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2 GOOD MORNING
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Gov’t officials chide LUMA Energy over performance
By THE STAR STAFF
The island government’s energy sector is criticizing LUMA Energy’s performance in managing federal funds, describing the private operator’s efforts to rebuild the power grid as “poor” and “deficient.”
LUMA stated in a press release that it was not allowed to provide its views at a public hearing held Monday in the House of Representatives.
“That’s poor,” remarked Eduardo Soria, executive director of the Central Office of Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience (COR3). “The documentation they submit to COR3 for reimbursement has been deficient.”
He added that too much time is wasted correcting the documents turned in by LUMA, which delays the reconstruction process.
Energy Czar Josué Colón Ortiz asserted that “everything that happens in the transmission and distribution system is the sole responsibility of the private operator,” rejecting LUMA’s claim of lacking funds. He noted that the consortium has a consolidated budget of $795 million for the current fiscal year. Meanwhile, Mary Zapata, director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), raised concerns about LUMA’s lack of transparency and indicated that no further vegetation-clearing projects would be approved until the requested reports are submitted.
House Government Committee Chairman Víctor Parés Otero said the legislative response should focus on canceling the contract.
“There is no way to change a contract that is poorly drafted and poorly executed,” he said.
In response, LUMA said it was not allowed the chance to clarify its progress.
“We regret not having had the opportunity to clarify our statements and provide a complete update on our progress since LUMA took over in June 2021, nor to address the many misinterpretations made during today’s hearing,” the company stated in a written response.
The consortium noted that since taking over operations in 2021, it has secured over $2.4 billion in federal funds for 200 projects, of which nine have been completed and 178 are currently underway. LUMA also highlighted its accomplishments, including clearing 6,800 acres of vegetation, installing 182,000 LED lights, replacing 33,000 utility poles, and installing more than 10,000 circuit breakers on the grid, among other initiatives.
“We need the honest and good-faith collaboration of all business partners, collaborators, and the Government of Puerto Rico,” the company emphasized.
Additionally, LUMA warned that 250 more projects are still pending authorization from PREPA.
PAN beneficiaries to receive extra benefit this month
By THE STAR STAFF
The island Family Department’s Socioeconomic Development Administration (ADSEF by its acronym in Spanish) announced Tuesday that a special benefit distribution will impact 1,235,166 participants across the island enrolled in the Nutrition Assistance Program (PAN).
Each participant will receive an average of $46.10 in addition to their regular PAN benefits. The distribution will be organized based on each participant’s Social Security number.
A total of $56.9 million will be disbursed for the special distribution.
“Our administration is committed to ensuring access to food for families in need,” ADSEF Administrator Ramón Burgos Bermúdez said. “This special issuance provides significant
financial relief for our participants and demonstrates how PAN funds directly enhance the quality of life for our residents.”
Family Secretary Suzanne Roig Fuertes added that “[o]ur goal is to protect and address the needs of families in Puerto Rico.”
These additional PAN funds allow us to expand our support and ensure more households have the resources they need for their daily well-being,” she said.
This initiative has the full support of Gov. Jenniffer González Colón, as it is part of a public policy aimed at strengthening food security and supporting the most vulnerable populations. ADSEF encourages participants to verify the crediting of funds to their electronic benefit transfer, or EBT, accounts on the designated dates and to use them at authorized establishments to maximize their purchase of nutritious food.
House Government Committee Chairman Víctor Parés Otero
Comptroller’s office raids Cataño City Hall, seizing computers
By THE STAR STAFF
The Puerto Rico Office of the Comptroller conducted a raid at Cataño City Hall on Tuesday as part of an investigation into undisclosed matters.
The operation involved the seizure of five computers belonging to key staff members, including the deputy mayor, municipal administrator and director of citizen assistance. Employees were reportedly evacuated from the building during the raid.
Mayor Julio Alicea Vasallo confirmed the incident and stated that he was unaware of the investigation’s purpose.
“I met with the auditor in charge, whom I know, and who is a serious person,” he said. “They took the deputy mayor’s laptop, the computer of my special assistant, Elba Crespo, and also the municipal administrator’s. They seized the computer of the director of citizen assistance and another computer belonging to a colleague. We are going to support the comptroller’s
administration. We are going to provide all the documents today and cooperate as we have in the past. I feel comfortable with all the work we have done. You know that Cataño suffered the blow of corruption in 2021, and if anyone has done anything wrong, they will pay to the fullest extent of the law.”
Alicea Vasallo described the situation as “deja vu.” He recalled that a complaint against his administration was also investigated in November 2024, and that the Department of Justice later concluded there was insufficient evidence of a crime.
The raid occurred as Alicea Vasallo’s administration has faced scrutiny over the handling of public funds and resources. It remains unclear whether the raid was connected to the previous concerns or if it relates to new allegations.
At press time, the comptroller’s office had not yet released an official statement regarding the raid or the ongoing investigation. As the situation unfolds, Cataño’ City Hall officials and the public await further clarification and possible legal outcomes.
Former Cataño Mayor Félix “el Cano” Delgado, who left office in late 2021, pleaded guilty to federal charges of corruption. In February of this year, the comptroller found irregularities in the awarding of certain contracts.
NMEAD warns of tropical wave approaching Puerto Rico
Bureau of Emergency Management and Disaster Administra- tion Commissioner Ángel Jiménez Colón said an approaching tropical wave was expected to deliver “between two and four inches of rain” to Puerto Rico “with isolated areas potentially receiving up to six inches of precipitation by Wednesday afternoon and into the early morning hours of Thursday, particularly in the eastern part of the island.”
By THE STAR STAFF
Bureau of Emergency Management and Disaster Administration (NMEAD by its acronym in Spanish) Commissioner Ángel Jiménez Colón warned on Tuesday that a tropical wave will affect Puerto Rico from Wednesday afternoon until Thursday morning, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast.
“The National Weather Service is continuously monitoring the approaching tropical wave, forecasting between two and four inches of rain, with isolated areas potentially receiving up to six inches of precipitation by Wednesday afternoon and into the early morning hours of Thursday, particularly in the eastern part of the island,” Jiménez Colón said in a written statement.
Gov. Jenniffer González Colón urged residents to stay informed by monitoring official updates from the NWS and NMEAD.
Jiménez Colón also advised against crossing roads or bridges that are flooded or have water levels above their normal banks.
Public Safety Secretary Arthur Garffer, along with Jiménez Colón, stated that state, municipal and federal agencies are on alert and prepared to respond to any emergency situation that may arise.
Authorities reminded the public that additional information can be found on the official social media accounts of NMEAD and the NWS. In case of an emergency, residents should call 9-1-1 to activate the emergency response system.
The tropical wave follows Hurricane Gabrielle, which was far out in the Central Atlantic as a Category 4 storm late on Monday. A third storm is expected to pass well north of Puerto Rico.
September is the peak of the hurricane season.
Senate measure seeks to create registry for abusers of elderly
By THE STAR STAFF
Aguadilla District Sen. Karen Román Rodríguez introduced Senate Bill 729 on Tuesday, which seeks to establish the “Puerto Rico Elder Abusers Registry Act” to protect the senior population from acts of abuse, exploitation and neglect.
The measure proposes the creation of a registry attached to the Auxiliary Administration of Services for the Elderly and Adults with Disabilities, which is part of the Family Department’s Administration for Families and Children.
The registry would serve as a tool for the prevention, oversight and deterrence of all forms of elder abuse.
“Our older adult population deserves to live with dignity, respect, and protection,” Román Rodríguez said. “This registry
seeks to ensure that no one with a history of abuse can reoffend in care settings or provide services to those who need support the most. It is a firm step toward a more just and sensitive Puerto Rico for those who have given so much to our country.”
According to data from the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, more than 24% of the island’s population was 60 years of age or older in 2020, and that figure is expected to continue to rise in the coming decades. However, the Family Department receives thousands of complaints of elder abuse each year, reflecting the urgent need for additional measures to address the problem.
The proposed registry would be confidential and available only to authorized personnel from the Family Department, investigative agencies and certified care facilities. The measure
provides:
* A minimum five-year restriction is required for a person with a determination of abuse to work or be employed in long-term care facilities.
* Administrative review and judicial appeal processes, guaranteeing due process of law.
* Oversight by the Family Department Licensing Office to ensure compliance with the ban.
* Mandatory regulation within 180 days of the law’s approval.
“The aging of our population challenges us to develop innovative and decisive public policies,” Román Rodríguez said. “This bill is a vital tool to ensure that our seniors receive the protection and respect they deserve.”
Cataño Mayor Julio Alicea Vasallo
Lawmaker wants to know future plans for shuttered Mayagüez Zoo
Rep. Lilibeth Rosas Vargas
By THE STAR STAFF
District 19 Rep. Lilibeth Rosas Vargas announced the introduction of House Resolution 444 on Tuesday, aiming to investigate the proposed development plans for the former Mayagüez Zoo.
Rosas stated that the resolution addresses the inaction of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) and remarks made by DNER Secretary Waldemar Quiles Pérez, who had mentioned plans to import boa constrictors to the island on a weekly basis. The secretary has said he will announce the plans for the zoo next year.
The lawmaker condemned the DNER secretary’s claim that the boa constrictors, brought in for research at the former zoo, are the same snakes that have overrun the fields in Puerto Rico. She expressed concern that the department has not considered the opinions of Mayagüez residents.
“Have the community’s opinions been taken into account to justify bringing in such a large number of boas -- around 200 to 300 per week?” she asked. “Is the secretary concerned about the potential for mass escapes of these snakes? What will happen in that case? I believe the Mayagüez Zoo grounds could be utilized for many other purposes.”
Rosas proposed that the zoo’s facilities be used in collaboration with the University of Mayagüez for student research projects. However, she pointed out that the zoo was closed to prevent experimentation with live animals, while Quiles Pérez’s plans specifically involve working with live animals.
She also noted that there are currently no finalized plans for the facilities.
“They’ve made some radical changes, but it’s treated like a military secret,” the Popular Democratic Party legislator said. “They don’t disclose what will happen on those properties. Initially, it was proposed to create an eco-garden, which everyone agrees would be a valuable investment on those lands. They are beautiful grounds that could bring families together. Additionally, we could establish a center in Mayagüez, but beyond that, the details remain secret, and the community has not been informed about the plans.”
She emphasized that people are concerned about the introduction of snakes into Mayagüez.
In response, Quiles Pérez announced that the design for the new uses of the site should be ready by 2026.
“We expect to begin bidding in the first half of the year, and this will depend on the work schedule provided by the designer,” he said. “It will be general research. I can’t lead a natural resources department without knowing the state of our natural resources. I have instructed all my assistant secretaries and office directors to focus on research. There are proposals that go unnoticed because no one asks for them. Funding is available for research, and I am guiding my staff to pursue that funding and dedicate ourselves to research.”
