Thursday Aug 10, 2023

The San Juan Star

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Introducing a Merit-Based Pay Structure

P4

Amazon Countries, Led by Brazil, Sign a Rainforest Pact

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.

House speaker, fellow legislators rip SIP probe into Rivera Madera

By THE STAR STAFF

Speaker of the House of Representatives Rafael “Tatito” Hernández Montañez, along with several fellow Popular Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers, denounced on Wednesday what he characterized as an irregular and illegal process that culminated in the Office of the Special Independent Prosecutor Panel (OPFEI by its Spanish initials) investigating Rep. José “Cheíto” Rivera Madera for exercising his freedom of speech.

Rivera Madera joined a protest against the construction of an alleged illegal telecommunications tower in the municipality of Guayanilla by the firm Elite Towers LLC.

“The Department of Public Safety (DSP) conducted a poor investigation and allowed its employees and officials to appear before the Department of Justice to lie under oath, based on an arbitrary investigation, to protect its officials and employees who, on May 10, 2023, the day of the alleged facts, allowed the company Elite Towers, LLC to engage in illegal acts,” Hernández Montañez said. “That is the truth.”

The complaint referred to the OPFEI accuses the PDP lawmaker of violating Article 200 of the Penal Code, which punishes as a felony actions “to prevent, temporarily or permanently, any construction work … that has the permits or authorizations or endorsements of the agencies concerned.”

“However, on May 10, 2023, the company Elite Towers, LLC did not have any permit, authorization or endorsement to carry out construction work between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., as required by Regulation 8019 of May 9, 2011, known as the Regulation for the Control of Noise Pollution,” said Rep. Ángel “Tito” Fourquet Cordero, who chairs the House Committee for the Development and Control of Public Funds of the Southwest Region.

House Transportation, Public Works and Infrastructure Committee Chairwoman Gretchen M. Hau stated that “the peaceful presence of Representative Rivera Madera was only intended to notify the Police Bureau about the current rule of law and demand that, in the protection of the health and well-being of his constituents, the law be enforced.”

The lawmakers stated that the “DSP has a lot to explain, including why it never called representative Rivera Madera to offer his testimony, despite his unrestricted availability and the existence of conflicting evidence

that showed that the high officials of the Police Bureau failed to comply with the law.”

Hernández Montañez said “the DSP has to explain to the country why it did not disclose the existence of exculpatory evidence in a figure who identified himself as Lieutenant Irrizary, who was in charge of the operation and acknowledged to representative Rivera Madera that the company Elite Towers, LLC did not have the required permits, authorizations, or endorsements to perform the work.”

“This arbitrary and abusive proceeding caused the mobilization of the state machinery, the illegal arrest of three protesters, and the violation of the basic notions of due process of law and the equal protection of the laws guaranteed in our Constitution,” Fourquet Cordero added.

Hernández Montañez reiterated that Rivera Madera did not commit any crime.

“He never entered private property. There was no perimeter or cordoned-off area,” the House speaker said. “He never occupied land, machinery or spaces, and he never prevented the entry or access of employees, vehicles or people.”

“It is up to the DSP to explain under what authority it ordered the mobilization of hundreds of police officers to protect the construction of a telecommunications tower that did not have the required permits, who gave this instruction and under what legal provision the company Elite Towers, LLC was exempted from complying with the law and current regulations, despite the fact that our ordinance does not allow this course of action,” he added.

Likewise, Hernández Montañez specified that at this stage of the proceedings it is up to OPFEI to act prudently in the investigation of facts that the Constitution and interpretative jurisprudence fully protect.

“The evaluation carried out by our lawyers confirms that there is not the minimum proof required to pass a hearing to determine probable cause for arrest, much less meet the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt at a trial stage,” the House speaker said.

“Very soon the country will know who the real criminals are when the identity of the DSP officials who gave instructions to protect a construction company that acted in violation of the law and who now intend to use the power of the state to protect their questionable acts is known,” the trio of legislators said in a written statement.

Rep. José Rivera Madera

Oversight board provides guidelines for classification & compensation of public workers

By THE STAR STAFF

The Financial Oversight and Management Board provided guidelines this week for agencies and public corporations exempted from the Government of Puerto Rico Human Resources Administration and Transformation Act of 2017 to develop classification and compensation plans for workers.

The new plan, which is part of the Civil Service Reform (CSR), aims to allow agencies to recruit and retain talent using objective market data. Salary raises will be based on merit rather than tenure. It is not clear how the CSR will impact existing collective bargaining agreements.

“To ensure that resources are maximized and prioritized, the CSR seeks to limit salary adjustments to employees who have below-market salaries,” according to a letter from Robert Mujica, the executive director of the oversight board, to Office of Management and Budget Director Juan C. Blanco Urrutia. “Any additional adjustment to an employee salary should only be based on merit (e.g., to acknowledge additional proficiency gained or performance), as assessed through an employee evaluation process.”

The entities exempted from the 2017 law that will have to implement the new guidelines for the CSR are the legislative branch, the judicial branch, public or public private corporations or instrumentalities that function as private companies or businesses, the University of Puerto Rico, the Office of the Governor, the Puerto Rico State Election Commission, the Puerto Rico Government

Ethics Office, municipalities, the Corporation of the ENLACE project of Caño Martín Peña, the Company for the Comprehensive Development of the Cantera Peninsula, the Office of the Electoral Comptroller, the Office of the Special Independent Prosecutor Panel, and the Municipal Revenue Collections Center.

Under the new CSR compensation philosophy, salary increases will not be based on tenure, but rather determined by the periodic evaluation of employees’ skill proficiency and accomplishments.

The letter notes that many exempt entities have outmoded compensation practices that adversely impact the work experience of government employees.

“Nevertheless, the process of updating and modernizing salary structures and compensation plans must be done in a fiscally responsible manner using leading practices in human resource management,” Mujica said in the letter. “Increasing salaries for existing employees without proper guidelines and principles would not only be insufficient but would increase the government’s expenditures without meaningfully increasing the performance of the civil service.”

The best practice in developing compensation plans and salary structures dictates that a compensation philosophy and strategy be articulated by the agency’s human resources (HR) department and executive team prior to the development of a new compensation plan and salary structure, he said.

Prior to developing and implementing a new salary structure, Mujica said, it is essential to have a coherent and up-to-date

job classification system with current and revised job descriptions and specifications.

One key principle of the CSR is the use of objective market data to develop the central government’s new salary structure and to determine the appropriate compensation levels of government employees. Without the use of market data, establishing fair, justifiable and fiscally responsible salaries is exceedingly challenging, he said.

Given the importance of the public sector wage bill, it is essential for exempt entities to have an objective, transparent, data-driven methodology, the oversight board director said.

“The pay-setting methodology should seek to minimize underpaying or overpaying workers, given that underpayment will adversely impact recruitment efforts and workforce morale, while overpayment is wasteful and contrary to sound fiscal management,” Mujica said.

Exempt entities should select highly reputable and up-to-date sources of external

Governor joins trade mission in Panama

By THE STAR STAFF

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia traveled to Panama on Wednesday to participate with a delegation of Puerto Rican businessmen in a trade mission organized by the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC).

The governor said he will hold meetings with the president of Panama, Laurentino Cortizo; the minister of commerce

and industry, Federico Alfredo Boyd; the minister of economy and finance, Héctor Alexander; and United States Ambassador to Panama Mari Carmen Aponte, among others.

Pierluisi also will participate in the “Investment Opportunities” forum to establish and expand bilateral trade relations between Puerto Rico and Panama.

In addition to business meetings, the event will feature the panel “Investing in Puerto Rico,” moderated by DDEC Secre-

tary Manuel Cidre Miranda, in which the opportunities that exist on the island for the commercial and industrial sectors will be presented. The panel “Building Bridges of Success” will also be held, with the participation of Grupo Eleta CEO Guillermo de St. Malo, who will offer details of his experience venturing into the Puerto Rican market.

Secretary of State Omar Marrero Díaz will act as interim governor until Pierluisi’s return on Sunday.

market data to develop salary structures and conduct salary benchmarking, Mujica said in the letter. He recommended using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Economic Research Institute (ERI).

It is important to note that the surveys used in market studies, such as the ERI’s, already incorporate cost-of-living adjustments, Mujica noted.

When using market data to develop a new salary structure, there must be a clear link between the market data and the salary structure, he said.

“Developing a salary structure that is closely aligned to the market ensures that a governmental entity does not pay above market – which needlessly increases costs – or pay too little – which leads to difficulties recruiting and retaining talent,” Mujica reiterated.

The central government’s new uniform compensation plan does not offer minimum guarantees providing all employees with a salary adjustment. The plan prioritizes efficient use of funds, providing salary adjustments to those whose salaries are less competitive compared to the market.

Mujica noted that under special circumstances, employees may be hired above the minimum of the scale when the role is critical to the government, increasing the ability to attract and retain talent for mission-critical positions.

The implementation of a new salary structure and compensation plan should be accompanied with the publication of new salary administration guidelines or policies by the exempt entities, the letter says.

Financial Oversight and Management Board Executive Director Robert Mujica

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi

An invitation to visit the (safe) heart of the island

Caguas launches new ad campaign with the goal of boosting tourism

By RICHARD GUTIÉRREZ richardsanjuanstar@gmail.com

When you think about visiting Puerto Rico, the beach and Old San Juan may come to mind instantly. Perhaps visiting El Yunque Rainforest, tasting the delicious food, heading over to places where you can dance the night away, visiting the Culebra islet and even heading over to the Camuy Caves.

While these places sound like the most common spots for tourists, Puerto Rico is much more than the classic tourist sites everyone talks about; its strength is found not only on its beaches or in its national parks, but also in its cities and towns as well, and the mayor of Caguas (known as the heart and center of Puerto Rico by local residents), William Miranda Torres, plans to make his city one of those tourist-friendly cities.

On Wednesday, the mayor launched a brand-new ad campaign known as “Caguas ¡Seguro que sí!” which roughly translates to “Caguas for Sure!” with the intention to stand out and promote the central region’s touristic and cultural attractions. They also make note of the quality of life and financial opportunities the city of Caguas offers to people.

“Our city brings an incomparable quality of life to our residents. We are aware that our city is one of the greatest cities,” the mayor said as he presented the campaign to members of the press and administration employees. “We have it all: safe streets, tourist attractions, diversity in gastronomy and incomparable facilities of all types for the quality of life of all residents and visitors. Besides that, we have a first-order economic ecosystem. Caguas is the ideal place to live; watch as families grow and reach the goals and dreams of entrepreneurs.”

The campaign was introduced in the local arts theater, Centro de Bellas Artes de Caguas, to hundreds of people who were next treated to a video showcasing iconic sports in Caguas and the quality of life in the city.

“To those who ask us if our city is the best place to live, we tell them: Caguas for Sure!” the mayor said during the presentation. “This campaign’s main purpose is to make the

beauties of the city stand out, just like its competitive advantage economically and socially. We have everything to offer in both of those aspects; we have worked very hard to make Caguas a family-friendly city with a robust quality of life, a place of cultural and gastronomic experiences, just like our healthy economic system where entrepreneurs can make their business ideas come true.”

The campaign is robust. It boasts 10 commercials, four radio advertisements, a music video, press and billboards. It will also be heavily promoted on social media and a main web page: visitacaguas.com/seguroquesi. Through the ads, the campaign proudly showcases places of tourist interest, gastronomical and cultural spots specifically. It also highlights economic opportunities for new business owners and diversity in facilities such as hospitals, schools and other educational institutions, and commercial centers as well as installations for sports and family recreation.

“Tourism and the attractions of our city have always been acutely important for the economy of Caguas,” Miranda Torres said. “Seemingly we have become an attractive city for investments and competitive advantages for the establishment of new companies. This campaign responds to our efforts to continue attracting visitors and new residents.”

The campaign was also not cheap, as it has been developed and launched thanks to a $1,040,425 investment. It was filmed in Caguas by the company 303 Digital, with most of its actors and actresses residing in the city. It is important to note that the campaign was mounted thanks to funds provided by the program known as Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery

Fund, under the federal American Rescue Plan Act, which can be used to address public health emergencies caused by COVID-19 or its negative economic impact. Under the eligible uses it is established that the funds can be used to issue communication efforts as a way of mitigating or preventing damages.

While videos and images are colorful and enjoyable, actions speak louder than words. The city can create the biggest, most expensive ad campaign it wants, but without improving the city, the words would be muted. During the press conference, the mayor stated that the necessary actions have already been taken, even directly speaking about the new security measures that will soon be implemented in the city, which the STAR previously reported on.

“All security projects are still ongoing,” noted municipal security chief Col. Luis F. Miranda. “We talked about the body cams our police officers will have -- they are already here; all that’s left is to properly educate our officers on how to use them.”All vehicles are here as well; all that’s left is to assign them. Some of the projects take a little longer, specifically the drones. We are currently in the process of advancing these projects. I can assure you that 80% of all projects in the area of security are going to be finished by mid-October.”

When asked about the economic support needed to make Caguas even better for small businesses, especially the ones in the local marketplace, the mayor said that “in the past few years, there have been over $25 million investments in the infrastructure of the city, and this year we are investing $7 million more, so that way we introduce new visitors to a clean and well-structured city.”

Zamia Baerga, the municipal secretary of economic development, also commented specifically on the local marketplace and local businesses.

“The marketplace is a very important local spot for our city and administration. We are aware of the artisans that are in the marketplace and want to use this to our advantage to make the marketplace more appealing to the general public and tourists,” Baerga said. “Precisely because of that, after Hurricane Maria we started a process of infrastructure renovation and beautification around the entire city; this process should be starting in the local marketplace in the next few weeks.”

The Caguas municipal administration launched a brandnew ad campaign called “Caguas ¡Seguro que sí!” (Caguas for Sure!) to promote the touristic and cultural attractions of the central region’s main population center.

Caguas Mayor William Miranda Torres (Richard Gutiérrez/The San Juan Daily Star)

Traffic Safety Commission campaign highlights pedestrian safety

By THE STAR STAFF

With the motto “Arrive Safely. Be a Responsible Pedestrian,” the Traffic Safety Commission (CST by its Spanish initials) has launched an educational campaign aimed at raising awareness among pedestrians, who when walking on public roads must be attentive to their surroundings, a habit that can save their lives.

The effort, announced this week by CST Executive Director Luis Rodríguez Díaz, runs through this Sunday.

“As part of our commitment to reducing fatalities on the road, we have developed this

campaign aimed at guiding pedestrians about the importance of making good use of public roads, something that is their responsibility,” Rodríguez Díaz said.

Among the recommendations provided to pedestrians through the educational effort is that when crossing a road or intersection, always look both ways. Always use sidewalks if available, and where there are no sidewalks, walk on the side of the road so that you are facing oncoming traffic.

The campaign also recommends using bridges and crosswalks. At night, pedestrians must wear light clothes, and should never walk drunk on public roads at any time of

the day or night.

The CST chief noted that, according to statistics, the gender with the highest pedestrian deaths are men, and a large majority of pedestrian fatalities occur between 6 a.m. and midnight.

“We are all pedestrians at some point, and it is our duty to protect the lives of all road users,” Rodríguez Díaz said. ‘With this campaign we want to achieve a change in pedestrian behavior, so I urge you to avoid distractions while you are walking.”

The educational campaign can be seen in all mass media, including television, radio, print, digital and social networks.

Employers, employees to receive workplace health & safety orientation

By THE STAR STAFF

The Puerto Rico Occupational Safety and Health Administration (PR OSHA) Consulting Program will initiate a round of orientations for employers and workers, both in the public and private sectors, that will include training on issues related to safety and health in the workplace.

“Emphasizing the importance of employers and workers knowing the laws and regulations related to promoting healthy and risk-free workspaces, as well as acting appropriately in an emergency in their company, PR OSHA will

take its training to different parts of the island,” said Labor and Human Resources Secretary Gabriel Maldonado González, whose agency

includes PR OSHA. “In the face of scenarios such as the heat wave and the hurricane season, we have taken on the task of reinforcing our orientation plan for citizens through efforts ranging from informative material, consultations, visits and inspections to shops and training, among others. Therefore, we invite you to participate in these workshops that

Among the topics to be discussed in the upcoming workshops will be occupational health and safety aimed at young people, the recording of occupational injuries and illnesses, high temperatures and hurricane season, and mental health in the workplace.

will impact the regions of Arecibo, Mayagüez, Ponce and San Juan.”

Among the topics to be discussed will be occupational health and safety aimed at young people, work brigades and the health industry. Additional topics will include the recording of occupational injuries and illnesses, high temperatures and hurricane season, fall prevention, and mental health in the workplace. Participation in the workshops, which will be free of charge and for which space is limited, can be arranged by accessing the following link: https://eventos.dtrhpr.com/ event-category/pr-osha/

Biotech firms receive $3.85 million in federal financing

By THE STAR STAFF

Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico (BDE by its Spanish initials) President Luis Alemañy

González announced this week the granting of financing to Biosimilar Sciences PR LLC (Biosimilar) and Ocyon Bio PR Inc. (OcyonBio) with funds from the U.S. Treasury Department’s State Small Business Credit Initiative.

