Wednesday Jan 21, 2026

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.

By THE STAR STAFF

Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) Rep. Denis Márquez Lebrón on Tuesday sharply criticized the announcement that 16 legislators from the New Progressive Party (NPP) and the Popular Democratic Party (PDP) will travel to Madrid to attend the FITUR International Tourism Fair.

Márquez called the trip a “pathetic waste of public funds” and said it exemplifies what he has long denounced as “legislative tourism.”

Márquez, who has served nine years as the PIP spokesperson in the island House of Representatives, said that most publicly funded trips taken by members of the two major parties fail to produce any legislative benefit for Puerto Rico.

“The vast majority of these trips do not result in any benefit to the Legislature or the country,” he said. “They do not advance legislation, they are not part of oversight processes, nor do they include any analysis of public policy.”

The lawmaker added that he has repeatedly reviewed travel reports filed after similar trips and found them largely “pro forma” and lacking any concrete legislative action.

The trip to FITUR, he argued, is no different.

“What is the need for 16 representatives to attend this fair?” Márquez asked. “What legislative work are they going to do?”

In addition to questioning the purpose of the travel, the PIP legislator warned that the trip has already disrupted the

legislative calendar. Márquez said numerous activities in the House have been halted, including the remainder of this week’s session and public hearings related to the tax reform bill.

He demanded that leaders of both the NPP and PDP explain the use of public resources for what he described as “legislative vacations paid for with public funds.”

“The leadership of both parties owes the country an explanation for this waste,” Márquez said.

The controversy adds to a longstanding debate about the use of taxpayer money for official travel and the broader issue of transparency in the Puerto Rico Legislature.

By THE STAR STAFF

Gov. Jenniffer González Colón has declared today, Wednesday, Jan. 21, a day of mourning for the death of Officer Aníbal Morales Aponte, who was assigned to the Caguas Motorized Unit of the Puerto Rico Police Bureau.

Morales Aponte, badge number 23726, passed away last Tuesday, Jan. 13, after being seriously injured in a traffic accident in Caguas on Jan. 7. The decision was made after the family announced that funeral services would be held today.

As part of the declaration, the flags at all public facilities will be flown at half-mast today as a sign of respect and solidarity.

Upon learning of the officer’s death, the governor expressed: “We feel profound sorrow at the passing of Officer Aníbal Morales Aponte, a loss that deeply affects us as a people,” the governor said in a written statement Tuesday.

“Officer Morales Aponte fought for his life with the same strength with which he served the Puerto Rico Police Department for 29 years,” González Colón said while extending

her condolences to the officer’s mother, daughters, partner, family, and colleagues in the Caguas Motorized Unit.

The governor urged police officers to honor the officer’s memory with their daily service and emphasized that his legacy remains in the institution and in the gratitude of the people of Puerto Rico.

Flu cases remain on the rise with 126 deaths this season

By THE STAR STAFF

Health Secretary Dr. Víctor Ramos Otero announced on Tuesday that 3,383 new cases of influenza were registered during the epidemiological week of Jan. 4-10, bringing the cumulative number of cases for the 2025-2026 season to 39,052.

“We have 3,383 new cases of influenza, which is more than last week, and we have now been above the warning threshold and the epidemic threshold for five weeks,” Ramos Otero said during a press conference.

The secretary said 46.1% of the cases are in minors and that the hospitalization rate is 5.9%. The health regions with the highest number of cases are Ponce with 7,866, Caguas with 7,602, and Bayamón with 6,539.

Ramos Otero reported that 126 deaths associated with influenza have been confirmed

Health Secretary Dr. Víctor Ramos Otero

during the season. Between Dec. 15 and Jan. 7, 28 deaths were added to the registry, which was due to accumulated forensic certification

processes during the Christmas period. Two deaths remain under investigation.

The official detailed that of the 126 confirmed deaths, only four people were vaccinated, while among the most recent deaths, only one person had received the influenza vaccine.

Regarding virological surveillance, Ramos Otero noted that the Health Department is awaiting laboratory confirmation from New York regarding the possible presence of the H3N2 variant, whose results could be available Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.

Regarding COVID-19, the official reported that 224 new cases were registered during the past week, with 11 hospitalizations and one death. He said the transmission level remains low and that the greatest impact is observed in elderly individuals. Regarding other respiratory viruses, Ramos Otero noted that respiratory

syncytial virus (RSV) ended 2025 with 4,400 cases and that 86 cases have been reported so far in 2026, reflecting a downward trend. In the case of dengue, 2025 closed with 3,383 cases and 20 cases have been reported in 2026, with no deaths to date, he said.

The health secretary urged the public not to go to work or school if they experience respiratory symptoms within three to five days of attending recent large gatherings, and encouraged parents to cooperate with school protocols to prevent outbreaks.

Ramos Otero reiterated the importance of influenza vaccination for individuals older than six months and caregivers of children younger than that age, as well as the use of face masks in hospital settings. He added that if current indicators persist, the criteria for declaring an influenza epidemic on the island could be met next week.

Senator seeks to give autonomy to permitting office to hasten permits

By THE STAR STAFF

Sen. Wilmer Reyes Berríos introduced legislation Tuesday aimed at reorganizing Puerto Rico’s permitting system by restoring the Office of Permit Management (OGPe by its initials in Spanish) as an autonomous public entity and clarifying its authority over the island’s permit processes. Senate Bill (SB) 968 seeks to address what lawmakers and business groups have long described as a major barrier to economic growth: a slow, inconsistent permitting system that affects investment and job creation. Reyes Berríos said years of administrative reorganizations have created confusion over who controls the system, resulting in uneven criteria, delays and uncertainty for businesses, investors, municipalities and professionals.

“The permitting system needs focus, functional autonomy and dedicated technical personnel to stop being an obstacle

and become an ally for economic development,” Reyes Berríos said in a statement. “When permits lack agility and certainty, projects stall, costs increase and Puerto Rico loses competitiveness.”

Under the bill, OGPe would regain operational and technical autonomy, with clearly defined lines of authority and responsibility for administering the islandwide permitting framework. The measure aims to reduce contradictory interpretations, strengthen decision-making based on technical standards and improve coordination across agencies.

Reyes Berríos, who chairs the Senate Committee on Science, Technology and Artificial Intelligence, said the proposal is designed to make project timelines more predictable and lower transaction costs for the private sector. He emphasized that the legislation would not expand government but instead would streamline an existing function by consolidating oversight within a single specialized entity.

The measure echoes principles established in Law 161 - 2009, approved during another New Progressive Party administration, which sought to create a more agile and transparent permitting system. It also aligns with Law 122-2017, known as the “New Government Act,” a structural reform that aimed to modernize government operations and eliminate duplicative processes.

Supporters of SB 968 argue that a more efficient permitting system is essential to facilitating business activity, aiding small and medium-size enterprises, attracting new investment and accelerating projects in housing, infrastructure, tourism and other key sectors.

Reyes Berríos described the proposal as a step toward a modernized, long-term permitting framework.

“Simplifying is not deregulating, and it is not growing government,” he said. “It means creating a clearer, more agile and functional structure.”

Vieques requests transfer of Fortín Conde de Mirasol administration to ICP

By THE STAR STAFF

The offshore island municipality of Vieques is seeking

to sign an administrative agreement with the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (ICP by its initials in Spanish) to operate the historic Fortín Conde de Mirasol, the last fort built by Spain in the Americas, and Speaker of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Nuñez seeks to make it a reality.

“The municipality of Vieques is interested in managing the Fortín Conde de Mirasol, turning it into a tourist attraction to

promote history, culture and economic development. From the House of Representatives we support the initiative of the mayor, José “Junito” Corcino, and we are going to assist in it,” Méndez Nuñez said after concluding a meeting with the mayor and ICP Executive Director Melissa Santana in relation to the Fortín’s operation.

The ICP director said the request will be evaluated once the reconstruction of the Fortín’s roof is concluded.

“Our municipal administration is very interested in being able to operate the Fortín because we believe that it has enormous historical and economic potential,” Corcino said.

The ICP received the design for the restoration of the Fortín roof and bidding on the work is expected to begin soon. The reconstruction of the structure is unique because, due to its designation as a historic building, materials consonant with the time of construction must be used.

The Fortín Conde de Mirasol, built in 1845, received a refurbishment in 1991. The structure was severely damaged by Hurricane Maria in September 2017, while Hurricane Ernesto in 2024 destroyed part of the roof.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency allocated about $1 million to repair the damage caused in 2017.