“What will we do at the former Mayagüez Zoo?” he continued. “The operations building will be converted into a research center. It’s a facility in good condition that just needs renovation.”
ManpowerGroup: Only 16% net hiring trend for final quarter of the year
By THE STAR STAFF
ManpowerGroup’s Employment Outlook Survey for the final quarter of the year revealed a net hiring trend of 16%, which represents a two-percentage-point decrease compared to the previous quarter, although it is three percentage points higher than the same period last year.
Melissa Rivera Roena, general manager of ManpowerGroup Puerto Rico, noted that 27% of employers plan to hire new employees, 61% do not intend to make any changes, 11% expect to reduce their workforce, and 1% are unsure of what specific actions they will take.
“This time, the survey reflects a slight decrease compared to last quarter,” Rivera Roena said. “However, the fact that expectations are higher than last year’s figures for the same period fills us with optimism. We hope this quarter will bring a stable close to the year.”
According to the survey, which measured expectations for the months of October through December, the most job growth is expected in the central and western regions, each at 25%, followed by the eastern region at 24%. The northern region is anticipated to see the least hiring, at just 6%.
Rivera Roena also reported that the sectors with the highest anticipated hiring rates are life sciences and healthcare (44%), information technology (35%), and
manufacturing (25%).
The companies forecasting the highest rates of hiring in the next quarter are those with 250 to 999 employees, followed by those with 10 to 49 employees (20%), and lastly, companies with an average of 1,000 to 4,999 workers (18%).
The main reason employers are planning to increase staff is potential company expansion (33%). Additionally, 32% cited the need for new skills to remain competitive, while 31% attributed the hiring increase to the creation of new tasks within existing services.
For employers in Puerto Rico who anticipate a reduction in staff during the fourth quarter of 2025, the primary reason is employee resignations or retirements that cannot be filled (40%). Another 33% attributed staff reductions to economic challenges, while 30% indicated that changes in the labor market are decreasing demand for workers in their companies.
Alberto Alesi, general manager of ManpowerGroup in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America, noted that in comparison to the 42 countries surveyed, Puerto Rico ranked 28th, with the average position being 23rd.
“The survey reveals a very stable employment environment in Puerto Rico. This has been the trend throughout the year, and we are very pleased because it is a positive economic indicator. It is crucial that adjustments are made across the board this coming quarter to start a solid 2026,”
Alesi stated following his visit to Puerto Rico for the outlook survey presentation and business meetings.
The employers surveyed highlighted that their main challenges in recruiting employees include attracting qualified candidates (42%), filling complex technical positions (37%) and managing a high volume of applications (35%). Only 3% reported having no challenges.
In contrast, the top recruiting strategies used by employers include offerings related to work-life balance and flexible scheduling (37% each), job recognition (35%) and training opportunities (32%). Two percent indicated that they do not use any recruiting strategies.
Melissa Rivera Roena, general manager of ManpowerGroup Puerto Rico
The San Juan Daily Star
Wednesday, September 24, 2025 5
When ICE shows up at a factory, what can a governor do?
By GRACE ASHFORD
Sitting across a table from the Schmidt family in Cato, New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul found herself in an unfamiliar, and not altogether comfortable, position.
Nearly two weeks earlier, immigration officials had raided the family’s company, Nutrition Bar Confectioners, which manufactures snack bars, and arrested 57 people. The raid — one of the largest in the state since President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown began — had hobbled the company’s operations.
News of the raid prompted an outcry from immigrant advocates and from Hochul, the state’s Democratic governor, who last week flew to Cato — a small town in rural Cayuga County, where voters chose Trump by a 39-point margin in last year’s election — to hear the Schmidt family’s stories, and offer what support she could.
It was not as much as she would have liked.
Mark Schmidt, 70, who founded the company with his late father in 1978, told Hochul how deeply the raid had shaken the family. “These people have been part of our community for 10, 20, 30 years. We know them,” he said. “I mean, these families have been pulled apart.”
The governor listened carefully as the Schmidts told their stories. She told them how she had called Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, to demand that the families be reunited — particularly nursing mothers with babies. She was still waiting.
“I’m used to being able to solve problems, to say: ‘That’s not OK, we’re going to fix it,’” Hochul said, shaking her head. Helplessness, she said, was “an emotion I’m not accustomed to.”
The unusual admission underscored the limits of state power and the challenge for Hochul, who has announced her plans to seek reelection next year against the backdrop of midterm elections.
A moderate Democrat from Buffalo, New York, Hochul has forged her own path in a party long dominated by downstate liberals. In Albany, she has gained a reputation as an iron fist in a velvet glove, winning signature agenda items — including a ban on phones in schools and repeated stiffening of the state bail laws — with stubborn determination.
She has been more willing than some in her party to deal with the president, hashing out sometimes surprising agreements on infrastructure projects and offering to help with criminal in-
Work continues inside Nutrition Bar Confectioners, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 57 people after a raid less than two weeks earlier, in Cato, N.Y., Sept. 15, 2025. New York’s Gov. Kathy Hochul has been firm in denouncing aggressive tactics used in ICE raids and arrests, particularly the deportation of migrants who don’t have criminal records, but in reality there is little she can do to resist the federal government’s clampdown. (Ben Cleeton/The New York Times)
vestigations. But she also has been firm in denouncing Trump’s aggressive tactics, particularly the deportation of migrants who don’t have criminal records.
At the table, Hochul listened as Schmidt’s eldest son, Lenny Schmidt, described how federal agents had stopped him the morning of the Sept. 4 raid as he was coming to work. He said he arrived to find roughly 75 law enforcement agents bearing machine guns, and coming with dogs, trucks, vans and dune buggies — what the elder Schmidt described as “a massive military-style assault.”
Schmidt’s sons recalled a frightening story that they said law enforcement shared with them: Two killers were inside the facility and the officials were there to pick them up.
“They said they don’t want to be here any longer than they need to be,” Lenny Schmidt, 49, recalled. “I said: ‘Please, do what you’ve got to do. We’ll sit tight.’”
They waited for hours, then watched as dozens of their employees, many of them women, were loaded onto a bus not to be seen again. At least three of those who were deported were mothers with babies under the age of 1, state officials said.
Videos and photos taken inside the plant during the raid, as well as reporting afterward, revealed that masked agents sorted workers based on their race, demanding documentation from those who appeared Hispanic.
In the days that followed, Syracuse.com reported that officials did not have a criminal search warrant to search the plant, instead using an administrative warrant. No killers ever materialized.
The federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency did not respond to a request for additional details about the supposed killers, or the impetus for the raid. The agency previously told The New York Times that some of the 57 people it detained had convictions or pending charges, including child endangerment, driving while impaired and entering the country illegally.
Neither Schmidt nor his sons have any idea how the company ended up in the crosshairs of immigration authorities. The family maintains that they were shown documentation indicating that all the company’s employees were citizens, permanent residents or authorized to work in the country, though forgeries are not uncommon.
In the days since the raid, the town of Cato, with a population of 2,445, has been divided. The debate raged across the comments section of Facebook, where some people grieved the loss of community members, and others seemed to revel in the misfortune of the Schmidt family and their employees.
In the village, four men eating pizza at a lunch spot said that raids such as the one at the confectionary plant were necessary to “clean up” the Biden administration’s lax immigration policies.
While they didn’t have anything bad to say about the Schmidts, they also were not especially sympathetic to their plight.
In a way, the elder Schmidt understands. He voted for Trump and donated to his 2024 campaign. He said he believed Trump would go after “the worst of the worst,” as he said on the campaign trail, rather than hardworking longtime residents.
The reality is more dispiriting, he said.
“If you were looking at this objectively from outside, and you saw the magnitude of this, you would think, ‘Well, there must be something there, right?’” he said, sadly. “They wouldn’t do this for nothing.”
White House denies Homan took bag of cash in FBI inquiry
By DEVLIN BARRETT
AWhite House spokesperson denied earlier this week that the president’s border czar, Tom Homan, accepted a bag with $50,000 in cash as part of an undercover FBI investigation last September, contradicting news reports about the case.
FBI agents working undercover made an audio recording
of the September 2024 meeting in which Homan accepted the money in a bag from the fast-food chain Cava, The New York Times reported Saturday.
In the recording, he appeared to agree to try to help the agents posing as businessmen get lucrative federal contracts related to border security in a possible second Trump administration, according to people who requested anonymity to describe details of the case.
The investigation was closed by the Trump Justice Department this year, frustrating some of the people who worked on it, these people said.
Asked by reporters what happened to the money Homan received, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt on Monday rejected the published accounts and said President Donald Trump remained fully supportive of his border czar.
Trump’s tax cut is underwater. Can a ‘refund boom’ save it?
By ANDREW DUEHREN
Republicans admit there is a problem with the broad tax and health care law they passed this summer.
They are hoping a new name, and some ready cash, can fix it.
It was called the One Big Beautiful Bill for months, a nod to President Donald Trump’s desire for Republicans to pass his agenda into law through one, not two, pieces of legislation. But the party in recent weeks has had to switch things up. With polls showing the legislation to be unpopular with the public, Republicans have decided to rename it the Working Families Tax Cut.
“So, the bill — I’m not going to use the term great, big, beautiful,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting last month. “That was good for getting it approved, but it’s not good for explaining to people what it’s all about. It’s a massive tax cut for the middle class.”
Republicans are also banking on the simple power of direct payments to ultimately buoy the law’s popularity and, in turn, the party’s prospects in midterm elections next year. Under their design, the law will first deliver many of its benefits to Americans in their tax refunds next year, a lump-sum payment that may make the tax cut particularly visible to voters.
Many of the cuts included in the law — including Trump’s campaign promises to reduce taxes on tips and overtime, as well as an increase to the standard deduction and child tax credit — are retroactive to the start of this year. Because the IRS has not yet changed how taxes are withheld from workers’ paychecks to reflect the new law, Americans will largely claim the cuts after they file taxes early next year.
The approach is a reversal from the last Trump administration. Then, after Republicans passed a tax cut, Treasury officials pushed to reduce the amount withheld from workers’ paychecks as soon as possible, so that Americans would see the benefits more quickly. But the reduced withholding led in some cases to people receiving smaller refunds when they filed their taxes the following year.
Even though many Americans paid less in taxes, the confusion around the amount of refunds helped fuel Democratic
attacks that the law had not helped middle-class Americans.
Tax experts generally encourage people to try to minimize the size of the refund they receive when they file their taxes, but many Americans seem to prefer receiving a large check.
“The worst thing someone can do is get a big refund, because what you’ve done is provided an interest-free loan to the federal government,” said David Kautter, who helped implement the tax law that the first Trump administration passed. “But many people prefer to get a big refund.”
The second Trump administration is betting that a single, bumped-up tax refund — as opposed to marginally lower taxes saved over the course of a year — may prove to be a more effective way to market the legislation. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been advertising “a refund boom” next year.