The $3.85 million in financing is the first to be granted in participation with a private financial entity, in collaboration with the Jesús Obrero Savings and Credit Cooperative, and aims to support the acquisition of specialized equipment for

the biotechnology sector, highlighting the teamwork between the two institutions.

Biosimilar and OcyonBio were founded by Daniel Chang and Roberto Salcedo with the purpose of developing four bioequivalent products of the following cancer treatment medicines: GCSF (Neupogen), PEG-GCSF (Neulasta), Darbepoetin (Aranesp) and Adalimumab (Humira).

Additionally, the company will manufacture bioequivalent therapies, COVID-19 vaccines and stem cell therapies.

“The financing granted to Biosimilar and OcyonBio represents once again the significant support and stimulus that Governor [Pedro] Pierluisi’s adminis-

tration provides to the research and development sector of biosimilar and/or generic products with the support of the pharmaceutical industry in Puerto Rico,” Alemañy González said.

“We remain committed to strengthening the local manufacturing industry and fostering the development of quality medicines for the benefit of our citizens and the economy as a whole,” the BDE president added. “Supporting innovative companies is fundamental to Puerto Rico’s sustainable economic development. We are committed to supporting projects that boost the local pharmaceutical industry and promote the creation of quality jobs.”

Traffic Safety Commission Executive Director Luis Rodríguez Díaz

Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico President Luis Alemañy González, center

Previously secret memo laid out strategy for Trump to overturn Biden’s win

By MAGGIE HABERMAN, CHARLIE SAVAGE and LUKE BROADWATER

Alawyer allied with President Donald Trump first laid out a plot to use false slates of electors to subvert the 2020 election in a previously unknown internal campaign memo that prosecutors are portraying as a crucial link in how the Trump team’s efforts evolved into a criminal conspiracy.

The existence of the Dec. 6, 2020, memo came to light in last week’s indictment of Trump, though its details remained unclear. But a copy obtained by The New York Times shows for the first time that the lawyer, Kenneth Chesebro, acknowledged from the start that he was proposing “a bold, controversial strategy” that the Supreme Court “likely” would reject in the end.

But even if the plan did not ultimately pass legal muster at the highest level, Chesebro argued that it would achieve two goals: It would focus attention on claims of voter fraud and “buy the Trump campaign more time to win litigation that would deprive Biden of electoral votes and/or add to Trump’s column.”

The memo had been a missing piece in the public record of how Trump’s allies developed their strategy to overturn Biden’s victory. In mid-December, the false Trump electors could go through the motions of voting as if they had the authority to do so. Then, on Jan. 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence could unilaterally count those slates of votes, rather than the official and certified ones for Joe Biden.

While that basic plan itself was already known, the document, described by prosecutors as the “fraudulent elector memo,” provides new details about how it originated and was discussed behind the scenes. Among those details is Chesebro’s proposed “messaging” strategy to explain why pro-Trump electors were meeting in states where Biden was declared the winner. The campaign would present that step as “a routine measure that is necessary to ensure” that the correct electoral slate could be counted by Congress if courts or legislatures later concluded that Trump had actually won the states.

It was not the first time Chesebro had raised the notion of creating alternate electors. In November, he had suggested doing so in Wisconsin, although for a different reason: to

safeguard Trump’s rights in case he later won a court battle and was declared that state’s certified winner by Jan. 6, as had happened with Hawaii in 1960.

But the indictment portrayed the Dec. 6 memo as a “sharp departure” from that proposal, becoming what prosecutors say was a criminal plot to engineer “a fake controversy that would derail the proper certification of Biden as president-elect.”

“I recognize that what I suggest is a bold, controversial strategy, and that there are many reasons why it might not end up being executed on Jan. 6,” Chesebro wrote. “But as long as it is one possible option, to preserve it as a possibility it is important that the Trump-Pence electors cast their electoral votes on Dec. 14.”

Three days later, Chesebro drew up specific instructions to create fraudulent electors in multiple states — in another memo whose existence, along with the one in November, was first reported by the Times last year. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot also cited them in its December report, but it apparently did not learn of the Dec. 6 memo.

“I believe that what can be achieved on Jan. 6 is not simply to keep Biden below 270 electoral votes,” Chesebro wrote in the newly disclosed memo. “It seems feasible that the vote count can be conducted so that at no

point will Trump be behind in the electoral vote count unless and until Biden can obtain a favorable decision from the Supreme Court upholding the Electoral Count Act as constitutional, or otherwise recognizing the power of Congress (and not the president of the Senate) to count the votes.”

Chesebro and his lawyer did not respond to requests for comment. A Trump spokesperson did not respond to an email seeking comment.

While another lawyer — John Eastman, described as Co-Conspirator 2 in the indictment — became a key figure who championed the plan and worked more directly with Trump on it, Chesebro was an architect of it. He was first enlisted by the Trump campaign in Wisconsin to help with a legal challenge to the results there.

Prosecutors are still hearing evidence related to the investigation, even after charges were leveled against Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. The House committee last year released emails its investigators obtained showing that Chesebro had sent copies of the two previously reported memos, one from Nov. 18 and another from Dec. 9, to allies in the states working on the fake electors plan.

But he did not attach his Dec. 6 memo to those messages, which laid out a more au-

dacious idea: having Pence take “the position that it is his constitutional power and duty, alone, as president of the Senate, to both open and count the votes.” That is, he could resolve the dispute over which slate was valid by counting the alternate electors for Trump even if Biden remained the certified winner of their states.

Chesebro, who is described as CoConspirator 5 in the indictment but has not been charged by the special counsel, addressed the second memo to James R. Troupis, a lawyer who was assisting the Trump campaign’s efforts to challenge Biden’s victory in Wisconsin.

By the next day, the indictment said, Chesebro’s memo had reached Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer.

According to the indictment, Giuliani, who is referred to as Co-Conspirator 1, spoke with someone identified only as Co-Conspirator 6 about finding lawyers to help with the effort in seven states. An email reviewed by the Times suggests that particular conspirator could be Boris Epshteyn, a campaign strategic adviser for the Trump campaign who was paid for political consulting. That day, Epshteyn sent Giuliani an email recommending lawyers in those seven states.

As he had done in the earlier memo, Chesebro cited writings by a Harvard Law School professor, Laurence H. Tribe, to bolster his argument that the deadlines and procedures in the Electoral Count Act are unconstitutional and that state electoral votes need not be finalized until Congress’ certification Jan. 6. Chesebro had worked as Tribe’s research assistant as a law student and later helped him in his representation of Vice President Al Gore during the 2000 election.

Calling his former mentor “a key Biden supporter and fervent Trump critic,” Chesebro cited what he described as Tribe’s legal views, along with writings by several other liberals as potential fodder for a messaging strategy. It would be “the height of hypocrisy for Democrats to resist Jan. 6 as the real deadline, or to suggest that Trump and Pence would be doing anything particularly controversial,” he wrote.

But in an essay published Tuesday on the legal website Just Security, Tribe said Chesebro’s Nov. 18 memo “relied on a gross misrepresentation of my scholarship.”

Continues on page 8

A scheme to use false electors to keep Donald J. Trump in power was perhaps the most sprawling of the various efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Single ticket in Florida wins $1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot

2. $1.586 billion

The second biggest jackpot, also a Powerball, was split three ways. The winning numbers were drawn Jan. 13, 2016, matching tickets bought in Chino Hills, California, a suburb of Los Angeles; Munford, Tennessee, north of Memphis; and Melbourne Beach, Florida, on the Atlantic coast.

“I think we can all live on $528 million, don’t you think?” Russ Lopez, a spokesperson for the California Lottery, said at the time.

3. $1.58 billion

This was the Mega Millions jackpot up for grabs in Tuesday’s drawing. Taken as a single, after-tax cash payout, the prize would be $783.3 million.

The winning Mega Millions ticket on July 29, 2022, was sold in Des Plaines, Illinois. After several weeks, an anonymous winner came forward. Illinois is one of several states that allow lottery winners to keep their names and addresses confidential.

7. $1.08 billion

After three months without a winner, a single ticket sold in Los Angeles won the Powerball jackpot July 19. The winner has not come forward. It was the second time in eight months that a winning ticket for a jackpot of more than $1 billion was sold in Los Angeles County.

The winner could opt to take the payment as a lump sum, which would be about $558.1 million before taxes, according to Powerball.

By JESÚS JIMÉNEZ

Asingle winning ticket was sold in Florida for one of the largest lottery prizes in U.S. history, a Mega Millions jackpot of $1.58 billion, the company said early Wednesday.

The winning numbers in Tuesday’s drawing were 13, 19, 20, 32, 33 and the Mega Ball of 14. The company did not identify the owner of the winning ticket, which was sold at a Publix supermarket in Neptune Beach, Florida, in the Jacksonville area, according to the Florida Lottery.

It is the second time in less than a month that a ticket has won a lottery jackpot of more than $1 billion. On July 19, a single winning ticket sold in California won a $1.08 billion jackpot in the competing Powerball lottery.

Huge jackpots have become more common in the multistate Mega Millions and Powerball lotteries in recent years because of changes to the games and higher ticket prices. Between the two lotteries, eight jackpots in the United States have reached $1 billion or more since 2016, including five in the past two years.

Here’s a look at the 10 biggest U.S. jackpots.

1. $2.04 billion

The largest lottery jackpot to date, a Powerball drawing, was won Nov. 7, 2022. The ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, California, just north of Pasadena.

On Feb. 14, California Lottery officials revealed the winner’s name, Edwin Castro, but did not release further information about him at his request.

The winning ticket was one of more than 7 million winning ones sold across all prize levels, including two tickets worth $2 million each that were sold in Florida and North Carolina, the company said in a statement.

4. $1.54 billion

A single ticket sold in Simpsonville, South Carolina, won a Mega Millions jackpot Oct. 23, 2018. The prize was not claimed until March of the following year, when an anonymous winner came forward through a lawyer, opting for a one-time lump sum of $877,784,124 instead of taking payments over 30 years.

5. $1.35 billion

A single ticket sold in Lebanon, Maine, won an estimated $1.35 billion in the Mega Millions drawing Jan. 13, 2023. A winner came forward a month later but chose to remain anonymous, officials said. The person collected the prize, through a limited liability company, as a single cash payment of $723,564,144 before taxes.

6. $1.337 billion

Previously secret memo laid out strategy for Trump to overturn Biden’s win

From page 7

For one, Chesebro quoted a clause from a law review article by Tribe about Bush v. Gore as support for the idea that the only real legal deadline is Jan. 6. That was taken out of context, Tribe wrote, saying he was only narrowly “discussing the specifics of Florida state law.” Chesebro, by contrast, made it sound as if he was

putting forward “a general proposition about the power of states to do what they wish regardless of the Electoral Count Act and independent of the deadlines set by Congress,” he added.

For another, Chesebro cited a constitutional treatise in which Tribe wrote that a past Congress cannot bind the actions of a later Congress, which Chesebro used to buttress his proposal that parts of the Electoral Count

Act are unconstitutional. But Tribe wrote that what he meant was Congress can pass new legislation changing such a law.

The indictment also accuses Trump and his unindicted co-conspirators of acting with deception in recruiting some of the fraudulent electors. That included telling some of them that their votes for Trump would be used only if a court ruling handed victory in their state to Trump.

8. $1.05 billion

A group identified as the Wolverine FLL Club of Oakland County won just over $1 billion in the Mega Millions drawing Jan. 22, 2021, after buying a ticket in Novi, Michigan.

9. $768.4 million

Manuel Franco of Wisconsin won a $768.4 million prize in the Powerball drawing March 27, 2019. The sum was enough for Franco to quit his job within two days of winning.

Wisconsin has no law protecting the identities of people who win lotteries, which means Franco was required to come forward publicly.

10. $758.7 million

A 53-year-old health care worker from Chicopee, Massachusetts, became a multimillionaire when she won the Powerball jackpot Aug. 23, 2017. The winner, Mavis Wanczyk, opted for a lump-sum payment of $480.5 million. After taxes — 25% to the federal government and 5% to her state — she took home $336 million.

The Dec. 6 memo dovetails with that approach. Chesebro wrote that Pence could count purported Trump electors from a state as long as there was a lawsuit pending challenging Biden’s declared victory there. But he also proposed telling the public that the Trump electors were meeting Dec. 14 merely as a precaution in case “the courts (or state legislatures) were to later conclude that Trump actually won the state.”

The Las Palmitas Mini Market in Los Angeles, where the winning ticket for the $1.08 billion Powerball jackpot on July 19 was sold.

Ohio voters reject constitutional change intended to thwart abortion amendment

By MICHAEL WINES

Ohio voters earlier this week rejected a bid to make it harder to amend the state constitution, according to The Associated Press, a significant victory for abortion-rights supporters trying to stop the Republican-controlled state Legislature from severely restricting the procedure.

The abortion question turned what would normally be a sleepy summer election in an off year into a highly visible dogfight that took on national importance and drew an unprecedented number of Ohio voters for an August election.

Late results showed the measure losing by 13 percentage points, 56.5% to 43.5%. The roughly 2.8 million votes cast dwarfed the 1.66 million ballots counted in the state’s 2022 primary elections, in which races for governor, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House were up for grabs.

The contest was widely seen as a test of Republicans’ efforts nationwide to curb the use of ballot initiatives, and a potential barometer of the political climate going into the 2024 elections.

Organizations that opposed the proposal called the vote a decisive rebuff of the state Legislature, which had ordered the referendum in an attempt to derail a November vote on a constitutional amendment that would guarantee abortion rights.

“It was about a direct connection with the abortion issue for many voters,” said Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project, one of the leaders of the Ohio campaign against the proposal. “But there were many others who saw it as a power grab by some legislators.

“The resounding rejection of their attempt means that voters know what’s up when they’re being asked to vote their rights away.”

The ballot measure would have required that amendments to the state Constitution gain approval by 60% of voters, up substantially from the current requirement of a simple majority. Republicans initially pitched that as an attempt to keep wealthy special interests from hijacking the amendment process for their own gain. The lawmakers voted largely along party lines in May to put the proposal on the ballot.

But from the start, that reasoning was overtaken by weightier arguments,

led by — but hardly confined to — the abortion debate.

The Ohio Legislature passed some of the nation’s strictest curbs on abortion last year, banning the procedure as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. State courts have yet to rule on the constitutionality of those curbs, but the law’s passage drove a successful grassroots campaign this year to place an abortion-rights amendment on the November ballot.

That amendment would upend the new law by giving women legal control over reproductive decisions, allowing doctors to make medical judgments on the need for abortions, and restricting the state to regulating abortions only after a fetus is judged viable.

Raising the threshold for adopting an amendment to 60% of votes would have put the fate of the proposed amendment in doubt. In two polls, 58% and 59% of respondents supported granting a constitutional right to abortion access.

In the 111 years that Ohio voters have had the power to propose and vote on ballot initiatives, only about one-third of constitutional amendments managed to exceed 60%, according to political data website Ballotpedia.

Other provisions also rejected in the Tuesday referendum would have raised hurdles even to putting amendments on

the ballot. One required backers of amendments to gather a minimum number of signatures from all 88 Ohio counties instead of the current 44 counties. Another eliminated their ability to correct errors in signatures that were rejected by state officials.

The Legislature’s move to raise barriers to new amendments came weeks before abortion rights advocates delivered petitions with roughly 500,000 verified signatures to state offices, more than enough to force the November vote. Tuesday’s election had become something of a proxy for the November election, with supporters of abortion access and anti-abortion forces waging a multimillion-dollar preview of the coming battle.

Ballotpedia estimated last week that at least $32.5 million had been spent on the battle, split roughly equally between the two sides. Eight in 10 dollars came from donors outside Ohio, that estimate said, including $4 million from a single donor, Richard Uihlein, the Illinois founder of a nationwide packing and shipping company, Uline Inc., who is one of the country’s most prolific patrons of rightwing causes.

Other out-of-state donors to supporters of the Legislature’s proposal included Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a Washington, D.C., anti-abortion advocacy group that contributed nearly $6.4 million. The Concord Fund, one of several organizations controlled by Leonard Leo, who has overseen campaigns to confirm

Republican nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court, was another donor.

The leading out-of-state donors to opponents of the Legislature’s proposal included the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a Washington D.C., supporter of progressive causes that gave $2.64 million; the Tides Foundation, another donor to progressive causes that gave $1.88 million; and Karla Jurvetson, a Palo Alto, California, doctor and Democratic Party donor who gave nearly $1 million.

Beyond the battle over abortion, it appeared that some voters were simply put off by the tactics the Legislature used to get the proposed restrictions before voters. Just last December, lawmakers outlawed almost all August elections, saying so few people voted in them that they had become easy prey for special interests with enough money to turn out their supporters.

The lawmakers reversed course in May when it became clear that a vote on an abortion-rights amendment was likely in November. More than a few critics noted that Tuesday’s referendum was, in essence, an election pushed by special interests with an abundance of money.

