- Rafael Hernández Colón
Infobox Governor
name= Rafael Hernández Colón
caption=
order=4th
office= Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
term_start=January 2 ,1973
term_end=January 2 ,1977
term_start=January 2 ,1985
term_end=January 2 ,1993
lieutenant=
predecessor=Luis A. Ferré (1973);Carlos Romero Barceló (1985)
successor=Carlos Romero Barceló (1977);Pedro Rosselló (1993)
birth_date= Birth date and age|1936|10|24|mf=y
birth_place= Ponce,Puerto Rico
death_date=
death_place=
spouse=Lila Mayoral (First Lady);Nelsa Lopez (current)
profession=Lawyer
religion=Roman Catholic
party= Popular Democratic Party
footnotes=Rafael Hernández Colón (born
October 24 ,1936 inPonce, Puerto Rico ) is a Puerto Ricanpolitician who was the fourthGovernor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for three non-consecutive terms (1973-1977, 1985-1993). An experienced politician, Hernández holds the record for being the youngest Governor of Puerto Rico, having won his first term at the age of 36. Hernández is also the person who has run for Governor the most times, a total of five. During his terms as Governor, Hernández Colón's administration was known for trying to invigorate the Puerto Rican economy as well as defending the current political status of the island.Education
Hernández Colón studied at
Wayne in Pennsylvania, graduated fromValley Forge Military Academy and College , then had obtained a bachelor's degree inPolitical Science fromJohns Hopkins University in 1956 where he graduated with honors. In 1956, he obtained his degree inLaw from theUniversity of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras , graduating "magna cum laude " and asvaledictorian of his class. Between 1961 and 1965 he was lecturer on civil procedure at theCatholic University in Ponce .He was married to Lila Mayoral (now deceased), with whom he had four children: Rafael, Jose Alfredo, Dora Mercedes and Juan Eugenio. Juan Eugenio Hernandez Mayoral is currently a senator in the Puerto Rico Senate.
Political career
Hernández Colón affiliated himself with the Popular Democratic Party, or "Partido Popular Democratico" (PPD). He served as Associate Commissioner of Public Service under the governorship of
Roberto Sánchez Vilella . In 1965 he was named Secretary of the Department of Justice. In 1968 he was elected to theSenate of Puerto Rico , becoming the youngest Senator to hold a seat in the Senate at the time. A young political star, he was named President of the Senate until 1972, when he successfully ran forGovernor of Puerto Rico .First term (1973-1977)
Hernández Colón made an effort to get more international firms to invest in
Puerto Rico and opposed PresidentGerald Ford 's wishes to make Puerto Rico the 51st state. In 1974,Time Magazine recognized Rafael Hernandez Colon as one of the world's young leaders.During his first term, the island was wracked by recession, induced by the
1973 oil crisis , which hit Puerto Rico particularly hard because of the many businesses that were directly related to petroleum processing in Puerto Rico (particularly, the Commonwealth Oil Refining Company,CORCO , which operated one of the world's largest oil refineries inPeñuelas, Puerto Rico ). Puerto Rico had financed numerous public works with bonds (which matured by the time Hernández became governor), and previous administrations had used the Puerto Rico Development Bank (the local equivalent of acentral bank ) as a revolving credit line with disastrous results, which forced the Hernández administration to devote large sums of the Puerto Rican government'sbudget to save the bank and honor the bonds' obligations. Hernández exacerbated the situation by raising taxes and making costly purchases of failed private entreprises, as to somehow lower the cost of doing business in Puerto Rico. For example, the government bought a failed shipping line, which became Navieras de Puerto Rico, as to stabilize shipping costs to and from Puerto Rico. Over the years, this purchase would cost the government of Puerto Rico over 500 million dollars in losses (Navieras is better known for being the former owner of theSS Mayagüez , which added to its notoriety) Hernández also instituted a retroactive income tax, popularly known as "La Vampirita" ("The Little Vampire"). For these reasons and others, Hernández lost in 1976 to thenMayor of San Juan,Carlos Romero Barceló . He lost again to Barcelo in 1980; the margin of victory in the 1980 elections was small, a 3,000 vote margin out of 1.6 million votes).econd and third terms (1985-1993)
Hernández Colón ran again against Barcelo in the elections of November, 1984 and was victorious by about 54,000 votes (48 to 45% respectively). This was mainly due to the fact that his opponent's party had split. He again won re-election in 1988 election, besting his main rival
Baltasar Corrada del Río by 49 to 46% ( [http://electionspuertorico.org/cgi-bin/events.cgi] ). Hernández Colón became a travelling governor during his third and last tenure as governor. He also sponsored an unsuccessful bid to host the 2004 Olympic Games.In June 1991 Hernández announced that he would not seek re-election. On
January 11 , Hernandez Colón resigned as President of the Popular Democratic Party, the post he held for 23 years. Then SenatorVictoria Munoz Mendoza succeeded as President of the party and would later become gubernatorial candidate.Retirement and legacy
Rafael Hernández Colon has published various works specializing in law. Among his works; "Procedimiento civil, Trayectoria historica de la Autonomia politica puertoriqueña" and "Nueva Tesis" (
ISBN 8459967565
) which talks about the Puerto Rican Commonwealth political relationship with theUnited States of America .Hernández Colón has been granted
honoris causa degrees fromJohns Hopkins University ,Seton Hall and thePontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico , where he has served as a law professor in the university's Law School.In 1985, Hernández Colón was awarded the
Order of Duarte, Sánchez y Mella . In 1987 he was awarded theCross of Isabel the Catholic by kingJuan Carlos I and the government ofSpain . That same year he was awarded the "Grand Cordón del Libertador" by the government ofVenezuela , theHarvard Foundation Award , and theSpirit of the Caribbean Award . In 1989 he was awarded the Olympic Order Award.On
October 18 ,1991 at the Campoamor Theater inOviedo, Spain , Hernandez Colón, received thePrincipe de Asturias de las Letras award that was granted to Puerto Rico byFelipe de Borbón .In early 2003,
Lila Mayoral , his first wife, died of cancer. He married attorney Nelsa López in late 2004.Currently, Hernández Colón maintains distance from public political engagement, but continues involved in
Puerto Rico 's political affairs assisting active politicians. Some political analysts speculate that Hernández still exerts a sizeable control over the PDP's party structure, which may rival the current PDP president's.Since Puerto Rico's 2006 fiscal crisis that partially shut down several government departments; State funded bodyguard services to ex-governors were eliminated in order to cut government spending. This decision was disputed by unlikely allies, himself, and ex-governor Carlos Romero Barceló, arguing that this was an acquired right that could not be eliminated. Resolution of this issue is pending before Puerto Rico's Supreme Court.
On a recent Caribbean Business Poll, Hernández Colón appears as the second politician with the best image, tailing closely behind current Resident Commissioner and NPP gubernatorial candidate Luis Fortuño. He is the most liked former Governor, and liked far more than incumbent Aníbal Acevedo Vilá. Also, on a recent El Nuevo Día Poll he is also the most liked former Governor, third most liked politician and most liked PDP politician.
citation needed ee also
*
List of Governors of Puerto Rico
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