Tuesday Apr 23, 2024

Urban Market Returns, to Be Staged in 4 Towns Starting with Guaynabo on Saturday

DDEC Study: R&D Investment Is On the Rise in PR

GOOD MORNING

The San Juan Daily Star, the only paper with News Service in English in Puerto Rico, publishes 7 days a week, with a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday edition, along with a Weekend Edition to cover Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Today’s Weather INDEX

Urban Market returns, to be staged in 4 towns

By THE STAR STAFF

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia, accompanied by Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico (BDE by its Spanish initials) President Luis Alemañy González, announced on Monday the return of the Urban Market to be held this year in four island towns.

The event represents a vital platform for the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on the island.

in our economy.”

Spaces such as the Urban Market, in which the BDE is investing close to $80,000, provide opportunities for merchants and artisans to enter a highly competitive market, allowing them to access new customers and a greater reach for their products,” Pierluisi added.

“Almost half of the private jobs in Puerto Rico come from our SMEs, so we firmly believe in promoting opportunities like these that help our local businesses, our small entrepreneurs and regional and state economic development,” he said. April

The markets, which are free and open to the general public, will begin in Guaynabo this Saturday and will continue in San Germán on May 25, Aguadilla on June 29 and San Juan on July 4, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. They will offer diverse products for sale, ranging from gastronomy, agricultural products, handicrafts and other items, thus reflecting the creativity and variety of entrepreneurs in Puerto Rico.

“This activity stands out for highlighting the best of our culture, products and gastronomy from the hands of our small and medium-sized merchants,” the governor said in a written statement. “This event, which has been held for 15 years, has become a cultural tradition in Puerto Rico that allows our farmers, artisans and chefs to showcase their entrepreneurial spirit and local products. In my administration we recognize the hard work and dedication of so many of our entrepreneurs who have turned their dreams into a reality, creating businesses typical of our island, and at the same time generating jobs and wealth

PREPA trustee joins bondholders in seeking receiver for utility

By THE STAR STAFF

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) bond trustee U.S. Bank National Association has asked the federal Title III bankruptcy court to be added to a bondholder lawsuit seeking to appoint a receiver for the bankrupt utility.

In a motion last week, PREPA’s bond trustee said it believes just like GoldenTree Asset Management and Syncora Guarantee that there is cause to lift the automatic stay preventing them from seeking a receiver.

“If the renewed motion is granted, the PREPA bond trustee will have ongoing duties under the trustee agreement that may be implicated by the receivership proceedings and the handling of information and PREPA-related assets by any receiver to be appointed,” the bond trustee argued in its motion. “The PREPA bond trustee respectfully requests that any order granting the renewed motion include a pro-

vision specifying that the automatic stay will not limit or restrict any action the PREPA bond trustee takes pursuant to the trust agreement in connection with the receivership proceedings or the performance of the receiver.”

GoldenTree Asset Management LP, Syncora Guarantee Inc. and holders and insurers of 40% of the estimated $8.29 billion in outstanding PREPA bonds renewed a petition to seek a receiver to take control of the utility in February.

A previous request for a receiver earlier this year was denied by U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain and upheld by the First Circuit Court of Appeals, but the bondholders are using an appeals court ruling to file the renewed motion. At the conclusion of its 2024 opinion, the First Circuit stated that “it appears the Title III court’s final summary judgment order in the adversary proceeding could open the door to a prompt ruling on a renewed (or entirely new) motion for relief.”

Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico President Luis Alemañy González

Professional group warns against hiring of unlicensed air conditioning technicians

By THE STAR STAFF

While completing the electrical load study for the possible installation of air conditioners in all public schools in Puerto Rico, Jeremías Santana Castro,

president of the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technicians Association (CTRA by its Spanish initials), warned Monday about the hiring of personnel without the proper licenses and professional credentials, which could result in the loss of money and guarantees for each installation.

In Puerto Rico, Act 251 of August 20, 1998 requires certification and the affixing of a seal on the work performed by any licensed refrigeration or air conditioning technician to guarantee that the equipment is free of refrigerant leaks and that installation service meets all quality standards.

Santana Castro said he was struck by the number of schools that have installed air conditioners, either because they had budgeted for it or because the mayors of the towns where they were located had purchased several units.

“Government agencies such as the Department of Education and municipalities must ensure that they hire companies that have a licensed technician so that they never face difficulties when demanding guarantees, maintenance service or repair,” Santana Castro stressed.

The CTRA president said that to help mitigate the effects of climate change, at a global level “we are in a transition, where modern air conditioning equipment uses the R32 refrigerant, which is flammable, and you must know how to handle it well, since sometimes welding must be done at pipe joints.”

“No one should be at risk of a fire in their school, home or business,” he added.

Santana Castro said further that “they must take into account the fact that a labeled van, tools and the name of a company registered with the Department of State does not authorize them by law to carry out work in Puerto Rico because this is a regulated profession,” and that installers “need knowledge and training on the use and management of refrigerants.”

He stressed that given the increase in requests to install air conditioners in schools, the companies participating in the tenders or the personnel hired to carry out any installation must be certified by the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technician Examining Board to practice the profession.

As a support arm to the examining board, which is attached to the Department of State, the CTRA has digitized the names of all licensed technicians up to date and names of companies so both private entities and government agencies can call to corroborate before hiring the personnel who will carry out any new installation, maintenance or repair service, Santana Castro said.

Refrigeration and air conditioning technicians are those who complete their eight hours of continuing education per year and renew their license every four years with the Department of State. “Every citizen must demand that they be shown their current license, which is a certificate that many keep in their email or a paper copy,” he said. “Likewise, technicians who remain registered have their card that indicates their license number.”

DDEC says local companies have increased R&D

By THE STAR STAFF

The Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC) studied the status of research and development (R&D) activities on the island, and found that local companies have emerged as key drivers of growth on that front in recent years.

The survey includes how much the companies invest and the structure of local firms or subsidiaries that carry out R&D, indicating growth of over $130 million for a total of $445 million in 2022, compared to $307 million at the time of the previous survey.

For DDEC, the significant shift in the R&D landscape revealed by the survey underscores the potential and resilience of Puerto Rico’s business community.

In 2022, when R&D investment was $445 million, $174 million of that sum corresponded to local companies, representing 39% of the total investment, compared to only 30% the previous year. About 24% of investment in R&D comes from small (SME) companies with fewer than 50 employees, which highlights the significant participation of SME companies in research, development and innovation processes.

“The survey validates the DDEC’s strategy of promoting research and development in sectors linked to the knowledge economy. It also shows the relevance of this incentive in various economic sectors, such as technology and life sciences,

among others,” DDEC Secretary Manuel Cidre Miranda said. “Increasingly, investment in R&D in areas of high added value is increasing, which confirms that Puerto Rico is moving from being a traditional manufacturer to manufacturing supported by the creation and commercialization of intellectual property.”

The study, conducted by university professor Dr. Manuel Lobato, identified an investment of $260 million in biotechnology, $79 million in the development of software, and $3 million in the development of artificial intelligence. Additionally, the study quantifies more than 3,000 employees linked to R&D activities in Puerto Rico, and 44% of those people are women.

“The diversification in the profile of entities with R&D activities reflected in the survey tells us that the strategic sectors we are betting on are growing and innovating,” Cidre Miranda added. “Puerto Rico’s economy is nourished and will continue to be nourished by integrated business, government and academic efforts to strengthen R&D and innovation activities. Investment in research and development is a priority of the DDEC to enact long-term economic development and continue to grow knowledge economy sectors.”

Humberto Mercader, the DDEC deputy secretary, emphasized that: “Measuring this activity is key to knowing where we stand and if the efforts we carry out have results.”

“Seeing the findings validates that the efforts being made are yielding results,” he said. “Greater investment in R&D represents greater opportunities to create valuable products and

services, which in turn represent opportunities for increased exports.”

Jeremías Santana Castro, president of the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technicians Association Economic Development and Commerce Secretary Manuel Cidre Miranda

Caguas opens new walking track, outdoor gym

By THE STAR STAFF

As part of his public policy of promoting sports and well-being in the communities of Caguas, Mayor William Miranda Torres recently helped inaugurate a walking track and an outdoor gym in the Arbolada urbanization.

“This project exemplifies the importance we give to community projects through sports and daily exercise that contributes to a better quality of life for people of all ages,” the mayor said, highlighting that the project was the result of the collaboration and participation of the Arbolada Residents Association and the municipal administration.

Miranda Torres noted that “this project exemplifies what our model of citizen participation and governance is, since the residents’ association contributed $20,000 for the design

and permitting costs for the walking track and the municipal administration took care of the construction costs.”

The project includes an asphalt walking track, a concrete square, benches, garbage containers, lampposts, electrical improvements and grass, among other features. The cost of construction was $131,807.15 from the federal Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The residents’ association will also be in charge of reforesting the passive park, for which the contribution from the association will be some $50,000.

“I trust that this will be a space for benefit and well-being,” the mayor said during the inauguration. “These facilities are for your enjoyment, so I invite you to take care of and make good use of them, and give them their proper maintenance. …”

Rep. Aponte Hernández: Statehood needed as antidote to China’s presence in Caribbean

By THE STAR STAFF

Pro-statehood lawmaker José Aponte Hernández said Monday that the fact that China is building facilities, including docks and an airport, in the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, creates a situation that moves Puerto Rico back to the center of U.S. geopolitics.

“The creation of dual infrastructure on the islands of Antigua and Barbuda, because the docks and, in particular, the airport, are being developed for the purpose of being used for the landing and take-off of Communist Chinese bombers, is the greatest threat to our nation since the Soviet Union established a robust military presence in Cuba in 1961,” the veteran New Progressive Party lawmaker said in a written statement.

The at-large House legislator’s remarks followed numerous media reports last week about the investment being made by construction and development companies owned by the Chinese government in Antigua and Barbuda in the eastern Caribbean .

Officials from the U.S. Armed Forces Southern Command,

based in Florida, have indicated that the “increase” of personnel and facilities of the Chinese government in the Caribbean is part of its effort for espionage actions and military use on islands that

are just 220 miles from the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“Puerto Rico, as it did in the 1960s, plays a crucial role in stopping the advance of communism in the Caribbean,” Aponte Hernández said. “Leaders of our nation, both in Congress and in the Executive Branch, know about this and know that Puerto Rico is the democratic enclave that is needed to stop these advances of an ideology that enslaves its people, that does not allow freedom of expression and that oppresses its opponents.”

“I call on all New Progressives to incorporate this new geopolitical reality to take the message and raise awareness among congressmen, state legislators, governors and other elected officials, both federal and state, to talk about this in their messages about the need for statehood for Puerto Rico,” the former speaker of the island House of Representatives added. “We have to be active and move on this issue quickly, because it is a matter of national security that, whether we like it or not, places us at the center of this new political reality in the Caribbean, and we must capitalize positively to finish solving the problem of the territory.”

San Juan Court to remain closed due to fire cleanup

By THE STAR STAFF

Courts Administrative Director Sigfrido Steidel Figueroa on Monday released a special operations plan for the San Juan Judicial Center that will be in effect through Sunday, April 28.

