Rafael Hernández Colón
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| Rafael Hernández Colón | |
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| In office January 2, 1985 – January 2, 1993 |
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| Preceded by | Luis A. Ferré (1973); Carlos Romero Barceló (1985) |
| Succeeded by | Carlos Romero Barceló (1977); Pedro Rosselló (1993) |
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| Born | October 24, 1936 Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| Political party | Popular Democratic Party |
| Spouse | Lila Mayoral (First Lady); Nelsa Lopez (current) |
| Profession | Lawyer |
- This article is about the 4th Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. For other people with similar names, see Rafael Hernández (disambiguation).
Rafael Hernández Colón (born October 24, 1936 in Ponce, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican politician who was the fourth Governor 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.
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[edit] Education
Hernández Colón studied at Wayne in Pennsylvania, graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy and College, then had obtained a bachelor's degree in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University in 1956 where he graduated with honors. In 1956, he obtained his degree in Law from the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras, graduating magna cum laude and as valedictorian of his class.
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.
[edit] 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 the Senate 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 for Governor of Puerto Rico.
[edit] First term (1973-1977)
Hernández Colón made an effort to get more international firms to invest in Puerto Rico and opposed President Gerald 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 in Peñuelas, 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 a central bank) as a revolving credit line with disastrous results, which forced the Hernández administration to devote large sums of the Puerto Rican government's budget 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 the SS 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 then Mayor 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).
[edit] Second 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% ([1]). 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 Senator Victoria Munoz Mendoza succeeded as President of the party and would later become gubernatorial candidate.
[edit] 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 the United States of America.
Hernández Colón has been granted honoris causa degrees from Johns Hopkins University, Seton Hall and the Pontifical 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 the Cross of Isabel the Catholic by king Juan Carlos I and the government of Spain. That same year he was awarded the "Grand Cordón del Libertador" by the government of Venezuela, the Harvard Foundation Award, and the Spirit of the Caribbean Award. In 1989 he was awarded the Olympic Order Award.
On October 18, 1991 at the Campoamor Theater in Oviedo, Spain, Hernandez Colón, received the Principe de Asturias de las Letras award that was granted to Puerto Rico by Felipe 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
[edit] See also
| Preceded by Luis A. Ferré |
Governor of Puerto Rico 1973-1977 |
Succeeded by Carlos Romero Barceló |
| Preceded by Carlos Romero Barceló |
Governor of Puerto Rico 1985-1993 |
Succeeded by Pedro Rosselló González |
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