In Miami Township, a Cincinnati suburb that went strongly for Donald Trump in 2020, Tom Baker, 46, called the referendum a last-minute attempt by the state Legislature to tilt the playing field in favor of “all of the touchstones the aging conservative population is trying to force on generations.”

“I don’t like the idea of changing the mechanisms of government,” he said, “especially for an agenda.”

A voter casts her ballot at the Miami Township Civic Center in Milford, Ohio, Aug. 8, 2023.

Solar supply chain grows more opaque amid human rights concerns

By ANA SWANSON and IVAN PENN

Global supply chains for solar panels have begun shifting away from a heavy reliance on China, in part because of a recent ban on products from Xinjiang, a region where the U.S. government and the United Nations accuse the Chinese government of committing human rights violations.

But a new report by experts in human rights and the solar industry found that the vast majority of solar panels made globally continue to have significant exposure to China and Xinjiang.

The report, released earlier this week, also faulted the solar industry for becoming less transparent about the origin of its products. That has made it more difficult for buyers to determine whether solar panels purchased to power homes and electricity grids were made without forced labor.

The analysis was done by Alan Crawford, a solar industry analyst, and Laura T. Murphy, a professor of human rights and contemporary slavery at Sheffield Hallam University in England, along with researchers who chose to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from the Chinese government. The London-based Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Center provided funding.

The solar industry has come under stiff criticism in recent years for its ties to Xinjiang, which is a key provider of polysilicon, the material from which solar panels are made. The region produces roughly one-third of both the world’s polysilicon and its metallurgical-grade silicon, the material from which polysilicon is made.

As a result, many firms have promised to scrutinize their supply chains, and several have set up factories in the United States or Southeast Asia to supply Western markets.

The Solar Energy Industries Association, the industry’s biggest trade association, has been calling on companies to shift their supply chains and cut ties with Xinjiang. More than 340 companies have signed a pledge to keep their supply chains free of forced labor.

But the report found that major global companies remain likely to have extensive

exposure to Xinjiang, and potentially to forced labor, calling into question the progress. The report rated the world’s five biggest solar manufacturers — all with headquarters in China — as having “high” or “very high” potential exposure to Xinjiang.

Some Chinese companies, such as LONGi Solar and JA Solar, have clear ties to suppliers operating in Xinjiang, the report said. But even within “clean” supply chains set up to serve the United States or Europe, many companies still appear to be getting raw materials from suppliers that have exposure to Xinjiang, Murphy said.

In many cases, according to the information they issue publicly, companies aren’t buying enough materials from outside Xinjiang to meet their production goals, indicating that they may be using undisclosed suppliers. In other cases, companies sent Murphy information about their supply chains that was directly contradictory.

“At every stage, there’s missing information,” she said.

China’s dominance over the solar industry has presented a challenge for the United States and other countries, which are rushing to deploy solar panels to mitigate the impact of climate change. China controls at least 80% of global manufacturing for each stage of the supply chain.

The Chinese government denies the

presence of forced labor in the work programs it runs in Xinjiang, which transfer groups of locals to mines and factories. But human rights experts say those who refuse such programs can face detention or other punishments. A U.S. law that went into effect in June last year, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, assumes that any product with materials from Xinjiang is made with forced labor until proved otherwise.

Since then, U.S. customs officials have detained $1.64 billion of imported products, including an unspecified volume of solar panels, to check them for compliance. Solar companies say the detentions have caused widespread installation delays in the United States, putting the country’s energy transition at risk.

On August 1, the Biden administration announced that it had added four Chinese companies, as well as several of their subsidiaries, to a special list of firms restricted from sending products to the United States because of their participation in receiving, recruiting or transporting forced labor or members of persecuted groups from Xinjiang. The companies supply products to the automotive, apparel, food, electronics and other industries.

As solar projects continue to ramp up for the energy transition, the concern is that

materials and equipment with ties to forced labor could grow.

Over the next decade or so, the solar industry projects it will regularly install double the amount it has in past years, with annual growth expected to average 11%. In the near term, the manufacturing capacity in the United States is sufficient to meet less than one-third of national demand, according to Wood McKenzie, an energy research and consulting firm.

In June, Walk Free, an international human rights group, released a report estimating that 50 million people globally lived under forced labor conditions in 2021, an increase of 10 million from 2016.

The organization attributed part of that growth to the much-needed but rapid increase in renewable energy to address climate change. The organization said it supported the energy transition but wanted to stop forced labor as a source of products.

In a statement to the researchers, LONGi said that it always complied with the applicable laws and ethics in jurisdictions where it operated, and that polysilicon from Xinjiang was used in modules that were sold in China.

JA Solar did not respond to a request for comment from the researchers or from The New York Times. Both LONGi and JA Solar have been planning to set up factories in the United States.

Tax credits and other incentives for clean energy offered under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 have been unleashing new investments in the United States. On Friday, First Solar, a U.S.-based manufacturer, announced plans to invest up to $1.1 billion for a new U.S. factory at a location yet to be determined.

But Michael Carr, executive director of Solar Energy Manufacturers for America, which represents U.S.-based solar manufacturers, said the United States had fallen so far behind China in solar manufacturing that an enormous amount of work, capital and technical knowledge would be needed to catch up.

“It’s hard to have certainty — and some might say impossible to know — the sourcing of the polysilicon until you have a domestic supply of wafers and an alternative to China,” Carr said.

Workers at JA Solar, which relies heavily on robotics to make solar panels, in Hefei, China, June 5, 2017.

Rising bond yields emerge as pressure point for US stock rally

Rising U.S. bond yields are unnerving investors and worsening stocks turbulence as markets confront a pileup of unwelcome news, from last week’s downgrade of the U.S. credit rating to revived worries over regional banks.

Surging yields contributed to last year’s plunge in equities, when the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to fight soaring inflation. This year, it’s largely been a different story, with bond yields rising on better-than-expected economic data. The S&P 500 (.SPX) has rallied over 16% from its March lows, despite a roughly 50 basis point increase in the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note over that time.

That dynamic has changed in recent days, however, as Treasury yields have approached last year’s high while the S&P 500 has fallen 2% from its July peak. One worry is that higher yields on Treasuries, seen as basically risk-free because they are backed by the U.S. government, will make stocks less attractive at a time when equity valuations have ballooned.

Data from BofA Global Research showed one-month correlations between the S&P 500 and the 10-year yield stood at their most negative since 2000, meaning the two assets were once again moving sharply in opposite directions. The bank’s analysts called rising yields “an underpriced risk” for the equity market. The S&P 500 fell 2.3% last week, its biggest weekly drop since March.

“The market has looked at the rising yields as consistent with a better economy and what the market perceives as lower recession risk,” said Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer at Truist Advisory Services. However, “If yields continue to move higher, it’s going to be more challenging to get further valuation expansion.”

A series of developments has weighed on the ebullient market mood that had persisted over the last few months. Moody’s cut the credit ratings of several small to mid-sized U.S. banks on Monday and said it may downgrade some of the biggest lenders in the United States. That news followed a downgrade from Fitch of the U.S. credit rating last week.

Meanwhile, weak trade data from China undercut hopes for a swift recovery in the world’s second-largest economy, while Apple shares sold off on Friday following disappointing earnings from the world’s most valuable company.

The Cboe Volatility Index (.VIX), which measures investor demand for protection against market swings, shot to its highest level in over two months on Tuesday after falling near an over three-year low late last month.

While markets may have grown complacent heading into August, recent developments “have kind of slapped people in the face a little and brought the notion that there is risk in markets back to the forefront of people’s minds,” said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Valuation inflation

Rising equity valuations have been a concern for investors studying the relationship between bonds and stocks.

As stocks have rallied this year, valuations have become more expensive. The price-to-earnings ratio for the S&P 500 has increased from less than 17 times forward 12-month earnings

PUERTO RICO STOCKS

estimates at the end of 2022, to 19.6 times as of Monday, according to Refinitiv Datastream. The index’s long-term average is 15.6.

Meanwhile, the equity risk premium (ERP), which compares the attractiveness of stocks over risk-free government bonds, has been shrinking for most of 2023 and is around its lowest levels in well over a decade.

According to Lerner, of Truist, the current ERP level has historically translated to just a 1.3% average 12-month excess

return of the S&P 500 over the 10-year Treasury note.

The markets will have an important test with Thursday’s release of the consumer price index inflation data for July. A hotter-than-expected reading stands to raise expectations for more hawkish Fed policy and drive bond yields up further.

Even as the economy has staved off a downturn so far, some investors feel rising interest rates could hurt growth in coming months by crimping consumer spending or pressuring corporate earnings.

The market is trying to gauge at what levels will yields or rates start to have negative consequences for stocks, “whether that is a valuation re-rating or economic damage or earnings drag,” said Matthew Miskin, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management.

Amazon countries, led by Brazil, sign a rainforest pact

By MANUELA ANDREONI and MAX BEARAK

On Tuesday, the leaders of eight countries that are home to the Amazon River basin agreed to work together to conserve the world’s largest rainforest at a groundbreaking meeting convened by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil.

The agreement, called the Belém Declaration, for the Brazilian city where the meeting was held, provides a road map to stave off the rampant deforestation, caused in large part by industrial agriculture and land-grabbing, that has severely damaged the rainforest and has major implications for Earth’s climate.

The meeting was also expected to yield a separate agreement Wednesday among other nations with major rainforests — including Congo, the Republic of Congo and Indonesia — to more closely coordinate protecting the ecosystems globally.

The Amazon rainforest is not only a haven of biodiversity but also plays an important role in the fight against climate change because it pulls huge amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and stores it away. Over the past half-century, around 17% of the forest has been razed and an even bigger share is severely degraded.

Numerous studies have indicated that further deforestation would be disastrous to tens of thousands of species and transform the Amazon into a net emitter, rather than

absorber, of greenhouse gases. Parts of it have already reached that point.

The summit meeting was part of Lula’s efforts to galvanize a climate-conscious coalition of countries seven months after he unseated Jair Bolsonaro, whose four-year term as president was marked by strident support for Brazil’s right to clear vast tracts of land for its economic benefit.

Lula made Amazon protection a cornerstone of his election campaign. Deforestation rates have dropped by 42% during his tenure, according to preliminary satellite imaging data.

“The Amazon is our passport to a new

relationship with the world, a more symmetrical relationship in which our resources will not be exploited for the benefit of a few, but valued and placed at the service of all,” Lula said in a speech at the meeting.

The agreement sets the groundwork for coordination between the Amazon basin’s eight countries on law enforcement to combat widespread illegal mining and logging, as well as between banks assigned to pool development funds for conservation and sustainable employment for the region’s inhabitants. It also creates an Amazon-specific climate-focused scientific panel.

While the agreement projected symbolic unity, it fell short of the biggest ambitions Lula had hoped to realize.

For months before the summit, Lula pushed the leaders of Bolivia and Venezuela to commit to ending deforestation in their countries by 2030, a pledge the six other Amazon basin countries had already made at the global climate summit in Glasgow in 2021. Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, who has adopted the region’s most progressive policies on conservation, had in turn pushed Lula to match his commitment to ban all oil drilling the forest, but Brazil still has plans for a huge offshore project at the mouth of the Amazon River.

Neither push succeeded.

Eduardo Viola, who studies environmental international affairs at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Brazil, said there was no doubt the summit marked the most significant step Amazon countries have made to protect the forest, but it may not be enough. “The commitments vary a lot, and the implementation capacity outside Brazil is low, or very low,” he said.

The expected announcement Wednesday of further cooperation among other countries that are home to the most of the rest of the world’s rainforests could include efforts to increase access to financing from wealthier nations that would promote sustainable forest use.

The foundation for that agreement was laid last year at COP27, the United Nationssponsored global climate summit, which was held in Egypt. Belém, the city where this week’s Amazon negotiations have taken place, is set to host COP30 in 2025.

The meeting in Belém provided Lula and others a venue to harshly criticize wealthy countries, particularly Western ones, for not delivering on a promise made in at the U.N. climate summit in 2009 to provide $100 billion in climate finance annually to poorer nations.

Historically, leftists in the region have pushed for more environmental protections. Lula and Petro, whose countries are home to nearly three-quarters of the remaining Amazon rainforest, went beyond that and have made conservation a cornerstone of their presidencies.

Under Petro, Colombia has sought to position itself as a leader on climate issues, with a push to phase out oil drilling, which would be a first for any of the world’s oildrilling nations.

Despite the projection of unity, analysts said political crises wracking numerous Amazon basin countries contributed to the limited scope of the Belém Declaration. Under the authoritarian leadership of Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela is enduring a crushing economic meltdown. Peru has had five presidents in the past four years. And Ecuador is holding early elections this month after its president dissolved Congress.

Neither the Venezuelan nor the Ecuadorian president was present at the summit.

Itaquai River, a river of the Amazon River basin, in Atalaia Do Norte, Brazil, on June 17, 2022.

Turbulent waters: How the Black Sea became a hot spot in the war

By MARC SANTORA and STEVEN ERLANGER

Russian warships patrol the surface of the Black Sea, launching missiles at Ukrainian towns while creating a de facto blockade, threatening any vessel that might try to breach it.

Skimming the water’s surface, Ukrainian sea drones carry explosives stealthily toward Russian ports and vessels, a growing threat in Ukraine’s arsenal. In the airspace above, NATO and allied surveillance planes and drones fly over international waters, gathering intelligence used to blunt Moscow’s invasion, even as Russia fills the skies with its own aircraft.

Bordered by Ukraine, Russia and three NATO countries, but sometimes overlooked in the war, the Black Sea has become an increasingly dangerous cauldron of military and geopolitical tensions, following Moscow’s decision last month to end a deal ensuring the safe passage of Ukrainian grain.

Removed from the fierce fighting on the front, the Black Sea nevertheless puts Russia and NATO countries in the kind of proximity that does not exist in other theaters of the war, like the defense of Kyiv or the battle for Bakhmut — increasing the risk of confrontation.

“The Black Sea is now a zone of conflict — a war zone as relevant to NATO as western Ukraine,” said Ivo Daalder, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO who runs the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

After withdrawing from the grain deal, Russia pulverized Ukrainian Black Sea ports to stymie grain shipments key to Ukraine’s economy, and even struck sites on the Danube River a few hundred yards from Romania, a NATO member. The attack escalated fears that the military alliance would get drawn into the conflict.

Ukraine retaliated last week with two strikes on Russian ships on consecutive days — demonstrating its new reach with sea drones that can hit Russian ports hundreds of miles from its coast. And it issued a warning that six Russian Black Sea ports and the approaches to them would be considered areas of “war risk” until further notice.

“We must defend our own coast starting from the coast of the enemy,” Rear Adm. Oleksiy Neizhpapa, the commander of the Ukrainian navy, said in May as he

made the case for a more robust response to what he called Russia’s tyranny on the international waters of the Black Sea.

The battle for control of the sea could have implications for global energy markets and world food supplies. And it will also almost certainly raise new challenges for NATO as it seeks to uphold a central tenet of international law — free navigation of the sea — without drawing the alliance directly into conflict with Russian forces.

In Washington, Biden administration officials had expressed reservations early in the war about Ukraine striking targets or conducting sabotage inside Russia, including its Black Sea ports, fearing that such attacks would only escalate tensions with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Those concerns have lessened, though not disappeared.

The United States has prohibited the use of American weapons in any attack against Russian territory, and U.S. officials say they do not pick targets for Ukraine. But the United States and Western allies have long provided intelligence to Ukraine that, along with its own extensive intelligence-gathering networks, Ukraine uses to select targets.

The battle to project power

For centuries, the Black Sea has been at the center of Russia’s efforts to extend its geopolitical and economic influence, leading to clashes with other world powers, including multiple wars with the Ottoman Empire.

The ports along the warm waters facilitated trade year round. The location — a geopolitical crossroads — has offered Russia a place to project political power into Europe, the Middle East and beyond.

For years, Putin has sought to increase Moscow’s influence around the Black Sea, pouring government money into developing seaside ports and vacation cities and building up Russian military power at naval installations in the area for Moscow’s southern fleet.

Only hours after launching its fullscale invasion last year, Russian forces fired a missile that hit the commercial ship Yasa Jupiter, which flew the flag of the Marshall Islands. At least two other civilian ships were struck during attacks on Ukrainian ports up and down the coast.

Since then, Moscow has occupied three major Ukrainian ports. It has heavily mined the waters, neutralized the Ukraini-

an navy and imposed a de facto blockade of civilian shipping to and from all Ukrainian-held ports.

Despite NATO’s expressed desire to avoid a direct confrontation with Russia, the risks of an inadvertent incident spiraling out of control have been growing for some time.

NATO and its member states are flying air surveillance and air policing missions over NATO territory, territorial waters and international waters over the Black Sea, but are careful not to stray into the war zone.

In March, in the only known physical contact between the Russian and American militaries during this war, a Russian warplane struck a U.S. surveillance drone, causing its operators to bring it down in international waters.

But recently NATO has increased the number of such surveillance flights and air policing, the alliance announced after the second NATO-Ukraine Council meeting on July 26.

Since the Russian invasion, Turkey, which controls passage in and out of the Black Sea through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits under a 1936 convention, has banned Russian and Ukrainian warships from using the straits, an act praised by Ukraine and NATO.

