Timeline Puerto Rico
Return to home
CIA Factbook: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/rq.html
Emulate: http://www.emulateme.com/puertorico.htm
Puerto Rico.com: http://www.puertorico.com/
The island, a US territory, is 110 by 35 miles
in size, 3,427 sq. miles in area, a little smaller than Connecticut.
The
population in 1998 was about 3.7 million.
(SFEC, 4/26/98, p.A3)(SFC, 11/14/98, p.A6)(SFEC, 2/13/00, p.T5)
c1AD
The Tibes Indians date back to about this time. A
flooding river exposed an ancient Tibes burial ground in 1977 and it
became the Tibes Indian Ceremonial Park.
(SFEC, 2/13/00, p.T5)
700AD Ingeri and pre-Taino plazas
date to this time.
(SFEC, 2/13/00, p.T5)
1493 Nov 19, Christopher Columbus
discovered Puerto Rico on his 2nd voyage. Juan Ponce de Leon was
a member of Columbus’ crew.
(HT, 4/97, p.28)(MC, 11/19/01)
1508 Aug 12, Ponce de Leon arrived
and conquered the island of Boriquen (Puerto Rico). Spain had appointed
him to colonize Puerto Rico. He explored Puerto Rico and Spanish ships
under his command began to capture Bahamanian Tainos to work as slaves
on Hispaniola. His settlement at Caparra, 2 miles south of San Juan
Bay, was plagued by Taino Indians and cannibalistic Carib Indians.
(NH, 10/96, p.23)(SC,
8/12/02)(http://welcome.topuertorico.org/glossary/index.shtml#936)
1509-1512 Ponce de Leon served as governor of Puerto
Rico.
1512 The original San Juan
Cathedral was constructed. [see 1549]
(SFCM, 3/11/01, p.82)
1521 In Puerto Rico the Caparra
colony founded by Spanish conquistadores relocated to a barrier island
at the entrance of San Juan Bay.
(HT, 4/97, p.28)(TL-MB, p.12)
1523 A Dominican Convent was built
in San Juan.
(SFC, 3/10/01, p.83)
1533 The governor's mansion as La
Fortaleza was built.
(SFEC, 2/13/00, p.T1)
1537 The Spanish built La
Fortaleza overlooking the bay on the southwestern edge of San Juan.
(HT, 4/97, p.29)
1538 The watchtower El Morro was
built.
(HT, 4/97, p.30)
1539 The Castillo de San Felipe
del Morro (El Morro Fortress) was begun. [2nd source says 1533]
(SFEC, 2/13/00, p.T4)(SFCM, 3/11/01, p.82)
1549 The 1512 San Juan Cathedral
was rebuilt.
(SFCM, 3/11/01, p.82)
1575 Sep 21, A major hurricane hit
Puerto Rico on the feast day of St. Matthew and became known as the San
Mateo hurricane.
(SSFC, 8/6/06, Par p.24)
1585 An additional hornwork was
added to El Morro to guard the land approaches to the fort.
(HT, 4/97, p.30)
1595 Queen Elizabeth sent Sir
Francis Drake to capture treasure from a wrecked Spanish galleon stored
at La Forteleza. Drake failed and returned to Panama.
(HT, 4/97, p.30)
1598 Sir George Clifford, the
third Earl of Cumberland, led an attack on Puerto Rico. He landed east
of San Juan at Boqueron Inlet and attacked. The English prevailed and
plundered San Juan but their food spoiled and 400 died of dysentery.
The survivors burned San Juan and sailed away.
(HT, 4/97, p.30)
1599 Spain sent 400 soldiers, 46
cannon and a new governor, Alonso de Mercado, to rebuild San Juan.
(HT, 4/97, p.31)
1625 Sep 24, Dutch Gen’l. Bowdoin
Hendrik and his fleet of 17 ships sailed into San Juan, Puerto Rico,
and attacked El Morro. He held the garrison under siege for 3 weeks and
then set the town to flames. This infuriated the Spanish who attacked
and sent the Dutch fleeing.
(HT, 4/97, p.31-33)(MC, 9/24/01)
1639 The San Juan Gate was built
as the entry to San Juan.
(SFEC, 2/13/00, p.T1)
1765 The Spanish Crown hired
Irishmen Col. Thomas O’Daly and Field Marshall Alexander O’Reilly to
upgrade the defenses of all of Spain’s Caribbean ports. They expanded
and improved El Morro and San Cristobal.
(HT, 4/97, p.33)
1780 Guillaume Raynal, a French
historian, proclaimed Puerto Rico to be “in proportion to its size the
very best island in the New World.”
(SFEC, 4/26/98, p.A3)
1797 Apr, A British armada of 68
vessels and 7,000 men under Scotsman Sir Ralph Abercromby attacked San
Juan, Puerto Rico. The Spanish defenses held. A procession of women
made up to look like soldiers caused the siege to be called off. An
annual parade later commemorated this event.
(HT, 4/97, p.34)(SFEC, 2/13/00, p.T1)
1804 Sep 21, Another major
hurricane hit Puerto Rico on the feast day of St. Matthew and became
known as the San Mateo II hurricane [see 1575].
(SSFC, 8/6/06, Par p.24)
1857 Jul 27, Jose Celso Barbosa,
Puerto Rican statesman and humanitarian, was born in Bayamon.
(AP, 7/27/07)
1868 Sep 23, Grito de Lares
proclaimed Puerto Rico's independence. It was crushed by Spain.
(MC, 9/23/01)
1873 Mar 22, Slavery was abolished
in Puerto Rico.
(MC, 3/22/02)
1897 Nov 25, Spain granted Puerto
Rico autonomy.
(MC, 11/25/01)
1898 May 12, A US fleet under
Admiral William T. Sampson attacked El Morro and San Cristobal. After 2
hours of shelling the fleet headed for Cuba.
(HT, 4/97, p.30)
1898 Jul 25, US Gen’l. Nelson A.
Miles (1839-1925) landed troops at Guanica on the southern coast of
Puerto Rico. Spain and the US came to terms at the Treaty of Paris and
the US acquired Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico became a US territory. He was
promoted to lieutenant general in 1901. He retired from the army in
1903. His books include Personal Recollections and Observations (1896)
and Serving the Republic (1911).