“If I was to do an experiment or a test for how people respond to government benefits, I would want to test something like that, a lump-sum payment,” said Hunter E. Rendleman, a political scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. “It’s very loud; it’s money in your pocket you can use immediately.”
She added, “That’s the most powerful tool for a government or party that’s interested in getting votes.”
Still, Rendleman and other experts said it would be an uphill battle to reap significant political rewards from the bill. Many
White House denies Homan took bag of cash...
From page 5
“Mr. Homan never took the $50,000 that you’re referring to,” Leavitt said. “This was another example of the weaponization of the Biden Department of Justice against one of President Trump’s strongest and most vocal supporters in the midst of a presidential campaign.”
She said the FBI agents had gone undercover to “entrap one of the president’s top allies and supporters, someone who they knew very well would be taking a government position months later.”
The president and his staff “stand by Tom Homan 100%, because he did absolutely nothing wrong, and he is a brave public servant,” Leavitt said.
The Times reported Saturday that senior Justice Department officials, including Emil Bove III, had expressed skepticism about the case as early as February. One person familiar
with the case said the evidence gathered had not met all the necessary elements of relevant federal crimes, such as bribery or conspiracy, while another contended that the case was prematurely ended, before such evidence could be gathered.
Homan did not respond to requests for comment over the weekend. Administration officials have said that he has not been involved with any decisions on awarding contracts.
In the first Trump administration, Homan was the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. After leaving government in 2018, he was a paid contributor on Fox News and emerged as a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s policies. He also founded an organization called the Border911 Foundation, whose mission was “to educate Americans on what it means to have a secure, well-managed border — and why it matters.”
Homan also opened a consulting business that has worked
people form their opinions about a large piece of legislation as it is being passed by Congress, not afterward, political consultants said. Despite the new title, the law’s cuts to government benefits like Medicaid, a health care program for the poor, may be the most significant policy change for many Americans, potentially making the law even less popular over time.
And for many Americans, the tax cuts from the law will not be very large. Much of the legislation is dedicated to extending many of the cuts that Republicans passed in 2017, which were set to expire at the end of the year. The most expensive piece of the law was to simply extend the previous Republican tax cut, which provided its biggest benefits to the wealthy.
Republicans did layer some additional tax cuts on top of the extension. While the legislation overall is unpopular, several of these specific ideas, like tax breaks for overtime pay or tipped income, poll well with both parties. But those cuts will be valuable to only a relatively small subset of Americans, not the population overall, potentially limiting their political resonance.
Some of the additional tax cuts, like a $200 increase in the child tax credit and an additional $750 to the standard deduction (a $1,500 increase for married couples) will be widely available. Those changes could translate into a few hundred extra dollars on many Americans’ tax refunds next year.
The political reward from putting money in the pockets of millions of Americans months before an election may still be limited, if it materializes at all. People may not necessarily connect a higher tax refund to a law passed in Congress six months earlier. Rendleman said studies had shown that people who received a new benefit often credited the additional funds to the person who helped them file their taxes, rather than the political party that passed the law.
To overcome that hurdle, politicians have tried to clearly label their role in government benefits. In 2001, under the George W. Bush administration, the IRS sent a letter to about 112 million Americans congratulating them on the money they would receive because of the Bush tax cuts. During the COVID-19 crisis, Trump had his signature included on the stimulus checks sent to many households.
for companies seeking immigration-related contracts, including those poised to benefit from Trump’s policies. At one point, he was paid $100,000 to $150,000 to lobby in Texas for Fisher Industries, a construction firm that last year secured a $225 million contract with the state to build a section of border wall.
Homan made it clear that he hoped to rejoin Trump in government. “I promised President Trump when he announced that if he goes back, I go back,” he wrote on social media in November 2023. “And I’m going to run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.”
He was drawn into the FBI case after a target of the investigation suggested in 2023, on his own initiative, that a $1 million payment to Homan could lead to lucrative federal contracts for border security work, according to the people familiar with the investigation.
After Trump won reelection in November, law enforcement officials notified his incoming administration about the case as the president-elect’s team considered candidates for government jobs, the people familiar with the case said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is joined by other Republicans as he signs President Donald Trump’s domestic policy bill at the Capitol in Washington, July 3, 2025. Republicans have decided to rename the One Big, Beautiful Bill the Working Families Tax Cut. (Eric Lee for The New York Times)
NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL
Christianity after Charlie Kirk
By ROSS DOUTHAT
Eight years ago, religious conservatives made a bargain with Donald Trump, accepting the leadership of a flagrant immoralist as the price of protection against a thenascendant-seeming secular progressivism. The agonies involved in this political compromise fractured churches, divided pundits and seemed to introduce a further crisis into an American Christianity already dealing with scandal, disaffection and decline.
But today conservative Christians are eager to tell a different story, and Charlie Kirk’s memorial service Sunday — a gathering of political figures where politics was subordinated to preaching, culminating in Erika Kirk’s extraordinarily moving message of forgiveness for her husband’s killer — was a stage for a narrative of revival, recovery, conversion, Christian strength. Trump was there, of course, and still very much his unChristian self. (His off-script comments about his inability to feel anything but hatred for his own enemies were funny in the Trumpian way, but also plainly true.) But the idea that the future belongs to a post-Christian right seemed not just absent but almost absurd, as the leaders of the Republican Party lined up for a memorial that doubled as an evangelical revival, complete with altar calls.
Religious history invites us to expect the unexpected, and there’s no reason to rule out a future where Kirk’s martyrdom provides the impetus for a genuine revival. The story of the
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last five years, at least in my reading of the religious tea leaves, is one of secularization arrested, and a culture reconsidering religion — but not yet becoming notably more religious. That’s an equilibrium that could be tipped by dramatic events or examples, and to the extent that Kirk is remembered and emulated primarily for his faith, maybe we’ve just seen a tipping point.
In this scenario, rather than being a harbinger of a paganized American future, Trump himself would be seen as a transitional figure, an agent of destabilization who delivered the coup de grâce to the nostalgia-driven moralism of religious conservatism 1.0 while clearing the ground for religious conservatism 2.0, a more intentional and mission-driven and post-secular formation. In which case the Christian right’s bargain with Trumpism would look less corrupting and more necessary, in the strange ways that Providence writes straight with crooked lines.
But any Christian envisioning such a revival should keep other scenarios in mind. The Kirk service was more religious than political, the posthumous portrait of the slain father and husband emphasizing his faith over his political activism — but his memorial was still a fundamentally right-wing and Republican affair. It was a statement of evangelical resilience and an indicator of enduring religious influence within the GOP (something that was by no means guaranteed a decade ago). But controlling a political coalition is not the same thing as converting a culture, and indeed the two can often be at odds.
At the very least they often seemed at odds in the years before Trump came along, when one of traditional Christianity’s difficulties was that it was seen as an overly ideological and factional persuasion by many Americans. Trump in a strange way helped with this problem, because his cheerful heathenism created some distance between partisan conservatism and Christian faith (again, that odd providential touch). But if the post-Trump Republican Party is immediately identified with Christian revivalism and vice versa, then the pre-Trump dynamic could easily reassert itself, and any Christian renewal could hit a ceiling outside the distinctive culture of the GOP.
Then there’s also the question of how much the ongoing requirements of the Trump deal are still influencing conservative Christianity for the worse. Andrew T. Walker, a thoughtful evangelical writer, describes religious conservatism 2.0 as a mindset that seeks an “assertive common good Christianity”
Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk and the new CEO of Turning Point USA, speaks during the memorial for her late husband at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025. During her speech, Kirk urged young men to follow her husband’s example in marriage and fatherhood. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)
that aspires to “anchor society in the stability and order that flow from Christian ethics.” And I agree that there are a lot of Christians who think of their faith’s public witness in this way — as a moral and spiritual answer to the dissolving influences of the 21st century
But there are also, very clearly, Trumpified versions of religious conservatism that cheerfully participate in our era’s very online cycles of scapegoating while back-burnering the key moral concerns of religious conservatism 1.0, from abortion to foreign aid to the public morals of our politicians. And there is also very clearly a way in which Trump’s own enmity-driven style can’t just be quarantined in his person: All the people in his orbit and competing for his favor, the public Christians very much included, have to constantly prove that they, too, are tough enough and mean enough, willing to cross the line or play the bully or break the moral norm if that’s what it takes to stand by the boss or stick it to the libs.
This is where Erika Kirk’s grace was so essential and instructive — because the spirit of charity she manifested is both the most important thing that Trump’s second administration lacks and the most important thing that his would-be inheritors need to cultivate.
This holds true in the secular and political sphere, where a populist conservatism will never establish itself as a governing power in our society, as opposed to just a transient spirit of reaction, if it can’t reassure Americans outside its most devoted base that they are seen and respected and understood.
And it holds true especially in the religious realm, where there will be no lasting revival unless Christians are known not just for their strength or their belief but for their love.
Senadora Ada Álvarez Conde radica medida para investigar descargas de aguas negras en cuerpos de agua de Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN – La senadora Ada Álvarez
Conde presentó la Resolución del Senado 310, que ordena a la Comisión de Turismo, Recursos Naturales y Ambientales a realizar una investigación exhaustiva sobre las descargas de aguas negras al mar y a otros cuerpos de agua en Puerto Rico. La medida busca identificar los daños ambientales, los retos administrativos, así como establecer soluciones a corto y largo plazo para proteger la salud pública, los ecosistemas y la economía turística de la isla.
La resolución surge a raíz de incidentes recientes, entre ellos:
• Condado (San Juan): El 21 de marzo de 2023, un fallo en bombas sanitarias provocó desbordes que afectaron calles y la Laguna del Condado, generando altos niveles de enterococos y obligando a restringir el acceso a la zona.
• Isabela: En 2025, se detectó una tubería descargando aguas sanitarias no tratadas en la quebrada Los Cedros, causando mortandad de mangles y riesgos sanitarios en playas cercanas. Reportes ciudadanos y
del programa Blue Water Task Force confirmaron niveles bacteriológicos preocupantes .
“El problema no es si existe, sino por qué persiste y qué hará la Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AAA) para detenerlo en su origen”, expresó la senadora Álvarez Conde.
La resolución dispone que la Comisión pueda celebrar vistas públicas, citar funcionarios, requerir información y realizar inspecciones oculares. Además, se exige un primer informe en 60 días y un informe final antes de culminar la Vigésima Asamblea Legislativa .
“No podemos seguir permitiendo que nuestras aguas, que son fuente de vida, recreación y motor económico, se conviertan en alcantarillas abiertas. La Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillado no puede seguir escondiéndose detrás de excusas ni esperar a que sean las comunidades las que descubran y denuncien las descargas. Tienen la obligación legal y moral de explicar por qué siguen ocurriendo estos incidentes y qué harán para corregirlos”, expresó la senadora Álvarez Conde.
