Aníbal Acevedo Vilá
Aníbal Acevedo Vilá | |
|---|---|
Minority Leader of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives | |
| In office January 1997 – January 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Severo Colberg Toro |
| Succeeded by | Víctor García San Inocencio |
| Member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives from the at-large district | |
| In office January 1993 – January 2001 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Aníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá 13 February 1962 Hato Rey, Puerto Rico |
| Political party | Popular Democratic |
| Other political affiliations | Democratic |
| Spouse | Piti Gándara (deceased 2023) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | |
Aníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá (born 13 February 1962) is a
On 27 March 2008, Acevedo Vilá was indicted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico on 19 counts of campaign finance violations.[1] He subsequently organized a press conference, where he claimed that he is innocent of all charges presented against him. On 19 August 2008, he was charged with five more counts. On 1 December 2008 Judge Paul Barbadoro determined that 15 of those charges were based on a flawed theory, leaving him with only nine charges. On 20 March 2009, Acevedo Vilá was found by a jury not guilty of all the charges against him.
On 4 November 2008, he failed in his bid for
Since 2009 he has served as the chief executive officer of the Optim Group.[3]
Early life and education
Acevedo Vilá was born in
After passing the Puerto Rico bar exam, Acevedo Vilá completed a year-long clerkship at the
Political career
Early career
Acevedo Vilá began his political career in 1989 as Legislative Affairs Advisor to Governor Rafael Hernández Colón. Shortly after, he became Director of the Legislative Affairs Office of La Fortaleza. He was also responsible for the analysis and drafting of legislative measures like the Education Reform and the Municipal Reform legislation.[6]
House of Representatives (1992–1999)
In 1992, Acevedo Vilá was elected Representative At-Large to the
Acevedo Vilá was reelected as Representative in 1996. That same year, Party President Héctor Luis Acevedo also put him in charge of the Status Committee of the party. The following year, his party elected him Minority Leader of the House. To continue his ascension in the Party ranks, in February 1997, Acevedo Vilá ran for President of the Popular Democratic Party against veteran Eudaldo Báez Galib, and won 180–124.
Young Bill and 1998 Plebiscite
In 1998, Acevedo Vilá participated in a campaign against the
Although the project was not approved, Puerto Rico's elected officials under Governor
Acevedo Vilá and his party believed the definition of the commonwealth option was incorrect because it defined the current political status as territorial. His party campaigned for the "none of the above" option, which ultimately garnered the majority of the votes. (See
Resident Commissioner (2000–2004)
In 1999, Acevedo Vilá became Vice-President of the PPD, as the current Mayor of
Acevedo was sworn in at the Washington Capitol Building on 3 January 2001. Among the legislative measures helmed by Acevedo were the assignment of equal funds for education and the Medicare program in Puerto Rico.
In mid-2003, Governor
Governor (2005–2009)
Acevedo Vilá won the
Mixed votes controversy
Since Acevedo Vilá's margin of victory was just 3,880 votes, less than one vote per electoral polling room, the result led to a protracted controversy involving appeals to the
The controversy reached the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, which ruled 4–3 that the ballots in question were valid. Rosselló challenged the ballots on the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, where District Judge Daniel Domínguez ordered the Puerto Rico Election Commission to count the disputed votes but not adjudicate them to any candidate until he reached a decision on the merits of the case. Acevedo-Vilá and his team challenged this ruling and the case moved up to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, where three judges ruled the question of whether or not the ballots were properly cast was not a federal constitutional issue and therefore should be decided by the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico at the Commonwealth level. The Supreme Court affirmed its prior 4–3 decision. On 28 December 2004 the recount ended and Acevedo Vilá was certified as winner and therefore elected governor.
Acevedo Vilá was finally sworn as Governor on 2 January 2005. During his term, he faced many political challenges, due to the fact that the main opposing party,
Because the executive and the legislative branches of the government are controlled by different political parties, Governor Acevedo Vilá called his government a "shared government". During the first months of his term, Acevedo Vilá concentrated his efforts on trying to reach bipartisan support for his bills and for the nominees of his Cabinet. However, this collapsed when Acevedo Vilá vetoed a legislative bill proposed by the NPP, although all members of his Cabinet, but one, were confirmed by the Senate.
During May 2005, confrontations between the executive and the legislative branches reached a new climax when the Puerto Rico legislature voted to override a veto by Acevedo Vilá, thus becoming the first democratically elected governor to have a veto overridden by the legislature. Later in June, Acevedo Vilá and the legislature were frequently at odds about the budget proposal. The budget proposed by the Governor was not accepted by the leaders of the PNP in the legislature and they proposed a different budget, which Acevedo Vilá vetoed in August 2005. As a result, for the first time ever, the previous year's budget remained in force.
During his 2004 campaign, he promised that he would not support a sales tax. The tax was proposed to pay part of the commonwealth's external debt. In spite of all these measures, he was unable to finish his term with a balanced budget. During his term as governor he relied on greater trade with foreign countries. He was also the only governor to speak to the United Nations on the political status of Puerto Rico.
Government shut-down
New tensions surfaced during April 2006, when Acevedo Vilá announced the central government of Puerto Rico did not have enough funds to pay the salary of public employees for the months of May and June. The Governor asked the Legislature to approve a loan of over $500 million so that the government could keep the agencies running. The Senate approved the loan, but the House of Representatives refused to do so. Acevedo Vilá then announced that most of the government agencies would shut down beginning 1 May, and would remain closed unless the House approved the new loan. The government shutdown lasted two weeks, until Governor Acevedo Vilá, the President of the Senate Kenneth McClintock and the Speaker of the House José Aponte-Hernández reached an agreement to end the shutdown. The details of the agreement included the approval of a new loan as well as new fiscal reforms that would, eliminate the 6.6% general excise tax, replace it with a 7% sales tax and require the reduction of operational costs of the central government of the islands.