(HT, 4/97, p.65)(SFC, 3/26/97,
p.C3)(http://welcome.topuertorico.org/glossary/index.shtml#936)
1898 Aug 12, Fighting in the
Spanish-American War came to an end. The peace protocol ending the
Spanish-American War was signed Dec 10 after three months and 22 days
of hostilities. 460 US soldiers died in battle. The US paid Spain $20
million to vacate Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. Over the
next 3 years US casualties in the Philippines war totaled over 4,000.
(AP, 8/12/97)(WSJ, 2/23/98, p.A20)(HN,
8/12/00)(SSFC, 3/30/03, p.D1)(WSJ, 7/2/03, p.B1)
1898 Oct 18, The American flag was
raised in Puerto Rico shortly before Spain formally relinquished
control of the island to the US.
(AP, 10/18/97)
1898 Dec 10, The United States and
Spain signed the Treaty of Paris, ending the Spanish-American War. This
ceded Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam to the United States. The
US Senate ratified the treaty February 6, 1899. The US military
governed Puerto Rico from October 1898 until May 1900, when the US
Congress instituted a civil government. The civil government underwent
many changes until a Constitutional Assembly formed in 1950 and
established a Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, which was proclaimed on July
25, 1952. [see Aug 12]
(AP, 12/10/97)(HN, 12/10/98)(HNQ, 7/28/01)
1900 Mar 19, President McKinley
asserted the need for free trade with Puerto Rico.
(HN, 3/19/98)
1900 May, The U.S. Congress
instituted a civil government.
(HNQ, 7/28/01)
1904 Jan 4, The US Supreme Court,
in Gonzalez v. Williams, ruled that Puerto Ricans were not aliens and
could enter the US freely; however, the court stopped short of
declaring them US citizens.
(AP, 1/4/08)
1904 Feb 17, Luis A. Fere
(d.2003), gov. of Puerto Rico (1969-1972), was born in Ponce.
(SFC, 10/22/03, p.A22)
1906 Nov 9, President Theodore
Roosevelt left Washington D.C. for a 17 day trip to Panama and Puerto
Rico, becoming the first president to make an official visit outside of
the U.S.
(HN, 11/9/98)
1906 Nov 21, In San Juan,
President Theodore Roosevelt pledged citizenship for Puerto Rican
people.
(HN, 11/21/98)
1917 Mar 2, President Woodrow
Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act giving Puerto Ricans US
citizenship. The Jones Act separated the Executive, Judicial, and
Legislative branches of Puerto Rican government, provided civil rights
to the individual, and created a locally elected bicameral legislature.
The two houses were a Senate consisting of 19 members and a 39-member
House of Representatives. However, the Governor and the President of
the US had the power to veto any law passed by the legislature. Also,
the US Congress had the power to stop any action taken by the
legislature in Puerto Rico.
(www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/jonesact.html)(AP,
3/2/98)
1927 In Puerto Rico’s last
execution farm worker Pascual Ramos was hanged for beheading his boss
with a machete. Puerto Rico’s death penalty was outlawed in 1929.
(AP, 1/25/05)
1929 Puerto Rico outlawed capital
punishment. In 2005 it was among 12 US states and the District of
Columbia that do not allow the death penalty.
(AP, 1/25/05)
1932 May 17, Congress changed the
name "Porto Rico" to "Puerto Rico".
(HN, 5/17/98)
1933 The legislature forced the
governor to reinstate cockfighting, which had been banned, by
threatening to block the budget.
(SFEC, 4/26/98, p.A3)
1937 Mar 21, Ponce massacre:
police killed 19 at a Puerto Rican Nationalist parade.
(MC, 3/21/02)
1938 Local baseball began here.
Puerto Rico is just east of the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean
Sea. Its capital is San Juan.
(Hem., Dec. '95, p.105)
1941 US Congress established two
thirds of the island of Vieques as a military training ground.
Residents were given 24 hours to leave their homes.
(SFC, 7/26/99, p.A3)
1945 Sep 8, Jose Feliciano, blind
singer, was born in Lares, Puerto Rico.
(www.fact-index.com)
1947 Abelardo Diaz Alfaro
published his short story collection "Terrazo."
(SFC, 7/23/99, p.D6)
1948 Puerto Rico gained the right
to choose its own governor and elected Munoz Marin. He held office
until 1965.
(SFC, 3/26/97, p.C3)
1950 Jul 3, US Pres. Truman signed
public law 600. It provided federal statutory authorization for the
people of Puerto Rico to write their own constitution.
(www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2004/vol8n34/CBRoadComnwlth.shtml)
1950 Nov 1, Two members of a
Puerto Rican nationalist movement, Oscar Collazo and Griselio
Torresola, tried to force their way into Blair House in Washington to
assassinate President Truman. The attempt failed, and one of the pair
Griselio Torresola, was shot dead. On July 24, 1952, Truman commuted
Collazo’s death sentence to life imprisonment, on the same day he
signed an act enlarging the self-government of Puerto Rico. In 2005
Stephen Hunter authored “American Gunfight: The Plot to Kill Harry
Truman.”
(AP, 11/1/97)(HN, 11/1/98)(HNQ, 1/24/02)(WSJ,
11/8/05, p.D8)
1951 In Puerto Rico Río
Piedras, a suburb of San Juan, merged with San Juan. It is an
industrial and agricultural trading center. The Univ. of Puerto Rico
Medical Sciences campus is located there.
(http://welcome.topuertorico.org/glossary/index.shtml#936)
1952 Mar 3, Puerto Rico approved
its 1st self written constitution.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1952 Jul 24, Pres. Truman commuted
Oscar Collazo’s death sentence to life imprisonment, on the same day he
signed an act enlarging the self-government of Puerto Rico. [See Nov 1,
1950]
(AP, 11/1/97)(HN, 11/1/98)(HNQ, 1/24/02)
1952 Jul 25, Puerto Rico became a
self-governing commonwealth of the United States.
(AP, 7/25/97)
1954 Mar 1, Puerto Rican
nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the U.S. House of
Representatives, wounding five congressmen. In 1998 the granddaughter
of one of the nationalists published a family memoir.
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)(AP, 3/1/98)(NPR, 2/28/98)
1959 Hunter Thompson spent time
working in San Juan as a journalist and based his novel "The Rum
Diary," published in 1998, on the experience. Plans for a film based on
the book developed in 2003.