Álvarez Conde subrayó que el país ne-
cesita protocolos de operación más estrictos, planes de contingencia, transparencia en los reportes y acciones inmediatas para evitar que se repitan eventos como los reportados por el Estuario de la Bahía de San Juan y el Blue Water TaskForce de Surfrider en Isabela.
“Puerto Rico merece playas limpias, seguras y saludables. Con esta medida bus-
camos no solo fiscalizar, sino también proponer soluciones que protejan a la gente, al ambiente y a nuestra industria turística”, puntualizó la Senadora.
La Resolución del Senado 310 comenzará a regir de inmediato tras su aprobación y marca un paso firme en la lucha contra la contaminación de los cuerpos de agua en la isla.
Fallece a los 103 años Tina Hills, fundadora de la Fundación Ángel Ramos
La Fundación Ángel Ramos informó el martes el fallecimiento en Miami de Argentina S. “Tina” Hills, cofundadora y primera presidenta de la entidad filantrópica, a los 103 años.
Italiana de nacimiento, emigró con su familia a Nueva York a los 14 años, estudió en la Universidad de Nueva York y se desempeñó como ejecutiva de la firma Buttoni-Perugina. En 1950 contrajo matrimonio con Ángel Ramos, presidente y propietario de las Empresas El Mundo y WKAQ. Tras la muerte de su esposo en 1960, asumió la dirección de las Empresas El Mundo y en 1963 se casó con Lee Hills, periodista y ejecutivo de Knight Ridder.
Hills fue la primera mujer en presidir la Asociación Interamericana de Prensa (1977-1978), recibió el Premio María Moors Cabot de la Universidad de Columbia y fue reconocida por instituciones como el Insti-
tuto Northwood de Michigan y la ciudad de Detroit. Presidió el Council of the Arts de Miami y un sector de Bayfront Park en esa ciudad lleva su nombre.
Bajo su liderato, la Fundación Ángel Ramos se consolidó como una de las instituciones filantrópicas más importantes de Puerto Rico, aportando más de 130 millones de dólares a más de mil entidades. En 1996, la Junta de Directores de la Fundación creó el Premio Tina Hills por Servicio a la Comunidad, en su honor.
“Doña Tina, aunque italiana de nacimiento, se consideró siempre como una puertorriqueña y dedicó gran parte de su vida a mejorar la calidad de vida de todos los puertorriqueños. A ella Puerto Rico le debe un gran legado. Descanse en paz nuestra querida Tina”, expresaron Diego Suárez Matienzo, presidente de la Junta de Directores de la Fundación Ángel Ramos; Roberto Santa María, presidente de la entidad; y Rafael Cortés Dapena, expresidente de la Junta.
POR EL STAR STAFF
POR CYBERNEWS
EGO TRIP art exhibition to open Friday at UPR-Carolina
By THE STAR STAFF
The Puerto Rican Association of Visual Artists (APAP) and the Department of Design at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) at Carolina will present the EGO TRIP Collective/Retrospective exhibition, a vibrant celebration of creativity that brings together a diverse group of talented individuals, including students, emerging artists and established creators, all engaged in meaningful visual dialogue.
The exhibition will showcase a rich tapestry of artwork that spans various styles and experiences. Attendees can expect to see an impressive selection of pieces, featuring not only artworks that have graced the walls of galleries in the past but also those that have quietly remained in storage, as well as new creations that have yet to be revealed to the public eye.
Each piece in the collection tells its own story, inviting viewers into the distinct artistic journeys of its creators.
Among the featured artists are notable figures such as Jorge González, the president of APAP, and Vladimir Peña, the association’s vice president, alongside a talented mix of
individuals including John Rivas, Merari Ceballos Portuguez, Ricardo Ramírez, Nancy Escribano, Orlando Castro, Fulgen Sabatier, Clara Alonso, Carlos Vélez, Miraida Santiago, Juan Ibáñez, Roberto Acevedo, Irmaris Santiago, Mayra González and Syenicha Sánchez. The exhibition will also be enriched by the presence of guest artists, including Liliana Collazo, Marta Rivera, Alanis Vázquez and Nilmarie de León, each bringing their unique perspectives to the collective.
Rivas, a visual artist who chairs the board of directors of the School of Visual Arts and Design of Puerto Rico and coordinates the Design Program at UPR Carolina, underscored the powerful impact the exhibited creations aim to have.
“These works, which I refer to as the 20/20, are clearly visible,” he said. “Art doesn’t hide; it reveals itself. And when it does, it never falls silent again.”
The public is invited to the grand opening of the EGO TRIP Collective/Retrospective this Friday at 6 p.m. in the UPR Carolina Library lobby. The exhibition is open to the general public, welcoming everyone to immerse themselves in a celebration of art and community.
‘Predators’ review: Busted for social good (and maybe ratings)
By BEN KENIGSBERG
The Dateline NBC series “To Catch a Predator,” which aired from 2004 to 2007, largely adhered to a straightforward formula: Hire an actor who looks younger than his or her age to lure an adult who is seeking a sexual encounter with a child. Then, when the would-be predator arrives at a house, have the show’s host, the reporter Chris Hansen, emerge to interview the man, who is suddenly made aware that he is on camera, and who will ultimately be arrested upon exiting.
But as David Osit’s probing, troubling documentary “Predators” demonstrates, the sociological implications of the show were (and are) anything but simple, beginning with what the series’ popularity suggests about the viewers who watched it. Mark de Rond, an ethnographer who is interviewed at length in the film, is fascinated by the moment in which Hansen confronts his subject: “What you’re seeing is effectively someone else’s life end,” de Rond says, “and they realize it.” Why is it that TV watchers are drawn to seeing a person, however horrible, humiliated in this way?
That question is just a starting point for Osit’s investigation. The director meets with actors who played the decoys and are still disturbed by what they saw and facilitated. What was shown onscreen was only part of a bigger picture.
Greg Stumbo, a former Kentucky attorney general who looked at the series as an effective solution to a difficult investigative problem — “Law enforcement is not equipped to conduct these types of operations at this point,” he is shown saying in an old news clip — adopts a more measured tone when Osit shows him video of a suspect breaking down in a subsequent police interrogation. Perhaps that man, if he serves his time, Stumbo says, could be rehabilitated and “become a productive member of society.”
For that matter, where did law enforcement stop and the production of TV entertainment begin? Was Hansen acting as a journalist, or was he deputizing himself in a role more properly played by the police? Were cops present to support the production or was the production there to support crime-fighting? Osit also explores the phenomenon of copycat programs that have sprung up since the show’s end.
What gives the documentary an added edge is that the director (his previous credits include the excellent “Mayor,” about a city official in the West Bank) implicates himself in the proceedings. As a documentary filmmaker with a longtime interest in the show, he is hardly exempt from catering to voyeuristic impulses. The film’s most vertiginous moment comes when a member of Osit’s crew, tagging along on a vigilante streamer’s sting operation, asks the distraught tar-
get to sign a release so they can show his face. “We’re doing two separate things,” the crew member explains. The man is understandably confused at having been simultaneously caught in both a “To Catch a Predator” knockoff and a feature documentary.
Osit eventually sits down with Hansen himself, who is still hosting a streaming series, “Takedown,” that is similar to the original program, and who speaks of all the survivors who approach him to praise his work. There’s the rub: “To Catch a Predator” was, in the final analysis, catching predators who might not otherwise have been caught, and catching predators is a social good. But the presence of a camera adds a layer of ethical thorniness, effectively turning the filmmaker and the viewer into hunters. The last words spoken in “Predators” are: “You get everything you want?” ‘Predators’: Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 36 minutes. In theaters.
Stocks
Wall Street indexes end lower as investors digest Powell
U.S. stocks finished lower on Tuesday as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank needs to balance inflation concerns with a weakening job market in its coming interest rate decisions.
The Nasdaq led declines, with shares of Nvidia down after rising in the previous session, when the chipmaker said it plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI.
Amazon.com, Microsoft and Apple also were lower, while shares of AutoZone were down after it reported fourth-quarter profit that missed estimates.
In comments Tuesday, Powell offered little hint of when he thinks the Fed might next cut interest rates. The Fed last week cut rates for the first time this year and indicated further cuts may be coming.
“The big event of the day was Powell’s speech. He was somewhat on the dovish side, but also he showed cautiousness, and that indicates that while he left the door open for another rate cut, there was really no hint of when and how much the next rate cut could be,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
“The market began to sell off on that,” he said, adding: “It was also ripe for some sort of a pullback.” The three major U.S. indexes registered record closing highs for the previous three sessions.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 lost 36.57 points, or 0.55%, to end at 6,657.18 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 214.84 points, or 0.93%, to 22,577.34. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 82.46 points, or 0.18%, to 46,299.08.
Powell’s colleagues earlier gave comments on both sides of the policy argument. Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said the Fed could downplay concerns about persistent inflation and needed to make a commitment to cut rates in support of the job market.
Helping to limit declines on the Dow, Boeing edged higher after it secured an order from Uzbekistan Airways worth over $8 billion.
Investors were also watching shares of Kenvue, the maker of popular pain medication Tylenol. They were up on Tuesday. They closed 7.5% lower on Monday ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments linking autism to childhood vaccine use and the taking of Tylenol by women when pregnant.
Markets are digesting mixed signals this morning: Wall Street cooled after hitting record highs, Asia is riding an AI-
tuabogadapr@outlook.com
Urb. Villa Blanca 76 Calle Aquamarina
driven surge, and gold has smashed through $3,750 an ounce, as investors hedge against uncertainty. Meanwhile, the Fed’s messaging remains split ahead of Powell’s remarks, keeping rate-cut bets alive, but looking more fragile.
* The S&P 500 and Nasdaq paused after hitting record highs, with the Dow down 0.21%, S&P 500 off 0.02%, and Nasdaq up 0.11%. Apple surged 2.4% on strong iPhone 17 demand, while Tesla and Nvidia extended gains. But Trump’s proposed $100,000 H-1B visa fee rattled tech and banks that rely on foreign talent. Shares in Tylenol-maker Kenvue look set to recover some of Monday’s losses on the back of the Trump administration’s claim that use of the painkiller by pregnant women is linked to autism in children.
Trump to world: Green energy is a scam and climate science is from ‘stupid people’
By SOMINI SENGUPTA and LISA FRIEDMAN
President Donald Trump went on a rant against climate change at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, calling it the “greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” and saying that the scientific consensus on global warming was created by “stupid people.” He also berated countries, including close allies of the United States, for adopting renewable energy.
It added up to an extraordinary diatribe that ignored the human suffering exacted by the heat waves, wildfires and deadly floods that are aggravated by the burning of fossil fuels and, at the same time, stood at odds with the rapid expansion of renewable energy all over the world.
He chose his two targets, demonizing immigrants and green energy, and called them a “double-tailed monster” that he claimed, without evidence, are “destroying” Europe. Both subjects play well to his base in the Republican Party. But it was remarkable that he said all this to a global audience.
