Wednesday Feb 11, 2026

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.

Lawmaker to oppose Aguada park transfer to Aguadilla

By THE STAR STAFF

Along‑simmering dispute over who truly controls Parque Colón has once again pushed the neighboring municipa lities of Aguada and Aguadilla into the spotlight.

The park, a small but symbolically charged stretch of coastal land, sits inside Aguada’s borders but for decades Aguadilla has maintained it, fueling friction rooted in a territorial split dating back to the 18th century.

On Tuesday, Rep. Odalys González González threw a decisive wrench into a proposal that would officially transfer the park and its structures to Aguadilla. She announced she will vote against the measure, warning that the deal may do more than settle a local disagreement it could weaken one of the foundational principles of Puerto Rico’s municipal system: territorial integrity.

González argued that approving the transfer would “nor malize” the trading of public assets between municipalities, a precedent she believes could have far‑reaching consequences. Public property, she stressed, carries fiduciary and administrative responsibilities that belong to the municipality where it physi cally resides -- responsibilities that shouldn’t be shuffled around through one‑off legislation.

Although she acknowledged Aguadilla’s years of maintenance and agreed that the town deserves recognition for shouldering that burden, González was firm: Parque Colón is in Aguada, and ultimately Aguada must take ownership of its rehabilitation and management. The solution, she said, lies in collaboration not redrawing practical boundaries.

The legislator said her concerns extend beyond that single park. Altering responsibilities tied to municipal borders, Gon

Parque Colón, a small but symbolically charged stretch of coastal land, sits inside Aguada’s borders -- but for decades Aguadilla has maintained it, fueling friction rooted in a territorial split dating back to the 18th century.

zález warned, risks destabilizing territorial governance itself. Decisions involving land, jurisdiction, and public assets shape institutional precedent, and precedent, she emphasized, is not something to be taken lightly.

González said she intends to closely monitor any future legislative or administrative actions involving the park to ensure Aguada’s territorial integrity remains intact. She also floated an alternative path one that recognizes Aguadilla’s contributions while safeguarding Aguada’s jurisdictional borders and promo ting cooperative, resource‑driven solutions without reshaping municipal lines.

Meanwhile, both towns have historically claimed to be the site of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in 1493, though that is not a modern territorial border dispute.

By THE STAR STAFF

The Puerto Rico Telecommunications Bureau (PRTB) has ap proved the Secure Telecommunications Network initiative, an effort aimed at addressing the maintenance, repair and removal of telecommunications infrastructure that is unused or in a condition that poses a risk to public safety, the agency announced earlier this week.

As part of the initiative, the PRTB will hold a series of regional public hearings to coordinate with regulated companies, munici palities and the public on an action plan to identify abandoned cables, deteriorated poles and other compromised infrastructure in various communities across the island.

“The goal is to establish a coordinated plan to ensure that telecommunications infrastructure is safe and appropriate for our communities,” PRTB Chairman Osvaldo Soto García said in a written statement.

The official noted that the initiative is being developed under Law 213 1996 and seeks to ensure that companies assume respon

sibility for maintaining, repairing or removing their infrastructure that has been abandoned or poses a danger to public safety.

The regional public hearings will be held next Tuesday in Aguadilla, Wednesday in Aibonito, Thursday in Las Piedras and Friday in San Juan. The hearings will receive input from industry representatives, mayors and citizens.

Those interested in participating as witnesses must notify the PRTB of their intention on or before this Thursday, Feb 12. In addition, written comments are being accepted through March 2.

Section of PR-670 in Manatí named after Hall of Fame-bound Beltrán

By THE STAR STAFF

Gov. Jenniffer González Colón signed a resolution Tuesday designating a section of highway PR-670 in Manatí as “Carlos Iván Beltrán Avenue,” in recognition of the former Major League Baseball player’s career and his recent election to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The designation applies to the section of the roadway that runs in front of the Manatí Acropolis, as established by Senate Joint Resolution 122, which, with the governor’s signature, became Joint Resolution 9-2026.

“Today we honor one of our greatest

Major League Baseball legends, a man born and raised here in Manatí, who, through hard work, discipline, and dedication, became a role model for our youth,” González Colón said at a press conference.

Beltrán, a native of Manatí, enjoyed a 20-season career in Major League Baseball after being selected in the second round of the 1995 draft at the age of 18. Throughout his career, he was recognized with numerous accolades, including the American League Rookie of the Year award in 1999, three Gold Gloves, two Silver Slugger awards, nine All-Star selections, and the Roberto Clemente Award in 2013.

“It was always very important for me to send a message to the youth of Puerto Rico through my Major League career,” Beltrán said.

Manatí Mayor José Sánchez González noted that Beltrán became the first person from the northern coastal town to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

On Jan. 20, Beltrán was elected to the Hall of Fame with 84% of the vote, becoming the sixth Puerto Rican to achieve the honor, joining Roberto Clemente, Orlando “Peruchín” Cepeda, Roberto Alomar, Iván Rodríguez and Edgar Martínez.

The designation of a stretch of highway PR670 in Manatí as “Carlos Iván Beltrán Avenue” applies to the section of the roadway that runs in front of the Manatí Acropolis in the northern coastal town.

Congressman requests probe into Bad Bunny’s halftime show

By THE STAR STAFF

U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) on Tuesday attacked the halftime show presented by Puerto Rican urban music performer Bad Bunny at Sunday’s Super Bowl.

The freshman lawmaker whose district covers part of Nashville is requesting that the House Energy and Commerce Committee launch a formal congressional inquiry into the National Football League and NBC immediately for their prior knowledge, deliberate approval, and facilitation of the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show, which he said featured explicit displays of sexual acts and

lyrics on national television that represent a clear violation of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) guidelines.

“The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show was pure smut, brazenly aired on national television for every American family to witness,” Ogles said. “Children were forced to endure explicit displays of gay sexual acts, women gyrating provocatively, and Bad Bunny shamelessly grabbing his crotch while dry-humping the air. And if that weren’t outrageous enough, the performance’s lyrics openly glorified sodomy and countless other unspeakable depravities. These flagrant, indecent acts are illegal to be displayed on public airways.”

“That is why I am requesting that the Energy and Commerce Committee launch a formal congressional inquiry into the National Football League and NBC immediately for their prior knowledge, deliberate approval, and facilitation of this indecent broadcast,” Ogles added. “American culture will not be mocked or corrupted without consequence.” In the letter, he said the halftime performance, headlined by Bad Bunny, was aired live during prime-time hours on over-the-air television and viewed by tens of millions of Americans, including a substantial number of children and families. The Super Bowl is consistently the largest family viewing event in American media.

Governor: Removal of barge will happen when sea conditions improve

Gov. Jenniffer González Colón said authorities including the U.S. Coast Guard “are estimating that weather conditions should improve by Wednesday or Thursday, God willing, so that they can carry out the removal” of an empty fuel barge that ran aground in San Juan Bay on Monday.

(Facebook via Jenniffer González Colón)

By THE STAR STAFF

The removal of a fuel barge that ran aground in San Juan Bay near El Morro will depend on improved sea conditions, due to the strong waves that were hindering efforts to remove it from the entrance to the bay, Gov. Jenniffer González Colón said Tuesday.

“The waves are 10 to 12 feet high, so that makes it difficult to remove,” the governor told reporters at a press conference in Manatí. “They are estimating that weather conditions should improve by Wednesday or Thursday, God willing, so that they can carry out the removal.”

González Colón noted that the

256-foot-long barge was not carrying fuel cargo. The president of the company that owns the vessel, Harbor Bunkering, said Monday that the barge was empty when it ran aground.

“Thank God it was empty,” the governor said. “It was coming to refuel in Puerto Rico, coming from St. Thomas. Obviously, it was empty, but it has residual diesel fuel on the upper deck, on the surface of the vessel, for pump operations. It’s not fuel cargo.”

González Colón said the Coast Guard is in charge of handling the incident and pointed out with relief that the stranded vessel has a double hull.

Earlier on Tuesday, Rep. José Aponte Hernández, who chairs the Committee on Federal and Veterans Affairs in the island

House of Representatives, said he will be evaluating the situation going forward.

“Although preliminary data points to a broken tow cable as the cause of the incident, the truth is that we don’t really know why it happened,” Aponte Hernández said. “However, we are closely monitoring the situation, including the barge removal process, as well as any potential fuel spill at the entrance to San Juan Bay.”

The veteran legislator added that the accident “confirms our insistence on requiring the highest safety measures for navigation near and within the bay, including the appropriate use and number of tugboats.”

“This committee will study yesterday afternoon’s incident in great detail,” he said.

Multisector group backs 2 measures that seek health parity for territories

By THE STAR STAFF

Amultisector task force created by Gov. Jenniffer González Colón has endorsed two federal legislative mea sures aimed at advancing health funding equality for Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories.

The first measure, House Resolution (HR) 6031, was introduced by Resident Commissioner Juan Pablo Hernández Rivera and had previously been filed by González Colón during her tenure in Congress. Known as the Medicare Advantage Integrity Act of 2025, the bill seeks to implement temporary geographic adjustments to certain Medicare Advantage payment formulas, reduce dis parities in provider reimbursements, and ensure that a portion of payment increases is dedicated to covering patients’ basic benefits. According to proponents, the legislation could directly benefit more than 670,000 Medicare Advantage enrollees on the island.

The second proposal, HR 256, known as the SAVE Act, was introduced by delegate

James Moylan (R Guam) with Hernández Rivera as a co‑author. The measure forms part of a broader congressional effort to secure equitable treatment for all U.S. ter ritories in federal health programs. Support for the bill has come from a coalition of stakeholders seeking long‑term stability in funding structures for Medicaid and Medi

care across the territories.

Both measures were endorsed during the inaugural meeting of the Multisector Working Group established under Execu tive Order 2026‑006. The group’s mission is to address long‑standing inequities in Puerto Rico’s federal health funding and to safeguard continued coverage for the more than 1.3 million island residents enrolled in the government’s Vital health plan.

Participants in the meeting included representatives from the public and private sectors as well as nonprofit organizations linked to the health system. Among those in attendance were Hernández Rivera, La Fortaleza Chief of Staff and Fiscal Agency & Financial Advisory Authority Executive Director Francisco Domenech, Puerto Rico Health Secretary Víctor Ramos Otero, Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration Executive Director Gabriella Boffelli, and Health Insurance Administration Executive Director Carlos Santiago, who also heads the Medicaid program on the island.

Health sector leaders emphasized the need for a unified approach and coordi

nated strategy as federal deadlines draw near. Ricardo Hernández Rivera, CEO of the Menonita Health System, noted that the greatest challenge lies in gathering sufficient data, but underscored that clear strategic alignment could lead to tangible results.

Other participants highlighted the re al‑world impact of federal health programs on patients. María Cristi of the American Cancer Society noted that most cancer patients in Puerto Rico rely exclusively on the Vital plan, with more than 140,000 in dividuals having received treatment thanks to its coverage.

The discussion unfolds at a critical moment for Puerto Rico, as the island’s enhanced Medicaid funding remains guaranteed only through fiscal year 2027. Current federal law sets annual caps of $3.4 billion for fiscal year (FY) 2025, $3.6 billion for FY 2026 and $3.8 billion for FY 2027. Without permanent legislative action before those provisions expire, Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico could plummet to pre‑pandemic levels, estimated at roughly $400 million annually.

Bondholders ask court to compel fiscal board to provide PREPA revenue data

By THE STAR STAFF

The bondholder group in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s (PREPA) bank ruptcy case is asking the federal court to compel the Financial Oversight and Man agement Board to turn over documents and testimony related to PREPA’s post‑petition net revenues, figures that could determine whether bondholders are entitled to an administrative expense claim topping $3.7 billion.

In a reply filed Feb. 6, the bondholders argue that the Court explicitly authorized discovery aimed at resolving the central factual dispute in the administrative expense motion: how much net revenue PREPA generated after entering Title III bankruptcy in 2017. PREPA’s own monthly operating reports (MORs) reflect more than $3.7 billion in post‑petition net revenues through fiscal year 2023. But the oversight board now contends that the reports are inaccurate and that, once recalculated, net revenues are “less than zero.”

The bondholders say the oversight board has refused to produce the data and backup materials supporting that recalculation.

“There is no conceivable basis for the Board to withhold such information,” they wrote, em phasizing that the court never barred discovery

into the oversight board’s current net‑revenue calculations.

The filing asserts that the oversight board is attempting to prevent disclosure of doc uments that could show PREPA’s historical methodology for calculating net revenues was consistent methodology the board is now challenging. The bondholders seek: depositions of PREPA officials with personal knowledge of how the net‑revenue figures in the MORs were generated, evidence confirming PREPA’s historical practice for calculating net revenues and current expenses, and financial data from PREPA’s offering statements relating to revenue and expense metrics.

The oversight board has objected to those requests, calling them burdensome. But the bondholders argue that the board has offered no evidence to support those claims and, in some cases, could resolve the issue simply by con firming whether responsive documents exist.

A major point of contention involves bil lions of dollars in capital spending that the oversight board deducts from revenues in its revised calculations. According to the bond holders, many of those expenditures are being covered or will be reimbursed by federal disaster‑recovery funds. Because PREPA itself will not ultimately pay those amounts, the

bondholders say they cannot be classified as “necessary operating expenses” under the Trust Agreement or under Bankruptcy Code Section 928(b). Alternatively, the bondholders argue, if the federal reimbursements count as “moneys received,” they should be treated as revenues instead of reducing net revenues.

The oversight board, the filing notes, has pro duced large volumes of documents including public filings, material already in bondholders’ possession, and “scores of scanned and virtually illegible” invoices for one‑time costs but has not provided the actual calculations or expla nations behind its assertion that PREPA’s net revenues are negative.