(SFC, 11/7/03, p.D11)
1965-1969 Roberto Sanchez Vilella (1913-1997) became
the 2nd governor.
(SFC, 3/26/97, p.C3)
1967 Luis A. Ferrre founded the
pro-statehood New Progressive Party.
(SFC, 10/22/03, p.A22)
1967 A non-binding plebiscite to
determine the future status of Puerto Rico was not conclusive.
(SFEC, 4/26/98, p.A3)
1969 Luis A. Ferrre became
governor of Puerto Rico and served to 1972.
(SFC, 10/22/03, p.A22)
1972 Rafael Hernandez Colon, a
pro-commonwealth candidate, became governor of Puerto Rico.
(SFC, 10/22/03, p.A22)
1973 Oct 22, Pablo Casals (96),
Spanish cellist, conductor and composer died in Rio Piedras, Puerto
Rico.
(AP, 10/22/98)
1974-1983 A series of bomb attacks and robberies in
the US by members of the FALN left 6 people dead an scores injured. 16
separatists who were later arrested for the attacks were granted
clemency by Pres. Clinton in 1999.
(USAT, 9/17/99, p.1A)
1975 The US Navy left the island
of Culebra. Sings of unexploded ordnance still lingered in 2001.
(SFC, 6/15/01, p.D3)
1976 Section 936 provided US firms
operating in Puerto Rico with tax-free income. It helped to stimulate
industrialization and infrastructure development on the island. However
it skewed investment towards technologies that were too advanced for
Puerto Rico’s stage of development. On August 20, 1996 the U.S.
Congress repealed Section 936 of the US Internal Revenue Code, with a
clause that retains its benefit for ten years of existing corporations.
Section 30A was created to substitute Section 936.
(http://welcome.topuertorico.org/glossary/index.shtml#936)(Econ,
5/27/06, p.26)
1978 Puerto Rico sued the US Navy
for economic damages due to military testing on the island of Vieques.
(SFC, 7/26/99, p.A3)
1979 Apr 28, Carlos Muniz Varela,
a Cuban travel agent and an activist for Puerto Rico's independence,
was killed in Puerto Rico.
(AP, 3/29/06)(www.rocla.org/Actions/MunizVarela.html)
1979 Sep 10, Four Puerto Rican
nationalists imprisoned for a 1954 attack on the House of
Representatives and a 1950 attempt on the life of President Truman were
granted clemency by President Carter.
(AP, 9/10/99)
1980 Apr 5, Eleven Puerto Rican
FALN members were arrested for attempting to rob an armored truck at
Northwestern University; three were linked to the raid on the
Carter-Mondale campaign headquarters. Several of those arrested were
granted clemency in 1999.
(WSJ, 9/14/99, p.A22)
1982 Feb 28, The FALN, a Puerto
Rican Nationalist Group, bombed Wall Street.
(MC, 2/28/02)
1983 Sep 12, Filiberto Ojeda Rios
(d.2005), a Puerto Rican nationalist leader, was involved in the
robbery of a Connecticut armored truck. It was considered an act of
domestic terrorism because the money was used to fund activities by the
Puerto Rican nationalist Macheteros, or Cane Cutters. Only about
$80,000 of the $7 million was recovered. In 2005 Rios was shot and
killed by FBI agents in Puerto Rico
(www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=24432).
(http://tinyurl.com/2rju8s)(AP, 9/25/05)
1984 Oct 31, The Puerto Rican
tanker San Francisco exploded spilling 2 million gallons of oil as the
ship caught fire.
(MC, 10/31/01)
1985 Oct 7, In Ponce, Puerto Rico,
a mudslide followed Tropical Storm Isabel and killed at least 129
people in the island's worst disaster this century.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Isabel_(1985))
1986 Dec 31, A fire at the Dupont
Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killed 97 and injured 140 people.
(Three hotel workers later pleaded guilty to charges in connection with
the blaze.)
(AP, 12/31/97)
1989 Sep 18, Hurricane Hugo
reached Puerto Rico, causing extensive damage as it continued to barrel
toward the U.S. mainland.
(AP, 9/18/97)
1991 Apr 7, In Puerto Rico 3
prisoners escaped from the Rio Piedras State Penitentiary in a hijacked
helicopter with the help of accomplices. Two were recaptured, while a
third remained at large.
(AP, 12/31/02)
1992 Oct 12, Arecibo radio
telescope in Puerto Rico began a microwave search for occupied planets.
(www.planetary.org/explore/topics/seti/seti_history_12.html)
1992 In Puerto Rico two toddlers,
ages 2 and 3, were killed. The mother of Eliezer Marquez Navedo (17)
was convicted. She was sentenced to 26 years in prison but paroled for
good behavior after seven. In 2009 Eliezer Marquez Navedo was charged
with the murder of an American tourist.
(AP, 2/26/09)
1993 A 2nd non-binding plebiscite
to determine the future status of Puerto Rico was not conclusive.
(SFEC, 4/26/98, p.A3)
1993 The US Navy dropped 24 bombs
of napalm on a target practice area on the island of Vieques. After
years of denial the Navy admitted the drops in 1999.
(SFC, 7/26/99, p.A3)
1994 Sep 7, U.S. Marines began
training on a Puerto Rican island amid talk in Washington of a U.S.-led
intervention in Haiti.
(AP, 9/7/99)
1994 In Puerto Rico the Federal
Death Penalty Act broadened the range of crimes punishable by death.
(AP, 8/1/03)
1996 Sep 10, Hurricane Hortense
pounded Puerto Rico, causing at least 21 deaths and destroying
thousands of homes.
(AP, 9/10/97)
1996 Nov, The 5-story Hemberto
Vidal building exploded and 20 people were killed in downtown San Juan.
(SFC, 11/22/96, p.A3)
1998 Feb 11, Hector Acosta
Martinez and Joel Rivera Alejandro kidnapped Hernandez Diaz and
demanding a $1 million ransom from his family. When his family alerted
police, prosecutors say the men killed him, hacked off his body parts
and dumped them on a roadside. In 2003 a federal jury acquitted the 2
men.
(AP, 8/1/03)
1998 Feb 12, NASA planned a rocket
launch from Tortuguero base in Puerto Rico. 10 more rockets were
planned for launch over the next 30 days.