The plan is being implemented provisionally while rigorous maintenance and specialized cleaning work is carried out following a fire in the building last week, so the center will remain closed throughout the week.

“After an assessment of the immediate risks in the facilities,

and on the recommendation of experts, the next few days will be dedicated to carrying out specialized cleaning work associated with this type of event for the entire building” Steidel Figueroa said. “With the provisional measures that we implemented for this week, we relocated the available resources to maintain attention to the most urgent matters of the San Juan Judicial Region.”

According to the special plan, the hearings scheduled for this week in criminal cases at the San Juan Judicial Center will be rescheduled and the new dates will be announced in due course. Civil case hearings indicated for videoconference, including Family Court hearings, will be held as scheduled.

All urgent higher matters in criminal, civil or family relations cases that must be dealt with in person will be heard at the Caguas Judicial Center.

The San Juan Investigations Room will continue its operations from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. from the Bayamón Investigations Room. It will also operate from thos headquarters this Saturday and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The Virtual Municipal Hall will operate on a regular basis for urgent matters. Applications for protective orders, involuntary mental health commitments, and other urgent matters of municipal jurisdiction may be filed electronically.

Rep. José Aponte Hernández

Caguas Mayor William Miranda Torres

Necessity gives rise to bipartisanship — for now

By CARL HULSE

When Congress convened in 2023, an empowered far-right Republican faction in the House threatened to upend Washington and President Joe Biden’s agenda.

But the intransigence of that bloc instead forced Republicans and Democrats into an ad hoc coalition government that is now on the verge of delivering long-delayed foreign military aid and a victory to the Democratic president.

The House approval Saturday of money for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan over angry objections from the extreme right was the latest and perhaps most striking example of a bipartisan approach forged out of necessity. The coalition first sprang up last year to spare the government a catastrophic debt default, and has reassembled at key moments since then to keep federal agencies funded.

Unable to deliver legislation on their own because of a razor-thin majority and the refusal of those on the right to give ground, House Republicans had no choice but to break with their fringe members and join with Democrats if they wanted to accomplish much of anything, including bolstering Ukraine in its war against Russia.

“Look at what MAGA extremism has got you: nothing,” Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., told Republicans on the House floor as lawmakers took their first steps toward approving the aid package. “Nothing. Not a damn thing. In fact, it has empowered Democrats. At every critical juncture in this Congress, it has been Democrats who have been the ones to stand up for our country and do the right thing for the American people.”

The moments of bipartisan coming-together are hardly a template for a new paradigm of governing in polarized times. The grudging GOP collaboration with Democrats has only come about on truly existential, must-pass legislation — and typically only at the last minute after Republicans have exhausted all other options, making the coalition unlikely to hold on less critical bills and the social policy issues that

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., gets ready to talk to the press after the House passes the foreign aid bills to fund Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan on Saturday, April 20, 2024. The far right finds itself marginalized in the House as Speaker Johnson pushes through aid to Ukraine and Israel by relying on Democrats.

(Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times)

sharply divide the two parties.

And the political incentives are stacked decisively against it. The cooperation with Democrats has placed Speaker Mike Johnson at risk of losing his post, making him the second GOP speaker to face a threat to his job for reaching across the aisle, after Kevin McCarthy was toppled last year.

With its legislative power diluted, the furious right has been left to wield the motion to vacate the speaker’s chair as its only remaining weapon.

“This is a sellout of America,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who has taken steps to try to force Johnson from the speakership, after the vote.

The few instances of coalition governing also have come about grindingly slowly. Johnson delayed for months as he deliberated over whether to move forward with the Ukraine element of the legislation and put his speakership on the line. It had been clear for months that the aid would

pass overwhelmingly if only it was put on the floor, and the lopsided vote totals Saturday were probably not substantially different than they would have been if the vote had been held many months ago.

“I call it failing through the day to a good conclusion,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., who temporarily served as speaker after McCarthy was deposed. “The frustration here is that we are going through the worst set of policymaking and taking an excruciatingly long period of time to go through what is an inevitable result. It is long past frustrating.”

Democrats have not gotten all they wanted in their often difficult and halting negotiations with the Republicans that at times threatened the financial stability of the federal government.

Biden had to agree to spending caps to avert a federal default that would have been caused by breaching the debt limit last year, setting off a spending fight that was not resolved until March. Democrats also had to swallow some spending cuts to favored programs such as IRS enforcement. But in many respects, the spending parameters for the year — and in the military aid package — were shaped by Democrats, as evidenced by the strong support from the party in the end.

“I am glad to see the House finally moving forward to pass this critical legislation, which mirrors the package I negotiated and helped pass here in the Senate,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who chairs the Appropriations Committee.

When it came to the money to sustain Ukraine, Democrats also had the advantage of strong support in Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who was unyielding in his backing of the financial assistance despite dwindling support for it among his fellow Senate Republicans.

McConnell’s stance ensured a sufficient number of Senate Republicans would be on board. It also meant three of the four congressional leaders — himself; Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House Democratic leader — were all strongly behind the aid to Ukraine along with Biden, putting immense pressure on Johnson to join them.

As protests continue at Columbia, some Jewish students feel targeted

By LUIS FERRÉ-SADURNÍ, COLBI EDMONDS and LISET CRUZ

Days after Columbia University’s president testified before Congress, the atmosphere on campus remained fraught Sunday, shaken by pro-Palestinian protests that have drawn the attention of police and the concern of some Jewish students.

Over the weekend, the student-led demonstrations on campus also attracted separate, more agitated protests by demonstrators who seemed to be unaffiliated with the university just outside Columbia’s gated campus in upper Manhattan, which was closed to the public because of the protests.

Some of those protests took a dark turn Saturday evening, leading to the harassment of some Jewish students who were targeted with antisemitic vitriol. The verbal attacks left some of the 5,000 Jewish students at Columbia fearful for their safety on the campus and its vicinity, and even drew condemnation from the White House and New York Mayor Eric Adams.

“While every American has the right to peaceful protest, calls for violence and physical intimidation targeting Jewish students and the Jewish community are blatantly antisemitic, unconscionable and dangerous,” Andrew Bates, a spokesperson for the White House, said in a statement.

But Jewish students who are supporting the pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus said they felt solidarity, not a sense of danger, even as they denounced the acts of antisemitism.

“There’s so many young Jewish people who are like a vital part” of the protests, said Grant Miner, a Jewish graduate student at Columbia who is part of a student coalition calling on Columbia to divest from companies connected to Israel.

Reports of antisemitic harassment by protesters surfaced on social media late Saturday.

A video posted on the social platform X shows a masked protester outside the Columbia gates carrying a Palestinian flag who appears to chant “Go back to Poland!” One Columbia student wrote on social media that some protesters had stolen an Israeli flag from students and tried to burn it, adding that Jewish students were splashed with water.

Chabad at Columbia University, a chapter of an international Orthodox Jewish movement, said in a statement that some protesters had hurled expletives at Jewish students as they walked home from campus over the weekend, and had said to them, “All you do is colonize” and “Go back to Europe.”

“We are horrified and worried about physical safety” on campus, said the statement, adding that the organization had hired additional armed guards to chaperone students walking home from Chabad.

Eliana Goldin, a junior at Columbia who is co-chair of Aryeh, a pro-Israel student organization, said she did not “feel safe anymore” on campus. Goldin, who is out of town for Passover, said campus had become “super overwhelming,” with loud protests disrupting class and even sleep.

In a statement, Samantha Slater, a Columbia spokesperson, said the university was committed to ensuring the safety of its students.

“Columbia students have the right to protest, but they are not allowed to disrupt campus life or harass and intimidate fellow students and members of our community,” said the statement. “We are acting on concerns we are hearing from our Jewish students and are providing additional support and resources to ensure that our community remains safe.”

The upheaval on and around the Columbia campus this past week marked the latest fallout from the testimony that the university’s president, Nemat Shafik, gave at a congressional hearing on antisemitism Wednesday.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather at the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the Columbia University campus in New York on Sunday, April 21, 2024. After reports of harassment by demonstrators outside the university’s gates, some Jewish students said they felt unsafe — others rejected that view, while condemning antisemitism. (Bing Guan/ The New York Times)

Shafik vowed to forcefully crack down on antisemitism on campus, in part by disciplining professors and student protesters who used language she said could be antisemitic, such as contested phrases such as “from the river to the sea.” Her testimony, meant as an assertive display of Columbia’s actions to combat antisemitism, angered supporters of academic freedom and emboldened a group of protesting students who had erected an encampment of about 50 tents on a main lawn in the campus last week. University officials said the tents violated the school’s policies and called in the New York Police Department on Thursday, leading to the arrests of more than 100 Columbia University and Barnard College students who refused to leave. But the police involvement only fueled the uproar. Students pressed on with their “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” sleeping in the cold without tents on a neighboring lawn, and some began to erect tents again Sunday, without Co-

lumbia’s permission.

Students who support the protesters say there is a wide range of opinion among Jewish students at Columbia. “To say that it’s unsafe for Jewish people, to me, indicates that you’re only speaking about a certain portion of Jewish people,” Miner, 27, said at the university Sunday.

“We are totally opposed to any sort of antisemitic speech,” he added. “We are here to, you know, stand in solidarity with Palestine. And we refuse — our Jewish members refuse — to equate that with antisemitism.”

Makayla Gubbay, a junior studying human rights at Columbia, said that as a Jewish student, she has mostly been concerned for the safety of her peers protesting for Palestinians.

Gubbay said that throughout the past six months her friends — particularly those who are Palestinian and other students who are Muslim — have been injured by police and censored for their activism. Although she was not involved in the organizing of the encampment, she went there for the Sabbath on Friday, attended a speech given by a participant in Columbia’s intense 1968 protest and brought hot tea for friends.

“There’s been a lot of amazing solidarity in terms of other students coming on campus, hosting Shabbats, hosting screenings, having faculty give speeches,” Gubbay said.

Columbia officials have previously said there have been several antisemitic incidents on campus, including one physical attack in October — the assault of a 24-year-old Columbia student who was hanging flyers a few days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

Xavier Westergaard, a doctoral student in biology, said the mood for Jewish students was “very dire.”

“There are students on campus who are yelling horrible things, not about Israelis only or about the actions of the state or the government, but about Jews in general,” he said.

Short sellers pocket record weekly profit from big tech selloff

Traders who bet against the “Magnificent 7” group of big U.S. tech stocks booked their biggest-ever weekly profit of more than $10 billion last week, with the biggest gains coming from their short position in shares of Nvidia and Tesla, Ortex data showed.

The chip designer shed almost 14% last week to clock its worst weekly fall in over 19 months, helping short sellers rake in more than $3 billion in profit.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq and the benchmark S&P 500 suffered six straight sessions of declines last week, their longest losing streak since October 2022, as the evidence of U.S. economic resilience and still-high inflation diminished hopes of an interest rate cut anytime soon.

Overall, the “Magnificent 7” shed close to $1 trillion in market capitalization last week, according to LSEG data.

Tesla, Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Microsoft will be in focus this week as the companies gear up to deliver their quarterly numbers.

“Weak iPhone sales data, poor delivery numbers from Tesla and regulatory pushback in the EU and the USA may all be weighing on sentiment, but the impact of the markets’ view on the direction of interest rates cannot be underestimated, either,” AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said.