Bondholders also asked the board to stipulate that PREPA did not prepare annual budgets required under Section 504 of the Trust Agreement during the post‑petition period, something they say would impose no burden. The oversight board declined to do so, which the reply characterizes as another example of obstructing discovery on facts not genuinely in dispute.

The bondholders argue that the board is attempting “to prevent the Bondholders from expeditiously proving facts that are not actually disputed.” They are asking the court to order production of the outstanding discovery so the

parties and the court can evaluate PREPA’s true post‑petition financial performance an issue that will shape the outcome of the long‑run ning bankruptcy case and potential recovery for bondholders.

A group of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority Bondholders say the Financial Oversight and Management Board has refused to produce the data and backup materials supporting a recalculation that puts the authority’s net revenues at “less than zero.” (Facebook via Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica)

The San Juan Daily Star

Wednesday, February 11, 2026 5

New York City nurses reach deal to end strike at two hospital systems

By JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN

Nurses in New York City reached a tentative agreement earlier this week to end a strike at two of three major health systems that has lasted a month and involved nearly 15,000 workers, according to their union.

A deal was reached with the Mount Sinai Health System as well as Montefiore Medical Center, and covers 10,500 of the striking health care workers. The union and other people with direct knowledge of the negotiations said that the nurses will receive a raise of about 12% over three years.

The strike continued at NewYork-Presbyterian/ Columbia, the union said.

The tentative agreements will be put to a vote of the nurses over the next few days. If the deal is approved, the striking nurses will return to work within 72 hours of the vote.

The walkout has sent a jolt through New York’s medical system. Elective surgeries were canceled. Some patients were transferred to hospitals unaffected by the strike. And a few thousand travel nurses were hired on weeklong contracts to do the jobs of the striking health care workers.

The strike against some of the city’s leading medical institutions — including the main campus of Mount Sinai Hospital along with two other major hospitals within the Mount Sinai system — came at a steep cost. Cumulatively, the hospitals spent more than $100 million to hire temporary nurses.

Denash Forbes, a nurse in the intensive care unit at Mount Sinai West and a union official, said that after a month of protesting in numbingly cold weather, the tentative pact with the hospital represented a historic victory.

“Nurses have never gone out this long,” Forbes said. “We stood our ground on the things that mattered to our patients, to us, and for the community, so I think this spoke volumes.”

In an email to the staff of the Mount Sinai Health System, Dr. Brendan G. Carr, the CEO, said that once the agreement was approved by union members, the striking nurses would start returning to their posts. He also acknowledged the fissures left by the walkout.

“This process has been difficult for all of us,” Carr wrote. “I commit to you that we will heal the organization together in the service of continuing to help people to live longer and better lives.”

The negotiations between the hospitals and the nurses union, the New York State Nurses Association,unfolded in a lower level of the Javits Convention Center during marathon bargaining sessions even as the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show filled much of the convention center.

The main sticking points involved pay, minimum staffing levels in hospital wards and protections to reduce workplace violence.

“Now, nurses at Montefiore and Mount Sinai systems are heading back to the bedside with our heads held high after winning fair tentative contracts,” Nancy Hagans, president

of the nurses union, said in a statement.

Hagans said the tentative agreements “maintain enforceable safe staffing ratios, improve protections from workplace violence and maintain health benefits with no additional out-of-pocket costs for front-line nurses.”

The union’s executive director, Pat Kane, said that the nurses “sacrificed their own pay and health care while on strike to defend patient care for all of New York.”

On Monday, a few details emerged regarding the ongoing negotiations at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia. The hospital issued a statement asserting that it was willing to pay the same wage increases agreed to by the other hospital systems.

“We look forward to bringing our nurses back to care for our patients,” Angela Karafazli, a NewYork-Presbyterian spokesperson, said.

Beth Loudin, a neonatal nurse on the union’s bargaining committee at NewYork-Presbyterian, said that a few unresolved issues stood in the way of reaching an agreement with the hospital.

The two sides, for instance, had yet to reach a resolution on minimum nurse staffing levels. Loudin said the nurses needed further job security protections, especially in light of layoffs at NewYork-Presbyterian that cut about 2% of the workforce.

Jaiveer Grewal, a nurse at NewYork-Presbyterian and a union official, said the hospital and nurses union had bargained on Sunday, but that the nurses still needed solutions for three major demands in writing before they would agree to leave the picket line. “Right now, the fight is for staffing, staffing enforcement and job security,” Grewal said.

The strike proved to be an unexpected test for the city’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who took office not quite two weeks before it began and twice appeared in support

of the nurses on their picket line. Hagans said that she received a message from Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mamdani last month after negotiations had stalled, urging the parties to return to the bargaining table.

The strike left many nurses feeling betrayed by the governor. On Jan. 9, Hochul had signed an executive order that declared an emergency because of health care staffing shortages, which allowed the hospitals to hire out-of-state nurses to work during the strike, even if they didn’t have New York licenses. Thousands of travel nurses worked short-term contracts for about $9,000 a week. Many nurses said that Hochul’s action had undermined the strike by alleviating the pressure on hospitals. On Feb. 2, nurses marched to her office in New York City.

That same day, Hochul extended the order but only for two days. The extension stated that it was to ensure patient safety, not “to afford leverage to any party in collective bargaining.” She subsequently extended the order several more times.

After three weeks of halting talks that saw little progress, the two sides began making headway last week, with negotiations extending late into the night some days. Negotiators on both sides spent days hashing out what security systems hospitals would place at entryways. At some hospitals, such as Mount Sinai, nurses wanted metal detectors and armed police officers. Hospital officials, meanwhile, wanted to rely on weapon detection systems that used artificial intelligence and a range of sensors — but did not create long lines or waits.

It was only in recent days that the two sides made much headway on the other core issues, including staffing minimums and pay.

The strike dragged on far longer than many nurses had anticipated. When the strike began, many had expected a repeat of 2023, when a smaller group of nurses walked out and hospitals were buoyed by federal bailout money that subsidized them during the coronavirus pandemic. Hailed as heroes who held the line during the deadly first wave of COVID-19 amid widespread burnout and deteriorating working conditions, they had already won agreements to significantly boost their pay: raises of nearly 20% over a three-year contract.

Continues on page 6

Andeno Co

Tasa mínima, promedio ponderado, y máxima para préstamos personales pequeños otorgados para la semana que terminó el sábado, 7 de febrero de 2026

Masked person came to Guthrie’s doorstep before abduction, videos show

By NICHOLAS BOGEL-BURROUGHS

New images and videos released Tuesday showed a masked, armed person at Nancy Guthrie’s doorstep on the night she was abducted, the first significant break in the search for the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie.

The black-and-white footage released by the FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department depicts a person wearing a ski mask, gloves, a backpack and what appears to be a holstered handgun outside Nancy Guthrie’s home, just north of Tucson. Investigators said the person was armed.

In a video from Guthrie’s doorbell camera, the person can be seen approaching Guthrie’s door and trying to block the camera with a gloved hand. The person then grabs plants from beside the front stoop and — holding what appears to be a flashlight in their mouth — tries to use them to obscure the camera. Police have said the camera was disconnected shortly before the abduction Feb. 1.

The Pima County sheriff said last week that investigators were unable to retrieve any footage from Guthrie’s surveillance cameras because she did not pay for a subscription that would have stored the video. But a joint statement from the sheriff’s department and FBI on Tuesday morning said that investigators had eventually recovered the video Tuesday morning by accessing “residual data.”

The videos are the strongest pieces of evidence yet that might help identify a suspect in the abduction of Guthrie, as the search entered its 10th day.

Savannah Guthrie shared the footage on Instagram and wrote that her family believes Nancy Guthrie is still alive. “Someone out there recognizes this person,” she wrote. “We believe she is still out there. Bring her home.”

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said that President Donald Trump had watched the footage with “disgust” and that he encouraged anyone with information to call the FBI. The agency has offered a $50,000 reward for Guthrie’s return or for information leading to the conviction of her abductor.

Police have said Guthrie’s doorbell camera was disconnected at 1:47 a.m. on the day of her abduction and that her pacemaker disconnected from her cellphone — indicating that she was taken from the home — 41 minutes later.

Since Guthrie’s abduction, two supposed ransom letters have been sent to news outlets, and Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings have pleaded in videos for their mother’s kidnapper to return her, saying they would pay a ransom. It remains unclear if the notes sent to the news outlets were actually sent by the abductor.

Nancy Guthrie is mentally sharp but has trouble moving and takes daily medication without which she could die, her family has said.

In an Instagram video that was released Monday, Savannah Guthrie asked the public to report anything strange to authorities, whether in Tucson or far away.

“She was taken,” Guthrie said of her mother, “and we don’t know where.”

Chronic understaffing had left nurses in hospitals across the city with too many patients to properly care for all of them. That long-standing problem worsened as the virus thinned

out the nursing workforce.

the Pima County

New images and videos released on Tuesday showed a masked, armed person at Nancy Guthrie’s

on the night she was abducted, the first significant break in the search for the 84-year-old mother of the “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie. (Pima County Sheriff’s Department via The New York Times)

The 2023 contract propelled starting salaries at major Manhattan hospitals to about $120,000 in the last year. Many nurses make far more, with some hospitals paying nurses on average about $160,000, when overtime and years of experience are factored in.

By going on strike in 2023, the nurses locked in an agreement on nurse-to-patient ratios with enforcement mechanisms. When hospitals left units chronically understaffed, nurses could force administrators to pay them extra. Nurses in the Mount Sinai Health System were awarded $4.7 million from arbitrators in 2024 in nine understaffing cases.

Hospitals have chafed at those payments and sought

to chip away at them. NewYork-Presbyterian went to federal court to appeal a similar arbitration ruling.

The nurses union said that the tentative agreements Monday will preserve the union’s ability to enforce staffing levels.

Observers were reluctant to declare either side a clear winner or loser.

“It sounds like a solid settlement,” Harry Katz, a professor of collective bargaining at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said. “I’d be very hesitant to say one side won and the other side lost — it seems like a solid compromise.”

Many of the nurses lost several weeks’ pay. The hospitals had to hire short-term contract nurses and treated fewer patients than they would have otherwise. The raises that were agreed to are consistent with the raises that unions are generally achieving through collective bargaining, Katz said.

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL

What replaces deported immigrant workers? Not Americans.

By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM

Most American dairy cows are milked by immigrants. On Dale Hemminger’s farm in upstate New York, the cows are milked by robots. When a cow wants to be milked, it walks up to a machine that cleans its udder, attaches cups to its teats, draws the milk and dispenses a treat.

In a barn that Hemminger plans to open this year, other robots will roam the floor like little automated pooper scoopers, picking up manure.

President Donald Trump should pay a visit. He might learn something about the limits of his plan to improve the fortunes of U.S. workers by forcing immigrants to leave the country.

There is a big hole in the seductively simple argument that Trump’s policy will push employers to hire Americans: For many jobs, the cheaper and more likely replacement is a robot. And the jobs that can’t be done by robots? Many will simply leave the country.

Farmers, in particular, are not facing a choice between employing immigrants and hiring Americans. Many of the jobs performed by immigrants are best understood as a kind of mirage. They exist only because immigrants are available to perform them. The most important reason, of course, is that recent immigrants often work for much lower wages than Americans. They also are more willing to do the dirty, dangerous and demanding jobs most Americans won’t even consider.

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my nonrobot customers, but it’s not the most desirable job,” said Whitney Davis, the automation specialist at Finger Lakes Dairy Services in upstate New York. “Hot in the summer, cold in the winter, cow manure — and on top of that, it’s really an assembly line job. People don’t know you can make more money milking cows than at McDonald’s, and even if they did, they still wouldn’t do it.”

Employers have been replacing workers with machines at least since the invention of the plow about 6,000 years ago. In the United States in recent decades, the ready availability of low-cost immigrant labor slowed that march of progress. Milking robots are widely used on European dairy farms, but they are still a novelty in the United States.

The immigration crackdown is changing that calculus. More than 750,000 immigrants left the U.S. labor force during the first half of 2025, according to the Pew Research Center, creating a growing challenge for industries that rely heavily on those workers. Dairy farming is near the top of that list: Immigrants make up more than half of that sector’s labor force.

Hemminger was an early adopter, installing his first milking machines in 2007 after authorities arrested one of his workers. “I just decided I wasn’t going to risk having both my vegetables and the dairy both be dependent on a labor force whose paperwork could be challenged,” he said. “That was the main driver.”

Before he began using the robots, Hemminger’s farm produced about 800,000 pounds of milk per hour of human labor. Today the farm produces 2.5 million pounds of milk per hour of human labor. He employs half as many people as he would otherwise need — a dozen workers to manage his herd of more than 2,000 dairy cows.

Artificial intelligence is expanding the range of work that can be performed by robots. Companies are rolling out machines like the LaserWeeder G2, which looks like a row of white metal filing cabinets mounted on a tractor but is basically a real-life Terminator: cameras for eyes, two Nvidia microchips for a brain and a pair of laser guns to zap weeds. It can weed as much cropland in a day as roughly 75 workers. And it doesn’t need rest.

Other industries that historically have relied on low-cost immigrant labor are racing to automate. White Castle is installing robots to staff the fry stations at its fast food restaurants, replacing one worker on each shift. Amazon, the nation’s second-largest private employer, estimates that automation will obviate more than half a million of the company’s workers by 2033.

Automating agriculture would be a worthy goal for any administration to pursue. It has long been one of the great engines of human progress. The American Farm Bureau Federation calculates that in 1940, the labor of one farmer provided the food for about 20 people. Today the labor of one farmer, amplified by a wide range of technology, provides food for more than 160 people. That has freed a lot of people to do a lot of other things with their lives.

In 2024 the average hourly farm wage was $18.12, about 60% of the average hourly wage for nonfarm work, according to the Department of Agriculture. Even if the jobs paid $30 an

hour, would Americans return to the farm?