(SFC, 2/2/98, p.A3)
1998 Mar 4, The US House approved
a special referendum in Puerto Rico that would allow voters to choose 1
of 3 options: continued commonwealth status, statehood or independence.
(SFC, 3/5/98, p.A5)
1998 Jun 18, Fearing loss of their
jobs 6,400 workers of Telefonica went on strike and began cutting
telephone cables.
(SFC, 6/26/98, p.A2)(SFC, 6/30/98, p.A3)
1998 Jun 24, Gov. Pedro Rossello
signed a law completed the $1.9 billion sale of Telefonica to a US
consortium led by GTE.
(SFC, 6/26/98, p.A2)
1998 Jun 25, Protestors planted
bombs, smashed bank machines and burned telephone cables in reaction to
the privatization of the phone company.
(SFC, 6/26/98, p.A2)
1998 Jun 28, The Greater Committee
of Labor Organizations voted for a work stoppage over the sale of the
state phone company.
(SFC, 6/30/98, p.A3)
1998 Jul 7, A general 2 day strike
was called against the sale of the phone company and the San Juan
Int’l. Airport was blocked for a short time.
(SFC, 7/8/98, p.A3)
1998 Jul 14, In Puerto Rico the
telephone union gave in after a 26-day strike and agreed to go back to
work.
(SFC, 7/15/98, p.A3)
1998 Jul 21, Puerto Rico accepted
a sweetened GTE-led bid for the government owned phone system that
included concessions to appease workers.
(WSJ, 7/22/98, p.A1)
1998 Jul 25, The governor called
for a December referendum on statehood.
(WSJ, 7/27/98, p.A1)
1998 Aug 13, Puerto Rico approved
a Dec. 13 referendum for statehood.
(SFC, 8/14/98, p.A3)
1998 Sep 15-Oct 1, Hurricane
Georges caused 602 deaths in the Caribbean and four in the United
States. The storm hit the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico,
Antigua, Guadeloupe, St. Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla and British and U.S.
Virgin Islands before striking Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and
Florida.
(AP, 9/11/04)(www.wunderground.com)
1998 Sep 21, Hurricane Georges
threatened the islands of the Caribbean. The storm hit Puerto Rico and
killed at least 5 people as winds reached 130 mph. One woman was killed
on St. Kitts.
(SFC, 9/20/98, p.A13)(SFC, 9/22/98, p.A1)
1998 Sep 22, Hurricane Georges hit
the Dominican Republic and at least 12 people were killed. Three people
were killed in St. Kitts, 2 in Antigua and 4 in Puerto Rico.
(SFC, 9/23/98, p.A10)
1998 Sep 24, The death toll from
Hurricane Georges reached 11.
(SFC, 9/25/98, p.A16)
1998 Dec 13, Voters rejected
statehood by a vote of 50.2% to 46.5%. The winning option was none of
the above, but interpreted as a decision to remain as commonwealth, a
US territory with local autonomy.
(SFC, 12/14/98, p.A4)
1999 Apr 19, Two US Marine jets in
training dropped bombs over the island of Vieques and missed their
targets. One civilian, David Sanes Rodriguez, was killed and 4 people
were injured.
(SFC, 4/20/99, p.A3)(SFC, 7/26/99, p.A3)
1999 Apr, Protestors began
occupying the US Navy range at Vieques following the death of David
Rodriguez.
(SFC, 5/4/00, p.A3)
1999 Jun The US Navy conceded that
it had fired 263 uranium shells on the island of Vieques in 1999.
(SFC, 7/26/99, p.A3)
1999 Jul 4, Anti US Navy protests
drew some 50,000 people.
(SFC, 7/26/99, p.A3)
1999 Jul 22, Abelardo Diaz Alfaro,
short story writer, died at age 82.
(SFC, 7/23/99, p.D6)
1999 Aug 11, Pres. Clinton offered
conditional amnesty to imprisoned Puerto Rican militants (FALN). The
separatists were responsible for at least 150 bombings over a 9-year
period that killed 6 people and injured over 70.
(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A3)(WSJ, 9/14/99, p.A22)
1999 Sep 7, In NY twelve Puerto
Rican prisoners (FALN) agreed to accept Pres. Clinton's offer of
conditional amnesty.
(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A3)
1999 Sep 10, Eleven Puerto Rican
nationalists (FALN) were freed under the clemency deal offered by Pres.
Clinton.
(SFC, 9/11/99, p.A1)
1999 Oct 18, A US presidential
panel recommended that Navy gunnery on the Vieques Island of Puerto
Rico be reduced and abandoned in 5 years.
(WSJ, 10/19/99, p.A1)
1999 Oct 19, Gov. Pedro Rossello
told a US congressional committee that live firing exercises on Vieques
could not be resumed.
(SFC, 10/20/99, p.A7)
1999 Dec 3, Pres. Clinton offered
to reduce bombing practice on Vieques in the spring and use only dummy
bombs plus $40 million in economic incentives with phase out in 5
years. Puerto Rico rejected the offer.
(SFC, 12/4/99, p.A3)
2000 Jan 31, The US persuaded
Puerto Rico to continue use of the Navy firing range off Vieques Island
with dummy bombs in exchange for $40 million. A vote by islanders to
approve live ammunition would bring Puerto Rico an additional $50
million. A no vote would require clean up and a halt to training by May
1, 2003.
(SFC, 2/1/00, p.A3)
2000 Mar 8, Near Puerto Rico at
least 10 people died when a boat carrying some 70 illegal immigrants
from the Dominican Republic capsized.
(SFC, 3/9/00, p.A12)
2000 May 1, In Puerto Rico 2 US
warships arrived off the coast of Vieques and some 50 protestors braced
for the arrival of federal agents.
(SFC, 5/2/00, p.A5)
2000 May 4, In Puerto Rico US
federal agents moved and arrested 216 protestors from the bombing range
on Vieques Island.
(SFC, 5/5/00, p.A1)
2000 Jun 25, US Navy bombing in
Vieques resumed with nonexplosive dummy bombs after 37 demonstrators
were arrested. A fatal accident had prompted a yearlong occupation by
protesters.
