Wednesday Nov 30, 2022

Public-private partnership proposed for Mayagüez zoo

By THE STAR STAFF

The Save the Dr. Juan A. Rivero Zoo Foundation seeks to ensure short- and long-term development of the zoo in Mayagüez through a public-private partnership (P3) under the National Parks Program and the island Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), foundation president Lynette Matos said Tuesday.

A P3 would allow the Mayagüez zoo to: receive more income, labor, specialized veterinary medical care by species, continuing education for the work team, medical equipment and acquisition of controlled drugs for animals according to medical orders, Matos noted. It would also allow for evaluating the transfer or exchange of animals with other zoos or sanctuaries globally, and an additional amount of labor would be provided at no cost to the Puerto Rico government, she said.

“Therefore, we intend to have a relevant role for the development of the zoo and we know that in that sense private enterprise, civil society and municipalities have to find new ways to guarantee proper functioning in the pres ent and future,” Matos said. “Public-private partnerships allow us to advance in the development of projects and the provision of services in a more efficient, balanced and less expensive way, We have the team willing to help, with the capacity, knowledge and experience necessary with respect to zoos, wild and exotic animals, animal welfare and veterinary medical care.”

The proposed P3 would include the creation of a steering committee with staff from the Save the Dr. Juan A. Rivero Zoo Foundation, the Municipality of Mayagüez and the community along with the National Parks Superin tendency and the DNER, maintaining at the same time the

support of the academic and civic sector that characterizes the organization.

The steering committee would also be responsible for assigning independent auditors who will ensure the control and monitoring of work, income and investments, guarantee ing the fulfillment of the contracts and the assigned funds, in order to guarantee the best quality at the lowest possible cost.

“To achieve those goals, everyone needs to do their part: governments, the private sector, civil society and the citizen,” Matos said. “A vision for the future would be established between all parties, with specific actions adjustable to the times we live in in the face of climate change. The Alliance would provide a portal with real-time information on the status of each animal, their condition and treatments, and the public would have 24-hour access to knowing how they are.”

Immediate entry would be guaranteed for animals confiscated by the DNER, which would receive veterinary medical attention plus habitat and the appropriate diet for each species, with the aim of achieving a positive impact for the island’s natural resources and environmental protection.

“The proposal arises as the result of a process we have carried out that includes feasibility studies, sustain able development, marketing, tourism, and the creation of a specific plan for parks and zoological forests, among other important details,” Matos said. “All this has been done with the help and collaboration of veterinarians, animal welfare inspectors, zoologists, biologists and businessmen who have come together to propose this alternative to the Government of Puerto Rico, in order to ensure the future of the zoo and the welfare of its animals, also with the aim of facing the historical deterioration of the zoo, optimizing its structural condition and modernizing it according to the requirements of regulatory agencies such as the federal Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).”

Currently, the Save the Dr. Juan A. Rivero Zoo Foundation is reiterating its commitment to the zoo’s bear exhibit.

“We have always been saying ‘pres ent’ for the zoo of Puerto Rico, whether providing food for the animals when an order is delayed, medicines, equipment, tools, or improvements to their habitats among other needs,” Matos said. “If the DNER needs help improving the bear enclosure, we are in the best position to collaborate with the department to improve this and other areas. … The most important thing is that the animals are kept well under human care; that is always paramount.”

Fiscal board gives PREPA 2 weeks to provide data from fuel procurement contracts

By THE STAR STAFF

The Financial Oversight and Management Board gave Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) Executive Director Josué Colón Ortiz until Dec. 16 to provide information about the public utility’s fuel procurement contracts.

“Investigations by multiple Commonwealth entities and the Legislative Assembly have highlighted serious shortcom ings that have put PREPA and Puerto Rico’s ratepayers at a disadvantage,” the oversight board said. “Since 2017, PREPA’s Certified Fiscal Plans have called on PREPA’s management to focus on improving and reforming its fuel procurement and contract management policies to promote market-based contracts with terms and conditions that are favorable to PREPA’s needs and that ultimately result in lower costs to PREPA’s customers.”

“Over the years, PREPA has made some progress in improving its fuel procurement processes, most significantly by moving away from direct negotiations and using market information and competition to increase supplier interest and process transparency,” the board added. “Despite this improvement, there are still areas of opportunity for incre mental improvement that PREPA, and eventually the operator of PREPA’s legacy generation assets, are expected to pursue.”

Additionally, close attention should be provided to the management of fuel supply and logistic operation and contracts, such that the generation system can ensure a continued and uninterrupted supply of fuel, the oversight board said in a letter on Monday.

“The recent natural gas shortage, as well as other man agement and logistic issues identified over time, highlight the need to review and assess internal management processes,” the letter said.

Fuel purchases are projected to total $2.9 billion in fiscal year 2023.

The oversight board noted that on Oct. 26, it approved with observations PREPA’s proposed bunker fuel supply contract with PUMA Energy Caribe LLC. PREPA represent ed to the oversight board that it had negotiated a one-year extension option, at PREPA’s discretion, and the contract

submitted for the board’s review included such language.

“However, without prior notice, as required by our contract review policy, PREPA filed with the Office of the Comptroller a contract that reflected an extension clause requiring mutual agreement, contrary to the approval provided by the Oversight Board,” the board pointed out.

“Please explain the reasons for which PREPA changed this clause after approval from the Oversight Board, and the reasons for not notifying such change prior to the filing of the contract with the Office of the Comptroller, as required by our contract review policy,” the oversight board said.

The board also asked PREPA for clarifications as PRE PA’s fuel reports for the months of July to August 2022, it noted, seem to suggest that the adder paid by PREPA for diesel is $10.70, $3 more than the amount agreed to under PREPA’s existing diesel supply contract with Novum Energy Trading Inc.

“Please provide copies of all the invoices submitted by Novum in connection with the supply of diesel to PREPA from July 2022 to the present,” the board said. “Please confirm whether, since the date of execution of the 2021 Novum contract, PREPA has made any changes to the fuel specifications to be supplied by Novum and, if so, the generation units to which such changes apply.”

The oversight board also asked for explanations as to why PREPA was forced to undertake a one-time, last-minute purchase of 30,000 cubic meters of natural gas in order to prevent EcoEléctrica from running out of fuel and risking a significant power deficiency on the island.

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

The Dental Surgeons Association of Puerto Rico, through its president, Dr. Arminda Rivera Mora, spoke out on Tuesday against the decisions by healthcare plans such as MMM that announced last week a reduction in the rates paid to dental professionals at the exact time when the plans are attracting Advantage patients with wider dental coverage that seems to offer more at the expense of lowering dentists’ rates. “This unilateral and unfair decision is coupled with the inabil ity of the Health Services Administration [ASES by its Spanish initials] to comply with a dental fee rate approved in 2018 that included a 70 percent increase in 2019,” Rivera Molina said in a written statement. “This comes after more than 25 years without an increase in dental rates.”

“Both scenarios contribute to the fact that this professional class has lost about 500 dentists in the last decade, a situation that puts the access of patients to a dentist in a precarious po sition, creates delays in the availability of appointments and leaves [dental] professionals economically burdened with un

sustainable operational costs including increases and instability in electricity, water and materials. Also alarming is the shortage of dental assistants, who prefer to work in fast food restaurants

because they receive better pay, because insurers are the ones who set the rates, according to their economic convenience and not following a scientific or standard system, and the dentist is unable to increase the salary of the auxiliary staff, already scarce.”

“Four years have passed and every executive director of ASES informs us that the increase is already approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services pending the Financial Oversight and Management Board,” she continued. “In March, Jorge Galva, [ASES] executive director at the time, informed us that the increase was now official, which would be retroactive to October 2021. “However, the increase has never materialized. Dentists cannot continue to subsidize oral health, much less when insurers continue to increase their profits quarterly. If the government does not comply with the agreements established with the [service] suppliers, how does it intend to supervise the insurers that are totally free?”

Rivera Mora expressed disappointment with the lack of support and oversight by the government, which she said is unable to accommodate providers, who are responsible for the health the people deserve and who find themselves with their hands tied and deaf ears turned to their demands.

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority Executive Director

Josué Colón Ortiz

Governor inclined toward indefinite LUMA contract

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

One day before the expiration of the supplementary contract awarded to LUMA Energy, Gov. Pedro Pier luisi Urrutia said Tuesday that he is inclined toward the permanence of the private con sortium contracted to operate the electrical energy transmission and distribution system on the island, but his inclination is that it be indefinite.

“Well, that’s that talking point. That is on the table and the board of the Public-Pri vate Partnerships Authority [P3A] continues in session today. This afternoon,” the governor said in response to questions from the press.

The P3A approved the contract later on Tuesday and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) will vote on it today.

“What I hope is that at some point tomorrow [Wednesday], I will make more definitive statements on this issue, because it depends on precisely what is being discussed within the board of [the] Public-Private Partnerships [Authority].”

On the extension of the supplemen tary contract, Pierluisi said: “That is being discussed.”

“There are several undefined options. I’m going to be cautious in my remarks on purpose, because what I want is to give flexibility to the members of the Board to try to reach consensus,” he said. “One option is if it extends until the bankruptcy process is over. Another option would be to put a specific date on the extension. These are two

The Financial Oversight and Management Board approved the contract between LUMA Energy, the Public-Private Partnerships Authority and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority on Tuesday.

options that, as I said, an option that so far, since LUMA has not embraced it, is that … the period of effectiveness of the contract begins at 15 years, which has different terms, a lower payment for LUMA and a process of bonuses and penalties established in the contract itself based on the metric. Because of that, so far, the only thing on the table is the possible extension.”

Likewise, the governor gave assur ances that the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau will promptly publish the metrics for the evaluation and supervision of LUMA Energy.

“Something that is kind of ignored in the public discussion is that the Energy Bureau has jurisdiction to supervise LUMA and to impose penalties, fines to punish if

there is any type of substantial breach with the metrics that the Bureau itself establishes,” the governor noted. “The Bureau is in the process of already publishing some metrics. It is not that they are final because they can always be reviewed, but metrics that would be binding. So the Bureau has an important role. But what happens with the supplementary contract is that it establishes a fixed rate for a fixed payment for LUMA for its service. If it were extended under the current terms, there would be no increase, it would be to continue paying the same. That’s what I can say.”

Regarding his request for a change in the management of LUMA Energy, the gov ernor replied that: “Well, I did, I made the

demand for a change in management and I am waiting.” “Basically what I have said and I reiterate is that what I do not want to happen and I am doing everything possible so that it does not happen, is that the con tract is canceled and that LUMA falls into a period of transition to exit,” Pierluisi said. “I would tell you that’s the most important thing that weighs on me right now, because that scenario is terrible for Puerto Rico.”

“Well, yes, if the supplementary con tract is not extended and on the other hand, the one that applies, the 15-year contract, the base contract, is not agreed to, because then we automatically have a termination and a transition period,” he added. “And then, and in the same way, the Public-Private Partner ships Authority is obliged to begin a process of searching for another, another entity that replaces LUMA. That is what I want to avoid by all means and I hope it does not happen. What I said yesterday, I repeat, is this. This, the possible extension, is not a transaction covered by the Energy Transformation Law, that is, Law 120 of 2018, because it is merely an extension that is already provided in the contract itself, which the [P3A] unanimously approved. … How that approval was given in a bipartisan way. So that’s what I’ve said and I reiterate, but I want to be flexible in the process. Let’s see what happens.”

Later on Tuesday, the Financial Over sight and Management Board also approved the contract between LUMA Energy, the P3A and PREPA.

LUMA Energy is the author of the contract.

Authorities investigating alleged terrorist threat against island power grid

By THE STAR STAFF

Authorities confirmed on Monday that they are investi gating an alleged terrorist threat against Puerto Rico’s electrical system, which was received from New York.

Puerto Rico Police Bureau Commissioner Antonio López Figueroa said the alleged threat received through the New York 911 emergency system on Nov. 22 is under investigation.

The police chief said a security plan was established, which includes surveillance of the island’s various electrical network facilities, which belong to the state-owned Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and are controlled by the private consortium LUMA Energy.

Regardless of where a terrorist threat originates, López

Figueroa said, the police take threats seriously “in order to prevent any incident that threatens the stability of the system on which all citizens in Puerto Rico depend.”

LUMA Energy said that any threat to the power grid is taken seriously, so it works with federal and local authorities to address any risk to the electrical system. The contract with LUMA Energy expired Tuesday, but Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia said it is slated to be extended.

Homeland Security Investigations, which is the prima ry investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI are leading the investigation.

The news was announced after hundreds of people protested on Sunday in front of La Fortaleza to demand the nonrenewal of the island government’s contract with LUMA Energy, which the governor has defended.

Puerto Rico Police Bureau Commissioner Antonio López Figueroa

Hurricane season ends, marked by quiet August and deadly September

By HENRY FOUNTAIN

An erratic North Atlantic hurricane season comes to an end this week, with an average number of storms, a rare quiet spell in August and destructive late-season activity, including the deadliest hurricane to hit the United States in nearly two decades.

The six-month season, which officially began June 1 and ends Wednesday, had 14 named storms, eight of which strengthened to become hurricanes. Two of these, Fiona and Ian, were major hurricanes, with maximum sustained winds of at least 130 mph.

The totals are about average for a hurri cane season. Some forecasters had expected an above-average season, although most predicted that the numbers for 2022 would remain below those for 2021, which had 21 named storms, and well below 2020, which set a record with 31.

The total of 14 storms was at the low end of predictions by forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad

ministration, who said as late as August that there could be 14 to 20 named storms, including six to 10 hurricanes and three to five major ones.

“We were one major hurricane short,” said the administration’s lead hurricane outlook forecaster, Matthew Rosencrans. They were also off in forecasting that the combined intensity of the entire season’s storms, a measure called accumulated cyclone energy, would be higher than it actually was.

Rosencrans said in August that the pres ence of the climate pattern called La Niña, which is characterized by unusually cool water temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, could lead to greater hurricane activ ity. In the Atlantic during a La Niña there is often less wind shear, and that allows tropi cal storms and hurricanes to grow stronger.

But Rosencrans said Tuesday that it ap peared that there was significant wind shear during the season and especially in August, when no storms fully formed. Normally, midAugust is the beginning of peak hurricane

season, which lasts until mid-October.

The quiet August “was the real unfore cast surprise of the season,” he said. A lack of moisture at high altitudes in the tropical Atlantic where storms begin their develop ment may have played a role as well, he said.

Recent hurricane seasons have been marked by the development of one or more storms before the official start of the season. But this year, for the first time since 2014, there were no storms before June 1.

For two months, the season progressed slowly, with only three named storms by the end of July. This is not unusual; ocean waters are cooler and provide less of the energy that fuels storms. Hurricane activity picks up after the summer sun has warmed the ocean.

After the August lull, activity accelerated in September, with four hurricanes, including the two major ones.

In mid-September, Fiona slammed into Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm. It dumped more than 30 inches of rain on parts of the island, leading to at least 25 deaths and

further damaging infrastructure that had yet to be fully repaired after being damaged in Hurricane Maria five years before.

Two weeks later, Ian, another Category 4 hurricane, struck Florida with winds as high as 150 mph. Together with rain and winddriven tidal surges, that led to at least 114 deaths, most of them in the southwestern part of the state. It was Florida’s deadliest storm in nearly a century, and the deadliest in the United States since Katrina killed more than 1,800 people in southern Louisiana in 2005.

The season was notable in several other ways. Two storms crossed from the Atlan tic basin to the Pacific, traversing Central America. The last time any storm did this was in 2016. “That is quite a rare phenomenon,” Rosencrans said.

And earlier this month, the season’s last storm, Hurricane Nicole, became the first to strike Florida in November in nearly four decades. While at Category 1 it was not as strong as Fiona or Ian, it hit in some of the areas severely damaged by Ian just six weeks before.

In mid-September, Hurricane Fiona slammed into Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm. It dumped more than 30 inches of rain on parts of the island, leading to at least 25 deaths and further damaging infrastructure that had yet to be fully repaired after being damaged in Hurricane Maria five years before.

Biden helped Democrats avert a ’22 disaster. What about ’24?

By KATIE GLUECK

Expecting a cataclysmic midterm election, many Democrats had been bracing for an end-of-year reckoning with whether President Joe Biden, who once declared himself a “bridge” to a new generation, should give way to a new 2024 standard-bearer.

But the stronger-than-expected Demo cratic showing has taken the pressure off.

And Donald Trump’s decision to announce a run for president again, and the Republican backlash against him, have abruptly quieted Democrats’ public expres sions of anxiety over Biden’s poor approval ratings, while reminding them of Biden’s past success over Trump.

Now, as Biden mulls a decision over whether to seek a second term, interviews with more than two dozen Democratic elected officials and strategists suggest that, whatever misgivings some Democrats may harbor about another Biden candidacy, his party is more inclined for now to defer to him than to try to force a frontal clash with a sitting president.

In recent days, officials ranging from Rep. Henry Cuellar, one of the most con servative House Democrats, to Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progres sive Caucus, have said they would support another Biden bid.

In private conversations, younger Democratic operatives have shifted from discussing potential job opportunities in a competitive presidential primary to gaming out what a Biden reelection campaign might look like. And a variety of lawmakers have lauded Biden for the party’s history-defying midterm performance, crediting him with the major legislative accomplishments they were able to run on and with pressing a message that cast Republican candidates as extremists who threatened democracy.

Already, Biden appears to be improving Democrats’ confidence in him: A recent USA Today/Ipsos poll found that 71% of Democrats surveyed believe he could win in 2024, up from 60% who said the same in August, although they were evenly divided on whether he should be the 2024 nominee.

The concerns about Biden’s overall weak standing in public opinion polls —

which was a burden for many Democratic candidates — have not dissipated entirely. And some Democrats say that the challenges confronting the 80-year-old president and his party should not be glossed over in the party’s relief over the outcome of the elections.

Stanley B. Greenberg, a veteran De mocratic pollster, pointed to a postelection survey that highlighted Democratic vulnera bilities. The poll, conducted by the organiza tion Greenberg helped found, warned of “the continuing risk of a Republican challenge centered on borders and crime.” It determi ned that “Trump may have been weakened in this election, but another leader with that message” poses “an accelerated risk.”

In an interview, Greenberg said he came away from the survey “believing Democrats have huge issues to address.” While “President Biden has done remarkable things,” he added, “I think we need a new voice to address huge challenges but also huge opportunities.”

Surveys of voters leaving the polls found that two-thirds, including nearly onethird of Democrats, said they did not want Biden to run for president again — although Biden’s allies have noted those numbers are not predictive of how voters would respond when presented with a choice between the

president and a Republican candidate. At a postelection news conference, Biden insis ted that those poll ratings would not affect his decision. He has said that he intends to run but planned to discuss the race with his family over the holidays and could announce a decision early next year.

David Axelrod, who served as chief strategist for President Barack Obama, said the midterm elections had given Biden “a little giddyup in his step.” As for a run for a second term, Axelrod said, “If he were 60 and not 80, there would be absolutely no doubt.”

Republicans have long made issues of Biden’s age and verbal missteps, and polls show that plenty of Democrats, too, have reservations about Biden’s age.