It seems unlikely. In 2011, of the roughly 500,000 unemployed North Carolina residents required to apply for work to get state benefits, only 268 applied for farm jobs, according to an analysis by economist Michael Clemens. Farms hired almost all of those applicants, but only two-thirds showed up on the first day, and only seven worked through the harvest.

The bottom line is simple, Hemminger said: If American farms cannot import labor from other countries, Americans will have to import the fruit of that labor instead.

Notwithstanding the president’s bluster, the Trump administration has been quietly trying to accommodate the reality that American farms need immigrant labor, at least for the foreseeable future.

In November the administration announced changes that are expected to allow more than half a million seasonal workers to enter the country each year — an increase of more than 25%. In a regulatory filing, the Department of Agriculture said the expansion was necessary because “qualified and eligible U.S. workers will not make themselves available in sufficient numbers.”

The chaos, the false hope, the frantic efforts to fix problems you’re in the process of creating — it’s all so painful and so pointless.

Another administration could have promised that shifting away from immigrant labor would deliver real benefits without misleading Americans about the nature of those benefits. It could have sought to help family farms — for example, by providing low-cost financing for automation. It could have dealt openly and fairly with immigrants who will continue to milk many of the nation’s cows for years to come.

Evalúan crear una “Procuraduría Energética”

POR CYBERNEWS

EL CAPITOLIO – El presidente de la Comisión de Gobierno de la Cámara de Representantes, Víctor Parés, junto al presidente del Negociado de Energía de Puerto Rico, Edison Avilés, iniciaron el martes, la evaluación de una medida para crear una Procuraduría Energética dirigida a la defensa de los derechos de los consumidores del sistema eléctrico.

Según explicó Parés, la propuesta surge ante la ausencia de una entidad con poderes comparables al Departamento de Asuntos del Consumidor para atender querellas relacionadas exclusivamente con el servicio de energía eléctrica.

“Un consumidor del sistema eléctrico no tiene hoy una plataforma con los poderes en ley y reglamentación

– El cuerpo de un hombre que fue arrastrado por las corrientes marinas fue localizado el martes en el área de la Cueva del Indio, en Arecibo,

que tiene DACO. Existen mecanismos como la Oficina Independiente de Protección al Consumidor y la Oficina de Energía Renovable en DACO, pero no hay una entidad única dedicada a la defensa del consumidor energético, y eso lo vamos a cambiar”, dijo Parés en declaraciones escritas.

El legislador informó que su equipo trabaja en un borrador de proyecto de ley que será discutido con los comisionados del Negociado de Energía antes de su radicación formal. La propuesta contempla una entidad con facultad para atender querellas sobre asuntos energéticos, imponer multas y contar con personal especializado para evaluar controversias técnicas, además de mecanismos de mediación.

Avilés respaldó la iniciativa y adelantó que el Negociado de Energía evaluará la propuesta “con urgencia” una vez sea presentada.

Parés recordó que, aunque la Oficina Independiente de Protección al Consumidor fue creada mediante la Ley 57-2014, conocida como la Ley de Transformación y Alivio Energético, esta carece de los poderes que tendría una procuraduría bajo el amparo de la Asamblea Legislativa.

Localizan cuerpo de hombre arrastrado por el mar en Arecibo

tras una búsqueda realizada por varias agencias.

Según informaron las autoridades, el hallazgo ocurrió en el área de las rocas, donde buzos de la Unidad de Fuerzas Unidas de Rápida Acción participaron en las labores junto a personal de Manejo de Emergencias y Rescate municipal y estatal.

Las labores de búsqueda se activaron luego del reporte de personas desaparecidas en la zona costera, lo que dio paso a un operativo que se extendió por varias horas hasta dar con el cuerpo.

Al momento, la persona localizada no ha sido identificada por un familiar, por lo que será transportada al Instituto de Ciencias Forenses para los proce-

dimientos correspondientes.

La investigación quedó a cargo del agente Carlos Cruz, adscrito a la División de Homicidios del Cuerpo de Investigaciones Criminales de Arecibo, en unión al fiscal Ismael Ortiz Roldán.

Mientras tanto, las autoridades mantienen esfuerzos en el área ante la posibilidad de que otra persona continúe desaparecida.

La Policía exhortó a quien tenga información que ayude en el esclarecimiento de casos a comunicarse al 787-343-2020, o escribir a través de X en @PRPDNoticias o en Facebook en www.facebook.com/prpdgov.

Departamento de Educación abre matrícula en línea para el año escolar 2026-2027

POR CYBERNEWS

S AN JUAN – El secretario del Departamento de Educación, Eliezer Ramos Parés, anunció que el miércoles, 11 de febrero, inicia el proceso de Matrícula en Línea para el año escolar 2026-2027 en las escuelas públicas del país.

El periodo de matrícula estará disponible hasta el 11 de marzo de 2026 a través del portal oficial mimatricula.dde.pr, donde padres, madres o encargados deberán completar el trámite dentro del término establecido.

“Es de suma importancia que los padres completen este proceso dentro del término, ya que nos permite planificar adecuadamente y asegurar los recursos necesarios en cada escuela para el próximo año aca-

démico”, dijo Ramos Parés en declaraciones escritas. Según explicó el Departamento, los usuarios que ya cuenten con una cuenta activa deberán validarla por motivos de seguridad mediante un código de verificación que recibirán en el correo electrónico registrado. En el caso de estudiantes de nuevo ingreso al sistema público, el padre o encargado deberá crear un usuario, establecer una contraseña y completar el proceso de autenticación.

Durante la matrícula, se deberá completar la información del estudiante, aceptar los consentimientos requeridos y seleccionar hasta tres escuelas de preferencia. Una vez sometida la solicitud, el sistema evaluará la disponibilidad de espacio y notificará por correo electrónico la escuela asignada.

El portal también permitirá solicitar servicios de

transportación escolar, los cuales serán evaluados conforme a los criterios establecidos y a la disponibilidad de rutas.

El Departamento de Educación indicó que las solicitudes serán evaluadas durante el mes de marzo y que las notificaciones oficiales a los padres se emitirán en abril. Para orientación o asistencia técnica, los interesados pueden comunicarse al correo electrónico support@ registrok12.com o acudir a la escuela correspondiente o a la Oficina Regional Educativa más cercana.

The San Juan Daily Star

Wednesday, February 11, 2026 9

Bad Bunny brought Toñita, a Brooklyn icon, to the Super Bowl

Maria Antonia Cay, known as Toñita, who is well known among Puerto Ricans in New York City as the owner of the Caribbean Social Club, a popular gathering place in Brooklyn, at the club on July 20, 2023. Toñita was briefly the star of the halftime show at Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, Calif., as the guest of her friend Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio — the Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny. (José A. Alvarado Jr./The New York Times)

By SANDRA E. GARCÍA

There are not many places in New York City where you can feel the heat of Puerto Rico. But at the Caribbean Social Club in Brooklyn, Puerto Ricans have gathered for decades to get a sense of the island, enriched by a serving of arroz con gandules and a shot of cañita, served by none other than Toñita.

Toñita, whose full name is Maria Antonia Cay, is a reminder of a long-gone immigrantrich Williamsburg, a matriarchal figure to all who cross her threshold and a comfort to those who are far from home. And on Sunday night, she was briefly the star of the halftime show at Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, California, as

the guest of her friend Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio — Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny.

One of the songs he performed was “NuevaYol,” a phonetic mix of musical genres that celebrates neighborhoods in New York City with Puerto Rican and Dominican roots — and that includes a shoutout to Cay. At that moment in the song on Sunday, Bad Bunny stepped toward a window in a replica of the Caribbean Social Club’s storefront that had been built on the field. There, Cay herself, small in stature, but unmistakable with her loose blond curls, was waiting to serve him a small red plastic cup and her singular brand of maternal warmth.

That’s what she does at her social club, which is one of the last of its kind in New York

City. The club, in a modest building on Grand Street that Cay owns, has drawn celebrities in recent years, but remains a home base for generations of Puerto Ricans and other Latinos seeking community and connection to their heritage, whether they grew up in New York or elsewhere. Among the city’s many clubs and restaurants that cater to a global citizenry, patrons describe being drawn to the calorsito — or warmth — that the place offers, and they fiercely defend it and its owner. She normally tends bar in the back, distributing $3 beers from her knowing hands, every finger adorned with sparkling baubles.

In January 2025, days after Bad Bunny

Bad Bunny leads a cast of musicians and dancers for the first Super Bowl halftime set performed nearly entirely in Spanish, in Santa Clara, Calif., Feb. 8, 2026. The Puerto Rican superstar’s high-fashion white suit sparked fans to scour the internet for who was behind the outfit. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)

released “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” which won a Grammy for album of the year, he visited the club and partied with Cay and her patrons.

Earlier this year, in an acknowledgment of her influence, Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote to Cay to ask her to join his symbolic inaugural committee.

“For more than 40 years, you have maintained this place as a home for the Puerto Rican community in Williamsburg,” the letter read in Spanish. It added: “During all these years, you have taken care of and represented Puerto Rican life in New York — through music, food, dialogue and community.”

If Bad Bunny’s aim was to portray life in New York as a Puerto Rican during his performance of “NuevaYol,” which samples a 1970s salsa hit by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Cay was an essential component. And while she seemed to be enjoying her moment on the national stage — sharing the halftime show with Lady Gaga, Karol G and Cardi B; smiling in a photograph requested by Ricky Martin — she later acknowledged that she was far from home.

“I’m happier than you all are that you were watching me, because I was missing you all,” Cay, wearing a royal blue suit and green eye shadow, said in Spanish in an Instagram video addressed to her supporters (some of whom had gathered at the club for a Super Bowl watch party). “I missed being with you all in the club or together in your thoughts — together in any way.”

She addressed Bad Bunny directly in a separate video.

“Thank you, Benito, for the invite,” she said. “We had a good time. Thank God we saw you and were able to spend time with you. God bless you and keep triumphing until the end.”

Catherine O’Hara died from pulmonary embolism, death certificate says

By DERRICK BRYSON TAYLOR and MATT STEVENS

Catherine O’Hara, the film and television actress best known for her roles in “Schitt’s Creek,” “Home Alone” and “Beetlejuice,” died of a pulmonary embolism with an underlying cause of rectal cancer, according to a death certificate that was released Monday.

O’Hara died Jan. 30 at age 71 at Saint

John’s Health Center, a hospital in Santa Monica, California. No other underlying causes of death were listed on the certificate, which said she had been cremated.

At the time of O’Hara’s death, Creative Artists Agency, which had represented her, said she had been briefly ill.

O’Hara starred in dozens of films and television shows over a five-decade career. She won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actor’s Guild Award for her role as the

reality-challenged Moira Rose opposite Eugene Levy in the offbeat television comedy “Schitt’s Creek.” Years earlier, in 1982, she won a primetime Emmy for writing on the Canadian sketchcomedy show “SCTV.”

O’Hara’s best-known silver-screen roles were in the “Home Alone” films from the early 1990s, in which she played a stressed-out matriarch trying to shepherd her family on vacation only to leave behind her youngest child, Kevin, played by Macaulay Culkin. Her earsplit-

ting cry of “KEVIN!” quickly took its place in film history.

Her death last month prompted a flood of tributes from across Hollywood. “Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more,” Culkin wrote on social media, referring to his onscreen relationship with O’Hara. Comic actor Martin Short, performing the night of O’Hara’s death in Austin, Texas, called her “the greatest, most brilliant, kindest, sweetest angel that any of us worked with.”

Stocks

S&P 500, Nasdaq dip with economic data, earnings in focus

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq edged down on Tuesday while the Dow notched a fresh record high as investors digested disappointing retail sales figures and waited for a key labor market report.

The S&P 500 communication services sector was weighed down by a 1.5% drop in Alphabet shares, creating the biggest drag for the S&P 500, after Google’s parent said it sold bonds worth $20 billion.

The announcement came as investors have been worrying about the amount of money technology companies say they must spend to support the artificial-intelligence boom, with Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft collectively set to spend hundreds of billions in 2026 as they race for AI dominance.

Meanwhile, U.S. retail sales ⁠unexpectedly stalled in December as households scaled back spending on vehicles and other big-ticket items, suggesting a slower growth path for consumer spending and the economy heading into the new year. The flat reading compared with economist estimates for 0.4% growth.

Trader hopes were raised slightly for a more dovish Federal Reserve with the probability of a one-notch April rate cut up to 36% from 32.2% on Monday, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool. Markets still expect, however, that the central bank will keep rates on hold until June, when President Donald Trump’s Fed chair nominee, Kevin Warsh, would take charge if approved by the U.S. Senate.

Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott, described the disappointing retail data as “bad news is good ⁠news,” particularly for rate-sensitive industry indexes such as utilities and real estate, which were leading the benchmark’s sector gainers.

But the strategist pointed to caution ahead of the delayed but closely watched nonfarm payrolls report, due on Wednesday.

“In anticipation of the jobs report, nobody wants to get too far above their risk budget in the event the number does cause some consternation,” said Luschini.

Potentially adding some angst was White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett’s comment on Monday that U.S. job gains could be lower in the coming months because of slower labor force growth and higher productivity due to AI gains.

At 2:33 p.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 121.50 points, or 0.24%, to 50,257.37, the S&P 500 lost 3.77 points, or 0.05%, to 6,961.05 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 52.09 points, or 0.22%, to 23,186.58.

With the S&P 500 narrowly missing a return to its late Jan-

uary record close on Monday, Janney’s Luschini said: “When a security or an index reapproaches a high level again there’s often some hesitation, some contention that has to take place before it can break through that peak again.”

Gains of 3% in Walt Disney and more than 2% in Home Depot helped propel the blue-chip Dow to a fresh peak, against a drag from Coca-Cola, which fell 1.3%

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after missing Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter revenue.

But trading in software stocks was choppy after last week’s rout, with the S&P 500 software index paring earlier gains of more than 2%. It was last up just 0.4%.

