al 7% anual y vencedero a la presentación. En aseguramiento del Pagaré hipotecario antes mencionado se constituyó la hipoteca voluntaria en virtud de la Escritura número 297, sobre la siguiente propiedad inmueble: URBANA: Solar ubicado en la Calle Escolástico López, marcado con el número 649 del Municipio de Ceiba, Puerto Rico, con un área de 123.255 metros cuadrados. Colindando: por el ESTE, en 7.66 metros y por el SUR, en 15.89 metros, ambos con la Iglesia Católica de Ceiba; por el OESTE, en 16 metros, con Francisco Rodríguez; y por el NORTE, en 7.80 metros, con el Municipio de Ceiba. Enclava una casa de vivienda construida de hormigón. Finca Número 9,870, inscrita al folio 199 del tomo 153 de Ceiba. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección de Fajardo. Se le emplaza y requiere para que notifique a: Lcdo. Fernando Gierbolini; MONSERRATE, SIMONET & GIERBOLINI, 101 Ave. San Patricio, Edificio Maramar Plaza, Suite 1120, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico 00968; Tel: (787) 620-5300, abogados de la parte demandante, con copia de la contestación a la Demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este edicto, que se publicará una (1) vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general. Se le apercibe que si no contesta la Demanda radicando el original de la misma a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se

represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal Superior dentro del término antes indicado, y notificando con copia a la parte demandante, se le anotará la rebeldía y se le dictará Sentencia en su contra concediendo el remedio solicitado a favor de la parte demandante sin más citarle ni oírle. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el Sello del Tribunal, en Fajardo, Puerto Rico, hoy día 19 de abril de 2024. Wanda I. Seguí Reyes, Secretaria Regional. Sheila Robles Hernández, SubSecretaria Auxiliar I.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. UNITED MORTGAGE CORPORATION Y OTROS

Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: BY2023CV06798. (Salón: 703). Sobre: CANCELACIÓN O RESTITUCIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO ENMENDADA. BELMA ALONSO GARCÍAOFICINABELMAALONSO@GMAIL. COM.

A: BANKERS FINANCE MORTGAGE CORPORATION, EDMARI ÁLVAREZ PÉREZ Y EDGAR JOEL ÁLVAREZ PÉREZ HEREDEROS DE EDUARDO ÁLVAREZ RAMÍREZ, SUTANO Y PERENCEJO DE TAL, POSIBLE HEREDERO DESCONOCIDO DE EDUARDO ÁLVAREZ RAMÍREZ, FULANO Y MENGANO DE TAL, POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGARÉ.

UNITED MORTGAGE CORPORATION. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 13 de abril de 2024, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sen-

tencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha 19 de abril de 2024. Notas de la Secretaría:

SE ENMIENDA A FINES DE INCLUIR A UNITED MORTGAGE

CORPORATION EN ESTA NOTIFICACION POR EDICTO. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 19 de abril de 2024. LAURA I. SANTA

SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. LUREIMY ALICEA GONZÁLEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE GUAYAMA

ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE ACE ONE

FUNDING, LLC

Demandante Vs. ANGELY X. RODRÍGUEZ ALICEA

Demandado

Civil Núm.: AY2023CV00124.

Salón: 306. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: ANGELA X.

RODRÍGUEZ ALICEAPO BOX 1368, ARROYO, PR 00714 / BDA. LAS MERCEDES 75 CALLE 5 #75, ARROYO PR 00714.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// www.poderjudicial.pr/index.

php/tribunal-electronico/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará

copia a los abogados de la parte demandante, el Lcdo. Kevin Sánchez Campanero cuyas direcciones son: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 009368518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección kevin.sanchez@ orf-law.com, y a la dirección notificaciones@orf-law.com.

EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Arroyo, Puerto Rico, hoy día 15 de febrero de 2024. En Guayama, Puerto Rico, el 15 de febrero de 2024.

MARISOL ROSADO

RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. LUZ M. GUZMÁN SANTIAGO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL I.