But Turkey has also asked allies not to send in their own warships.

“So the underlying tension here is

about how the U.S. and Turkey look at the Black Sea and how they frame it within the security umbrella of NATO,” Ulgen said. “But so far, since Turkey closed the straits to Russian warships, the U.S. has not tried to corner Turkey.”

The economic impact

While Russia’s invasion has spurred widespread outrage in the West, it has also escalated concerns about surging oil prices that could shock the global economy.

More than 3% of global oil and oil products move through the Black Sea. Historically, about 750,000 barrels of Russian crude oil, or 20% of its crude exports, leave from the Black Sea, though the country has reduced such shipments to between 400,000 and 575,000 barrels a day, according to tanker tracker companies, as Russia sought to support prices with its producing partner Saudi Arabia.

Ukrainian officials have made it clear that they hope by expanding the war to Russia’s ports, they can inflict some economic pain on Moscow.

Oil is now trading at about $85 a barrel, holding steady even after Ukraine struck the Russian tanker over the weekend.

The question now, said Sarah Emerson, president of Energy Security Analysis, a consulting firm, is whether “the Ukrainians can do this over and over again. This would tighten energy markets that are already tightening.”

Damage from two Russian missile strikes in the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, about 43 miles to the east of the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk and 30 miles from the front line, on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023.

The risks hidden in public pension funds

By JEFF SOMMER

The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund prides itself on being open about its investments, publishing monthly reports that provide more timely information than most other state and local government pension plans across the country.

But like many plans, Oregon’s state pension fund is perpetually hungry for high returns on its investments — higher than it expects from stocks and bonds alone.

So Oregon’s plan has been pouring money into private equity funds that are, by definition, illiquid and opaque. Those funds engage in debt-fueled takeovers of companies and promise their investors high returns. But the funds contain hidden risks that are not widely understood or clearly reported.

In fact, the reports posted by Oregon and other public pension funds routinely understate these risks, new research has found. The new findings are from Michael Markov, a mathematician who heads MPI, a financial technology company. He provided early warnings about the fraudulently consistent returns in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. I’ve known Markov for years.

And he now says that, on average, the risks being carried by public pension funds are at least 20% greater than they are reporting, largely because they aren’t taking account of the true risks embedded in private equity. Oregon’s pension fund is over 40% more volatile than its own reported statistics show, he said.

Private equity returns exhibit low volatility because they are based on infrequent appraisals of private companies. “When you

adjust for the stale pricing in private equity funds, the risks are much greater,” he said in a telephone conversation.

The Oregon pension system declined to comment for this column.

Unlike with 401(k) retirement accounts, workers in public pension plans don’t get to decide where their money is invested. Plan managers decide for them.

The Securities and Exchange Commission considers private equity too complex and perilous for ordinary people to rely on as core investments, an assessment with which I wholeheartedly agree.

Instead, academic studies suggest that the vast majority of us need diversified holdings of the entire public stock and bond markets through cheap, well-regulated funds, mainly index funds, invested with horizons of a decade or longer.

Having access to your money is important — but private equity funds typically require you to lock up your money for a decade or more, during which the valuations are frequently out of date. Bain & Co. estimates that $2.8 trillion in global private equity funds contain “unrealized assets” — with subjective valuations that are not based on current market prices.

These are speculative and arcane asset structures with high fees, heavy debt loads and light regulation. Most people will be safer if they avoid private equity entirely.

But private equity funds have become far too important to ignore, even if you never invest in them directly.

Because we all know public employees, rely on their work, depend on government for services and, usually, pay taxes, just about everyone in the United States has indirect exposure to private equity. Increasingly, public pension plans rely on private equity funds, and some are understating the perils and overstating the expected returns in public disclosures.

The pension plans

Public pension funds need money for an important purpose: retirement checks for more than 25 million people — teachers, custodians, firefighters, police officers, social workers, data analysts, you name it — who have worked for state and municipal governments and already depend on public pensions or expect to.

But in 2022, public pension plans nationwide had only about 71% of the money needed to fulfill their long-term promises for retiree benefits, David Draine, an analyst at the Pew Charitable Trusts, told me in an email. In a report for the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, Jean-Pierre Aubry and Yimeng Yin estimated that the funding percentage in 2023 was higher, by about 78%, but pointed out that these figures are based on actuarial assumptions about investment returns that may not be realistic. The real funding shortfalls may be vastly greater.

Most public pension plans haven’t been fully funded for years. The politicians who make decisions about employee benefits and state and local budgets are rarely in office when the retirement bills come due. That leaves pension funds with holes to fill.

They have only a few options, and most are unpalatable: cutting benefits, imposing increases on the money paid by workers and increasing employer contributions. Consider that the employers are state and municipal governments with tight budgets. Increasing em-

ployer contributions could mean cuts in services and tax increases.

So cash-strapped public pension funds have been reaching for higher investment returns, diverting assets from publicly traded stocks and bonds and pouring money into so-called alternatives, including real estate, hedge funds, commodities and, especially, private equity funds.

The private equity funds

Undoubtedly, private equity funds have made people rich — especially the people who run them. Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO of the Blackstone global private equity group, received $253.1 million in compensation in 2022, mostly through incentive fees and profits known as carried interest, an accounting loophole that allows private equity profits to be taxed at lower rates than the salaries of working people.

As owner of roughly 20% of Blackstone, Schwartzman also received more than $1 billion in dividends in 2022, on top of his executive compensation.

The lordly paydays of private equity have created many billionaires, thanks to a fee structure known as “2 and 20.” That’s Wall Street jargon for a “2% annual management fee and 20% performance fee,” as Gary Gensler, the SEC chair, explained in 2021. By comparison, broad stock and bond index funds, like those offered by Vanguard, Schwab and Fidelity, charge fees of one-tenth of 1% or less to ordinary investors.

While the steep private equity fees are negotiable for deeppocketed investors, they are rich enough to generate enormous wealth for fund managers, who are also insulated from fund losses.

For employees of businesses acquired in private equity buyouts — often, with loans that use the businesses’ assets as collateral — it’s a different story.

Risk and reward

For public pension funds, the main lure of private equity is the promise of outsize returns. Some investments perform as well as expected. But many others are a chimera — a product of tricky accounting and valuations. This is a vast subject but here’s one important finding.

An impartial study of public pension plans found that from 2001 to 2022, alternative investments like private equity “had no statistically significant impact on returns when looking over the whole period.”

Aubry of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College conducted that study. He allowed for the possibility of one advantage for private equity, “lower volatility in annual returns.” Aubry added, however, that “it is difficult to know how much of the reduction in the volatility is real rather than the product of lagged and imprecise valuations for some alternative assets.”

In short, private equity funds are difficult to assess, opaque and expensive. These characteristics, and some of the funds’ troubling economic effects, mean that, at a minimum, they need to be handled with great care. Or not used at all, which is the approach taken until now by Norway’s $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund. Yet even Norway, which has been committed to transparency in investing, is considering dipping its toe into private equity.

But the bigger private equity becomes, the fewer rare opportunities for investment there will be. That’s axiomatic.

Underestimating risk could have unfortunate consequences. In a protracted downturn, losses could be significant. There could be pain for retirees and taxpayers. Public pension funds need to proceed thoughtfully.

Certificación Internacional

en Neurociencia Cognitiva Organizacional (Neuromanagement y Neuroliderazgo)

Elmartes, 15 de agosto de 2023, comienza el curso de la Certificación Internacional en Neurociencia Cognitiva Organizacional la cual podrás tomar 100% online. Huertas College, con más de 78 años en el mercado, ha lanzado el primer Instituto Multidisciplinario de Neurociencia Cognitiva Aplicada con la misión de desarrollar programas innovadores de capacitación en Neurociencia Cognitiva Aplicada en áreas medulares del funcionamiento de la sociedad como lo son la educación, el desarrollo organizacional, el liderazgo, la economía y la conducta humana integrando elementos fundamentales como lo son: la integridad, los valores y la espiritualidad.

Durante el mes de junio, el Instituto lanzó la Certificación Internacional en Neurociencia Cognitiva Aplicada a la Educación la cual tuvo una excelente acogida por los participantes, teniendo como resultado cupo lleno.

La Certificación de Neuroeducación es un programa de formación que proporciona a los profesionales de la educación y otros interesados, una comprensión más profunda de cómo funciona el cerebro en relación con el aprendizaje y la enseñanza.

Esta certificación combina los campos de la neurociencia y la educación para aplicar los conocimientos científicos sobre el cerebro y la cognición en el diseño de prácticas educativas más efectivas. La neuroeducación ha generado un creciente interés en la comunidad científica en los ú ltimos años, lleva ndo a cabo diversas investigaciones en el campo. Según un estudio publicado en la revista “Frontiers in Psychology”, el uso de estrategias de enseñanza basadas en la neurociencia cognitiva puede aumentar el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes en un 25% en promedio.

La próxima certificación que dará inicio el próximo martes, 15 de agosto de 2023 será la Certificación Internacional en Neurociencia Cognitiva Organizacional (Neuromanagement y Neuroliderazgo). A través de esta certificación podrás descubrir procesos innovadores y poderosas herramientas para gerenciar en un mundo cada vez más exigente. También, a prenderás a aplicar las ú ltimas investigaciones en neurociencia y psicología a tu gestión empresarial. De igual forma, conocerás cómo aplicar nuevos conocimientos para mejorar la comunicación, motivación y toma de decisiones en tu equipo.

La Certificación en Neurociencia Organizacional es una certificación educativa diseñada para brindar conocimientos especializados sobre la aplicación de los principios de la neurociencia en el ámbito empresarial y organizacional. Esta certificación combina los avances en neurociencia con

la gestión y el liderazgo, con el objetivo de mejorar el rendimiento, la productividad y el bienestar en el entorno laboral. Generalmente cubre una amplia gama de temas relacionados con la aplicación de la neurociencia cognitiva aplicada en el contexto empresarial. Algunos de los temas comunes incluyen:

-Fundamentos de la neurociencia cognitiva aplicada: Una introducción a losconceptos básicos de la neurociencia, como la estructura y función del cerebro, losprocesos cognitivos y emocionales, y la plasticidad cerebral.

-Neuroplasticidad y aprendizaje: Exploración de cómo el cerebro se adapta y cambiaa través del aprendizaje, y cómo se pueden utilizar estrategias de entrenamiento ydesarrollo para optimizar el aprendizaje en un entorno organizacional.

-Neurociencia del liderazgo: Investigación de los mecanismos neurales involucradosen el liderazgo efectivo, incluida la inteligencia emocional, la toma de decisiones, laempatía y la influencia social.

-Neurociencia de la motivación y el rendimiento: Estudio de cómo la neurocienciapuede ayudar a comprender y mejorar la motivación, la productividad y el rendimiento enel trabajo, incluyendo la gestión del estrés y la promoción del bienestar.

-Neurociencia y comportamiento organizacional: Examinar cómo los conocimientosde neurociencia pueden informar y mejorar aspectos como el trabajo en equipo, lacomunicación, la creatividad, la resolución de problemas y la toma de decisiones en elentorno empresarial.

La neurogerencia se ha convertido en un campo de estudio y aplicación cada vez másrelevante en el ámbito empresarial, ya que puede ayudar a mejorar la eficiencia, laproductividad y la satisfacción laboral de los individuos y los equipos, al tiempo quepromueve un liderazgo más efectivo y una toma de decisiones más informada. SegúnGallup, solo alrededor del 15% de los empleados a nivel mundial están comprometidoscon su trabajo. La aplicación de principios de la neurociencia organizacional puedeayudar a mejorar el compromiso y la satisfacción laboral de los empleados.

Para más información, sobre esta Certificación puede llamar al 787-905-7193 o al 787-746-1400 extensión 1910. Recuerda que también puedes estudiar una carrera de altademanda laboral en Huertas College. Visita su página web: www.huertascollege.com o contáctalos vía correo electrónico: admisiones@huertas.edu. En Huertas, “El futuro eres tú”. ¡Te esperamos!

Nine provocative William Friedkin movies to stream

By SCOTT TOBIAS

An iconoclast even among his New Hollywood peers coming up in the 1970s, director William Friedkin built a reputation for grimy, high-impact thrillers and social dramas that sought to get a rise out of audiences and frequently drew the controversy they courted.

Friedkin, who died Monday at 87, found early success in Hollywood with the one-two punch of “The French Connection” in 1971 and “The Exorcist” in 1973, but his fortunes shifted in the years that followed, which led to a career of unpredictable and often attention-grabbing swerves. One of his best ’80s films, the sleek thriller “To Live and Die in L.A.,” is unavailable to stream, but adventurous home viewers will find plenty of scorching work to command their attention.

Here are nine films that illustrate Friedkin’s combination of stylistic bravado and willingness to engage on the battlegrounds of

race, religion, sexuality and systemic corruption.

1970

‘The Boys in the Band’

Though Friedkin’s relationship with the queer community would turn fraught a decade later with “Cruising,” this adaptation of Mart Crowley’s 1968 off-Broadway play was, at the time, the rare American film to focus entirely (and sympathetically) on the lives of gay men. Friedkin was so impressed by the stage production that all the original cast members were brought into the movie, which takes place mostly in the Upper East Side apartment where a fitfully employed writer (Kenneth Nelson) is holding a birthday party and has invited a motley group of friends. The boozy affair that follows zings with filthy one-liners, but tensions rise as the night carries on and the inner lives of these alienated, often closeted men start to surface.

Rent it on Amazon, Apple TV and Vudu.

1971

‘The French Connection’

Friedkin won his only Oscar, for best director, for this ferociously entertaining policier, which remains one of the great New York movies, a seedy snapshot of the city as it once existed — at least through the jaundiced perspective

of a detective who has his share of blind spots. With a style that’s simultaneously propulsive and documentarylike in its evocation of place, Friedkin details a heroin smuggling operation that’s making its way to New York from Marseilles via ocean liner. Standing in the way is Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman), a bigot and an alcoholic who’s willing to go to astonishing lengths to solve the case, including a car chase under an elevated train that Friedkin turned into a classic of its kind. Rent it on Amazon, Apple TV and Vudu.

1973

‘The Exorcist’

Any conversation about the scariest movies ever made usually starts with a mention of Friedkin’s demon possession thriller, but the film’s effectiveness involves more than Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” and the terrifying contortions of a young girl’s body and spirit. “The Exorcist” gains an equal amount of power from the unyielding love a mother (Ellen Burstyn) has for her 12-year-old daughter (Linda

Continues on page 18

Linda Blair as a possessed 12-yearold in William Friedkin’s classic horror tale “The Exorcist.”

From page 17

Blair) as a demon wrests the girl away from her. Once the Catholic Church gets involved, “The Exorcist” builds to harrowing and often frantic sessions between a priest (a superb Max von Sydow) and the ancient evil he’s desperate to whisk away.

Rent it on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play and Vudu.

1977

‘Sorcerer’

After huge back-to-back hits with “The French Connection” and “The Exorcist,” Friedkin adapted the same French novel that HenriGeorges Clouzot had turned into “The Wages of Fear,” a suspense classic about desperate workers driving truckloads of nitroglycerin through a mountain pass. After a troubled and expensive production, “Sorcerer” was a box office failure — coming out the same summer as “Star Wars” didn’t help — but it’s now regarded as one of Friedkin’s best, playing to his strengths in location shooting and intense physical action. Roy Scheider leads an international cast as one of four outlaws who accept $10,000 and legal citizenship for the job of driving nitroglycerin on hazardous South American roads to an oil well 200 miles away.

Rent it on Amazon and Apple TV.

1980

‘Cruising’

Friedkin had a habit of courting controversy, but nothing on the level of “Cruising,” a crime thriller that gay rights activists protested vociferously during and after production for a portrait of West Village nightlife they felt stigmatized their community. With that caveat in mind, it’s still one for the time capsule, a sleazy yet compelling story about a serial killer who targets gay men in New York’s leather scene and a detective (Al Pacino) who goes deep undercover to solve the case. It’s an understatement to say that Friedkin does not approach the material with the sensitivity his doubters might have wished for, but the locations have an almost tactile griminess to them, and Pacino’s performance roils with inner torment.

Rent it on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.

1994

‘Blue Chips’

Working from a script by Ron Shelton, who’d made the superb sports comedies “Bull Durham” and “White Men Can’t Jump,” Friedkin tackled the seedy underbelly of college athletics with typical verve, including dramatized basketball action that’s on par with the real thing. Channeling the chair-whipping tempestuousness of Bobby Knight — who appears as an opposing coach in a cameo — Nick Nolte stars as a legendary college coach who’s starting to miss out on “blue chip” recruits. After his first losing season, he risks his reputation and his conscience by de-

The San Juan Daily Star

ploying school boosters to offer benefits to top prospects, including a rim-rattling center played by future Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal.

Stream it on Amazon Prime and Paramount+. Rent it on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.