“Most people in this country don’t know many 80-year-olds that can run the entire country,” said Tyler Jones, a Democra tic strategist in South Carolina. “That’s not to say that they don’t exist, and it’s not to say that he can’t do it, but it is a very rare thing. And so the burden, unlike most presidents, the burden is on Biden to show the country that he can not just win in ’24, but lead for the next four years.”

Jones said it would be “foolish and counterproductive” not to have a serious

conversation in the party about the strengths and weaknesses of a Biden candidacy.

But there is no doubt that Biden would have a significant edge should he run again, the kind of advantage that a man who sought the presidency for decades might resist giving up. It is rare for an incumbent president to lose reelection — or, in recent years, to face a major primary threat — and the Democratic National Committee has already laid ground work to support Biden in 2024, preparing to take on a variety of Republican candidates. Biden’s political advisers have also been ramping up outreach to his early backers, and his team has scheduled a gathering for major supporters and key party figures to discuss the administration’s agenda Dec. 15 at the White House.

Asked about concerns some Ame ricans have about Biden’s age, Andrew Bates, a White House spokesperson, said Biden had the “most successful legislative record of any president since Lyndon Johnson,” citing achievements on infrastructure and gun policy. He extolled Biden’s record on the world stage and his political strengths.

“The same coalition President Biden built to expand the map for Democrats in 2020 powered our historic midterm wins, including unprecedented youth turnout,” Bates said. “The president galvanized in dependent voters with a message widely adopted across the party, highlighting the differences between his values and ultraMAGA Republicans’ agenda.”

Regardless of the next Republican nominee’s age, some Democrats suggest the GOP is vulnerable to the same issues that drove major defeats this year.

“Republicans failed in a year when they should have been hugely successful,” said Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois. “People have rejected the anti-little ‘d’ democratic values that they have run on.”

Others argue that it would be possible to support Biden if he runs while also backing generational change in the party.

Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska De mocratic Party, stressed her hope that, overall, “batons are beginning to be passed.” But she also said she would back another Biden run.

“It doesn’t have to be all or nothing,” she said.

President Joe Biden, second from right, and former President Barack Obama, right, campaign for state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, left, then the Democratic candidate for governor, and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, then the Democratic candidate for the Senate, in Philadelphia on Nov. 5, 2022. Shapiro and Fetterman both defeated their Republican opponents.

Supreme Court seems poised to limit public corruption cases

But Reaves, in focusing on whether someone was a functional government official, would sweep in many other kinds of people seeking to influence official actions, Kagan said.

“You don’t have to be a former official,” Kagan said of the lawyer’s theory. “You don’t need to be a future official.” It should not be enough, she said, to be “just a really, really good lobbyist.”

Thomas seemed wary of federal prosecutions of state offi cials, suggesting that local authorities should police state politics.

“The state of New York doesn’t seem to be upset about this arrangement,” he said of the payments to Percoco, adding, “It seems as though we are using a federal law to impose ethical standards on state activity.”

The justices do not always divide along the usual lines in public corruption cases. In 2020, the court unanimously overturned the convictions of two defendants in the so-called Bridgegate scandal, in which associates of Chris Christie, New Jersey’s governor, closed access lanes to the George Washington Bridge in 2013 to punish one of the governor’s political oppo nents. That was an abuse of power, the court ruled, but not a federal crime.

Similarly, the court in 2016 unanimously overturned the conviction of Bob McDonnell, a former governor of Virginia who had accepted luxury products, loans and vacations from a business executive. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court, narrowed the definition of what sort of conduct can serve as the basis of a corruption prosecution.

By ADAM LIPTAK

The Supreme Court, which has become increasingly skep tical of federal prosecutions of public corruption in state government, seemed poised earlier this week to hand prosecutors two more defeats.

The justices heard arguments in two cases involving de fendants convicted of fraud during former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration in New York. One concerned Joseph Percoco, a former aide to Cuomo convicted of taking illicit payments to benefit a Syracuse-area developer.

The other involved Louis Ciminelli, the owner of a Buffalo construction firm convicted of fraud in a bid-rigging scandal in connection with Buffalo Billion, a development project cham pioned by Cuomo.

The question in the first case, Percoco v. United States, No. 21-1158, was whether Percoco could be prosecuted under a federal law that makes it a crime to deprive the government of

“honest services” for conduct that took place after he resigned his government position to run the governor’s 2014 reelection campaign.

Yaakov M. Roth, a lawyer for Percoco, said the law applies only to people who exercise the authority of the government, a power he said his client had lacked when he received the payments.

“What he did have, like many lobbyists and donors and interest groups and others, was influence — in his case, influence drawn from years of public service, from a close relationship to the Cuomo family and from his senior campaign role,” Roth said. “But none of that creates a fiduciary duty to the public.”

Percoco returned to the government about eight months after he left it, following Cuomo’s reelection.

Justice Clarence Thomas asked whether an official could resign for an afternoon, just long enough to take a bribe. Roth responded that such a bribe would very likely be in exchange for government action after the official’s return, which he said would be covered by the law.

Nicole F. Reaves, a lawyer for the federal government, said Percoco had remained a government official throughout the relevant period as a functional if not a formal matter.

Percoco “was able to attend internal government meet ings that no one else from outside the government was able to attend,” Reaves said. “He continued to have key card access. He continued to order his former secretary around. He continued to use government phones and offices.”

Justice Elena Kagan said Reaves’ argument went too far. It is one thing to prosecute officials who take a “little hiatus” and engage in graft, knowing they will return to the government.

He said that only formal and concrete government actions counted. What McDonnell had done, by contrast, the chief justice wrote, was arrange meetings for and attend events with his benefactor.

The second case Monday, Ciminelli v. United States, No. 21-1170, concerned what prosecutors said was a conspiracy to commit wire fraud by tailoring requests for proposals for work on the Buffalo development to include qualifications that would ensure the contracts would go to Ciminelli’s firm.

The prosecutors’ legal theory was that the defendants had committed fraud by depriving the government of its “right to control” the use of its assets by failing to disclose potentially valuable information.

By the time the case reached the Supreme Court, though, the government had disavowed the theory. That made for an awkward argument, one focused on how and how badly the government was going to lose.

Michael R. Dreeben, a lawyer for Ciminelli, said the government’s change in position meant that his client should be acquitted.

Eric J. Feigin, a lawyer for the federal government, sought to preserve the conviction under a new theory — which focused on the value of the contract — but he faced serious headwinds.

Justice Neil Gorsuch said, “I do admire the government’s concession of error here, and I appreciate the candor with which you’ve made it.”

But the justices seemed to have little appetite for consider ing the government’s new theory.

“Mr. Feigin, that’s not how it works,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said. “I mean, the fact that it might map on to another theory of fraud isn’t sufficient in a criminal case.”

The convictions of Louis Ciminelli, left, and Joseph Percoco appeared likely to be overturned after Supre me Court arguments on Monday.

For Trump’s Jewish allies, his dinner with antisemites is a breaking point

By JONATHAN WEISMAN

For much of Donald Trump’s presidency, Jewish Republicans rationalized away the bigoted fringe of Trump’s coalition, arguing that the unsavory supporters in his midst and the antisemitic tropes he deployed paled in compa rison with the staunchly pro-Israel policies of his administration.

But last week, Trump dined at his Palm Beach, Florida, palace, Mar-a-Lago, with per former Kanye West, who had already been denounced for making antisemitic statements, and with Nick Fuentes, an outspoken antisemite and Holocaust denier, granting the antisemitic fringe a place of honor at his table. Now, even some of Trump’s staunchest supporters say they can no longer ignore the abetting of bigotry by the nominal leader of the Republican Party.

“I am a child of survivors. I have become very frightened for my people,” Morton Klein, head of the right-wing Zionist Organization of America, said Monday, referring to his parents’ survival of the Holocaust. “Donald Trump is not an antisemite. He loves Israel. He loves Jews. But he mainstreams, he legitimizes Jew hatred and Jew haters. And this scares me.”

Not all Republican leaders have spoken out, but Jewish Republicans are slowly peeling away from a former president who, for years, insisted he had no ties to the bigoted far right, but refused to repudiate it. Jewish figures and organizations that have stood by Trump, from Klein’s group to pro-Trump commentator Ben Shapiro to Trump’s own former ambassador to Israel and onetime bankruptcy lawyer, David M. Friedman, have all spoken out since the dinner.

For Jews, the concern extends far beyond a single meal at Mar-a-Lago, though that dinner has become a touchstone, especially for Jewish Republicans.

“We have a long history in this country of separating the moral character of the man in the White House from his conduct in office, but with Trump, it’s gone beyond any of the reasonably acceptable and justifiable norms,” Jay Lefkowitz, a former adviser to former President George W. Bush and a supporter of many of Trump’s policies, said Monday.

For American Jewry, the debate since the dinner has brought into focus what may be the most discomfiting moment in U.S. history in a half-century or more.

“The normalization of antisemitism is here,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League.

On Monday afternoon, Sen. Chuck Schu mer, D-N.Y., the Democratic majority leader, went to the Senate floor to denounce Trump’s

actions as “disgusting and dangerous,” then called them “pure evil.”

West, a figure with an enormous following, has espoused hatred of the Jews. Basketball star Kyrie Irving has spread antisemitic views with a tweet, though he eventually apologized. NeoNazis are returning to Twitter, bringing memes and coded messages not seen for years, now that its new owner, Elon Musk, has reinstated accounts that had been blocked for bigotry. Musk himself on Monday tweeted a cartoon of “Pepe” the frog, a symbol adopted by the alt-right segment of the white supremacist movement. That followed a tweet last month of a German soldier from World War II, which was cited by white nationalist Telegram accounts as evidence of Musk’s like-mindedness.

And House Republican leaders say they will reinstate Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., to committees from which they were jettisoned by Democrats in part for their antisemitic comments or associating with white supremacists like Fuentes.

“The level of antisemitism being expressed, antisemitic acts at a very elevated level, and the acceptability of antisemitism — it is all creating an environment which is, thank God, unusual for the United States, and it has to be nipped in the bud. That’s it. That’s the moment we’re in,” said Rabbi Moshe Hauer, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, which represents the branch of Judaism that has been most supportive of Trump.

Trump tried during his presidency to keep the racists and antisemites who supported him at an arm’s distance without banishing them altogether. Many Jews accepted the sleight of hand because his policies delivered gift after gift to the right-wing Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu: moving the U.S. embassy to Jeru salem, relentlessly pressuring the Palestinians, recognizing the annexation of the Golan Heights, scuttling the nuclear accord with Iran, pursuing peace accords between Israel and the Gulf States, and above all, dropping any pressure to dismantle Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The issue nearly came to a head after the racist, antisemitic “Unite the Right” march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, when Trump said there had been “very fine people on both sides” of the deadly confrontation. Prominent Jewish members of his administration nearly resigned over Trump’s refusal to renounce the bigotry more forcefully.

Klein, in an interview, again defended Trump’s actions on Charlottesville, although he acknowledged being troubled by the president’s failure to clarify his “both sides” remark. Even now, Klein conceded, denouncing Trump was difficult for him. His group honored the former

president at a gala Nov. 13 for his actions on behalf of Israel, “and,” Klein said, “he deserved it.”

But Trump’s excuses for dining with Fuen tes and West — that he didn’t know the white supremacist and was offering his help to the musician — have fallen short. On Monday, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., wrote on Twitter, “President Trump hosting racist antisemites for dinner en courages other racist antisemites. These attitudes are immoral and should not be entertained. This is not the Republican Party.” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, denounced the dinner as well.

Shapiro, who came under near-constant attack in 2016 from neo-Nazi Trump supporters but stood by Trump at the time nonetheless, also rejected the former president’s excuses: “A good way not to accidentally dine with a vile racist and anti-Semite you don’t know is not to dine with a vile racist and anti-Semite you do know,” he wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

The Orthodox Union not only called on Trump to condemn his dinner guests and cut all ties with them, but also asked “responsible leaders — especially those in the Republican Party — to speak up, as former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman has, and be counted among those who explicitly reject antisemitism.” Quoting the Talmud, Hauer, the group’s executive vice president, said Trump’s good deeds on Israel did not negate his bad deeds on hate, and vice versa.

“That’s what makes life complex,” he said.

Appearing on CNN on Sunday, Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, who harbors ambitions to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, said, “I hope someday we won’t have to be responding to what former President Trump has said or done. In this instance, it’s important to respond.” He accused the former president of “empowering” the country’s bigoted extremes.

Others seem to have equivocated as they waited to see whether Trump would again weather the controversy. The Republican Jewish Coalition’s initial statement condemned Fuentes and West for their “virulent antisemitism” but did not mention the former president, instead calling “on all political leaders to reject their messages of hate and refuse to meet with them.”

Facing criticism, Matt Brooks, the group’s executive director, then followed with, “Let me dumb it down for y’all. We didn’t mention Trump in our @rjc statement even though it’s obviously in response to his meeting because we wanted it to be a warning to ALL Republicans. Duh!”

Ari Fleischer, a former press secretary under Bush and a member of the Republican Jewish Coalition’s board, said he accepted Trump’s sta tement that he didn’t know Fuentes. But he said Trump should have added that, “had he known, Fuentes would never have been allowed into Mar-a-Lago.”

Still, Fleischer tempered his criticism of Trump with an old photo of former President Ba rack Obama with Louis Farrakhan, the virulently antisemitic leader of the Nation of Islam. And he added, in an email: “I should also mention that I do not consider Trump an anti-Semite and I remain appreciative of his deep support for Israel and for the four peace treaties he helped secure in the Middle East. I do consider the former president someone who mistakenly succumbs to flattery from dangerous places.”

For his part, Trump shows no sign of con trition. His spokesperson, Liz Harrington, told a right-wing broadcaster Monday that Trump was “probably the most pro-Israel president we’ve ever had,” then added: “President Trump is not going to shy away from meeting with Kanye West.”

Kanye West embraces then-President Donald Trump during a visit to the Oval Offi ce on Oct. 11, 2018.

Crypto lender BlockFi files for bankruptcy as FTX fallout spreads

In announcing the funding, Zac Prince, the chief executive of BlockFi, said it would provide “access to capital that further bolsters our balance sheet.” The deal also gave FTX the option to buy BlockFi.

BlockFi subsequently borrowed $275 million from a sub sidiary of FTX, according to its bankruptcy filings. That financial entanglement meant that when FTX toppled and was forced to file for bankruptcy amid revelations of corporate missteps and suspicious management, BlockFi began to struggle, too.

A few days after the exchange collapsed, BlockFi told customers that they couldn’t withdraw their deposits because it had “significant exposure” to FTX, including additional funds the company had hoped to draw on under the agreement and other assets held on the FTX platform.

In its filing on Monday, BlockFi said it had about $257 million in cash on hand to help support its business through the bankruptcy. The company said in court filings it had more than 100,000 creditors, as well as $10 billion in assets and liabilities. It also said it would reduce expenses considerably, including la bor costs. It employed 850 people as of last year.

BlockFi also said it would focus on recovering all obli gations owed to the company, including those by FTX. Howe ver, it warned of delays in recovering assets from FTX given the exchange’s bankruptcy.

John J. Ray III, the new chief executive of FTX, who pre viously led Enron during its bankruptcy, has called the corporate dysfunction at FTX “unprecedented.” Legal experts say it could take years to unwind and recover assets.

By LAUREN HIRSCH, DAVID YAFFE-BELLANY and EPHRAT LIVNI

BlockFi, a cryptocurrency lender that targeted ordinary in vestors eager for a piece of the crypto mania, filed for bankruptcy on Monday, felled by its financial ties to FTX, the embattled exchange whose recent downfall has shaken the crypto industry to its core.

Based in Jersey City, New Jersey, BlockFi marketed itself

primarily to small investors, offering them loans backed by cryp tocurrency in minutes without credit checks, as well as accounts that paid high interest on crypto deposits. As of last year, the lender claimed to have more than 450,000 retail clients.

On Monday, BlockFi, which was founded in 2017, filed for Chapter 11 protection in New Jersey. Its implosion is the latest example of an industry built on shaky foundations, with compa nies so intertwined that a single wobble can unleash financial chaos.

BlockFi isn’t the first crypto lender to file for bankruptcy. In July, two of its rivals, Celsius Network and Voyager Digital, collapsed within a week of each other. They were struggling to right themselves after a market panic in the spring, when the value of many high-profile cryptocurrencies plummeted. Bitcoin alone fell 20% in a week.

BlockFi had been reeling since then. To stabilize itself, the lender struck a deal with FTX in June, which was seen as a safety net at the time given the exchange’s credibility and dominance in the crypto industry. FTX agreed to provide the company with a $400 million credit line — essentially a loan BlockFi could tap as needed.

Regulators had already been scrutinizing BlockFi. In Fe bruary, the Securities and Exchange Commission reached a $100 million settlement with the company’s lending arm for offering loans without registering them as securities, and for not registe ring itself as an investment company. The SEC also found Bloc kFi made false and misleading statements about the level of risk in its loan portfolio and lending activity.

BlockFi still owes the SEC $30 million, according to its bankruptcy filing, making the nation’s top securities cop its four th largest creditor. It owes $275 million to West Realm Shires, the parent company of FTX’s U.S. exchange and BlockFi’s second largest creditor. Its top creditor, at about $729 million, is Anku ra Trust Co., which specializes in managing loans for distressed companies.

According to documents filed with the bankruptcy court, Valar Ventures, which is backed partly by tech mogul Peter Thiel, owns 19% of BlockFi. A spokesperson for Thiel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“From inception, BlockFi has worked to positively shape the cryptocurrency industry and advance the sector,” said Mark Renzi of Berkeley Research Group, a financial adviser to the company. “BlockFi looks forward to a transparent process that achieves the best outcome for all clients and other stakeholders.”

BlockFi’s other bankruptcy advisers include the law firm Haynes and Boone, investment bank Moelis & Co. and strategic adviser C Street Advisory Group.

BlockFi advertisements at Union Station in Washington, Aug. 24, 2021.

Stocks, dollar dip while oil gains on China hopes

Wall Street lost ground on Tuesday as investors awaited guidance on the Federal Reserve’s rate hiking path, while the dollar also slipped and oil gained on hopes that protests in China could lead to looser COVID-19 restrictions.

The Australian dollar bounced back on Tuesday as in vestors hoped that China would ease COVID restrictions that have increased fears about global growth, while the U.S. dollar also dipped against the euro and yen. The op timism was derived from indications from Chinese health officials that the country would speed up COVID vaccina tions for elderly people.

U.S. Treasury trading was choppy ahead of a slew of data due later in the week and after a survey released on Tuesday showed that U.S. consumer confidence eased fur ther in November amid persistent worries about the rising cost of living.

Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Barkin became the latest official to douse speculation the U.S. central bank would reverse course on interest rates relatively quickly next year in comments made late on Monday.

After similar messages from other Fed officials on Mon day, investors were warily awaiting an appearance by Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday. Earlier this month he had dashed hopes of policy easing when he spoke to re porters after a Fed meeting.

“Investors rare hedging against what could be a hawk ish reiteration of his press conference comment. That could cast some cold water over recent market rallies,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.

Weakening consumer confidence may have margin ally helped to soften Treasury yields, weaken the dollar and boost stocks as investors viewed it as “ammunition for the Fed to soften its hawkish impulse,” the strategist added.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 162.05 points, or 0.48%, to 33,687.41, the S&P 500 lost 22.79 points, or 0.57%, to 3,941.15 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 95.50 points, or 0.86%, to 10,954.00.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.15% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.22%.