US Energy Dept. cancels funding for community solar projects

By THE STAR STAFF

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has cancelled cooperative agreements and funding designated for community solar energy projects across Puerto Rico, a decision that, according to participating nonprofits, will halt planned rooftop solar and battery installations for thousands of low‑income households.

The notification was issued on Jan. 9, affecting several initiatives, including a community solar project in the offshore island municipality of Culebra led by the Environmental De fense Fund (EDF), the Foundation for a Better Puerto Rico, and Mujeres de Islas. The groups said the reversal undercuts federal goals around energy resilience and affordability, particularly in regions battered regularly by storms and prolonged outages.

“The government’s decision to cancel this project is baf fling and fundamentally at odds with its own stated goals on energy security, abundance, independence, and affordability,” said Daniel Whittle, associate vice president for the EDF’s Resilient Caribbean program. “Our project was designed to achieve all those goals. Canceling it will inevitably make lives worse by denying a proven, life‑saving clean energy solution

to a community that has already endured deadly, prolonged power outages.”

Culebra together with neighboring Vieques is of ten the first part of Puerto Rico struck by hurricanes and the last to receive restoration assistance. Local leaders say the

The U.S. Department of Energy’s recent cancellation of cooperative agreements and funding designated for community solar energy projects across Puerto Rico will halt planned rooftop solar and battery installations for thousands of low‑income households, according to participating nonprofits. (ieefa.org)

now‑halted installations of rooftop solar panels and battery systems would have been critical for residents who regularly experience grid instability.

“As a last‑mile community and the last ones to get power after Hurricane Maria, the cancellation of this wonderful pro gram makes you wonder: How could it not be consistent with the current administration’s goals?” said Theresa Bischoff, pres ident of the Foundation for a Better Puerto Rico, in a statement.

Since 2022, 45 families in Culebra have already received solar systems through EDF’s initial residential pilot program. Those systems currently allow residents to keep food from spoiling, operate essential appliances, and maintain medical equipment and medications during outages conditions that advocates say are increasingly common due to the island’s fragile electrical grid.

“We are outraged by this decision and demand social justice for our community of Culebra now,” said Dulce del Río‑Pineda, founder and organizational coordinator of Mu jeres de Islas.

The DOE has not publicly detailed the rationale behind the cancellations. Advocacy groups say they plan to seek clar ification and push for reinstatement of the funding. The

House speaker, comptroller meet on transparent & agile use of public funds

By THE STAR STAFF

As part of his efforts to expand oversight of the proper use of public funds, framed within transparency and agility, Speaker of the Puerto Rico House of Repre sentatives Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Nuñez held a working meeting earlier this week with Comptroller of Puerto Rico Carmen A. Vega Fournier.

During the meeting in the speaker’s office, a multitude

of issues were discussed, including current laws related to the functions of the Office of the Comptroller.

“We are committed to transparency in public service, which is why we always seek to strengthen the controls on the use of public funds,” Méndez Nuñez said. “The Comp troller’s Office is a tool to safeguard the government’s fiscal operations. That is why we met with the comptroller, to eval uate initiatives and proposals that strengthen this function, which is so important for good governance.”

The House speaker is the author of Law 20 2025 which empowers the Office of the Comptroller, as well as the Office of the Citizen’s Advocate and the Civil Rights Commission, to contract the insurances managed by the Treasury secretary for the central government or to manage their own insurances.

Currently, there are about nine bills, as well as one resolution, pending evaluation related to the Comptroller’s Office in the House of Representatives.

Labor Dept. offers support after Baxter layoffs in Guayama

By THE STAR STAFF

The island Department of Labor and Human Resources

(DTRH by its initials in Spanish) has activated its services to assist workers laid off by Baxter Healthcare following the company’s recent reduction in staff at its Guayama facility.

Labor Secretary María del Pilar Vélez Casanova said the pharmaceutical manufacturer has not yet coordinated with the agency to provide support for the affected employees. Even so, she noted, DTRH personnel will reach out to the company to request collaboration and ensure workers can access available government programs.

“As a government, it is our commitment to support them by facilitating the Department’s resources, through which they can receive guidance and access programs that will

help them move toward new employment opportunities,” Vélez Casanova said.

She urged displaced workers to file their initial unem ployment insurance claims through the government portal trabajo.pr.gov, adding that eligible individuals may receive benefits for up to 26 weeks per year while they transition to new jobs.

Vélez Casanova also highlighted that the agency’s Employment Service will assist workers in searching for new opportunities through its database and the PERFIL platform, an AI‑powered job‑matching tool that connects job seekers with positions aligned with their skills and qualifications.

The DTRH will also coordinate efforts with the Depart ment of Economic Development and Commerce to further support affected employees.

Baxter Healthcare confirmed the dismissal of 20 workers from its Guayama plant this week, and similar actions could occur at its other facilities across Puerto Rico.

The layoffs caught both Guayama Mayor O’brain Vázquez Molina and Vélez Casanova off guard, as the com pany did not formally notify local or labor officials nor seek assistance programs for displaced workers.

“At this moment, I lack formal notification from the company’s directors,” Vázquez Molina said in a written state ment. He added that he will send an official communication to Vélez Casanova requesting updates on the measures being implemented to support the affected employees.

The DTRH secretary reiterated the availability of unem ployment assistance, again urging the laid‑off workers to file their claims through the government’s online portal.

The San Juan Daily Star

January 21, 2026 5

In Minneapolis, a pattern of misconduct toward protesters

By STEPHANIE SAUL

Aprotester detained, her bra removed and wed-

ding ring cut off, and some of her clothes never returned. The “gratuitous deployment” of pepper spray. A couple’s car surrounded by agents, who pointed semiautomatic weapons at them at close range.

A federal judge in Minneapolis cited the episodes in an unusually detailed ruling Friday that found a pattern of misconduct by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and ordered them and other immigration agents to stop using excessive force against protesters while conducting their operations in the city.

In some ways, legal experts said, the judge’s order was fairly mundane because it merely ordered federal agents to follow established constitutional law, permitting peaceful protests.

In other ways, it stood out.

“Extraordinary,” Michele Goodwin, a law professor at Georgetown University, said of the decision. The judge, she said, reviewed dozens of witness declarations and video evidence and found conduct “alarming enough, dangerous enough that the court has imposed a preliminary injunction.”

less weight” to his testimony.

In one episode described in the order, Menendez concluded that federal agents likely were “simply fed up with the protesters generally” when they decided to violently arrest a man who was involved in peaceful activity.

“‘Let’s get this guy,’ one of the agents said, before they grabbed Abdikadir Noor, and threw him to the ground,” the ruling said.

While ICE contended in court papers that Noor was leading an agitated crowd of protesters as agents attempted to make an arrest, videos showed that he had pushed another protester away from the officers and held his arm up to urge other protesters to stay back, the court ruling said.

He was detained by ICE agents, taken to a federal building, shackled and put in a cell, and later released, according to the decision.

Noor, 43, a U.S. citizen of Somali descent, was one of six named plaintiffs in the lawsuit, filed by the ACLU and private attorneys who are volunteering their time. A call to the ACLU was not returned.

immigration agents that evokes the civil rights era. (Jamie Kelter Davis/ The New York Times)

Protesters and state officials have for weeks been calling on the federal government to withdraw its immigration agents from Minneapolis, a movement that has only intensified since Renee Good was shot and killed Jan. 7 by Jonathan Ross, an ICE officer.

In late December, the American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of several protesters, filed a complaint against the federal government and its agents seeking to protect the protesters’ rights to free speech and assembly, and against unlawful search and seizure.

The court order was based on earlier interactions that immigration agents had with protesters that did not gain as much attention as the killing of Good. The accounts described in the order were submitted to the court from declarations and video submissions from both parties.

Goodwin was one of several legal scholars and criminal justice experts who said the conduct of ICE agents during Operation Metro Surge, the government’s name for its immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, evoked the attacks by police officers in Birmingham, Alabama, on civil rights protesters in 1963.

David Rudovsky, a University of Pennsylvania law professor, also noted the similarities. “I think about the Civil Rights Movement in the South and how Southern law enforcement reacted with hoses, dogs and lynchings,” he said.

Images of Birmingham’s police dogs sinking their teeth into protesters shocked the world. The aggressive conduct of federal agents in Minneapolis has also raised alarm, particularly following the shooting death of Good.

The constitutional principles at risk are the same.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called the judge’s findings “ridiculous” Sunday in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” and then blamed the protesters.

“We only use those chemical agents when there’s vio-

lence happening and perpetuating, and you need to be able to establish law in order to keep people safe,” she said, adding that the judge’s order will not change the agency’s operations on the ground. “It’s basically telling us to do what we’ve already been doing,” she said.