In that space, however, Datadog shares jumped 14% after the cloud-based monitoring and analytics platform beat quarterly estimates.

In the consumer discretionary sector, Marriott was leading gains, up 9% after hitting a record high. The hotel chain projected a 35% jump in fees from co-branded credit cards, as affluent travelers splurge on luxury vacations.

Cuba’s government has lasted 67 years. Will it fall under Trump?

By FRANCES ROBLES and DAVID C. ADAMS

Celebrations broke out in front of Miami’s Versailles restaurant nearly 20 years ago after Fidel Castro announced that he was so sick he had to temporarily step down as president of Cuba.

Cuban exiles rejoiced again two years later when he quit for good — and once more when he died in 2016, though his brother Raúl Castro was president at the time.

Now, the country’s economy is in free fall, its electric grid is failing, millions of its citizens have left and the Cuban government is facing off against perhaps its most menacing foe: President Donald Trump.

Trump has closed off Cuba’s access to oil shipments, helped cripple its vital tourism industry and declared that Cuba’s government is “going down for the count.”

The Trump administration and the many Cuban exiles who have been waiting nearly seven decades for the fall of Cuba’s communist government said they believed this might finally be their moment.

After years of U.S. presidents trying various economic pressure tactics to hasten the demise of the Cuban government, the Trump administration’s cutoff of fuel has raised the ante drastically because oil keeps the country — from public transit to factories to farms — running.

Predictions of the demise of Cuba’s government have been made before, notably after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which had been Cuba’s main benefactor, only to be proved wrong.

But this time, experts say, the survival of Cuba’s government appears very much in doubt.

Members of South Florida’s Cuban exile community say Trump administration officials have been assuring them that the Cuban government’s days are numbered.

The U.S. government “has determined that Cuba must be free before the end of 2026,” said Marcell Felipe, a prominent Cuban exile leader in Miami who chairs the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora and said he had met with U.S. diplomats. “This is a plan in motion.”

Besides oil, Trump’s plans have also largely centered around eliminating Cuba’s access to hard currency from tourism and the country’s medical missions abroad, said a senior State Department official who spoke on the condition that his name not be published in

ment for this article.

The Cuban government has sent mixed messages to the Trump administration, posting a sharply worded message on social media, but also issuing a more tempered statement.

Cuba proposed renewing cooperation with the United States on issues like counterterrorism, anti-money laundering, drug trafficking prevention, cybersecurity, human trafficking and financial crimes.

At the same time, Cuba has also targeted Mike Hammer, the head of the U.S. Embassy in Havana, with small groups of government supporters heckling him and calling him a “murderer.” Hammer’s diplomatic vehicle was surrounded by protesters five times as he left meetings in various Cuban cities, episodes known in Cuba as “acts of repudiation,” the State Department said.

A U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the administration’s interactions with Havana said Cuban officials were nervous because they were starting to realize their revolution was coming to an end.

the government has imprisoned most opposition leaders or driven them into exile.

Peter Kornbluh, an author of a history of secret negotiations between Cuba and the United States, said he believed talks were already underway.

“It makes sense that the U.S. and Cuba are engaged in back channel talks, even if they are the result of criminal coercion from the Trump White House,” said Kornbluh, a critic of U.S. hard-line economic policies. “Dialogue, even under duress, is preferable to overt U.S. aggression and offers a potential off ramp for both sides.”

The 2013 talks during the Obama administration were so secret that not even the State Department knew about them. The discussions, brokered by the Vatican and held there and in Canada, led to the renewal of diplomatic relations and a brief period of increased travel.

order to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters.

Cuba’s tourism industry never recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic in part because of measures by the Trump administration making it harder for Europeans to travel to the United States after visiting Cuba.

After the U.S. military captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Trump halted Venezuelan oil to Cuba. Venezuela had long kept Cuba afloat with 35,000 barrels of oil a day in exchange for medical services by Cuban doctors.

Trump also announced tariffs against any country that sends oil to Cuba. Taken together, the measures effectively cut off the only two suppliers of oil to Cuba — Venezuela and Mexico — just as Cuba has been enduring island-wide power outages. Cuba does produce its own oil, but only enough to meet 40% of its daily needs, and a lack of international shipments would eventually paralyze the country, analysts said.

Trump says the United States is in talks with top Cuban leaders, but has not elaborated.

“Cuba is a failing nation,” Trump told reporters recently. “It has been for a long time, but now it doesn’t have Venezuela to prop it up. So we’re talking to the people from Cuba, the highest people in Cuba, to see what happens.”

The Cuban government declined to com-

The senior State Department official who discussed the White House’s strategy said most of the talks with the Cuban government were around technical issues, like repatriation flights, and were not substantive.

The problem is not that the two sides do not talk, but that there is a fundamental disagreement about what should be on the table, the State Department official said.

If Cuban officials were to approach the Trump administration with significant offers, such as allowing more private enterprise and competing political parties, the administration would be willing to engage more actively, the official said.

The Trump administration, the official said, was seeking discussions similar to talks taking place in Venezuela, where the interim government has agreed to take steps toward economic transformation and democracy.

But that approach would be difficult because there is no Cuban official in place like Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, who has been willing to placate the Trump administration, said Ricardo Zúniga, a former Obama administration official who helped lead secret negotiations with Cuba. Cuba’s government has sidelined any government official who appeared to have political aspirations.

Many experts point out another key challenge if Cuba’s government were to fall: It is unclear who would lead the country because

The discussions centered around the notion that opening Cuba to more private business and improving living conditions would lead to regime change, but the Cuban government ultimately stifled economic opportunities. Trump’s thinking, Zúniga said, is the opposite: that economic and social collapse will make the government fold, too.

“I think they are trying to create a condition of extraordinary stress, similar to a war, in Cuba to try to shake loose offers out of the Cuban government side,” he said. “But the Cubans have no vision for a plan that cuts them out of power.”

Ada Ferrer, a history professor at Princeton University whose book “Cuba, an American History” won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in history, said it was true that past predictions of the fall of the Cuban government had been wrong. But now there is no benefactor waiting in the wings to save Cuba’s crashing economy like Venezuela did after the fall of the Soviet Union.

“This time,” she said, “feels different.”

Jimmy Lai’s 20-year sentence follows Beijing’s playbook on dissent

By DAVID PIERSON

For decades, media mogul Jimmy Lai used his wealth and his newsroom in Hong Kong to criticize Beijing’s authoritarian excesses and give voice to those who hoped for democracy in China.

On Monday, as a court in Hong Kong sentenced him to 20 years in prison, the city made clear that defiance now carries the same price as it does across the border.

The landmark ruling completes a yearslong effort by Beijing to dismantle the influence of a self-proclaimed “troublemaker” whom it blamed for masterminding Hong Kong’s prodemocracy protests nearly seven years ago. Critics say Beijing declared Lai guilty before he could ever receive a fair trial.

The decision reached far beyond one man’s fate. Along with Lai, six of his former employees at the shuttered Apple Daily newspaper were sentenced to terms of up to 10 years, establishing a grim new benchmark for the city’s once freewheeling media. While the government maintains that these cases are about national security, the scale of the penalties underscores the narrowing window for independent journalism in what was once Asia’s media hub. By applying the same heavy penalties usually reserved for dissidents on the mainland to a local media tycoon and his editors, Beijing has also accelerated the erosion of a political arrangement that was supposed to preserve Hong Kong’s Western-style liberties, critics say.

“The sentences handed down to Lai and his colleagues are very harsh, even by mainland standards,” said Elaine Pearson, the Asia director for Human Rights Watch. Pearson noted that only one Chinese dissident has received a longer prison term than Lai: Ilham Tohti, an economics professor who advocated for the Uyghur minority in China’s far western Xinjiang region and was sentenced to life in prison in 2014.

Xi Jinping, the most powerful Chinese leader in decades, has waged a far-reaching

crackdown on any vestiges of dissent in his country. He has targeted not only human rights activists but also business tycoons, intellectuals and members of the party elite, some of whom have been sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison.

While Hong Kong has a separate legal system from the mainland, Lai’s prosecution has highlighted how the lines tend to blur when it comes to the city’s national security laws, Pearson added.

“These national security trials are ultimately serving a political goal of extinguishing dissent and sending a message to anyone who dares to criticize the Chinese Communist Party,” she said.

The sentence is effectively a life term for Lai, who is 78 years old and in deteriorating health, his family said. “This is a heartbreakingly cruel sentence,” his daughter, Claire Lai, said in a statement. “If this sentence is carried

out, he will die a martyr behind bars.”

In court, Lai betrayed little surprise even as the announcement was met with weeping among some supporters in the public gallery. Dressed in a white shirt and white jacket, Lai smiled and waved at his wife. He made a heart gesture with his hands to his supporters. In many ways, he behaved like a man who was resigned to a preordained sentence.

The judges wrote that Jimmy Lai deserved severe punishment because he was “no doubt the mastermind” of the conspiracies he was convicted of orchestrating. They also said they had reduced his sentence by 25 months after considering his health issues, which include diabetes and high blood pressure.

Lai was convicted in December of “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces,” a charge that stemmed from meetings he had held with politicians in the United States. He was also found guilty of conspiracy to publish seditious material in Apple

Daily, the now-closed Chinese-language, pro-democracy newspaper he founded in 1995.

China has branded Lai a traitor seeking to undermine the Communist Party’s rule over Hong Kong and China. They have accused him of being the “black hand” behind the anti-government protests that engulfed Hong

Kong in 2019.

Legal experts and human rights groups say Lai had no chance of a fair trial. National security cases are heard by judges handpicked by Hong Kong’s leader, rather than by juries. Communist Party-owned media outlets in the city also declared Lai guilty well before his trial began.

Western governments have called for the release of Lai, a British citizen, and described his trial as politically motivated. Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain said he raised Lai’s case during a meeting with China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, in Beijing last month. Speaking at a British parliamentary hearing last week, Lai’s son, Sebastien Lai, criticized Starmer’s government for not making his father’s release a condition of the visit to China.

Britain’s foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, on Monday called on Hong Kong to release Jimmy Lai on humanitarian grounds, citing his health troubles. Cooper said his case was being discussed between the British and Chinese governments at the “highest levels” following Starmer’s visit, and that the two countries would “rapidly engage further” now that Lai had been sentenced.

President Donald Trump has said that he has asked Xi to consider releasing Lai. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a statement on Monday, called the sentence “an unjust and tragic conclusion to this case” and urged the authorities to release Lai on humanitarian grounds.

Beijing has dismissed calls for Lai’s release as “blatant interference” in China’s internal affairs.

Beijing’s national security arm in Hong Kong criticized Western critics for calling for Lai’s release “under the guise of ‘human rights’.” Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s leader, Chief Executive John Lee, said in a statement that the sentence was “deeply gratifying.” He called Lai’s crimes “heinous and utterly despicable.”

China’s Foreign Ministry also issued a statement saying foreign journalists in the city should “respect the independence of Hong Kong’s judicial process” and refrain from “politicizing legal matters.”

Lai’s only chance of freedom rests on him being exiled to another country, perhaps on medical grounds, said Mark Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation and the author of a book about Lai called “The Troublemaker.”

“China needs to understand that Lai is more trouble in prison than outside it,” Clifford added. He argued that Lai’s imprisonment made a thaw between the United States and China difficult. “Sending him into exile would be in everyone’s interest.”

Meta and YouTube created ‘digital casinos,’ lawyers argue in landmark trial

By ELI TAN and CECILIA KANG

In a crowded Los Angeles courtroom earlier this week, Mark Lanier pulled three wooden children’s blocks from his bag and stacked them on top of each other.

“This case is as easy as ABC,” said Lanier, a lawyer. “Addicting, brains, children.”

His demonstration kicked off opening statements in a bellwether tech addiction trial in which a 20-year-old California woman has accused Meta, which owns Instagram, and YouTube of building their platforms to be addictive, leading to personal injury and other harm.

The plaintiff, identified as K.G.M., became hooked on YouTube and Instagram as a child because the apps are like “digital casinos,” with features such as endless swiping that are comparable to the handle of a slot machine, Lanier said. K.G.M. represents a generation of young people who became addicted to social media, even as executives knew of the technology’s risks, he said.

“They didn’t just build apps, they built traps,” Lanier said. “They didn’t want users, they wanted addicts.”

Meta’s lawyers pushed back in their opening statement, arguing that K.G.M.’s mental health issues were caused by familial abuse and turmoil, not social media.

“There is no dispute in this case that she’s experienced mental health struggles,” said Paul Schmidt, a lawyer representing Meta. “Was it Instagram or other causes? That’s the hearthstone that we’ll talk about.”

The trial in the California Superior Court of Los Angeles is the first in a series of landmark cases against Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube that test a novel legal theory arguing that tech can be as harmful as casinos and cigarettes.

Teenagers, school districts and states have filed thousands of lawsuits accusing the social media titans of designing platforms that encourage excessive use. Drawing inspiration from a legal playbook used against Big Tobacco last century, lawyers argue that features like infinite scroll, auto video play and algorithmic recommendations have led to compulsive social media use.

The cases pose some of the most significant legal threats to Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube, potentially opening them up to new liabilities for users’ well-being. A win for the plaintiffs could prompt more lawsuits and lead to monetary damages, as well as change how social media is designed.

The social media companies have denied the accusations, arguing there is no scientific evidence proving that their platforms cause addiction. They have also pointed to a speech shield law that protects them from liability for what their users post online.

Concern about social media’s effects on children has mounted globally. In December, Australia barred children under 16 from using social media, and other nations including Malaysia, Spain and Denmark are considering similar rules. The European Union, Britain and other nations have passed laws limiting certain features of the platforms for children.