“You need strong borders and traditional energy sources if you’re going to be great again,” he said. “I worry about Europe. I love the people of Europe. I hate to see it being devastated by energy and immigration.”
His attacks on clean energy appear to be part of an effort by the White House to derail European Union’s legally binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and stoke a political backlash against Europe’s clean energy advances.
Wind and solar power are generally among the cheapest forms of energy in much of the world, according to independent energy analysts, and global investments in renewables exceed investments in coal, oil and gas.
“Trump continues to embarrass the U.S. on the global stage and undermine the interests of Americans at home,” Gina McCarthy, who served as the U.S. climate policy director in the Biden administration, said in a statement. “He’s rejecting our government’s responsibility to protect Americans from the increasingly intense and frequent disasters linked to climate change that unleash havoc on our country.”
Taylor Rogers, a White House spokesperson, defended Trump’s comments and said in a written statement, “Whether it’s called global cooling, global warming, or climate change, the radical climate agenda continues to destroy many great countries around the world.”
On his first day in office, Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, a voluntary pact among nearly 200 nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is the only country to have done so. His administration also has thwarted renewable energy projects, stripped federal incentives for wind and solar power and removed climate-science data from government websites. It has also commissioned a report down-
President Donald Trump addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. Trump went on a rant against climate change at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, calling it the “greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” and saying that the scientific consensus on global warming was created by “stupid people.” (Dave Sanders/The New York Times)
playing the consequences of climate change.
European lawmakers see the expansion of clean energy as a way to ensure energy security and not rely on the imports of oil and gas. Trump, on the other hand, has urged Europeans to buy more U.S. oil and gas. The administration has received a pledge from the European Union to buy $250 billion in U.S. energy every year through the rest of the president’s term in exchange for some relief from tariffs.
The United States is already the world’s leading exporter of natural gas and the biggest producer of oil, and the Trump administration is encouraging new development. Trump has also signed executive orders to expand the burning and mining of coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel.
According to overwhelming scientific consensus, the burning of coal, oil and gas has raised the average global temperature by well over 1 degree Celsius, or 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, compared with the preindustrial era, and has exacerbated deadly heat, fires and floods.
He referred to global warming as “the greatest con job ever perpetrated” and upbraided world leaders for sticking to an international agreement to limit global temperature rise and transition away from fossil fuels. The moment was all the more remarkable because the United States is responsible for the largest share of global emissions since the Industrial Revolution.
“I’ve been right about everything, and I’m telling you that if you don’t get away from the green energy scam,
your country is going to fail,” he said.
Trump assailed environmentalists for wanting to “kill all the cows,” a claim for which there is no evidence. Cattle produce methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas, and for that and other reasons, some environmentalists have urged people to eat less meat.
The speech lasted 56 minutes, more than three times longer than the 15-minute limit on remarks by world leaders on the General Assembly podium. He criticized countries in Europe, including Britain, where he received a royal welcome last week, for expanding their renewable energy infrastructure.
Germany, he claimed, “was being led down a very sick path both on immigration by the way and energy.”
Jennifer Morgan, who has served as Germany’s climate change envoy, said European countries saw clean energy as a way to ensure their energy security and to expand their economies. To build a strong Europe, she said, it is necessary to “tackle climate change to avoid people having to leave their homes.”
One of Trump’s longer digressions involved the idea of “a carbon footprint,” the notion that individuals or groups, through their actions, produce varying amounts of greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide. He called it “a hoax made up by people with evil intentions.”
The term was popularized years ago by oil companies as part of a rebranding effort.
US pledges support for Argentina’s economy and a Trump ally in crisis
By ALAN RAPPEPORT and COLBY SMITH
The Trump administration pledged earlier this week to do whatever is necessary to support Argentina’s struggling economy, throwing a lifeline to the country’s embattled president, Javier Milei, before legislative elections there next month.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States is prepared to offer loans to Argentina’s central bank, direct currency purchases and purchases of U.S. dollar-denominated Argentine government debt from Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund to keep Argentina’s economy afloat. The value of Argentina’s currency, the peso, has fallen in recent weeks amid concerns about Milei’s political grip on government.
“Argentina is a systemically important U.S. ally in Latin America, and the U.S. Treasury stands ready to do what is needed within its mandate to support Argentina,” Bessent wrote on social media.
President Donald Trump has embraced Milei, whom he has described as his “favorite president,” as a kindred political spirit. Because of their close relationship Trump has deepened ties between the United States and Argentina, amplifying its strategic significance. Argentina’s economy is increasingly important to the United States as it competes with China for influence in Latin America and scours the globe for strategic minerals such as lithium, which Argentina possesses.
Argentina’s economy has been facing crises for decades. Milei describes himself as a radical libertarian and since taking office in late 2023 he has introduced policies to curb fiscal imbalances and inflation by slashing government spending and reducing subsidies.
But Milei has suffered setbacks of late, including a doubledigit defeat in provincial midterms; a corruption scandal over medical contracts tied to his sister, Karina Milei; and three congressional votes that overturned his vetoes and restored funding for public health and education. He argued those measures threatened the fiscal balance that he promotes as
his signature achievement.
Earlier this year, Javier Milei loosened Argentina’s currency controls but this month its central bank aggressively sold foreign currency reserves to support the peso, which has been declining sharply.
Last week, Argentina’s central bank spent more than $1 billion to shore up the peso and keep its exchange rate with the dollar below the ceiling set this year in a $20 billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
The country faces nearly $10 billion in debt payments to the IMF in the first half of 2026. Of the IMF’s roughly $164 billion in support outstanding to countries around the world, Argentina accounts for about 35%. Argentina has received 23 loan packages from the IMF since 1958, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
“The latest Argentina peso crisis was triggered by lost market confidence in Milei’s ability to perform well in upcoming elections after a number of political setbacks,” said Mark Sobel, a former longtime Treasury official who is now the U.S. chair of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. “Milei’s program of tough fiscal and monetary tightening has been the right medicine to stop Argentina’s habitual overborrowing, which had caused decades of hyperinflationary bouts and serial defaults.”
Sobel said the Milei government has been right to try to stop Argentina’s overborrowing problem, which has led to several defaults. However, he said, Milei has not successfully managed Argentina’s currency.
“Milei’s weak spot was the peso’s overvaluation due to a stubborn unwillingness to let the peso find a market-clearing level,” Sobel said. “That glaring weakness has now come home to roost.”
Investors, which include large fund managers in the United States, cheered the announcement from Bessent, which sent the country’s bond prices soaring. The yield, which moves inversely to the price, on the country’s dollar-denominated 10year government bond, fell from over 17%, to around 15%.
The yield is indicative of the interest rate the government can borrow at over a decade.
The peso also strengthened roughly 2% against the dollar.
“Argentina’s economy and financial assets were in desperate need of a circuit breaker — and they sure got one today,” said Alejo Czerwonko, chief investor officer for emerging markets at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“Bessent’s comments carry outsized weight at this fragile juncture. They provide the Milei administration with a critical window to reorient
reporters in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Sept. 5, 2025. The Trump administration pledged on Monday, Sept. 22, to do whatever is necessary to support Argentina’s struggling economy, throwing a lifeline to the country’s embattled president, Javier Milei, ahead of legislative elections there next month. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times)
ahead of October’s midterms.”
But some investors said they needed more details about what support Bessent was willing to provide in practice.
“The devil is in the detail, of course, first in terms of what support actually materializes and second in terms of what conditions are attached,” said Graham Stock, an emerging market strategist at RBC BlueBay Asset Management.
Bessent said he and Trump would meet with Milei in New York on Tuesday.
“Opportunities for private investment remain expansive, and Argentina will be Great Again,” Bessent wrote.
In a post on the social platform X, Milei thanked Bessent and Trump for their “unconditional support.”
“Those of us who defend the ideas of freedom must work together for the well-being of our peoples,” Milei said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent listens as President Donald Trump speaks to
Local TV giants boycott Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late night
By BENJAMIN MULLIN
Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show was to return to ABC on Tuesday night after a tense standoff from remarks he made about the Trump administration’s response to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. But about a quarter of the ABC stations in the United States were not going to air it.
Nexstar, a major owner of local ABC stations, said Tuesday morning that it would preempt Kimmel’s show indefinitely. Sinclair, another owner of local affiliates, said the same Monday evening, hours after Disney announced “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would return. Nexstar said it would replace the comedy show with news programming, pending further “discussions with ABC.”
Those decisions set up a high-stakes impasse between Disney and the TV station groups that transmit its shows to millions of households across the United States. The threat of a sustained boycott — a rarity for local TV — puts stations at the center of a debate over free speech that has erupted in the days since Disney initially paused Kimmel’s show.
Jimmy Kimmel hosts as the red carpet is rolled out in preparation for the Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles on March 8, 2023. About a quarter of the ABC stations in the United States were refusing to air Kimmel’s late-night show on Tuesday night after a tense standoff from remarks he made about the Trump administration’s response to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. (Noel West/The New York Times)
The stations owned by Nexstar and Sinclair represent a meaningful source of ad revenue for Kimmel’s show. But preempting it indefinitely could lead to backlash for both Sinclair and Nexstar, especially from viewers who enjoy “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The decision was greeted with applause from conservatives and condemnation from the political left.
“Losing large portions of the country’s viewers undermines the network’s business model,” said Andrew Schwartzman, a senior counselor at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, a policy nonprofit. “But broadcast viewers are creatures of habit; Jimmy Kimmel is very popular, and affiliates are taking a big risk in taking him away at a time when viewers can migrate to YouTube.”
Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
The firestorm began after Kimmel said on his show last week that “the MAGA gang” was “desperately trying” to characterize the suspect in Kirk’s killing, Tyler Robinson, as “anything other than one of them.” It escalated when Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, said during an interview that Kimmel’s remarks were part of a “concerted effort to lie to the American people,” adding that the agency was “going to have remedies that we can look at.”
The fallout from Kimmel’s remarks engulfed the normally sleepy world of TV affiliates in a thorny national debate over the First Amendment. The National Association of Broadcasters, a trade association representing TV groups, released a conciliatory statement this week that simultaneously defended the editorial freedom of TV stations while pushing back against “veiled threats” of government interference.
For Nexstar, the favor of the Trump administration is particularly crucial. The company is trying to close a $6.2 billion merger with another TV station owner, Tegna, which
requires the FCC’s approval. Nexstar has said that it did not run its decision to preempt Kimmel’s show by the FCC.
Unlike Nexstar and Sinclair, most local TV groups have raised no objections to Kimmel’s show. Gray and Hearst, also large owners of ABC affiliate stations, are planning to run “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Tuesday night as scheduled.
Carr said at a forum Monday that Kimmel’s ratings were to blame for his suspension. Two people with knowledge of Disney’s discussions about the suspension said that Kimmel’s audience size had nothing to do with the decision.