“Investors will be looking to six of them for reassurance when they report quarterly numbers,” Mould added.

Tesla, whose shares have lagged peers in the coveted group this year, also tumbled by an equal margin, leading to $3 billion in profits for short sellers.

Bets against Microsoft and Apple yielded $1 billion in profit each last week, according to the data.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq and the benchmark S&P 500 suffered six straight sessions of declines last week, their longest losing streak since October 2022, as the evidence of U.S. economic resilience and still-high inflation diminished hopes of an interest rate cut anytime soon.

Overall, the “Magnificent 7” shed close to $1 trillion in market capitalization last week, according to LSEG data.

Of the other megacaps, Apple and Amazon are set to report the following week, while Nvidia, whose shares have soared 70% this year on optimism over its artificial intelligence chips, reports on May 22.

Six of the seven, excluding Tesla, are expected to post collective earnings growth of 42.1% in the first quarter, UBS strategists said on April 8.

“It appears that the expectations are that they’re really going to deliver again,” said Patrick Kaser, portfolio

MOST ASSERTIVE STOCKS

manager at Brandywine Global. “And so the risk to me is skewed to the downside.”

Excluding the Magnificent 7, S&P 500 earnings have been negative on a yearover-year basis over the prior four quarters, according to JPMorgan analysts, underlining the group’s importance to the market.

Tesla, Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Microsoft will be in focus this week as the companies gear up to deliver their quarterly numbers.

Israel planned bigger attack on Iran, but scaled it back to avoid war

By RONEN BERGMAN and PATRICK KINGSLEY

Israel abandoned plans for a much more extensive counterstrike on Iran after concerted diplomatic pressure from the United States and other foreign allies and because the brunt of an Iranian assault on Israel soil had been thwarted, according to three senior Israeli officials.

Israeli leaders originally discussed bombarding several military targets across Iran last week, including near Tehran, the Iranian capital, in retaliation for the Iranian strike April 13, said the officials, who spoke on the discussion of anonymity to describe the sensitive discussions.

Such a broad and damaging attack would have been far harder for Iran to overlook, increasing the chances of a forceful Iranian counterattack that could have brought the Middle East to the brink of a major regional conflict.

In the end — after President Joe Biden, along with the British and German foreign ministers, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prevent a wider war — Israel opted for a more limited strike Friday that avoided significant damage, diminishing the likelihood of an escalation, at least for now.

Still, in the view of Israeli officials, the attack showed Iran the breadth and sophistication of Israel’s military arsenal.

Instead of sending fighter jets into Iranian airspace, Israel fired a small number of missiles from aircraft positioned several hundred miles west of it Friday, according to the Israeli officials and two senior Western officials briefed on the attack. Israel also sent small attack drones, known as quadcopters, to confuse Iranian air defenses, according to the Israeli officials.

Military facilities in Iran have been attacked by such drones several times in recent years, and on several occasions Iran has said it did not know who the drones belonged to — a claim interpreted as Iranian reluctance to respond.

One missile Friday hit an antiaircraft battery in a strategically important part of central Iran, while another exploded in midair, the officials said. One Israeli official said

A billboard showing Iranian missiles with a message to Israel in Valiasr Square in Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 19, 2024. Israel abandoned plans for a much more extensive counterstrike on Iran after concerted diplomatic pressure from the United States and other foreign allies and because the brunt of an Iranian assault on Israel soil had been thwarted, according to three senior Israeli officials. (Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times)

that the Israeli air force intentionally destroyed the second missile once it became clear that the first had reached its target, to avoid causing too much damage. One Western official said it was possible the missile had simply malfunctioned.

The officials said Israel’s intention was to allow Iran to move on without responding in kind, while signaling that Israel had developed the ability to strike Iran without entering its airspace or even setting off its air defense batteries. Israel also hoped to show that it could hit those batteries in a part of central Iran that houses several major nuclear facilities, including a uranium enrichment site at Natanz, hinting that it could have also reached those facilities if it had tried.

The Israeli military declined to comment.

The path to this attack began April 1, when Israel struck an Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus, Syria, killing seven Iranian officials, including three senior military leaders. Iran had not retaliated after several similar strikes in the past, leading Israeli officials, they say, to believe that they could continue to mount such attacks without draw-

ing a significant Iranian response.

This time proved different: Within a week, Iran began privately signaling to neighbors and foreign diplomats that its patience had reached a limit, and that it would respond with a major strike on Israel — its first ever direct attack on Israeli soil.

During the week of April 8, Israel began preparing two major military responses, according to the Israeli officials.

The first was a defensive operation to block the expected Iranian attack, coordinated with the U.S. Central Command — its top commander, Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, visited Israel that week — as well as with the British, French and Jordanian militaries.

The second was a huge offensive operation to be carried out if the Iranian strike materialized. Initially, Israeli intelligence believed that Iran planned to attack with a “swarm” of large drones and up to 10 ballistic missiles, the Israeli officials said. As the week progressed, that estimate grew to 60 missiles, heightening Israeli desire for a strong counterattack.

Israel’s military and political leaders began discussing a counterstrike that could begin as soon as Iran began firing the drones — even before it was known how much damage, if any, they caused. According to one official, the plan was presented to Israel’s war Cabinet by the military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, and his air force chief, Tomer Bar, early Friday, April 12 — two days before Iran’s attack.

Israel’s intentions changed after Iran attacked, the officials said. The attack was even bigger than expected: With more than 100 ballistic missiles, 170 drones and some 30 cruise missiles, it was one of the largest barrages of this kind in military history.

But Israel’s defenses, which were coordinated with pilots from the United States, Britain, France and Jordan, took down most of the missiles and drones, and there was only limited damage on the ground, reducing the need for a swift response. And there were questions about whether Israel should risk taking its focus off defense while the assault was still underway, two officials said.

The turning point, however, was an early-morning phone call between Netanyahu and Biden, during which the U.S. president encouraged the Israeli leader to treat the successful defense as a victory that required no further response, according to three Israeli and Western officials, who described those discussions on the condition of anonymity. Netanyahu emerged from the call opposed to an immediate retaliation, the Israelis said.

The following day, the Israeli government began signaling to foreign allies that it still planned to respond, but only in a contained way that fell far short of what it had previously planned, according to one of the senior Western officials.

Instead of a broad counterattack that might leave Iran’s leaders believing they had no option but to respond in kind, Israeli officials said, they settled on a plan that they hoped would make a point to Iranian officials without publicly humiliating them.

A country awash in violence backs its leader’s hard-line stance

By GENEVIEVE GLATSK

Ecuadorians voted Sunday to give their new president more powers to combat the country’s plague of drug-related gang violence, officials said, supporting his hard-line stance on security and offering an early glimpse of how he might fare in his bid for reelection next year.

President Daniel Noboa, a 36-year-old heir to a banana empire, took office in November after an election season focused on the violence, which has surged to levels not seen in decades. In January, he declared an “internal armed conflict” and ordered the military to “neutralize” the country’s gangs. The move allowed soldiers to patrol the streets and Ecuador’s prisons, many of which have come under gang control.

In a referendum Sunday, Ecuadorians voted to enshrine the increased military presence into law and to lengthen prison sentences for certain offenses linked to organized crime, among other security measures. With about 20% of the votes counted Sunday night, Ecuador’s electoral authority declared that the trend toward approval of the security measures was “irreversible,” though voters rejected other proposals on the ballot.

Noboa claimed victory on social media. “I apologize for jumping the gun on a triumph that I cannot help but celebrate,” he wrote on the social platform X.

A flood of violence from international criminal groups and local gangs has turned Ecuador, a country of 17 million, into a key player in the global drug trade. Tens of thousands of Ecuadorians have fled to the U.S.Mexico border.

Experts saw the results of the voting Sunday as an indicator of how strongly the public supported Noboa’s stance on crime. “What is clear is that the people are saying ‘yes’ to the security model,” said an Ecuadorian political analyst, Caroline Ávila. She said the voters also had “high expectations” that the crime problem “will be solved.”

Noboa, who is expected to seek a second term in February, has high approval ratings, although they have slipped lately. He became president after his predecessor, Guillermo Lasso, facing impeachment proceedings over embezzlement accusations, called for early elections; Noboa is in office until May 2025, the remainder of Lasso’s term.

Some human rights groups have criticized Noboa’s anticrime tactics as going too far, saying they have led to abuses in prisons and in the streets. Still, most Ecuadorians seem willing to accept Noboa’s strategy if they think it makes them safer, analysts said.

“Noboa is now one of the most popular presidents in the region,” said Glaeldys González, who researches Ecuador for the International Crisis Group. “He is taking advantage of those levels of popularity that he currently has to catapult himself to the presidential elections.”

He deployed the military against the gangs in response to a turning point in Ecuador’s long-running security crisis: Gangs attacked the large coastal city of Guayaquil after authorities moved to take charge of Ecuador’s prisons.

Noboa’s deployment of the military was followed by a decline in violence and a precarious sense of safety, but the stability did not last. Over the Easter holiday this month, there were 137 murders in Ecuador, and kidnappings and extortion have been increasing.

Two weeks ago, Noboa took the extraordinary step of arresting an Ecuadorian politician who had taken refuge at the Mexican Embassy in Quito, in what experts called a violation of an international treaty on the sanctity of diplomatic posts. The move, which drew condemnation across the region, sent a message in line with Noboa’s heavy-handed approach to violence and graft.

Noboa said he had sent police officers into the embassy to arrest Jorge Glas, a former vice president who had been convicted of corruption, because Mexico had abused the immunities and privileges granted to the diplomatic mission. Noboa said Glas was not entitled to protection because he was a convicted criminal.

Taken together, the raid and the deployment of the military were meant to show that

likely to be effective.

“We do not vote for the question; rather, we vote for who asked the question,” said Fernando Carrión, who studies violence and drug trafficking at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, a regional research and analysis group.

He added that measures such as increasing prison sentences were likely to exacerbate the problems of overcrowding and violence in prisons.

Despite the tumultuous few weeks that preceded the voting, some voters said they were undeterred.

“I am going to vote ‘yes’ in this referendum because I am convinced that it is the only way for Ecuador to have a change, and we can all have a better future,” said Susana Chejín, 62, a resident of the southern city of Loja.

“He is making good changes for the country, to fight crime and drug trafficking,” she said of Noboa.

Noboa is tough on crime and impunity, political analysts say. Though polls show that Noboa’s approval rating has fallen in recent months, it remains high, at 67%.

Voter turnout Sunday was 72%, according to the country’s electoral authority. Analysts considered that low, in a country where voting is mandatory and turnout usually exceeds 80%.

Just as voters were heading to the polls, they received another reminder of the surge in violence, as authorities announced that the head of a prison in Manabí, a coastal province that has become a hub for transnational crime, had been killed.

Some proposals from Noboa’s government that were unrelated to security were voted down Sunday. Ecuadorians voted against one that would have legalized hourly employment contracts, which are currently prohibited. Labor unions say employers could use them to undermine workers’ rights and essentially pay lower salaries than the law requires. A proposal that would have allowed international arbitration of commercial disputes was also voted down.

