Another government official in Puerto Rico is facing corruption charges, this time it is the Mayor of one of the largest cities on the Island, Ponce. A judge in Puerto Rico found cause for arrest against the City mayor Luis Manuel Irrizarry Pabón for misusing campaign funds and receiving kickbacks.1 Apparently, the mayor asked city officials and employees for donations to pay a $50,000 personal loan that he took to pay for some expenses during the 2020 election campaign.2 With this latest case involving the mayor of Ponce, there have been 11 Puerto Rico mayors found guilty of crimes or under investigation since the last 2020 election cycle. In August, the former mayor of Humacao was sentenced to over three years in prison for his involvement in a bribery scheme in which he received cash payments for awarding contracts.3 Also, back in March, the former mayor of Guaynabo was found guilty of bribery, extortion, and conspiracy.4 In addition, the former governor Wanda Vázquez was arrested last year for accepting bribes and is currently waiting for her day in court5, as is the former legislator, María Milagros Charbonier-Laureano, who was also indicted for theft, bribery, and fraud.
There is a lot of corruption in Puerto Rico among government officials at all levels, as you read above. Sadly, this is part of the constant struggle on the island and the lack of leadership which I mentioned previously in my post about the Political status of Puerto Rico and the one about Normalizing unethical behavior where I mentioned that the former Secretary of Education, Julia Keleher, was sentenced to prison for committing fraud6.
I know there is corruption in the United States, but I don’t see the number of cases per state as in Puerto Rico. In Illinois, for example, there have been about 9 major cases between 2020-2023 involving government officials. Illinois has a population of almost 13 million people versus a little over 3 million in Puerto Rico.
Government officials in Puerto Rico lack the necessary leadership to govern, and the proof is the amount of corruption that federal and local agencies are investigating. Puerto Rico is not going to prosper unless the people start electing leaders with values that truly care for the island and its people.
- https://www.sanjuandailystar.com/post/ponce-mayor-faces-arrest-on-all-charges-filed-by-the-pfei ↩︎
- https://www.primerahora.com/noticias/gobierno-politica/notas/causa-para-arresto-contra-el-alcalde-de-ponce/ ↩︎
- https://www.justice.gov/usao-pr/pr/former-puerto-rico-mayor-sentenced-accepting-bribes ↩︎
- https://www.latinorebels.com/2023/03/23/puertoricomayorguilty/ ↩︎
- https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/04/us/puerto-rico-wanda-vasquez-arrest.html ↩︎
- https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/puerto-rico-legislator-indicted-theft-bribery-and-fraud ↩︎
Thoughts about leadership, history, and more 