Her agency was expected to appeal the ruling.

The case is the latest in a series of legal challenges across the country, including in California, Illinois and Washington, D.C., where civil and immigrant rights organizations have sought to curb the tactics of federal agents.

The legal moves have come as the Trump administration pursues its deportation agenda, a cornerstone of the campaign that helped get President Donald Trump elected to a second term. For many, including in Minnesota, the immigration crackdown is the welcome fulfillment of that promise and should not be impeded by protesters.

The 83-page ruling found that “the record adequately illustrates that the defendants have made, and will continue to make, a common practice of conduct that chills observers’ and protesters’ First Amendment rights.”

Judge Katherine Menendez, who was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota by President Joe Biden, said that neither party requested an evidentiary hearing, even though the court made that available.

She also stated that she gave “substantial weight” to sworn statements from the plaintiffs and noted that immigration agents involved in the interactions with protesters did not provide sworn declarations.

Rather, the defense depended on testimony from David Easterwood, who directs the St. Paul field office for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations. Easterwood said he was not present at the encounters, but rather relied on “personal knowledge, reasonable inquiry and information made available to me.” Menendez said because of that, she gave “considerably

Geoffrey Alpert, a professor of criminology at the University of South Carolina, said the ICE behavior described in the ruling sets a new level of misconduct.

“In the last 45 years I’ve been studying these events, I’ve seen nothing like what we’re experiencing today,” he said. Alpert cited the case of Susan Tincher, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against ICE, as egregious behavior.

Tincher woke to learn that ICE agents had arrived in her Near North neighborhood in Minneapolis. She drove to a nearby home that was surrounded by agents to find out what was happening.

Standing about 6 feet from agents who had encircled the home, she said, she heard officers say, “Get back,” and “Take her down.”

Within about 15 seconds, she said, several agents had grabbed her and pulled her to the ground, then handcuffed her while she was face down in the snow. Witnesses said she did not physically resist agents or taunt or threaten them.

ICE agents took Tincher to the federal building, where they removed some of her clothes, cut off her wedding ring and shackled her. Before releasing her, they told her she would be charged with obstructing a federal officer. She was never charged.

In court papers, Easterwood said that Tincher had attempted to cross into the perimeter of the house and tried to push an ICE officer out of the way.

But Menendez disagreed.

She also cited a number of incidents of ICE agents “gratuitously deploying chemical irritants at observers and protesters.”

Alan Crenshaw, 35, a Minneapolis resident involved in the protests, said he entered a restaurant and witnessed two agents “violently slamming a young Black man against the wall” even though the man was yelling in pain and telling them he was a U.S. citizen.

Outside, he said, he saw the agents push the young man into the snow for no apparent reason, handcuff him and place him in a car.

Trump issues MLK Day proclamation after criticism

By FRANCESCA REGALADO

President Donald Trump proclaimed

Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday evening, after he was criticized by civil rights activists for breaking from tradition by failing to recognize King’s legacy or attending commemorations of the holiday.

In the past, presidents issued statements about King even before the federal holiday. Toward the end of Trump’s first term in 2021, when MLK Day fell on Jan. 18, his proclamation was issued on Jan. 15, King’s birthday. Last year, President Joe Biden issued a proclamation on Jan. 17, days before the holiday.

Each year, the United States celebrates King’s legacy with a federal holiday on the third Monday of January. King played an instrumental role in the Civil Rights Movement, which called for an end to racial segregation and discrimination.

Presidents usually attend parades and commemorative services held in his honor. The federal holiday was created in 1983 by legislation signed by President Ronald Reagan, 15 years after King was assassinated. President Bill Clinton signed legislation in 1994 designating it as a day of service to encourage Americans to volunteer in their communities.

Trump did not attend MLK Day events on Monday, spending the holiday at his Mara-Lago estate in Florida. In the proclamation, Trump said he had honored King last year by

declassifying documents related to his assassination. Several noted historians said at the time, however, that there was little of note in these documents and most of King’s family had

opposed their release.

“Dr. King’s extraordinary resolve stands as an enduring testament to the unstoppable fire of freedom and, tragically, ultimately cost him his life,” Trump said in the proclamation.

“Today, we honor the brave men and women who remain steadfast in their commitment to law, order, liberty, and justice for all. We renew our resolve to honor our heritage, reclaim our freedom, and recommit to the truth that America is, was, and forever will be a great Nation,” the proclamation said.

The lack of a proclamation for most of Monday was criticized by civil rights groups, including the NAACP.

In a social media post Monday, Bernice King, King’s daughter, called on Americans to remember her father by, among other things, “amplifying and advocating for the end of statesanctioned and facilitated violence against Black and Brown immigrants and against people, period.”

Trump’s MLK Day proclamation was not shared by the White House or the president on their social media accounts, which have posted throughout the day about immigration enforcement actions and the college football championship in Miami, which Trump attended Monday night.

Wintry weather leads to 100-vehicle pileup on interstate in Michigan

By ADEEL HASSAN

With conditions treacherous on a highway in Michigan on Monday after a blast of lake-effect snow, more than 100 vehicles slipped and crashed into one another in a chain-reaction pileup, with some sliding off the interstate entirely, authorities said.

Numerous injuries were reported, but no deaths, according to the Michigan State Police.

The pileup, set off around 10:20 a.m., forced the closure of Interstate 196 in both

In

directions between Hudsonville and Zeeland, just southwest of Grand Rapids and about 10 miles east of Lake Michigan.

The highway reopened about 6 p.m., after emergency crews worked for nearly eight hours to clear the vehicles, including about three dozen semitrailer trucks that had jackknifed, said Shanon Banner, the communications director for the Michigan State Police.

Buses from nearby cities and area schools were taking stranded motorists from the scene to Hudsonville High School. Some were arranging to be picked up once at the school, according

Minneapolis, a pattern of misconduct...

From page 5

As a crowd gathered, Crenshaw said multiple people were being pepper sprayed with no warning. Agents drove slowly past, opened the car door and sprayed a bystander on the side of the road. Then, another ICE car without lights drove past and sprayed Crenshaw

right in the face.

“Arresting people who are engaged in peaceful protest, using chemical spray against people engaged in protest activity, these are all very obvious. These are things that no police officer should do,” said Alpert, who has advised police forces.

to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office.

There were reports of poor visibility and blowing snow on Interstate 196, whipped up by a winter storm system moving across the country over the holiday weekend.

The National Weather Service in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said Monday afternoon that “heavy lake-effect and lake-enhanced snow will persist downwind of the Great Lakes and produce some whiteout conditions that could cause difficult travel conditions.”

On Sunday, a winter storm delivered a chilly blast to the Southeast, bringing an un-

On another point of contention — the behavior of ICE officers toward vehicles that seem to be tailing federal agents — Menendez wrote that about a dozen incidents showed that “federal immigration agents are stopping residents’ vehicles without sufficient cause to justify detention.”

ICE agents had positioned their vehicles to block the road, braked abruptly in front of

usual but short-lived dose of snow as far south as Florida and Georgia before traveling up the East Coast and into New England.

Forecasters warned Monday that freezing temperatures would linger in the eastern half of the country, with freeze warnings in effect for portions of southern Georgia and northern Florida into Tuesday morning.

They said that arctic air moving over the Great Lakes would lead to another round of heavy lake-effect snow for the area over the next few days. Accumulations of up to 4 inches were expected overnight.

residents and activated emergency lights to initiate a stop.

In court documents, ICE did not specifically address detailed allegations about vehicular stops. Generally, though, the agency responded by saying that when protesters follow government vehicles, there have been cases in which the behavior “is not safe and impedes ICE officers from effecting arrests.”

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL

Life, liberty and the pursuit of unhappiness

By NICHOLAS KRISTOF

We Americans like to boast, “We’re No. 1,” and we certainly are in our military capacity to invade other countries and abduct odious foreign leaders.

But in the well-being of ordinary citizens? A careful study released last week and based on a measure called the Social Progress Index suggests that in terms of quality of life, the United States ranks 32nd out of 171 countries, behind Poland, Lithuania and Cyprus.

More alarming, the United States has fallen steadily in the rankings over the years, under Republican and Democratic presidents alike — and now seems poised to fall further because of cuts in health care and other services by President Donald Trump.

The Social Progress Index was introduced in the 2010s by a high-powered team of scholars and experts. The United States ranked 18th in 2011, and while that was troubling, we were still ahead of France, Italy and Spain. Now they outrank America.