Emerging market stocks rose 2.41%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 2.43% higher, while Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.48%

U.S. Treasury yields rose in choppy trading as investors waited for upcoming data including third-quarter U.S. data on gross domestic product (GDP), Chicago manufacturing numbers, factory activity based on the Institute for Supply Management and non-farm payrolls for November due out Friday.

Benchmark 10-year notes were last up 1.6 basis points

MOST ASSERTIVE STOCKS

to 3.718%, from 3.702% late on Monday but the 2-year note was last was down 1.6 basis points to yield 4.4546%, from 4.471%.

“It’s going to be a busy second half of the week with all the data points we’re expecting. But the main focus will be on inflation and jobs,” said Subadra Rajappa, head of U.S. rates strategy, at Societe Generale in New York.

The dollar index rose 0.122%, with the euro down 0.06% to $1.0331.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.38% versus the greenback at 138.43 per dollar, while Sterling was last trad ing at $1.1965, up 0.06% on the day.

The Aussie was last up 0.56% against the dollar after earlier rising as much as 1.4%.

Oil prices climbed on hopes for a relaxation of China’s strict COVID-19 controls, which had fueled demand con cerns.

U.S. crude recently rose 1.63% to $78.50 per barrel and Brent was at $84.45, up 1.51% on the day.

Gold prices rose with help from the dollar’s retreat and hopes for less aggressive U.S. rate hikes going forward.

Spot gold added 0.6% to $1,750.48 an ounce while U.S. gold futures gained 0.65% to $1,751.60 an ounce.

As Haiti unravels, US officials push to send in a multinational force

By NATALIE KITROEFF

After days of gunfights in early Novem ber, Haitian police officers emerged tri umphant: They had finally liberated the country’s biggest port from the gangs that had taken it over for two months.

But when members of Haiti’s SWAT team returned to the shantytown that surrounds the port just days later, they still did not feel safe enough to even leave their armored truck.

The officers anxiously scanned rows of rusty shacks for hidden gunmen, too wary of the danger outside to open the doors.

The upshot was clear: Police keep trying to fight back, but gangs still run much of Haiti.

The assassination of Haiti’s president last year set off a new wave of terror across the Ca ribbean nation. But conditions in the country have plunged to horrifying new lows in recent months, as gangs carried out such extreme violence that the carnage has been compared to civil war.

Now, fearing that the humanitarian crisis engulfing Haiti could spur mass migration to the United States and elsewhere, some top Biden administration officials are pushing to send a multinational armed force to the coun try, several current and former officials say, after the Haitian government made an appeal for such an intervention last month.

But the United States doesn’t want its own troops included in that force, even though of ficials fear that the tumult in Haiti will send an even bigger wave of migrants to U.S. shores.

Already, the number of Haitian migrants intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard has in creased more than fourfold since last year, with many setting sail in overcrowded boats known to capsize in rough waters.

“That has always been the U.S. govern ment’s biggest Haitian nightmare, a mass mi gration event,” said Daniel Foote, who served as the U.S. special envoy to Haiti for part of last year. “It’s already upon us; the next step becomes biblical, with people falling off any thing that can float. We aren’t that far away from that.”

Haiti’s government took the extreme step of requesting foreign armed intervention last month to curb the unrest subsuming the country. It was an explicit acknowledgment of how desperate the instability has become, in a country that remains deeply resentful of past foreign interventions.

While United Nations peacekeepers were last stationed in Haiti in 2010, they brought cholera to the country, scientists say, causing one of the worst outbreaks in modern times.

Nearly 10,000 Haitians died, and respect for the United Nations in Haiti was “forever de stroyed,” Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. secretarygeneral at the time, later wrote.

Now, the Biden administration is encoun tering resistance to rallying a multinational force, including from American military lead ers who do not want to be drawn into a mis sion that would require a significant amount of time and resources, the U.S. officials said.

A U.S.-backed resolution urging the de ployment of a “rapid action force” to Haiti has stalled in the U.N. Security Council, but the administration has continued to lobby allies to make boots on the ground a reality. Still, ad ministration officials say the force should not include U.S. troops, arguing that Haiti remains scarred by America’s long history of messy and sometimes brutal intervention in the country, including an occupation that lasted almost two decades.

For now, Haitians are navigating several catastrophes at once, without much help from their government — or anyone else.

Biennaise Mesilas, 64, was doing laundry a few months ago when a neighbor brought her son’s body home in a wheelbarrow full of blood.

The 24-year-old had been selling sacks of water in their hometown, Cité Soleil, the largest slum in Haiti’s capital, when gunfire erupted and a stray bullet caught him above the eye.

“When that happened to my son, that was the end of everything for me,” Mesilas said.

She couldn’t get to the cemetery because of the constant shooting. So she dug a grave

near her home, an unsuitable burial ground flooded from the rainy season, and spread stones on the coffin so it would sink into the dirt. Mesilas fled the area soon after.

“If I had stayed longer in Cité Soleil, I would have died,” she said.

She moved to a public plaza where thou sands of displaced people settled after gang warfare broke out in the slum in July. Children, shot while playing outside or walking home, recovered from their wounds while sleeping on cardboard and cement.

This month, authorities kicked everyone out of the makeshift camp, leaving entire families to roam dangerous streets in search of shelter.

Critics of the Haitian government fear that the arrival of foreign forces would only strengthen a tenuous claim to power by Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has run the country for more than a year without being confirmed by Parliament.

“We cannot keep supporting this govern ment that has brought us to this brink,” said Monique Clesca, a member of the Montana Accord, a coalition of civil society and politi cal parties that opposes Henry’s call for inter vention.

Bitter memories remain from the most recent attempt by outsiders to stabilize Haiti. The U.N. peacekeeping mission that spent more than a decade in the country had some success subduing gangs in Cité Soleil but was also accused of committing widespread sexu al violence before departing in 2017.

Still, Clesca and so many in Haiti have come to believe that the dystopian status quo

is no longer tenable.

“We are living a hellish existence,” Clesca said, “if you can call it existence.”

Desperate for even the briefest respite from the violence, some Haitians have come to believe that the only option left is to accept yet another incursion from abroad.

“I think most Haitian people would tell you they need intervention,” said Pierre Es pérance, executive director of the Haitian Na tional Human Rights Defense Network. “They are tired with the government, they are tired with the police, they are tired with the gangs, and they cannot move around the country.”

Mesilas, whose son was killed, has no faith in the Haitian government. But she also has no time for people who think the country can go on any longer without the help of for eign forces.

“The reason they are saying this is that they don’t face the same situation as we are facing,” she said. Foreign forces “would be good for us,” she said, “because we live in misery.”

U.S. officials say that a force of around 2,500 military and police officers could be enough to secure the country’s main arteries, so that goods can flow freely, according to two administration officials.

But the Biden administration has not yet persuaded any other country to lead such a mission.

Canada has resisted, in part because it is wary of sending security assistance if it is not supported by the political opposition in Haiti, officials say. Brazil has also demurred, with of ficials telling Reuters this month that it is un likely to get involved.

The risks of sending armed forces to Haiti are high, with uncertain rewards. Win ning battlefield victories would not wipe out the gangs, past experience shows, because it would not touch their true source of strength: long-standing ties with Haiti’s economic and political elite.

In recent months, gangs have aggressively expanded their empires, establishing control without much resistance from authorities. Large expanses of the capital are now impen etrable without risking attack by the criminals who rule over them like warlords.

Caught in the middle are Haitians like Dr. Hubert Morquette, who lives on the grounds of the hospital he runs in Port-au-Prince be cause he is too scared to make the journey to and from his home every day.

“I don’t like interventions, but it’s a mat ter of survival,” Morquette said, shrugging.

“There’s no other option.”

A woman who just gave birth is tended to by relatives at King’s Hospital in Port-auPrince, Haiti, Nov. 5, 2022.

Ukraine is Biden’s defining issue, and his biggest economic challenge

By JIM TANKERSLEY

Russia’s war in Ukraine has become the greatest economic challenge of President Joe Biden’s time in office, threatening to push the world into a reces sion that could endanger an already fragile American recovery.

The combination of punishing sanc tions, championed by Biden and his al lies, and Russia’s retaliation has ricocheted through global food and energy markets, exacerbating already high inflation and un dercutting global growth. An oil shock set off by the invasion sent average gasoline prices above $5 a gallon nationally in June, before they fell steadily in July and August.

This week, the European Union is ex pected to put finishing touches on a plan that would attempt to contain further eco nomic damage by imposing a cap on the price that Russia can earn from selling a barrel of exported oil. The untested idea, engineered by Biden’s Treasury secretary, is aimed at keeping Russian oil flowing to the global market even as Europe plows ahead with new restrictions on Moscow’s oil sales.

In the year to come, that price cap and other efforts to manage the war’s global fallout should be Biden’s primary economic focus. With few legislative options available after his party lost control of the House, Biden will need to find ways to shield U.S. markets from the war’s effects, including new international initiatives to bolster food supplies and ward off a potentially cascad ing financial crisis in developing nations.

Biden and his economic team spent much of the Group of 20 nations summit this month in Bali, Indonesia, laying the ground work for those efforts. They negotiated with wealthy nations over the best ways to ramp up global food production to replace crops lost in Ukraine, in hopes of relieving food shortages that have particularly hurt lowerincome countries. And they attempted to broker progress on a system to more read ily bail out highly indebted, lower-income countries — like Sri Lanka and Chad — that face fiscal crises as war-inflamed price in creases push central banks to raise interest rates and, with them, borrowing costs.

But Biden’s biggest economic deci sions in the coming months are related to the war: how best to support Ukraine’s re sistance to the Russian invasion and how aggressively to push for an end to the fight ing.

Administration officials agree that the best way to strengthen the global economy

in the coming months would be to hasten the end of the war — which Biden has repeatedly said must come on Ukraine’s terms.

In the meantime, administration offi cials say the centerpiece of their efforts to minimize economic damage is a plan to im pose an oil price cap — at a level that Eu ropean officials are still haggling over — on Russian exports. Biden has pushed the idea through months of transcontinental negotia tions. Its goal is to keep millions of barrels of Russian oil flowing to the global market even as European sanctions come online — while locking in a reduction in the revenues Moscow needs to continue its war effort.

The plan is essentially a way to avoid a potentially catastrophic global oil shock that Biden might otherwise have helped to set in motion this year when he encouraged Europe to follow America’s lead and ban imports of Russian oil. Administration offi cials are confident the cap will do just that, keeping oil on the market, even though the high level of the price cap will limit its bite into Russian revenues.

“It’s safe to say that we’re optimistic that a successful price cap will avoid a ma jor energy price shock,” Ben Harris, the as sistant secretary for economic policy at the Treasury Department, said in an interview. He added: “This is a case of advance plan ning avoiding a crisis.”

The president has few domestic op tions if those plans fail. Because his party lost control of the House, Biden will almost certainly be limited in his ability to push new economic measures through Congress

over the next two years.

The International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have cut their forecasts for global growth next year, citing lingering drags from the Russian invasion.

The war, leaders of the Group of 20 nations said in a declaration at the end of their summit in Bali, “is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy — con straining growth, increasing inflation, dis rupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity and elevating financial stability risks.”

Biden cannot end the war on his own. But he can seek to minimize its economic pain.

That starts with the price cap. A Euro pean Union ban on the import of Russian oil will go into effect next month. Those sanctions could knock millions of barrels of Russian oil off global markets and send crude prices soaring.

The price cap attempts to defuse that possibility with a novel but untried plan to allow Russia to continue selling oil on the global market, but at a discount. That would reduce the oil revenues Moscow is using to help fund the war. It would also keep oil prices steadier and avoid what some fore casters estimate could be as much as $7 a gallon gasoline in the United States. And it would relieve some strains on developing nations that are struggling economically, by potentially allowing them to buy Russian oil at a sharp discount from market prices.

Oil futures traders appear to share

the administration’s confidence that the plan will work: They have not priced in any disruptions to the market in the months to come.

Russia could still retaliate against the plan and pull oil off the market, sending prices soaring anew but also cutting off rev enues to Moscow. It could also raise eco nomic risks to the world by escalating the war.

Moscow has recently ramped up its rocket attacks on Ukrainian targets, includ ing civilians. An apparently accidental deto nation of a Ukrainian missile in Poland has reminded the world of the risks of an es calation of the conflict that could spill past Ukraine and into Europe and beyond. Biden has thus far succeeded in preventing escala tion by keeping the conflict from directly af fecting NATO allies like Poland. More stray missiles — or provocations by Moscow — could challenge that calculus.

Biden insists the U.S. economy, with a labor market that continues to add jobs at a hot pace, is well positioned to endure any new drags on the global economy from the invasion. His aides note the United States, as a large energy producer, is not suffering like Europe from a lack of access to Russian oil or natural gas.

He has faced little domestic political pressure over his Ukraine decisions thus far. While the war has filled newscasts and commanded much of Biden’s time, includ ing frequent speeches, it has not yet be come an electoral wedge issue. Ukraine did not make the list of the top 60 topics of campaign advertisements nationwide in the midterm election cycle, according to data from AdImpact.

But should Biden seek reelection, the economics of the war could play a large role. It could push up gas prices, which tend to affect the public’s view of the president. Stubbornly high food and energy inflation could prod the Federal Reserve to raise in terest rates faster, and for longer, than of ficials currently forecast. That would slam the brakes on growth and raise the odds of recession.

Biden has repeatedly said those threats would not deter him from doing what he believed was right in Ukraine. Asked at a news conference in Spain this summer how long Americans would need to pay higher gas prices as a result of the war, Biden was blunt. “As long as it takes,” he said, “so Rus sia cannot, in fact, defeat Ukraine and move beyond Ukraine. This is a critical, critical position for the world. Here we are.”

Pro-Ukraine demonstrators outside the White House this spring. If President Biden seeks re-election, the economics of the war in Ukraine could play a large role.

US officials hope new aid for Ukraine’s energy grid will spur donations from other nations

By EDWARD WONG

The United States is giving Ukraine $53 million to buy badly needed equipment to help repair its battered electricity grid after weeks of Russian aerial strikes, emphasiz ing an urgent new front in the global efforts to help Ukraine after allies have already provided billions in military aid.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the pledge Tuesday in Romania during a meet ing of the Group of 7 nations on the sidelines of a two-day conclave of NATO’s foreign min isters.

Top diplomats from more than 30 Euro pean nations had traveled to Bucharest for talks on how to best bolster Ukraine’s defenses against the invasion begun in February by Pres ident Vladimir Putin of Russia.

A senior State Department official, speak ing on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic negotiations, said U.S. officials hope the new promise of electrical equipment will spur other countries to an nounce their own infrastructure aid packages for Ukraine, where millions of residents are liv ing without power and water because of re

cent Russian missile and drone strikes.

Russian commanders have sent wave after wave of missiles and drones to hit Ukraine’s transmission grid, including high-voltage trans former stations, which are more vulnerable than power plants.

U.S. and European officials say Moscow is trying to break the morale of Ukrainians by depriving them of basic utilities like heat and water over the winter, when average tempera tures across Ukraine drop below freezing.

The Americans are aiming to pull together

a working group to help Ukraine repair its energy infrastructure on an emergency ba sis and to better defend its power plants and energy grid from attack. The energy group would be modeled on the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which organizes the delivery of weapons and other military aid to Ukraine, a second State Department official said, also requesting anonymity to discuss diplomatic negotiations.

The energy “contact group” would be centered on the G-7 nations. The first meeting focused on such aid took place at the gather ing of the G-7 foreign ministers in early No vember in Münster, Germany, where officials pledged to help Ukraine rebuild and defend its infrastructure. The next meeting is expect ed to take place next month in Paris.

The $53 million announced Tuesday would be used to buy a range of important equipment, including distribution transform ers and circuit breakers, the State Department said. The U.S. government would buy the equipment and transfer it to Ukraine, focusing first on what can be shipped there fastest, a third official said. The Biden administration has already identified $30 million of equipment,

including from Department of Energy stocks, the official said.

The department said the $53 million is in addition to $55 million in emergency en ergy sector support for generators and other equipment already promised to Ukraine by the United States.

Other countries have provided some support to Ukraine’s energy sector, including Lithuania and Canada. The European Union announced over the weekend that it was pre paring to deliver 200 transformers and 40 heavy generators.

Ukrainian leaders say they also need more air defense systems from the United States and its allies to protect infrastructure and civilian areas from Russian attacks.

Blinken took part Tuesday in talks with Romanian leaders and attended NATO ses sions on the war, then met with officials from the G-7 nations.

“NATO is stronger and more united than at any time I can remember,” Blinken said in brief remarks with Jens Stoltenberg, the al liance’s secretary-general, before the after noon meetings. “We will be reaffirming our support for Ukraine as we go forward.”

China launches astronauts to newly completed space station

By CHANG CHE and AMY CHANG CHIEN

Tall as a 20-story building, a rocket carrying the Shenzhou 15 mission roared into the night sky of the Gobi Desert on Tuesday, carrying three astronauts toward a rendezvous with China’s just-completed space station.

The rocket launch was a split-screen event for China, the latest in a long series of technologi cal achievements for the country, even as many of its citizens have been angrily lashing out in the streets against stringent pandemic controls. The air shook as the huge white rocket leaped into a starry, bitterly cold night sky shortly before the setting of a waxing crescent moon.

The expedition to the new space station is a milestone for China’s rapidly advancing space program. It is the first time a team of three as tronauts already aboard the Tiangong outpost will be met by a crew arriving from Earth. The Chinese space station will now be continuously occupied, like the International Space Station, another marker laid down by China in its race to catch up with the United States and surpass it as the dominant power in space.

With a sustained presence in low-Earth or bit aboard Tiangong, Chinese space officials are preparing to put astronauts on the moon, which NASA also intends to revisit before the end of the

decade as part of its Artemis program.

“It will not take a long time; we can achieve the goal of manned moon landing,” Zhou Jian ping, chief designer of China’s crewed space pro gram, said in an interview at the launch center. China has been developing a lunar lander, he added, without giving a date when it might be used.

The launch of Shenzhou 15 comes less than two weeks after NASA finally launched its Arte mis I mission after many delays. That flight has put its uncrewed Orion capsule into orbit around the moon.

At the same time, Beijing has engaged in a charm offensive since the Group of 20 summit in Bali earlier this month, wooing European na tions and developing countries in particular. That includes space exploration. China’s leader, Xi Jin ping, emphasized that point in a letter on Nov. 21 to a United Nations symposium.

“China is willing to work with other coun tries to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, jointly explore the mysteries of the universe, make peaceful use of outer space, and promote space technology to better benefit the people of all countries in the world,” Xi wrote.

While European nations are working with the United States on the Artemis missions and the International Space Station, they so far have

not expressed much interest in Tiangong. Ger many’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action said in a written reply to ques tions that Germany had no bilateral projects with China for its space station.

And while Germany and Italy each sent an astronaut four years ago to China’s Shandong province for training to fly aboard a Shenzhou rocket, neither country has announced plans to send astronauts on a Chinese rocket. Some Eu ropean researchers are involved in scientific ex periments that will be carried to Tiangong, how ever, including a proposed high-energy cosmic radiation detector. Researchers from India, Peru, Mexico and Saudi Arabia have also received re search opportunities on the Chinese space sta tion through a United Nations program.