LEGAL NOTICE

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SERVICES, LLC COMO

AGENTE DE ACE ONE FUNDING, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. FRANCISCO ALICEA CURBELO

Parte Demandada CIVIL NÚM. QU2023CV00121

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.

A: FRANCISCO ALICEA CURBELO • SEC PALMARITO 41212, QUEBRADILLAS PR

00678.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:/// wwJpoderiudicial.pr/index.php/ tribunal-electronico, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírie, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Kenmuel J. Ruiz Lopez cuya dirección es: P.O. Boxl 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 009368518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección kenmuel.ru’z@ orf-law.com y a la dirección

notificaciones@orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en QUEBRADILLAS, Puerto Rico, hoy día 26 de FEBRERO de 2024. Vivian Y. Fresse González, Secretaria. Maritza Abrams Ruiz, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE SAN JUAN ISLAND PORTFOLIO

SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. MAURICIO HAUA

CARMONA

Parte Demandada CIVIL NÚM. SJ2023CV10798 SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.

A: MAURICIO HAUA

CARMONA • D90 CALLE 1 PASEO LAS VISTAS, SAN JUAN PR 00926 • PO BOX 38085, SAN JUAN PR 00937.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:/// www.poderiudicial.pr/índex. php/tribunalelectronico, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Natalie Bonaparte Servera cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección natalie.bonaparte@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@ orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, hoy día 27 de febrero de 2024. Griselda Rodríguez Collado, Secretaria Regional. Myriam Rivera Villanueva, Secretaria Auxiliar.

Sudoku

How to Play:

Fill in the empty fields with the numbers from 1 through 9.

Sudoku Rules:

Every row must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

Every column must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

Every 3x3 square must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

Crossword

Inter-American men & women repeat as Justas champs

By THE STAR STAFF

The Tigresses and Tigresses of InterAmerican University of Puerto Rico (UIPR by its Spanish initials) both successfully defended their titles at the 95th Inter-University Athletic League (LAI) Justas Track & Field Competitions, which concluded Saturday at José Figueroa Freyre Stadium in Mayagüez.

“Firstly, thank God. Thank you for the blessing he has given us,” UIPR President Dr. Rafael Ramírez said in a written statement. “Our students have been excellent. This day is the university students’ day. We are blessed for this gift that God has given us [victory in both divisions].”

UIPR’s final score was 247 points for the men and 253.50 points for the women. With the victory, the champions’ university campuses have a day off from studies.

For UIPR head coach Ramón Nieves, the repeat brought joy and happiness.

The Inter-American University of Puerto Rico men’s and women’s teams repeated as champions at the 95th Inter-University Athletic League Justas Track & Field Competitions, which concluded Saturday in Mayagüez. Ana G. Méndez University was the overall runner-up, and the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus finished third. (Kendall Torres/LAI)

“We are very happy with the work team. My fellow coaches have done a spectacular job,” the Barranquitas native said. “Again the athletes, my respect to them because they grew. The statistics did not give us a chance to win and the truth is that they have grown up with the heart of a tiger and a tigress.”

The overall runner-up was Ana G. Méndez University (UAGM) with 218.50 points for the men and 201.50 points for the women. Third place overall went to the Universi-

ty of Puerto Rico (UPR) Mayagüez Campus with 110.50 points in the women’s division.

UIPR’s Pagán & Oliver earn MVP honors

The most valuable athletes, both from UIPR, were Héctor Pagán and Nyah Oliver. Pagán, of Barranquitas, won the men’s 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and 1,500 meters.

Oliver, meanwhile, won the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, took a silver medal in the 1,500 meters, and earned bronze in the 10,000 meters.

2024 records

UAGM student-athletes set meet records in a pair of events.

Sebastián Quiñones of Ponce clocked 46 minutes, 45.48 seconds in the 10,000-meter walk to break his own record of 50:01.19 from 2023.