But analysts said the overall result yielded a robust mandate for Noboa. González said it would “help the government argue that it needs more time in power to continue with these changes and these reforms in its general fight against organized crime.”

The results of the referendum are binding, and the national assembly has 60 days to pass them into law.

Some analysts said the referendum results had more to do with Noboa’s popularity than with whether the security measures were

Others said they thought the questions on the referendum were not enough to address the country’s insecurity.

“We are still in the vicious circle of focusing on the symptoms and not on the causes,” said Juan Diego Del Pozo, 31, a photographer in Quito. “No question aims to solve structural problems, such as inequality. My vote will be a resounding ‘no’ on every question.”

Soldiers patrolling Durán, a suburb of Guayaquil, Ecuador, which is dominated by groups linked to drug trafficking, on May 31, 2023. (Victor Moriyama/The New York Times)

By CARLOS LOZADA

If the American experiment finally decides to call it quits, how might a national breakup begin?

Perhaps California moves toward secession after the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the state’s strict gun-control measures. Or Texas rebels when disputes over abortion laws grow deadly and the state’s National Guard remains loyal to the second Texan republic. Or a skirmish over the closure of a local bridge by federal inspectors escalates into a standoff between a beloved sheriff and a famous general, and the rest of the country takes sides. Or it’s the coordinated bombing of state capitols timed to the 2028 presidential transition, with right-wing militias and left-wing activists blaming each nother.

In other words: It’s not you, it’s me hating you.

These scenarios are not of my own creation; they all appear in recent nonfiction books warning of an American schism. The secessionist impulses take shape in David French’s “Divided We Fall,” which cautions that Americans’ political and cultural clustering risks tearing the country apart. (French published it before becoming a New York Times columnist in 2023.) The statehouse explosions go off in Barbara F. Walter’s “How Civil Wars Start,” which notes that when democratic norms erode, opportunistic leaders can more easily aggravate the ethnic and cultural divides that end in violence. The Battle of the Bridge is one of several possible Sumter moments in Stephen Marche’s “The Next Civil War.”

These authors offer examples of what could happen, not

predictions of what will. Their point is that our politics and culture are susceptible to such possibilities. “The crisis has already arrived,” Marche writes. “Only the inciting incidents are pending.”

It is precisely the absence of inciting incidents that makes writer-director Alex Garland’s much-debated new film, “Civil War” (its box-office success resulting in part from the multitude of newspaper columnists going to see it), such an intriguing addition to this canon. We never learn exactly who or what started the new American civil war, or what ideologies, if any, are competing for power. It’s a disorienting and risky move, but an effective one. An elaborate backstory would distract from the viewer’s engagement with the war itself as lived and chronicled by the weary journalists at the center of the story.

“Civil War” is a road-trip movie, if your trip occurs somewhere between the dislocation of “Nomadland” and the dystopia of “The Road.” If you’re trying to see the national monuments before they turn to rubble. If stopping for gas involves Canadian currency and scenes of torture. If stadium camps and mass graves have become standard features of America the beautiful.

In this telling, California and Texas have both seceded and somehow allied together. They are battling the remnants of the U.S. armed forces as well as some loyal Secret Service agents and die-hard White House staffers, all of whom serve the same purpose as the expendable ensigns on a “Star Trek” landing party.

But the most memorable fighters in this war are the informal militias found across the country, whose motives for violence range from self-defense to self-indulgence. One fighter explains, with an annoyed air, why he’s taking aim at a sniper: “Someone’s trying to kill us. We are trying to kill them.” Another exudes slow-motion glee while executing his uniformed, hooded prisoners. Another militant mumbles that he has strung up a local looter in part because the guy had ignored him in high school, a casual malevolence that brought to mind Shad Ledue, the murderous handyman from Sinclair Lewis’ 1935 novel, “It Can’t Happen Here.”

The power of “Civil War” is that the snippets of context deepen the film’s ambiguity, as well as its realism. The president, we learn in passing, is serving a third term, and the action begins with him rehearsing his lies before addressing the nation. (So, was secession a reaction to an authoritarian leader, or was his extended tenure itself a response to regional rebellion?) The president made controversial decisions, such as deploying airstrikes against U.S. citizens (a plot point that reminded me of the U.S. killing of the radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in 2011) and disbanding the FBI (which evoked the fateful U.S. decision to dissolve the Iraqi military in 2003). The war photographer at the heart of the movie, played by Kirsten Dunst, gained fame in college for snapping a “legendary” photo of something called the Antifa Massacre. (I immediately thought of the indelible Kent State photograph from 1970, also taken by a collegiate photographer, though whether this new massacre was supposedly perpetrated by or against Antifa activists is unclear.)

“Civil War” is not ripped from the headlines as much as it

is stitched from history; it is not a vision of what might happen in America but a collage of what already has happened, some here and much elsewhere.

The quest for a cohesive national definition comes up in these recent books warning of our deepening divides. Walter compares the political tensions of our time to the 1850s and the 1960s. “Both times, the country’s political parties had radically different visions of America’s future. What could the country be? What should the country be?” She hopes that America’s enduring ideals and shared history can inspire us to “fulfill the promise of a truly multiethnic democracy.” In “Divided We Fall,” French imagines but does not expect that we might draw on our federalist tradition to let different states live as they choose while preserving individual rights, not to mention the union.

Such outcomes would require the acceptance of those shared ideals and history, a semblance of consensus around what kind of country we want to be. This is harder in an America of proliferating identities and symbols, a country where group rights and grievances risk trumping the commonalities and compromises that bind us together.

The debate over what kind of America we want is vital and unceasing. But when it shifts from the universal to the personal, from what kind of America we want to what kind of American we’ll accept, then we have moved from conversation to interrogation, from inquiry to tragedy. You don’t have to believe that a new civil war is coming to understand the dangers of the question — “What kind of American are you?” — and to realize that the more answers we grasp for, the weaker we become.

Director Alex Garland in New York on Monday, April 8, 2024. Even before his feature film drama “Civil War” was released, the writer-director faced controversy over his vision of a divided America with Texas and California as allies. (Thea Traff/The New York Times)

Estudio del Colegio de Químicos de Puerto Rico revela presencia de metales pesados, tóxicos y cancerígenos en el agua potable de las áreas afectadas por el depósito de las cenizas de carbón en Salinas y Guayama

POR CYBERNEWS

SAN JUAN – Por petición de las comunidades del área sur de Puerto Rico, el Colegio de Químicos de Puerto Rico (CQPR) hizo un estudio del agua potable servida a viviendas en áreas de Guayama y Salinas. El estudio revela la presencia de metales pesados, tóxicos y cancerígenos en el agua potable de las áreas afectadas por el depósito de las cenizas de carbón en el acuífero del sur de la isla, aunque los niveles están por debajo de los límites máximos establecidos por la EPA.

La preocupación de los residentes por la calidad de agua que se les estaba sirviendo surge de los informes hechos públicos por la EPA sobre la contaminación del acuífero en el área en los municipios de Guayama y Salinas se han depositado más de dos millones de toneladas de cenizas. Muchos de esos depósitos se hicieron cercanos a pozos de la Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AAA) o pendiente arriba de ellos. El CQPR y las comunidades recibieron información contradictoria sobre si el agua servida venía de los pozos en esa área o de la planta en Guayama con aguas provenientes del Río Patillas. Ante la duda, el CQPR solicitó a la AAA autorización para tomar muestras de agua en los pozos y en la planta de Guayama.

“Dada la preocupación, se decide tomar muestras de grifos en las casas de esta área. Análisis de esas aguas reflejaron metales pesados, tóxicos y cancerígenos, característicos de las cenizas de carbón. Estos

resultados confirmaron las preocupaciones de las comunidades a pesar de que los niveles encontrados estaban por debajo de los niveles máximos permitidos”, explicó la Lcda. María Santiago, presidenta del CQPR en declaraciones escritas.

Entre las recomendaciones propuestas, se incluye la remoción y disposición adecuada de las cenizas de carbón fuera de la isla, así como el monitoreo continuo de los niveles de metales en el agua.

“Este esfuerzo conjunto entre el CQPR y las comunidades afectadas busca establecer un marco de trabajo para la acción gubernamental y comunitaria, asegurando un ambiente seguro y saludable para todas las comunidades de Puerto Rico”, expuso la Presidenta del CQPR.

El Dr. Osvaldo Rosario, asesor del CQPR explicó que “el estudio subraya la importancia de tomar medidas correctivas y preventivas para asegurar la calidad del agua y la salud de las comunidades. El CQPR recomienda que se tomen medidas significativas para abordar las preocupaciones emergentes sobre las cenizas de carbón y su impacto en la salud pública. La preocupación surge de la presencia acumulativa de cenizas en áreas cercanas a los depósitos de agua, lo que plantea riesgos potenciales para la salud de las comunidades circundantes”.

La presidenta del CQPR, junto con destacados miembros del CQPR han subrayado la urgencia de abordar este asunto de manera proactiva. “La perma-

Procuraduría de las Mujeres ofrece talleres de desarrollo de propuestas federales

S AN JUAN – La Oficina de la Procuradora de las Mujeres (OPM) celebró dos talleres de desarrollo de propuestas federales, dirigidos a organizaciones, municipios y personal de la OPM, con el propósito de desarrollar en sus asistentes la capacidad de pensar y articular estos proyectos. El adiestramiento abordó temas como las prioridades de las fuentes de fondos, flujograma, justificación y documentación, entre otros.

El doctor Rafael Torrech San Inocencio, un experto con más de cuatro décadas de experiencia en el campo de las propuestas federales, ofreció los dos talleres en los cuales combinó teoría y práctica sobre la articulación efectiva de estos documentos.

“Actualmente en muchas agencias, como en la OPM, es necesario ampliar la cantidad de recursos internos necesarios para la prestación de estos servicios que son imprescindibles. El propósito del evento fue enfatizar en desarrollar la destreza permanente de cómo pensar las propuestas como punto de partida

para su diseño y desarrollo”, explicó la procuradora interina, Madeline Bermúdez Sanabria en declaraciones escritas.

La funcionaria añadió que el taller fue una experiencia interactiva y altamente participativa donde el doctor Torrech trabajó con las ideas de los participantes con énfasis en desarrollar la destreza permanente de cómo pensar las propuestas como punto de partida para su diseño y desarrollo.

Se discutieron las partes cruciales de una propuesta con estrategias para desarrollar un proyecto cabal y consistente, y combinaron elementos teóricos y prácticos para abordar las secciones medulares de una propuesta: ¿cuándo (calendario)? ¿quiénes (población de impacto)? ¿qué (logro)? ¿cómo (metodología)? y ¿cómo se sabe que funciona (evaluación)?

Por último, la procuradora manifestó que los participantes lograron articular el prototipo básico de una propuesta y que además recibieron una caja de herramientas documental con materiales de apoyo y referencia.

nencia de cenizas sobre el acuífero del sur facilita la percolación de metales pesados hacia nuestras fuentes de agua, lo cual es preocupante. Es imperativo actuar de inmediato para mitigar cualquier riesgo potencial para la salud de nuestra gente”, afirmó.