(WSJ, 6/26/00, p.A1)(SFC, 6/28/00, p.A3)(AP, 6/25/01)
2000 Aug 6, In San Juan, Puerto
Rico, thousands rallied to protest new US military exercises on Vieques.
(SFC, 8/7/00, p.A3)
2000 Oct 13, A US federal appeals
court ruled that residents of Puerto Rico cannot vote in presidential
elections unless the island becomes a state or the US Constitution is
amended.
(SFC, 10/14/00, p.A4)
2000 Nov, In local elections Sila
Calderon (58), Popular Democratic Party, defeated Gov. Pedro Rossello.
Calderon opposed the US Navy bombing site on Vieques.
(SFC, 1/2/01, p.A4)
2000 Dec 23, Pres. Clinton created
a task force to study whether Puerto Rico should become a state, an
independent country or continue as a US commonwealth.
(SSFC, 12/24/00, p.A14)
2001 Mar 1, The Pentagon suspended
Navy bombing on Vieques.
(WSJ, 3/2/00, p.A1)
2001 Apr 26, A US federal judge
ruled that military exercises could resume on Vieques Island. Puerto
Ricans mobilized for mass demonstrations.
(SFC, 4/27/01, p.A2)
2001 Apr 27, The US Navy resumed
bombing exercises on Vieques Island where 14 protesters were arrested.
(SFC, 4/28/01, p.A3)
2001 May 11, Denise Quinones of
Puerto Rico won the Miss Universe contest held in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
(SFC, 5/12/01, p.A2)
2001 Jun 14, Pres. Bush ordered a
stop to the Navy bombing exercises on Puerto Rico’s Vieques Island.
(SFC, 6/14/01, p.A3)
2001 Jun 14, Pres. Bush ordered a
stop to the Navy bombing exercises on Puerto Rico’s Vieques Island.
Cleanup was estimated to cost hundreds of millions and take decades.
Bombing practice was set to stop by May, 2003.
(SFC, 6/14/01, p.A3)(SFC, 6/15/01, p.D3)(WSJ,
6/15/01, p.A1)
2001 Jun 18, The US Navy dropped
dummy bombs on Vieques island. A number of protesters were arrested for
trespassing.
(SFC, 6/19/01, p.A3)
2001 Jul 29, The residents of
Vieques island voted on stopping the practice bombing by the US
military. Opponents of the navy bombing gathered 68% of the vote.
(SSFC, 7/29/01, p.A9)(SFC, 7/30/01, p.A3)
2001 Aug 2, On Vieques, Puerto
Rico, the US Navy used tear gas and foam rubber projectiles to clear
protesters and journalists.
(SFC, 8/4/01, p.A3)
2002 Jan 2, A US federal judge
dismissed a lawsuit to stop the resumption of bombing exercises on
Vieques. The suit cited a 1972 federal Noise Control Act.
(SFC, 1/3/02, p.A5)
2002 Jan 23, 17 people were
charged in a corruption scandal that involved $4.3 million in diverted
federal funds.
(SFC, 1/24/02, p.A4)
2002 Aug 7, A U.S. Air Force cargo
plane crashed on a Puerto Rican mountaintop with at least 10 military
personnel on board, and all were feared dead.
(AP, 8/8/02)
2002 Sep 4, In Puerto Rico US Navy
security officers fired tear gas at protesters who hurled rocks over a
fence during bombing exercises on the island of Vieques.
(AP, 9/5/02)
2002 Sep 7, U.S. Navy fighter jets
dropped dummy bombs and inert missiles on Vieques in military exercises
that have divided this outlying Puerto Rican island for years.
(AP, 9/7/02)
2002 Dec 31, In Puerto Rico police
recaptured one of five convicts who escaped from prison when a
helicopter swooped into their maximum security compound and spirited
them away.
(AP, 12/31/02)
2003 Jan 13, Protesters waved
Puerto Rican flags and shouted "Navy get out!" as fighter jets dropped
inert bombs over Vieques in what the Navy says will be its last round
of training on the island.
(AP, 1/14/03)
2003 Feb 8, The US Navy conducted
its last scheduled round of weapons tests on Vieques Island, Puerto
Rico.
(SFC, 2/10/03, p.A9)
2003 Apr 30, The U.S. Navy
withdrew from its disputed Vieques bombing range in Puerto Rico,
prompting celebrations by islanders.
(AP, 4/30/04)
2003 Jun 12, Puerto Rico police
arrested more than 1,000 people during a major anti-drug operation.
(AP, 6/13/03)
2003 Jul 20, In Puerto Rico Jose
Antonio Rivera Robles, was beaten to death at a gas station after he
reportedly stole a police car. In 2009 a jury in US federal court
convicted four Puerto Rican police officers in the beating death. Two
other officers previously pleaded guilty to felony federal civil rights
charges in the case.
(AP,
8/13/09)(www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/August/09-crt-803.html)
2003 Aug 5, Catalino "Tite" Curet
Alonso (77), a Puerto Rican composer who wrote nearly 2,000 dance songs
and ballads, died in Baltimore.
(AP, 8/6/03)(SFC, 8/9/03, p.A15)
2003 Sep 23, Puerto Rico's
congressional delegate said the United States will close its Roosevelt
Roads Naval Station in eastern Puerto Rico within the next six months.
(AP, 9/23/03)
2003 Oct 21, Luis A. Ferre (99), a
philanthropist and former governor of Puerto Rico who became the
patriarch of the territory's US statehood movement, died.
(AP, 10/21/03)
2003 Nov 9, Former Gov. Pedro
Rossello won Puerto Rico's pro-statehood nomination for governor in a
primary, clearing the way for him to run again in the territory's
elections next year.
(AP, 11/9/03)
2003 Dec 30, Miriam Naveira was
sworn in as the new chief justice of Puerto Rico's Supreme Court,
making her the first woman to hold the post.
(AP, 12/30/03)
2004 Mar 31, US Navy ships and
troops were scheduled to depart Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Puerto
Rico. The base had been used for 6 decades to keep watch over the
Caribbean.
(AP, 1/6/04)
2004 Jan 17, Rafael Cordero
Santiago (61), the mayor of the Puerto Rican city of Ponce, died after
suffering a brain hemorrhage.
(AP, 1/17/04)
2004 Jan 19, Puerto Rico police
reported 45 homicides since Jan 1.