Officials in Europe have been wary of closer cooperation in space at a time of rising frictions over China’s human rights record and military buildup. They have asked China to share highly detailed information about its space operations, partly to ensure the safety of astronauts. But Chi na’s space program has grown out of the coun try’s military, like the early U.S. space program decades ago, and has been wary of extensive sharing.

That military connection was on display at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the desert.

Camouflaged vehicles were visible in and around the base, and some signage referred not to Shen zhou civilian space rockets but to Dongfeng, the ballistic missiles used in China’s nuclear weapon arsenal.

On Tuesday, foreign journalists were given uncommon access to the launch center, which began construction in 1958 and is usually out of bounds even for Chinese citizens.

Two journalists for The New York Times and a photographer from Kyodo News of Japan were allowed to attend the launch, as were a small group of journalists from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao. Visitors from Beijing and other cities were required to spend a week first in quar antine at a village hotel about 50 miles away, and to pass daily PCR tests. Foreign journalists paid for their travel, accommodation and quarantine.

The quarantine was part of elaborate pre cautions to prevent the COVID-19 virus from reaching the space center again. An outbreak last year briefly interrupted work at the site.

The base is 150 miles into the Gobi Des ert from the nearest city, Jiayuguan in northern Gansu province. On the highway from the city, an older China was still visible as a farmer’s small herd of Bactrian camels loped along, their dou ble humps shaggy with dark-brown fur as winter approaches.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting in Bucharest, Romania, on Tuesday.

How China lost the COVID-19 war

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Do you remember when COVID-19 was going to establish China as the world’s dominant power? As late as mid-2021, my inbox was full of assertions that China’s apparent success in containing the coronavirus showed the superiority of the Chinese system over Western societies that, as one commentator put it, “did not have the ability to quickly organize every citizen around a single goal.”

At this point, however, China is flailing even as other nations are more or less getting back to normal life. It’s still pursuing its zero-COVID policy, enforcing draconian restrictions on everyday activities every time new cases emerge. This is creating immense personal hardship and cramping the economy; cities under lockdown account for almost 60% of China’s gross domestic product.

In early November many workers reportedly fled the giant Foxconn plant that produces iPhones, fearing not just that they would be locked in but that they would go hungry. And in the past few days many Chinese, in cities across the nation, have braved harsh repression to demonstrate against government policies.

I’m not a China expert, and I have no idea where this is going. As far as I can tell, actual China experts don’t know, either. But I think it’s worth asking what lessons

we can draw from China’s journey from would-be role model to debacle.

Crucially, the lesson is not that we shouldn’t pursue public health measures in the face of a pandemic. Sometimes such measures are necessary. But governments need to be able to change policy in the face of changing circumstances and new evidence.

And what we’re seeing in China is the problem with autocratic governments that can’t admit mistakes and won’t accept evidence they don’t like.

In the first year of the pandemic, strong, even draconian restrictions made sense. It was never realistic to imagine that mask mandates and even lockdowns could prevent the coronavirus from spreading. What they could do, however, was slow the spread.

At first, the goal in the U.S. and many other countries was to “flatten the curve,” avoiding a peak in cases that would overwhelm the health care system. Then, once it became clear that effective vaccines would become available, the goal was or should have been to delay infections until widespread vaccination could provide protection.

You could see this strategy at work in places like New Zealand and Taiwan, which initially imposed stringent rules that held cases and deaths to very low levels, then relaxed these rules once their populations were widely vaccinated. Even with vaccines, opening up led to a large rise in cases and deaths — but not nearly as severe as would have happened if these places had opened up earlier, so that overall deaths per capita have been far lower than in the United States.

China’s leaders, however, seem to have believed that lockdowns could permanently stomp out the coronavirus, and they have been acting as if they still believe this even in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence.

At the same time, China utterly failed to develop a Plan B. Many older Chinese — the most vulnerable group — still aren’t fully vaccinated. China has also refused to use foreign-made vaccines, even though its homegrown vaccines, which don’t use mRNA technology, are less effective than the shots the rest of the world is getting.

All of this leaves Xi Jinping’s regime in a trap of its own making. The zero-COVID policy is obviously unsustainable, but ending it would mean tacitly admitting error, which autocrats never find easy. Furthermore, loosening the rules would mean a huge spike in cases and deaths.

Not only have many of the most vulnerable Chinese remained unvaccinated or received inferior shots, but because the coronavirus has been suppressed, few Chinese have natural immunity, and the nation also has very few intensive care beds, leaving it without the capacity to deal with a COVID surge.

It’s a nightmare, and nobody knows how it ends. But what can the rest of us learn from China?

First, autocracy is not, in fact, superior to democracy. Autocrats can act quickly and decisively, but they can also make huge mistakes because nobody can tell them when they’re wrong. At a fundamental level there’s a clear resemblance between Xi’s refusal to back off zeroCOVID and Vladimir Putin’s disaster in Ukraine.

Second, we’re seeing why it’s important for leaders to be open to evidence and be willing to change course when they’ve been proved wrong.

Ironically, in the United States the politicians whose dogmatism most resembles that of Chinese leaders are right-wing Republicans. China has rejected foreign mRNA vaccines, despite clear evidence of their superiority; many Republican leaders have rejected vaccines in general, even in the face of a huge partisan divide in death rates linked to differential vaccination rates. This contrasts with Democrats, who have in general followed something like New Zealand’s approach, if much less effectively — restrictions early on, relaxed as vaccination spread.

In short, what we can learn from China is broader than the failure of specific policies; it is that we should beware of would-be autocrats who insist, regardless of the evidence, that they’re always right.

Presidente del PPD arremete contra gobernador por extensión contrato suplementario LUMA

POR CYBERNEWS

SAN JUAN – El presidente del Partido Popular Demo crático, José Luis Dalmau Santiago, acusó el martes al gobernador Pedro Pierluisi de darle la espalda al país “al otorgarle, de forma atropellada y abusiva, una extensión al contrato de la empresa LUMA para la administración de la Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica”.

Por ello, el también presidente del Senado advirtió que “ante esta decisión destemplada, de ahora en ade lante, todas las consecuencias que genere dicha acción recaerá sobre el gobernador Pedro Pierluisi”.

“Que sepa el pueblo de Puerto Rico que todos los apagones, todos los aumentos de tarifas y todos los des pidos y desplazamientos de trabajadores tienen nombre y apellido: Pedro Pierluisi. La extensión del contrato es un cheque en blanco para que LUMA le meta la mano en el bolsillo al pueblo; y, además, continúe la actitud

insensible a las necesidades de la gente”, dijo Dalmau Santiago en declaraciones escritas.

Dalmau Santiago, afirmó que la extensión del con trato de LUMA “ignoró las disposiciones de la Ley 120 del 2018 que exige un voto unánime de todos los miem bros de la Junta de la Autoridad de las Alianzas Públicas, que incluye a los dos representantes del interés público”.

“El gobernador Pedro Pierluisi demostró hoy don de están sus verdaderas lealtades, al otorgarle una ex tensión injustificada a la empresa LUMA. Peor aún, el gobernador ignoró a los representantes del interés pú blico mientras favorece a los intereses privados. Llama la atención que, a través de la extensión del contrato, no se le requirieron nuevas métricas ni exigencias de cum plimiento a esta empresa, por lo que se actuó de forma contraria a los mejores intereses del pueblo de Puerto Rico. Al ignorar y atropellar a los representantes del in terés público, el gobernador demuestra que su diálogo

de ayer con los presidentes de los cuerpos fue un acto deshonesto. Por ello, la Asamblea Legislativa utilizará to dos sus poderes constitucionales para salvaguardar los intereses del pueblo de Puerto Rico, fiscalizar a LUMA y evitar nuevos aumentos en las tarifas”, concluyó.

Departamento de Salud insta a la vacunación contra la influenza ante aumento de casos

POR CYBERNEWS

SAN JUAN – El secretario del Departamento de Salud (DS), doctor Carlos Mellado López hizo un llama do el martes a la población para que se vacunen, tanto adultos como pediátricos, contra la influenza ante un

aumento de casos registrados desde las pasadas sema nas.

“Estamos evaluando los casos de la semana pasada, reclasificando epidemiológicamente la influenza para saber si entonces, se declara un brote o se declara una epidemia. La situación hoy en día es una alerta. Te nemos las herramientas para prevenir contagios y el llamado al pueblo de Puerto Rico es acceder a la va cunación”, dijo Mellado López en conferencia de pren sa.

Según Mellado López, en Puerto Rico han ocurrido dos muertes relacionadas con el virus de la influen za.

Al momento, se han reportado 7 mil, 971 casos de in fluenza, de los cuales 156 pacientes estaban vacunados, siendo la región de Ponce, compuesto por los munici pios de Patillas, Arroyo, Guayama, Salinas, Santa Isabel, Coamo, Villalba, Juana Díaz, Jayuya, Adjuntas, Peñuelas, Guayanilla, Yauco, Guánica y Ponce, donde más han re

portado casos.

La población pediátrica de cero a 19 años, en el grupo de edad con mayor número de casos, se enumeraron 5 mil, 367 casos de influenza tipo A, para un 67 por cien to.

Bajo esta temporada de influenza, el DS ha contabilizado 426 hospitalizaciones.

Mellado López, junto a la principal oficial médico, la doctora Iris Cardona y la epidemióloga Melisa Mar zán, exhortaron a que se vacunen contra la influen za.

“Quisiéramos hacer un llamado muy especial a los pa dres de pacientes pediátricos, si bien es cierto que hemos administrado cerca de 300 mil dosis, el día de ayer la gran mayoría de esas dosis están en brazos de pacientes adultos y tenemos vacunas para pacientes pediátricos”, dijo la doctora Cardona al añadir que el 60 por ciento de los casos de influenza reportados corresponden a la población pediátrica.

9 muertos y 206 hospitalizados en informe preliminar COVID-19

POR CYBERNEWS

S AN JUAN – El informe preliminar de COVID-19 del Departamento de Salud (DS) reportó el mar tes 9 muertes y 206 personas hospitalizadas.

El total de muertes atribuidas es de 5,360.

Hay 182 adultos hospitalizados y 24 menores. El monitoreo cubre el periodo del 11 al 25 de no viembre de 2022.

La tasa de positividad está en 21.86 por ciento.

Tenoch Huerta Mejía and the beauty of representation in ‘Wakanda Forever’

By CARLOS AGUILAR

It was during an idle summer when he was 17 that Tenoch Huerta Mejía attended his first acting workshop. His father had signed him up, and just as he had been playing football since the age of 5 for fun, he thought of performing as no more than another amusing pastime, not a potential vocation.

“Becoming an actor was as far-fetched as it was for me to become a professional American football player from Mexico,” Huerta said in Spanish by phone from a moving car in Mexico City. “You can’t dream with what you can’t see. I didn’t see people with my skin color on-screen.”

But now the Mexican star, 41, from the city of Ecatepec, just outside the Mexican capital, has leveraged that first taste of the dramatic arts into a blossoming career that landed him the role of Namor, the flying ruler of the fictional underwater king dom of Talokan, in the superhero epic “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”

Representing his international breakthrough, the per formance has been earning plaudits from critics. For The Ho llywood Reporter, David Rooney commended Huerta’s “glowe ring demeanor and burly physicality in the role,” while David Sims of The Atlantic praised how the actor infuses the character with “great dignity.”

For as long as Huerta can remember, the Mexican te levision and film industry has looked “like it’s made for Scan dinavians,” as he put it. The productions mostly feature white Mexican or Latin American stars, while brown-skinned perfor mers like him are relegated to subservient, criminal or generally disparaging parts.

Thankfully, even when he wasn’t included in the narrati ve, he took encouragement from his father’s unconditional trust. When he asked his dad why he had enrolled him in the acting class, the seemingly ambiguous response struck a chord.

“He told me, ‘I saw something in you,’” Huerta recalled. “For me the significance of that phrase was that my father was fully seeing me, that he had his eyes set on me always.”

Long before Marvel Studios put wings on his feet, Huer ta had earned his stripes, working for more than 15 years on both sides of the border in acclaimed independent titles like “Sin Nombre,” “Güeros” and “Son of Monarchs.”

Still, Huerta admitted that he had often suffered from im postor syndrome as a result of the hostility that brown-skinned actors face in the Mexican entertainment industry. The fact that he didn’t receive a formal acting education from a major insti tution didn’t help.

A watershed moment came when he was cast as the lead in the searing 2011 thriller “Days of Grace,” directed by Everar do Gout. To prepare for the demanding role of a police officer losing himself to violence, Huerta enlisted in the Ecatepec police academy without fellow cadets knowing he was doing research.

Not only did the visceral performance earn Huerta his first Ariel Award for best actor (the Mexican film academy’s equivalent to the Oscar), but it convinced him of his own hard-fought talent.

“That movie changed my life because it was where I first saw myself as an actor and started building my life around the fact that I was an actor,” he said. “Before that I couldn’t see it.”

Gout, who had first worked with Huerta on a video clip several years before, sees his friend’s rising profile as a personal victory.

“I’m so happy about everything that’s happening with Tenoch right now,” the director said by phone. “Finally other people are seeing what I saw in him around 15 years ago. His success validates all my decisions of fighting to have him in many of my projects.”

On “Wakanda Forever,” director Ryan Coogler witnessed both Huerta’s devotion to the process as he learned the multi ple skills needed to play Namor — the actor didn’t know how to swim before he was cast — and the gravitas of his screen presence.

“He was working in two languages that are not his first, English and in Yucatec Maya, while performing with prosthetics 15 feet underwater,” Coogler said via voice note. “He is a true chameleon and one of the most impressive actors I’ve ever wor ked with.”

Offscreen, Huerta is an outspoken anti-racism activist who uses his platform to demand reparations for brown-skinned Mexicans, whether they identify as Indigenous or not. He pro foundly related to how proudly Namor embraced and protected his Mayan origins.

“I’m the child of Mesoamerican civilizations, even if my veins have blood from many parts of the world,” Huerta said.

“In terms of my identity, culturally and emotionally, I am tied to, shaped by and in sync with my history, with my heritage.”

The actor’s first name, Tenoch (pronounced teh-NOTCH), which he shares with a 14th-century Aztec leader, comes from the Nahuatl language and translates to “stone prickly pear.” The name, the actor believes, is evidence that his father saw their Mexican identity as inextricable from its Indigenous foundation.

“Since you are Mexican, I’ll give you a Mexican name,” Huerta’s father told him.

The prevalent racism in Mexican society, Huerta said, is the living consequence of the cultural genocide that Euro pean colonizers perpetrated against Indigenous peoples in the Americas. Through intercultural mixing, they tried to sever the population’s ties to their Indigenous forebears.

“They taught us to be ashamed of our brown skin, to des pise brown-skinned people, to mistreat Indigenous people, to feel ashamed of our ancestors, and I can no longer tolerate that,” an impassioned Huerta said. “There was nothing wrong with us. They didn’t have to force us to speak Spanish. They didn’t have to try to westernize us.”

He addressed these issues in a book intended to empower young readers. Released this year, “Orgullo Prieto” (“Brown Pri de”) uses personal anecdotes, both as a victim and a perpetrator of discriminatory behavior, to explain essential concepts of antiracism.

That “Wakanda Forever” features Indigenous, brown-skin ned characters with supernatural abilities living in a mesmerizing realm allows anyone who connects with Huerta’s principles to finally feel respectfully represented. The film also challenges media companies and artists in Latin America and beyond to rethink their portrayals and inclusion of people of color in their projects.

“The success of this movie tears down the arguments of racist and white supremacists in Mexico, and everywhere, who claim brown skin doesn’t sell or that representation doesn’t sell,” Huerta said. “It’s beautiful to see ourselves represented in a di fferent way.”

Embodying a Mesoamerican godlike character in a Mar vel movie has given Huerta one of his greatest satisfactions. When his 9-year-old daughter, who rarely watches his films, saw his likeness in the Funko Pop figure of Namor, she validated his entire career in an instant.

“She told me, ‘Dad, now you are an actor! There’s a Funko of you,’” Huerta recalled with a boisterous laugh.

“The hate stays in the haters, and we exercise our ability and right to be happy,” he said. As Indigenous filmmaker Luna Marán says, he added, “‘Let happiness be our best revenge.’”

Tenoch Huerta Mejía in New York, Nov. 1, 2022. The Mexi can actor’s breakthrough moment playing Namor in the “Black Panther” sequel is especially gratifying for the an tiracism activist.

What we make for our kids

By ERIK PIEPENBURG

People with young kids often ask me what I cook for mine, since dinner can’t actually always be plain rice or pasta. (Or can it?) This goes doubly for what I put in my daughter’s lunch box: I’m sorry to tell you I don’t have any brilliant, genre-exploding solu tions there.

I always have that question for my food colleagues, too. What do they make for their kids? What will their kids actually eat?

So I asked a few of my co-workers what they cook for their kids that actu ally gets eaten (as opposed to rejected with wails of anger, despair or disgust). Their replies are below. None of this is “kid food” — just delicious stuff that works for an all-ages group.

Huli Huli chicken

In 1955, Ernest Morgado, a Ho nolulu businessman, served a group of farmers grilled chicken that had been marinated in his mother’s teriyaki-style sauce. It was such a hit that he decided to market it with the name “huli huli.” Huli means “turn” in Hawaiian and re fers to how it’s prepared: grilled between two racks and turned halfway through cooking. This simplified version calls for chicken pieces and a standard grill. The original recipe is a trade secret, but you can find many slightly different varia tions on the internet, typically includ ing ginger, garlic, soy sauce, something sweet (honey, brown sugar or maple syrup) and something acidic (vinegar, white wine, lime juice or pineapple juice). This recipe is adapted from “Alo ha Kitchen: Recipes from Hawai‘i” by Alana Kysar (Ten Speed, March 2019). It also works beautifully with boneless chicken thighs, but adjust your cooking time accordingly.

Recipe from Alana Kysar

Adapted by Margaux Laskey

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Total time: 45 minutes, plus 8 hours’ marinating

Ingredients: 1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sug

ar

1/4 cup rice vinegar or apple cider vin egar

1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

2 to 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated

3 1/2 to 4 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces

Grapeseed or canola oil, for brushing the grill grate

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl or a gallon-size resealable plastic bag, combine the ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, ginger and garlic, and stir or shake until combined. Reserve and re frigerate 1/2 cup of the mixture for bast ing the chicken later. Add the chicken to the remaining mixture, and stir or shake until evenly coated. If using a bowl, cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight, or at least 8 hours, turning the chicken at least once.

2. When you’re ready to cook, oil your grill grates well. Heat the grill to medium (for charcoal, the grill is ready when you can hold your hand 5 inch es above the coals for 5 to 7 seconds). Add the chicken to the grill, cover, and cook 25 to 35 minutes, turning every 5 minutes to keep the chicken from burn ing, and basting it with the reserved marinade after you turn it, until cooked through. (Cook times will vary depend ing on sizes and cuts of chicken pieces, so be sure to check for doneness: Meat should not be pink and the juices should run clear.) Serve immediately.