El estudio incluye un resumen, en forma de tabla, de los resultados de los análisis de cenizas de carbón, el rango de concentraciones de metales encontrados en muestras de agua tomadas en los grifos de las casas entre marzo del 2021 y agosto del 2023, el rango de concentraciones de metales encontrados en las muestras de agua tomadas en los pozos de la AAA el 20 de octubre del 2023, el rango de concentraciones de metales encontrados en estudio de la EPA en pozos de la AAA en abril del 2023, metales regulados por la EPA y concentraciones máximas permitidas por la EPA. El documento también integra la data de control de calidad de los laboratorios certificados para hacer este tipo de análisis.

Por su parte, el doctor Ángel González, miembro del Colegio de Médicos Cirujanos indicó que “como médico, mi primera prioridad es la salud y bienestar de mis pacientes. Este estudio ilustra una situación alarmante que merece nuestra atención inmediata”.

Cher, Ozzy Osbourne and Kool & the Gang join Rock Hall of Fame

By BEN SISARIO

Cher, Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Frampton and Mary J. Blige are part of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s class of 2024, along with Dave Matthews Band, Kool & the Gang, Foreigner and A Tribe Called Quest, the hall announced Sunday.

The latest crop of stars will officially join the pantheon in a ceremony Oct. 19 at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, where the hall’s affiliated museum is also located.

The 39th annual group of inductees matches the hall’s genre and demographic spread of recent years, with a pop diva (Cher), a metal idol (Osbourne), a top funk band of 1970s and ’80s vintage (Kool & the Gang), a couple of ’90s hiphop and R&B heroes (Blige, Tribe) and rock mainstays from the boomer (Frampton, Foreigner) and Gen X (Matthews) eras.

Of those artists, four were elevated to the hall on their first nomination: Cher, Foreigner, Frampton and Kool & the Gang. Osbourne was nominated for the first time as a solo act, though he had joined the hall as part of Black Sabbath in 2006. The Rock Hall has come under increasing pressure in recent years to diversify its ranks with more women and artists of color, and has made progress in that regard, though some critics say it is not enough.

“Rock ’n’ roll is an ever-evolving amalgam of sounds that impacts culture and moves generations,” John Sykes, chair of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said in a statement. “This diverse group of inductees each broke down musical barriers and influenced countless artists that followed in their footsteps.”

Seven acts that were nominated in February did not make the cut: Mariah Carey, Jane’s Addiction, Oasis, Sade, Eric B. & Rakim, Lenny Kravitz and, perhaps most surprisingly, Sinead O’Connor, whose death last year, at age 56, elicited a global outpouring of grief and a reconsideration of her place in rock history.

The hall will also honor blues musicians Alexis Korner, John Mayall and Big Mama Thornton with the musical influence award, while Jimmy Buffett, Dionne Warwick, the MC5 and Motown producer and songwriter Norman Whitfield will receive an honor for musical excellence. Suzanne de Passe, a film and television producer who was a longtime executive at Motown, will receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award for nonperformers.

Cher at the 67th annual Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards in New York, Nov. 7, 2022. (Nina Westervelt/The New York Times)

Artists become eligible for nomination 25 years after the release of their first recording. The nominations are voted on by more than 1,000 music historians, industry professionals and inducted artists.

This year, close watchers of the Rock Hall’s opaque voting process had anticipated the arrival of at least a couple of this year’s inductees.

One is Frampton, the English-born guitarist and singer-songwriter, who played in the band Humble Pie in the late 1960s and early ’70s and then had a successful solo career, most notably with his monster hit double-LP “Frampton Comes Alive!” (1976). At last year’s ceremony, Sheryl Crow had Frampton join her onstage, a seeming endorsement.

And Cher essentially made her own case when she noted on an episode of “The Kelly Clarkson Show” in December that she has had No. 1 songs — as part of Sonny and Cher, or on her own — in each of the past seven decades but was not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

“Wait, are you serious?” Clarkson said.

“I wouldn’t be in it now if they gave me a million dollars,” Cher answered. “I’m never going to change my mind. They can just go you-knowwhat themselves.”

Warming is getting worse. So they just tested a way to deflect the sun.

By CHRISOPHER FLAVELLE

Alittle before 9 a.m. on April 2, an engineer named Matthew Gallelli crouched on the deck of a decommissioned aircraft carrier in San Francisco Bay, pulled on a pair of ear protectors, and flipped a switch.

A few seconds later, a device resembling a snow maker began to rumble, then produced a great and deafening hiss. A fine mist of tiny aerosol particles shot from its mouth, traveling hundreds of feet through the air.

It was the first outdoor test in the United States of technology designed to brighten clouds and bounce some of the sun’s rays back into space, a way of temporarily cooling a planet that is now dangerously overheating. The scientists wanted to see whether the machine that took years to create could consistently spray the right size salt aerosols through the open air, outside of a lab.

If it works, the next stage would be to try to change the composition of clouds above the Earth’s oceans.

As humans continue to burn fossil fuels and pump increasing amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the goal of holding global warming to a relatively safe level is slipping away. That has pushed the idea of deliberately intervening in climate systems closer to reality.

Universities, foundations, private investors and the federal government have started to fund a variety of efforts, from sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to adding iron to the ocean in an effort to store carbon dioxide on the sea floor.

“Every year that we have new records of climate change, and record temperatures, heat waves, it’s driving the field to look at more alternatives,” said Robert Wood, the lead scientist for the team from the University of Washington that is running the marine cloud brightening project.

Brightening clouds is one of several ideas to push solar energy back into space — sometimes called solar radiation modification, solar geoengineering, or climate intervention. Compared with other options, such as injecting aerosols into the stratosphere, marine cloud brightening would be localized and use relatively benign sea salt aerosols as opposed to other chemicals.

And yet, the idea of interfering with nature is so contentious, organizers of Tuesday’s test kept the details tightly held, concerned that critics would try to stop them. Although

Salt water solution sprayed across the deck of the Hornet, a decommissioned aircraft carrier that is now a museum, during a test of a cloud brightening system, in Alameda, Calif., on April 2, 2024. Scissor lifts held sensors to measure the spray during testing. (Ian C. Bates/The New York Times)

the Biden administration is funding research into different climate interventions, the White House distanced itself from the California study, sending a statement to The New York Times that read: “The U.S. government is not involved in the Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) experiment taking place in Alameda, CA, or anywhere else.”

In 1990, a British physicist named John Latham published a letter in the journal Nature, under the heading “Control of Global Warming?,” in which he introduced the idea that injecting tiny particles into clouds could offset rising temperatures.

Latham had a proposal that may have seemed bizarre: create a fleet of 1,000 unmanned, sail-powered vessels to traverse the world’s oceans and continuously spray tiny droplets of seawater into the air to deflect solar heat away from Earth.

The idea is built on a scientific concept called the Twomey effect: Large numbers of small droplets reflect more sunlight than small numbers of large droplets. Injecting vast quantities of minuscule aerosols, in turn forming many small droplets, could change the composition of clouds.

“If we can increase the reflectivity by

about 3%, the cooling will balance the global warming caused by increased C02 in the atmosphere,” Latham, who died in 2021, told the BBC. “Our scheme offers the possibility that we could buy time.”

Brightening clouds is no easy task. Success requires getting the size of the aerosols just right: Particles that are too small would have no effect, said Jessica Medrado, a research scientist working on the project. Too big and they could backfire, making clouds less reflective than before. The ideal size are submicron particles about 1/700th the thickness of a human hair, she said.

Next, you need to be able to expel a lot of those correctly sized aerosols into the air: A quadrillion particles, give or take, every second. “You cannot find any off-the-shelf solution,” Medrado said.

The answer to that problem came from some of the most prominent figures in America’s technology industry.

In 2006, Microsoft founder Bill Gates got a briefing from David Keith, one of the leading researchers in solar geoengineering, which is the idea of trying to reflect more of the sun’s rays. Gates began funding Keith and Ken Caldeira, another climate scientist and a former software developer, to further their research.

The pair considered the idea of marine cloud brightening but wondered if it was feasible.

So they turned to Armand Neukermans, a Silicon Valley engineer with 74 patents. One of his early jobs was at Xerox, where he devised a system to produce and spray ink particles for copiers. Caldeira asked if he could develop a nozzle that would spray not ink, but sea salt aerosols.

Intrigued, Neukermans, who is now 83, lured some of his old colleagues out of retirement and began research in a borrowed lab in 2009, with $300,000 from Gates. They called themselves the Old Salts.

Their work moved to a larger laboratory. Medrado became the lead engineer for the project two years ago. By the end of last year, the sprayer had been assembled and was waiting in a warehouse near San Francisco.

The machine was ready. The team needed somewhere to test it.

The flight deck of the Hornet rises 50 feet above the shore of Alameda, on the east side of San Francisco Bay. On April 2, it held a series of finely calibrated sensors, perched atop a row of scissor lifts reaching into the air.

Underneath a U.S. flag at the far end of the flight deck was the sprayer: Shiny blue, roughly the shape and size of a spotlight, with a ring of tiny steel nozzles around its threefoot-wide mouth. The researchers call it CARI, for Cloud Aerosol Research Instrument.

On one side of the sprayer was a box the size of a shipping container that housed a pair of compressors, which fed highly pressurized air to the sprayer through a hose. On the other side was a tank of water. A series of switches, turned in careful sequence, fed the water and air into the device, which then shot a fine mist toward the sensors.

The goal was to determine whether the aerosols leaving the sprayer, which had been carefully manipulated to reach a specific size, remained that size as they rushed through the air in different wind and humidity conditions. It will take months to analyze the results. But the answers could determine whether marine cloud brightening would work, and how, according to Wood.

Kelly Wanser is a former technology executive who helped establish the marine cloud brightening project at the University of Washington. In 2018 she created SilverLining, a nonprofit organization to advance research into what she calls “near-term climate interventions” like cloud brightening. Wanser’s group is contributing part of the funding for the research that includes the study aboard the Hornet.

Wanser said she hoped the testing, which could continue for months or longer, will demystify the concept of climate intervention technologies.

Wanser is already looking ahead to the next phase of that research. “The next step is go out to the ocean,” she said, “aim up the spray a little higher, and touch clouds.”

Take this dance class and call me in the morning

By CHRISTINA CARON

Last spring, Tia Washington, 52, a mother of three in Dublin, Calif., received a stern warning from her doctor: If she didn’t quickly gain control of her high blood pressure, she was likely to end up in the emergency room.

He wrote a prescription for blood pressure medication and urged her to see a health coach, too. Ms. Washington reluctantly agreed.

“I didn’t want to die,” she said.

To her surprise, the health coach wanted to talk about more than vital signs. Ms. Washington found herself opening up about

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how she disliked doctors (and medications). How she tended to address the needs of work or family before her own. How her job had created “tremendous stress.”

Together, they decided that Ms. Washington would attend two weekly movement classes, check in regularly with a nurse practitioner and receive free fruits and vegetables from a “food as medicine” government program.

By the end of the conversation with the health coach, Ms. Washington said, the message was clear: “Tia, pay attention to yourself. You exist.”

York’s community development team, which will bring together experts over the course of the next year to discuss how social prescriptions can help improve well-being in lowincome neighborhoods.

