Editing Carlos Romero Barceló

{{Short description|Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (1932–2021)}}
{{family name hatnote|Romero|Barceló|lang=Spanish}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Carlos Romero Barceló
| image               = Carlos Romero Barcelo (cropped).png
| office              = [[Shadow congressperson|United States Shadow Senator]]<br>from [[Puerto Rico]]
| appointer           = [[Ricardo Rosselló]]
| term_start          = August 15, 2017
| term_end            = May 2, 2021
| predecessor         = Position established
| successor           = [[Zoraida Buxó]]
| office1             = [[Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico]]
| term_start1         = January 2, 1993
| term_end1           = January 2, 2001
| predecessor1        = [[Antonio Colorado]]
| successor1          = [[Aníbal Acevedo Vilá]]
|office2              = Member of the [[Senate of Puerto Rico|Puerto Rico Senate]]<br> from the [[Puerto Rico Senatorial district II|Bayamón]] district
| term_start2          = September 5, 1986
| term_end2            = January 2, 1989
| predecessor2         = Juan Hernandez Ferrer
| successor2           = Anibal Marrero Perez
| office3             = [[Governor of Puerto Rico]]
| term_start3         = January 2, 1977
| term_end3           = January 2, 1985
| predecessor3        = [[Rafael Hernández Colón]]
| successor3          = Rafael Hernández Colón
| office4              =  [[List of Presidents of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico|President of the New Progressive Party]]
| term_start4          = January 2, 1989
| term_end4            = March 23, 1991
| predecessor4         = [[Ramon Luis Rivera]]
| successor4           = [[Pedro Rosselló]]
| term_start5         = October 7, 1974
| term_end5           = June 20, 1987
| predecessor5        = [[Luis A. Ferré]]
| successor5          = [[Baltasar Corrada del Río]]
| office6             = [[List of mayors of San Juan, Puerto Rico|Mayor of San Juan]]
| term_start6         = January 2, 1969
| term_end6           = January 2, 1977
| predecessor6        = [[Felisa Rincón de Gautier]]
| successor6          = [[Hernán Padilla]]
| birth_name          = Carlos Antonio Romero Barceló
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1932|9|4}}
| birth_place         = [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2021|5|2|1932|9|4}}
| death_place         = San Juan, Puerto Rico{{fact|date=December 2024}}
| party               = [[Partido Estadista Republicano|Republican Statehood]] (Before 1967)<br>[[New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico)|New Progressive]] (1967–2021)
| otherparty          = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Kate de Romero]]|1966}}
| children            = 4, including [[Melinda Romero Donnelly|Melinda]]<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.l0083219832&view=1up&seq=366&q1=Barcel%C3%B3 Official congressional directory, 106th Congress (1999–2000)]</ref>
| education           = [[Yale University]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])}}<br>[[University of Puerto Rico School of Law]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])}}
| alt                 = Carlos Romero Barceló
| caption             = Carlos Romero Barceló in 2017
}}
'''Carlos Antonio Romero Barceló''' (September 4, 1932 – May 2, 2021) was a [[Puerto Rican people|Puerto Rican]] politician who served as the [[governor of Puerto Rico]] from 1977 to 1985. He was the second governor to be elected from the [[New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico|New Progressive Party]] (PNP). He also served on several other political positions including [[Mayor of San Juan]] from 1969 to 1977 and [[Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico]] in [[United States Congress]] from 1993 to 2001.

Romero Barceló was the grandson of [[Antonio R. Barceló]], a Union Party leader and advocate of Puerto Rican independence during the early 20th century, and the son of [[Josefina Barceló Bird de Romero|Josefina Barceló]], the first woman to preside over a major political party in Puerto Rico.