The Social Progress Index has 12 components, and since 2011 the United States has fallen in the rankings in all of them, said Michael Green, the chief executive of the group that publishes the index each year.

“The quality of life in America is not just worse than in a handful of small Scandinavian countries but also worse than in all of America’s G7 competitors,” Green told me.

“We’ve slipped behind former Communist countries like Slovenia, Lithuania and Estonia and behind other relatively new democracies like South Korea.”

“The U.S. won the Cold War by being an economic superpower and a social progress superpower,” Green added. “Over the last 30 years, America has simply let go, in terms of social progress.”

The Social Progress Index is just one set of metrics, of course, and one could quibble about this or that score. But it is a useful exercise to employ objective data to weigh quality of life across countries:

— In safety, the United States ranks 99th, the index finds, behind Pakistan and Nicaragua.

— In K-12 education, America is 47th, behind Vietnam and Kazakhstan.

— In health, we rank 45th, behind Argentina and Panama.

Most other attempts to assess nations by well-being also show the United States struggling in recent years. The recent World Happiness Report, ranking countries based on polling about happiness and how people evaluate their lives, has the United States at 24th — down from 15th a decade earlier. The Atlantic Council’s freedom index ranks America No. 22 and in decline, and the Economist Intelligence Unit’s democracy index puts the United States at No. 28.

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, with its celebration of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” In a sense, the Social Progress Index and these other assessment tools evaluate how well we’re doing by our own metrics.

The United States does a fine job generating economic growth, but it lags at translating that GDP growth into the things we most care about.

For a contrast, consider Latvia. It has less than half the per capita GDP of the United States, but it enjoys similar scores on the Social Progress Index.

The index is not, of course, definitive. I think the United States is more honest than some other countries in data collection (in areas such as neonatal mortality), and I worry that Western Europe, for all its social gains, has an economic model that suppresses innovation and long-term growth.

measures.

“It’s not about Trump,” Green said. “Obama and Biden did little to reverse the decline, nor did the Bushes or Clinton. It’s a multipresident, bipartisan, long, slow car crash. Yet voters seem to have been anesthetized by a rising stock market and economic growth, until in recent years it’s become clear to people that their living standards have stagnated — and that’s why they’ve turned to the populist promise of MAGA and Trump.”

He added, “We have to think about Trump as the consequence rather than the cause of America’s progress decline.”

So what’s the solution?

Part of the answer may be investments in human capital — in children, education and lifting skill levels. That’s everything from early childhood initiatives to vocational training, from drug treatment to community colleges.

Our relentless decline in our international standing should be an alarm bell in the night. We are not the nation we think we are, and we should shake off this complacency unless we’re comfortable with our patriotic boast becoming, “We’re No. 32!”

Contact Kristof at Facebook.com/Kristof, Twitter.com/ NickKristof or by mail at The New York Times, 620 Eighth Ave., New York, NY 10018.

Huge thanks to my readers: My holiday giving guide has raised $43.5 million so far for three outstanding nonprofits. The drive will last until the end of this month; you can join and get your donation matched at KristofImpact.org. Dr. Ricardo Angulo Founder

Yet the index also captures something real. It explains some of the frustration and discontent that helped elect Trump on the right and Zohran Mamdani on the left. When Americans say that the system is not working for them, these rankings illuminate why they feel such frustration.

María de L. Márquez

As I suggested, things may get worse. As I wrote recently, Trump’s cuts in health care may cost 51,000 lives annually and result in 101,000 cases of untreated addiction annually, along with 138,000 cases of untreated diabetes.

Liberals may be tempted to focus on Trump’s shortcomings. But there is something larger going on here as well: Since about 1970, the United States has been lagging peer countries in some quality-of-life

Senado evalúa cambios al Código de Rentas Internas

POR CYBERNEWS

EL CAPITOLIO – La Comisión de Hacienda, Presupuesto y PROMESA del Senado evaluó el martes el Proyecto del Senado 912, una medida que forma parte de la segunda fase de los cambios al Código de Rentas Internas.

En un memorial conjunto, el secretario del Departamento de Hacienda, licenciado Ángel Pantoja Rodríguez; el director de la Oficina de Gerencia y Presupuesto, Orlando Rivera Berríos; y en representación de la Autoridad de Asesoría y Agencia Fiscal, el licenciado Luis Roberto Rivera Cruz, indicaron que la medida responde al Programa de Gobierno de la gobernadora y se sustenta en la reducción de gastos y el uso eficiente de recursos públicos.

Pantoja Rodríguez explicó que las alternativas de financiamiento fueron discutidas con la Junta Fiscal bajo el principio de neutralidad fiscal, el cual requiere que cualquier reducción en ingresos contributivos esté acompañada de ingresos sustitutos o recortes de gastos recurrentes.

Desde la perspectiva de la Autoridad de Asesoría y

Agencia Fiscal, se expuso que el proyecto cumple con dicho principio mediante la derogación de ciertas exenciones, controles de gasto y medidas de eficiencia administrativa, sin generar presión adicional sobre el Fondo General.

Por su parte, el director de la Oficina de Gerencia y Presupuesto sostuvo que “este proyecto nace de una

realidad que requiere premura para que el alivio contributivo tenga efectos reales en el bolsillo de la gente en este ciclo contributivo”.

Además, el secretario del Departamento de Desarrollo Económico y Comercio, Sebastián Negrón Reichard, respaldó la medida al señalar que atiende la actualización de las escalas contributivas vigentes desde 2011 y busca reducir la carga contributiva de los individuos, lo que, según indicó, redundará en mayor liquidez y actividad económica.

El Proyecto del Senado 912 propone una nueva estructura de tasas contributivas para los años contributivos que comiencen después del 31 de diciembre de 2024, incluyendo una tasa de cero por ciento para ingresos de hasta 12,500 dólares y escalas progresivas hasta una tasa máxima de 33 por ciento para ingresos mayores de 150,000 dólares, además de ajustes por inflación a partir de 2026. La presidenta de la Comisión informó que los trabajos continuarán el miércoles a con la comparecencia del Departamento de Justicia, el Colegio de Contadores Públicos Autorizados y la Junta de Planificación, entre otros deponentes.

Sentencian laboratorio en Humacao por fraude al Programa Medicaid

SAN JUAN – El Tribunal de Primera Instancia de San Juan dictó sentencia contra la corporación Laboratorio Clínico Central II por fraude al Programa Medicaid y apropiación ilegal de fondos públicos, informó el martes la secretaria de Justicia, Lourdes Gómez Torres.

El juez Rafael Taboas Dávila, de la Sala Municipal de San Juan, encontró culpable a la corporación en los 28 cargos criminales sometidos por el Departamento de Justicia, que incluyeron apropiación ilegal de fondos públicos, fraude al Medicaid bajo la Ley 154 de 2018 y apropiación ilegal de identidad. Como parte de un acuerdo, el Laboratorio Clínico Central II devolvió 207,258.64 dólares correspondientes a reclamaciones falsas y fraudulentas sometidas al Programa Medicaid. Además, el tribunal ordenó al Registro de Corporaciones del Departamento de Estado la cancelación del certificado de incorporación del laboratorio.

La investigación estuvo a cargo de la fiscal Bren-

da Rosado Aponte, de la Unidad de Control de Fraude al Medicaid, junto a la agente Rosalía Berenguer Zurita de esa unidad y el agente especial Fernando Vázquez Barreto de la Oficina del Inspector General de Salud federal.

El caso surgió luego de un referido del Programa Integrity Unit del Departamento de Salud relacionado con reclamaciones fraudulentas presentadas por el laboratorio. Posteriormente, la Unidad de Control de Fraude al Medicaid recibió un segundo referido del Plan de Salud Menonita tras una querella presentada por una ciudadana.

La querellante indicó que, al recibir el desglose de utilización de servicios, detectó múltiples laboratorios facturados por Laboratorio Clínico Central II que no fueron solicitados, recibidos ni autorizados. Según la investigación, entre enero de 2020 y diciembre de 2023 el laboratorio, ubicado en la calle Font Martelo del municipio de Humacao, sometió reclamaciones fraudulentas a los planes médicos Plan de Salud Menonita y First Medical por la cantidad de 103,629.42 dólares, mediante el uso indebido de

identidades de médicos y pacientes para facturar y cobrar servicios.

The San Juan Daily Star

Wednesday, January 21, 2026 9

Painter & landscape architect in training travels complementary paths

By THE STAR STAFF

Yanira Delgado Rivera has always been creative, drawn since childhood to colors, forms, and the impulse to make things by hand. But it wasn’t until high school -- when she stepped into her first group exhibition -- that she began to feel the pull of two worlds: the precision of design and the expressive freedom of art. What she could not yet imagine was how seamlessly those two impulses would later merge into a single vocation.