The process of making referrals is not new among community health professionals and social workers. Social prescribing differs by providing a kind of accountability coach, referred to as a link worker in Britain, who assesses the needs and interests of clients and then connects them to local organizations including volunteer groups and cultural institutions.

In recent years, the English national health care system has employed 1,000 new link workers, with the goal of making social prescribing available to 900,000 people by 2024. But putting such a plan in place in the United States, which does not have a socialized health care system, would be far more complicated, experts say.

VENDIDA VENDIDA VENDIDA VENDIDA

VENTA COMERCIAL

HUMACAO - PUEBLO

Oficina comercial en el primer

VENTA APARTAMENTOS

SAN JUAN -TERRAZAS DE SAN JUAN 3H, 2B, 2 parking, fac. rec. con gimnasio y piscina con servicio de agua y luz siempre.

$263,000 OMO

CAGUAS-CONDOMINIO

BORINQUEN PARKEstá ubicado en el primer piso. Tiene 3H, 1B, S,C,C, laundry, balcón, un parking (1), control de acceso

$100,000

TENGO CLIENTES CUALIFICADOS POR LA BANCA PARA COMPRA Y EXTRAORDINARIOS CLIENTES PARA ALQUILER Y PARA COMPRAS CASH

Ms. Washington’s experience is just one example of how a practice called social prescribing is being explored in the United States, after being adopted in more than 20 other countries. The term “social prescription” was first popularized in Britain after it had been practiced there in various forms for decades. While there isn’t one universally accepted definition, social prescriptions generally aim to improve health and well-being by connecting people with nonclinical activities that address underlying problems, such as isolation, social stress and lack of nutritious food, which have been shown to play a crucial role in influencing who stays well and for how long.

For Ms. Washington, who is among thousands of patients who have received social prescriptions from the nonprofit Open Source Wellness, the experience was transformative. She found a less stressful job, began eating more healthfully and learned simple ways to move more during the day. About a year later, she was able to stop taking blood pressure medication entirely.

Elsewhere in the United States, similar programs are underway: At the Cleveland Clinic, doctors are prescribing nature walks, volunteering and ballroom dancing to geriatric patients. In Newark, an insurance provider has teamed up with the New Jersey Performing Arts Center to offer patients glassblowing workshops, concerts and museum exhibitions. A nonprofit in Utah is connecting mental health patients with community gardens and helping them participate in other activities that bring them a sense of meaning. And universities have started referring students to arts and cultural activities like comedy shows and concerts as part of their mental health initiatives.

The approach has also drawn the attention of the Federal Reserve Bank of New

“There’s reason to be skeptical about how far this will go,” said Daniel Eisenberg, a professor of health policy and management at the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Our health care system tends to make only very incremental changes, and I think all the biases built into the system favor medical care and more acute intensive care.”

If social prescriptions can help keep people out of the emergency room for routine complaints, which could save billions of dollars, this may provide additional incentive for health insurance providers to help cover the costs, experts say.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, New Jersey’s largest health insurer, is participating in a study examining whether an arts prescription program will improve patients’ quality of life and reduce health disparities. Further down the road, the company will find out whether the prescriptions can also save money by lessening patients’ reliance on the E.R. for ordinary health care needs.

While earlier research on social prescribing suggests that it can improve mental health and quality of life and that it might reduce doctor visits and hospital admissions, many of the studies have been small, reliant on patients’ self-reporting and done without a control group.

The programs are not a panacea, Dr. Sonke said, and there are many possible pitfalls to enacting them on a wider scale in America. If social prescriptions are not accessible to people who are uninsured or underinsured, for example, or if people don’t feel welcome at the places they’re being referred to, then “the system isn’t doing what it’s intended to do,” she said. “It really is about everyone having access to wellness and prevention,” she added.

In January, Stanford University and Rutgers University-Newark began prescribing arts and cultural activities to students as an expansion of the schools’ mental health services. At Rutgers, students can attend cultural events in Newark at no cost, via a partnership with the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. At Stanford, the students are referred to campus events like concerts, art exhibitions or specialized classes, and prescriptions are managed by Art Pharmacy, a start-up in Atlanta that also provides arts prescriptions in Georgia and Massachusetts.

At both schools, any student, including those without mental health issues, can seek a referral from a trained staff member. Student leaders at Rutgers can also make referrals.

Kristi Maisha, a Stanford graduate student who studies civil engineering, said she decided to participate because she wanted to take a moment away from the intensity of her academic schedule.

“It is not very beneficial to stay in that head space all the time,” she said. “So I was definitely looking for something that would kind of break me out of that.”

Ms. Maisha chose to attend an improvisational dance class led by a choreographer — though she showed up with some trepidation. “What am I doing?” she thought as the class began.

But she followed the instructor’s lead, contorting her torso and limbs, and even her face, into new shapes — leading with her body instead of her brain. The class became symbolic of simply living in the moment, she said, and she felt freed from the “planned out, predetermined thoughts” that often confined her.

“Now that I know that it’s actually quite a good time, I’m more likely to do it, regardless of them prescribing it or not,” she said.

The potential benefits have made social prescription “a really hot topic,” said Jill Sonke, the research director at the University of Florida’s Center for Arts in Medicine. She is working with British researchers to identify all of the social prescription programs in the United States — the number now tops 30 — and learn what worked and what didn’t.

basta, se celebrará una tercera subasta el día 30 de mayo de 2024, a las 10:00 de la mañana, y el tipo mínimo para esta tercera subasta será la mitad del precio establecido para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de $48,000.00. El mejor postor deberá pagar el importe de su oferta en efecto, cheque certificado o giro postal a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse el inmueble al acreedor hipotecario dentro de los diez días siguientes a la fecha de la última subasta, si así lo estimase conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada conforme a la sentencia, si ésta fuera igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta y abonándose dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si ésta fuera mayor. Se avisa a cualquier licitador que la propiedad queda sujeta al gravamen del Estado Libre Asociado y CRIM sobre la propiedad inmueble por contribuciones adeudadas y que el pago de dichas contribuciones es la responsabilidad del licitador. Que se entenderá por todo licitador acepte como suficiente la titulación y que los cargos y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes en entendiéndose que el rematador los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse su extinción al precio rematante. Todos los nombres de los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante, o de los acreedores de cargas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca ejecutada y las personas interesadas en, o con derecho a exigir el cumplimiento de instrumentos negociables garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito ejecutado, siempre que surgen de la certificación registral, para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando entonces subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Y para conocimiento de licitadores, del público en general y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general diaria en Puerto Rico y en los sitios públicos de acuerdo a las disposiciones de la Regla 51.7 de las de Procedimiento Civil, así como para la publicación en un periódico de circulación general diaria y en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas

Tuesday, April 23, 2024 18

con antelación a la fecha de la primera subasta y por lo menos una vez por semana. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento indicado estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante las horas laborables. (Art. 102 (1) de la Ley núm. 2102015). Expedido el presente en Ponce, Puerto Rico, a 23 de febrero de 2024. Juan Rolando Cruz Román, #965. ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE PONCE.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CABO ROJO

JUAN CANDELARIA TORRES, TAMBIÉN

CONOCIDO COMO JOHN CANDELARIA

Demandante Vs. SAÚL PADILLA

VÉLEZ Y SU ESPOSA

ÁNGELA SOTO GORDO Y LA SOCIEDAD DE GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS; FULANO DE TAL Y MENGANO MÁS CUAL Demandados

Civil Núm.: CB2024CV00180. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE DE LOS E.E.U.U., ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PR.

A: SAÚL PADILLA

VÉLEZ; SU ESPOSA

ANGELA SOTO

GORDO; LA SOCIEDAD DE GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS; FULANO DE TAL Y MENGANO MÁS

CUAL Y A TODAS LAS PERSONAS IGNORADAS

QUE PUEDAN SER TENEDORES O QUE EN SU PODER TENGAN UN PAGARÉ HIPOTECARIO

QUE SE EXTRAVIÓ. Por el presente Edicto, que se publicará una sola vez, se les notifica que se ha presentado ante este Tribunal una Demanda alegando lo siguiente: (1) mediante escritura número 81 otorgada en Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, el día 14 de abril de 2000 ante el notario público Rafael Doitteau Cruz se constituyó una hipoteca en garantía de un pagaré por la suma principal de $99,000.00 con intereses al 8% a favor del Portador, y suscrito por Juan Candelaria Torres, la cual consta inscrita en la Finca Número 12,236 de Cabo Rojo como Inscripción sexta. Dicho Pagaré se ha extraviado y la parte demandante desea cancelarlo por haberse pagado la deuda en su totalidad por lo cual, si ustedes no formulan

oposición, dentro del término de treinta (30) días, contados a partir de la fecha de publicación de este Edicto, la parte demandante podrá obtener Sentencia en Rebeldía declarando que la Hipoteca que garantiza el mismo se ha extinguido y se ordenará su cancelación en el Registro de la Propiedad, sin más citarles ni oírlos a ustedes.

Deberán radicar el original de su Contestación a Demanda en la Secretaría del Tribunal de epígrafe y enviar copia por correo al abogado de la parte demandante cuyo nombre y dirección postal es la siguiente: Lcdo. Santiago Mari Roca, 101 Méndez Vigo Oeste, Suite 601, Mayagüez, P.R. 00680. Su teléfono es el (787) 831-2200, email: smari_roca@yahoo. com. EXPEDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello de este Tribunal, por orden de un Juez de esta Sala. En Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico a 15 de abril de 2024.

LCDA. NORMA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA GENERAL. JOSSIE D. BOBE RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA ISRAEL VIRELLA SANTA

Demandante Vs. DORAL FINANCIAL CORPORATION; JOHN DOE Y/O RICHARD ROE

Demandados Civil Núm.: CA2024CV01069. 403. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

A: JOHN DOE Y/O RICHARD ROE.