2003

‘The Hunted’

In what would turn out to be his last major studio production, Friedkin executed this drumtight, underrated action thriller in the “Rambo” mode about a disillusioned warrior on a killing spree and the former mentor tasked with bringing him to justice. Benicio Del Toro stars as a highly trained Delta Force soldier so traumatized by the genocide of civilians in Kosovo that he takes to the American wilderness and starts gunning down hunters. Echoing his performance in “The Fugitive,” Tommy Lee Jones is the FBI “deep-woods tracker” who tries to retrieve him, with the advantage (and disadvantage) of having taught him everything he knows.

Stream it on Max. Rent it on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.

2007

‘Bug’

In the first of two consecutive collaborations with playwright Tracy Letts, Friedkin doesn’t hide the stage roots of a drama that takes place mostly within a rundown Oklahoma motel room, but the feverishness of the camera and sound work, along with the two lead performances, have a strong cinematic intensity. “Bug” is also a vital early showcase for Michael Shannon, who projects enough charisma as a drifter to win over a waitress (Ashley Judd) with relationship problems, but soon reveals a frightening volatility. The supposed discovery of an aphid in the motel bed sends these two lonely people into a paranoid frenzy that Friedkin transforms into an alternate reality.

Stream it on Pluto TV. Rent it on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.

2011

‘Killer Joe’

Deploying his relaxed, mellifluous Southern drawl to sinister purposes, Matthew McConaughey channels Robert Mitchum in Letts’ bracing redneck noir about a trailer-park murder scheme in West Texas that goes sideways. In a plot that owes a little something to “Double Indemnity,” Emile Hirsch plays a wayward 22-year-old who enlists his father (Thomas Haden Church) in a plan to kill his mother and split her $50,000 life insurance policy, but when they hire a cop/contract killer (McConaughey) to do the job, he requires Hirsch’s virginal sister (Juno Temple) to serve as human collateral on future payment. A sequence involving a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken may be the least appetizing product placement in history.

Stream it on Pluto TV. Rent it on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO

DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE VEGA

BAJA

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs. LA SUCESIÓN DE RAMONA SOTO

SALGADO T/C/C

RAMONA SOTO GUZMÁN COMPUESTA

POR FULANO y MENGANO DE TAL, POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: VB2023CV00145. (201). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA “IN REM”. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE PÚBLICA SUBASTA. El Alguacil que suscribe por la presente anuncia y hace constar que en cumplimiento de la Sentencia en Rebeldía dictada el 12 de mayo de 2023 y notificada el

12 de mayo de 2023, la Orden de Ejecución de Sentencia del 5 de julio de 2023 y el Mandamiento de Ejecución del 7 de julio de 2023 en el caso de epígrafe, procederé a vender el día

14 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023,

A LAS 10:45 DE LA MAÑANA, en mi oficina, localizada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Centro Judicial de Vega Baja, Sala Superior, Carretera Número Dos (2) Kilómetro 38.3 (al lado del Centro Gubernamental) Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, al mejor postor en pago de contado y en moneda de los Estados

Unidos de América, cheque de gerente o giro postal, todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada sobre la siguiente propiedad: URBANA:

PROPIEDAD HORIZONTAL:

Condominio Patio de Vega

Baja: Apartamento: C guion tres (C-3). Cabida: 373.39 pies cuadrados. Su descripción legal es como sigue: Propiedad

Horizontal: Apartamento residencial Número C guion tres (C-3) de una planta forma irregular localizado en la primera planta del Condominio Patio situado en la calle José Julián

Acosta del Municipio de Vega

Baja, Puerto Rico, teniendo un área aproximada de 34.69 metros cuadrados, equivalentes a 373.39 pies cuadrados. El apartamento colinda por el NORTE: en una distancia de 19’ 4”, equivalentes a 5.89 metros lineales con espacio exterior; por el SUR: en una distancia de 19’ 4” equivalentes a 5.89 metros

lineales con el Apartamento Número C guion cuatro (C-4); por el ESTE: en una distancia de 26’ 6”, equivalentes a 8.08 metros, con espacio exterior; y por el OESTE: en una distancia de 26’ 6”, equivalentes a 8.08 metros lineales con pasillo comunal y Apartamento Número C guion dos (C-2). La puerta de entrada de este apartamento está situada en su lindero ESTE, a través de la cual se llega al exterior del edificio. El área de vivienda consta de sala, comedor, cocina, un cuarto de dormitorio, con closet, un baño y lavandería. Tiene una participación de 9.6326% en los elementos comunes del condominio. La propiedad y la escritura de hipoteca constan inscritas al tomo Karibe de Vega Baja, Finca 33875, Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección IV. Inscripción segunda (2da). Dirección Física: Cond. El Patio (Edificio Patio) 95 Calle José Julián Acosta, Apt. C3, Vega Baja, PR 00693. El tipo mínimo para la primera subasta será de $26,000.00. De no haber adjudicación en la primera subasta se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA, el día 21 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023, A LAS 10:45 DE LA MAÑANA en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será de dos terceras partes del tipo mínimo fijado en la primera subasta, o sea, $17,333.33 De no haber adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 28 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023, A LAS 10:45 DE LA MAÑANA en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será la mitad del precio pactado, o sea, $13,000.00. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el tribunal lo estima conveniente. Se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si ésta es mayor. Dicho remate se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a la demandante el importe de la Sentencia por la suma de $24,152.95 de principal, más intereses sobre dicha suma al 7.375% anual desde el 1 de abril de 2015 hasta su completo pago, más $727.38 de recargos acumulados, los cuales continuarán en aumento hasta el saldo total de la deuda, más la cantidad estipulada de $2,600.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados, así como cualquier otra suma que contenga el contrato del préstamo, incluyendo pero sin limitarse a gastos de mantenimiento, inspecciones y otros adelantos “corporate advances. Surge del Estudio de Título Registral que

sobre esta propiedad pesan los siguientes gravámenes posteriores que afectan la propiedad en cuestión: a. Hipoteca: Constituida por Ramona Soto Salgado (soltera), en garantía de un pagaré a favor de la Autoridad para el Financiamiento de la Vivienda de Puerto Rico, o a su orden, por la suma de $14,000.00, sin intereses y vencedero en 15 años, según consta de la Escritura Núm. 6, otorgada en San Juan, el 20 de enero de 2009, ante el notario Ignacio Villamarzo García. Inscrita al tomo Karibe de Vega Baja, Finca 33875, inscripción tercera (3ra). Nota: Condiciones Restrictivas bajo el Programa La Llave para tu Hogar por un término de 15 años. b.

Hipoteca: Constituida por Ramona Soto Salgado (soltera), en garantía de un pagaré a favor del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, o a su orden, por la suma de $40,000.00, sin intereses y vencedero en 15 años, según consta de la Escritura Núm. 1, otorgada en Bayamón, el 20 de enero de 2009, ante la notario Ruth N. Monillo Limardo. Inscrita al tomo Karibe de Vega Baja Finca 33875, inscripción cuarta (4ta). Nota: Condiciones Restrictivas bajo el Programa Home Investment Partnership Act también conocido como Programa Home por un término de 15 años. c.

Aviso de Demanda: Pleito seguido por Banco Popular de Puerto Rico Vs. Ramona Soto Salgado también conocida como Ramona Soto Guzmán, ante el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Vega Baja en el Caso Civil Número VB2023CV00145, sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca, en la que se reclama el pago de hipoteca con un balance de $24,152.95 y otras cantidades, según Demanda de fecha 3 de marzo de 2023.

Anotada al Tomo Karibe de Vega Baja. Anotación A. Se les advierte a los interesados que todos los documentos relacionados con la presente acción de ejecución de hipoteca, así como los de Subasta, estarán disponibles para ser examinados, durante horas laborables, en el expediente del caso que obra en los archivos de la Secretaría del Tribunal, bajo el número de epígrafe y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general en Puerto Rico por espacio de dos semanas y por lo menos una vez por semana; y para su fijación en los sitios públicos requeridos por ley. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante, continuarán subsistentes; enten-

diéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate y que la propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores tal como lo expresa la Ley Núm. 2102015. Y para el conocimiento de los demandados, de los acreedores posteriores, de los licitadores, partes interesadas y público en general, EXPIDO para su publicación en los lugares públicos correspondientes, el presente Aviso de Pública Subasta en Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, hoy 17 de julio de 2023.

LUIS F. ORTIZ ROSA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE VEGA BAJA.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

ORIENTAL BANK

Demandante Vs. SUCESION DE MARIA DEL CARMEN ORTIZ CARABALLO, COMPUESTA POR SU HIJO EDWARD RODRIGUEZ ORTIZ; EDWARD NOEL RODRIGUEZ ORTIZ, POR SÍ Y EN CUANTO A LA CUOTA VIUDAL USUFRUCTUARIA; FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANO DE TAL, COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS CON POSIBLE INTERÉS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (“CRIM”)

Demandados

Civil Núm.: CA2022CV02436.

(401). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO (EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA). EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

A: SUCESION DE MARIA DEL CARMEN ORTIZ CARABALLO, COMPUESTA POR SU HIJO EDWARD RODRIGUEZ ORTIZ; EDWARD NOEL RODRIGUEZ ORTIZ, POR SÍ Y EN CUANTO

A LA CUOTA VIUDAL USUFRUCTUARIA; FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANO DE TAL,

COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS CON POSIBLE INTERÉS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (“CRIM”).

Yo, HÉCTOR L. PEÑA RODRÍGUEZ, ALGUACIL PLACA #278, Alguacil de este Tribunal, a la parte demandada y a los acreedores y personas con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se describe, y al público en general, HAGO SABER: Que el día 7 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS 1:30 DE LA TARDE en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Carolina, Carolina, Puerto Rico, venderé en Pública Subasta la propiedad inmueble que más adelante se describe y cuya venta en pública subasta se ordenó por la vía ordinaria al mejor postor quien hará el pago en dinero en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del o la Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal de Carolina 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 día 14 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS 1:30 DE LA TARDE y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 21 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS 1:30 DE LA TARDE en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. La propiedad a venderse en pública subasta se describe como sigue: RUSTICA: BARRIO HATO PUERCO de Canóvanas. Lote: Uno (1). Cabida: OCHOCIENTOS CUARENTA Y TRES PUNTO OCHO CINCO DOS SEIS (843.8526) METROS CUADRADOS. En lindes por el NORTE, con terrenos de Eusebio Maldonado, en una distancia de treinta y seis punto seis seis tres (36.663) metros; por el SUR, con remanente de la finca principal, en una distancia de treinta y tres punto cinco cuatro cero (33.540) metros y un arco de nueve punto tres tres tres (9.333) metros; por el ESTE, con remanente, en una distancia de dieciséis punto cuatro nueve dos (16.492) metros y con solar dedicado a uso público y un arco de nueve punto dos seis tres (9.263) metros; y por el OESTE, con carretera municipal, en una distancia de diez punto nueve nueve seis (10.996) metros. La escritu-

ra de hipoteca se encuentra inscrita al Sistema Karibe de Canóvanas, Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección Tercera, finca número 20,289, inscripción tercera. La dirección física de la propiedad antes descrita es: Lote 1, Lomas del Viento, Barrio Hato Puerco, Canóvanas, Puerto Rico. La subasta se llevará a efecto para satisfacer a la parte demandante la suma de $127,803.82 de principal, intereses al 4.00 % anual, desde el día 1ro. de enero de 2020, hasta su completo pago, más la cantidad de $15,090.00, estipulada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, más recargos acumulados, todas cuyas sumas están líquidas y exigibles. Que la cantidad mínima de licitación en la primera subasta para el inmueble será la suma de $150,900.00 y de ser necesaria una segunda subasta, la cantidad mínima será equivalente a 2/3 partes de aquella, o sea, la suma de $100,600.00 y de ser necesaria una tercera subasta, la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado, es decir, la suma de $75,450.00. 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 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 a ser vendida en pública subasta se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto para conocimiento y comparecencia de los licitadores, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en Carolina, Puerto Rico, a 1ro de agosto de 2023. HÉCTOR L. PEÑA RODRÍGUEZ, ALGUACIL PLACA #278, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL, SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. LA SUCESIÓN DE MANUEL ANTONIO LUGO FRANCISCO COMPUESTA POR: 1. VANESSA NINETTE LUGO OBJIO, 2. OSMANY ANTONIO LUGO OBJIO, 3. MANUEL ANTONIO

LUGO OBJIO, 4. PHEDRA MARÍA LUGO OBJIO, 5. MANUEL ANTONIO LUGO MELÉNDEZ, 6. MIGUEL ANTONIO LUGO ROSA, 7. FULANO Y MENGANO DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS, 8. CELENIA AURORA OBJIO LARA POR SÍ Y EN CUANTO A LA COUTA VIUDAL USUFRUCTUARIA; 9.

DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA

Demandado

Civil Núm.: PO2022CV00985.

Sobre: INTERPELACIÓN; COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE GARANTÍAS. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: PUBLICO EN GENERAL.

El Alguacil del Tribunal que suscribe anuncia y hace constar: A. Que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento que me ha sido dirigido por la Secretaria del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Puerto Rico, Sala de Ponce, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor de contado y en moneda de curso legal y corriente de los Estados Unidos de América y cuyo pago se efectuará en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, todo derecho, título o interés que tenga la Parte Demandada en el bien inmueble que se describe a continuación:

PROPIEDAD HORTIZONTAL:

Apartamento once guión cero guión uno de forma irregular ditado en el piso número once del Condominio “El Señorial” con un área aproximada de ciento cincuenta y seis metros cuadrados. Colinda por el NORTE, en veinte metros con la pared que lo separa del patio lateral norte que a la vez colinda con terrenos propiedad de don Luciano Georgi; por el SUR, en seis metros con cincuenta y un centímetros con la pared que lo separa del corredor de uso común limitado y en trece metros con cuarenta y nueve centímetros con la pared que lo separa del apartamento once guión cero guión dos; por el ESTE, en ocho metros con ocho centímetros con la pared que lo separa del techo del piso número once y el patio lateral norte que a la vez colinda con la calle Buenos Aires; y por el OESTE, en ocho metros con ocho centímetros en la pared de la caja de ascensor y la escalera y en noventa y

un centímetro con la pared que lo separa del comedor de uso común limitado. Este apartamento cuenta de una sala-comedor, dos dormitorios con sus closets, dos baños, una terraza y una cocina. Hay dos pasillos, uno que comunica la salacomedor con los dormitorios y los baños y otro Que queda al exterior por una puerta en la pared sur que abre al comedor de uso limitado. Todas las medidas expresadas en esta descripción son aproximadas. A este apartamento se le asigna el parking número veintiocho. A este apartamento le corresponde una participación de uno punto treinta y tres por ciento en los elementos, gastos y ganancias comunes del edificio e igual la porción se aplicará en la votación de las reuniones de los condominios. Inscrita al folio 30 del tomo 2025 de Ponce Norte, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección Primera de Ponce, finca número 39,958. Dirección física: APT. PH-1101, Condominio El Señorial Plaza, Ponce, PR. 00731. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado están de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante las horas laborables bajo el epígrafe de este caso. B. Que se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito ejecutante, continuarán subsistentes, entendiéndose que el rematente 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 posteriores. C. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para satisfacer a la parte demandante el importe de la sentencia que ha obtenido ascendente a la suma principal de $67,133.35, la suma de $23,958.69, que incluye intereses según pactados, cargos por demora y otros cargos, que se acumulan diariamente hasta su total y completo pago, más la suma de 10% del principal, por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado. La PRIMERA SUBASTA se celebrará el día 19 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA en la Oficina del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Ponce, por el tipo mínimo de $93,500.00. De declararse desierta dicha subasta se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 26 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA en el mismo lugar antes mencionado. El precio para la segunda subasta lo será 2/3 partes del precio mínimo de

Luisa Aponte Correa, miembro a su vez de la Sucesión de Leoncia Correa Delgado, a 7525 Chestnut Hills Drive, lndianapolis, IN 46278; Efrain Santos Jr., miembro de la Sucesión de María Luisa Aponte Correa, miembro a su vez de la Sucesión de Leoncia Correa Delgado, a 474 Helene Ave., Shirley, NY 11967; Santos Rivera Correa, miembro de la Sucesión de María Correa Delgado, con paradero desconocido en los Estados Unidos continentales; Heriberto

Rodríguez Rivera, miembro de la Sucesión de Tomasa Rivera Correa, miembro a su vez de la Sucesión de María Correa DelgadoSe sabe que el mismo reside en los Estados Unidos continentales, pero se desconoce dónde exactamente;

Félix Sánchez Rivera, miembro de la Sucesión de Martina Rivera Correa, miembro a su vez de la Sucesión de María Correa Delgado, con paradero desconocido en los Estados Unidos continentales; Irene

Sánchez Rivera, miembro de la Sucesión de Martina Rivera Correa, miembro a su vez de la Sucesión de María Correa Delgado, con paradero desconocido en los Estados Unidos continentales; Carlos

Sánchez Rivera, miembro de la Sucesión de Martina Rivera Correa, miembro a su vez de la Sucesión de María Correa Delgado, con paradero desconocido en los Estados Unidos continentales; Leeni

Márquez Rivera, miembro de la Sucesión de Martina Rivera Correa, miembro a su vez de la Sucesión de María Correa Delgado, con paradero desconocido en los Estados Unidos continentales y Johnny

Márquez Rivera, miembro de la Sucesión de Martina Rivera Correa, miembro a su vez de la Sucesión de María

Correa Delgado, con paradero desconocido en los Estados Unidos continentales y, asimismo, a todo el que tenga algún interés o derecho real sobre el inmueble descrito en la Petición de Dominio del caso de epígrafe, a las personas ignoradas, a quienes pueda perjudicar la inscripción, a los anteriores dueños, o sus herederos y, en general, a toda persona que desee oponerse.