Today, Delgado Rivera is a landscape architect in training (arquitecta paisajista en entrenamiento) and painter whose career is steadily gathering momentum. She currently teaches at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) in Carolina, in the Department of Design, while pursuing both her landscape architecture license and an ambitious artistic agenda.

January 2026 marks a milestone: Delgado Rivera will participate in SOMOS, a virtual exhibition presented by the Asociación Puertorriqueña de Artistas Plásticos. She will showcase two works -- one landscape and one centered on the human figure -- though she keeps the titles concealed for now as she continues refining them.

In May, she will contribute to Egotrip, with a new piece exploring themes connected to “the previous child,” a concept she is still developing creatively.

Delgado Rivera’s journey began after graduating from high school, when she entered the Architecture program at UPR. That decision opened doors to experiences that would shape her aesthetics and worldview.

In Italy, traveling as part of her studies, she encountered classical and Renaissance art -- masterpieces that stirred something profound.

“Seeing that art up close inspired me to keep learning to paint,” she says.

Another study trip, this time to Brazil, immersed her in vibrant landscapes and bold expressions of landscape architecture, designed by the late Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx. That trip would anchor her professional trajectory.

She later pursued a master’s degree in landscape architecture at the Universidad Politécnica. After graduating she worked for five years as a landscape architect in a few design offices in Puerto Rico.

Winning the 2025 Virginia Pennock Scholarship for the Landscape Architect Registration Examination revalidation (LARE Reválida) was a turning point. Awarded by the Puerto Rico Architects and Landscape Architects Association (CAAPPR by its initials in Spanish), the scholarship supports candidates pursuing licensure in landscape architecture. For Delgado Rivera, it offered more than financial relief -- it was a confirmation.

The scholarship covers one year of CA-

Bob Weir was the Dead’s invisible thread

By JON PARELES

Bob Weir — the Grateful Dead’s rhythm guitarist and one of its songwriters and lead singers — should be celebrated for his riffs and vamps alone.

The musician, whose family announced his death at 78 on Jan. 10, composed the chiming, rolling, ebb-and-flow 10/4 foundation of “Playing in the Band,” the leaping twin-guitar lick of “One More Saturday Night,” the modal triplets of “The Other One” and the jubilant “sunshine daydream” outro of “Sugar Magnolia.”

Those were some of the Dead songs in which Weir stepped forward as frontman, sin-

ging in a genial baritone that he’d occasionally push toward a good-natured growl. “Sugar Magnolia” was one of the band’s most-played live tracks. But through six decades with the Grateful Dead and its latter-day incarnations after the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995, Weir contributed just as much when he wasn’t the player in the spotlight.

In the luminous, cooperative, ever-shifting tangle that defined the Grateful Dead’s music, Weir was as self-effacing as he was essential. Rhythm guitar is a supportive role, filling in the chords and texturing the beat behind the singer or soloist in the foreground. In the Dead, Weir constantly threaded his way through the counterpoint of Garcia and his successors, on

Winning the 2025 Virginia Pennock Scholarship for the Landscape Architect Registration Examination revalidation was a turning point for Yanira Delgado Rivera, center, who is flanked by Victor Blay, left, executive director of the Puerto Rico Architects and Landscape Architects Association (CAAPPR), and CAAPPR President Alexandra Betancourt. (Instagram via 90gradosdigital)

APPR membership, one year of Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards membership, and $500 toward one of the four licensing exams. For Delgado Rivera, it meant momentum and motivation.

“It encouraged me to begin the licensing process,” she says -- an essential step toward validating her professional expertise and expanding her ability to practice independently.

Teaching at UPR Carolina now gives

lead guitar and often lead vocals, and the bubbling countermelodies of Phil Lesh on bass, who died in 2024.

Weir strummed his rhythm chords lightly, nimbly and malleably, charting and shaping the ever-shifting undercurrents of the Dead’s songs and jams. Bluegrass, blues, country, funk, reggae, mariachi and jazz were all at his fingertips. He was a consummate ensemble player — a full participant in the improvisatory mix who was somehow able to almost vanish into the background while he made the other players shine.

Weir was fond of country music and cowboy narratives. He made songs like Marty Robbins’ “El Paso,” Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” and John Phillips’ “Me and My Uncle” staples in the band’s set lists. He sang ramblingman tales of his own in “Jack Straw,” with lyrics by Robert Hunter, and “Mexicali Blues,” with lyrics by John Perry Barlow.

her the structure and space she needs to prepare for the licensing exams, while still carving out time to paint.

Delgado Rivera classifies herself as a figurative painter, but her work is also deeply atmospheric. She is fascinated by skies, sunsets, colors in motion, and the quiet beauty of daily life.

“I’m inspired by the interplay of colors in the sky and the clouds -- by sublime moments in the everyday,” she notes.

Her influences range from the fantastical worlds of Salvador Dalí, whose work she once had the chance to view up close, to the academic yet imaginative approach of French painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau, who was known for blending human figures with landscapes softened by touches of fantasy.

Delgado Rivera’s technique is evolving constantly -- something she attributes to both discipline and curiosity.

She envisions a future where she continues teaching, grows her independent landscape architecture practice, and develops her artistic portfolio simultaneously. It’s not a matter of choosing one path over another; for her, the disciplines feed each other.

“Contemplating the work of Yanira Delgado, there is no need for additional explanations,” said John Rivas, who heads the Graphic Design Department at UPR Carolina. “Each work can stand by itself to provoke great admiration.”

But his own songwriting pushed beyond the three-chord country basics. He toyed with odd meters in “Playing in the Band,” with the 7/4 reggae of “Estimated Prophet” and in his ambitious 13-minute “Weather Report Suite,” which hinted at Renaissance lute songs and gospel on the way to the upbeat folk-rock chorus of its finale, “Let It Grow.”

Weir was an inveterate collaborator, determined to share a chance to make more music. When the core members of the Dead weren’t working together, he founded bands: Kingfish, Ratdog, solo projects with serious lyricists such as Josh Ritter. What they came up with didn’t always live up to the Dead’s milestones — what could?

But Weir kept playing, singing, trying. Clearly he loved the work of making music, the chance to connect, to catalyze an ensemble with hands on strings. He kept doing just that.

Stocks

US bank stocks fall as investors await credit card rate cap deadline

U.S. bank stocks fell in morning trading on Tuesday in a broader market decline as investors waited to see if the Trump administration’s January 20 deadline to implement a 10% cap on credit card interest rates would take effect.

The administration has said the proposed cap will improve affordability for everyday consumers, while banks have warned that it could reduce credit availability because they would be unable to adequately price for the risk associated with the unsecured credit card loans.

Trump had called on companies to comply by January 20, but it is unclear if the move can be implemented ⁠unilaterally without legislation.

JPMorgan Chase shares fell 1.8%, while Citigroup lost 2.4%. Wells Fargo was last down 0.6%.

“For now, it’s an overhang, but that overhang could clear quickly if it’s more a call for Congress to do something instead of some specific policy action by the executive office,” Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management, told Reuters.

Investment banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs also fell 2.2% and 1.5%, respectively. The S&P 500 Banks index was last down 1.2%.

JPMorgan executives including CEO Jamie Dimon warned last week that the move would harm consumers. The largest U.S. lender also signaled that “everything is on the table” when asked if ⁠it would pursue legal action.

The move to cap credit card interest rates comes amid growing pushback by the Trump administration against the banking sector, which the president alleged has restricted financial services for some controversial industries. The administration has also launched an investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Dimon confirmed on Saturday that he was not asked to be the next Federal Reserve chair, hours after Trump disputed a report that said he had offered Dimon the role.

Trump has said he plans to sue JPMorgan sometime in the next two weeks for allegedly “debanking” him following the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

Interest income at banks, a major profit engine, will take a substantial hit if the proposal is implemented in its current form, according to industry experts.

The American Bankers Association, citing new data from

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credit card issuers, said on Tuesday at least 137 million cardholders and as many as 159 million would no longer be able to use their cards if the rate cap was implemented.

U.S. Bancorp CEO Gunjan Kedia also said the proposed 10% cap would severely impact its clients. “Our estimate is that 90 plus percent of our clients will see a detrimental impact if there was an across-the-board 10% rate cap on credit cards,” she said.

“We have observed that just in the last few days, the conversation around the rate cap has shifted more productively.”

