Rafael Hernández Colón

Rafael Hernández Colón ( born October 24, 1936 in Ponce, Puerto Rico ) is a Puerto Rican politician.

Life

Hernández was a protégé of longtime governor Luis Muñoz Marín and was a proponent of the Partido Popular Democrático (PPD), which saw the economic and political ruin of the island in a statehood or sovereignty of Puerto Rico. On January 2, 1965, he was appointed by Roberto Sánchez Vilella, the successor of Muñoz Marín as Governor, Minister of Justice ( Justice Secretary ). He was elected Senator in 1969 and also as President of the Senate in 1968.

In 1972, he ran with the support of his mentor Muñoz Marín for the first time for the Office of the Governor of Puerto Rico and won against the incumbent Luis A. Ferré by the New Progressive Party (PND ). After taking office on January 2, 1973, he tried to make Puerto Rico less economically dependent on the United States. He sat down for a more important role in Puerto Rico in world trade as well as for improvement of immigration control, communication and transport a. On the other hand, he favored the retention of the existing commonwealth status with U.S. citizenship, joint defense agreements and the common economic market. In 1975, he introduced a wide housing program, which led to the increase in the budget for public works by 20 percent to 600 million U.S. dollars. At the same time, he served as governor a vigorous opponent of any interference in the affairs of the island of Cuba, claiming that there were relations between the regime of Fidel Castro and the Partido Socialista Puertorriqueño. During his tenure, he declared the Piña Colada to the national drink of Puerto Rico.

In 1976, he lost his re-election against challenger Carlos Antonio Romero Barcelo from the PND. Immediately from his swearing- governor, he asked U.S. President Gerald Ford strongly to the inclusion of Puerto Rico as the 51st state of the United States. His assertion that the federal law would be in contradiction to the U.S. commitment to the Puerto Rican self-determination, has been confirmed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. In 1980, he again lost the gubernatorial election against Romero Barcelo, the distance in the election result was smaller than in 1976.

In 1984 he was, however, re-elected Governor of Puerto Rico and was after his reelection in 1988 January 2, 1985 to January 2, 1993 at the office. In 1992, he opted not to run again and retired from active political life.

Hernández Colón is a member of the Club of Rome.