In the United States, dozens of state attorneys general have sued social media companies over allegations of child

Outside Los Angeles County Superior Court in Los Angeles, Feb. 2, 2026. Opening statements began in a trial claiming social media companies design addictive products that cause personal injury. (Stella Kalinina/The New York Times)

harm. On Monday, opening statements began in a separate trial against Meta on social media addiction and child sexual exploitation in New Mexico. The state’s attorney general, Raúl Torrez, sued Meta in 2023, accusing the company of allowing predators to reach children and having chatbots that harmed young people.

Executives prioritized profits over safety, Don Migliori, the litigator for New Mexico argued Monday. “Internally, Meta clearly knew that youth safety is not its corporate priority, that safety measures were under-resourced, ineffective and deprioritized, that youth safety was less important than growth and engagement,” he said.

This summer, another set of federal cases will go to trial in Oakland, California, at the U.S. District Court of Northern California. In those cases, school districts and states plan to argue that social media is a public nuisance and that they have had to shoulder the costs of treating a generation of youths suffering from addictive social media use.

K.G.M.’s case, which is being presided over by Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl and will be decided by a jury, is one of nine cases bundled together in state court in Los Angeles and represent some of the strongest personal injury cases among the

thousands of suits that were filed.

Snap and TikTok earlier settled with K.G.M. under undisclosed terms. The companies remain defendants in the other suits.

The K.G.M. trial against Meta and YouTube, which is owned by Google, is expected to last six to eight weeks. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, and Neal Mohan, who runs YouTube, are among the executives expected to testify.

K.G.M., who is from Chico, California, and filed suit in 2023, created a YouTube account at age 8, then joined Instagram at 9, her lawyers said. K.G.M. and her mother weren’t aware of the risks of the platforms and harmful features that led to anxiety and depression, the lawyers said. Beauty filters on Instagram led to her body dysmorphia, they claimed.

During his nearly two-hour opening, Lanier presented the jury with a trove of internal Meta and YouTube documents dating to 2011 that showed tech executives knew of and discussed the negative effects of their products on children.

One YouTube presentation showed how the company courted children under the age of 4, comparing itself to a babysitter. Another document showed that YouTube’s parent company referred to some products as “slot machines” and included an image of a casino.

“These are attention casinos,” the document said. “The house always wins.”

In two instances, Meta employees said the company’s tactics reminded them of tobacco companies.

“If we want to win big with teens, we must bring them in as tweens,” said one internal Meta document from 2018. People who joined Facebook at 11 had four times the longterm retention as people who joined at 20, according to the document.

Meta’s Schmidt presented the jury with health records and text messages that showed K.G.M. had been verbally and physically abused by her mother and abandoned by her father. At the age of 3, before K.G.M. had used Instagram, she was seeing a therapist for mental health issues, Schmidt said.

Schmidt also showed the jury medical records and testimonies from therapists that said K.G.M. struggled with anxiety and eating disorders caused by her family members. He also cited a medical report saying K.G.M. was traumatized by witnessing her sister try to kill herself.

YouTube was expected to present its opening statement Tuesday.

By ALEXA ROBLES-GIL

Having an imaginary friend, playing house or daydreaming about the future were long considered uniquely human abilities. Now, scientists have conducted the first study indicating that apes have the ability to play pretend as well.

The findings, published last Thursday in the journal Science, suggest that imagination is within the cognitive potential of an ape and can possibly be traced back to our common evolutionary ancestors.

“This is one of those things that we assume is distinct about our species,” said Christopher Krupenye, a cognitive scientist at Johns Hopkins University and an author of the study.

“This kind of finding really shows us that there’s much more richness to these animals’ minds than people give them credit for,” he said.

Researchers knew that apes were capable of certain kinds of imagination. If an ape watches someone hide food in a cup, it can imagine that the food is there despite not seeing it. Because that perception is the reality — the food is actually there — it requires the ape to sustain only one view of the world, the one that it knows to be true.

“This kind of work goes beyond it,” Krupenye said. “Because it suggests that they can, at the same time, consider multiple views of the world and really distinguish what’s real from what’s imaginary.”

Bonobos, an endangered species found only in Congo, are difficult to study in the wild. For this research, Krupenye and Amalia Bastos, a cognitive scientist at the University of St. Andrews, relied on an organization known as the Ape Initiative to study Kanzi, a male bonobo famous for demonstrating some understanding of spoken English. (Kanzi was an enculturated ape born in captivity; he died last year at age 44.)

The research team created three experimental scenarios for Kanzi that they compared to “tea parties.” The first was modeled after experiments conducted in the 1980s that involved make-believe play with children. As Kanzi watched, a scientist sat at a small table bearing two empty cups and an empty jug. The researcher then

closest living relatives, have the capacity for make-believe, too. (Ape Initiative via The New York Times)

“poured” an imaginary juice into each cup, and then poured one of the cups back into the jug.

At that point, if Kanzi was closely tracking the imaginary fluids, he should realize that one cup still held liquid and the other was empty. And in fact, when asked — “Where’s the juice?” — Kanzi pointed to the cup containing imaginary liquid more often than would be expected by chance.

Still, scientists wondered, what if Kanzi was confused? In a second experiment, Kanzi was again presented with two cups: one with real juice and another into which imaginary juice was poured. Asked where the

juice was, Kanzi pointed to the cup with actual juice, again more often than mere chance would dictate.

The third experiment replicated the first one, except it involved transferring imaginary grapes into two bowls and then emptying one of them. In more than half of the trial runs, Kanzi successfully identified the location of the imaginary grapes.

“It’s so fascinating to get such clear evidence of imagination,” said Joseph Feldblum, an evolutionary anthropologist at Duke University who was not involved in the research. “These experiments are able to peel back the layers and understand a lot more about what’s actually going on inside their minds.”

In humans, imagination offers many benefits. Children and adults can rehearse situations that might occur before they actually encounter them, preparing us for real life without the cost of getting something wrong.

Presumably apes, too, could gain from identifying more profitable ways forward. “There are many benefits to not being stuck in the here and now,” Bastos said, “because you can start thinking about alternative futures.”

Some scientists saw the study as a confirmation of what natural observation had already led them to suspect. Martin Surbeck, a primatologist at Harvard University who was not involved with the research, works with a population of wild bonobos in Congo. He has seen young female bonobos take a stick and place it on their back, as if they were playing with an infant.

On its own, such behavior in the wild might not necessarily prove that apes have the ability to imagine, Surbeck said, but this study was “a more rigorous proof of the concept of the existence.”

Many questions remain. Under what circumstances of natural selection did bonobos acquire the ability to play pretend?

“Where does it come from?” Surbeck said. “How did it evolve? Why do great apes and humans have that, assuming that others don’t?”

As our closest living evolutionary relatives, bonobos and chimpanzees offer clues to the origins of human abilities. The three species shared a common ancestor that lived about 7 million years ago; bonobos diverged from chimpanzees 1 million to 2 million years ago. Humans did not fall fully formed out of the sky, Surbeck noted. “Whatever we are, we come from somewhere,” he said.

“And all of our behaviors, they have precursors. And very likely, most of these precursors exist in our closest living relative.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Parents navigate a fracturing vaccine landscape

By MAGGIE ASTOR

Afather in North Carolina is delaying taking his infant son to see his parents. A mother in Washington state is switching pediatricians. And some parents are vaccinating their babies against measles early.

They are among a growing number of parents coming to a painful realization: It is getting harder to keep their children safe from vaccine-preventable illnesses.

Under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has removed immunizations against six diseases from its routine childhood recommendations. The doctor Kennedy recently appointed to lead an influential vaccine advisory panel has suggested that vaccines against measles and polio should be optional. These shifts threaten to accelerate a decline in vaccination rates and an increase in infections. Measles is on the rise. Whooping cough surged last year, too.

The chances of contracting those diseases remain low in most of the country, and vaccines are still available and broadly covered by insurance. But the heightened risk has frightened some parents into action.

About 90% of parents support core childhood vaccinations against measles and polio, with more division on flu and COVID vaccines, a survey last year found. And more than 200 parents responded to a New York Times request to share how they were navigating the CDC’s changes, many of them expressing anger and anxiety.

Some are abandoning the CDC as a source of information in favor of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is sticking with a broader vaccine schedule. Others are agonizing over where to turn and said the autonomy Kennedy was advertising, for parents to determine which vaccines were right for their children, felt like a burden.

“I’m not a doctor, and I don’t want to have to do all the research,” said Cori Folkman, 48, a mother of two near Seattle, who is switching her children to a pediatrician who was vocal about sticking to the AAP schedule. “I want to be able to rely on my doctor to know.”

Looking for guidance

Cameron and Sabrina Scully, parents to a 2-month-old in Denver, said they felt rattled by the abrupt shifts. The CDC stopped recommending the hepatitis B vaccine at birth just days after the Scullys’ son received it. In Sep-

tember, when President Donald Trump told pregnant women to stop taking Tylenol, Scully had taken some that morning.

The couple know that the evidence for vaccines is solid, just as they know Tylenol is the safest painkiller during pregnancy. But it was hard not to question themselves, they said, when an agency they had always trusted was suggesting the opposite. They were sure the evidence was sound, right? Kennedy didn’t know something they didn’t?

“It is really stressful when you feel like you’re doing all the right things throughout pregnancy to have a healthy child, and then all of a sudden the rules change,” Scully, 30, said. “How do you know who to turn to? Because we’re certainly not conducting our own scientific research here.”

The Scullys have decided to stick to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ broader vaccine schedule.

The stress they described was widespread, even among parents with zero doubts.

Idaho has some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. Still, until recently, Mary Taylor, who lives in the state with her 1- and 4-year-old children, felt confident their pediatrician would say what shots the kids were due for at each appointment. Now she is realizing that if she wants the full schedule, she may at some point have to keep track of

things herself.

When are boosters called for? In what month should she request flu shots? Years from now, when her children are old enough for the meningitis vaccine that the CDC no longer broadly recommends, will she remember? Will anyone bring it up if she doesn’t?

It’s “one more thing I have to add to the mental load of being a mother in America,” Taylor, 36, said.

Seeking early protection

Erin Chapman, 37, is planning to take her family to Disney World soon. But she wasn’t comfortable bringing her 6-month-old son to a crowded theme park, or on a plane, without protection from measles.

So she asked her pediatrician if he could get his first measles, mumps and rubella vaccine before the recommended age of 1. Several parents told the Times they had done that, and Dr. Sean O’Leary, the chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Infectious Diseases, said he had heard of many such requests.

O’Leary said there were no indications that early vaccination was unsafe. But he said he generally wouldn’t recommend it unless measles is spreading where a child lives or is traveling, because the MMR vaccine is likely to be less effective in children younger than 1. And any child who gets an early dose still

needs the two-dose series starting at 1, he said.

Chapman said she was uneasy about deviating from the schedule. But declining vaccination rates and increasing measles infections made her feel she had no choice. Her pediatrician has agreed to administer the shot in February.

“That I would have to ask more of my child because other people won’t is really frustrating,” she said.

Other parents don’t have the option of seeking protection early.

Lauren, 37, has an immunocompromised son who cannot produce antibodies in response to vaccines. (She asked to be identified by her first name only, to protect his medical privacy.) Her son, who is 3, receives immune-boosting infusions but still relies on herd immunity, the protection created when enough people are vaccinated that a disease can’t easily spread.

“It feels like these factors are outside of our control,” she said of the maintenance of herd immunity. “It’s a big source of anxiety.”

Staying home

Since measles started surging, Zachary Huckel-Bauer, 38, and his wife have been restricting their family’s activities.

Because their 9-month-old son is not yet vaccinated against measles, they didn’t fly to visit Huckel-Bauer’s parents for Christmas. After a measles case was reported near where they live in North Carolina, they kept their 4-year-old home from a class field trip. He’d had his first MMR shot but not his second, and they were worried about him bringing the virus home to his unvaccinated brother.

Even if the risk of infection is low, “the long-term potential consequences of a measles infection can be life-altering, so it’s just not something that we want to play around with,” Huckel-Bauer said, adding that his declining trust in other members of his community had made him and his wife feel “more isolated than ever.”

Other parents are keeping their children out of day care or preschool; still more would like to do so but can’t, financially or logistically. The Scullys, for example, don’t have family nearby, and day cares that required vaccines were too expensive, so their son will attend a facility without such a requirement. That worries them, but “what can we do?” Scully said. “I don’t want to be putting him at risk, but I also don’t want to be living a life governed by fear.”

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMER INSTANCIA SALA DE SUPERIOR DE CANÓVANAS MUNICIPIO DE CANÓVANAS, REPRESENTADA POR SU ALCALDESA

LORNNA J. SOTO VILLANUEVA

Peticionario V. ADQUISICIÓN DE SOLAR 54 DE LA CALLE BETANCES DEL TÉRMINO MUNICIPAL DE CANÓVANAS RAFAEL CALZADA MATTA, ET ALS.

Partes con Interés Civil Núm.: CN2025CV00424. Sobre: PROCEDIMIENTO SUMARIO DE EXPROPIACIÓN FORZOSA DE ESTORBO PÚBLICO. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS. A: RAFAEL CALZADA MATTA, JOHN DOE, DUEÑOS

DESCONOCIDOS Y/O CUALQUIER PERSONA CON ALGÚN POSIBLE INTERÉS.

