Aníbal Acevedo Vilá

Aníbal Acevedo Vilá (born February 13, 1962) is the eighth and current democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. Acevedo has served in many political posts in Puerto Rico, including being member of the House of Representatives (1993–2001) and Resident Commissioner (2001–2005). Acevedo won the office of Governor on the elections of November 2004, defeating former Governor Pedro Rosselló. However, Acevedo's margin of victory was just 3,566 votes and was marred by a controversy that involved appealings at the United States federal courts.

Political career

Acevedo Vilá began his political career in 1989 when he worked as Advisor in Legislative Affairs to then-Governor Rafael Hernández Colón. In 1992 he was elected as Representative At-Large to Puerto Rico's House of Representatives. He developed his leadership skills during this period and was able to win reelection in 1996. The following year, his party elected him Minority Leader of the House. In February 1997, Acevedo Vilá was elected President of the Popular Democratic Party.

Related Topics:
Rafael Hernández Colón - 1992 - Puerto Rico's House of Representatives - 1996 - February - 1997 - Popular Democratic Party

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1998, Acevedo Vilá participated in a campaign against the Young Bill, a proposed legislative project headed by the U.S. Congress which sought to resolve the political status of Puerto Rico by calling a referendum. However, the referendum called for in the project would not have included the option for Puerto Rico to remain a commonwealth with the United States.

Related Topics:
1998 - Young Bill - U.S. Congress - Political status of Puerto Rico - Commonwealth - United States

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Although the project failed to become law, Puerto Rico's elected officials at the time headed by Governor Pedro Rosselló organized a non-binding plebiscite to define Puerto Rico's political status, in which Puerto Ricans were given five options in the ballot: commonwealth, associated republic, statehood, independence from the United States, or "none of the above".

Related Topics:
Pedro Rosselló - Plebiscite - Associated republic - Statehood - Independence from the United States

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Acevedo and his party believed that the definition for the commonwealth which was included in the plebsicite ballot was ill-defined; therefore, his party campaigned for the "none of the above" option, which ultimately won over the other options on the ballot. (See Puerto Rico status referenda for more information.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Resident Commissioner

In 2000, Acevedo Vilá ran for Resident Commissioner of the island after defeating José Hernández Mayoral in their party's primary election. Later that year, Acevedo Vilá defeated Carlos Romero Barceló, the incumbent Resident Commissioner.

Related Topics:
2000 - José Hernández Mayoral - Carlos Romero Barceló

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the summer of 2003, Governor Sila M. Calderón announced she would not seek re-election the following year. José Hernández Mayoral surfaced as the likely party's candidate for Governor for the 2004 elections. Months following the announcement, Hernández Mayoral widthdrew from the race, citing personal matters. Acevedo Vilá filled the vacant candidacy due to the support he received from influential mayors of several Puerto Rican municipalities.

Related Topics:
2003 - Sila M. Calderón - 2004

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Acevedo won the Puerto Rico General Elections of 2004 by approximately 3,800 votes (0.2 percent of the vote) over former-governor Pedro Rosselló. However, since the margin of victory was so small, a full recount of the elections took place. During the period, Rosselló filed a civil law suit against Acevedo Vila himself over a dispute of certain ballots that were cast during the elections. The case moved up to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, where three judges ruled that the case the question of whether the ballots were properly cast or not was a question of state law and therefore should be seen by the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico. The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico ruled that the ballots in question were valid. On December 28, 2004 the recount ended and Acevedo was certified as the winner of the elections.

Related Topics:
Puerto Rico General Elections of 2004 - United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit - December 28 - 2004

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Governor

Acevedo assumed the office of Governor on January 2, 2005 and is expected to face many political challenges during his term. This is primarily due to the fact that the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico is controlled by the opposing New Progressive Party (PNP by its acronym in Spanish). Also, the new Resident Commissioner is also member of the PNP, and Acevedo's main political rival, Pedro Rosselló, managed to gain a seat in the Senate of Puerto Rico.

Related Topics:
January 2 - Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico - New Progressive Party - Senate of Puerto Rico

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Because the executive and the legislative branches of the government are controlled by different political parties, Governor Acevedo Vilá has called his government a "shared government". During the first months of his term, Acevedo concentrated his efforts on trying to reach bi-partisan support for his projects and for the nominees of his Cabinet. However, when Acevedo vetoed a legislative project proposed by the PNP the ideal of a peaceful "shared government" collapsed. Senators and Representatives from the PNP opted to oppose most of the persons nominated by the Governor for the cabinet, among them the Secretaries of State and Education.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During the month of May, 2005, confrontations between the executive and the legislative branches reached a new climax when the Puerto Rican Legislature voted to override a veto by Acevedo Vilá. He became the first democratically elected governor to have a veto overridden by the Legislature. Later on the month of June, Acevedo and the Legislature were frequently at odds about the proposed budget of Puerto Rico. The budget proposed by the Governor was not accepted by the leaders of the PNP in the Legislature and, in turn, they proposed a different budget. Acevedo vetoed the proposed budget on August, 2005.

Related Topics:
June - August

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Acevedo claimed that his government inherited a difficult financial situation from the previous administration. He anounced that his government was working with a deficit of over 400 million dollars. Because of this, Governor Acevedo has proposed several measures to control the deficit. Among these, are the reduction of the salary of certain government employees and a raise in the value of water and electricity services. This proposed measures have caused the Governor to receive a negative approval rating for the first nine months of his administration. A newspaper in the island published a survey that revealed that over 65% percent of the persons asked graded the Governor's efforts as either a D or an F.

Related Topics:
Water - Electricity - Newspaper

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Governor Acevedo confronted these national perceptions by saying that his administration is taking the correct measures to fix the fiscal situation of the island.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~