POR LA PRESENTE: se les notifica que la Peticionaria de epígrafe ha presentado una Petición para que se declare a favor de ella el dominio que tiene sobre la siguiente propiedad:

“RÚSTICA: Predio de terreno identificado como la letra ’N’ en el plano de inscripción, localizado en El Barrio Guzmán Arriba del Municipio de Río Grande, con cabida superficial de mil cuatrocientos tres metros cuadrados con cuatro milésimas de otro metro cuadrado (1,403.004

M.C.), equivalentes a tres mil sesenta y dos diezmilésimas de cuerda (.3062 Cda.), en lindes por el Norte, en distancia de cuarenta y cuatro metros con ocho milésimas de otro metro (44.008 mts.), con terrenos de Bernaldina Correa Delgado

t/c/c Bernalda Correa Delgado; por el Sur, en cinco alineaciones que suman cuarenta y cuatro metros con seiscientos quince milésimas de otro metro (44.615 mts.), con terrenos de la Sucesión de Leoncia Correa Delgado; por el Este, en dos alineaciones que suman treinta y cuatro metros con doscientos treinta y tres milésimas de otro metro (34.233 mts.), con remanente de la finca principal, propiedad de los herederos de Dolores Correa y Juana Delgado y, por el Oeste, en cuatro alineaciones que suman veintiocho metros con trescientos ochenta y cinco milésimas de otro metro (28.385 mts.), con carretera estatal novecientos cincuenta y seis (PR 956).”

Sobre el mismo enclava estructura construida para fines residenciales. Este Tribunal ordenó que se publique la pretensión por tres (3) veces durante el término de veinte (20) días en un periódico de circulación general diaria, para que todas las personas arriba mencionadas y todas aquellas desconocidas a quienes pueda perjudicar la inscripción o deseen oponerse, puedan así hacerlo dentro del término de veinte (20) días a partir de la última publicación del presente edicto. Por tanto firmo expido la presente en Fajardo, Puerto Rico, a 4 de agosto de 2023. Wanda I. Seguí Reyes, Secretaria Regional.

Kathia Ferrer Figueroa, Secretaria

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE COAMO ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES LLC COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND LLC

Demandante V. LUIS A. FIGUEROA FLORES

Demandado(a)

Civil: CO2022CV00064. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: LUIS A. FIGUEROA FLORES URB

PROVINCIAS DEL RIO

191 CALLE TALLABOA COAMO PR 00769 / URB

PROVINCIAS DEL RIO

91 CALLE 4 COAMO PR 00769. P/C LCDO KEVIN SANCHEZ CAMPANERO

EMAIL: KEVIN. SANCHEZ@ORF-LAW. COM.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 2 de agosto de 2023, 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 3 de agosto de 2023. En Coamo, Puerto Rico, el 3 de agosto de 2023. ELIZABETH GONZÁLEZ RIVERA, SECRETARIA. MARIBEL AVILÉS RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de Primera Instancia Sala Superior de JUANA DÍAZ.

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. MARIA DEL C.

MENDEZ HERNANDEZ

Demandado(a)

Civil: JD2022CV00611. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: MARIA DEL C. MENDEZ HERNANDEZ para ser notificada por edicto P/C LCDA.

GINA H. FERRER MEDINA - LawOffices.

GinaFerrerMedinaqmail. com

(Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que 3 de agosto de 2023 , 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 de 3 de agosto de 2023. En JUANA DÍAZ , Puerto Rico, el 3 de agosto de 2023. CARMEN G. TIRÚ QUIÑONES, Secretario(a). F/WALESKA E. RIVERA TORRES, Secretario(a) Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN CASCADE FUNDING MORTGAGE TRUST-HB2

Demandante V. LA SUCESIÓN DE GLADYS MARTÍNEZ PASTRANA, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA COMO GLADYS EMILY MARTÍNEZ Y COMO GLADYS EMILIA MARTÍNEZ, COMPUESTA POR LESLIE MARTÍNEZ SÁNCHEZ, ISAÍAS MARTÍNEZ OLIVENCIA, FULANO DE TAL Y FULANA DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS CON INTERÉS EN LA SUCESIÓN; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, CENTRO

DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Demandados

Civil Núm.: SJ2023CV00584. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, S.S. A: LA SUCESIÓN DE GLADYS MARTÍNEZ PASTRANA, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA COMO GLADYS EMIL Y MARTÍNEZ Y COMO GLADYS EMILIA MARTÍNEZ, COMPUESTA POR LESLIE MARTÍNEZ SÁNCHEZ, ISAÍAS

MARTÍNEZ OLIVENCIA, FULANO DE TAL Y FULANA DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS CON INTERÉS EN LA SUCESIÓN. Queden emplazados y notificados que en este Tribunal se ha radicado Demanda sobre Ejecución de Hipoteca en su contra. Conforme al caso de Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria vs. Latinoamericana de Exportación, Inc., 164 DPR 689 (2005) y el Artículo 1578 del Código Civil, 31 L.P.R.A. §11021, se le requiere a la Sucesión de Gladys Martínez Pastrana que en el término de treinta (30) días, haga Declaración aceptando o repudiando la herencia del causante. Se les apercibe que de no expresar su intención de aceptar o repudiar la herencia dentro del término provisto, la herencia se tendrá por aceptada. Por la presente se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación del presente edicto y deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), el cual podrá 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. 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, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su discreción, lo entiende procedente. Los abogados de la parte demandante son:

Lcdo. Andrés Sáez Marrero

T.S.P.R. Núm. 18074

TROMBERG, MORRIS & POULIN, LLC

1515 South Federal Highway, Suite 100

Boca Raton, FL 33432

Tel. 877-338-4101 / Fax: 561-338-4077 prservice@tmppllc.com / asaez@tmppllc.com

Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal, hoy 6 de junio de 2023. Griselda Rodríguez Collado, Secretaria Regional. Brenda Báez Acaba, Secretaria De Servicios A Sala.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

ESTRELLA

HOMES III, LLC.

Parte Demandante Vs. JORGE LUIS

VÁZQUEZ GUADALUPE

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: KCD2017-1039. Salón Núm.: (0508). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA Y COBRO DE DINERO. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS.

A: JORGE LUIS VÁZQUEZ

GUADALUPE: ESTADOS

UNIDOS DE AMERICA: Y AL PÚBLICO EN GENERAL:.

El Alguacil que suscribe, certifica y hace constar que en cumplimiento de Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, procederé a vender en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América.

Todo pago recibido por el (la) Alguacil por concepto de subastas será en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del (de la) Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia.

Todo derecho, título, participación e interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: URBANA: PROPIEDAD HORIZONTAL: Apartamiento dieciséis-diez (16-10), apartamiento individualizado de concreto armado, bloques de hormigón y paredes “Dry-Wall”, de uso residencial, identificado con el número dieciséis diez (16-10), localizado en el lado Sureste del piso quince del edificio conocido como Condominio Bello Horizonte, localizado en la Calle Modesta de Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. Este apartamiento tiene una cabida superficial de ochocientos diez punto noventa y siete pies cuadrados (810.97 p.c.), aproximadamente y consta de salacomedor, balcón, dos (2) dormitorios, un (1) baño, pasillo interior, una (1) cocina y clóset. La puerta principal está localizada en la sala comedor, la cual

lo conecta con el pasillo de uso común que conduce a los ascensores, escaleras y a la calle. Colinda por el NORTE, con el apartamiento dieciséis cero nueve (16-09); por el SUR, con el apartamiento dieciséis doce (16-12) y con hueco de ventilador; por el ESTE, colinda con elementos exteriores del edificio; y por el OESTE, colinda con el pasillo interior del edificio y con el apartamiento dieciséis doce (16-12) y hueco de ventilación. Le corresponde un porcentaje con los elementos comunes de .0045 por ciento y el espacio de estacionamiento marcado con el número 199 descubierto. Inscrito al folio 240 del tomo 634 de Sabana Llana, Finca #25,651 del Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección Quinta de San Juan. La propiedad objeto de ejecución está localizada en la siguiente dirección: Condominio Bello Horizonte, Apartamento 10-16 Calle Modesta, San Juan, P.R. 00924. Según figura en el Estudio de título, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada a los siguientes Gravámenes posteriores a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: a) Aviso de Demanda de fecha 26 de junio de 2017, expedido en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, en el Caso Civil número KCD2017-1139(508), sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca, seguido por Firstbank Puerto Rico contra Jorge Luis Vázquez Guadalupe, por la suma de $92,392.43, más intereses y otras sumas adicionales o en su defecto la venta en Pública Subasta, anotado el día 18 de octubre de 2019, al tomo Karibe de Sabana Llana, finca número 25,651, Anotación “A”. b) Embargo Federal contra Yadira Cruz y Jorge Vázquez, seguro social xxx-xx-1832, por la suma de $37,864.39, Notificación número 338181118, según Certificación de fecha 13 de diciembre de 2018, anotado el día 15 de enero de 2019, al Asiento 2019-000247-FED del Sistema Karibe. Última fecha de renovación: 30 de junio de 2020. No podemos precisar que la persona embargada y el titular en esta finca sean la misma persona. c) Embargo Federal contra Jorge L. Vázquez y Yadira Cruz, seguro social xxxxx-5068, por la suma de $38,595.33, Notificación número 338181318, según Certificación de fecha 13 de diciembre de 2018, anotado el día 31 de enero de 2019, al Asiento 201900248-FED del Sistema Karibe. Última fecha de renovación: 12 de junio de 2023. No podemos precisar que la persona embargada y el titular en esta finca sean la misma persona. d) Embargo Federal contra Jorge L. Vázquez, seguro social xxxxx-5068, por la suma de $75,728.78, Notificación número 394667819, según Certificación de fecha 22 de noviembre de 2019, anotado el día 20 de

diciembre de 2019, al Asiento 2019-011887-FED del Sistema Karibe. Última fecha de renovación: 8 de mayo de 2023. No podemos precisar que la persona embargada y el titular en esta finca sean la misma persona. Se le notifica a los acreedores posteriores anteriormente identificados para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando entonces subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. Se informa que la propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravamen posterior, una vez sea otorgada la escritura de venta judicial y obtenida la Orden y Mandamiento de cancelación de gravamen posterior. (Art. 51, Ley 210-2015). En relación a la finca a subastarse, se establece como tipo mínimo de licitación en la Primera Subasta la suma de $96,664.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la Escritura de Hipoteca #340, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 11 de octubre de 2013, ante el notario José R. Vélez Marrero, e inscrita al tomo Karibe de Sabana Llana, finca número 25,651, inscripción 15ta. La PRIMERA SUBASTA, se llevará a cabo el día 6 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en mis oficinas sitas en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, el tipo mínimo para la primera subasta es la suma de $96,664.00. Si la primera subasta del inmueble no produjere remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 13 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo sitio y servirá de tipo mínimo las dos terceras partes del precio pactada para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de $64,442.66. Si la segunda subasta no produjere remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 20 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo lugar y regirá como tipo mínimo de la tercera subasta la mitad del precio pactado para la primera, o sea, la suma de $48,332.00. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo, para con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor, a saber: Suma Principal de $92,392.43, con intereses a 5.75% anual, desde el 1ro de noviembre de 2016, hasta el presente y los que se continúen acumulando hasta su total y completo pago, más los cargos por demora que se corresponden a los plazos atrasados desde la fecha anteriormente indicada a razón de la tasa pactada de 5% de cualquier pago que éste en mora por más de quince (15) días desde la fecha de su vencimiento, más una suma

equivalente a $9,666.40, por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, más cualquier otra suma que resulte por cualesquiera otros adelantos que se hayan hecho la demandante, en virtud de las disposiciones de la escritura de hipoteca y del Pagaré hipotecario. Para más información, a las personas interesadas se les notifica que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal, durante las horas laborables. Este EDICTO DE SUBASTA, se publicará en los lugares públicos correspondientes y en un periódico de circulación general en la jurisdicción de Puerto Rico. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los referentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente Escritura de Venta Judicial y el Alguacil pondrá en posesión judicial al nuevo dueño, si así se lo solicita dentro del término de veinte (20) días, de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Si transcurren los referidos veinte (20) días, el tribunal podrá ordenar, sin necesidad de ulterior procedimiento, que se lleve a efecto el desalojo o lanzamiento del ocupante u ocupantes de la finca o de todos los que por orden o tolerancia del deudor la ocupen. Expedido en San Juan, Puerto Rico, a 2 de agosto de 2023. Edwin E. López Mulero, Alguacil Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN DE MARIO

CASANOVA CRUZ

COMPUESTA POR

RACHELIZ CASANOVA

ORTIZ, RUFINO, MARIO, GILBERT Y LUZ EVELIN, TODOS DE APELLIDOS

CASANOVA REYES

COMO HEREDEROS

CONOCIDOS; FULANO DE TAL, FULANA DE TAL, ZUTANO DE TAL, ZUTANA DE TAL, A, B Y C, COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; HONORABLE

SECRETARIO DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA DEL

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO; HONORABLE SECRETARIO DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE JUSTICIA DEL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV06012. (604). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: SUCESIÓN DE MARIO

CASANOVA CRUZ

COMPUESTA POR

RACHELIZ CASANOVA

ORTIZ, RUFINO, MARIO, GILBERT Y LUZ EVELIN, TODOS DE APELLIDOS

CASANOVA REYES

COMO HEREDEROS CONOCIDOS; FULANO DE TAL, FULANA DE TAL, ZUTANO DE TAL, ZUTANA DE TAL, A, B Y

C, COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS.

LA SECRETARIA que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 1 de agosto de 2023, 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 60 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 de 4 de agosto de 2023. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 4 de agosto de 2023. GRISELDA

RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. ELSA

MAGALY CANDELARIO CABRERA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL I.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V.

GABRIEL OYOLA

NIEVES, FRANCISCA

RIOS NEGRÓN Y LA

SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS, EXPRESSO MORTGAGE CORPORATION, JOHN DOE

Demandado(a)

Civil: BY2023CV02305. Sala: 505. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO POR LA VÍA JUDICIAL. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: GABRIEL OYOLA NIEVES, FRANCISCA RIOS NEGRÓN Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS, EXPRESSO MORTGAGE CORPORATION Y JOHN DOE COMO TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGARÉ.

(Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 1 de agosto de 2023, 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 de 3 de agosto de 2023. En BAYAMÓN, Puerto Rico, el 3 de agosto de 2023. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. MILITA MERCADO RIVERA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE ISABELA ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Demandante Vs. JOSE A DIAZ CORDERO

Demandada

Civil Núm.: IS2022CV00163.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. EMPLAZAMIEN-

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

A: JOSE A. DIAZ CORDERO441 CALLE CASIMIRA CASTRO, ISABELA, PR 00662.

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://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría de! 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. Edwin Serrano Peña cuyas direcciones son: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-85 18, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección jose.aguilar@orf-law.com, edwin.serrano@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@orflaw.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, hoy día 26 de julio de 2023. En Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, el 26 de junio de 2023. SARAHÍ REYES PÉREZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. ARLENE GUZMÁN PABÓN, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL I.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAROLINA ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Demandante Vs. JOSÉ E. CAMPOS RODRÍGUEZ

Demandado

Civil Núm.: CA2023CV00192. Salón: 406. 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: JOSÉ E. CAMPOS RODRÍGUEZ -

Thursday, August 10, 2023

URB. VILLA CAROLINA

97-44 CALLE 93 APT 3 CAROLINA, PR 00985.

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://unired. ramajudicial.pr, 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 Yauco, Puerto Rico, hoy día 8 de junio de 2023. En Carolina, Puerto Rico, el 8 de junio de 2023.

CARMEN TIRÚ QUIÑONES, SECRETARIA. DELIA APONTE VELÁZQUEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAROLINA ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Demandante Vs. MARÍA NEGRÓN MARRERO

Demandado

Civil Núm.: CA2023CV00206.

Salón: 406. 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: MARIA NEGRÓN MARREROVALLE ARRIBA HTS DA22 CALLE 201 CAROLINA, PR 00983.