On Tuesday, Carr continued to suggest that his comments had not played a major role in Disney’s decisionmaking. He placed the blame for Kimmel’s suspended show squarely on Disney and local TV stations, and blamed Dem-
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ocrats for “illegally weaponizing government to silence dissent,” and added that they “want to blame” anyone else for the suspension.
He said local affiliates had the authority to manage their programming as they see fit.
“Local TV stations — not the national programmers — have public interest obligations, and they should be making decisions that in their view meets the needs of their local communities,” Carr said.
For Disney, the controversy has already been taxing. Data from the research firm Yipit suggests that the “cancel Disney+” campaign has caused more subscriber churn than some imbroglios at other companies. Among them: the controversy created by Netflix founder Reed Hastings’ donation to former Vice President Kamala Harris, which spurred a social media boycott; and the contretemps stemming from the Netflix show “Cuties,” which was criticized for sexualizing young girls.
Network contracts with TV station groups typically carry a “right to reject” clause that gives local affiliates permission to preempt programs they believe are contrary to the public interest or unsatisfactory to their audiences. But there is little precedent for a group boycotting a program for a sustained period.
The “right to reject” provision was invoked in 2006 when a Mormon-owned TV station in Utah balked at the prospect of carrying a special with Madonna that they feared would show the pop star hanging on a mirrored cross.
Disney may have some means to push back on local TV station groups that refuse to air its programming for a protracted period. If Sinclair and Nexstar continue to balk at airing Disney’s programming, the company can move its shows to another TV station owner when its contract with the dissenting group expires.
Affiliates moving or networks not renewing with stations has been quite rare, in part because such moves are generally expensive for both sides, said John Chachas, owner of Methuselah Advisors, a boutique mergers-and-acquisitions firm. But things are changing.
“We may be approaching a moment where more movement happens,” Chachas said. “In this case, politics is blending in and complicating an already changing set of networkaffiliate relationships.”
Andeno Co
Tasa mínima, promedio ponderado, y máxima para préstamos personales pequeños otorgados para la semana que terminó el sábado, 20 de septiembre de 2025
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
CENTRO JUDICIAL DE SAN JUAN SALA SUPERIOR BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO
Demandante V. SUCESION DE AMARILIS ASENCIO ESQUILÍN COMPUESTA POR AMARILIS ORTIZ ASENCIO; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES
(C.R.I.M.) – PARTE CON INTERÉS
Demandado
Civil Núm.: SJ2023CV07949. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE SUBASTA. El que suscribe, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior, Centro Judicial de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico, hago saber, a la parte demandada y al PÚBLICO EN GENERAL: Que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia expedido el día 11 de agosto de 2025, por la Secretaría del Tribunal, procederé a vender y venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor la propiedad que ubica y se describe a continuación: URBANA: PROPIEDAD HORIZONTAL: Apartamento H guión ciento dos (H-102). Apartamento de dos (2) dormitorios, localizado a la derecha de la entrada marcada con la letra II en la primera planta del edificio número cinco (5) del Condominio Florimar Garden, situada en el Camino Cepero del Barrio Sabana Llana de Río Piedras del municipio de San Juan, Puerto Rico, el apartamento tiene un área total de setecientos noventa y ocho punto veinticinco (798.25) pies cuadrados, equivalentes a setenta y cuatro punto diecinueve (74.19) metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, en cuarenta pies cuatro y media pulgadas (40’4 ½”), con el patio Norte del edificio; por el SUR, en cuarenta pies cuatro y medio pulgadas (40’4 ½”), con el apartamento H guión ciento cuatro (H-104) ; por el ESTE, en veinte pies (20’), con el vestíbulo, escalera de la entrada H y patio Este del edificio; y por el OESTE, en veinte pies (20’), con el apartamento I guión doscientos uno (I-201) y con el patio Oeste del edificio. Tiene su puerta de entrada y salida por su lado Este que da al vestíbulo que a su vez lo conecta con las escale-
ras que conducen a los patios del edificio y a la vía pública. Consta de sala, comedor, cocina, cuarto de baños, dos (2) dormitorios, terraza cubierta o balcón. Le corresponde un espacio de estacionamiento marcado con el número H guión ciento dos (H-102) en el área de estacionamiento. Le corresponde una participación en los elementos comunes generales de cero punto cinco nueve cinco tres por ciento (0.5953%) y de dos punto dos siete dos ocho por ciento (2.2728%) en los elementos comunes limitados del Condominio. Este apartamento tiene derecho de uso de un patio en su lado Norte que mide 40’4 ½” de ancho por la distancia hasta la parte superior del talud. Inscrita en la finca número 28,624, al folio 71 del tomo 707 de Sabana Llana. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección V de San Juan. La dirección de la propiedad según pagaré es; Apt H-102 Florimar Gardens Cond. San Juan, PR. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada y notificada en este caso el 17 de junio de 2025, en el presente caso civil, a saber la suma de $83,099.85 por concepto de principal; generando intereses a razón de 5.75% desde el 1ro de febrero de 2023; cargos por demora los cuales al igual que los intereses continúan acumulándose hasta el saldo total de la deuda reclamada en este pleito, y la suma de $9,945.60 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; y demás créditos accesorios garantizados hipotecariamente.
La adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el acto mismo de la adjudicación, en efectivo (moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América), giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del alguacil del Tribunal. La PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a efecto el día 1 DE OCTUBRE DE 2025 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en el Centro Judicial de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $99,456.00. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 8 DE OCTUBRE DE 2025 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $66,304.00, equivalentes a dos terceras (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una TERCERA SUBASTA la
misma se llevará a efecto el día 16 DE OCTUBRE DE 2025 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la TERCERA SUBASTA será de $49,728.00, equivalentes a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente; se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor, todo ello a tenor con lo dispone el Artículo 104 de la Ley Núm. 210 del 8 de diciembre de 2015 conocida como “Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico”. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquiere libre de toda carga y gravamen que afecte la mencionada finca según el Artículo 102, inciso 6. Una vez confirmada la venta judicial por el Honorable Tribunal, se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura de venta judicial y se pondrá al comprador en posesión física del inmueble de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda aquella persona o personas que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de todos los licitadores y el público en general, el presente Edicto se publicará por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas, con un intervalo de por lo menos siete días entre ambas publicaciones, en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico y se fijará además en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio en que ha de celebrarse dicha venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía. Se les informa, por último, que: a. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la secretaría del tribunal durante las horas laborables. b. Que se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. EXPIDO, el presente EDICTO, en San Juan, Puerto Rico, hoy día 22 de agosto de 2025. MARÍA DE LOURDES LÓPEZ MOREI-
RA, ALGUACIL, DIVISIÓN DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN
FIRSTBANK PUERTO RICO
Parte Demandante Vs. RENÉ ADALBERTO PADILLA MAIZ T/C/C RENÉ ALBERTO PADILLA
MAIZ, SU ESPOSA
LOURDES ENIT DE JESÚS MORALES Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS
Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: SJ2018CV09048. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA Y COBRO DE DINERO (VÍA ORDINARIA). EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS. A: RENÉ ADALBERTO PADILLA MAIZ t/c/c RENÉ
ALBERTO PADILLA
MAIZ, Y SU ESPOSA
LOURDES ENIT DE JESÚS MORALES Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS: Y AL PÚBLICO EN GENERAL:
El Alguacil que suscribe, certifica y hace constar que en cumplimiento de Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, procederé a vender en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América. Todo pago recibido por el (la) Alguacil por concepto de subastas será en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del (de la) Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia. Todo derecho, título, participación e interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Lote E guión uno (1) de la Urbanización Laderas de San Juan, localizada en el Barrio Caimito del término municipal de San Juan, Puerto Rico, con una cabida de mil ciento cuarenta y dos metros cuadrados con cuatro mil doscientos cincuenta y nueve diez milésimas de
otro (1142.4259). En lindes por el NORTE, en una sola alineación de treinta y cuatro punto quinientos doce metros con lote E guion trece (E-13) y lote E guion doce (E-12) de la Urbanización Laderas de San Juan; por el SUR, en varias alineaciones, una de dieciocho punto cuatrocientos veintidós metros (18.422), otra de seis punto doscientos ochenta y cinco metros (6.285) y otra de seis punto doscientos treinta y seis metros (6.236) con calle número cuatro Oeste de la Urbanización Laderas de San Juan; por el ESTE, en varias alineaciones, una de veintitrés punto novecientos cuarenta y seis metros (23.946) y otra de cinco punto trescientos veintiocho metros (5.328) con calle número uno de la Urbanización Laderas de San Juan; y por el OESTE, en una sola alineación de treintiseis punto quinientos metros con lote E guión dos (E-2) de la Urbanización Laderas de San Juan. Enclava edificación de dos (2) niveles de forma irregular. Entrada principal mirando hacia el Sur que colinda con la calle número cuatro Oeste de la Urbanización Laderas de San Juan. Tiene sala, comedor, cocina, “family room”, patio interior, cuatro cuartos, dos baños y medio, walk in closet, área de “laundry”, marquesina doble y patio. Consta inscrita al folio 125 del tomo 705 de Río Piedras Sur, finca número #20,386, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección Cuarta de San Juan. La escritura de hipoteca consta inscrita al folio 168 del tomo 863 de Río Piedras Sur, finca #20,386, inscripción 5ta. La propiedad objeto de ejecución está localizada en la siguiente dirección: 1 E 4 St., Urbanización Laderas de San Juan, San Juan, P.R. 00926. Se informa que la propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravamen posterior, una vez sea otorgada la escritura de venta judicial y obtenida la Orden y Mandamiento de cancelación de gravamen posterior. (Art. 51, Ley 210-2015). En relación a la finca a subastarse, se establece como tipo mínimo de licitación en la Primera Subasta la suma de $341,149.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la Escritura de Hipoteca #244, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 30 de junio de 2015, ante el notario Antonio R. Escriba Oliver, e inscrita al folio 168 del tomo 863 de Río Piedras Sur, finca número 20,386, inscripción 5ta. La PRIMERA SUBASTA, se llevará a cabo el día 7 DE OCTUBRE DE 2025 A LAS 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en mis oficinas sitas en el Tribunal de Prime-
ra Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, el tipo mínimo para la primera subasta es la suma de $341,149.00. Si la primera subasta del inmueble no produjere remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 15 DE OCTUBRE DE 2025 A LAS 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo sitio y servirá de tipo mínimo las dos terceras partes del precio pactada para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de $227,432.66. Si la segunda subasta no produjere remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 22 DE OCTUBRE DE 2025 A LAS 11:00 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 $170,574.50. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo, para con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor, a saber: La suma de $320,605.92 con intereses a 4.25% anual, desde el 1 de agosto de 2017, hasta el presente y los que se continúen acumulando hasta su total y completo pago, más los cargos por demora que se corresponden a los plazos atrasados desde la fecha anteriormente indicada a razón de la tasa pactada de 4% de cualquier pago que éste en mora por más de quince (15) días desde la fecha de su vencimiento, más una suma equivalente a $34,114.90, por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, más cualquier otra suma que resulte por cualesquiera otros adelantos que se hayan hecho la demandante, en virtud de las disposiciones de la escritura de hipoteca y del Pagaré hipotecario. Para más información, a las personas interesadas se les notifica que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal, durante las horas laborables. Este EDICTO DE SUBASTA, se publicará en los lugares públicos correspondientes y en un periódico de circulación general en la jurisdicción de Puerto Rico. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los referentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente Escritura de Venta Judicial y el Alguacil pondrá en posesión judicial al nuevo dueño, si así se lo solicita den-