Analysts said card providers could make conciliatory gestures with innovative offerings, such as lower rates for certain customers, no-frills cards that could charge 10% but have no rewards, or lower credit limits.

Wednesday, January 21, 2026 11

Greenland’s leader says he cannot rule out an American attack

By AMELIA NIERENBERG and MAYA TEKELI

The United States is “not likely” to use military force against Greenland but an attack cannot be completely ruled out, Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said Tuesday, as President Donald Trump repeated his threat to seize control of the semiautonomous Danish territory.

Nielsen appeared at a news conference in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, beside a former prime minister, Mute B. Egede, who said that territorial officials were reviewing their civil preparedness strategies. Those preparations could include asking all households to have five days of food supplies, Egede said.

“We must be prepared for all the things that may happen,” said Egede, who is now a member of Greenland’s parliament.

Both officials reiterated that Greenland — as part of the Danish Kingdom — is part of NATO and warned that any escalation would have consequences beyond the territory’s shores. They also condemned Trump’s threats on social media, which Nielsen called “disrespectful.” He said Greenland would respond through formal channels.

Trump has not yet directed the Pentagon to draw up plans for an invasion of Greenland or the aftermath of such an operation, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.

So far, there has been no official call for Greenlanders to stock up on essential household supplies.

Similar messages from governments in the Nordic region have been issued to address rising threats in recent

Housing in Nuuk, Greenland, May 21, 2025. The United States was “not likely” to use military force against Greenland but it cannot be completely ruled out, Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said on Jan. 20, 2026. (Sigga Ella/The New York Times)

years. In late 2024, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway updated their advice for citizens preparing to survive war and other crises. At the time, their main concern was Russian aggression.

Trump’s insistence that the United States will take action regarding Greenland “whether they like it or not” has upended the long-standing international order.

The U.S. president, emboldened since the U.S. military captured the Venezuelan president in a raid, has made aggressive statements about Greenland, threatening to impose tariffs on long-standing European allies to force negotiations to take control of the island. The result has been

that Greenland is afraid, Denmark is angry and Europe is standing in opposition to Trump.

Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, on Tuesday remained in Copenhagen to address Denmark’s parliament instead of attending the start of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She said neither the Danes nor the Greenlanders had wished to become “the center of a conflict between the United States and Europe.”

Hours after Trump ratcheted up his feud with European leaders, Frederiksen described his actions as a threat to Danish territory and Greenland’s right to self-determination. She warned that neither the United States nor Denmark would benefit from a trade war.

“On both sides, a trade war will cost jobs,” she said, a day before Trump was expected to attend the World Economic Forum. “On both sides, it will harm the economy.”

Trump has repeatedly said control of Greenland is a matter of U.S. national security. On Monday, Denmark sent a small contingent of about 100 soldiers to western Greenland, along with the Danish army chief, Peter Boysen, the Danish state broadcaster reported.

Analysts have said Denmark’s move to increase its military presence in Greenland seems to be part of an effort to show Trump that the country is taking his concerns about security seriously.

For their part, Greenland’s leaders have repeated their position that the island is not for sale, and that they do not want to be part of the United States. Nielsen said that if Greenlanders had to choose, they would rather stay aligned with Denmark, their former colonizer.

Canada’s prime minister says there has been a ‘rupture’ in the world order

By IAN AUSTEN

Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada did not mention the United States or President Donald Trump by name in a speech at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, but it was clear where he placed the blame for what he called a “rupture” in the world order.

“I will talk today about the breaking of the world order, the end of a pleasant fiction and the beginning of a brutal reality where the geopolitics of the great powers is not subject to any constraint,” said Carney, who used a mixture of French and English in his address in Davos, Switzerland.

“Every day we are reminded that we live in an era of great power rivalry,” he said. “That the rules-based order is fading. That the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.”

He added, “Let me be direct: We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.”

Carney, who received a standing ovation, spoke not

long after Trump posted an artificial intelligence image on social media that included a map of American flags superimposed over both Canada and the United States.

Carney, a former investment executive who has served as the governor of Canada and England’s central banks, was on familiar ground in Davos. His office estimated that he has attended the global gathering about 30 times.

On Tuesday he arrived at a conference in turmoil over the rapidly growing rift between Europe and the United States because of Trump’s effort to make Greenland, which is controlled by Denmark, a U.S. territory.

Trump’s hostility toward European allies over Greenland, which has included tariff threats, has led many Canadians to fear that he may act on his hope of annexing Canada as the 51st state.

Greenland, like the United States, is a neighbor of Canada. Canada and Denmark are members of NATO and have long been involved in military exercises in Greenland.

While Carney and his Cabinet ministers have repeatedly denounced Trump’s plan, Canada has not joined Eu-

ropean countries in sending troops to the island in a gesture of support.

In his speech Tuesday, Carney said that Canada’s commitment to an article in the NATO treaty that views an attack on any member as an attack on all members was “unwavering.” That article was not written with the consideration that one member would be attacking another. It is also not clear that all NATO members would respond militarily to an attack on another member.

Canada and the United States have a joint command for North American air defense. This week aircraft from both countries are at a U.S. air base in Greenland as part of a regular training exercise that the joint air command said had been approved by Denmark.

In his speech Carney called on medium-size countries like Canada to band together to offset the power of the United States, China and Russia.

“The middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, we’re are on the menu,” he said. “Great powers can afford now to go it alone.”

As Spain mourns train crash victims, investigators focus on track

By JASON HOROWITZ and JOSÉ BAUTISTA

Spanish authorities were struggling Tuesday to identify those killed in a collision between two high-speed trains that left at least 41 people dead Sunday, as investigators focused on whether a problem with the track may have caused it.

The crash, Spain’s worst railway disaster since 2013, has prompted days of national mourning and a rare call for political unity. But it has also shaken a country that depends on, and takes great pride in, its high-speed rail system, the largest in Europe and the second largest in the world, behind only China’s.

More than a day after the crash in Adamuz, a town in southern Spain near the city of Córdoba, 23 autopsies had been completed, but only five bodies had been definitively identified with fingerprint matches, according to data coordinated by Spain’s Interior Ministry. Spanish police said they had received missing-person reports for 40 people.

The crash occurred when a privately operated train bound for Madrid partly derailed and two of its cars fell onto the opposite track, where they were struck by an incoming train.

Many Spanish news reports Tuesday focused on a photograph, released by the Guardia Civil, of investigators examining a particular stretch of track near the disaster site. The Commission for the Investigation of Railway Accidents has said it is examining the general condition of the track as a possible cause of the crash.

Óscar Puente, Spain’s transport minister, said in a radio interview Tuesday that there had been “an initial break” in the track, but he added that “no technician is yet able to say whether it is a cause or a consequence” of the derailment. “If the rail broke first, we would need to find out why a solid steel rail broke,” he said.

In the meantime, more vivid details of the crash from surviving passengers began to emerge in the Spanish press.

Passengers on the Madrid-bound train recounted cars vibrating strangely, carriages lurching, suitcases tumbling and glasses sliding off tables onto the floor during the initial derailment. About 20 seconds later, around 7:45 p.m., the other train, operated by the national rail provider, Renfe, barreled into the derailed carriages. Its first two cars fell down a 12-foot embankment, a preliminary report said.

The Madrid-bound train, which had about

The scene near Adamuz, a town in southern Spain, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, after a deadly train crash over the weekend. Nearly two dozen autopsies have been completed, but the authorities are struggling to identify the victims. (Finbarr O’Reilly/The New York Times)

300 people aboard, continued for hundreds of meters before coming to a stop. Surviving passengers described wandering in the dark and cold through a scene strewn with corpses, as local residents rushed to help them.

“I used my quad back and forward to transport the injured,” said one resident, Gonzalo Sánchez, referring to the off-road vehicle he drove through the steep, slippery terrain. “It was the best way I could help.” He spent hours bringing rescue workers to the trains and passengers away from the wreck.

One survivor, a 6-year-old girl, wandered through the dark as her parents, her brother and her cousin lay dead among the wreckage of the southbound Renfe train.

The mayor of Adamuz, Rafael Ángel Moreno, who was one of the first people on the scene, spoke with emotion about an “overwhelming solidarity” in his town of about 4,100 people. Despite Spain’s cantankerous political landscape, that unity seemed to extend across the country Tuesday.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, of the governing Socialist Party, made a joint appearance in Adamuz with Juanma Moreno, the president of the regional government of Andalusia, from the conservative Popular Party. “Every tragedy demands two things: unity in grief, unity in response,” Sánchez said.