Pasta with pumpkin seed pesto

Fragrant with basil and rich with pumpkin seeds and cheese, this is the ideal dish to make ahead of time and pack for lunch. Instead of preparing it to eat as a hot meal or a cold salad, it’s designed to be chilled and then enjoyed

cold or at room temperature. Cooking the garlic quickly in the water boiled for the pasta softens its sharp edge. A splash of that same boiling water blends with the basil to keep it green. Rinsing the pasta after cooking it helps the pesto stay flavorful for days in the refrigerator. The tomatoes add a tangy freshness, but they can be skipped altogether or swapped for green beans or peas (just drop them with the pasta during the last few min utes or cooking).

By Genevieve Ko

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients: Salt and pepper

2 garlic cloves, peeled 1 pound fusilli or other short, curly pasta 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas), plus more for sprinkling

1 large bunch basil (4 ounces), leaves and tender stems picked (3 cups)

2/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) finely grated Par mesan, plus more for sprinkling 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes, halved (optional)

Preparation:

1. Bring a large saucepan of gen erously salted water to a boil. Drop the garlic cloves into the boiling water and boil for 30 seconds to temper their sharp ness. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cloves to a food processor or blender.

2. Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook until al dente.

3. While the pasta cooks, add the pumpkin seeds and a pinch each of salt and pepper to the garlic, and process un til very finely ground. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the basil. Scoop 1/4 cup water from the saucepan with the boiling pasta and pour over the basil. Process the basil until ground to a paste. Add the Par mesan and oil, and pulse just until incor porated. Taste the pesto and season with enough salt and pepper to make it punchy.

4. Drain the pasta and rinse un der cool water until room temperature. Shake dry, then return to the saucepan, and add the pesto and tomatoes, if us ing. Stir well until everything is evenly coated. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide among dishes to serve right away or airtight containers to pack for lunch. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and Parmesan, and serve, or cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days.

The San Juan Daily Star

Margaux Laskey’s Huli huli chicken. The recipe is written for the grill, but Mar gaux makes it with boneless thighs in the oven, baking them at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Maple-baked salmon

Salmon baked at a low tempera ture until medium-rare delivers a silky texture that tastes special enough to make it a festive centerpiece. This easy dish works any night of the week, since it comes together in less than half an hour. Maple syrup sweetens the glaze, which gets a savory pop from whole mustard seeds in Dijon. Even though salmon is naturally fatty, a dollop of mayonnaise adds extra richness while thickening the glaze to help it seal onto the fish. The herbaceous aroma of cilantro stems baked into the sauce brightens the dish, as do tender leaves scattered on top. Fill out your feast with any combination of steamed rice, roasted potatoes, green beans or salad.

By Genevieve Ko Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

1 (1 1/2-pound) skin-on or skinless salmon fillet

12 fresh cilantro sprigs

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mus tard

1 tablespoon mayonnaise Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Lemon wedges, for serving

Preparation:

1. Remove salmon from the re frigerator. Heat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Bundle the cilantro sprigs by their stems and hold them tightly, then slice the stems crosswise until you get to the leaves. Reserve leaves for gar nish. Transfer sliced stems to a small bowl and stir in the maple syrup, mus

tard and mayonnaise until well mixed.

3. Season the salmon all over with salt and pepper and place in a baking dish, skin-side down if there is skin. Slather the maple sauce all over the top.

4. Bake until a paring knife slides into the center with only a little resis tance, 15 to 20 minutes. When you remove the knife and touch the blade to your upper lip, it should feel very warm but not hot. The salmon will con tinue to heat through out of the oven while in the baking dish. Top with the reserved cilantro leaves, and squeeze lemon wedges all over just before serv ing.

TIP: For 8 servings, buy a whole side of salmon, which usually weighs 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds, and double the glaze ingredients. Bake on a parch ment-lined sheet pan until mediumrare, 18 to 22 minutes.

Chickpea stew with orzo and mustard greens

A complex and colorful chickpea stew, this is rich with vegetables, olive oil and Parmesan cheese. You can vary the vegetables to use what you’ve got. Here, I keep to the basics, adding car rots for sweetness, fennel or celery for depth, cherry tomatoes for looks. Tender greens, wilted into the bubbling mixture at the end, are optional, but they do add a bright, almost herbal note. I particu larly love using baby mustard greens, which are pleasantly peppery. But spin ach, arugula and kale work well, too.

By Melissa Clark Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped 1 small fennel bulb or 2 celery stalks, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary (op tional)

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth (or water)

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

3/4 cup roughly chopped cherry or grape tomatoes

1/2 cup whole-wheat or regular orzo

1 quart loosely packed baby mustard greens or spinach (about 5 ounces)

Salt and freshly cracked black pepper Chopped scallions, for garnish (optional) 1/4 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reg

giano cheese, more as needed

Preparation:

1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the car rots, fennel or celery, and onion. Cook until tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, red pepper and rosemary, if using, and cook another 2 minutes. Pour in the broth, if using, or water, plus an additional 2 cups water and bring to a boil.

2. Once the mixture is boiling, add the chickpeas, tomatoes and orzo. Re duce to a simmer and cover with a lid. Simmer 10 minutes, or until the orzo is tender. Uncover and stir in the greens, letting them simmer until soft, about 2 minutes.

3. Add more water if you want the mixture to be more souplike, and sea son with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and top with chopped scallions (if desired), grated cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.

Baked maple salmon in New York on Dec. 3, 2020. This recipe by Genevieve Ko is perfect because it’s simple and pings with maple sweetness.

To level up your strength-training workout, embrace the battle rope

By CONNIE CHANG

Maybe you’ve seen them at the gym — heavy coils of rope an chored at the middle to a post or the floor. They may look like they were brought up from a dungeon or off the deck of a boat, but they’re called “battle ropes” — and they’re an effective and safe tool for strength training.

Despite their daunting name and appearance, you don’t have to be a con testant on “American Ninja Warrior” to use them. While battle ropes have long been popular with elite athletes, they are also an excellent tool for beginners who want to build strength and cardiovascu lar health without being too hard on their bodies.

Lauren Weinhold, a personal trainer and yoga instructor in Columbia, Mary land, uses battle ropes with clients who are martial arts competitors and 70-yearolds with double knee replacements. “Not everyone wants to — or can — run miles on the treadmill,” said Weinhold. But with battle ropes, you can get much of running’s cardiovascular punch with out hammering your joints.

That versatility is what drew Jesse Grund, a personal trainer in Orlando, Florida, to the tool, which he credits with sparking his interest in fitness. “If I was on a deserted island and I could only pick one piece of exercise equipment, I’d take the battle rope,” he said.

How do you use battle ropes?

In the classic battle ropes pose, you grasp the ends of each rope, shaking them rhythmically up and down — either to gether or alternating one side at a time — to send waves along the rope’s length to the anchor point. But there are endless variations on this basic theme.

Two beginners can work in tan dem, each grabbing a rope end, and create waves together. At the Training Lab, a strength and conditioning gym in Manhattan, instructors tie battle ropes to weighted fitness sleds — platforms that can be dragged for resistance training — and the students pull the sleds toward themselves, working back, legs, core and arm muscles. Another way to use them is

— and there’s a lot of coordination to that,” said Aaron Guyett, a coach and ed ucation director at Living.fit, a site that of fers battle rope and conditioning classes online.

Once mastered, however, battle rope workouts are an intense, wholebody exercise that builds muscle and improves cardiovascular fitness. Studies show there are potential gains in core strength, endurance and how efficiently your body consumes oxygen. And while your shoulders, arms and hands are the obvious parts in motion, your core and

legs must work to keep you stable as your upper body generates power.

Unlike traditional weight lifting, battle ropes also allow rapid changes in direction while maintaining high speeds, which trains your muscles to react quick ly. Think of it like a sprint, where the lower body can suddenly change directions in mid-run, said Chiang Liu, a sports scien tist at the University of Taipei in Taiwan.

“This explosive power is why battle ropes training is so popular for athletes,” he said. According to his group’s research, an eight-week battle rope regimen with a small sample of college basketball play ers in Taiwan translated to faster passes, more accurate shots and increased agil ity. That power has also improved Mau rice Allen’s golf game. Allen, a two-time World Long Drive champion, said battle ropes had dramatically increased his club speed.

“In golf, I’m holding my body in place while my arms are moving; I need to recruit strength from a stable position,” Allen said. “Battle ropes allow me to work on stability and strength at the same time.”

How do you get started?

Because of the physical and men tal demands of battle ropes, many peo ple use them in a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) fashion — short bursts of

moving the rope full tilt, interspersed with periods of rest. At the beginning, aim for moderate effort — elevating your heart rate and breaking a sweat — and a oneto-three work-rest ratio, following every 10 seconds of activity with 30 seconds of rest. As you improve, shorten the rest time until you hit a one-to-one work-rest ratio — for example, 30 seconds of activ ity and 30 seconds of recuperation. Start with four to six of these intervals and then increase.

Alternating waves

Grab the ends of the ropes — one in each hand — and hold them in front of you at about hip level and shoulder width apart. Make sure there’s sufficient slack in the ropes by taking two to three steps forward toward the anchor point. Guyett suggested a firm but relaxed hold. Think about gripping your pet hamster. You don’t want it to escape, but you also don’t want to crush it, he said.

Stand tall with your knees and hips slightly bent, your torso tilted forward, your back straight and your core muscles engaged. With battle ropes, the chances for injury are low compared with other strength training regimens, but bad form slashes the exercise’s effectiveness. The ropes can only push back as hard as you push them. Begin the exercise by raising one arm up and bringing it down to cre ate a vertical wave. Alternate sides — as one arm goes up, the other comes down — to generate this move’s signature pat terns. Be sure the ropes contain waves the entire time you’re moving them.

Lateral waves

It’s not crucial to master different moves, though other motions work slight ly different muscles. Lateral waves work the shoulders, core, and hips through their twisting motion.

Start in the same stance you did for alternating waves. With both hands, sweep the ropes together from side to side, rotating your torso slightly while keeping your arms straight and your hips square. The waves should look like sinu ous snakes, slithering in unison. Intensify the exercise by forming larger waves and stepping closer to the anchor point, which increases the weight you have to lift.

to add some resistance to jumping jacks by doing them while grasping the ends of

Many people find their first battle ropes sessions challenging — their arms tremble with exertion and effort, the ropes tangle together, the waves stutter

put in a new way with your upper body, your lower body, your core and the ropes

The San Juan Daily Star

A personal trainer helps a client properly grip battle ropes at a gym. These bulky ropes in the corner of the gym can look intimidating, but it turns out they are an excellent full body workout for beginners that’s gentle on the body.

Phil Lord uses battle ropes in an alternating waves pattern while exercising at a gym.

LEGAL NOTICE

IN THE UNITED STATES DIS TRICT COURT FOR THE DIS TRICT OF PUERTO RICO LIME RESIDENTIAL, LTD.

Plaintiff V.

CARMEN GLORIA RIVERA RIVERA; AMID ANTONIO MOLINA MORALES; CONJUGAL

PARTNERSHIP

MOLINARIVERA

Defendants

Civil No.: 20-cv-1054. (ADC).

Re: In Rem Foreclosure. NOTI CE OF SALE.

To: CARMEN GLORIA RIVERA RIVERA; AMID ANTONIO MOLINA MORALES; CONJUGAL PARTNERSHIP MOLINARIVERA; AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC:

WHEREAS: On August 2, 2022, Default Judgment was entered and grated on same day in fa vor of Plaintiff to recover from defendants the principal amou nt of $262,020.88, plus interests at a rate of 3.25% per annum since May 1, 2019, which conti nues to accrue until the debit is paid in full, late charged on the amount of 5.00% of each and any monthly installment not re ceived by the note holder within 15 days after the installment is due, all advances made in accordance with the mortgage note including, but not limited to, insurance premiums, taxes and inspections as well as 10% ($22,325.00) to cover costs, expenses, and attorney’s fees guaranteed under the mortgage obligation. The records of the case and of these proceedings may be examined by interes ted parties at the Office of the Clerk of the United States Dis trict Court, Room 150 Federal Office Building, 150 Chardon Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.

WHEREAS: Pursuant to the terms of the aforementioned Judgment, Order of Execution, and the Writ of Execution the reof, the undersigned Special Master was ordered to sell at public auction for U.S. curren cy in cash or certified check without appraisement or right of redemption to the highest bidder and at the office of the Clerk of the Court, Room 150 – Federal Office Building, 150 Carlos Chardón Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, to cover the sums adjudged to be paid to the plaintiff, the following pro perty described in Spanish: RÚSTICA: Solar marcado con el número cuatro del Bloque A de la Urbanización Vista Los Peñones, en el Barrio Mem

brillo de Camuy, Puerto Rico, con un área superficial de mil cincuenta y cuatro metros con setecientos cuarenta y seis mi límetros (1,054.746) en lindes por el NORTE, en dieciocho metros con novecientos once milímetros con terrenos de Pascual Rosa; por el SUR, en quince metros con seiscientos quince milímetros con la ca rretera estatal número cuatro cientos ochenta y cinco; por el ESTE, en sesenta y un metros con cuatrocientos cuarenta y seis milímetros con el Solar nú mero cinco; y por el OESTE, en cincuenta y cinco metros con setecientos cuarenta y ocho milímetros en el Solar número tres del mismo Bloque A. The property is recorded at Page 125 of Volume 140 of Camuy, lot #7,259, Property Registry of Arecibo II. The mortgage is recorded at Page 91 of Volu me 371 of Camuy, lot #7,259, Property Registry of Arecibo II. Property address: Urbaniza ción Vistas Los Peñones, A-4 Carretera 485, KM 1.3, Ca muy, P.R. 00627. The deed of mortgage is recorded at Page 91 of Volume 371 of Camuy, Property Registry of Arecibo, Second Section. WHEREAS: This property is subject to the following liens: Senior Liens: NONE. Junior Liens: NONE. Potential bidders are advised to verify the extent of preferential liens with the holders thereof. It shall be understood that each bidder accepts as sufficient the title and that prior and pre ferential liens to the one being foreclosed upon, including but not limited to any property tax, liens, (express, tacit, implied or legal) shall continue in effect it being understood further that the successful bidder accepts them and is subrogated in the responsibility for the same and that the bid price shall not be applied toward their cancella tion. THEREFORE, the FIRST PUBLIC SALE shall be held on the 17TH DAY OF JANUARY OF 2023, AT: 9:15 AM. The minimum bid that will be accep ted is the sum of $223,250.00. In the event said first auction does not produce a bidder and the property is not adju dicated, a SECOND PUBLIC AUCTION shall be held on the 24TH DAY OF JANUARY OF 2023, AT: 9:15 AM and the mi nimum bid that will be accepted is the sum $148,833.33, which is two-thirds of the amount of the minimum bid for the first public sale. If a second auction does not result in the adjudica tion and sale of the property, a THIRD PUBLIC AUCTION will be held on the 31ST DAY OF

JANUARY OF 2023, AT: 9:15 AM, and the minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum of $111,625.00, which is one-half of the minimum bid in the first public sale. Should there be no award or adjudication at the third public sale, the property may be awarded to the credi tor for the entire amount of its debt if it is equal to or less than the amount of the minimum bid of the third public sale, credi ting this amount to the amount owed if it is greater. The un dersigned Special Master shall not accept in payment of the property to be sold anything but United States currency (cash), or certified checks, except in case the property is sold and adjudicated to the plaintiff, in which case the amount of the bid made by said plaintiff shall be credited and deducted from its credit; said plaintiff being bound to pay in cash or certified check only any excess of its bid over the secured indebtedness that remains unsatisfied. WHE REAS: Said sale to be made by the undersigned Special Master subject to confirmation by the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and the deed of conveyance and possession to the property will be executed and delivered only after such confirmation. Upon confirmation of the sale, an or der shall be issued cancelling all junior liens. For further parti culars, reference is made to the judgment entered by the Court in this case, which can be exa mined in the Office of Clerk of the United States District Court, District of Puerto Rico. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, this 3rd day of November of 2022. PEDRO A. VÉLEZ BAERGA, SPECIAL MASTER, 787-672-8269.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRI BUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTAN CIA SALA DE AGUADILLA JAMILETTE CORTÉS VELÁZQUEZ

Peticionaria EX- PARTE

Civil Núm.: AG2022CV01115.

Salón: 601. Sobre: EXPEDIEN TE DE DOMINIO PARA RECTI FICACIÓN DE CABIDA. EDIC TO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., ESTADO LI BRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS.

EXPEDIENTE.

POR LA PRESENTE se les notifica para que comparezcan, si lo creyeren pertinente, ante este Honorable Tribunal dentro de los veinte (20) días a partir de la última publicación de este edicto a exponer lo que a su derechos convenga en el ex pediente promovido por la parte peticionaria para adquirir su dominio sobre la finca que se describe mas adelante. Usted deberá presentar su posición a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// unired.ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación en la secretaría del Tribunal. Si us ted deja de expresarse dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia, previo a escuchar la prueba de valor de la parte peticionaria en su contra, sin mas citarle ni oírle, y conceder el remedio solicitado en la petición, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. RÚSTICA: Parcela marcada con el número CIEN TO OCHENTA Y UNO (181) en el plano de parcelación de la Comunidad Rural Mantilla del Barrio Arenales Bajos del término municipal de Isabela, con una cabida superficial de SETECIENTOS CINCO PUN TO CERO NOVENTA METROS CUADRADOS (705.090 m.c.).

En lindes por el Norte, con un canal de riego y solar marca do con el número en el plano de inscripción; por el Sur, con las parcelas número ciento ochenta y dos A (182 A) y cien to Ochenta y Dos (182) de la comunidad; por el Este, con faja de seguridad que la se para con la Sucesión Aguilar; y por el Oeste, con la carrete ra municipal. Se solicita una rectificación de cabida ya que dicha propiedad fue objeto de una mensura realizada por el Agrimensor Francisco Pérez Agront con licencia número 8034, resultando la misma con la siguiente cabida y descrip ción: RÚSTICA: Parcela mar cada con el número CIENTO OCHENTA Y UNO (181) en el

plano de parcelación de la Co munidad Rural Mantilla del Ba rrio Arenales Bajos del término municipal de Isabela, con una cabida superficial de MIL CUA RENTA Y SEIS PUNTO NUE

VE MIL QUINIENTOS NUE VE METROS CUADRADOS (1046.9509 m.c). En lindes por el Norte, con un canal de riego y solar marcado con el número en el plano de inscripción; por el Sur, con las parcelas número ciento ochenta y dos A (182 A) y ciento Ochenta y Dos (182) de la comunidad; por el Este, con faja de seguridad que la separa con la Sucesión Aguilar; y por el Oeste, con la carrete ra municipal. Consta inscrita al folio doscientos cuarenta y seis (246) del tomo doscientos setenta y seis (276) de Isabela, FINCA NÚMERO CATORCE MIL DOSCIENTOS OCHENTA Y OCHO (14288). El aboga do de la parte peticionaria es el Lcdo. Benjamin Hernández Lopez, 545 Calle Gabriel Car dona, Moca Puerto Rico 00676, teléfono: 939-202-0892. Se le informa además, que el Tribu nal ha señalado vista en este caso para el 24 DE FEBRERO DE 2023, A LAS 4:15 DE LA TARDE, mediante videoconfe rencia, a la cual usted puede comparecer asistido por abo gado y presentar oposición a la petición. Este edicto deberá ser publicado en tres (3) ocasiones dentro del término de veinte (20) días, en un periódico de circulación general diaria, para que comparezcan si quiere ale gar su derecho. Toda primera mención de persona natural y/o jurídica que se mencione en el mismo, se identificará en letra tamaño 10 puntos y negrillas, conforma a lo dispuesto en las Reglas de Procedimiento Civil, 2009. Se le apercibe que de no comparecer los interesados y/o partes citadas, o en su defecto los organismos públicos afecta dos en el término improrrogable de veinte (20) días a contar desde la fecha de la última pu blicación del edicto, el Tribunal podrá conceder el remedio so licitado por la parte peticiona ria, sin más citarle ni oírle. En Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, a 18 de octubre de 2022. Sarahí Reyes Pérez, Secretaria Regional. Ar lene Guzmán Pabón, Secreta ria Auxiliar Del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE ARECI BO

REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING LLC. Demandante Vs.

HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS

MUNICIPALES

Demandados

Civil Núm.: AR2021CV01184. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPO TECA. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉ RICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: LA PARTE DEMANDADA, AL (A LA) SECRETARIO(A) DE HACIENDA DE PUERTO RICO Y AL PÚBLICO

GENERAL:

Certifico y Hago Constar: Que en cumplimiento con el Manda miento de Ejecución de Senten cia que me ha sido dirigido por el (la) Secretario(a) del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Su perior de Arecibo, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América y/o Giro Postal y Cheque Cer tificado, en mi oficina ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Ins tancia, Sala de Arecibo, el 18 DE ENERO DE 2023, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA, todo derecho título, participación o interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cual quiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar marcado con el numero dos (2) del bloque B en el plano de la Urbanización Are cibo Gardens sita en el Barrio Tanama de Arecibo con una ca bida superficial de trescientos cuarenta y ocho punto treinta y siete (348.37) metros cuadra dos. En lindes por el Norte, en veintitrés punto ochenta (23.80) metros, con el solar tres (3) del bloque B; por el Sur, en veinti cuatro punto setenta y nueve (24.79) metros con el solar (1) del bloque B; por el Oeste, en dieciocho punto ochenta y cin co (18.85) metros con terrenos del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico; y por el Este, en doce punto veintiséis (12.26) metros con calle uno (1). En clava una casa. Inscrita al folio 167 del tomo 391 de Arecibo, finca 15517, Registro de la Pro piedad de Arecibo, Sección I. Propiedad localizada en: URB.

ARECIBO GARDENS, 33-B (2B) CALLE 1, ARECIBO, PUER TO RICO 00612. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas anteriores o preferen tes: Nombre del Titular: N/A. Suma de la Carga: N/A. Fecha de Vencimiento: N/A. Según figuran en la certificación re gistral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas posterio res a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: Nombre del Titular: Secretario de la Vivienda y De sarrollo Urbano. Suma de la Carga: $135,000.00. Fecha de Vencimiento: 9 de octubre de 2089. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad de la propiedad y que todas las cargas y gra vámenes anteriores y los pre ferentes al crédito ejecutante antes descritos, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistentes. El rematante acepta dichas car gas y gravámenes anteriores, y queda subrogado en la res ponsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se establece como tipo de mínima subasta la suma de $90,000.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la escritura de hipoteca. De ser necesaria una SEGUNDA SUBASTA por declararse desierta la primera, la misma se celebrará en mi ofi cina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Are cibo, el 25 DE ENERO DE 2023, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $60,000.00, 2/3 par tes del tipo mínima establecido originalmente. Si tampoco se produce remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se es tablece como mínima para la TERCERA SUBASTA, la suma de $45,000.00, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Arecibo, el 1 DE FEBRERO DE 2023, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MA ÑANA. Dicha subasta se lleva rá a cabo para, con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandan te, el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor ascendente a la suma de $74,772.55 por concepto de principal, más la suma de $12,935.59 en in tereses acumulados al 8 de marzo de 2022 y los cuales continúan acumulándose a razón de 3.316% anual hasta su total y completo pago; más la sumas de $3,391.82 en se guro hipotecario; $5,390.00 en cargos por servicio; $2,578.21

en seguro; $350.00 de tasa ciones; $520.00 en inspeccio nes; $1,828.30 de adelantos pendientes; más la cantidad de 10% del pagare original en la suma de $9,000.00, para gas tos, costas y honorarios de abo gado, esta última habrá de de vengar intereses al máximo del tipo legal fijado por la oficina del Comisionado de Instituciones Financieras aplicable a esta fe cha, desde este mismo día has ta su total y completo saldo. La venta en pública subasta de la referida propiedad se verificará libre de toda carga o gravamen posterior que afecte la mencio nada finca, a cuyo efecto se no tifica y se hace saber la fecha, hora y sitio de la PRIMERA, SEGUNDA Y TERCERA SU BASTA, si esto fuera necesario, a los efectos de que cualquier persona o personas con algún interés puedan comparecer a la celebración de dicha subasta. Se notifica a todos los intere sados que las actas y demás constancias del expediente de este caso están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables para ser examinadas por los (las) in teresados (as). Y para su publi cación en el periódico The San Juan Daily Star, que es un dia rio de circulación general en la isla de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo me nos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, así como para su publicación en los sitios pú blicos de Puerto Rico. Expedido en Arecibo, Puerto Rico, hoy 31 de octubre de 2022. WILFRE

DO OLMO SALAZAR, ALGUA CIL REGIONAL. ÁNGEL DE JESUS TORRES PÉREZ, AL GUACIL #770.

LEGAL NOTICE

MORTGAGE FUNDING LLC.

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Demandados

Civil Núm.: BY2020CV01115.

Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPO TECA. EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

Demandante Vs. SUCESION MARIA APOLONIA RAMOS CHERVONI COMPUESTA

POR JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO

A: LAS PERSONAS IGNORADAS Y DESCONOCIDAS A QUIENES PUDIERA PERJUDICAR LA INSCRIPCION DEL

DOMINIO A FAVOR DE LA PARTE PETICIONARIA EN EL REGISTRO DE LA PROPIEDAD DE LA FINCA QUE MAS ADELANTE SE DESCRIBIRA Y A TODA PERSONA EN GENERAL QUE CON DERECHO PARA ELLO DESEE OPONERSE A ESTE

SUCESION IRIS ROSA PAGAN TORRES T/C/C IRIS PAGAN TORRES COMPUESTA POR JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES

Terrazas de Montecasino un estacionamiento doble (“back to back”), identificados con los números ciento ocho (108) y ciento nueve (109). Este apar tamento tiene una participación de uno punto cero cuatro cero uno porciento (1.0401%) en los elementos comunes generales del Condominio Terrazas de Montecasino y una participa ción de cero punto cuatro cua tro nueve uno por ciento (0.4491%) en los elementos comunes limitados del Condo minio Terrazas de Monte Casi no. La propiedad antes relacio nada consta inscrita al Tomo Karibe de Toa Baja, finca núme ro 32,988 Registro de la Propie dad de Bayamón, Sección Se gunda. El tipo mínimo para la primera subasta del inmueble antes relacionado, será el dis puesto en la Escritura de Hipo teca, es decir la suma de $180,000.00. Si no hubiere re mate ni adjudicación en la pri mera subasta del inmueble mencionado, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA en las oficinas del Alguacil que suscri be el día 26 DE ENERO DE 2023, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MA ÑANA. En la segunda subasta que se celebre servirá de tipo mínimo las dos terceras partes (2/3) del precio pactado en la primera subasta, o sea la suma de $120,000.00. Si tampoco hubiere remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta se cele brará una TERCERA SUBASTA en las oficinas del Alguacil que suscribe el día 2 DE FEBRERO DE 2023, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA. Para la tercera su basta servirá de tipo mínimo la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado para el caso de ejecución, o sea, la suma de $90,000.00. La hipoteca a ejecutarse en el caso de epígrafe fue constitui da mediante la escritura de hi poteca número 230 otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 30 de junio de 2007, ante el Notario Rafael Maldonado Pé rez, y la cual consta inscrita al Tomo Karibe de Toa Baja, Finca número 32,988, inscripción Se gunda. Dicha subasta se lleva rá a cabo para con su producto satisfacer al Demandante total o parcialmente según sea el caso el importe de la Sentencia que ha obtenido contra la parte demandada ascendente a la suma de $178,892.93 por con cepto de principal, desde 1ro de noviembre de 2017, más in tereses al tipo pactado de 6.50% anual que continúan acumulándose hasta el pago total de la obligación. Además, la parte co-demandada adeuda a la parte demandante los car gos por demora equivalentes a 5.00% de la suma de aquellos pagos con atrasos en exceso de 15 días calendarios de la fe cha de vencimiento; los crédi tos accesorios y adelantos he

chos en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca; y las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado equiva lentes a $18,000.00. Además, la parte co-demandada, Javier Omar Torrens Dávila y Graciela Fernández Debs, se compro metió a pagar una suma equi valente a $18,000.00 para cu brir cualquier otro adelanto que se haga en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca y una suma equiva lente a $18,000.00 para cubrir intereses en adición a los ga rantizados por ley. Que los au tos y todos los documentos co rrespondientes al Procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la SECRETA RIA DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRI MERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMON, SALA SUPERIOR durante las horas laborables. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titulación del inmue ble y que las cargas y graváme nes anteriores y los preferen tes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsis tentes entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabili dad de los mismos, sin desti narse a su extinción el precio de remate. La propiedad no está sujeta a gravámenes ante riores y/o preferentes según surge de las constancias del Registro de la Propiedad en un estudio de título efectuado a la finca antes descrita. Por la pre sente se notifica a los acreedo res conocidos y desconocidos que tengan inscritos, no inscri tos, presentados y/o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante o acreedores de car gas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipo teca del actor y a los dueños, poseedores, tenedores de o in teresados en títulos transmisi bles por endoso o al portador garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito del actor que se celebrarán las su bastas en las fechas, horas y sitios señalados para que pue dan concurrir a la subasta si les conviniere o se les invita a sa tisfacer antes del remate el im porte del crédito, de sus intere ses, otros cargos y las costas y honorarios de abogado asegu rados quedando subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. La propiedad objeto de ejecución y descrita anterior mente se adquirirá libre de car gas y gravámenes posteriores una vez el Honorable Tribunal expida la correspondiente Or den de Confirmación de Venta Judicial. Y para conocimiento de licitadores del público en ge neral se publicará este Edicto de acuerdo con la ley por espa cio de dos semanas en tres si tios públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta,

tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribu nal y la Colecturía. Este Edicto será publicado dos veces en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas. Expido el presente Edicto de subasta bajo mi firma en el Tribunal en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 17 de noviembre de 2022. ED GARDO ELÍAS VARGAS SAN TANA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #193, ALGUACIL DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, CEN TRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN, SALA SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYA MÓN SALA SUPERIOR BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs. ROCIO MERCADO ISLAS T/C/C ROCIO MERCADO ISLA; LA SUCESION DE VIDAL CRUZ VARGAS COMPUESTA POR URIEL CRUZ RIVERA Y CARLOS LUIS CRUZ PEREZ T/C/C CARLOS LUIS PEREZ; FULANO Y FULANA DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM)

Demandados Civil Núm.: BY2022CV02318. Sala: 701. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA (VÍA ORDINARIA). EDICTO DE SUBASTA. El Al guacil que suscribe por la pre sente CERTIFICA, ANUNCIA y hace CONSTAR: Que en cum plimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que le ha sido dirigido al Alguacil que suscribe por la Secretaría del TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDI CIAL DE BAYAMON, SALA SUPERIOR, , en el caso de epígrafe procederá a vender en pública subasta al mejor postor en efectivo, cheque certificado en moneda legal de los Esta dos Unidos de América el día 26 DE ENERO DE 2023, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en su oficina sita en el local que ocu pa en el edificio del TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA DE BAYAMON, SALA SUPERIOR, QUINTO PISO SALA 503 todo derecho, título e interés que tenga la parte demandada de epígrafe en el inmueble de su propiedad que ubica en: RD 829 KM 9.1 INT., LOT 2 BA RRIO SANTA OLAYA, BAYA MON, PR 00956 y que se des

cribe a continuación: URBANA: Solar número dos: Parcela de terreno en el Barrio Santa Olaya de Bayamón, con una cabida de cero punto cinco mil ochocientos veinte y siete de cuerda (Así surge del Registro, no expresa la equivalencia en metros cuadrados); en lindes por el NORTE, con camino mu nicipal; por el SUR, con faja de terreno dedicada a uso público que lo separa de una quebra da; por el ESTE, con el solar número uno y por el OESTE, con el solar número tres. La propiedad antes relacionada consta inscrita al Folio 241 del Tomo 1,105 de Bayamón Sur, finca número 49,426 Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección Primera. El tipo míni mo para la primera subasta del inmueble antes relacionado, será el dispuesto en la Escritura de Hipoteca, es decir la suma de $35,000.00. Si no hubiere remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta del inmueble mencionado, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA en las oficinas del Alguacil que suscri be el día 2 DE FEBRERO DE 2023, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MA ÑANA. En la segunda subasta que se celebre servirá de tipo mínimo las dos terceras partes (2/3) del precio pactado en la primera subasta, o sea la suma de $23,333.33. Si tampoco hu biere remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta se celebra rá una TERCERA SUBASTA en las oficinas del Alguacil que suscribe el día 9 DE FEBRERO DE 2023, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA. Para la tercera su basta servirá de tipo mínimo la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado para el caso de ejecución, o sea, la suma de $17,500.00.

La hipoteca a ejecutarse en el caso de epígrafe fue consti tuida mediante la escritura de hipoteca número 29 otorgada en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el día 12 de febrero de 2016, ante la Notario Mariluz Rivera Ortiz, y la cual consta inscrita al Tomo Karibe de Bayamón Sur, finca 49,426, inscripción 6ta. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer al Demandante total o parcialmente según sea el caso el importe de la Senten cia que ha obtenido contra la parte demandada ascendente a la suma de $30,007.24 por concepto de principal, desde el 1ro de septiembre de 2020, más intereses al tipo pactado de 4.625% anual que continúan acumulándose hasta el pago total de la obligación. Además, Rocío Mercado Islas t/c/c Rocío Mercado Isla y la Sucesión de Vidal Cruz Vargas adeuda a la parte demandante los cargos por demora equivalentes a 5.00% de la suma de aquellos pagos con atrasos en exceso de 15 días calendarios de la

fecha de vencimiento; los cré ditos accesorios y adelantos hechos en virtud de la escri tura de hipoteca; y las costas, gastos y honorarios de aboga do equivalentes a $3,500.00. Además, Rocío Mercado Islas t/c/c Rocío Mercado Isla y la Sucesión de Vidal Cruz Vargas se comprometió a pagar una suma equivalente a $3,500.00 para cubrir cualquier otro ade lanto que se haga en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca y una suma equivalente a $3,500.00 para cubrir intereses en adición a los garantizados por ley. Que los autos y todos los documen tos correspondientes al Proce dimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la SECRETARIA DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDI CIAL DE BAYAMON, SALA SUPERIOR durante las horas laborables. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bas tante la titulación del inmueble y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecu tante continuarán subsistentes entendiéndose que el rema tante los acepta y queda su brogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio de re mate. La propiedad no está sujeta a gravámenes anteriores y/o preferentes según surge de las constancias del Registro de la Propiedad en un estudio de título efectuado a la finca antes descrita. Por la presen te se notifica a los acreedores conocidos y desconocidos que tengan inscritos, no inscritos, presentados y/o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hi potecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante o acreedores de car gas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipo teca del actor y a los dueños, poseedores, tenedores de o interesados en títulos transmi sibles por endoso o al portador garantizados hipotecariamen te con posterioridad al crédito del actor que se celebrarán las subastas en las fechas, horas y sitios señalados para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les conviniere o se les invita a satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus inte reses, otros cargos y las costas y honorarios de abogado ase gurados quedando subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. La propiedad objeto de ejecución y descrita anterior mente se adquirirá libre de car gas y gravámenes posteriores una vez el Honorable Tribunal expida la correspondiente Or den de Confirmación de Venta Judicial. Y para conocimiento de licitadores del público en ge neral se publicará este Edicto de acuerdo con la ley por es pacio de dos semanas en tres

sitios públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribu nal y la Colecturía. Este Edicto será publicado dos veces en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas. Expido el presente Edicto de subas ta bajo mi firma en el Tribunal en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 17 de noviembre de 2022.

EDGARDO ELÍAS VARGAS SANTANA, ALGUACIL AUXI LIAR PLACA #193, ALGUACIL DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, CEN TRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN, SALA SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU NAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INS TANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO, INC Demandante V. ROSA MILAGROS RIVERA ANDALUZ, WILLIAM CARLOS SAURI RIVERA, BÁRBARA LUZ SAURI RIVERA, R-G MORTGAGE CORPORATION, JOHN DOE

Demandado(a) Civil: BY2022CV03569. Sala: 703. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO POR LA VÍA JUDICIAL. NO TIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

esta notificación ha sido archi vada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 18 de noviembre de 2022. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 21 de noviembre de 2022. LAURA I. SANTA SÁN CHEZ, SECRETARIA. NOELIA MATÍAS SALAS, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU NAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INS TANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS

ORIENTAL BANK

Parte Demandante Vs. JAIME BOTET DE JESUS, FULANA DE TAL Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Parte Demandada Civil: GR2022CV00195. (705). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. NO TIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNI DOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRE SIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A: JAIME BOTET DE JESUS, FULANA DE TAL Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS.

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

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU NAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INS TANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN COOPERATIVA

DE AHORRO Y CREDITO DE MEDICOS Y OTROS PROFESIONALES DE LA SALUD (MEDICOOP) Demandante

V.

CARMEN

MELECIO FELICIANO

Demandado(a) Civil: SJ2022CV05392. Sala: 802. Sobre: COBRO DE DINE RO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SEN TENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: CARMEN MELECIO FELICIANO.

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

A:

R-G MORTGAGE CORPORATION Y JOHN DOE COMO TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGARÉ, BARBARA LUZ SAURI RIVERA. (Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que sus cribe le notifica a usted que el 18 de noviembre de 2022, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debi damente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted en terarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta no tificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circula ción general en la Isla de Puer to Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sen tencia, Sentencia Parcial o Re solución, de la cual puede esta blecerse 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 publi cación de este edicto. Copia de

EL SECRETARIO(A) que sus cribe le notifica a usted que el 16 de noviembre de 2022, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debi damente 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 notifica ción. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedi miento 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 edic to de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edic to. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 21 de noviembre de 2022. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, el 21 de noviembre de 2022. LISILDA MARTÍNEZ AGOSTO, SECRE TARIA REGIONAL. MARTA E. DONATE RESTO, SECRETA RIA AUXILIAR.

EL SECRETARIO(A) que sus cribe le notifica a usted que el 21 de noviembre de 2022, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debi damente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted en terarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta no tificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circula ción general en la Isla de Puer to Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sen tencia, Sentencia Parcial o Re solución, de la cual puede esta blecerse 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 publi cación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archi vada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 22 de noviembre de 2022. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 22 de noviembre de 2022. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA. EL SIE PRATTS MELÉNDEZ, SE CRETARIA

AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

Parte

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: MZ2022CV00782.

