Pedro Rosselló

**Pedro Rosselló González**

Order:	6th Democratically Elected Governor
Term of Office:	January 2, 1993-January 2, 2001
Predecessor:	Rafael Hernández Colón
Successor:	Sila M. Calderón
Date of Birth:	Sunday, April 5, 1944
Place of Birth:	San Juan, Puerto Rico
Date of Death:
Place of Death:
First Lady:	Maga Nevares
Profession:	politician, pedriatician
Political Party:	New Progressive Party
Resident Commissioner:	Carlos Romero Barceló (1993-2001)

Dr. Pedro Juan Rosselló Gonzalez (1944-) was the sixth democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001. Rosselló was also the President of the New Progressive Party from 1991 to 1999. Served as President of the Council of State Governments as well as Chairman of the Southern Governors Association.

Table of contents

1 Education
2 Political Career

2..1 Governor

3 See also
4 External Links

Education

Roselló attended high school at Academia del Perpetuo Socorro in Miramar, a suburb of San Juan. He obtained his bachellor's degree at the University of Notre Dame in 1966. After graduation, he continued his studies in Medicine at Yale University. Later he attended the School of Public Health of University of Puerto Rico.

Political Career

Rosselló became active in politics in 1988 when he ran for the post of Resident Commissioner, losing to Jaime Fuster of the PPD. He then ran for Governor in the elections of 1992, defeating Victoria Muñoz Mendoza, whose father was Luis Muñoz Marín, the first Governor of the island.

Governor

While governor, Rosselló concentrated on trying to attract international investment in Puerto Rico and launched a anti-crime campaign known as "Mano Dura Contra el Crimen" ("Heavy handed towards crime") in which the United States National Guard was used to assist state police. His administration was characterized by involvement in big construction and other government projects, including a light-rail train system and a massive aqueduct which linked two major water reservoirs. His policies also included a push toward privatization of some public entities. He made a number of economic and social changes in Puerto Rico, which lead to the biggest economic deficit in the history of the island's democracy.

Under his administration a Health Care reform was approved. He lead two campaigns for Puerto Rican statehood in 1993 and 1998 in which plebiscites where held to consult the Puerto Rican public on the political status with the United States. The current Commonwealth formula prevailed on both consultations by a slight margin.

Roselló won a second term as Governor in 1996 defeating PPD candidate Hector Luis Acevedo and PIP candidate David Noriega.

In 1998, the sale of the state-owned Puerto Rico Telephone Company (PRTC) to GTE led to a general strike organized by labor unions. A similar attempt to privatize PRTC, under then Governor Rafael Hernández Colón, led to a similar strike which aborted the sale. Under his administration, the sale proceeded.

In 1999 the protests in the small Puerto Rican island of Vieques gathered international attention. On april 1999, a U.S Navy bomber mis-fired it's missiles and hit a Watch-post, killing a civilian. The people of Puerto Rico began massive protest asking for the departure of the Navy from the island of Vieques. Governor Rosselló at first supported the immidiate exit of the Navy. He even appeared before the Senate Armed Forces Commision and told the Senators, among them John Warner and James Inhofe, to immediatly take action so that the Navy left the island. In 2000, Rossell~ signed a treaty woth President Bill Clinton in which the U.S Navy agreed to leave the island of Vieques by the year 2003.

Although, his last term was marred by accusations and the convictions of some members of his administration on corruption charges, Roselló was never implicated nor accused. Still, he decided not to seek the office of Governor for a third in the 2000 elections. After his term ended, he moved to Virginia and began teaching at John Hopkins University.

In 2003 he returned to politics and overwhelmingly won his party's primary nomination against Carlos Pesquera. Currently, Roselló is active in the campaing trail for the upcoming 2004 elections.

Preceded by:
Rafael Hernández Colón

Governor of Puerto Rico

Succeeded by:
Sila M. Calderón