(USAT, 1/20/04, p.12A)
2004 Feb 11, In Puerto Rico 4
people were killed in separate shootings over the last 24 hours,
pushing the number of deaths past the 100 mark for this year. There
were 780 killings in 2003, compared with 781 in 2002. Police say most
of the violence on the island of 4 million people is drug-related.
(AP, 2/11/04)
2004 Mar 31, The US Navy closed
Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, its last base in Puerto Rico. It was
transferred to a special naval agency that will coordinate the closing
process. The base had been used for 6 decades to keep watch over the
Caribbean.
(AP, 1/6/04)(AP, 4/2/04)
2004 Sep 15, Tropical Storm Jeanne
lashed Puerto Rico with damaging winds and rain that knocked out power,
flooded roads and killed two people. It soon strengthened from a
tropical storm into the 6th hurricane of the season.
(AP, 9/16/04)
2004 Oct 8, A Puerto Rican
attorney asked a federal appeals court to end "the state of servitude"
that island residents find themselves in and allow them to vote in the
Nov. 2 presidential election.
(AP, 10/9/04)
2004 Nov 1, Puerto Ricans long
have been U.S. citizens but cannot vote for the U.S. president, a
situation that former Gov. Pedro Rossello promises to change if elected
to return to the island's top job.
(AP, 11/1/04)
2004 Nov 2, Puerto Rico's delegate
to the US Congress clung to an extremely narrow lead in the race for
governor against former Gov. Pedro Rossello, who promised to fight for
statehood.
(AP, 11/3/04)
2004 Nov 3, Puerto Rico's delegate
to the U.S. Congress, who favors the island's current status as a U.S.
commonwealth, claimed victory in a gubernatorial race so close that a
recount has been ordered.
(AP, 11/4/04)
2004 Nov 20, Puerto Rico's two
highest courts ordered election authorities in separate rulings to
immediately begin recounting votes cast in the extremely tight Nov. 2
gubernatorial elections.
(AP, 11/21/04)
2004 Dec 23, Acevedo Vila, Puerto
Rico's congressional envoy, who favors the island's status as a U.S.
territory narrowly, won a recount in the governor's race.
(AP, 12/23/04)
2004 Dec 29, Puerto Rico's
governor-elect said he opposes the war in Iraq and wants to see a
reduction in the number of U.S. troops, including islanders, posted in
the troubled country.
(AP, 12/29/04)
2004 Puerto Rico’s annual income
per person was around $12,000 for this year.
(Econ, 5/27/06, p.25)
2005 Mar 16, Puerto Rico Gov.
Anibal Acevedo Vila unveiled proposals to eliminate more than 23,000
government jobs and close several public agencies, vowing to pull
Puerto Rico out of a cycle of budget deficits and debt.
(AP, 3/16/05)
2005 Apr 30, Students and
administrators at the main campus of Puerto Rico's largest university
agreed to end a 3-week-old strike called to protest a 33 percent
tuition increase.
(AP, 4/30/05)
2005 Jul 10, Puerto Ricans voted
to do away with half their lawmakers, endorsing a referendum for a
one-house legislature.
(AP, 7/11/05)
2005 Jul 21, A truck strike
paralyzed fuel deliveries across Puerto Rico.
(AP, 7/21/05)
2005 Jul 22, Truck drivers in
Puerto Rico ended a three-day strike that paralyzed gasoline deliveries.
(AP, 7/22/05)
2005 Sep 23, In Puerto Rico FBI
agents shot and killed Filiberto Ojeda Rios (72), a Puerto Rican
nationalist leader wanted in the 1983 robbery of a Connecticut armored
truck.
(AP, 9/25/05)(Econ, 10/1/05, p.82)
2005 Sep 23, In Puerto Rico real
estate developer Adam Anhang (b.1973), a Canadian businessman, was
killed. Jonathan Roman Rivera (22) spent eight months in maximum
security prison after he was sentenced to 105 years for the slaying.
Rivera was released in June 2008 after another man was indicted for the
murder. In 2009 Rivera sued more than a dozen police officials and
prosecutors for his ordeal, seeking $12 million in damages.
(http://www.121s.com/viewtopic.php?t=594)(AP,
9/17/09)
2005 Oct 5, Drug agents found
3,904 pounds of cocaine in the steel oxygen tank, one of the largest
drug busts in Puerto Rico's history. The DEA has estimated that as much
as 20 percent of the cocaine that reaches the US moves through the
Caribbean. Traffickers love Puerto Rico because after their drugs
arrive on the island, they can be hidden amid regular cargo and shipped
onward, bypassing routine searches because Puerto Rico is part of the
United States.
(AP, 11/7/05)
2006 Feb 10, FBI agents in Puerto
Rico searched five homes and a business to thwart what the agency said
was a "domestic terrorist attack" planned by militants favoring
independence for the US island territory.
(AP, 2/10/06)
2006 Feb 26, More than 1,000
demonstrators chanting anti-FBI slogans and carrying Puerto Rican flags
marched through the capital of this U.S. island territory.
(AP, 2/26/06)
2006 Mar 2, Puerto Rico's Gov.
Anibal Acevedo Vila signed into law a ban on smoking in enclosed public
places, the toughest anti-tobacco prohibition in the Caribbean.
(AP, 3/3/06)
2006 Apr 23, Powerful waves
capsized a boat carrying Dominican migrants near a popular surfing
beach off the coast of Puerto Rico killing at least five people. Small
boats frequently attempt to smuggle migrants from the Dominican
Republic to the US Caribbean territory, a roughly 70-mile journey
across the often-perilous Mona Passage.
(AP, 4/24/06)
2006 Apr 25, In Puerto Rico Gov.
Acevedo Vila warned in a televised address that "Beginning next Monday,
May 1, the majority of agencies of the central government will not be
able to operate." Puerto Rico's House of Representatives wants to
impose a 4 percent sales tax instead and has refused to review the
governor's plan. The island now has no sales tax.
(AP, 4/26/06)
2006 Apr 28, More than 45,000
Puerto Ricans marched through the streets of San Juan demanding
politicians resolve a budget impasse that could lead to a government
shutdown next week.
(AP, 4/28/06)
2006 May 1, The government of
Puerto Rico ran out of money, forcing the US commonwealth to close
public schools and shut down government offices, putting almost 100,000
people out of work.