Failed attempt at reelection (2008)
During the course of 2008, Acevedo Vilá was indicted with a total of 24 charges of corruption. Due to this situation and the economic crisis hampering his tenure, several potential candidates like William Miranda Marín (Mayor of Caguas) and Alejandro García Padilla (former Secretary of the Department of Consumer Affairs and candidate to the Senate) were mentioned as possible replacements. However, Acevedo Vilá decided to run for reelection, and was openly endorsed by the Party in a massive rally held at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum.
Sometime after, he chose the President of the
Failed run for Resident Commissioner (2020)
In 2020 Acevedo Vilá announced he would again run for the post of
Federal investigations and indictment
During the period of September–October 2006, several news sources reported that a
On 27 March 2008, Acevedo Vilá was formally charged in the long-running public corruption probe, along with 12 other people. The 13 were accused of running a conspiracy to illegally raise money to pay off Acevedo Vilá's campaign debts in 2000.[14] Acevedo Vilá was not arrested. Acting U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez said, "The governor will be permitted to turn himself in [in] deference to his position."[15]
The following day Acevedo Vilá was released without having to pay bail nor give up his passport.[16] Acevedo Vilá was allowed to travel out of the island so long as he informed the court prior to doing so.[16]
On 19 August 2008, the federal agency filed a second five count federal Grand Jury indictment.
Throughout the investigation and indictment process, Acevedo Vilá stated repeatedly that he was innocent, and claimed that everything was politically motivated to harm his career.
On 1 December 2008, Judge Paul Barbadoro dismissed 15 of the original 19 charges citing misinterpretation of Puerto Rican election laws by the federal prosecutors.[17] Thirteen co defendants pleaded guilty and testified. His executive secretary, Luisa Inclán Bird was put on trial with him after the Federal District attorney attempted to have separate trials. Witness testified that Inclán Bird served as the person that collected monies and imparted instructions. She was defended by the same legal team from Acevedo Vila and did not have to pay any dues.
The case was heard between 9 February 2009 until 20 March 2009. Acevedo Vila was found not guilty of all charges on 20 March 2009.[18]
Personal life
Acevedo Vilá was married to Luisa Gándara, a schoolteacher and information technology executive who gave up her career to serve as First Lady during his governorship and later served as a member of Puerto Rico's House of Representatives. They are the parents of two young adults, one a Harvard graduate and a UPR-educated school teacher, and live in San Juan, where he currently practices law and has authored several books related to his political career and years in public service. Gándara died from cancer on June 14, 2023.
See also
- List of Puerto Ricans – Governors
- Young Bill
- Governor of Puerto Rico
- List of Hispanic Americans in the United States Congress
- Popular Democratic Party
- New Progressive Party
- Puerto Rican Independence Party
References
- ^ U.S. charges Puerto Rican governor, 12 others – CNN.com Archived 3 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Se quita Anibal Acevedo Vila" (in Spanish). El Nuevo Dia.
- ^ LinkedIn Profile
- ^ "Anibal Acevedo Vila, Gobernador de Puerto Rico Partido Popular Democratico". 740 Radio Puerto Rico WIAC (AM). noticiasonline.com. 22 October 2008. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- El Nuevo Dia. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- ^ "Cronología política de Aníbal Acevedo Vilá". El Circo. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
- ^ Abby Goodnough. "Political ire in Puerto Rico grows." The New Yorks Times. 6 November 2005.
- ^ "Termina campaña electoral con actividades multitudinarias en Puertp Rico". Univision.com. 31 October 2008. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
- ^ "Precandidatos populares a Washington reaccionan al anuncio de Acevedo Vilá". Primera Hora (in Spanish). 11 December 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
- ^ Notiséis 360 (31 January 2020). "Aníbal Acevedo Vilá será el candidato a comisionado residente por el PPD • WIPR" [Aníbal Acevedo Vilá will be candidate for resident commissioner for the PPD -WIPR]. WIPR (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Jenniffer González cuenta con una cómoda ventaja sobre Aníbal Acevedo Vilá en la carrera por la comisaría residente" [Jenniffer González has a comfortable lead over Aníbal Acevedo Vilá in the race for resident commissioner]. El Nuevo Día (in Spanish). 1 November 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
- ^ "CEE Event: COMISIONADO RESIDENTE RESULTADOS ISLA" [CEE EVENT: RESIDENT COMMISSIONER ISLAND WIDE RESULTS]. elecciones2020.ceepur.org. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
- El Nuevo Dia.
- ^ "Puerto Rico gov charged in campaign probe". NBC News. 27 March 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
- ^ Rivera, Manuel Ernesto (27 March 2008). "Puerto Rican Governor Faces 19 Counts". International Business Times. Associated Press. Retrieved 25 March 2009. [dead link]
- ^ a b Michelle Estrada Torres (28 March 2008). "Libre sin fianza Aníbal Acevedo Vilá" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. Archived from the original on 16 December 2008. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
- ^ "US judge tosses some charges against PR governor". International Herald Tribune. Associated Press. 1 December 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2009.
- ^ Cave, Damien; Sosa-Pascual, Omaya (20 March 2009). "Puerto Rico Ex-Governor Is Acquitted of Graft". U.S. The New York Times. New York City, United States. p. A13. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
A jury in San Juan, P.R., on Friday found a former governor of the commonwealth not guilty on all nine counts of corruption in a case that may have contributed to his defeat in the November election.
External links
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Biography by CIDOB Foundation[permanent dead link] – in Spanish
- PDF Copy of the Federal Indictment
- US Department of Justice Press release announcing second indictment