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 ale-

gación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la 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. 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 Carolina, Puerto Rico, hoy día 29 de junio de 2023. En Carolina, Puerto Rico, el 29 de junio de 2023. Lcda. Kanelly Zayas Robles, Secretaria Regional. Maricruz Aponte Alicea, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE TOA BAJA

FINANCE OF AMERICA

REVERSE, LLC

Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN DE TERESA

BURGOS AYALA T/C/C

TERESA BURGOS DE RODRÍGUEZ T/C/C

TERESA BURGOS DE AYALA T/C/C TERESA

BURGOS, COMPUESTA

POR MARÍA RODRÍGUEZ

BURGOS, GLADYS

RODRÍGUEZ BURGOS, JOSÉ RODRÍGUEZ BURGOS, ADA

RODRÍGUEZ BURGOS, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL

COMO MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; AL CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS

MUNICIPALES; Y A LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

Demandados

Civil Núm.: TB2023CV00145. 402. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA - IN REM. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO E INTERPELACIÓN. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASO-

CIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: JOSÉ RODRÍGUEZ

BURGOS, ADA RODRÍGUEZ BURGOS, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE TERESA

BURGOS AYALA T/C/C

TERESA BURGOS DE RODRÍGUEZ T/C/C

TERESA BURGOS DE AYALA T/C/C TERESA BURGOS.

POR LA PRESENTE, se les emplaza y se les notifica que se ha presentado en la Secretaria de este Tribunal la Demanda del caso del epígrafe solicitando la ejecución de hipoteca relacionado al pagaré suscrito a favor de The Money House Inc., o a su orden, por la suma principal de $198,000.00, más intereses computados sobre la misma desde su fecha hasta su total y completo pago a razón de la tasa de interés de 3.845% anual, y vencedero el 15 de octubre de 2015.

La Hipoteca consta inscrita al folio 124 del tomo 756 de Toa Baja, Sección Segunda, Registro de la Propiedad Bayamón finca número 11,352, inscripción 7ma: La hipoteca grava la propiedad que describe que describe a continuación: URBANA: Parcela de Terreno en la Urbanización Levittown, Séptima Unidad de Planificación el Barrio Sabana Seca del Término municipal de Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, y que se describe en el Plano de Inscripción de la Urbanización Levittown, con el número, área y colindancias que se relacionan a continuación: Numero del Solar: Treinta y seis (36) Bloque: “HP”. Área del Solar: doscientos treinta y cuatro metros cuadrados con sesenta centímetros cuadrados (234.60 mc). En lindes: por el NORTE, en diez Metros veinte centímetros (10.20 Mc), con los solares número nueve (9) y diez (10); por el SUR, en diez metros veinte centímetros (10.20 mc) con Aurelio Dueño (según Plano Calle Setencientos diez (710); por el ESTE, en veintitrés (23) metros, con el solar número Treinta y cinco (35); por el Oeste, en veintitrés (23) Metros, Con el solar número treinta y siete (37). Finca número 11,352, inscrita al folio 124 del tomo 756 de Toa Baja. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección II de Bayamón. Se les APERCIBE y advierte a ustedes corno personas desconocidas, que no contestar la demanda radicando el original de la contestación ante la secretaria del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Fajardo, y notificar copia de la contestación de esta a la parte demandante por conducto de

su abogada, GLS LEGAL SERVICES, LLC, Atención: Lcda. Carla Colon Gómez, Dirección: P.O. Box 367308, San Juan, P.R. 00936, Teléfono: 787-7586550, dentro de los próximos 30 días a partir de la publicación de este emplazamiento por edicto que será publicado una sola vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general en la isla de Puerto Rico, se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictara sentencia, concediendo el remedio solicitando en la Demanda sin más citarle ni oírle. Se les ORDENA a ustedes a que dentro del término legal de TREINTA (30) días, contados a partir de la fecha de la notificación de la presente Orden, acepten o repudien la participación que les corresponda en la herencia de Teresa Burgos Ayala t/c/c Teresa Burgos de Rodríguez t/c/c Teresa Burgos de Ayala t/c/c Teresa Burgos a saber: María Rodríguez Burgos, Gladys Rodríguez Burgos, José Rodríguez Burgos, Ada Rodríguez Burgos, Fulano de Tal y Sutano de Tal como miembros de nombres desconocidos. Se les APERCIBE que de no expresarse dentro de ese término de TREINTA (30) días en tomo a su aceptación o repudiación de herencia, la herencia se tendrá por aceptada. También se les APERCIBE que luego del transcurso del término de TREINTA (30) días antes señalado contados a partir de la fecha de la notificación de la presente Orden, se presumirá que han aceptado la herencia de la causante Teresa Burgos Ayala t/c/c Teresa Burgos de Rodríguez t/c/c Teresa Burgos de Ayala t/c/c Teresa Burgos, y, por consiguiente, responden por las cargas de dicha herencia conforme dispone el Artículo 1578 del Código Civil de Puerto Rico de 2020, según enmendado. Se ORDENA a la parte demandante a que, en vista de que la sucesión de Teresa Burgos Ayala t/c/c Teresa Burgos de Rodríguez tic/c Teresa Burgos de Ayala t/c/c Teresa Burgos, incluye a: María Rodríguez Burgos, Gladys Rodríguez Burgos, José Rodríguez Burgos, Ada Rodríguez Burgos, Fulano de Tal y Sutano de Tal como miembros de nombres desconocidos; proceda a notificar la presente Orden mediante publicación de un edicto a esos efectos una sola vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general de la Isla de Puerto Rico. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal hoy 02 de agosto de 2023. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. AMALYN FIGUEROA NIEVES, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

REVERSE, LLC

Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN DE TERESA

BURGOS AYALA T/C/C

TERESA BURGOS DE RODRÍGUEZ T/C/C

TERESA BURGOS DE AYALA T/C/C TERESA

BURGOS, COMPUESTA

POR MARÍA RODRÍGUEZ BURGOS, GLADYS RODRÍGUEZ BURGOS, JOSÉ RODRÍGUEZ BURGOS, ADA RODRÍGUEZ BURGOS, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; AL CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES; Y A LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

Demandados

Civil Núm.: TB2023CV00145.

402. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA - IN REM. MANDAMIENTO DE INTERPELACIÓN. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. POR

CUANTO: En el presente caso se ha dictado la siguiente Orden: “ORDEN DE INTERPELACIÓN”: Vista la Demanda presentada por la parte demandante solicitando la interpelación judicial de la Sucesión de Teresa Burgos Ayala t/c/c Teresa Burgos de Rodríguez

t/c/c Teresa Burgos de Ayala

t/c/c Teresa Burgos; compuesta por María Rodríguez Burgos, Gladys Rodríguez Burgos, José Rodríguez Burgos, Ada Rodríguez Burgos, Fulano de Tal y Sutano de Tal como miembros de nombres desconocidos, conforme al Artículo 1578 del Código Civil de Puerto Rico edición de 2020. Se Ordena a los herederos de la Sucesión a que dentro del término legal de treinta (30) días contados a partir de la notificación de esta Orden, acepten o repudien la participación que les corresponda en la herencia del causante. Se le Apercibe a los herederos antes mencionados que: (a) de no expresarse dentro del término de treinta (30) días en torno a su aceptación o repudiación de la herencia; o (b) de no solicitar término adicional para ello dentro del término de treinta (30) días; la herencia se presumirá por aceptada, respondiendo con ello por las obligaciones, por los legados y por las cargas hereditarias hasta el valor de los bienes hereditarios que recibe, según dispone el Artículo 1587 del Código Civil de Puerto Rico de 2020. NOTIFÍQUESE. Dada en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, 01 de agosto de 2023.

VANESSA J. PINTADO RODRÍGUEZ, JUEZA DEL TRIBUNAL SUPERIOR. POR TANTO, en vista de la Orden dictada, se libra este Mandamiento de Interpelación a ser diligenciado por la parte demandante sobre los herederos que componen la

Teresa Burgos Ayala t/c/c Teresa Burgos de Rodríguez t/c/c

Teresa Burgos de Ayala t/c/c

Teresa Burgos. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, a 02 de agosto de 2023. Lcda. Laura I. Santa Sánchez, Secretaria Regional.

Amalyn Figueroa Nieves, Secretaria Auxiliar Del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO

DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE HUMACAO.

FIRSTBANK

PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante VS. IVELISSE

FALCÓN CHAPARRO

Parte Demandada

CIVIL NÚM. HU2022CV00901.

SALÓN NÚM. (207). SOBRE:

EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA Y COBRO DE DINERO. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS

UNIDOS ESTADO LIBRE ASO-

CIADO DE P.R. SS

A: IVELISSE

FALCÓN CHAPARRO:

AUTORIDAD PARA EL FINANCIAMIENTO DE LA VIVIENDA DE PUERTO

RICO O A SU ORDEN:

Y AL PÚBLICO EN

GENERAL:

El Alguacil que suscribe, certifica y hace constar que en cumplimiento de Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Humacao, procederé a vender en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América. Todo pago recibido por el (la) Alguacil por concepto de subastas será en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del (de la)

Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia. Todo derecho, título, participación e interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: RÚSTICA: Parcela marcada con el número doscientos cuarenta y nueve (249) en el plano de inscripción de la Comunidad Rural Antón

Ruiz Bajandas de los Barrios

Río Abajo y Antón Ruiz del término municipal de Humacao, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 0.1285 cuerdas equivalentes a quinientos cinco punto veintitrés (505.23) metros cuadrados. Colinda por el NORTE, con Calle D de la co-

munidad; por el SUR, con parcela doscientos cincuenta de la comunidad; por el ESTE, con parcela doscientos cuarenta y siete de la comunidad; y por el OESTE, con parcela doscientos cincuenta y uno de la comunidad. Enclava edificación.

Finca número #11,539, inscrita al folio 155 del tomo 291 de Humacao. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección de Humacao. La propiedad objeto de ejecución está localizada en la siguiente dirección: Lote 249 D, Bo. Anton Ruiz, Humacao, P.R. 00791. Según figura en el Estudio de título, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada al siguiente Gravamen posterior a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: a. Hipoteca en garantía de un pagaré a favor de la Autoridad para el Financiamiento de la Vivienda de Puerto Rico, o a su orden, por la suma principal de $14,000.00, sin interés anual, vencedero en ocho años a partir de la firma de la escritura, constituida mediante la escritura número 80, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 29 de febrero de 2008, ante el notario René Avilés Pérez, e inscrita al folio 1401 del tomo 630 de Humacao, finca número 11,539, inscripción 11ra., como Asiento Abreviado extendida las líneas el día 25 de julio de 2018, en virtud de la Ley número 216 del día 27 de diciembre de 2010. (Fue presentado el día 14 de marzo de 2008 al Asiento 1240 del Diario 889). Condiciones Restrictivas a favor de la Autoridad para el Financiamiento de la Vivienda por el término de 8 años. Se le notifica a los acreedores posteriores anteriormente identificados para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando entonces subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. Se informa que la propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravamen posterior, una vez sea otorgada la escritura de venta judicial y obtenida la Orden y Mandamiento de cancelación de gravamen posterior. (Art. 51, Ley 210-2015). En relación a la finca a subastarse, se establece como tipo mínimo de licitación en la Primera Subasta la suma de $53,346.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la Escritura de Hipoteca #79, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 29 de febrero de 2008, ante el notario René Avilés Pérez, e inscrita al folio 1400 del tomo 630 de Humacao, finca número 11,539, inscripción 10ma., como Asiento Abreviado extendida las líneas el día 25 de julio de 2018, en virtud de la Ley número 216 del día 27 de diciembre de 2010. (Fue presentado el día 14 de marzo de 2008 al Asiento 1239 del Diario 889). La PRIMERA SUBASTA,

se llevará a cabo el día 13 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS

9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en mis oficinas sitas en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Humacao, el tipo mínimo para la primera subasta es la suma de $53,346.00. Si la primera subasta del inmueble no produjere remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 20 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo sitio y servirá de tipo mínimo las dos terceras partes del precio pactada para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de $35,564.00. Si la segunda subasta no produjere remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 27 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo lugar y regirá como tipo mínimo de la tercera subasta la mitad del precio pactado para la primera, o sea, la suma de $26,673.00. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo, para con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor, a saber: Suma Principal de $41,903.22, con intereses a 6.50% anual, desde el 1ro de diciembre de 2020, hasta el presente y los que se continúen acumulando hasta su total y completo pago, más los cargos por demora que se corresponden a los plazos atrasados desde la fecha anteriormente indicada a razón de la tasa pactada de 4% de cualquier pago que éste en mora por más de quince (15) días desde la fecha de su vencimiento, más una suma equivalente a $5,334.00, por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, más cualquier otra suma que resulte por cualesquiera otros adelantos que se hayan hecho la demandante, en virtud de las disposiciones de la escritura de hipoteca y del Pagaré hipotecario. Para más información, a las personas interesadas se les notifica que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal, durante las horas laborables.

Este EDICTO DE SUBASTA, se publicará en los lugares públicos correspondientes y en un periódico de circulación general en la jurisdicción de Puerto Rico. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los referentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente Escritura de Venta Judicial y el Alguacil pondrá en posesión judicial al nuevo dueño, si así se lo solicita dentro del término de veinte (20) días, de confor-

midad con las disposiciones de Ley. Si transcurren los referidos veinte (20) días, el tribunal podrá ordenar, sin necesidad de ulterior procedimiento, que se lleve a efecto el desalojo o lanzamiento del ocupante u ocupantes de la finca o de todos los que por orden o tolerancia del deudor la ocupen. Expedido en Humacao, Puerto Rico, a 31 de julio de 2023. Jose L Rodriguez Hernandez, Algucial Regional Interino. Jaina Guasp Loza, Alguacil.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN REVERSE MORTGAGE

FUNDING LLC

Demandante Vs. SUCESION JUAN SIERRA ALEMAN COMPUESTA

POR JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Demandados

Civil Núm.: BY2022CV04877.

Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO E INTERPELACIÓN POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES MIEMBROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION JUAN SIERRA ALEMAN.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al Tribunal su alegación responsiva a la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este 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: http://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberé presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaria 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, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El Artículo 1578 del Código Civil de 2020, dispone: “Transcurridos treinta (30) días desde que se haya producido la delación, cualquier persona interesada puede solicitar al tribunal que

le señale al llamado un plazo, para que manifieste si acepta la herencia o si la repudia. Este plazo no excederá de treinta (30) días. El tribunal apercibirá al llamado de que, si transcurrido el plazo señalado no ha manifestado su voluntad de aceptar la herencia o de repudiarla, se dará por aceptada.” Por la presente el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, conforme al Art. 1578, supra, y el caso Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria vs. Latinoamericana de Exportación, Inc., 164 DPR 689 (2005), les ordena que el término de treinta (30) días, hagan declaración aceptado o repudiando la herencia del causante JUAN SIERRA ALEMAN. Se les apercibe que de no expresar su intención de aceptar o repudiar la herencia dentro del término que se le fijó, la herencia se tendrá por aceptada.

Greenspoon Marder, LLP

Lcda. Frances L. Asencio -Guido R.U.A. 15,622

TRADE CENTRE SOUTH, SUITE 700 100 WEST CYPRESS CREEK ROAD FORT LAUDERDALE, FL 33309

Telephone: (954) 343 6273

Frances.Asencio@gmlaw.com

Expedido bajo mi firma, y sello del Tribunal, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 5 de julio de 2023. LCDA. LAURA I.

SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. IVETTE

M. MARRERO BRACERO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL I.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE CAGUAS

ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS

FUND, LLC

Demandante Vs. MIGDALIA

FLORES RIVERA

Demandado

Civil Núm.: CD2022CV00230. Salón: 705. 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: MIGDALIA FLORES RIVERABO. RABANAL SECT.

FÁTIMA CAN 173 KM 6.8, CIDRA, PR 00739 / RR 01 BUZÓN 2994, CIDRA, PR 00739. 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 direc-

ción 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. 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@ orflaw.corn, y a la dirección notificaciones@orf-law.com.

EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Caguas, Puerto Rico, hoy día 7 de junio de 2023. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, el 7 de junio de 2023. Lisilda Martínez Agosto, Secretaria. Marta E. Donate Resto, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

GOBIERNO DE PUERTO RICO. DEPARTAMENTO DE ESTADO. NOMBRE COMERCIAL PARA REGISTRAR. AVISO. A QUIEN PUEDA INTERESAR: De acuerdo con las disposiciones de la Ley Núm. 75 del 23 de septiembre de 1992, según enmendada, mejor conocida como la Ley de Nombres Comerciales del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico y la Sección 24 del Reglamento promulgado bajo la ley citada anteriormente, el siguiente nombre comercial ha sido presentado en el Departamento de Estado de Puerto Rico para su archivo y registro.

CLARA-MENTE NATURAL

Número de Expediente: 252294-99-1. Propietario: HACIENDA 4 PUERTAS LLC.

Dirección: CARRETERA 176

KM. 11.5 CAMINO LOS GUAYABOS 25 CUPEY ALTO, SAN JUAN, PR 00926. Actividad

Empresarial: “ACTIVIDADES DE APOYO A LA AGRICULTURA. PROMOVER, DESARROLLAR Y EDUCAR EL RESPETO A LA NATURALEZA, A LA TIERRA Y A TODO SER

VIVO. CRIANZA DE GALLINAS PONEDORAS LIBRES DE JAULAS Y SIN HORMONAS, VENTA DE HUEVOS Y PRODUCTOS DERIVADOS.