The leader of the hard-right wing Vox party, Santiago Abascal, has blamed the Sánchez government for the accident, writing on social media, “Nothing works under corruption and deceit.” But the leader of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, also appeared in Adamuz, recalling that he was the president of the Galicia region when a train crash there killed 80 people in 2013.

Australia passes tighter gun control laws, weeks after Bondi massacre

By LAURA CHUNG

Australia on Tuesday passed new laws that implement a national gun buyback, limit imports of firearms and tighten background checks, swiftly adopting tougher gun control measures after a mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in December.

The moves echoed Australia’s legislative response to a massacre decades ago, which made the country a model for gun control in the eyes of many. But critics said the new legislation, and another bill promising to crack down on hate speech, had been rushed and

received limited scrutiny. Some have said that the push for new gun laws belied a failure by the government to address antisemitism in the country.

The guns used in the attack on Dec. 14, in which two men killed 15 people and wounded dozens of others at Bondi Beach in Sydney, were bought legally. The authorities have characterized the shooting as a terrorist attack motivated by antisemitic ideology.

There are now more than 4 million firearms in Australia, a record, according to authorities. Details of the gun buyback have yet to be finalized, but it is expected to be the

largest since the one conducted after the 1996 mass shooting in Port Arthur, Tasmania, where a gunman killed 35 people. That buyback was announced 12 days after the shooting.

Under the new laws, background checks for people applying for firearm licenses can now include an assessment by national intelligence agencies, and in some cases, authorities will check to see whether the applicant is an Australian citizen. Only citizens will be allowed to import guns.

“The terrorists had hate in their hearts, but they also had high-powered rifles in their hands,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Parliament before the vote Tuesday. “We’re taking action on both — tackling antisemitism, tackling hate, and getting dangerous guns off our streets.”

Despite some opposition to the bill, it passed easily in a special session of Parliament in Canberra, the capital. Lawmakers were recalled two weeks early

from a summer break by Albanese, whose popularity has slumped since the Bondi attack.

Later on Tuesday, Parliament passed the bill targeting hate speech, which critics say could have damaging repercussions for freedom of expression. It allows the government to designate organizations as hate groups if they promote violence, and it gives authorities more leeway to deny entry visas to people with extremist views.

Sen. Mehreen Faruqi, the deputy leader of the Greens party, called the bill “appalling,” saying it was not a “responsible response” to racism and extremism.

“This bill will have a chilling and draconian effect on political debate, on protest, on civil rights and on people speaking up against human rights abuses perpetrated by Israel or any other nation-state,” she said.

Some parts of the bill, which would have made it an offense to incite hate or spread ideas of “racial superiority” over another person or group, were dropped this week after politicians, legal experts and others said they would impede freedom of speech.

Trump’s first year could have lasting economic consequences

By BEN CASSELMAN

For all the chaos along the way, President Donald Trump’s first year back in the White House is ending with an economy that looks, by most conventional measures, much like the one he inherited. Unemployment is low, consumer spending is strong, and inflation is stubbornly high but gradually improving.

Tariffs, Trump’s signature economic policy, haven’t set off the manufacturing renaissance he promised, but nor have they caused the surge in inflation that many forecasters feared. The stock market bobbed and weaved its way to a solid if not spectacular 16% gain. Analysts who began 2025 warning of the perils of uncertainty ended it by remarking on the U.S. economy’s surprising resilience.

Yet it would be a mistake to think that Trump’s actions left the economy unscathed.

Much more so than in his first four years in office, Trump has begun his second term with what amounts to an all-out assault on many of the institutions and policy paradigms that have long been seen by leaders of both major political parties as the foundations of American economic strength.

He has sought to undermine the independence of the Federal Reserve; fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an agency that collects key economic data; and cut funding to the universities that conduct much of the country’s cutting-edge scientific research. He has intervened in private business deals, taken stakes in private companies and threatened corporate executives who do not adequately embrace his policy priorities. He has sharply restricted immigration, questioned the value of the United States’ alliances and imposed punishing tariffs on friends as well as adversaries.

Many of those actions are being challenged in the courts, and future presidents could reverse course on at least some of the current administration’s policies. But economists from across the ideological spectrum warn that Trump is setting the country on a path that will, in the long run, leave the economy less dynamic, the financial system less stable and Americans less prosperous in the decades ahead.

“We’re weakening the special sauce that made America so great,” said Kimberly A. Clausing, an economist at the UCLA School of Law.

Clausing worked in the Treasury Department in the Biden administration. But her concerns are shared by many economists on the right, including some who have worked for Trump.

Vance Ginn, who was chief economist in the Office of Management and Budget during Trump’s first term, praised the administration’s efforts to eliminate regulations and reduce corporate taxes. But he said the benefits of those moves are outweighed by the costs of its policies on trade and immigration, its failure to rein in the federal deficit and its intervention in the private sector.

“On net, the policies have been negative for the economy,” Ginn said.

The effects will most likely be subtle, however, showing up as a steady drip of slower growth and higher interest rates that are hard to detect in the moment. A more acute crisis, if one comes at all, might show up years or decades in the future, much too late for voters to hold Trump or his administration accountable.

“We know from a lot of historical experience that the sort of things he’s doing are antithetical to prosperity in the long run,” said Gregory N. Mankiw, a Harvard University economist who worked in the White House under President George W. Bush. But, Mankiw added, it is impossible to know exactly when or where those consequences will be felt.

Anxious voters

More politically salient in the short run may be Trump’s failure so far to address the widespread economic dissatisfaction that helped him win the 2024 election. Trump ran for president on a promise to “end inflation” and even to bring down prices — something that economists at the time dismissed as fantasy but that connected with voters frustrated by years of big price increases.

Once back in office, however, Trump said little about long-standing cost-of-living issues like housing and child care, and he opposed extending subsidies that made health insurance cheaper for people who buy coverage on federal health care exchanges. Instead, he focused on imposing tariffs, a policy that economists warned would lead to higher prices.

Members of the public shared those concerns about tariffs. Consumer sentiment rallied when Trump won the 2024 election, but cratered during the chaotic early days of his administration. For much of last year, well over half of the people responding to the University of Michigan’s long-running sentiment survey spontaneously brought up tariffs, with most of them saying they expected prices to rise as a result.

More recently, Americans have cited a new concern:

the job market. Unemployment has risen only modestly over the past year, but hiring has slowed significantly, and Americans have become increasingly worried about their ability to find a new job if they lose their current one. That has fed into affordability concerns, as Americans, still frustrated by high prices, now also worry about losing their incomes.

Long-run challenges

Trump’s defenders argue that it will take time for his policies to bear fruit. Companies will have to adapt their strategies to a world with higher tariffs and fewer immigrant workers, then build the factories and buy the equipment to put those new plans in place, argued Oren Cass, a longtime critic of free trade who leads American Compass, a populist think tank.

“Hiring people to work in your factory is not something that you do within six months of a global economic reset,” Cass said. “You’re lucky if the company has finished developing its new strategy yet, let alone started putting shovels in the ground on anything.”

Few economists share Cass’ optimism around Trump’s trade policies. But while tariffs dominated the conversation in 2025, many economists say they are far from the most damaging policies Trump has embraced. They are much more worried about Trump’s efforts to undermine the Fed’s independence, which, if successful, could make it harder for the central bank to rein in inflation — or, in a potentially even more damaging scenario, cause investors to lose faith in the value of government-issued bonds or the dollar.

They are worried about yawning budget deficits — a problem that long predates Trump but that was made worse by the tax-and-spending bill he signed last year. That, too, could cause a fiscal crisis down the road.

They are worried that by defunding universities and revoking student visas, the Trump administration will make the United States a less attractive place to do scientific research — robbing the country of an advantage that has helped power its world-leading growth since World War II.

And they are worried that by using his powers to attack his enemies and reward his friends, Trump will erode the system of rules and laws that for decades has made the United States the safest place for investors to bet their money and for entrepreneurs to build their businesses.

Andeno Co

Tasa mínima, promedio ponderado, y máxima para préstamos personales pequeños otorgados para la semana que terminó el sábado, 17 de enero de 2026

The brain health challenge

By DANA G. SMITH

Every January, Well offers readers a five-day challenge to improve some aspect of their health. This year’s edition is focused on the brain.

There are a lot of scary headlines about brains these days. One recent report estimated that the number of people in the United States with dementia would double by 2060. That figure doesn’t tell the whole story: Though the total is increasing, the rate of dementia in the United States — that is, the percentage of people with the condition — is actually dropping. The same is true for strokes.

That’s good news, and experts say it’s due in part to changes in our health. Far fewer people smoke cigarettes, for instance. And we are now much better at taking care of our cardiovascular health, which is linked to brain health.