tro del término de veinte (20) días, de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Si transcurren los referidos veinte (20) días, el tribunal podrá ordenar, sin necesidad de ulterior procedimiento, que se lleve a efecto el desalojo o lanzamiento del ocupante u ocupantes de la finca o de todos los que por orden o tolerancia del deudor la ocupen. Expedido en San Juan, Puerto Rico, a 2 de septiembre de 2025. MARÍA DE LOURDES LÓPEZ MOREIRA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #251.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN
FIRSTBANK
PUERTO RICO
Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN DE RICARDO PEREIRA RODRÍGUEZ COMPUESTA POR NEURIS TERESA CAMPOS DE PEREIRA; RICARDO PEREIRA NIEVES, JORGE RICARDO PEREIRA CAMPOS, MARCOS JR. PEREIRA, CARIMEL PEREIRA Y FULANO Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; CRIM
Demandados Civil Núm.: BY2024CV06902. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA Y COBRO DE DINERO. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS. A: SUCESIÓN DE RICARDO PEREIRA RODRÍGUEZ COMPUESTA POR NEURIS TERESA CAMPOS DE PEREIRA; RICARDO PEREIRA NIEVES, JORGE RICARDO PEREIRA CAMPOS, MARCOS JR. PEREIRA, CARIMEL PEREIRA Y FULANO Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; CRIM. El Alguacil que suscribe, certifica y hace constar que en cumplimiento de Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Bayamón, procederé a vender en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América. Todo pago recibido por el (la) Alguacil por concepto de subastas será en
efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del (de la) Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia. Todo derecho, título, participación e interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar número 25 del Bloque “J” de Magnolia Gardens Development, localizada en el Barrio Pájaros de Bayamón, Puerto Rico, con un área de 358.57 metros cuadrados, pero según el plano 355.81 metros cuadrados, en lindes por el NORTE, en 23.00 metros, con el solar número 26; por el SUR, en 23.00 metros, con el solar número 24; por el ESTE, en 15.59 metros, con el solar número 4; y por el OESTE, en 15.59 metros, con la Calle número 11. Enclava una casa de hormigón y bloques para una sola familia. Finca número 11,176, inscrita al folio 56 del tomo 255 de Bayamón Sur. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección I de Bayamón. La propiedad objeto de ejecución está localizada en la siguiente dirección: Urbanización Magnolia Gardens, Calle 11 J-25, Bayamón, P.R. 00956. Se informa que la propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravamen posterior, una vez sea otorgada la escritura de venta judicial y obtenida la Orden y Mandamiento de cancelación de gravamen posterior. (Art. 51, Ley 210-2015). En relación a la finca a subastarse, se establece como tipo mínimo de licitación en la Primera Subasta la suma de $102,092.28, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la Escritura de Hipoteca #611, otorgada en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el día 28 de noviembre de 2007, ante el notario Luis Oscar Cintrón Fonalledas, e inscrita al folio 774 del tomo 1965 de Bayamón Sur, finca número 11,176, inscripción 8va, como Asiento Abreviado extendida las líneas el día 18 de octubre de 2017, en virtud de la Ley número 216 del día 27 de diciembre de 2010. (Fue presentado el día 28 de diciembre de 2007 al Asiento 1141 del Diario 1272), modificada la hipoteca de la inscripción 8va, en cuanto al principal que se cancela parcialmente en la suma de $5,040.72 para un nuevo principal que será por la suma de $102,092.28, con intereses al 4% anual, vencedero el día 1 de octubre de 2045, según consta de la escritura número 429, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 26 de septiembre de 2015, ante la notario Alexandra M. Serracante Cadilla, e inscrita al tomo Karibe de Bayamón
Sur, finca número 11,176, inscripción 10ma. La PRIMERA SUBASTA, se llevará a cabo el día 6 DE OCTUBRE DE 2025 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en mis oficinas sitas en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Bayamón, el tipo mínimo para la primera subasta es la suma de $102,092.28. Si la primera subasta del inmueble no produjere remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 20 DE OCTUBRE DE 2025 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo sitio y servirá de tipo mínimo las dos terceras partes del precio pactada para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de $68,061.52. Si la segunda subasta no produjere remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 27 DE OCTUBRE DE 2025 A LAS 10:00 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 $51,046.14. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo, para con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor, a saber: La suma de principal $84,051.34, más intereses a razón del 4.00% anual, desde el 1 de mayo de 2024, hasta el presente y los que se continúen acumulando hasta su total y completo pago, más los cargos por demora que se corresponden a los plazos atrasados desde la fecha anteriormente indicada a razón de la tasa pactada de 4% de cualquier pago que éste en mora por más de quince (15) días desde la fecha de su vencimiento, más adelantos para el pago de seguros y contribuciones, entre otros; más una suma de $10,209.22, por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, más cualquier otra suma que resulte por cualesquiera otros adelantos que se hayan hecho la demandante, en virtud de las disposiciones de la escritura de hipoteca y del Pagaré hipotecario. Para más información, a las personas interesadas se les notifica que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal, durante las horas laborables. Este EDICTO DE SUBASTA, se publicará en los lugares públicos correspondientes y en un periódico de circulación general en la jurisdicción de Puerto Rico. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los referentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se procede-
rá a otorgar la correspondiente Escritura de Venta Judicial y el Alguacil pondrá en posesión judicial al nuevo dueño, si así se lo solicita dentro del término de veinte (20) días, de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Si transcurren los referidos veinte (20) días, el tribunal podrá ordenar, sin necesidad de ulterior procedimiento, que se lleve a efecto el desalojo o lanzamiento del ocupante u ocupantes de la finca o de todos los que por orden o tolerancia del deudor la ocupen. Expedido en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, a 28 de junio de 2025. MARIBEL LANZAR VELÁZQUEZ, ALGUACIL PLACA #735. ***
LEGAL
NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS
COOPERATIVA DE AHORRO Y CREDITO DE CAGUAS
Demandante Vs. aIRIS MINERVA VÁZQUEZ FLORES, ET AL
Demandad
Caso Núm.: CG2025CV01822. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA Y COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO, ESTADO UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: CARMEN LYDIA VÁZQUEZ FLORES.
Quede emplazado y notificado que en este Tribunal se ha radicado Demanda sobre anulabilidad contractual. POR LA PRESENTE, se le emplaza para que dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto presente la contestación a la demanda. De no presentar la contestación se le podría anotar la rebeldía o se celebrará la vista en su fondo, según sea el caso. Usted debe de presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.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 sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. EXPEDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA Y SELLO DEL TRIBUNAL. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, hoy 18 de septiembre de 2025. MYRNA E. AYALA DÍAZ, SECRETARIA GENERAL.
MARTA E. DONATE RESTO, SECRETARIA.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE QUEBRADILLAS
WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB, AS CERTIFICATE TRUSTEE ON BEHALF OF BOSCO CREDIT II TRUST SERIES 2017-1 BY FRANKLIN CREDIT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION AS SERVICER
Demandante Vs. SUCESION ANTONIO
LEBRON CARILLO COMPUESTA POR SYLVIA LEBRON MACHADO, MARILYN LEBRON RODRIGUEZ, MAYRA ENID LEBRON RODRIGUEZ, JUAN ANTONIO LEBRON RODRIGUEZ, GRISEL
LEBRON RODRIGUEZ; SU VIUDA LUZ EDELMIRA
MACHADO MARTINEZ
T/C/C LUZ E. MACHADO
MARTINEZ; JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; LUZ
EDELMIRA MACHADO MARTINEZ T/C/C
LUZ E. MACHADO
MARTINEZ; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES
Demandados Civil Núm.: CICD2016-0053. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA.
EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, 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 Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por el (la) Secretario(a) del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Hatillo, 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 Certificado, en mi oficina ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Camuy, el 21 DE OCTUBRE DE 2025, A LAS 10:45 DE LA TARDE, todo derecho título, participación o interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: RUSTICA: Sita en Barrio San José Sector
Jayuya Carretera Ramal número (4,485) del término municipal de Quebradillas, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial e mil cuatrocientos noventa metros cuadrados (1,490.00 m.c.). En lindes por el Norte, con carretera Municipal Ramal numero 4485; por el Sur, con Julio Martínez Juarbe; por el Este, con Wilfredo Acevedo Reíllo; y por el Oeste, con camino municipal. Enclava tres estructuras de hormigón y bloque dedicadas a vivienda. Finca número 9872, inscrita al folio 185 del tomo 184 de Quebradillas, Registro de la Propiedad de Arecibo, Sección II. La Hipoteca Revertida consta inscrita al folio 10 vto. del tomo 205 de Quebradillas, finca número 9872, inscripción 7ª, Registro de la Propiedad de Arecibo, Sección II. Propiedad localizada en: RD 4485 KM 0.2 BO. JOSE JAYUYA, QUEBRADILLAS, PR 00678. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas anteriores o preferentes: Nombre del Titular: N/A. Suma de la Carga: N/A. Fecha de Vencimiento: N/A. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas posteriores a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: Nombre del Titular: Departamento de Hacienda. Suma de la Carga: $27,158.36. Fecha de Certificación: 14 de diciembre de 2010. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad de la propiedad y que todas las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito ejecutante antes descritos, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistentes. El rematante acepta dichas cargas y gravámenes anteriores, y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se establece como tipo de mínima subasta la suma de $249,600.00, 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 oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Camuy, el 28 DE OCTUBRE DE 2025, A LAS 10:45 DE LA TARDE, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $166,400.00, 2/3 partes del tipo mínima establecido originalmente. Si tampoco se produce remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se establece como mínima para la TERCERA SUBASTA, la suma de $124,800.00, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Camuy, el 4 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2025, A LAS 10:45 DE LA TARDE. Dicha subasta
se llevará a cabo para, con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante, el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor ascendente a la suma principal $198,593.90, más intereses a razón de 5.8750% desde el 1 de diciembre de 2015 hasta el 31 de marzo de 2024 de $97,228.00, que se acumulan diariamente hasta su total y completo pago, mas $3,613.20 de “escrow advances”; mas $6,650.16 de cargos por demora; mas $1,701.20 de adelantos de honorarios de abogado; más la suma de $24,960.00, por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado hipotecariamente asegurados, esta última habrá de devengar intereses al máximo del tipo legal fijado por la oficina del Comisionado de Instituciones Financieras aplicable a esta fecha, desde este mismo día hasta 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 mencionada finca, a cuyo efecto se notifica y se hace saber la fecha, hora y sitio de la PRIMERA, SEGUNDA Y TERCERA SUBASTA, si esto fuera necesario, a los efectos de que cualquier persona o personas con algún interés puedan comparecer a la celebración de dicha subasta. Se notifica a todos los interesados que las actas y demás constancias del expediente de este caso están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables para ser examinadas por los (las) interesados (as). Y para su publicación en el periódico The San Juan Daily Star, que es un diario de circulación general en la isla de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, así como para su publicación en los sitios públicos de Puerto Rico. Expedido en Camuy, Puerto Rico, hoy 18 de septiembre de 2025. WILFREDO OLMO SALAZAR, ALGUACIL REGIONAL. ÁNGEL DE JESÚS TORRES, ALGUACIL PLACA #770.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN SHEE MENG HUNG
Parte Demandante Vs. FAN WU
Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: SJ2025RF01278. Sala: 705. Sobre: DIVORCIO (R.I.). EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU., ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS. A: FAN WU - 4223 HAIGHT ST, FLUSING, QUEENS, NEW YORK.