REALIZAR TODO NEGOCIO Y ACTO AUTORIZADO POR

LEY” . Renuncia a elementos no registrables: NOTIFICA-

CIÓN: Cualquier oposición a este registro deberá presentarse en el Departamento de Estado de Puerto Rico dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este aviso.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN CHARLES FRANCIS

LLENZA ZUECCA Y LISSETTE LLENZA

QUIÑONES, MIEMBROS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE CHARLES LLENZA PASTRANA

Demandante V. ELIZA Y VIRGINIA, AMBAS LLENZA ZUECCA, Y NIKOLAS Y ANGELA SITARAS, LOS ÚLTIMOS DOS MIEMBROS DE LA SUCESION DE MARISA

LLENZA ZUECCA, TODOS MIEMBROS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE CHARLES LLENZA PASTRANA

Demandado(a)

Civil: SJ2019CV03088. (504). Sobre: LIQUIDACIÓN DE COMUNIDAD HEREDITARIA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: VIRGINIA LLENZA ZUECCA Y ELIZA LLENZA

ZUECCA NIKOLAS SITARAS Y ANGELA SITARAS, PRESUNTOS MIEMBROS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE MARISA LLENZA ZUECCA, CON ÚLTIMO PARADERO

EN EL ESTADO DE LA FLORIDA, USA. (Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 19 de julio de 2023, 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 de 4 de agosto de 2023. En SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, el 4 de agosto de 2023. Griselda Rodríguez Collado, Secretaria. Marily López Martínez, Secretaria Auxiliar.

Colombia (narrowly) and France (easily) join the World Cup quarterfinals

Germany, in particular, acted as confirmation that she is the standard-bearer for the coming generation of women’s soccer.

This has been a tournament defined by an overturning of calcified orders. Most immediately, that has been in terms of geography and primacy. The United States has been dethroned. Canada was knocked out by Nigeria. Germany was eliminated in favor of Morocco. The tectonic shifts have had the effect of flattening, broadening the game’s landscape.

But there has been a generational shift playing out in Australia and New Zealand, too. As the sun has set on the likes of Megan Rapinoe and Christine Sinclair, Alex Morgan and Marta, so their apparent successors have bloomed and flourished: a group of players in their late teens and early 20s, bookmarked at one end by 16-yearold Italian Giulia Dragoni and the other by Hinata Miyazawa, the 23-year-old Golden Boot apparent.

physical demands,” a representative said, as if that were not worrying in the slightest. “She is well and all is back to normal.”

Caicedo has always been able to meet whatever challenge she has encountered. That comes at a cost. Her roar after Colombia’s goal, the one that made it another milestone passed, was a necessary release valve, the expulsion of all of the pressure that comes with being the next big thing.

France ousts Morocco, scoring early and often Making it to midnight was always going to be a tall order for the Women’s World Cup’s last Cinderella team, Morocco. It turns out its tournament was over, for all intents and purposes, by 9:30 p.m. Tuesday in Adelaide, Australia.

By RORY SMITH and ANDREW DAS

On the far side of the field, Catalina Usme tore away, sprinting toward the fans. Her Colombia teammates followed in her wake, eating up the ground in the rush to close the distance, to catch her to celebrate the goal that would soon take the country past Jamaica and into the first Women’s World Cup quarterfinal in Colombia’s history.

Linda Caicedo was not among their number. When Usme had coolly converted Ana María Guzmán’s cross to give Colombia the lead in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday, Caicedo had turned the other way, toward the coaching area and the substitutes’ bench. She had tensed her arms, hanging low by her sides, clenched her fists, and roared: an expression not of joy or delirium but sheer, unbridled relief, the sound of something being released.

Caicedo’s emergence at this World Cup has not exactly been a surprise. She is only 18, but her talent has been so obvious, and so prodigious, for so long that she is anything but an overnight sensation. She has long been earmarked as the next big thing: for Colombia, for South America, and increasingly for women’s soccer as a whole.

Hers is the sort of promise that attracts almost universal attention. Caicedo has, for years, been courted by major European teams: Bayern Munich and Barcelona and Chelsea and the rest. This year, she and her mother spent several weeks in Europe, watching games and assessing potential suitors.

In the end, Caicedo gave her blessing to Real Madrid. Madrid, the world’s biggest men’s club, pitched her on the idea that she would be the cornerstone of its attempts to establish a similar prominence for its women’s team. When the club had first made its interest known, Caicedo was not old enough to drive in Spain.

It is not, then, so much that Caicedo is the breakout star of this tournament; she had, in all the ways that matter, broken out long ago. Instead, it is probably better cast as something closer to an inauguration: her goal against

The bright spots for the United States all fell into that pool: Sophia Smith, Naomi Girma and Trinity Rodman. Melchie Dumornay, the teenage Haitian, stood out even when cast against England’s highly polished midfield, one that included the explosive — for good and for ill — Lauren James, 21. Mary Fowler has shouldered much of Australia’s burden in the absence of Sam Kerr. Yet Caicedo stands front and center.

There is a pressure attendant in that, of course. “When Linda shines, we shine,” as her teammate Jorelyn Carabalí put it. Caicedo is adamant that she does not feel inhibited, that she tries still to play as she did “in the neighborhood, when I was a kid.” But she is human; she knows her country’s “dream” is reliant to some extent on her.

She may already have accomplished enough to last a lifetime, but that does not mean her youth is irrelevant. A couple of days after Colombia’s opening game, a 2-0 win against South Korea, she collapsed on the field during a training session, clutching her chest. The leaders of Colombia’s soccer federation downplayed the incident, attributing it to the fact that she was simply “very tired.” “What happened was just a symptom of all the stress and

France had the final round-of-16 game well in hand by then, after goals by Kadidiatou Diani, Kenza Dali and Eugénie Le Sommer in the game’s first 23 minutes. Morocco gave it a go after that, eventually losing by 4-0, but its World Cup was effectively over after three early defensive lapses led to three early goals.

Diani had a hand in all three of France’s goals in the first half, scoring the first and creating the other two. She now has four goals in the World Cup. Le Sommer has three. Le Sommer added her second goal in the 70th minute, and France could have had even more on a night when they saw more open chances than Morocco did chances of any kind.

All four French goals came from players who were unmarked, a sign that while Morocco had made great strides in its first World Cup — recording its first goals, its first wins and its first trip to the knockouts — it still has a lot to learn if it hopes to run with the world’s best teams regularly over 90 minutes.

The victory was the latest sign of a tournament snapping back into form after a run of surprises, upsets and parity. Seven of the eight quarterfinalists won their firstround groups, and the one that did not — Spain — was on everyone’s list of title contenders.

France, with 10 goals in its past two games, will face Australia, refreshed by Sam Kerr’s return, on Saturday. With England facing Colombia in the other game on this side of the knockout-round bracket, a first-time World Cup finalist is assured.

FIFA Women’s World Cup Quarterfinals (all times

Eastern Standard Time)

Today’s Game

Spain vs. Netherlands (9 p.m., FOX)

Friday’s Game

Japan vs. Sweden (3:30 a.m., FOX)

Saturday’s Games

Australia vs. France (3 a.m., FOX)

England vs. Colombia (6:30 a.m., FOX)

Kenza Dali, right, scored France’s second goal.

Linda Caicedo has had a rapid rise in women’s soccer, signaling a generational shift in her sport.

The San Juan Daily Star Thursday, August 10, 2023 27

A baseball trip to Mexico City. But first, a pilgrimage.

By JAMES WAGNER

The moment Isidro Piña hopped out of the taxi, he made a beeline for the woman selling candles on the sidewalk. He asked how much they cost — 25 Mexican pesos each, or $1.50 — and whipped out his wallet. He wanted three: one for himself and one for each of the friends who had accompanied him to the Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe in Mexico City.

“I get goosebumps whenever I’m here,” Piña said in Spanish as the group walked through the main church.

In some ways, Piña, Mario Morales and Daniel Nuñez blended into the crowd. They wore plain clothes — jeans, T-shirts and sneakers — and knelt alongside hundreds. But they were a tad bigger than most. All three are professional baseball players for the Olmecas de Tabasco, a team in the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol, or the Mexican Baseball League, that had come to the capital to play the Diablos Rojos del México.

Instead of lounging around the team hotel or going shopping the morning before a recent night game, they followed an unofficial tradition among professional baseball players in this predominantly Catholic country: a pilgrimage to one of the most visited religious sites in the world — an estimated 20 million people come annually — home to the figure known as the Queen of Mexico and Empress of the Americas.

After Brazil, no country has more Catholics than Mexico. The colorful iconography of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe is ubiquitous throughout the country: at taxi stands, hospitals, parks, restaurants, homes and even in people’s wallets. Dec. 12 — which commemorates when Catholics believe Mary, the mother of Jesus, appeared to an Indigenous man named Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin in 1531 — is treated like a national holiday. And Mexicans of all walks of life, even professional baseball players, try to visit the shrine as often as they can.

So whenever a team in the Mexican League is in town to play the Diablos Rojos, they make a trip on their own. When the Bravos de León were in Mexico City a month ago, a group consisting of the team’s owner, his family, the general manager and eight players went the morning before a game. A week later, the Olmecas did the same.

“Here in Mexico, it’s all about the Virgin of Guadalupe,” said Piña, 34, adding later, “It’s like going to visit your mother.”

The Olmecas’ recent effort was spearheaded by Piña, a veteran catcher on a team that had the third-best record in the league this year and began its postseason Tuesday. He first visited the basilica as an 18-year-old in 2007, his first year with the Sultanes de Monterrey, after his older teammates organized the outing. He has returned almost every year since. And in 2010, while Piña’s wife was pregnant with their first daughter and he prayed that everything would turn out well, he made a promise while at the basilica that whenever he was in Mexico City he would visit.

“Whenever I enter here, I feel a peace and tranquility that makes me let go of everything,” he said. “That’s why I like coming.”

Over the years, Piña has brought teammates from other countries, including the Dominican Republic and the United States. But the majority of those who come are Mexican because, he said, they, too, grew up understanding the religious and cultural importance of Guadalupe.

So weeks before the Olmecas flew to Mexico City for the three-game series with the Diablos Rojos, Piña was recruiting teammates for the basilica trip. They planned for the group to be larger than it ended up being, but one player was traded to another team and another was sick. Morales and Nuñez, who are both Mexican, said yes instantly.

“My first time was with my fam-

ily when I was about 10 years old,” said Morales, 29, a pitcher who was born in California and noted how his faith and devotion to Mary were passed down by his mother, who is from near Guadalajara. “It was lovely and I’ve always had the idea of returning.”

Nuñez, 20, a pitcher from Yucatán, in southeastern Mexico, first visited the Guadalupe grounds with his mother when he was 12 while he was part of a national team training in Mexico City, but he never went inside the main church. So as Nuñez walked through it recently, his eyes grew wide. After the three players admired the original image of the Lady of Guadalupe hanging high above the altar and snapped photos on their cellphones, Nuñez noted the significance to him.

“It’s an indescribable sensation,” he said. “I want to bring my family next year.”

Religion plays a large role in the sports culture throughout Latin America.

Across the Mexican League, several teams have small shrines at their stadiums. The Diablos Rojos have an alcove built into the wall en route from the home clubhouse to the dugout that is filled with images of the Virgin of Guadalupe, statues of other saints, crosses and candles. Players occasionally bring flowers and some said they kneel there to pray before games. Even at Estadio Azteca, the Mexico City soccer stadium that is among the most iconic in the world, there is

a Guadalupe altar in the tunnel leading to the field.

Atlas, the Mexican soccer club, won a title last year and took its trophy to the cathedral in Guadalajara for a service. Before this season, the Olmecas had a priest give Mass on the field at their new stadium. Some teams pray together before games. In León, the Bravos have a locker in their clubhouse reserved for Jesus, with a No. 33 jersey bearing his name.

“In Latin America,” Diablos manager Víctor Bojórquez said, “people are big believers.”

Morales said his faith and visiting the basilica helped calm him during the ups and downs of the season. He prayed to avoid injuries, having undergone shoulder surgery in 2021. Nuñez said he has a spiritual routine before games: prayer and remembering his grandfather, a former baseball player who, on his deathbed, made his grandson promise that he would become a professional player one day.

“I made it,” Nuñez said, “so every time I pitch, I write his name on the mound.”

Outside of the main basilica, the players did what many others were also doing: They lit their candles, closed their eyes to ask for a special intention and placed them in the repository. Then they walked to the grounds’ other chapels, including the 300-year-old original basilica, with Piña serving as a tour guide as they went.

As they easily climbed the steps to the Capilla del Cerrito on the Tepeyac Hill, where Mary is believed to have first appeared to Juan Diego, the players joked that they could handle the strain of Mexico City’s 7,400-foot altitude because of their profession. Around them, Mexican families, foreign tourists and even people with suitcases trudged upward, too.

Before heading back, the players stopped by the many markets surrounding the Guadalupe grounds. Piña bought several religious trinkets, including a 2-foot statue. Nuñez scored six Guadalupe themed key chains for his family. Morales bought a magnet to add to his mother’s collection of his travels. And because of the hot, sunny weather, they bought drinks — horchata and fruit juices — for the 43-minute ride back through the typically heavy Mexico City traffic to the team hotel.

Their taxi arrived just before 2 p.m. The bus for the stadium would leave in two hours. A game awaited at 7 p.m.

Isidro Piña, center, a professional baseball player for the Olmecas de Tabasco, with his teammates, Mario Morales, right, and Daniel Nuñez, during a trip to the Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe in Mexico City, July 15, 2023.

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

Answers on page 30

Wordsearch

Aries (Mar 21-April 20)

This is a great day to go to thrift stores, Aries. Your eye for beauty is keen and your radar for good deals is sharp. Lady Luck is with you and you may score some terrific buys. Concentrate on beautiful objects for your home that adorn your life. One person’s trash is another’s treasure. See how creative you can be with making old items into treasures.

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

Things that have been building for a long time suddenly come to a head today, Taurus. Strong, slow-moving trends rear their ugly heads. There’s a great deal of opposition now making itself known in your life. Try not to lose yourself in the situation. See this as an opportunity to gain perspective and bring balance to the roller coaster that is your emotional life.

Gemini (May 22-June 21)

It may be difficult to get moving today, Gemini. You may want to just stay in bed. Don’t feel guilty about it. Take an afternoon nap and enjoy the tender company of a partner. Stick close to home and enjoy good music and a fine meal with someone you love. Don’t rock the boat. Simply relax and enjoy the pleasures life has to offer.

Cancer (June 22-July 23)

Check your stocks today, Cancer. Read the latest investment news and assess your finances. Figure out the best place to put your hard-earned money. Do some serious long-term planning to make sure your home and family are secure. Take a reserved, stable approach in all your dealings with others, and spend a comfortable evening at home with someone you love.

Leo (July 24-Aug 23)

There may be something or someone trying to slow you down today, Leo. Maybe this is a sign that it’s what you need to do. Don’t fight the urge to sit on the couch and do nothing. Take this day to soak in a hot bath and recharge your spirit. Your personal possessions and security are of great importance now. Indulge in the good things that life has to offer.

Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)

Put some roots down today, Virgo. Concentrate on a creative project that you’ve had in your head for a while. It’s time to follow through. Ideas are great, but implementation is the key to making them work. Consolidate your resources and take the time to make a plan. The more patient you are in plotting your actions today, the more successful you will be in seeing them through to completion.

Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)

If you plan on arguing for a cause today, make sure you have solid facts to back up your statements, Libra. People aren’t likely to fall for things too easily. It will take a great deal to change someone’s mind about something. It’s a great day for you to take a walk through the woods. Get back to the Earth. Try to bring some greenery into your living space.

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)

Today is a very expansive day for you, Scorpio. Long-term projects are coming into focus. There’s a huge windfall coming your way. Your ego should experience an extra boost and your relationships should go extremely well. This would be a great time to attend to your financial investments and think about putting money into real estate or remodeling your home.

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)

Connect with people on a deep level, Sagittarius. Much of your focus is on emotional security. Make sure your home is a sanctuary where you feel comfortable being exactly who you are. Demonstrate patience and understanding through your words and actions. The more solid and steady you are, the more you will do and the more you will connect with the people around you.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)

Much of your focus today will be on personal possessions and material goods in general, Capricorn. Think about what you can do to improve your home. Make your physical surroundings comfortable and inviting. Spend time alone in your sanctuary where you can center and concentrate on the big picture. Physical comfort and beauty will translate into emotional security.

Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)

Much of your focus today will be on personal possessions and material goods in general, Capricorn. Think about what you can do to improve your home. Make your physical surroundings comfortable and inviting. Spend time alone in your sanctuary where you can center and concentrate on the big picture. Physical comfort and beauty will translate into emotional security.

Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)

Be gentle and reserved in your approach, Pisces. There’s a great deal of tenderness in the air that you should tune into and enjoy. Do things to improve your home. Make amends with the people you live with and clear the air so that relations will be calm in the future. You have a great deal of yourself invested in making your home a sanctuary, so respect and nourish it.