(AP, 5/1/06)
2006 May 4, Puerto Rico moved a
step closer to resolving a partial government shutdown as the island's
Senate voted to impose a sales tax of 5.9% and a new levy on large
corporations.
(AP, 5/4/06)
2006 May 8, Puerto Rico's governor
and legislative leaders have agreed to abide by the recommendations of
a commission seeking a solution to a fiscal crisis that has partially
closed the island's government.
(AP, 5/9/06)
2006 May 10, Puerto Rican
officials resolved a budget impasse that put more than 95,000 public
employees out of work, crippled government services and hurt business
in this U.S. island territory.
(AP, 5/11/06)
2006 May 13, Puerto Rican
lawmakers approved the first key pieces of legislation aimed at
resolving a budget crisis that has kept more than 100,000 public
employees out of work since May 1.
(AP, 5/13/06)
2006 Jul 23, Zuleyka Rivera
Mendoza (18) of Puerto Rico was crowned as Miss Universe 2006. She
hoped to someday star in US and Latin American films.
(AP, 7/24/06)
2007 Jan 6, Seven people were
killed in shootings across Puerto Rico, prompting the US territory's
police chief to plead for tougher gun laws.
(AP, 1/7/07)
2007 Mar 1, In Puerto Rico the US
attorney's office in San Juan announced that a US federal grand jury
indicted seven people in a case where terminally ill cancer patients
were allegedly injected with a bogus cure made from the patients' own
blood.
(AP, 3/1/07)
2007 Mar 2, People caught smoking
in bars and restaurants in Puerto Rico faced fines as a ban on lighting
up in enclosed public spaces took effect.
(AP, 3/2/07)
2007 Apr 9, Puerto Rico seven
inmates, convicted of homicides, escaped from prison using ventilation
ducts.
(AP, 4/10/07)
2007 Apr 22, Trustees said a fund
to compensate Puerto Rico for damages from a 1994 oil spill will be
used to build an artificial reef, create a shoreline nature reserve and
restore the walls of a Spanish colonial fort.
(AP, 4/22/07)
2007 Jun 14, In Puerto Rico 5 men
robbed a Loomis Fargo armored car. The next day Angel Fernandez Ramos,
a Puerto Rican police officer assigned to a DEA anti-drugs unit, was
arrested and charged with carrying out the $515,000 armored car heist
with three relatives and another man.
(AP, 6/16/07)
2007 Jun 25, Puerto Rico's Gov.
Anibal Acevedo Vila acknowledged that he is the target of a US grand
jury investigation into campaign finances, a revelation further
jeopardizing his bid for re-election.
(AP, 6/26/07)
2007 Aug 2, US federal agents
arrested dozens of doctors accused of obtaining medical licenses
through fraud or bribery, carrying out sweeping raids across Puerto
Rico. The FDA accused 88 doctors of falsified credentials.
(AP, 8/2/07)(WSJ, 8/3/07, p.A1)
2007 Oct 9, In Puerto Rico animal
control workers seized dozens of dogs and cats from housing projects in
the town of Barceloneta and hurled them to their deaths from a bridge
in the neighboring town of Vega Baja. Mayor Sol Luis Fontanez blamed a
contractor hired to take the animals to a shelter. In 2008 a Puerto
Rican judge found a contractor and two of his workers not guilty of
animal cruelty due to lack of evidence.
(AP, 10/13/07)(AP, 9/10/08)
2007 Oct 28,
Puerto Rican and US archaeologists said they have found the
best-preserved pre-Columbian site in the Caribbean, which could shed
light on virtually every aspect of Indian life in the region. Artifacts
of Taino or pre-Taino people dated from 600 A.D. to 1500 A.D.
(AP, 10/28/07)
2007 Oct 30, In Puerto Rico
federal authorities arrested more than two dozen people in a crackdown
on fraudulent medical licenses on the island.
(AP, 10/30/07)
2007 Dec 12, US federal agents and
local police launched raids in several Puerto Rican cities with arrest
warrants for 121 drug suspects.
(AP, 12/13/07)
2007 Dec 12, Tropical Storm Olga
soaked portions of the Caribbean, triggering floods and landslides that
killed at least 38 people in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Puerto
Rico.
(AP, 12/12/07)(AP, 12/13/07)(WSJ, 12/15/07, p.A1)
2008 Jan 3, Puerto Rico halted all
bird imports after a rare outbreak of avian flu in nearby Dominican
Republic, where authorities killed more than 100 chickens, including
fighting roosters that tested positive for the lethal virus. The ban
forced the cancellation of more than 100 cockfights, dealing a blow to
the lucrative industry.
(AP, 1/4/08)
2008 Feb 23, in Puerto Rico Eddie
Maco Campbells (b.1970) of Oakland, Ca., was shot and killed after an
argument at a bar in the popular tourist area of Isla Verde. On March
13, 2009, a judge in Puerto Rico found Jose Perez Pagan guilty of
murdering Campbells.
(AP,
3/14/09)(http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20080304/ai_n24373929)
2008 Mar 5, In Puerto Rico public
school teachers voted to suspend a 10-day strike that shuttered
classrooms and sparked clashes between protesters and police.
(AP, 3/5/08)
2008 Mar 27, Puerto Rico’s Gov.
Anibal Acevedo Vila was charged with 19 counts in a campaign finance
probe, including conspiracy to violate US federal campaign laws and
giving false testimony to the FBI. 12 others were also charged in the
corruption probe.
(AP, 3/27/08)(WSJ, 3/28/08, p.A1)
2008 Apr 13, The winners of this
year’s Goldman Awards were reported to be: Feliciano dos Santos (43) of
Mozambique, the director of Estamos, an environmental group promoting
sanitation, sustainable development and reforestation; Marina
Rikhvanova (46), founder of Baikal Environmental Wave, which forced the
rerouting of an oil pipeline in the Baikal basin; Pablo Fajardo (35)
and Luis Yanza (48) of Ecuador, co-founders of the Amazon Defense
Front, which accused Texaco (now Chevron) of dumping oil and wastewater
into local streams; Rosa Hilda Ramos (63) of Puerto Rico, head of a
movement to protect the Las Cicharillas Marsh; Ignace Schops (43) of
Belgium, head of a movement to establish Belgium’s 1st and only
national park; Jesus Leon (42) of Mexico, co-founder of the Center for
Integral Small Farmer Development of the Mixtec (CEDICAM).