Se notifica que se presentó en esta Secretaría la Demanda de epígrafe sobre Cancelación de Pagaré Extraviado Por la Vía Judicial. Se le emplaza y requiere que usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// unired.ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Deberá notificar con copia de la misma al LCDO. JESÚS

A. LEDESMA AMADOR, PO BOX 10338, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00922, dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este edicto. Si dejara de hacerlo, podrá dictarse sentencia en rebeldía,

concediéndose el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, sin más citarle ni oírle. El pagaré hipotecario objeto de esta demanda, fue emitido a favor de DORAL FINANCIAL CORPORATION

haciendo negocios como H.F. MORTGAGE BANKERS, o a su orden, por la suma por la suma de treinta mil dólares ($30,000.00), con intereses al nueve punto noventa y cinco por ciento (9.95%) anual, vence el primero (1ro.) de mayo del dos mil trece (2013), según consta de la escritura número trescientos quince (#315), otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día veintinueve (29) de abril del dos mil tres (2003), ante el Notario Público Diana M. Ruiz Hernández, inscrito al folio número diecinueve (#19) del tomo número novecientos treinta y nueve (#939) de Carolina, finca número quince mil cuatrocientos sesenta y uno (#15461), inscripción quinta (5ta.)y última. El pago de dicho pagaré se garantizó con hipoteca constituida sobre el inmueble que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar #26 del bloque BX de la Urbanización Jardines de Country Club; localizado en el Barrio Sabana Abajo del término municipal de Carolina, con un área de DOSCIENTOS VEINTIDÓS PUNTO CINCUENTA (222.50) METROS CUADRADOS. En lindes por el NORTE, en veintidós punto veinticinco (22.25) metros, con el solar #25 del mismo bloque; por el SUR, en veintidós punto veinticinco (22.25) metros, con el solar #27 del mismo bloque; por el ESTE, en diez punto cero cero (10.00) metros, con la calle #129 y por el OESTE, en diez punto cero cero (10.00) metros, con el solar #13 del mismo bloque. Enclava una casa de concreto armado y bloques. Finca #15,461, inscrito al Folio #37vto. del Tomo #404 de Carolina, Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección Primera (I). CATASTRO NÚMERO: (20) 064-045-968-26-001. Finca #53651, al folio #145 del tomo #1737 de Caguas, Registro de la Propiedad do Caguas, Sección Primera. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el Sello del Tribunal, hoy 12 de abril de 2024. LCDA. KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. LILLIAM ORTIZ NIEVES, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAROLA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA

JOSE RAMON TORMEN

IZARRO Y OTROS

Demandante V. HOUSING INVESTMENT

CORPORATION Y OTROS

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: TJ2023CV00567.

(Civil: 407). Sobre: ACCIDENTE DE TRÁNSITO Y OTROS.

NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTEN-

CIA POR EDICTO.

ALEJANDRA MARÍA RAMOS MUÑOZ - ALERM_592@HOTMAIL. COM.

A: HOUSING INVESTMENT

CORPORATION, JOHN DOE COMO TENEDOR

DESCONOCIDO DEL PAGARE.

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 17 de abril de 2024, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha 18 de abril de 2024. En Carolina, Puerto Rico, el 18 de abril de 2024. KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA. DENISSE MINERVA TORRES RUIZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA DE PUERTO RICO

SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA

CATHERINE MARTINEZ VELEZ

Demandante Vs.

U. S. SMALL BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATION; JOHN DOE Y/O RICHARD ROE

Demandados

Civil Núm.: CA2024CV01168. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., EL PUEBLO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: JOHN DOE

Y/O PERSONAS

CUYOS NOMBRES Y DIRECCIONES SE DESCONOCEN O SEA, LA PARTE DEMANDADA ARRIBA MENCIONADA. Se notifica a ustedes que se ha radicado en este Tribunal una Demanda sobre Cancelación

de Pagaré Extraviado. Se les emplaza y requiere para que notifiquen a la abogada de la parte demandante: LCDA. MYRNA E. LOPEZ COLON RUA 8639, COLEGIADA 9897 URBANIZACION VILLA CAROLINA 127-8, CALLE 71 CAROLINA, PUERTO RICO 00985

TEL. 787-932-5116

myrnaelopezcolon1984@gmail.com copia de la contestación a la demanda o cualquier alegación responsiva que proceda en el presente caso sobre Cancelación de Pagaré Extraviado, dentro del término de treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación del Edicto, apercibiéndose que, de no hacerlo así, se dictará sentencia en rebeldía en su contra. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo de Casos (SUMAC), al cual podrá acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial.pr, salvo comparezca por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentarla a la Secretaría del Tribunal de Instancia, Sala de Carolina. Si dejaren de hacerlo o comparecer al pleito, podrá dictarse Sentencia en rebeldía en contra suya concediendo el remedio solicitado en la demanda, sin más citarle ni oírle y/o cualquier otro procedente en derecho, incluido el pago de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado. Expedida en Carolina, Puerto Rico, hoy día 17 de abril de 2024. LCDA. KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA DEL TRIBUNAL. KEILA GARCÍA SOLÍS, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE SAN JUAN SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN

ASOCIACIÓN DE RESIDENTES DE ALTURAS DE SANTA MARÍA, INC.

Demandante V. MARISETTE ROSARIO PAGAN TORO Y OTROS

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: SJ2023CV11162. (Salón: 906 CIVIL). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - REGLA 60.

NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTEN-

CIA POR EDICTO.

MELVYN E. FONTÁN LOZADAMELVYNFONTAN@GMAIL.COM.

A: MARISETTE ROSARIO

PAGAN TORO Y MARÍA

LUISA TORO QUINTANA.

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 12 de abril de 2024, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted The

enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha 12 de abril de 2024. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 12 de abril de 2024.

GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA. MYRNA D. VILLEGAS TRINIDAD, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE SAN GERMÁN ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE ACE ONE FUNDING, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. ANIBAL RIVERA AYALA

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: SG2023CV00467. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: ANIBAL RIVERA AYALA - HC 4 BOX 13055, SAN GERMAN PR 00683.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://www.poderjudicial.pr/ index.php/tribunal-electronico, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de

la parte demandante, Natalie Bonaparte Servera cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección natalie.bonaparte@ orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@orf-law.com.

EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en SAN GERMAN, Puerto Rico, hoy día 21 de febrero de 2024.

LCDA. NORMA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA. SOCORRO VÉLEZ RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE SAN JUAN ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC

COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. PEDRO J LOPEZ MOJICA

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: SJ2023CV10802. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: PEDRO J LOPEZ

429

PR 00923; 8311 LANE

CITY MO 64138. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// www.poderjudicial.pr/index. php/tribunal-electronico, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaria del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Natalie Bonaparte Servera cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección natalie.bonaparte@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@ orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO

BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, hoy día 21 de febrero de 2024. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ

COLLADO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. MYRIAM RIVERA

VILLANUEVA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO

DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE TOA BAJA ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC

COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. ERNESTO A SANTIAGO ORTIZ

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: TB2023CV00577. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO.

EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDIC-

TO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: ERNESTO A SANTIAGO ORTIZURB LEVITTOWN 2082 CALLE PASEO ALFA, TOA BAJA PR 00949.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://www.poderjudicial.pr/index.php/tribunalelectronico, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema

SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Natalie Bonaparte Servera cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección natalie. bonaparte@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@orflaw.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO

MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en TOA BAJA, Puerto Rico, hoy día 26 de febrero de 2024.

LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. NOELIA MATÍAS SALAS, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE SALA SUPERIOR BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. MIGUEL ÁNGEL

VÉLEZ RODRÍGUEZ

T/C/C MIGUEL ÁNGEL

VÉLEZ MARTÍNEZ, SU ESPOSA LUZ SELENIA NÚÑEZ LÓPEZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandados

Civil Núm.: PO2019CV02413. Sala: 406. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA “IN REM”. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE SUBASTA. El que suscribe, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Ponce, Puerto Rico, hago saber, a la parte demandada y al PÚBLICO EN GENERAL: Que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia expedido el día 1 de marzo de 2024, por la Secretaría del Tribunal, procederé a vender y venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor la propiedad que ubica y se describe a continuación: URBANA: Parcela de terreno en la Urbanización Las Delicias, primer unidad de la planificación en el Barrio Magueyes de Ponce, Puerto Rico, y que se describe en el Plano de Inscripción de la Urbanización Las Delicias, con el número, área y colindancias que se relacionan a continuación: número del solar veintiuno (21); Bloque B; área del solar trescientos doce metros cuadrados(312.00). En lindes por el NORTE, en trece metros (13.00), con la calle número tres (3); por el SUR, en trece metros (13.00), con el solar número dos (2); por el ESTE, en veinticuatro meteros (24.00) con el solar número veintidós (22); y por el OESTE, en veinticuatro metros (24.00) con el solar número veinte (20). Inscrita al folio 181 del tomo 892, finca #2,168 de Ponce. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección II de Ponce. Además, el Alguacil que suscribe, hago saber a todos los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante, o de los acreedores de cargas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca ejecutada y las personas interesadas en, o con derecho a exigir el cumplimiento de instrumentos negociables garantizados hipo-

tecariamente con posterioridad al crédito ejecutado, siempre que surjan de la certificación registral, para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando entonces subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada a su favor el día 19 de enero de 2019, a saber la suma de $132,922.40 por concepto de principal, más los intereses sobre dicha suma a razón del 6.25%, anual desde el 1ro de diciembre de 2018, hasta su completo pago, más las primas de seguro hipotecario, recargos por demora y cualesquiera otras cantidades pactadas en la escritura de primera hipoteca, desde la fecha antes mencionada y hasta la fecha del pago total de las mismas, más la suma de $18,700.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; y demás créditos accesorios garantizados hipotecariamente. La adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el acto mismo de la adjudicación, en efectivo (moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América), giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del alguacil del Tribunal. La PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a efecto el día 14 DE MAYO DE 2024 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en el Centro Judicial de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA

SUBASTA es de $187,000.00. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA

SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 21 DE MAYO DE 2024 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en el Centro Judicial de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico, en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $124,666.66, equivalentes a dos terceras (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una TERCERA

SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 29 DE MAYO DE 2024 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA en el Centro Judicial de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico, en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la TERCERA

conveniente; se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor, todo ello a tenor con lo dispone el Articulo 104 de la Ley Núm. 210 del 8 de diciembre de 2015 conocida como “Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico”. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquiere libre de toda carga y gravamen que afecte la mencionada finca según el Artículo 102, inciso 6. Una vez confirmada la venta judicial por el Honorable Tribunal, se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura de venta judicial y se pondrá al comprador en posesión física del inmueble de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda aquella persona o personas que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de todos los licitadores y el público en general, el presente Edicto se publicará por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas, con un intervalo de por lo menos siete días entre ambas publicaciones, en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico y se fijará además en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio en que ha de celebrarse dicha venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía. Se les informa, por último, que: a. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la secretaría del tribunal durante las horas laborables. b. Que se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. EXPIDO, el presente EDICTO, en Ponce, Puerto Rico, hoy día 12 de marzo de 2024. MANUEL MALDONADO, ALGUACIL, DIVISIÓN DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE GUAYNABO

Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVADO POR

LA VÍA JUDICAL. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, S.S. A: SANTANDER MORTGAGE CORPORATION, JOHN DOE COMO TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGARÉ A FAVOR DE SANTANDER

MORTGAGE CORP., O A SU ORDEN, POR LA SUMA $118,750.00, CON INTERESES AL 8.375% ANUAL Y VENCIMIENTO 1 DE ENERO DE 2030. CONSTITUIDA MEDIANTE

LA ESCRITURA 226 OTORGADA EN SAN JUAN EL 31 DE DICIEMBRE DE 1999 ANTE EL NOTARIO MIGUEL A. MÉNDEZ FONTÁNEZ, INSCRITA AL FOLIO 86 DEL TOMO 1,354 DE GUAYNABO, FINCA 22,704, REGISTRO DE LA PROPIEDAD DE PUERTO RICO, SECCIÓN DE GUAYNABO.

Por la presente se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda incoada en su contra dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación del presente edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr/sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio. Si usted deja de prestar y notificar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Los abogados de la parte demandante son.