==Early life==
Romero Barceló was born in 1932 in [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]], the son of Antonio Romero Moreno and [[Josefina Barceló Bird de Romero|Josefina Barceló Bird]]. His father was a lawyer and engineer who served as a superior court judge.<ref>[http://biography.yourdictionary.com/carlos-romero-barcelo#FYtiWEQsmfQygGrT.99and Carlos Moreno Barceló:] Biography</ref> His maternal grandfather was [[Antonio Rafael Barceló]] the son of Jaime José Barceló Miralles from [[Palma, Majorca]], Balearic Islands, Spain and Josefa Martínez de León from [[Naguabo, Puerto Rico|Naguabo]].<ref>[http://senado.pr.gov/Cronologia/Biograf%C3%ADa_Antonio%20R%20barcelo.pdf BIOGRAFÍA: DON ANTONIO R. BARCELÓ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127144634/http://senado.pr.gov/Cronologia/Biograf%C3%ADa_Antonio%20R%20barcelo.pdf |date=January 27, 2017 }}: PRIMER PRESIDENTE DEL SENADO</ref><ref>[http://www.familias-de-fajardo.com/345.htm Ancestors of Jaime José Barceló Miralles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920174246/http://www.familias-de-fajardo.com/345.htm |date=September 20, 2020 }} Familias de Fajardo</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=904zAQAAIAAJ&q=La+formación+del+pueblo+puertorriqueño:+la+contribución+de+los+catalanes,+baleáricos+y+valencianos+Jaime+Barcelo+natural+de+Palma+de+Mallorca La formación del pueblo puertorriqueño: la contribución de los catalanes, baleáricos y valencianos] Estela Cifre de Loubriel. Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña</ref>

==Education==
Carlos Romero Barceló attended [[Phillips Exeter Academy]] in the state of [[New Hampshire]], graduating in 1949. Later he attended [[Yale University]], obtaining a B.A. in [[Political Science]] and Economics in 1953. That same year, at age 21, he returned to Puerto Rico and enrolled at the [[University of Puerto Rico Law School]], becoming a licensed lawyer in 1956.

==Political career==
Romero Barceló, an avid supporter of Puerto Rico statehood with the United States of America,<ref name="Puerto Rico Report 2018">{{cite web | title=Puerto Rico Statehood Commission Demands Seats in Congress | website=Puerto Rico Report | date=10 January 2018 | url=https://www.puertoricoreport.com/puerto-rico-statehood-commission-demands-seats-congress/ | access-date=29 January 2020}}</ref> became involved with the "Partido Estadista Republicano", the forerunner of the New Progressive Party, which at the time was led by [[Miguel A. García Méndez|Miguel Angel Garcia Mendez]]. He formed part of "Ciudadanos pro Estado 51" (Citizens for the 51st State) in 1965. Later, he was one of the founder's of the [[Statehood movement in Puerto Rico|pro-statehood]]  group "Estadistas Unidos", founded by [[Luis Ferre]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=historiador|first=Mario Ramos Méndez|title=El último estadista|url=https://www.elvocero.com/opinion/el-ltimo-estadista/article_3c988172-aeaf-11eb-8770-23cd50cbb42d.html|access-date=2021-06-13|website=El Vocero de Puerto Rico|date=May 7, 2021 |language=es}}</ref>

===Mayor===
Romero was one of the founding members of the New Progressive Party in 1967. The following year he was elected Mayor of [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]], succeeding the legendary "doña Fela" ([[Felisa Rincón de Gautier]]) and becoming the first popularly elected mayor of San Juan, since previous mayors were elected by the San Juan City Council, not directly by the electorate.  During his second term, in 1973, he became the first Hispanic to become vice-president of the [[National League of Cities]] and in 1974 became president of the organization. He served as mayor until 1976 when he defeated incumbent governor of Puerto Rico [[Rafael Hernández Colón]].  While [[Hernán Padilla]] was elected to succeed him, technically, his immediate successor was [[Carlos S. Quirós]], his Vice Mayor who became full mayor for over a week until Padilla's term began. Some of his notable accomplishments as mayor were the inclusion of San Juan into U.S. President [[Lyndon Johnson]]'s [[Model Cities Program]], which changed the face of the slum called [[Cataño, Puerto Rico#Name|"El Fanguito"]] to become the area of the "new" San Juan where modern facilities such as the San Juan Natatorium, the Puerto Rico Coliseum and numerous residential condominium projects were eventually built; the construction of the [[Roberto Clemente Coliseum]] and the first municipal educational institution of Puerto Rico: the Colegio Universitario de San Juan.

===Governor===
Romero Barceló brought well-received economic resolutions to the island during his terms in office, emphasizing the island's tourism potential. However, during his administration the economy recovered sluggishly, with unemployment dropping to 17% in 1979 from 19.0% in 1975, a disappointing 2% decline. The economy did not fully recover, and the island's government services deteriorated during his term in office. Moreover, his statements declaring the policemen that carried out the Maravilla murders to be heroes damaged his image.{{citation needed | date=May 2021}}

In 1980 he was elected for a second term as governor by a margin of 3,037 votes again over [[Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico|PPD]]-candidate [[Rafael Hernández Colón]]. The 1980 gubernatorial elections were among the closest in Puerto Rican history, requiring the intervention of the [[Supreme Court of Puerto Rico]] to rule whether improperly cast ballots should be counted. In particular, the [[Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association]] under [[Luis Fortuño]] generated over 1,500 absentee ballots for Romero Barceló that proved an important factor in his re-election.  However, the [[New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico|New Progressive Party]] lost control of the legislature, and party-affiliated mayors won in only 28 of the 78 municipalities on the island. The 1980 elections were the most controversial as many PPD followers said that the elections were stolen in which the PPD won the elections except for the governor candidacy in which almost every election the parties win with straight-party ballots.
This election was similar to the 2004 and 2012 elections, decided by less-than-one-percent margins.