(SSFC, 4/13/08, p.A4)
2008 Jun 1, NY Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton won Puerto Rico's Democratic presidential primary 68-32%. Only
16% of the voters went to the polls.
(www.mcclatchydc.com/election2008/story/39241.html)(Econ, 6/7/08, p.36)
2008 Aug 19, A US federal grand
jury handed down a new indictment against Puerto Rico Gov. Anibal
Acevedo Vila, charging him with four counts of wire fraud and one count
of conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with alleged
campaign finance violations.
(AP, 8/19/08)
2008 Aug 25, In Puerto Rico US
federal agents arrested 59 alleged members of a drug trafficking ring
in coordinated raids in a number of small towns, where some housing
projects were under siege by gangsters. Home to nearly 4 million
people, Puerto Rico’s homicide rate was more than three times the US
national average. Authorities said drug trafficking was behind the
majority of the killings.
(AP, 8/25/08)
2008 Aug 29, The San Juan Star,
Puerto Rico's Pulitzer Prize-winning English-language newspaper,
closed. The owner blamed the union for not agreeing to benefit cuts and
layoffs to offset declining revenue.
(AP, 8/29/08)
2008 Aug, In Puerto Rico FBI
agents and police officers launched the late-night raid in the city of
Carolina to free a Dominican man. Police say kidnappers were holding
him in the trunk of a car and demanding $650,000 in ransom. A Puerto
Rican policeman was killed by “friendly fire” during the gunbattle with
kidnappers. In 2009 authorities charged FBI agent Jared Hewitt with
negligent homicide for shooting 12-year police veteran Orlando Gonzalez
Ortiz.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2008 Oct 2, The US FBI arrested
Puerto Rico Sen. Jorge de Castro Font (45) for providing political
favors in exchange for cash and services totaling roughly half a
million dollars. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on 31 criminal
counts including bribery, wire fraud and money laundering.
(AP, 10/2/08)
2008 Oct 27, It was reported that
a new study, released last week, has found dangerous levels of toxic
metals in produce grown on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, formerly used
as a Navy bombing range, despite US government claims that the soil
there is safe.
(AP, 10/27/08)
2008 Nov 4, Puerto Rico voted to
oust incumbent Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila, who is under indictment for
allegedly violating campaign finance laws. Challenger Luis Fortuno of
the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, vowed to fight crime and spur
the island's troubled economy. On March 20, 2009, a jury found Vila not
guilty on all 9 charges against him.
(AP, 11/4/08)(SFC, 3/21/09, p.A2)
2008 Dec 3, In Puerto Rico a
Rockwell International 690B plane slammed into El Yunque mountain,
killing Caribbean pilot Ken Webster and two US tourists on board. A
spokesman for the Medical Mutual of Ohio health insurance company later
identified the two Americans as Kent W. Clapp, the firm's chief
executive, and his fiancee, Tracy Turner.
(AP, 12/5/08)
2008 Dec 19, Federal agents in
Puerto Rico arrested three island police officers accused of providing
security for drug traffickers.
(AP, 12/19/08)
2009 Jan 2, Luis Fortuno (48),
Puerto Rico's new governor was sworn, inheriting an island government
that is battling a recession, a soaring murder rate and a deficit of
more than $1 billion.
(AP, 1/2/09)
2009 Jan 23, In Puerto Rico three
of five co-defendants reached plea agreements days after another
co-defendant, former Acevedo aide Eneidy Coreano, agreed to testify in
a federal corruption trial against former Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila and
have her charges dropped.
(AP, 1/23/09)
2009 Feb 4, In Puerto Rico Sara
Kuszak (35) made a desperate call for help from the trunk of her
kidnapper's car, about an hour before she was found dead with her
throat slashed. Eliezer Marquez Navedo (36) confessed to kidnapping the
pregnant tourist as she was jogging and killing her. The FBI used a
signal from the victim's cell phone to help locate the suspect. Navedo
was later convicted of kidnapping, rape and murder and sentenced to 105
years in prison.
(AP, 2/5/09)(AP, 6/2/09)
2009 Feb 8, A single-engine plane
carrying six US citizens crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the north
coast of Puerto Rico.
(AP, 2/9/09)
2009 Apr 1, Puerto Rican actor
Miguelangel Suarez (69) died. His career included minor roles in last
year's epic "Che" and Woody Allen's "Bananas."
(AP, 4/1/09)
2009 Apr 2, In Puerto Rico FBI
agents and police arrested at least 35 suspects in an alleged drug
trafficking ring blamed for seven murders.
(AP, 4/2/09)
2009 Apr 2, The director of the US
Mint unveiled the first US coin with an inscription in Spanish, a
quarter honoring Puerto Rico as the "Isla del Encanto" (Island of
Enchantment).
(AP, 4/2/09)
2009 Apr 12, In Puerto Rico Army
Spc. Nokware Rosado Munoz (28) had been arguing with his pregnant wife
about his upcoming redeployment to Iraq before hanging himself.
(AP, 4/13/09)
2009 May 29, Puerto Rico fired
nearly 8,000 government workers, the start of a wave of layoffs aimed
at closing a budget deficit as the island struggles through its third
year of recession.
(AP, 5/29/09)
2009 Jun 21, In San Juan, Puerto
Rico, a lone man who robbed $340,000 from a popular hotel and casino by
threatening a supervisor's family.
(AP, 6/22/09)
2009 Aug 7, The US Environmental
Protection Agency said the US Department of Agriculture has
agreed to pay $30,000 in penalties for alleged improper maintenance of
underground storage tanks in Puerto Rico.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 15, In Puerto Rico
Ricardo Lebron Berrios (23), a prisoner being taken to jail to face car
theft charges, allegedly shot one police officer to death and gravely
wounded a second, then escaped in their squad car.
(AP, 8/16/09)
2009 Sep 15, In Puerto Rico
several employees of American Airlines were among a group of at least
20 people arrested on suspicion of aiding a smuggling ring that shipped
drugs from Puerto Rico's main airport to the US mainland.
(AP, 9/15/09)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Subject = Puerto Rico
End of file