ABOGADOS DE LA PARTE

DEMANDANTE:

Lcdo. Reggie Díaz Hernández

RUA Núm.: 16,393

BERMUDEZ & DIAZ LLP

Suite 209

500 Calle De La Tanca San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN

LONGBRIDGE

FINANCIAL, LLC

Demandante Vs. MIGUEL ANTONIO LOPEZ

DIAZ T/C/C MIGUEL

A. LOPEZ DIAZ T/C/C MIGUEL ANTONIO

LOPEZ T/C/C MIGUEL

LOPEZ DIAZ; SUCESION

MARIA ESTHER DE LA MATA MELENDEZ T/C/C

MARIA ESTHER MATTA MELENDEZ T/C/C MARIA

E. MATTA T/C/C MARIA

MATTA MELENDEZ

COMPUESTA POR SU

VIUDO MIGUEL ANTONIO

LOPEZ DIAZ; JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Demandados

Civil Núm.: SJ2023CV07265.

Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPO-

TECA. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: LA PARTE

DEMANDADA, AL (A LA) SECRETARIO(A) DE HACIENDA DE PUERTO RICO Y AL PÚBLICO

GENERAL:

Certifico y Hago Constar: Que en cumplimiento con el Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por el (la) Secretario(a) del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América y/o Giro Postal y Cheque Certificado, en mi oficina ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan, el 13 DE MAYO DE 2024, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA, todo derecho título, participación o interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: “URBANA: Solar número veinte del bloque “K” (K-20) de la Urbanización San Ignacio, situada en el Barrio Monacillos de Río Piedras, hoy jurisdicción de la Capital de Puerto Rico, con un área de 535.59 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, en un arco de 16.35 metros con The

SUBASTA será de $93,500.00, equivalentes a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. ADOLFO MOJICA PRECIADO, SANTANDER

MORTGAGE CORPORATION, JOHN DOE

Demandadas Civil

Tel.: (787) 523-2670

Fax: (787) 523-2664

rdiaz@bdprlaw.com

Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y el sello de este Tribunal, hoy 5 de abril de 2024. LCDA.

LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL II.

SARA ROSA VILLEGAS, SECRETARIA DEL TRIBUNAL CONFIDENCIAL I.

la Calle “D” de la Urbanización; por el SUR, en 13.43 metros y 5.60 metros con los solares número 6 y 7 del bloque “K”; por el ESTE, en 30.58 metros con el solar número 21 del bloque “K”; y por el OESTE, en 29.65 metros con el solar número 19 del bloque “K” de la Urbanización San Ignacio. Enclava una casa de concreto armado, de una sola planta para dedicarla a vivienda.” Inscrita al folio 218 del tomo 467 de Monacillos, finca 17362, Registro de la Propiedad de San Juan, Sección III. La Hipoteca Revertida consta inscrita al folio 43 del tomo 988 de Monacillos, finca 17362, Registro de la Propiedad de San Juan, Sección III, inscripción 12ª. Propiedad localizada en: URB. SAN IGNACIO, 1713 SAN ESTANISLAO, SAN JUAN, PR 00927. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas anteriores o preferentes: Nombre del Titular: N/A. Suma de la Carga: N/A. Fecha de Vencimiento: N/A. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas posteriores a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: Nombre del Titular: Secretario de la Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano. Suma de la Carga: $465,000.00. Fecha de Vencimiento: 13 de marzo de 2093. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad de la propiedad y que todas las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito ejecutante antes descritos, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistentes. El rematante acepta dichas cargas y gravámenes anteriores, y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se establece como tipo de mínima subasta la suma de $465,000.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la escritura de hipoteca. De ser necesaria una SEGUNDA SUBASTA por declararse desierta la primera, la misma se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan, el 20 DE MAYO DE 2024, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $310,000.00, 2/3 partes del tipo mínima establecido originalmente. Si tampoco se produce remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se establece como mínima para la TERCERA SUBASTA, la suma de $232,500.00, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan, el 28 DE MAYO DE 2024, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para, con su producto satisfacer a la

parte demandante, el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor ascendente a la suma de $224,410.80 por concepto de principal, la cual no incluye intereses y otros gastos acumulados hasta el 31 de julio de 2023. La suma global vencida, líquida y exigible incluyendo intereses y otros gastos acumulados hasta el 31 de julio de 2023 es de $399,108.22, y los cuales continúan acumulándose, así como la cantidad líquida estipulada en los documentos del préstamo para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado en caso de reclamación judicial y que correspondan a intereses y cargos por demora posterior a dicha fecha; más cualquier otra suma que se haga en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca. Dichas sumas están vencidas, son liquidas y exigibles. La venta en pública subasta de la referida propiedad se verificará libre de toda carga o gravamen posterior que afecte la mencionada finca, a cuyo efecto se notifica y se hace saber la fecha, hora y sitio de la PRIMERA, SEGUNDA Y TERCERA SUBASTA, si esto fuera necesario, a los efectos de que cualquier persona o personas con algún interés puedan comparecer a la celebración de dicha subasta. Se notifica a todos los interesados que las actas y demás constancias del expediente de este caso están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables para ser examinadas por los (las) interesados (as). Y para su publicación en el periódico The San Juan Daily Star, que es un diario de circulación general en la isla de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, así como para su publicación en los sitios públicos de Puerto Rico. Expedido en San Juan, Puerto Rico, hoy 5 de abril de 2024. PEDRO HIEYE GONZÁLEZ, ALGUACIL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN

REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING LLC

Demandante Vs. SUCESION LIVIA MARGARITA FELICIE RODRIGUEZ T/C/C

LIVIA M FELICIE RODRIGUEZ T/C/C LIVIA FELICIE RODRIGUEZ COMPUESTA POR JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Sudoku

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Fill in the empty fields with the numbers from 1 through 9.

Sudoku Rules:

Every row must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

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Every 3x3 square must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

Crossword

Answers on page 23

Wordsearch

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B S D S T Y L E S R A P S V

D T R I C K L E S S E U G I

H L I L S C I L C P E E P S

A O O T Y C W E A K E R A O

D B V C L I U G T T O E G R

E N I E S E N S T V I L E S

S B A B R I D G E S E V D B

S E K I D R I D R S R E E B

A N H E V G U S S E O S P H

M D C S G E K N H A E H I T

A E Q L U S T R O T N O C I

R Z E F I L M Y S E Y E T M

D A E H D E R A C D F M S D

Q D W E R D H T I W O L G A

Aaron Rodgers has more on his mind than football. A lot more.

By KATHERINE ROSMAN and KEN BELSON

Aaron Rodgers, perhaps the most gifted NFL quarterback of his generation, spent a week last month in Costa Rica with a handful of fellow pro football players in search of transformation.

At a mountain retreat with views of the Pacific Ocean, they drank a psychedelic brew under the watchful eyes of a Yawanawa shaman and a documentary film crew.

Soon a news flash from back home — and then another — pierced the vibe. First, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent candidate for president, said he was considering making Rodgers his running mate, a partnership that did not ultimately materialize.

The next day, CNN reported that Rodgers had suggested in 2013 that the massacre of 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, was a hoax or an inside government job. Rodgers responded on social media, saying that he had “never been of the opinion that the events did not take place.”

These are not the circumstances in which you expect to find an NFL champion — sipping the brew, ayahuasca, in Central America

while flirting with a run for vice president and batting away accusations of conspiracy mongering. It is certainly not what the team’s fans were imagining when Rodgers arrived last year as the would-be savior of the moribund New York Jets.

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mostly distinguished himself by supercharging an off-field persona as an anti-establishment ideologue. If, at age 40, he is among the most well-known stars in American football, he may also be the most eccentric.

ers bristles at the use of the term “drugs” to describe psychedelic substances taken with the intent of having emotional and spiritual experiences. He credits ayahuasca for helping him overcome fears that he traces back to the 1990s.

To some observers, Rodgers’ behavior is head-scratching. “Athletes tend to go from famous to infamous by accident, not by choice, and quarterbacks, in particular, are as careful with their speech and public actions as any position in any sport,” said Dan Le Batard, a podcast host. “I don’t think we’ve ever heard a starting pro quarterback espouse anything like conspiracy theories, never mind choosing that route after having arrived at the gold mine of finally being safe enough to sell us State Farm insurance on television.”

For most professional athletes, focusing on their game is a full-time occupation. Rodgers, who is paid more than $35 million a year, has intense outside passions.

Amid his eight-hour daily rehab sessions, Rodgers began talking with Kennedy about his presidential campaign. The candidate’s philosophy, particularly on the COVID vaccine, aligns with his own.

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Football fans generally want lowcomplexity heroism from their standout players, and in many ways they get that from Rodgers: He led the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl victory and has been named league MVP four times. He has had a string of famous girlfriends and endorsement deals with mainstream brands, including State Farm Insurance.

Under normal circumstances, a star quarterback resurrecting an iconic franchise in the country’s biggest media market would be just the sort of storyline that has helped make the NFL the biggest league in American sports.

But since joining the Jets, Rodgers has

On podcasts, Rodgers trumpets Kennedy’s candidacy, rails against the COVID-19 vaccine and extols the virtues of psychedelic experiences. He has urged listeners to question the motives of those who control the government and media, tossing around his suspicion that the ruling establishment is in cahoots with Big Pharma.

“We have a captured media system, we have a captured medicine system, we have a captured education system,” he recently told commentator Joe Rogan on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the most popular podcast on Spotify.

Outwardly, the Jets give no indication that his off-field endeavors are creating a headache. For them, Rodgers represents the team’s hope for success, even after he ruptured his Achilles tendon just four plays into his first game last fall and sat out the whole season.

But some Jets fans wish Rodgers would just shut up and play.

John Marchese, who lives in Florham Park, New Jersey, wonders if he might be setting up a post-NFL political career. “Being extremely vocal on divisive issues is one way to do that,” he said. “But as a football fan, I just want to focus on football, and I want Aaron Rodgers to focus on football since his talent is undeniable.”

Rodgers’ more recent avocation is taking part in “plant medicine” ceremonies — Rodg-

“If there is a way that RFK could get elected, to me, that’s where the hope starts,” Rodgers told Rogan this past winter. Less than two months later, Kennedy named him as a possible vice presidential partner, jolting Jets fans.

Some of those on the Costa Rican retreat were aware of the news but mostly ignored the distractions, said Jeramy Poyer, the brother of Miami Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer.

There, Rodgers and his fellow searchers spent two hours in an airless tepee that was heated to more than 100 degrees to induce feelings of enlightenment.

The last night, according to two participants and a podcast appearance by Rodgers, they gathered to drink ayahuasca, which is meant to bring on euphoria, hallucinations, and a processing of depression and trauma that can lead to long-term peace.

Adrian Colbert, a safety for the Chicago Bears, said the ceremonies helped him understand that “emotional healing is looked down upon, especially for men. But vulnerability is power.” He added: “I felt my heart explode, and I felt so much love. I couldn’t help but cry.”

Some people were playing bongos and guitar as the group ventured into the grass and gazed at the stars.

Poyer said Rodgers told him it was “one of the best nights of his life.”

Aaron Rodgers, then with the Green Bay Packers, takes the field for a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa, Fla., Sept. 25, 2022. (Mary Holt/The New York Times)

Answers to the Sudoku and Crossword on page 21