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA MUNICIPAL DE MAYA GÜEZ

COOPERATIVA DE AHORRO Y CRÉDITO DE RINCÓN (ANTES COOPERATIVA DE AHORRO Y CRÉDITO DE AÑASCO)

Demandante Vs ADELAIDA MATOS ARCELAY (SOCIO NÚM. 31110529)

A: ADELAIDA

MATOS ARCELAY.

Se le apercibe que la parte de mandante por mediación del Lcdo. José F. Giraud Mejías, P. O. Box 277, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00681, Tel. 787-265-0334, ha radicado la acción de epí grafe en su contra. Copia de la demanda, emplazamientos y del presente edicto le ha sido enviado por correo a la última dirección conocida. Pueden us tedes obtener mayor informa ción sobre el asunto revisando los autos en el Tribunal. Se le apercibe que tiene usted un tér mino de treinta (30) días para radicar contestación a dicha demanda de cobro de dinero y/o cualquier escrito que estime usted conveniente a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SU MAC), al 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 de epí grafe, pero que de no radicarse escrito alguno ante el Tribunal dentro de dicho término el Tri bunal procederá a ventilar el procedimiento sin más citarle ni oírle. Dada en Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, hoy 15 de noviem bre de 2022. LCDA. NORMA G.

SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRE

TARIA GENERAL, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA MUNICIPAL DE MAYA GÜEZ. JAZMÍN SANABRIA TORRES, SECRETARIA AU XILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYA MÓN BANCO

POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs.

JUAN ENRIQUE RIVERA

RIVERA; AUREA VIRGEN GONZALEZ PANTOJAS, ET AL

Demandados

Civil Núm.: BY2022CV02688.

(502). Sobre: COBRO DE DI NERO (EJECUCIÓN DE HIPO

TECA POR LA VÍA ORDINA

RIA). EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

AL: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

A: JUAN ENRIQUE RIVERA RIVERA; AUREA VIRGEN GONZALEZ PANTOJAS.

Yo, MARIBEL LANZAR VE LÁZQUEZ, Alguacil de este Tribunal, a la parte demandada y a los acreedores y personas con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se descri

be, y al público en general, HAGO SABER: Que el día 18 DE ENERO DE 2023 A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Supe rior de Bayamón, en el Cuarto Piso, Bayamón, Puerto Rico, venderé en Pública Subasta la propiedad inmueble que más adelante se describe y cuya venta en pública subasta se or denó por la vía ordinaria al me jor 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 corres pondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal de Bayamón durante horas labora bles. Que en caso de no produ cir remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta a celebrarse, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA para la venta de la susodicha propiedad, el día 25 DE ENERO DE 2023, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 1RO. DE FEBRERO DE 2023, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. La propiedad a venderse en pública subasta se describe como sigue: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número Quince (15) del Bloque “DF” de la URBANIZACIÓN REXVILLE, situado en el Barrio Pájaros de Bayamón, con una cabida de TRESCIENTOS TREINTA Y OCHO PUNTO CERO CERO (338.00) METROS CUADRA DOS; en lindes por el NORTE, en distancia de trece punto cero cero (13.00) metros, con el solar número Cuatro (4) del Bloque “DF”; por el SUR, en distancia de trece punto cero cero (13.00) metros, con la Calle San Diego; por el ESTE, en distancia de veintiséis punto cero cero (26.00) metros, con el solar número Catorce (14) del Bloque “FD”; y por el OESTE, en distancia de veintiséis punto cero cero (26.00) metros, con el solar número Dieciséis (16) del Bloque “DF”. Enclava una casa residencial para una sola fami lia. La escritura de hipoteca se encuentra inscrita al folio 4280 del tomo 1965 de Bayamón Sur, Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección Prime ra, finca número 36,759, ins cripción tercera. Modificada la hipoteca de la inscripción 3ra., la cual se cancela parcialmente en la suma de $20,510.85 que dando reducida a $97,510.58, con intereses al 3.875% anual, vencedero el dؙía 1ro. de di ciembre de 2059, con un pago global final de $7,510.85, según la escritura número 5, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 14 de enero de 2020, ante

el Notario Público Francisco Ja vier Del Valle Torres, inscrita al tomo Karibe de Bayamón Sur, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección Primera, finca 36,759, inscripción 4ta. y última. La dirección física de la propiedad antes descrita es: Urbanización Rexville, DF-15, Calle 28, Bayamón, Puerto Rico. La subasta se llevará a efecto para satisfacer a la parte demandante la suma de $88,211.91 de principal, inte reses al 3.875% anual, desde el día 1ro. de octubre de 2021, hasta su completo pago, más la cantidad de $14,680.48 de prin cipal diferido, más la cantidad de $11,800.00 estipulada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, más recargos acu mulados, todas cuyas sumas están líquidas y exigibles. Que la cantidad mínima de licitación en la primera subasta para el inmueble será de $97,510.85 y de ser necesaria una segunda subasta, la cantidad mínima será una equivalente a 2/3 par te de aquella, o sea la suma de $65,007.23 y de necesitarse una tercera subasta la cantidad mínima será la mitad del pre cio pactado, es decir la suma de $48,755.43. Si se declara desierta la tercera subasta se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si esta 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 esta es mayor. La propiedad se adju dicará 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 todo lici tador acepta como suficiente la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes preferentes, si los hubiese, continuarán sub sistentes, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabili dad de los mismos, sin desti narse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad a ser vendida en pública subasta se adquirirá libre de cargas y gra vámenes posteriores. Podrán concurrir como postores a to das las subastas los titulares de créditos hipotecarios vigentes y posteriores a la hipoteca que se cobra o ejecuta, si alguno o que figuren como tales en la certificación registral y que po drán utilizar el montante de sus créditos o parte de alguno en sus ofertas. Si la oferta acep tada es por cantidad mayor a la suma del crédito o créditos preferentes al suyo, al obtener la buena pro del remate, debe rá satisfacer en el mismo acto, en efectivo o en cheque de gerente, la totalidad del crédito hipotecario que se ejecuta y la

de cualesquiera otro créditos posteriores al que se ejecuta pero preferente al suyo. El ex ceso constituirá abono total o parcial en su propio crédito. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto para conocimiento y comparecencia de los licitadores, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en Baya món, Puerto Rico, a 28 de oc tubre de 2022. MARIBEL LAN ZAR VELÁZQUEZ, ALGUACIL PLACA #735, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL, SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE AIBONITO LEGACY MORTGAGE ASSET TRUST 2019-PR1 Parte Demandante Vs. SUCESION DE FRANCISCO SANTIAGO ROLON COMPUESTA POR YANIN SANTIAGO COLON, FRANCISCO SANTIAGO COLON, AWILDA SANTIAGO COLON, MARGARITA SANTIAGO COLON, IVETTE SANTIAGO COLON; JOHN DOE I Y RICHARD ROE I COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; SUCESION DE ANA COLON GREEN COMPUESTA POR YANIN SANTIAGO COLON, FRANCISCO SANTIAGO COLON, AWILDA SANTIAGO COLON, MARGARITA SANTIAGO COLON, IVETTE SANTIAGO COLON, SYLVIA RIOS COLON; JOHN DOE II Y RICHARD ROE II COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CR.I.M.)

Parte Demandada Caso Núm.: AI2022CV00049.

Salón Núm.: 002. Acción Civil De: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. EM PLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉ RICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ES TADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: JOHN DOE I Y RICHARD ROE I COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS

DE FRANCISCO SANTIAGO ROLON Y JOHN DOE II Y

RICHARD ROE II COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE ANA

COLON GREEN.

Queden emplazados y notifi cados que en este Tribunal se ha radicado Demanda sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca por la vía ordinaria en la que se alega que ustedes le adeudan a la parte deman dante lo siguiente: La suma de $28,190.80, más $905.00 por concepto de balance principal diferido, más intereses sobre dicha suma al tipo convenido de 8.606% anual desde el 3ro de marzo de 2021, hasta su completo pago, más cuales quiera sumas de dinero por concepto de primas de seguro hipotecario y riesgo, recar gos por demora, así como de cualesquiera otras cantidades pactadas en la escritura de primera hipoteca desde la fe cha antes mencionada, y hasta el total pago de las mismas, más la cantidad estipulada de $3,800.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados. La propiedad hipotecada cuya ejecución se solicita tiene la si guiente identificación y localiza ción: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número 5 del Bloque H de la Urbanización Extensión Residencial San José, propie dad de Corujo & Maldonado, lnc., sita en Aibonito, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 358.54 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el Noreste, en dis tancia de 27.74 metros, con el solar número 4; por el Noroes te, en distancia de 13.00 me tros, con la calle número 3 de la urbanización; por el Sureste, en distancia de 13.004 metros, con el Proyecto VBC-46 de la Cor poración de Renovación Urba na y Vivienda de Puerto Rico; y por el Suroeste, en distancia de 27.42 metros, con el solar número 6 de la urbanización. Sobre este solar la Corporación ha construido una casa de hor migón reforzado de una planta para un solar familiar y que contiene sala, comedor, coci na, tres dormitorios, un baño, un laundry room y marquesina para un solo automóvil. Inscrita al folio 255 del Tomo 112 de Ai bonito Registro de Barraquitas, finca número 5,272. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y advierte que deben presentar al tribunal su alegación responsi va a la demanda, dentro del tér mino de TREINTA (30) días de la publicación de este edicto, a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// unired.ramajudicial.pr/sumac/, salvo que se presente por de recho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal y deberá enviar copia

de la misma al LCDA. DIOMA

RIE LABOY RIVERA del Bufete VÁZQUEZ & VIZCARRONDO LLP, a su dirección P.O. Box 195389, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00919-5389, Tel. (787) 999-5252, Fax (787) 751-1038; Email: dlaboy@vvalaw.com. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribu nal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conce der el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de sana discreción, lo entiende proce dente, sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA Y SELLO DE ESTE TRIBUNAL. En Aibnito, Puerto Rico, hoy día 27 de septiembre de 2022. ELIZABETH GONZÁLEZ RIVE RA, SECRETARIA GENERAL. MARIELY LÓPEZ COLÓN, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA MUNICIPAL DE AÑAS CO COOPERATIVA DE AHORRO Y CRÉDITO DE RINCÓN (ANTES COOPERATIVA DE AHORRO Y CRÉDITO

DE AÑASCO)

Parte Demandante Vs. JOEL RIVERA VEGA (SOCIO NÚM. 31100167)

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: AÑ2022CV00124. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO (REGLA 60). EDICTO.

A: JOEL RIVERA VEGA.

Se le apercibe que la parte de mandante por mediación del Lcdo. Rafael Fabre Colón, P.O. Box 277, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00681, Tel. 787-265-0334, ha radicado la acción de epí grafe en su contra. Copia de la demanda, emplazamientos y del presente edicto le ha sido enviado por correo a la última dirección conocida. Pueden us tedes obtener mayor informa ción sobre el asunto revisando los autos en el Tribunal. Se le apercibe que tiene usted un tér mino de treinta (30) días para radicar contestación a dicha demanda de cobro de dinero y/o cualquier escrito que estime usted conveniente a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SU MAC), al 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 de epí grafe, pero que de no radicarse escrito alguno ante el Tribunal dentro de dicho término el Tri bunal procederá a ventilar el

procedimiento sin más citarle ni oírle. Dada en AÑASCO, Puer to Rico, hoy 15 de noviembre de 2022. LCDA. NORMA SAN TANA IRIZARRY, SECRETA RIA GENERAL, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA MUNICIPAL DE AÑASCO. ELI ZABETH VALENTÍN CORREA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYA MÓN WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB, NOT INDIVIDUALLY BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR FINANCE OF AMERICA STRUCTURED SECURITIES ACQUISITION TRUST

2018- HB1

Demandante Vs. CARMEN SOCORRO

MARTINEZ MELENDEZ T/C/C CARMEN S. MARTINEZ T/C/C CARMEN S. MARTINEZ MELENDEZ; SUCESION BLANCA GLORIA MELENDEZ ARROYO T/C/C GLORIA MELENDEZ ARROYO T/C/C GLORIA MELENDEZ MARTINEZ T/C/C GLORIA M. MARTINEZ COMPUESTA

POR EDNEE MARTINEZ MELENDEZ, JOSE MIGUEL MARTINEZ PIÑERO, FRANCIS JAVIER MARTINEZ PIÑERO, MICHAEL MARTINEZ; JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES Demandados Civil Núm.: BY2022CV05092.

Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HI POTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNI DOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRE SIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: CARMEN SOCORRO MARTINEZ MELENDEZ T/C/C CARMEN S. MARTINEZ T/C/C CARMEN S. MARTINEZ MELENDEZ; EDNEE MARTINEZ MELENDEZ, JOSE MIGUEL MARTINEZ PIÑERO, FRANCIS JAVIER MARTINEZ PIÑERO, MICHAEL MARTINEZ; JOHN DOE

Y JANE DOE COMO

POSIBLES MIEMBROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION BLANCA GLORIA MELENDEZ ARROYO T/C/C GLORIA MELENDEZ ARROYO T/C/C GLORIA MELENDEZ MARTINEZ T/C/C GLORIA M. MARTINEZ.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al Tribunal su alegación respon siva a la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto. Usted deberá presentar su ale gación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SU MAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente direc ción 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 dic tar 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 discre ción, lo entiende procedente. 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 se llo del Tribunal, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy 16 de noviem bre de 2022. LCDA. LAURA I.

SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETA RIA REGIONAL. ELIBETH TO RRES ALICEA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V.

RODRÍGUEZ Y MANIS TORRES RODRÍGUEZ T/C/C MINU

SUCESIÓN DE NORMA JOSEFA MONTALVO RODRÍGUEZ, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA COMO NORMA MONTALVO RODRÍGUEZ, COMPUESTA POR SUS HERMANOS DIGNA GUZMÁN RODRÍGUEZ, HÉCTOR MANUEL TORRES RODRÍGUEZ, SIGFREDO GUZMÁN RODRÍGUEZ, LUZ MONTALVO

Sobre:

DE LA SUCESIÓN

DERBHIS TORRES

RODRIGUEZ; FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANO DE TAL, COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS CON POSIBLE INTERÉS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM)

Demandado(a)

Civil: GB2022CV00365. (201).

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. NO TIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: DIGNA GUZMAN

RODRIGUEZ, HECTOR MANUEL TORRES RODRIGUEZ, SIGFREDO GUZMAN RODRIGUEZ, FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANO DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS CON POSIBLE INTERÉS.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que sus cribe le notifica a usted que el 21 de noviembre de 2022, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debi damente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted en terarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta no tificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circula ción general en la Isla de Puer to Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sen tencia, Sentencia Parcial o Re solución, de la cual puede esta blecerse 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 publi cación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archi vada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 22 de noviembre de 2022. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 22 de noviembre de 2022. LAURA I. SANTA SÁN CHEZ, SECRETARIA. NÉLIDA OCASIO ORTEGA, SECRETA RIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU

NAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INS

TANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE TOA ALTA ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES LLC., COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC.

Demandante V. VIVIAN SERRANO MARTINEZ; FULANO DE TAL & LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES POR AMBOS COMPUESTA

Demandado(a) Civil: D02021CV00210. Sobre: COBRO DINERO ORDINARIO INCUMPLIMIENTO DE CON TRATO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: VIVIAN SERRANO MARTINEZ; FULANO DE TAL & LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES POR AMBOS COMPUESTA. (Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)

EL SECRETARIO(A) que sus cribe le notifica a usted que el 18 de noviembre de 2022, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debi damente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted en terarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta no tificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circula ción general en la Isla de Puer to Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sen tencia, Sentencia Parcial o Re solución, de la cual puede es tablecerse 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 consi derará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Co pia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 22 de no viembre de 2022. En Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, el 22 de noviem bre de 2022. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. MA RITZA BONILLA HERNÁNDEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE BAYAMÓN FIRSTBANK PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs. FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION COMO SUCESOR EN DERECHOS DE DORAL BANK; BANCO POPULAR PUERTO RICO COMO SUCESOR EN DERECHOS DE RELIABLE FINANCIAL SERVICES INC.; NEW YORK MORTGAGE

BANKERS POR CONDUCTO DEL SINDICO DE QUIEBRA; JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES CON INTERÉS

Demandados Civil Núm.: BY2022CV05887. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PA GARÉ HIPOTECARIO EXTRA VIADO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE (PERSONAS DESCONOCIDAS CON POSIBLE INTERÉS).

En este caso la parte deman dante ha radicado Demanda para que se decrete judicial mente el saldo de un pagaré a favor de New York Mortgage Bankers o a su orden por la suma de $172,500.00 intere ses al 6 1/2% anual y fecha de vencimiento al 1 de marzo de 2024, constituido mediante la escritura 55 otorgada en San Juan el 18 de febrero de 2004 ante el Notario Público Marta T. Rey Cacho testimonio nú mero 1,380, inscrita al folio 19 del tomo 181 de Cataño finca 5925 inscripción 6ta, Registro de la Propiedad Sección Cuarta de Bayamón, y está garantiza do por hipoteca sobre la pro piedad sita en 6 AH CALLE 5 URBANIZACIÓN PRADERA

CATAÑO, Puerto Rico que se describe como sigue: Urbana: parcela de terreno identificada como solar No. 6 del Bloque AH (AH-6) de la Urbanización Villa Del Río Oeste, Sección Pradera; radicada en el Barrio Palmas del Municipio de Cata ño, con una cabida superficial de 310.50 metros cuadrados, en lindes por el Norte, en 23.00 metros, con el solar # 5; por el Sur, en 23.00 metros, con el solar # 7; por el Este, en 13.50 metros, con la Calle # 5; y por el Oeste, en 13.50 metros. con el solar # 33. Enclava una casa de concreto. Inscrita al folio 19 del torno 181 de Cataño, finca número 5,925, Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sec ción Cuarta. La parte deman dante alega que dicho Pagaré se ha extraviado, según más detalladamente consta en la Demanda radicada que puede examinarse en la Secretaría de este Tribunal. Por tratarse de una obligación hipotecaria, y pudiendo usted tener interés en este caso o quedar afectado por el remedio solicitado, se les emplaza por este Edicto que se publicará en un (1) periódico de circulación general una (1) sola vez y que si no comparecen a contestar dicha Demanda radi cando el original de la misma a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual pueden acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electróni ca: https://unired.ramajudicial.

pr, salvo que se representen por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberán presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del Tribunal Supe rior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Utuado, con copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Lcdo. Jorge García Rondón, de PMB 538, 267 Sierra Morena, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00926 den tro del término de treinta (30) días contados a partir de la publicación del Edicto, se les anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia en su contra conce diendo el remedio solicitado en la Demanda sin más citarles ni oírles. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto por Orden del Tribunal, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribu nal, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 18 de noviembre de 2022. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA RE GIONAL. MIRCIENID GONZÁ LEZ TORRES, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYA MÓN

FIRSTBANK PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs. BLANCA CORTÉS COLÓN T/C/C

BLANCA

EDME CORTÉS COLÓN

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: BY2022CV00642.

Sala: (401). Sobre: EJECU CIÓN DE HIPOTECA Y CO BRO DE DINERO. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDEN TE DE LOS ESTADOS UNI DOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASO CIADO DE P.R., SS.