Meanwhile, the team of Jarell Cruz, Livette Lozada, Luis Reyes and Génesis Castro established their place in the LAI record books with a time of 3 minutes, 28.96 seconds in the mixed 4x400 relay, an event making its Justas debut.

Full results are available at www.tiempodellegada.com.

WADA appoints special prosecutor in Chinese doping case

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and TARIQ PANJA

The World Anti-Doping Agency late last week appointed a special prosecutor to review how 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned drug were allowed to avoid public scrutiny and compete at the 2021 Olympics, where they won gold medals and set records.

The decision to appoint the special prosecutor, Eric Cottier of Switzerland, came amid an outcry from top government officials, antidoping experts and authorities, and athletes over the way Chinese anti-doping officials and the global regulator, known as WADA, handled the positives.

WADA cast the move as one it had to make in response to “the damaging and baseless allegations that are being leveled” against the agency since The New York Times on April 20 revealed how the Chinese anti-doping agency, known as Chinada, and WADA declined to discipline or identify the 23 swimmers.

“WADA’s integrity and reputation is under attack,” the WADA president, Witold Banka, said in a statement. “In the past few days, WADA has been unfairly accused of bias in favor of China by not appealing the Chinada case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. We

continue to reject the false accusations and we are pleased to be able to put these questions into the hands of an experienced, respected and independent prosecutor.”

As part of the review, WADA said Thursday, Cottier — who was the attorney general of a canton in Switzerland for 17 years before he stepped down in 2022 — will be given “full and unfettered access to all of WADA’s files and documents related to this matter.”

Among the questions WADA has tasked Cottier with answering is whether the decision by Chinada to clear the athletes of doping, and WADA’s decision not to intervene, was “a reasonable one.” WADA also asked the prosecutor to examine if China received preferential treatment from WADA.

Thursday’s announcement came three days after Banka and other top WADA officials defended the organization’s handling of the China case.

“If we had to do it over again now,” Banka declared last Monday, “we would do exactly the same thing.”

That same day, the Biden administration’s top drug official, who is also a member of WADA’s executive board, called for an independent investigator and said that he planned to raise the issue at a meeting of sports ministers and anti-doping officials in Washington

on Thursday and Friday.

The official, Rahul Gupta, who is the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, on Thursday praised the appointment of the special prosecutor.

“Today’s announcement is an important first step in addressing the recent doping allegations,” Dr. Gupta said. “Every athlete in America and around the world deserves competition that is transparent, fair, and free from doping. International anti-doping authorities have a duty to assure that all athletes have a level playing field and confidence in the system established to preserve and promote clean sport.”

Within minutes of WADA’s announcement of a special prosecutor, Travis T. Tygart, the head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, who has been among the biggest critics of the regulator’s handling of the Chinese case, criticized its motives.

“It’s hard to view this as anything other than a whitewash given the ongoing threats and attacks,” Tygart said in a statement to the Times. “Clearly it’s precooked. WADA’s statement exemplifies the problem with the current system. WADA does not follow its own rules, and then it gets to handpick an attorney from its own backyard and also sets the scope of that hand-picked attorney’s review.”

Concern about the positive tests has only grown since details of the cases were made public on April 20. Anti-doping authorities in Britain and Australia had already called for an independent review, echoing demands from national swimming governing bodies, athletes and government officials around the world.

“Aquatics GB believes that every athlete is entitled to compete on a level playing field — and that means a commitment to clean sport,” British swimming’s governing body said in a statement. “Delivery against this commitment requires a testing process that is robust, transparent and consistently applied.”

WADA had tried to tame some of the fallout of the China revelations Monday by hosting a news conference. That effort, which lasted nearly two hours, failed to quiet the outrage, however.

And in acknowledging that it had not followed its own procedures in the case, WADA raised more questions about whether the Chinese were treated differently from athletes in other nations facing similar accusations. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency even produced a detailed rebuttal to claims made in the news conference, an emphatic sign that the case — and WADA’s handling of it — would not be allowed to disappear quietly.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, April 29, 2024 22

Answers to the Sudoku and Crossword on page 21