Se le emplaza y notifica que, con el fin público de erradicar el abandono y peligrosidad de propiedades declaradas estorbos públicos, el Municipio de Canóvanas ha radicado en esta Secretaría una Petición de Expropiación Forzosa al amparo de la Ley General de Expropiación Forzosa del 12 de marzo de 1903, según enmendada; la Ley Núm. 107 de 14 de agosto de 2020 conocida como el Código Municipal de Puerto Rico, en su Artículo 2.018 [21 L.P.R.A. § 7183]; la Ordenanza Núm. 3, Serie 2025-2026, aprobada por la Legislatura Municipal de Canóvanas, Puerto Rico el 23 de julio de 2025; y, firmada por su Alcaldesa el día 30 del mismo mes; bajo el procedimiento sumario de expropiación forzosa de estorbos públicos que establece el Artículo 4.012A del Código Municipal establecido mediante la Ley Núm. 114 del 29 de junio de 2024, para adquirir la siguiente Finca: URBANA: SOLAR 54 Calle Betances, Canóvanas, Puerto Rico, con el número de parcela. 089-086-030-04, cabida de: 128.365 m2 y coordenadas: 18.3779517866611 -65.900937102056. En lindes en el NORTE con la Calle Ramón Emeterio Betances, en el SUR con José M. Sánchez Birriel, en el ESTE con Walter Ri-

guai Figueroa y Geraldo Montañez Serrate, y en el OESTE con Abel F. Awad Abufanas. Enclava una estructura. No inmatriculada. USO PÚBLICO: REVITALIZACIÓN DEL CASCO URBANO. CATASTRO NÚM.: 089-086-030-04-901. JUSTA COMPENSACIÓN: $38,000, a ser consignados a tenor con el Art. 4.012A(f) del Código Municipal. No habiéndose podido emplazar personalmente a las partes con interés antes relacionadas, por desconocer su paradero, este Tribunal ha ordenado que se le emplace por edicto, el cual se publicará una (1) vez por semana, durante 3 semanas consecutivas en un periódico de circulación diaria en Puerto Rico. Se le notifica que, si usted desea presentar objeción o defensa a la incautación de las estructuras descritas, debe presentar su contestación en este Tribunal dentro del término improrrogable de 30 DÍAS, contados a partir de la última publicación de este edicto, debiendo notificar con copia de la misma a la parte peticionaria, a través de la LCDA. JOSEPHINE M. RODRÍGUEZ RÍOS

- RUA 15,736: PO BOX 889 FAJARDO, PR 00738 Email: josephine.rodriguez@gmail. com. De usted no comparecer en el término aquí fijado, el Tribunal le anotará la rebeldía y dictará Sentencia en un término no mayor de 5 días. De usted comparecer o contestar la Petición, el Tribunal citará para juicio, el cual será celebrado en un término no menor de 15 días ni mayor de 30, de haberse contestado la Petición. Expedida por Orden del Tribunal, en Fajardo, Puerto Rico a 14 de enero de 2026. LIC. KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA. DENISSE TORRES RUIZ, SUB-SECRETARIA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN EL GOBIERNO MUNICIPAL AUTÓNOMO DE SAN JUAN, REPRESENTADO POR SU HONORABLE

ALCALDE, MIGUEL ROMERO LUGO

Parte Peticionaria Vs. ADQUISICIÓN DE PROPIEDAD DE 356,0982 METROS CUADRADOS LOCALIZADA EN 277 CALLE CONVENTO, SANTURCE, SAN JUAN, PR 00912; DEPARTAMENTO DE LA VIVIENDA;

FERNÁNDEZ VDA

CABRERO; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Partes con Interés Civil Núm.: SJ2025CV09960.

Sala: 1002. Sobre: EXPROPIACIÓN FORZOSA. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EEUU, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: FERNANDEZ VDA. CABRERO.

RE: Adquisición en pleno dominio y a título absoluto de la propiedad de 338.368 metros cuadrados localizada 277 Calle Convento, Santurce, San Juan, PR 00912. DESCRIPCIÓN AMPLIA DEL SUJETO EXPROPIADO SUFICIENTE PARA SU IDENTIFICACIÓN: Urbana: BARRIO SANTURCE de Santurce Norte. Solar: Cabida: 356.0982 Metros Cuadrados. Parcela de terreno radicada en el barrio Santurce del término municipal de San Juan, con un área superficial de 356.0982 metros cuadrados, equivalentes a .0906 cuerdas, según mensura realizada por el Departamento de la Vivienda de Puerto Rico, en lindes; por el NORTE, con la parcela 208-18, por el SUR, con la parcela 20816; por el ESTE, con la parcela 208-10 y por el OESTE, con la calle Convento. Sobre dicha parcela enclava la siguiente estructura; Estructura número 208-17, de dos plantas construida de hormigón. Techada de hormigón, con un área de construcción de 2,176 pies cuadrados. Dedicada a residencia. Finca Número 9,011, inscrita al folio 136 del tomo 226 de Santurce Norte, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección I de San Juan. CODIFICACIÓN NÚM: 040-070-208-17-001. ENTIDAD EXPROPIANTE Y CITAR LA LEGISLACIÓN EN VIRTUD DE LA CUAL SE EXPROPIA: El procedimiento de Expropiación Forzosa se instituye por el Municipio de San Juan, conforme a la Autorizada de la Ley General de Expropiación Forzosa del 12 de mayo de 1903, según enmendada, el Código Municipal de Puerto Rico, Ley 107 del 14 de agosto de 2020, según enmendada; la Ordenanza Núm. 1, Serie 20212022 y la Resolución Núm. 9, Serie 2025-2026 de la Legislatura Municipal de San Juan. El interés y el fin para el cual el Municipio de San Juan se propone a adquirir la propiedad es para mejorar el área eliminando un estorbo público declarado por el Municipio. Quedan emplazados y notificados que en este Tribunal se ha radicado

Demanda de Expropiación Forzosa. El abogado de la parte demandante es el Lcdo. Pablo Guerrero Sanfilippo cuya dirección postal es: 1353 Ave. Luis Vigoreaux, PMB 270, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, 00966 cuyo número de teléfono es (787) 273-0611 y su correo electrónico es: pguerrerosanfilippo@ gmail.com. Se les advierte que este edicto se publicará en un periódico de circulación general una sola vez y que si no comparecen a contestar dicha Demanda radicando el original de la misma en el Tribunal, con copia al abogado de la parte demandante dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación del Edicto, se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará Sentencia concediendo el remedio así solicitado sin más citarles ni oírles. Este Tribunal ha señalado para el 12 de mayo de 2026 a las 9:00 de la mañana, Sala 1002 del Centro Judicial de San Juan, el cual ubica en Hato Rey, PR, para la Vista del caso, en cuyo día se determinará el justo valor de la propiedad y las partes a ser compensadas y a cuya vista podrán ustedes comparecer y ofrecer prueba de valoración, aunque no hayan contestado la Petición. Expedido por Orden del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, Puerto Rico, a 27 de enero de 2026. Griselda Rodríguez Collado, Secretaria Regional. Carmen E. García Figueroa, Secretaria De Servicios A Sala. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAROLINA FIRSTBANK PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs. JEREMIAS MARIN CARRASQUILLO Y BETZAIDA PASTRANA CARABALLO TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA COMO

BETHZAIDA PASTRANA CARABALLO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR ELLOS

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: SJ2024-CV05490. (406). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA Y COBRO DE DINERO. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. El suscribiente, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Puerto Rico, Sala de Carolina, a los demandados de epígrafe y al público en general hace saber que los autos y documentos del caso de epígrafe estarán de manifiesto en la Secreta-

ría del Tribunal durante horas laborables y que venderá en pública subasta al mejor postor, en moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América en efectivo, cheque certificado, o giro postal a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, en mi oficina en este Tribunal el derecho que tenga la parte demandada en el inmueble que se relaciona más adelante para pagar la SENTENCIA por $80,527.95, de balance principal, el cual se compone de un primer principal por la suma de $66,051.85, y un principal diferido por la suma de $14,476.10, más los intereses vencidos sobre el principal de $66,051.85, computados al 6.95% anual desde el día primero de octubre de 2023, hasta su total pago; recargos por demora computados sobre sobre cada mensualidad de principal e interés adeudados y cualquiera otras cantidades pactadas en la escritura de primera Hipoteca; más la suma garantizada de la hipoteca para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado del acreedor demandante, más cualesquiera otras sumas que por cualesquier concepto legal se devenguen hasta el total y completo pago de esta sentencia hasta el día de la subasta. La propiedad a venderse en pública subasta se describe como sigue: RUSTICA: Predio de terreno localizado en el Barrio Quebrada Grande del termino municipal de Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, con un área superficial de SEISCIENTOS SESENTA Y SEIS PUNTO SESENTA Y DOS METROS CUADRADOS (666.62) equivalentes a cero punto mil seiscientos noventa y nueve (0.1699) cuerdas. En lindes por el Norte, con terrenos de Félix Figueroa; por el Sur, con camino Municipal; por el Este, con Camino Los Ruices; y por el Oeste, con el solar Número tres (3) de tal forma marcado en el plano de inscripción. Este es el remanente luego de sus segregaciones, según inscripción novena (9na). Enclava una casa. Inscrita al folio ciento trece (113) del tomo ciento ochenta (180) de Trujillo Alto, finca numero cinco mil tres (5003), Registro de San Juan IV. Dirección física: 852 KM 4.3 Sector Quebrada Grande, Trujillo Alto,, PR 00976. La PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a cabo el día 3 DE MARZO DE 2026, A LAS 9:00 DE LA MAÑANA, y servirá de tipo mínimo para la misma la suma de $94,173.39 sin admitirse oferta inferior. En el caso de que el inmueble a ser subastado no fuera adjudicado en la primera subasta, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 10 DE MARZO DE 2026, A LAS 9:00 DE LA MAÑANA y

el precio mínimo para esta segunda subasta será el de dos terceras partes del precio mínimo establecido para la primera subasta, o a sea la suma de $62,782.26. Si tampoco hubiera remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 17 DE MARZO DE 2026, A LAS 9:00 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 $47,086.70. 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 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. 210-2015). Expedido el presente en Carolina, Puerto Rico a 13 de enero de 2026. HÉCTOR L. PEÑA RODRÍGUEZ, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA DE GUAYNABO.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

FINANCIAL LLC

Demandante Vs. SUCESION ANA RAQUEL CORTES RODRIGUEZ T/C/C ANA R. CORTES RODRIGUEZ T/C/C ANA CORTES RODRIGUEZ T/C/C ANA RAQUEL DE OLSON T/C/C ANA RAQUEL CORTES T/C/C RAQUEL CORTES COMPUESTA POR ROBERTO OLSON CORTES, LISA MARIE OLSON CORTES; JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS

MUNICIPALES

Demandados

Civil Núm.: GB2024CV00432. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. 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 Guaynabo, 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 Guaynabo, el 3 DE MARZO DE 2026, A LAS 10:40 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 dieciséis de la manzana trece (16-13) de la Urbanización Torrimar, radicada en el Barrio Pueblo Viejo de Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, compuesta de seiscientos noventa y nueve punto treinta y siete (699.37 m.c.) metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, con la calle número dos (2), en una distancia de treinta punto cero cero (30.00 m.) metros; por el SUR, con el solar número quince (15), en una distancia de treinta punto cero cero (30.00 m.) metros; por el ESTE, con la calle número diez (10), en una distancia de veintitrés punto cuarenta (23.40 m.) metros; y por el OESTE, con el solar número diecisiete (17), en una distancia de veintitrés punto cuarenta (23.40 m.) metros.” Inscrita al folio 197 del tomo 173 de Guaynabo, finca 12240, Registro de la Propiedad de Guaynabo. La Hipoteca Revertida consta inscrita al folio 199 del tomo 173 de Guaynabo, finca 12240, Registro de la Propiedad de Guaynabo, inscripción 2a. Propiedad localizada en: URB. TORRIMAR, 1316 CALLE SANTANDER, GUAYNABO, PR 00966. 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: $600,000.00. Fecha de Vencimiento: 11 de mayo de 2083. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad de la propiedad y que todas las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los

POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGARÉ

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: MT2025CV00988. (102). Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO POR LA VÍA JUDICIAL. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS E.E.U.U., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A: FULANO Y MENGANO DE TAL, POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGARÉ.

El 27 de febrero de 1999, Javier Quiles García y su esposa Sandra Soler Santiago constituyeron una hipoteca en San Juan, Puerto Rico, conforme a la Escritura núm. 13, autorizada por la notario Lizzette M. Ortiz Bonilla en garantía de un pagaré por la suma de $138,000.00 a favor de Popular Mortgage, Inc, o a su orden, con intereses 7¼% anual y vencedero el 1 de septiembre de 2029, sobre la siguiente propiedad: RÚSTICA: Predio #15. Radicado en los Barrios Coto y Tierras Nuevas Salientes del término municipal de Manatí, Puerto Rico. Con una cabida superficial de 1,115.6513 metros cuadrados; equivalentes a 0.2839 Cuerdas. En Lindes: por el NORTE, con calle dedicada a uso público; por el SUR, con terrenos de la Sucesión Juan Ramón Ramos; por el ESTE, con el predio # 14 a segregarse; y por el OESTE, con el predio # 16 a segregarse. Inscrita al folio 170 del tomo 398 de Manatí, Finca 14440. Registro de la Propiedad de Manatí. La escritura de hipoteca consta inscrita al folio 1 del tomo 522 de Manatí, Finca 14440. Registro de la Propiedad de Manatí. Inscripción 5ta (4ta según expresa el folio). La parte demandada 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. Se le advierte que, si no contesta la demanda, radicando el original de la contestación en este Tribunal y enviando copia de la contestación a la abogada de la Parte Demandante, Lcda. Belma Alonso García, cuya dirección es: PO Box 3922, Guaynabo, PR 00970-3922, Teléfono y Fax: (787) 789-1826, correo electrónico: oficinabelmaalonso@gmail.com, dentro del término de treinta (30) días de la publicación de este edicto, excluyéndose el día de la publicación, se le anotará la rebeldía y se le dictará Sentencia en su contra, concediendo el

remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y el sello del Tribunal, hoy 21 de enero de 2026 en Manatí, Puerto Rico. VIVIAN Y. FRESSE GONZÁLEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. CARMEN J. ROSARIO VALENTÍN, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL I.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE HUMACAO GABRIELA M. LAZU CORDOVA Demandante Vs. RALPH O. BURGOS TOLENTINO Demandado Civil Núm.: HU2026RF00019. Sobre: CUSTODIA Y PRIVACIÓN DE PATRIA POTESTAD. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A LA PARTE DEMANDADA:

SR. RALPH O. BURGOS TOLENTINO, 64 OSGOOD ST. APT. 3L, SPRINGFIELD, MA 01107.