In his second term Puerto Rico was badly hit by a severe recession starting in 1980 and ending in 1983,
the unemployment drastically rose to 25% in 1983 the highest since the Great Depression.

Romero Barceló is frequently associated with the [[Cerro Maravilla incident|"Cerro Maravilla Incident"]] of 1978 in which two young pro-Independence activists at [[Cerro Maravilla]] were killed at the hands of rogue members of the Puerto Rican Police after being lured by the police to a mountainous area that housed communications and television towers. The tragic incident was investigated several times by the Puerto Rico Justice Department, the [[U.S. Justice Department]], and the [[F.B.I.]], and was widely reported on by the local press. In 1984, 10 police officers were indicted and found guilty of perjury, destruction of evidence, and obstruction of justice, with four being convicted of second-degree murder.<ref name="10 perjury">[http://home.coqui.net/ciales15/m7.html ''10 From Puerto Rico Police Indicted on Cover-Up of '78 Killings''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629183513/http://home.coqui.net/ciales15/m7.html |date=June 29, 2007 }} by Reginald Stuart, ''[[The New York Times]]'', February 7, 1984, retrieved August 2, 2006.</ref>

He sought re-election for a third term in 1984 but was defeated by [[Rafael Hernández Colón]]. After the elections, Romero-Barceló's reaction to the defeat, in response to TV news reporter [[Rafael Bracero]], was ''¿Derrota, qué Derrota?'' (''Defeat, what defeat?''). For him, he said, what had occurred was not a defeat, but simply an "electoral loss". The comment has become legendary in Puerto Rican politics.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Jiménez|first=Lester|title=Carlos Romero Barceló: Una vida dedicada a la política y a la estadidad|url=https://www.noticel.com/ahora/20210503/carlos-romero-barcelo-una-vida-dedicada-a-la-politica-y-a-la-estadidad/|access-date=2021-06-13|website=www.noticel.com|language=en-US}}</ref>

===Senator===

In 1986, he was elected by his party to fill a vacancy in the [[Senate of Puerto Rico]], a position for which he did not seek re-election in 1988.  Instead, he returned to his private law practice and shortly thereafter merged his law firm with Del Toro & Santana where he practiced until his election to the United States Congress in 1992.

===Resident Commissioner===
[[File:Carlos Antonio Romero-Barceló.jpg|thumb|right|Carlos Romero Barcelo in Washington, D.C.]]
In the 1992 elections, Romero was elected to the 103rd and 104th United States Congress as [[Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico]], and relocated to Washington, D.C. He was re-elected to the 105th and 106th United States Congress as well.

During his tenure as Resident Commissioner he campaigned for Puerto Rican [[U.S. state|statehood]], successfully proposed to Congress the derogation of the 936 tax code and endorsed the [[Young Project]], which sought to call a referendum to resolve Puerto Rico's political status. In 2000, he sought a third term but was defeated by [[Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico|PPD]]'s [[Aníbal Acevedo Vilá]]. He once again sought his party's nomination for the post of Resident Commissioner in 2003, but was defeated by [[Luis Fortuño]]. Although he retired from electoral politics, he remained active in [[New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico|PNP]] political gatherings, the Puerto Rico Democratic Party, the [[Democratic Party (United States)|United States Democratic party]], and was a member of the [[League of United Latin American Citizens]].