A: BLANCA CORTÉS COLÓN T/C/C BLANCA

EDME CORTÉS COLÓN: Y AL PÚBLICO EN GENERAL:

El Alguacil que suscribe, cer tifica y hace constar que en cumplimiento de Mandamien to de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Supe rior de Bayamón, procederé a vender en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separa do, 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 deman dada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar

radicado en el Barrio Pájaros de Bayamón, Puerto Rico que se describe en el Plano de Inscripción de la Urbanización Hermanas Dávila, con el núme ro ciento treinta de la Urbani zación, con un área superficial de trescientos noventa y dos metros cuadrados con cuarenta centésimas de metro cuadrado colindando por el frente, o sea el SUROESTE, en quince me tros con la calle F de la Urba nización, por el fondo, o sea el NORESTE, en quince metros con terrenos de la Urbaniza ción; por la derecha entrando, o sea el SURESTE, en veintiséis metros veinticuatro centíme tros con el solar ciento treinta y uno de la Urbanización; y por la izquierda entrando o sea el NOROESTE, en veintiséis metros ocho centímetros con el solar ciento veintinueve de la Urbanización. Consta ins crita al folio 126 del tomo 167 de Bayamón Sur, finca número #7,879, Registro de la Propie dad de Puerto Rico, Sección I de Bayamón. La propiedad objeto de ejecución está locali zada en la siguiente dirección: Urbanización Hermanas Dá vila, E-130 Calle F, Bayamón, P.R. 00959. Se informa que la propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gra vamen 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 es tablece como tipo mínimo de licitación en la Primera Subasta la suma de $113,280.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la Escritura de Hipoteca #194, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 8 de marzo de 2006, ante la no tario Griselle Arbona Martínez, e inscrita al folio 153 del tomo 1834 de Bayamón Sur, finca número 7,879, inscripción 7ma. La PRIMERA SUBASTA, se lle vará a cabo el día 25 DE ENE RO DE 2023 A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en mis oficinas sitas en el Tribunal de Prime ra Instancia, Sala Superior de Bayamón, el tipo mínimo para la primera subasta es la suma de $113,280.00. Si la primera subasta del inmueble no produ jere remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SU BASTA el día 1RO DE FEBRE RO DE 2023 A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo sitio y servirá de tipo mínimo las dos terceras partes del precio pac tada para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de $75,520.00. Si la segunda subasta no produje re remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SU BASTA el día 8 DE FEBRERO 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 $56,640.00.

Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo, para con su producto sa tisfacer a la parte demandante el importe de la Sentencia dic tada a su favor, a saber: Suma Principal de $83,789.67, con in tereses a 6 5/8% anual, desde el 1ro de julio de 2021, hasta el presente y los que se continúen acumulando hasta su total y completo pago, más la suma de $3,891.12, como balance diferido, la cual no genera in tereses, más los cargos por demora que se corresponden a los plazos atrasados desde la fecha anteriormente indica da a razón de la tasa pactada de 5% de cualquier pago que éste en mora por más de quin ce (15) días desde la fecha de su vencimiento, más una suma equivalente a $11,328.00, por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, más cualquier otra suma que resul te por cualesquiera otros ade lantos que se hayan hecho la demandante, en virtud de las disposiciones de la escritura de hipoteca y del Pagaré hipoteca rio. Para más información, a las personas interesadas se les no tifica que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, esta rán de manifiesto en la Secre taría del Tribunal, durante las horas laborables. Este EDICTO DE SUBASTA, se publicará en los lugares públicos correspon dientes y en un periódico de circulación general en la juris dicción de Puerto Rico. Se en tenderá que todo licitador acep ta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los referentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecu tante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su ex tinción el precio del remate. Se procederá a otorgar la corres pondiente Escritura de Venta Judicial y el Alguacil pondrá en posesión judicial al nuevo due ño, si así se lo solicita dentro del término de veinte (20) días, de conformidad con las dispo siciones de Ley. Si transcurren los referidos veinte (20) días, el tribunal podrá ordenar, sin necesidad de ulterior procedi miento, que se lleve a efecto el desalojo o lanzamiento del ocu pante u ocupantes de la finca o de todos los que por orden o to lerancia del deudor la ocupen. Expedido en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, a 09 de noviembre de 2022. EDGARDO ELÍAS VAR GAS SANTANA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #193.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE

SAN

JUAN NEWREZ LLC D/B/A SHELLPOINT MORTGAGE SERVICING

Demandante V. LA SUCESIÓN DE AIDA ESTHER ARUZ CANCEL, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA COMO AIDA ESTHER ARUS CANCEL Y POR AIDA ESTHER CRUZ CANCEL COMPUESTA POR ILSA YOLANDA FIGUEROA ARÚS, ILIA ESTHER FIGUEROA ARÚS Y ÁNGEL LUIS FIGUEROA

ARÚS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM)

Demandados Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV05753.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. EM PLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉ RICA, PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUER TO RICO, S. S.

asaez@tmppllc.com Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal, hoy 17 de noviembre de 2022. Grisel da Rodríguez Collado, Secre taria Regional. Brenda Báez Acabá, Secretaria De Servicios A Sala.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU NAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INS TANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS

A:

ILIA

ESTHER FIGUEROAARÚS Y ÁNGEL LUIS FIGUEROA ARÚS.

Queden emplazados y notifi cados que en este Tribunal se ha radicado Demanda sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca en su contra. 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 alega ción responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SU MAC), el cual podrá 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, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su discreción, lo entiende procedente. Los abo gados 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 /

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO, INC. Demandante V. JESUS E. QUIÑONES TORRES, GLORIA E. MALDONADO HERNÁNDEZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS, R&G MORTGAGE CORPORATION, JOHN DOE Demandado(a) Civil: CG2022CV03194. Sala: 702. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTEN CIA POR EDICTO. A: R&G MORTGAGE CORPORATION, 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 sus cribe le notifica a usted que el 22 de noviembre de 2022, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debi damente 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 notifica ción. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedi miento 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 edic to de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edic to. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 23 de noviembre de 2022. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, el 23 de noviembre de 2022. LISILDA

MARTÍNEZ AGOSTO, SECRE TARIA. LIZ WHARTON ROSA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

World Cup continues for the US. Will Christian Pulisic be part of it?

By ANDREW DAS

The job for the U.S. soccer team was simple, really: win.

The stakes and the stage and the pol itics all made things harder going into their

game against Iran on Tuesday night at the World Cup. The own goal by their own federation’s social media team, the Irani ans’ great umbrage at the perceived insult to their flag, the chatter and the threats and the intrigue all added to the spice of

the matchup. But the task, at its heart, left no room for nuance at all: If United States wanted to keep playing in this tournament, it had to beat Iran on Tuesday night.

And so it did.

The price of victory may be a high one: Christian Pulisic, perhaps the Americans’ brightest star and the scorer of its only goal in a 1-0 victory, was forced from the game

at halftime with an abdominal injury sus tained when he crashed into Iran’s goal keeper finishing his goal.

His status for the next round, a date with the Netherlands on Saturday, was un clear as the game ended.

But that will be a question for tomor row. The United States, thanks to its win, now has one.

In a flash, Senegal went from packing its bags to extending its stay

By ANDRÉS R. MARTÍNEZ

Senegal’s captain, Kalidou Koulibaly, hammered home a game-winning shot off a mishandled ball midway through the second half, sending his country to the knockout round of the World Cup for the first time in 20 years with a 2-1 victory over Ecuador on Tues day.

In the win-or-go-home game, Sen egal dominated the first half as Ecuador struggled to match its intensity. Needing only a tie to advance, Ecuador looked le thargic compared with Senegal’s relent less attack. Free kicks, corner kicks, shots on goal — Senegal did it all and created opportunity after opportunity, but failed to score until near the end of the first half.

Ecuador’s Piero Hincapié bodyslammed Ismaila Sarr in the penalty area, earning a yellow card. Sarr lined up at the penalty spot and fired a shot low to the left of Hernán Galíndez, who was frozen in his tracks and watched the ball fly by as Senegal took a 1-0 lead at the half. Even with its star, Enner Valencia, in

the lineup after an injury scare in its pre vious match, Ecuador had trouble finding a rhythm. But that changed in the second half, when two substitutions and a more aggressive approach allowed the South American squad to seize control. Ecua dor’s midfielders and strikers pressed and created opportunities, culminating in a goal started off with a free kick in the 67th minute. Moisés Caicedo nailed a header into the back of the goal, and Ec uador’s fans — the majority in the stadi um — erupted, drowning out the drums of the Senegalese contingent.

But the celebration was short-lived.

Barely two minutes later, Koulibaly let the ball bounce once after a poor clearance in the box and fired in a rightfooted shot past Galíndez, securing Sen egal’s place in the second round.

The Lions of Teranga must now wait to see who they face in the next round as the remaining contenders play their final group matches. After finishing second in Group A behind the Netherlands, Sen egal is slated to face the winner of Group B, which is poised to be England.

Seper Mikaeilian watches the USA vs Iran soccer match during the 2022 World Cup, at 33 Taps Silver Lake in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022.

Soccer fans are entertained by performers dressed as astronauts at the 900 Park fan zone before the USA vs Iran soccer match at the 2022 World Cup in Doha, Qatar on Nov. 29, 2022.

Kalidou Koulibaly, right, scored Senegal’s game-winning goal in the second half.

Hall of Fame committee could be tough on players with steroid links

By TYLER KEPNER

For a player who starred at Wrigley Field, Ryne Sand berg finished his Hall of Fame speech, in 2005, the way you would expect: “Thank you and go Cubs!” But right before that, on a stage filled with the most hal lowed names in baseball, Sandberg made a pointed choice of words to cap his address.

“Respect for the game of baseball — when we all played it, it was mandatory,” Sandberg said. “It’s some thing I hope we will one day see again.”

The next day, one of Sandberg’s former teammates, Rafael Palmeiro, was suspended for testing positive for stanozolol, a powerful anabolic steroid. Later that sum mer, hounded by booing, Palmeiro wore ear plugs in the last game he ever played. He had more hits than Wade Boggs and more home runs than Reggie Jackson, but he has not earned a plaque in Cooperstown, New York.

This past Monday, the Hall of Fame announced the 16 voters for the Contemporary Baseball Era committee, which will meet in San Diego on Sunday at the winter meetings. Eight candidates are up for consideration by the committee, including Palmeiro and the two more prominent statistical giants whose legacies are clouded by ties to performance-enhancing drugs: Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

Sandberg is one of seven Hall of Famers on the com mittee, with Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Jack Morris, Frank Thomas, Lee Smith and Alan Trammell. There are also six executives (Paul Beeston, Theo Epstein, Arte Moreno, Kim Ng, Dave St. Peter and Ken Williams) and three members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (Steve Hirdt, La Velle Neal and Susan Slusser).

Besides Bonds, Clemens and Palmeiro, the candidate list — chosen from those who made their greatest im pact from 1980 onward — includes Albert Belle, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Dale Murphy and Curt Schil ling. Voters are limited to no more than three selections apiece, and candidates must receive 12 votes (75%) to be elected.

The Hall of Fame does not reveal the voters’ indi vidual ballots, and committee members are forbidden from sharing details of the meeting. But if some of the voters stand by their previous statements, it could be another disappointing outcome for Bonds, Clemens and Palmeiro.

Sandberg, in stumping for Andre Dawson during his speech, said that Dawson — who was finally inducted in 2010 — “did it the right way, the natural way.” Over the years, Sandberg has not wavered from his reverence for that approach.

“No steroid guys in the Hall of Fame,” he told Fan Sided in 2018. “It’s about stats, integrity and playing by the rules. There’s no cheating in Major League Baseball or the Hall of Fame.”

The muscular Thomas — who now pitches a testos terone supplement in TV ads — has spoken for years about the scourge of steroids. In 1995, seven years before the union consented to testing, Thomas supported the idea to the Los Angeles Times. When George J. Mitchell

investigated the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, he reached out to five players who had been outspoken about the topic, and only Thomas agreed to meet.

“It was weird,” Thomas told The New York Times in 2007. “The whole reason I did it was because I couldn’t believe other guys weren’t talking to him. I had nothing to hide.”

In 2014, when Thomas cruised to an easy first-ballot election by the writers, he reflected on his conversa tions with older Hall of Famers, who told him they never wanted PED users in Cooperstown. Thomas made clear that he sided with them.

“To be honest, I have to take the right stance, too,” Thomas said. “No, they shouldn’t be allowed in.”

Reaching the Hall of Fame is baseball’s highest hon or, of course, but there is still an unspoken hierarchy. And while Thomas posted some of the gaudiest numbers ever, sluggers like Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa eclipsed him during his prime. Proud players do not forget.

“Overnight, everybody caught up,” Thomas told USA Today in 2014. “My 40 home runs and my 120 RBI wasn’t what it once was. Guys started ramping up 50 and 60 home runs. They were doing things that were crazy.

“So people started talking like my numbers were just average, and I took a lot of flak for that. They looked at me like, ‘What are you doing? You’re not working out.’”

In 2010, after McGwire’s admission of steroid use, Morris told The St. Paul Pioneer-Press that McGwire’s “numbers aren’t legit.”

“Anyone cheating should not be allowed in the game, because there is a huge definition of the Hall of Fame that all writers are supposed to consider when they elect a person,” Morris told the Holland (Michigan) Sentinel the next year, adding that part of the definition was: “Did they uphold the integrity of the game? And by cheating, that is not upholding the integrity of the game.”

Maddux took a nuanced viewpoint in January, on a podcast co-hosted by former All-Star pitcher David Cone.

“As far as the steroids go, I think there’s guys that are good enough to be in the Hall of Fame if they didn’t take them, so I think they’re OK if they get in,” Maddux said. “I think there’s guys that were only good because they took them, and then I think guys will have a problem with that. Now, who’s to say who’s right, who’s wrong, or who’s taking ’em or whatever? Who knows what was going on back then?”

That has been the writers’ approach to players sus pected of using banned drugs but not strongly linked; even David Ortiz — who had a positive test in 2003, during survey testing that was supposed to remain anon ymous — made it on the first try last year. In that same election — their 10th and final appearance on the ballot — Bonds and Clemens earned nearly two-thirds of the writers’ votes (66% for Bonds and 65.2% for Clemens) but essentially ran out of time.

Now, their fate rests largely with their peers and ex ecutives, a voting bloc that skews older: Morris, Tram mell, Smith and Sandberg started their careers more than 40 years ago, and only Jones began his after 1990.

Here’s Jones on the topic, from a conversation with Sports Illustrated in 2017: “I couldn’t imagine looking in my parents’ eyes if they knew I had taken a shortcut or cheated. And ultimately, at the end of the day, that’s what swayed me. And I knew that some of my contemporaries were doing it, but in the end it gave me a lot of satis faction walking away knowing I did it the right way the whole time.”

If Sandberg, Thomas and Morris maintain their hard line against steroid suspects, that means Bonds, Clemens and Palmeiro must collect at least 12 of the remaining 13 votes, including one of either Maddux or Jones. That is possible, in theory, but they would then need wider sup port from executives than from their peers.

Who will make the most persuasive arguments when the committee meets? Who will reconsider past posi tions? We may never know for sure, but the factors that hurt some candidates in past elections will no longer matter.

A crowded ballot — and a limit of 10 selections — kept McGriff from standing out to most writers, and Schilling’s hostility to many in the BBWAA left him just shy of election (he peaked at 71.1% in 2021). But both players maintained a high standard for a long time, and baseball lifers tend to value durability.

Durability was not a problem for Bonds, Clemens and Palmeiro. Their method of achieving it is the issue — and even with a new set of judges, it threatens their place in history.

Roger Clemens won 354 games and struck out 4,672 batters, but he fell off the writers’ ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame after 10 tries.

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

Wordsearch Crossword

Aries (Mar 21-April 20)

New ideas and fresh opportunities draw your attention, and could be the reason you find it hard to settle. Future possibilities may seem more exciting than present commitments, with the current star map encouraging you along new paths that can take you out of your comfort zone. There’s a sense that you’re disheartened with your usual activities and need something to wake you up.

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

Mercury’s presence in a transformative sector and its face off with Mars retro, could see you determined to push ahead with an idea if the cost of living is taking its toll. With Saturn in the mix, you’ll be keen to work with the most sensible option, which might mean asking for a pay rise or finding a better paid job. A steady effort could help you breeze through the weeks ahead.

Gemini (May 22-June 21)

Being around friends and family can give you a buzz. But you’ll also have plenty of opportunity to engage others in fruitful discussions, and collaborate on winning projects. There’s an emphasis on teamwork and on a livelier social life, Gemini. You may need to pace yourself though, as with Mars in reverse in your sign, energy levels could fluctuate just when you’re keen to get involved.

Cancer (June 22-July 23)

You have a chance to give your curiosity free reign, and to follow those whims and impulses that might enrich you. Some of them could be life changing. In addition, take time to slow down and catch your breath, and indulge in some self-care or a special treat. With Mercury opposing Mars in reverse, there may be times when relaxing and recharging needs to become your main priority.

Leo (July 24-Aug 23)

With the Sun, Venus and Mercury in Sagittarius, a burst of fresh energy could leave you animated. Leisure and romance move to the top of your agenda, and you’ll also have a desire to enjoy much-loved hobbies and sports. There might also be a disagreement with someone in your social circle that discourages you from seeing too much of them. Don’t fret, as it will blow over.

Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)

You may feel indifferent to your career goals or ambitions, since Mars turned retrograde last month. You might also realize how much you enjoy being at home, and how much scope there is to get more done. This could lead you to want to start a homebased business or negotiate to work from home part of the week. Need time to reflect and come to a decision. You have it!

Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)

A new interest may unleash your curiosity, encouraging you to find out how you can get involved. When it comes to planning for your future, you seem less than enthused. Perhaps it’s all a matter of timing. In around seven weeks something will have shifted, and the chance you’ve been waiting for could be yours. For now, your local area might provide plenty of entertainment.

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)

You may be in the mood to shop. But with Mars regressing, it’s best to keep receipts just in case you’re dissatisfied. With Mercury in the mix, you might be geared up for bargain hunting and a chance to seek out the best deals. If you love vintage or bohemian clothes or items, then you could do very well. Something you’ve wanted for a while may be within reach, Scorpio.

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)

It may be wise to adopt a flexible approach to a key issue, than to stick with the tried and trusted. The present backdrop suggests open-mindedness, and encourages good relationships and positive outcomes, even if you can’t quite agree. But there are those who seem to be untouched by your enthusiasm and who might not want to co-operate at all. Don’t let them get to you, Archer.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)

The idea of moving beyond your limits and living to your full potential, could seem thrilling. Are you fed up with your current work situation and lifestyle? If you want something more challenging, the current star map encourages you to connect with a life coach or mentor who can take your inner game up a notch. Have a definite goal in mind? So much the better, Capricorn.

Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)

You thrive on good company, and could languish when left to you own devices. If you’re invited to key events, then commit to attending as you stand to gain. Those opportunities you’ve wanted will only arise when you go out to meet them halfway. Positive encounters can be pivotal in opening your mind to ideas that might transform your future. Something good is in the air!

Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)

The current backdrop suggests there’s no need to settle for second best. A very dynamic focus on your sector of ambition and goals, hints this can be a time to push the boundaries and take on new challenges. Others may encourage you in your plans, but with Mars in a private zone, you could be aware that your energy needs replenishing. It helps to relax and unwind when you can.

Answers to the Sudoku and Crossword on page 29