Por la presente se notifica a usted que la parte demandante ha interpuesto una Demanda en su contra en la Secretaría de este Tribunal. Es abogada de la parte demandante la Lcda. Sharee Santana Fuxench de la Oficina de Servicios Legales de Puerto Rico, Inc., en la Calle Georgetti 55, Esquina Carreras, P.O. Box 9096 en Humacao, Puerto Rico 00792, 787-8520905. Usted dispone de un término de treinta (30) días a contar de la publicación de este Edicto, el cual se publicará una vez, para formular la alegación que a su derecho competa. Término dentro del cual usted deberá contestar la Demanda, según se dispone en la Regla 10.1 de Procedimiento Civil de Puerto Rico, y advertencia a los efectos de que, si no contesta la Demanda radicando el original de la Contestación ante el Tribunal correspondiente, con copia a la parte demandante, se le anotará la rebeldía y se le dictará Sentencia concediendo el remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. Expedido b.ajo mi firma y sello oficial del Tribunal Superior, Sala de Humacao, Puerto Rico hoy día 2 de febrero de 2026. Evelyn Félix Vázquez, SECRETARIa DEL TRIBUNAL. Nicsia m. Martínez rivera, SUBSECRETaria.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE MAYAGÜEZ SALA SUPERIOR AIDA LAMBERTY MÉNDEZ

Demandante Vs. SANDRA MARIBEL

SORTO VELAZQUEZ

Demandado Civil Núm.: SG2026RF00005. Sobre: CUSTODIA LEGAL CON FACULTADES TUTELARES. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. A: SANDRA MARIBEL

SORTO VELAZQUEZ

- 805 SW 113TH WAY, PEMBROKE PINES, FL 33025.

POR la presente se le notifica que se ha presentado una Demanda, copia de la cual se le incluye junto al presente Emplazamiento por Edicto. Por la presente se requiere a usted para que dentro de los treinta (30) días de haberse publicado el edicto, presente en el Tribunal correspondiente el original de la contestación a la demanda y notifique copia de la misma al abogado de la parte demandante, el Lcdo. YamilI. Rosado Ramos, Servicios Legales de P.R., Inc., PO Box 839, Mayagüez, P.R. 00681-0839; Teléfono: (787) 832-7620; Fax (787) 831-2600; Email - notificaciones-mayaguez@servicioslegales.org y/o yirosado@servicioslegales.org. 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 presente 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 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. EXPEDIDO BAJO Ml FIRMA Y EL SELLO DEL TRIBUNAL, MAYAGÜEZ, Puerto Rico, hoy 30 de enero de 2026. LCDA. NORMA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA. MYRNA TORRES GONZÁLEZ, SUB-SECRETARIA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN

ESTEFANIA JANNETTE

ORTEGA RODRIGUEZ

Demandante V.

JOSE LUIS

MELENDEZ PAGAN

Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: BY2025RF01543. (FAMILIA Y MENORES - SALA DE BAYAMÓN SALÓN 4001).

Sobre: CUSTODIA - MONOPARENTAL O COMPARTIDA Y OTROS. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

AMANDA LACLAUSTRA VIDOT - ALACLAUSTRA@ SERVICIOSLEGALES.ORG. A: JOSE LUIS

MELENDEZ PAGAN.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 02 de febrero de 2026, 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 de 03 de febrero de 2026. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 03 de febrero de 2026. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, SECRETARIA. ISABEL SOUCHET BURGOS, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE AGUADILLA SALA SUPERIOR DE AGUADILLA

AWILDA

RODRÍGUEZ RIVERA

Demandante V. JOSÉ ALEJANDRO ALDEBOL AVILÉS

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: AG2025RF00726. (Salón: 404 RF). Sobre: DIVORCIO - RUPTURA IRREPARABLE. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. MARIELI MORALES SANTIAGOELI802@HOTMAIL.COM. A: JOSÉ ALEJANDRO ALDEBOL AVILÉSBARRIO ARENALES, AGUADILLA PR 00603. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 27 de enero de 2026, 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 de 27 de enero de 2026. En Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, el 27 de enero de 2026. SARAHÍ REYES PÉREZ, SECRETARIA. MARÍA DE LOS M. VALENTÍN RAMÍREZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

ROSANNA YARITZA

CRUZ CASTILLO

Demandante V. JESUS ALBERTO DE JESUS POLANCO

Dmandado(a) Caso Núm.: CA2025RF00596. (Salón: 302). Sobre: DIVORCIO - RUPTURA IRREPARABLE. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

OLGA M MARTÍNEZ RODRÍGUEZOMARTINEZ@SERVICIOSLEGALES. ORG.

A: JESUS ALBERTO DE JESUS POLANCO.

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 30 de enero de 2026, 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 de 03 de febrero de 2026. En Carolina, Puerto Rico, el 03 de febrero de 2026. KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA. LAURA L. CORREA RIVERA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAROLINA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA CARMEN MARIA MOLINA MALDONADO

Demandante V. FREDDIE AYALA DIAZ

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: TJ2025RF00153. Sobre: DIVORCIO - RUPTURA IRREPARABLE. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. MARIELY COLÓN CORTÉS - LCDA. COLONCORTES@OUTLOOK.COM.

A: FREDDIE AYALA DIAZ. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 30 de enero de 2026, 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 de 03 de febrero de 2026. En Carolina, Puerto Rico, el 03 de febrero de 2026. KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA. LAURA L. CORREA RIVERA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE FAJARDO SALA SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. THE MORTGAGE HOUSE, INC Y OTROS

Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: FA2025CV00936. (Salón: 307). Sobre: CANCELACIÓN O RESTITUCIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

BELMA ALONSO GARCÍAOFICINABELMAALONSO@GMAIL. COM.

A: THE MORTGAGE HOUSE INC., COUNTRY CLUB, 915 ROBERTO

SANCHEZ VILELLA, SAN JUAN PR 00924 Y/O AVE MONSERRATE

AB-20 VALLE ARRIBA HEIGHTS, CAROLINA PR 00983 Y/O 915 AVE

CAMPO RICO, SAN JUAN PR 00924 Y/O 954 PONCE DE LEON AVE., SUITE 400 SAN JUAN PR 00917; FULANO Y MENGANO DE TAL, POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGARE (DIRECCIÓN DESCONOCIDA). (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 19 de diciembre de 2025, 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 de 04 de febrero de 2026. En Fajardo, Puerto Rico, el 04 de febrero de 2026. WANDA SEGUÍ REYES, SECRETARIA. LINDA I. MEDINA MEDINA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE SAN JUAN SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. SUCESION DE ILEANA FERNANDEZ ESTEVA T/C/C ILEANA JOSEPHINE FERNANDEZ Y OTROS

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: SJ2025CV08918. (Salón: 508 CIVIL). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA: PROPIEDAD RESIDENCIAL. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. FERNANDO J. GIERBOLINI GONZÁLEZ - FGIERBOLINI@ MSGLAWPR.COM.

A: FRANKLIN LÓPEZ FERNÁNDEZ, JUAN

LÓPEZ FERNÁNDEZ POR SI Y COMO MIEMBROS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE ILEANA FERNANDEZ ESTEVA T/C/C

ILEANA JOSEPHINE FERNANDEZ; FULANO(A) DE TAL Y SUTANO(A) DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS

DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION DE ILEANA FERNANDEZ ESTEVA T/C/C

ILEANA JOSEPHINE FERNANDEZ.

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 03 de febrero de 2026, 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 de 04 de febrero de 2026. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 04 de febrero de 2026. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA. MARTHA ALMODÓVAR CABRERA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE HACIENDA DEL MAR OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC. Demandante V. DENNIS ORLANDO LÓPEZ PÉREZ Y OTROS Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: PO2025CV01959. (Salón: 601 CIVIL SUPERIOR). Sobre: COBRO DE DINEROORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. JESSICA D. MARTÍNEZ BIRRIELJMARTBIRR@YAHOO.COM. A: DENNIS ORLANDO LÓPEZ PÉREZ, POR SÍ

den, por la suma de $500,000.00, con interés al 12%, y vencedero a la presentación, según consta de la escritura #27, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 28 de octubre de 2022, ante el Notario Público Néstor J. Lo Presti Reyes, inscrita al tomo Karibe de Toa Baja, inscripción 17. ANOTACIÓN DE EMBARGO:

Demandante: MCS Life Insurance Company. Demandado: Challenger Brass & Copper Co, Inc., cantidad adeudada: $48,315.32, extremos que se ordenan: Se anote un gravamen sobre la propiedad por la suma de $48,315.32, por concepto de cobro de dinero, según Mandamiento expedido por el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Toa Alta, Civil Núm. TB2023CV00008, el día 15 de febrero de 2024, inscrita al tomo Karibe de Toa Baja, Anotación A de fecha 4 de marzo de 2024. EMBARGO

FEDERAL: Contra Challenger Brass & Copper, Inc. por $15,577.85 en el caso #460563522, certificado de fecha 12 de octubre de 2022, presentado el 21 de noviembre de 2022 al asiento 2022-010182FED y anotado el 20 de marzo de 2023 al sistema de embargos de Karibe. EMBARGO FEDERAL: Contra Challenger Brass & Copper, Inc. por $23,500.45 en el caso #462769122, certificado de fecha 15 de noviembre de 2022, presentado el 3 de enero de 2023 al asiento 2023-000109FED y anotado el 3 de enero de 2023 al sistema de embargos de Karibe. EMBARGO FEDERAL: Contra Challenger Brass & Copper, Inc. por $61,047.21 en el caso #466457523, certificado de fecha 23 de enero de 2023, presentado el 8 de marzo de 2023 al asiento 2023002214-FED y anotado el 9 de marzo de 223 al sistema de embargos de Karibe. EMBARGO FEDERAL: Contra Challenger Brass & Copper, Inc. por $67,639.63 en el caso #486574824, certificado de fecha 29 de enero de 2024, presentado el 4 de abril de 2024 al asiento 2024-001836-FED y anotado el 5 de abril de 2024 al sistema de embargos de Karibe. EMBARGO ELA: Contra Challenger Brass & Copper, Inc, seguido por el Departamento de Hacienda, por la cantidad de $47,741.22; número de caso BYM-25-1229, embargo de fecha 7 de octubre de 2025, presentado al asiento 2025-009427-EST y anotado el 8 de octubre de 2025 al Sistema de Embargos ELA en Sistema Karibe. Servirá como tipo mínimo para la primera subasta en ejecución de la Finca Número 8,166, la suma de $600,000.00, conforme a lo estipulado en la Escritura de Hipoteca Número 11, otorgada en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 29 de enero de 2010 ante el Notario Público Félix R. Santiago Ro-

dríguez. De no adjudicarse la propiedad en la primera subasta, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA, en las oficinas del Alguacil del Tribunal de Bayamón, el día 5 DE MARZO DE 2026, A LA(S) 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA. El tipo mínimo para la segunda subasta será dos terceras partes (2/3) del tipo mínimo de la primera subasta, o sea, $400,000.00. De no adjudicarse la propiedad en la segunda subasta, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA en en las oficinas del Alguacil del Tribunal de Bayamón, el día 12 DE MARZO DE 2026, A LA(S) 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA. El tipo mínimo para la tercera subasta será la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo que se pactara para la primera subasta, o sea, $300,000.00. Esta subasta se hará para satisfacer a la parte demandante, hasta donde alcance, el importe adeudado a BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO, al 28 de octubre de 2022, ascendente a las siguientes sumas: (a) bajo el Contrato de Préstamo I, según enmendado, una suma no menor de $1,202,946.73, la cual se compone de $1,160,235.56 por concepto de principal; más $42,711.17 por concepto de intereses acumulados y no pagados, cantidad que se continúa acumulando hasta su total y completo pago a la tasa de interés por incumplimiento pactada por las partes; (b) bajo el Contrato de Préstamo II, según enmendado, una suma no menor de $583,494.80, la cual se compone de $560,016.87 por concepto de principal; más $23,477.93 por concepto de intereses acumulados y no pagados, cantidad que se continúa acumulando hasta su total y completo pago a la tasa de interés por incumplimiento pactada por las partes; (c) además, la Parte Demandada adeuda la suma agregada de $110,000.00 por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado pactados. La venta en pública subasta de la propiedad descrita anteriormente se verificará libre de toda carga o gravamen posterior que afecte dicha propiedad. Se entiende que cualquier carga y/o gravamen anterior y/o preferente, si lo hubiera, al crédito que da base a esta ejecución, continuará subsistente, entendiéndose además, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría de este Tribunal durante horas laborables. El Alguacil 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. POR LA PRESENTE, se les no-

tifica a los titulares de créditos y/o cargas registrales posteriores, si alguno, que se celebrará la SUBASTA en la fecha, hora y sitio anteriormente señalados, y se les invita a que concurran a dicha subasta, si les conviniere, o se les invita a satisfacer, antes del remate, el importe del crédito, sus intereses, otros cargos y las costas y honorarios de abogado asegurados, quedando entonces subrogados en los derechos del Acreedor ejecutante, siempre y cuando reúnan los requisitos y cualificaciones de Ley para que se pueda efectuar tal subrogación. Y PARA SU PUBLICACIÓN en el tablón de edictos de este Tribunal y en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio donde se celebrará la subasta señalada. Además, en un periódico de circulación general en dos (2) ocasiones y mediante correo certificado a la última dirección conocida de la parte demandada. EXPEDIDO el presente EDICTO DE SUBASTA en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, a 30 de enero de 2026. EDGARDO ELÍAS VARGAS SANTANA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #193, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA DE BAYAMÓN. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE AGUADILLA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN SEBASTIÁN JAIMARIE DE FATIMA

HERNANDEZ TORRES Demandante V. MIGUEL ANGEL

TAPIAS REY-VERA Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: SS2025RF00075. (Salón: 0002 DISTRITO Y SUPERIOR). Sobre: DIVORCIO - RUPTURA IRREPARABLE. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

BENJAMÍN JR HERNÁNDEZ LÓPEZ - LCDOBENJAMINHERNANDEZLOPEZ@ GMAIL.COM. A: MIGUEL ANGEL

TAPIAS-REY RIVERA.