===Shadow United States Senator===

On July 3, 2017, he was appointed by Governor [[Ricardo Rosselló]] as Puerto Rico's first [[United States Shadow Senator]] to the [[U.S. Senate]] under the [[Tennessee Plan]] approved by Act No. 30 of June 5, 2017 of the [[Puerto Rico Legislature]]. Holders of this position do not officially participate in Senate proceedings, but may serve as an advocate for their territories.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://us.blastingnews.com/world/2021/05/former-puerto-rico-governor-carlos-romero-barcelo-dies-at-88-003317478.html | newspaper=Blasting News | title=Former Puerto Rico Governor Carlos Romero Barceló dies at 88 | author=Samantha Spencer}}</ref>

==Death==
Romero Barceló was hospitalized in [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]]{{fact|date=December 2024}} in March 2021 for [[sepsis]] and a [[urinary tract infection]].<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/espanol/os-es-exgobernador-puerto-rico-carlos-romero-barcelo-fallecio-20210503-byr2n262bnerboowvmzwmspi4i-story.html|title=Former Governor of Puerto Rico, Carlos Romero Barceló, passed away on Sunday|date=May 3, 2021 |publisher=Orlando Sentinel|accessdate=May 3, 2021}}</ref> He died a month later on May 2, 2021, at the age of 88.<ref name=obit/>

==Legacy==
Romero Barceló married [[Kate de Romero|Kate Donnelly]] on January 2, 1966. His daughter, [[Melinda Romero Donnelly]], was an NPP member of the [[House of Representatives of Puerto Rico]] for 8 years, later becoming state senator when she won a special election in 2009 for the vacant seat of former senator [[Jorge De Castro Font]]. Romero Barceló was a [[boxing]] fan, and advocated for holding world championship bouts in San Juan during his terms in office. Some of his accomplishments were the [[Minillas Tunnel]], the [[Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferre]], the creation of the [[Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration]], and the [[Roberto Clemente Coliseum]] (while the Mayor of San Juan).

Federal charges filed against Puerto Rico former governor [[Aníbal Acevedo Vilá]] stemmed from a tip brought to federal prosecutors by Romero Barceló. Romero openly admitted to being the catalyst of the federal investigation against Acevedo Vilá.  In 2000, Acevedo accused Romero Barcelo of receiving $175,000 USD of illegal contributions to fund his own campaign bid for Resident Commissioner. In the end, Acevedo Vilá was acquitted of all charges.<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna29805764 ''Puerto Rico Ex-gov cleared in Corruption-trial.''] Associated Press. NBC News. 20 March 2009. Accessed 21 June 2018.</ref>

==Accolades==
In 1977, he received a doctorate [[Honoris causa]] from the [[University of Bridgeport]] in [[Connecticut]].

==Publications==
* "Puerto Rico, U.S.A.: The Case for Statehood." ''Foreign Affairs'' 59 (Fall 1980): pp.&nbsp;58–81.
* ''Statehood Is For the Poor''. N.P.: Master Typesetting of P.R. Inc., 1978. Originally published as ''La Estatidad es para los Pobres'', 1973.
* The book titled Two Lynchings on Cerro Maravilla: The Police Murders in Puerto Rico and the Federal Government Coverup by then [[San Juan Star]] journalist Manuel 'Manny' Suarez.

==See also==
{{Portal|Puerto Rico|Biography}}
* [[Nelson Famadas]]
* [[List of governors of Puerto Rico]]
* [[Voting rights in Puerto Rico]]
* [[List of Hispanic Americans in the United States Congress]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{CongBio|R000417}}
* {{C-SPAN|26200}}
*[https://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/congress/romerobarcelo.html Hispanic Americans in Congress: Carlos Romero-Barceló]
*[http://www.nlc.org The National League of Cities]

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{{s-aft|rows=2|after=[[Baltasar Corrada del Río]]}}
|-
{{s-ttl|title=[[New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico|New Progressive]] nominee for [[Governor of Puerto Rico]]|years=[[Puerto Rican general election, 1976|1976]], [[Puerto Rican general election, 1980|1980]], [[Puerto Rican general election, 1984|1984]]}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Presidents of the New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico)|Chair of the Puerto Rico New Progressive Party]]|years=1989–1991}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Shadow congressperson|U.S. Shadow Senator (Seat 2) from Puerto Rico]]|years=2017–2021|alongside=[[Zoraida Fonalledas]]}}
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{{s-end}}

{{Puerto Rico Governors}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Romero Barcelo, Carlos}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century mayors of places in Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Democratic Party governors of Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Governors of Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Mayors of San Juan, Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:New Progressive Party members of the Senate of Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico) politicians]]
[[Category:Politicians from San Juan, Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Phillips Exeter Academy alumni]]
[[Category:Presidents of the New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico)]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican lawyers]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican party leaders]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican people of Catalan descent]]
[[Category:Statehood movement in Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Resident commissioners of Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:University of Puerto Rico alumni]]
[[Category:Yale University alumni]]
[[Category:Infectious disease deaths in Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Deaths from urinary tract infection]]
[[Category:Deaths from sepsis in the United States]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico]]