Por el presente edicto se le
notifica a él demandado arriba nombrado, que la parte demandante ha radicado una demanda en este Tribunal en la cual solicita se declare ha lugar una solicitud de divorcio por la causal de ruptura irreparable. El nombre, dirección, teléfono y correo electrónico de la abogada de la parte demandante es la Lcda. Alba Meléndez Romeu, PO Box 194205, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00919, Tel. (787) 789-4172 / (787) 245-1194, amelendez@abogadainmigracionpr.com. Se le apercibe al demandado arriba nombrado que de no comparecer y contestar la demanda radicando el original de su contestación en la Secretaría de este Tribunal, con copia a la abogada de la parte demandante, en el término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación de este edicto, se le anotará la Rebeldía y se dictará sentencia en su contra concediendo el remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de San Juan, a 15 de septiembre de 2025. SRA. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. CARMEN M. FIGUEROA ANDINO, SECRETARIA DE SERVICIOS A SALA.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE ARECIBO SALA SUPERIOR DE MANATÍ
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE RURAL DEVELOPMENT A/C/C LA ADMINISTRACION DE HOGARES DE AGRICULTORES
Demandante V. CARMELO NÚÑEZ COLÓN
Demandado(a)
Caso Núm.: MT2025CV00068. (Salón: 102 SALA SUPERIOR). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA: PROPIEDAD RESIDENCIAL. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. JUAN C. FORTUÑO FASJCFORTUNO@FORTUNO-LAW. COM. A: CARMEN NÚÑEZ COLÓN - COMUNIDAD RURAL GARROCHALES, BO GARROCHALES, PARCELA 211, BARCELONETA, PR 00617; DIRECCIÓN POSTAL: PO BOX 1699, BARCELONETA, PR 00617-1699; 25 BO GARROCHALES, SECTOR CERRO AZARAEL, BARCELONETA, PR 00617.
(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 03 de septiembre de 2025, este
Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 15 de septiembre de 2025. En Manatí, Puerto Rico, el 15 de septiembre de 2025. VIVÍAN Y. FRESSE GONZÁLEZ, SECRETARIA. CARMEN JULIA ROSARIO VALENTÍN, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAMUY
HAYDEE CARABALLO SEGUINOT
REPRESENTADA POR LUZ NEIDA CARABALLO RODRIGUEZ
Parte Demandante Vs. JANE Y JOHN DOE, POR SI Y COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LUIS QUIÑONES NATAL, Y PERSONAS IGNORADAS Y DESCONOCIDAS QUE PUDIERAN SER HEREDEROS DE ÉSTE
Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: HA2025CV00216. Sala: SALÓn 102 CIVIL. Sobre: SENTENCIA DECLARATORIA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE UU, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., S.S.
A: JANE Y JOHN DOE, POR SI Y COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LUIS QUIÑONES NATAL, Y PERSONAS IGNORADAS Y DESCONOCIDAS QUE PUDIERAN SER HEREDEROS DE ÉSTE. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda incoada en su contra dentro de treinta 30 días a partir de la publicación del presente edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación
responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), a la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr/sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar y notificar 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 sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Representa a la parte demandante, el abogado cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono se consigna de inmediato: LCDO. JOSEPH BROCCO SANTIAGO PO BOX 608 PEÑUELAS, PR 00624 TEL / FAX (787) 836-3020 lcdo.joseph.brocco-santiago@ hotmail.com
Expedido este edicto bajo mi firma y el sello de este Tribunal, hoy 16 de septiembre de 2025. VIVÍAN Y. FRESSE GONZÁLEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. JOHANNA GONZÁLEZ VILELLA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE HUMACAO PHALANX CAPITAL SERIES 5 REAL ESTATE LLC Demandante Vs. LA SUCESÓN DE DOMINGO FIGUEROA T/C/C DOMINGO FIGUEROA-VIDAL T/C/C DOMINGO FIGUEROAVID Y PETRA MOJICA SANTANA T/C/C PETRA MOJICA T/C/C PETRA M FIGUEROA T/C/C PETRA MOJICA FIGUEROA COMPUESTAS POR YOLANDA FIGUEROA MOJICA, ELENA FIGUEROA MOJICA FULANO Y FULANA DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE DOMINGO FIGUEROA T/C/C DOMINGO FIGUEROA-VIDAL T/C/C DOMINGO FIGUEROAVIDY SUTANO Y SUTANA DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE PETRA MOJICA
SANTANA T/C/C PETRA
MOJICA T/C/C PETRA M
FIGUEROA T/C/C PETRA MOJICA FIGUEROA Demandados Civil Número.: HU2025CV00069. Sobre: EJE-
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Crossword
González to return as PR manager for U-23 World Championship Qualifier
By THE STAR STAFF
Former major leaguer Juan “Igor” González will return as manager of the Puerto Rico U-23 National Team for the 2025 World Championship Qualifier, Puerto Rico Baseball Federation President José Daniel Quiles announced on Monday.
“Puerto Rico will seek qualification for the U-23 World Championship at the Pan American Championship, which will be held from September 28 to October 4 in Panama,” Quiles said in a written statement.
Under González’s leadership, the Puerto Rican team won its first silver medal at the U-23 World Cup in 2024. This time, he will be assisted by Eduardo Núñez as bench coach, Dennis Pérez as third base coach, Eddie González
The WNBA’s growing fan-base
By HEATHER KNIGHT
The WNBA is in the heat of the postseason, and arenas are packed with passionate fans. Many of them are women and girls, of course. But most of them are male. And among boys, that fandom is quickly growing.
I first noticed this not as a reporter, but as a mom. My 12-year-old son is obsessed with the Golden State Warriors. It seems as if half his wardrobe has Stephen Curry’s face on it. He wanted to paint his entire bedroom Warriors blue (I convinced him that one accent wall would be a more soothing choice).
When the WNBA introduced a new team in San Francisco this year — the Golden State Valkyries, which I recently profiled — I bought us tickets for the first game. I hoped he would become a casual fan. Before long, though, he developed fullon Valkyries fever. Suddenly, he was sporting a violet cap and a Tiffany Hayes jersey, studying the roster and memorizing statistics. The real eye-opener for me came one Saturday morning when I saw that he was playing his NBA 2K video game not as the Warriors, but as the Valkyries.
It turns out my son is in very good company. Boys and young men are helping to fuel the surge in interest in women’s basketball.
This season, the WNBA’s fan base was 57% male and 43% female, according to statistics provided by the league. Men have actually made up more than half of viewer-
ship for years, but they were mostly middleaged before. Now they’re skewing younger. The number of boys under 18 who watch WNBA games has grown by 130% over the past four years.
I spoke with league officials, Valkyries executives and fans to understand the reasons behind the explosion in popularity. Bigger stars
Seemingly every boy in America knows about Steph Curry and LeBron James. Now they know about Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers, too. (I got these names from my son, who proclaimed them “generational talents.”)
Clark in particular has drawn new fans to the league. During her first year as a professional player last season, with the Indiana Fever, the WNBA saw a groundswell of interest in its televised games.
More than a dozen games topped 1 million viewers — a number the league had not reached in the previous 16 years. Clark’s debut also coincided with a 34% increase in boys watching the games, the league said. Better play
It’s no coincidence that a crop of superstars has recently entered the league. Over the years, there have been more opportunities for young girls to play basketball, and that investment is paying off.
“The quality of the players has definitely gotten better,” said Joe Lacob, the billionaire who owns the Valkyries and the Warriors. He said 55% of ticketholders at the women’s games in San Francisco were male.
as first base coach, Ramesis Rosa as pitching coach, and Josué Montañez as bullpen coach.
The two-time American League Most Valuable Player has coached the U-23 team in two qualifying tournaments and two World Championships. As a player, he spent 17 seasons in the majors, and as a manager he has led Puerto Rico to gold medals at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games in Barranquilla, Colombia, the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, and the 2022 Caribbean Series.
González was also part of the coaching staff for the national team in the 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classic, and he will return as the hitting coach in 2026. At the local level, he led teams to championships in the Puerto Rican Double-A Baseball League with the Grises of Humacao in 2021 and with the Toritos of Cayey in 2022.
The women are gritty and fierce, playing fast and sinking more 3-pointers than ever.
Lacob sits courtside for most Valkyries games, and his guy friends are constantly asking him for tickets, he said. At one recent game, I spotted several heavily tattooed football players for the San Francisco 49ers sitting beside him.
“People are not dumb,” Lacob said. “They see that it’s better. It just clicked.” Cooler vibes
The Valkyries managed to become the first WNBA team to sell out all their home games, helping to propel the league to record attendance numbers. When you’re in their arena, the Chase Center, it feels like one big party.
Several male fans told me that Warriors games had started to feel like overpriced networking opportunities, while the Valkyries games were more affordable and more fun.
Nathaniel Berhanu, 10, has season tickets with his mom, Marina Cervantes, and persuaded her to buy him a Valkyries hat after a recent game.
“Anytime I’m here I’m overjoyed!” he said.
“I’m hyped.”
It’s hard not to be when there are flames shooting up behind the backboards, DJs blasting music and entertainers like rapper E-40 performing.
My son has started putting the full-court press on me for season tickets next year. Not for the men’s games — for the women’s.
Former major leaguer Juan “Igor” González will return as manager of the Puerto Rico U-23 National Baseball Team for the 2025 World Championship Qualifier, to be held Sept. 28-Oct. 4 in Panama.
Kaila Charles of the Golden State Valkyries blocks a shot by the Indiana Fever at Chase Center in San Francisco on Aug. 31, 2025. Boys and men now love women’s basketball, too. (Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times)
Answers to the Sudoku and Crossword on page 21