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 02 de febrero de 2026, 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 de 05 de febrero de 2026. Notas de la Secretaría: POR ORDEN DEL TRIBUNAL. En San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, el 05 de febrero de 2026. SARAHI REYES PÉREZ, SECRETARIA. JESSICA MÉNDEZ ROMERO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN SALA SUPERIOR DE VEGA ALTA

MCLP ASSET

COMPANY INC.

Demandante V. SUCESION DE MARIA MAGDALENA

MARTINEZ ZAMBRANA

T/C/C MARIA M.

MARTINEZ ZAMBRANA, COMPUESTA POR JOSE RAFAEL CORTES MARTINEZ COMO HEREDERO CONOCIDO REPRESENTADO POR SU PADRE MARCELO CORTES, FULANO DE TAL, FULANA DE TAL, ZUTANO DE TAL, ZUTANA DE TAL, HEREDEROS A, B Y C COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; SECRETARIO DE HACIENDA Y SECRETARIO DE JUSTICIA DEL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PR Demandada

Civil Núm.: VA2025CV00073. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA Y COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, S.S. A: JOSE RAFAEL

CORTES MARTINEZ; JOSE RAFAEL CORTES MARTINEZ REPRESENTADO POR SU PADRE MARCELO CORTES Y A FULANO DE TAL, FULANA DE TAL, ZUTANO DE TAL, ZUTANA DE TAL, HEREDEROS A, B Y C COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION DE MARIA

MAGDALENA MARTINEZ ZAMBRANA T/C/C

MARIA M. MARTINEZ ZAMBRANA.

Por la presente se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda 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, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Se le apercibe que, de no contestar la demanda dentro del término aquí estipulado, se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia sin más citarle ni oírle. Por la presente el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, conforme al caso de Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria vs. Latinoamericana de Exportación, Inc., 164 DPR 689 (2005), le ordena que en el término de treinta (30) días, haga declaración aceptando o repudiando la herencia de la Sucesión de Maria Magdalena Martinez Zambrana t/c/c Maria M. Martinez Zambrana. Se le apercibe que de no expresar su intención de aceptar o repudiar la herencia dentro del término que se le fijó, la herencia se tendrá por aceptada. La parte demandante ha radicado una acción de cobro de dinero y ejecución de hipoteca por deuda vencida y la misma está garantizada sobre la siguiente propiedad:

Los abogados de la parte demandante son: García-Chamorro Law Group, P.S.C. 1225 Ave. Ponce de León, Ste. 706 San Juan, PR 00909 Tel. (787) 977-1932, Fax (787) 722-1932

Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal, hoy 27 de enero de 2026. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, SECRETARIA GENERAL. MARITZA ROSARIO ROSARIO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE HUMACAO SALA SUPERIOR DE HUMACAO

JOSÉ MANUEL

MARTÍNEZ AYALA Y OTROS

Demandante V. LA AUTORIDAD DE ENERGÍA ELÉCTRICA DE PUERTO RICO Y OTROS

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: HU2025CV01646. (Salón: 208). Sobre: CANCELACIÓN O RESTITUCIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

JAVIER MONTALVO

CINTRÓN - JMONTALVO@ DELGADOFERNANDEZ.COM.

A: JOHN DOE, RICHARD ROE : DIRECCIÓN DESCONOCIDA.

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 02 de febrero de 2026, 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 de 04 de febrero de 2026. En Humacao, Puerto Rico, el 04 de febrero de 2026. EVELYN FÉLIX VÁZQUEZ, SECRETARIA. ASTRID FLORES VEGA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. JUAN BAUTISTA MARTINEZ RODRIGUEZ Y OTROS

Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: PO2025CV02389. (Salón: 601 CIVIL SUPERIOR). Sobre: CANCELACIÓN O RESTITUCIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. REGGIE DÍAZ HERNÁNDEZRDIAZ@BDPRLAW.COM. A: JUAN BAUTISTA MARTINEZ RODRIGUEZ COMO TENEDOR 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 29 de enero de 2026, 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

The San Juan

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 de 04 de febrero de 2026. En Ponce, Puerto Rico, el 04 de febrero de 2026. CARMEN G. TIRÚ QUIÑONES, SECRETARIA. JOAN ROSARIO ALBINO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE

JULIMAR GONZALEZ RODRÍGUEZ

Demandante V. JOSE DANIEL RENTAS ARROYO

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: PO2025RF00714. (Salón: 405 RF Y MENORES). Sobre: CUSTODIA - MONOPARENTAL O COMPARTIDA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. MÓNICA L. RIVERA LABOYMLRIVERA@SERVICIOSLEGALES. ORG.

A: JOSE DANIEL RENTAS ARROYO, PARA SER NOTIFICADO POR EDICTO; P/C: LCDA. MONICA L. RIVERA LABOY.

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 29 de enero de 2026, 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 de 02

de febrero de 2026. En Ponce, Puerto Rico, el 02 de febrero de 2026. CARMEN G. TIRÚ QUIÑONES, SECRETARIA. TANIA M. MELÉNDEZ CRUZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. SUCESION DE RAFAEL ORTIZ PÉREZ T/C/C RAFAEL PÉREZ Y OTROS

Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: YU2025CV00453. (Salón: 406 - CIVIL SUPERIOR). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA: PROPIEDAD RESIDENCIAL. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. FERNANDO J. GIERBOLINI GONZÁLEZ - FGIERBOLINI@ MSGLAWPR.COM. A: FULANO(A) DE TAL Y SUTANO(A) DE TAL; COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION DE RAFAEL ORTIZ PEREZ; MENGANO(A) DE TAL Y MENGANITO(A) DE TAL; COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION DE DE LA SUCESION DE HAYDEE MALAVE RUIZ. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 04 de febrero de 2026, 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 de 05 de febrero de 2026. En Ponce, Puerto Rico, el 05 de febrero de 2026. Carmen G. Tirú Quiñones, Secretaria. Ereina Agront León, Secretaria Auxiliar Del Tribunal.

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By THE STAR STAFF

The Cangrejeras of Santurce recorded their sixth victory of the season against no losses in the Women’s Superior Volleyball League (LVSF by its initials in Spanish) on Monday night, defeating the Valencianas of Juncos in straight sets.

With the win, last season’s league runner-up is now tied for first place with the defending champion Criollas of Caguas (63), with 17 points.

After taking a 2-0 lead in the match and with the third set tied at 13, Santurce went on an 11-0 run that led to a spike by Neira Ortiz to seal the victory.

The set scores were 25-21, 25-23 and 25-14.

pull even with Caguas atop LVSF

Santurce dominated Juncos 49-33 in attacks, 10-6 in blocks, 65-59 in defense, and 17-15 in assists. Juncos was superior in service aces (2-1) and passing (34-30).

Andrea Rangel led the Cangrejeras with 14 points (12 attacks and 2 blocks), followed by Tamara Otene, Helena Grozer and Neira Ortiz with 12, 11, and 10 points, respectively.

Haley Bush had 16 points and Naya Gross added 11 for the Valencianas (2-7 with 6 points).

LVSF Week 5 play continues today with three matches: Santurce visits the Leonas of Ponce at Salvador Dijols Court starting at 8 p.m., Caguas travels to Manatí to take on the Atenienses (8:30 p.m.) and the Pinkin of Corozal play the Valencianas in Juncos (8:30 p.m.).

The superior squad that hid in plain sight

By JERRY BREWER / THE ATHLETIC

This was not redemption. Some of these Seattle Seahawks were Pop Warner-aged players 11 years ago, in February 2015, little football hatchlings who could not fathom the agony this franchise suffered at the goal line of Super Bowl XLIX.

You can’t redeem a broken heart anyway. You repair it and heal. You learn to live smarter, healthier. Better. So what happened Sunday night in Santa Clara, California in this Super Bowl was not about fixing the past. Instead, the Seahawks announced the future — their future — one in which they could reign for a while.

With their 29-13 thwacking of the New England Patriots, they did not close an old wound so much as they proved that the scar no longer matters. This was not the rewrite of a horror story that began more than a decade ago. It was the first page of a thrilling new script.

Consider it poetic icing that this new story began against the opponent that once flattened the dynastic arc of Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch and the Legion of Boom. Seattle didn’t defeat history. It augmented it, powered by a coach too ingenious, a roster too young and a vibe too unburdened to drag old pain into the present.

Redemption looks backward. This team only looks ahead. And, whew, what sights can the Seahawks see.

During a season in which the Kansas City Chiefs’ dominance stalled, it seemed that the NFL had no king. It seemed there was no great team. It seemed that half the playoff field had an opportunity to win it all. But Seattle was a superior squad hiding in plain sight.

Over 20 games, the Seahawks finished at 17-3. They outscored opponents by 246 points, an average margin of victory of 12.3 points per game. Over three postseason games, the running score was 101-46, despite competition that had a combined 44-16 record.

The Seahawks were the third-youngest team in the NFL this season. Mike Macdonald, 38, is the third-youngest coach to kiss the Lombardi Trophy. When Seattle won its first Super Bowl 12 years ago, it was among the youngest squads ever to play on that stage. A year later, the core players returned to the big game and were poised to repeat until Wilson’s catastrophic interception stirred a controversy that fractured a group built with high emotions and big personalities.

It was a loss that no one wants to speak about in Seattle, but everyone still felt. Those Seahawks never had a chance to make it right. In truth, there is no such thing as making it right. Every season is its own struggle in the NFL. After that setback, the Seahawks lost their edge to stay ahead of a league designed to keep pulling teams toward the middle.

Seattle won its final 10 games, and six were by double digits. In the end, it became clear that only the Los Angeles Rams were a worthy challenger, and the Seahawks took their best offensive punch twice without staggering.

“It’s just a complete team,” safety Julian Love said. “We’ve won every game this year in different ways. It didn’t feel like work a single day this year. I don’t want this to end. We love each other.”

A special season may have ended. A new championship era has just begun.

For the past 11 years, the ghosts have visited at odd times. There is the memory of Richard Sherman standing in front of Earl Thomas in the locker room, shielding a crying teammate while fielding questions about what went wrong. There is Pete Carroll holding the hand of his sobbing grandson as television cameras invaded his personal space. There is Lynch laughing because it was the only emotion that could conceal his anger and disbelief.

Sunday night provided a much different scene. Confetti drifted through Levi’s Stadium, and when that part of the celebration was done, cigar smoke filled the air. This was not a group exhaling to let go of old pain. These new players were inhaling possibilities.

“Man, we’ve all been rejected,” middle linebacker Ernest Jones IV said. “We’ve all been disrespected. And when it’s all said and done, that was just a bunch of bad boys.”

The game felt like a slow suffocation. With their vaunted defense, the Seahawks grabbed the Patriots and squeezed them into submission. Through three quarters, New England had zero points and 78 yards, averaging just 2 yards per play. The Seattle defense, which nicknamed itself the Dark Side, lived in the face of New England quarterback Drake Maye, sacking him six times and harassing him into three turnovers.

If the score had been closer, the Seahawks probably would have posted a shutout. But after Seattle took a 19-0 lead, the final 13 1/2 minutes became garbage time. The defense loosened up. And even then, the turnovers kept coming.

Jones knows the comparisons will come. How good was this defense? Was it 1985 Chicago Bears good? Legion of Boom good? He shrugged and circumvented any debate.

“That’s for y’all,” he said. “I will say this: My defense, I’ll match us up against anybody. Whatever great offense you put up there, I like our odds.”

For all the talent on Seattle’s defense, a single superstar did not dominate the game. Everywhere the Patriots went, the Seahawks swallowed them.

They won with their brawn and their brains. They won with speed and precision. Macdonald’s defense, the trendiest in the sport, flummoxed Maye with a rotation of disguises and pressure looks. One slight hesitation, and a big man was in the quarterback’s grill. It was hard enough for the offensive line to stay in front of defensive end Derick Hall and tackle Byron Murphy II, but then cornerback Devon Witherspoon disrupted as much in the pass rush as he did defending passes.

The Seattle offense wasn’t as sharp as usual, but it didn’t matter that quarterback Sam Darnold was struggling. Kenneth Walker III, the game’s most valuable player, rushed for 135 yards and carried the unit until Darnold started capitalizing in the red zone.

The Legion of Boom era burned hot. It was an unforgettable time but a difficult team to sustain, especially after the crisis. These Seahawks are colder and steadier. With their discipline, they may prove to be scarier. They celebrate now, but you get the sense they expect to be back.

In the NFL, greatness can end faster than anyone can imagine. The Seahawks know this too well. Yet they have all the traits of a winner that can endure. Darnold, still just 28, is back from the abyss and ascending. The defense is stocked

with youth and players in the middle of their primes. Macdonald is transforming from a robotic defensive mastermind to a full-fledged head coach, with the vision and emotional intelligence to lead a team through heightened expectations. For certain, this was not redemption. That would suggest that the Seahawks were chasing something they lost. These Seahawks have discovered something new.

The Seahawks are now the 17th franchise to win multiple championships. Eleven years ago, that seemed a given. Now it’s a blessing that an entire city knows to cherish.

In 2015, Seattle walked off a Super Bowl field in Arizona carrying a question that wouldn’t stop echoing: What happened?

On Sunday night, they walked off carrying a warning. The Dark Side has arrived. The rest of the NFL ought to prepare to function without light.

Answers to the Sudoku and Crossword on page 21