The brain shrinks with age, typically starting in a person’s 30s. But there are real, practical steps you can take to protect your brain health, for example: Move those muscles, eat fatty fishes like salmon for omega-3 acids, and get more sleep. We’re here to help you get those habits started.

TIME FOR A POP QUIZ

This covers some of the cool things your brain does and ways to keep it performing at its best. Pay attention: There are a few curveballs in the mix.

To start, memorize these words. You’ll need them later in the quiz:

Cow Teacher Angry Green Train

1. When does your brain stop changing?

In utero

In your 20s

In your 60s

Never

2. Which activity has been shown to give your brain an immediate boost?

Watching TV

Eating fish

Exercising

Doing a crossword puzzle

3. True or False: Feeling lonely is bad for your brain. True False

4. Your physical health affects your cognitive health. Which metric is important for optimal brain functioning?

To

live a healthy life, it’s crucial to have a healthy brain. (Eiko Ojala/The New York Times)

Blood pressure

Cholesterol

Blood sugar

All of the above

5. What was not one of the words listed at the top of the quiz?

Train

Cow

Blue

Teacher

Angry

Memorize these numbers. You’ll need them later in the quiz:

4 9 6 2

6. True or False: A diminished sense of smell can be an early sign of dementia.

7. Walnuts are good for your brain for many reasons. Which isn’t one?

They contain prebiotics. They contain omega-3s. They contain polyphenols. They look like brains.

8. True or False: Supplements have been definitively proven to improve brain health.

9. What is the optimal number of daily steps to help protect against dementia?

1,000 to 3,000

3,001 to 5,000

5,001 to 7,000

7,001 to 9,000

10. True or False: Regular flossing can reduce your risk for a stroke.

11. What was the order of the set of numbers we asked you to memorize earlier?

4962

2649

ANSWERS

1. Never. While brain volume tends to peak in late adolescence (and starts to shrink not long after), your brain never loses its ability to develop new connections between neurons. This process, called neuroplasticity, is central to learning new things and forming new memories.

2. Exercising. Research has found that people can perform better on cognitive tests right after a bout of physical activity. Eating fish and doing crossword puzzles could be beneficial over the long term, but not immediately. Consistently watching four or more hours of TV a day is associated with reduced brain volume.

3. True. Loneliness and isolation are stressful experiences that can increase cortisol levels and, over time, inflammation. Scientists think that chronic inflammation damages the brain and increases the risk for dementia.

4. All of the above. Hypertension, Type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol can all harm the brain by disrupting blood flow and increasing inflammation. As a result, each is associated with an increased risk of dementia and stroke.

5. Blue.

6. True. Regions of the brain that control smell, called the olfactory system, are among the first to be affected in Alzheimer’s disease — in some cases years before other symptoms emerge.

7. They look like brains (how cute, though). Walnuts are a good source of both omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for communication between brain cells, and polyphenols, which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Research suggests walnuts also contain prebiotics that benefit the gut microbiome and, in turn, the brain.

8. False. There’s been a lot of research into whether certain supplements, like omega-3s or B vitamins, can boost cognition or reduce the risk of dementia. Some studies show a benefit, but many others do not. As a result, neurologists don’t typically recommend supplements for brain health, unless the patient has a known deficiency.

9. 5,001 to 7,000. A study published last year showed that people at risk for dementia who walked roughly 5,001 to 7,000 steps a day had slower cognitive decline than those who were less physically active. Taking 3,001 to 5,000 daily steps provided a smaller benefit, but there was no additional advantage from taking over 7,500.

10. True. Good oral hygiene has consistently been found to lower the risk of stroke. Experts think that’s because flossing can help to reduce inflammation and improve cardiovascular health, which subsequently improves brain health.

11. 4962

SCORING CATEGORIES

9-11 points: Armchair Neurologist

Great score! This challenge will help you put your knowledge into practice.

5-8 points: Doctoral Candidate

You’ve got the basics down. By the end of the week, you’ll be expert level.

0-4 points: Eager Student

This challenge is made for you. Every day will teach you something fascinating about your brain — and how to make it stronger.

The San Juan Daily Star

Wednesday, January 21, 2026 15

Canine prodigies can develop vocabularies like toddlers

By EMILY ANTHES

Basket the border collie seems to have a way with words.

The 7-year-old dog, who resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, knows the names of at least 150 toys — “froggy,” “crayon box” and “Pop-Tart,” among them — and can retrieve them on command.

Basket built her vocabulary thanks to the dedicated efforts of one of her owners, Elle Baumgartel-Austin. She began the language lessons when Basket was a puppy. “I would play with her, say the name of the toy — say the name of the toy a lot of times,” Baumgartel-Austin said. She started with 10 toys, adding more as Basket mastered them.

“There never seemed to be a limit,” she said. “It’s basically like, how many toys could I feasibly store in my tiny apartment?”

Now, in a new study, scientists have found that Basket, and other dogs that share her advanced word-learning ability, have a skill that puts them functionally on par with 18-monthold children: They can learn the names of new toys not only through direct instruction but also by eavesdropping on the conversations of their owners.

Such sophisticated word learning appears to be rare among dogs, and recognizing the labels for specific objects is a far cry from acquiring language. But the study’s findings add to evidence that the cognitive and social abilities that underpin certain kinds of language learning are not limited to humans — and highlight just how adept dogs are at reading human signals.

“They’re very good at picking up on these cues,” said Shany Dror, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, and an author of the study. “They’re so good that they can pick up on them equally well when the cues are directed to the dog or when they’re directed to someone else.”

The study, which Dror conducted at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, was published in the journal Science on Thursday.

Although many dogs can understand simple commands, like “sit” or “stay,” picking up the names of specific objects — a skill known as label learning — appears to be a much tougher task. Scientists do not fully understand why.

But over the past two decades or so, scientists have identified a handful of outliers, canine prodigies that know the names for dozens or even hundreds of toys and can remember such labels for years. “They accumulate these huge vocabularies,” Dror said.

When dogs do manage to amass large vocabularies, they tend to do so through direct interactions with their owners, such as play sessions or intentional training, Dror said. But some owners also reported that once their dogs had learned these labels, they seemed to pick up on them in overheard conversations.

Basket has been known to do that with the word “avocado,” which corresponds to one of her favorite dog toys. Baumgartel-Austin described Basket’s response to times she and her wife have casually discussed buying avocados — real

ones — for themselves.

“She will bring over the avocado,” Baumgartel-Austin said. She adds that the dog (who is named after pets kept by Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas) does the same with other toys that share a name with everyday items.

The researchers wondered whether dogs like Basket might not only recognize familiar labels in overheard conversation, but also learn new ones that way.

Children can pull off that feat as young as about 18 months old. But it’s a deceptively complex task, one that may involve following the gaze, tracking the attention and understanding the perspective of other people.

In the new study, Dror and her colleagues tested 10 individual dogs that had already been identified as “gifted word learners.” (Their subjects included seven border collies, one Labrador retriever, one mini Australian shepherd and one Australian shepherd/blue heeler cross.)

They asked the owners of these dogs to present a novel toy to another human family member while their dogs looked on. The human participants passed the toy back and forth, using its name in a series of simple sentences, such as, “This is a stingray,” and, “Do you want the stingray?” Throughout these short conversations, neither person ad-

dressed or looked at the dog.

Each dog was introduced to two new toys in this manner over the course of several short sessions spread across multiple days.

Several days later, the owners put the dogs’ knowledge to the test by placing the two new toys, plus nine familiar ones, in a room out of sight. Then they asked the dogs to retrieve various toys by name.

On average, the dogs retrieved the new toys approximately 80% of the time, a success rate equivalent to when the owners introduced new toys to the dogs directly. Individually, 7 of the 10 dogs, including Basket, performed significantly above chance. (A control group of 10 border collies that had not demonstrated unusual word learning abilities did not seem to be able to learn labels from overheard speech.)

Juliane Kaminski, who directs the dog cognition center at the University of Portsmouth in England, said that she found the results convincing but not surprising. Other studies have documented that dogs can learn object labels indirectly. In 2004, for instance, Kaminski and her colleagues reported that Rico, a border collie, could learn the names of new objects through the process of elimination — essentially inferring that new, unfamiliar words must refer to new, unfamiliar toys.

Indeed, an additional experiment by Dror and her colleagues showcased these dogs’ ability to learn new words under a variety of conditions. Owners showed their dogs a new toy, put the toy inside a bucket and then lifted the bucket so that the toy was no longer visible. Only then did they introduce the label for the toy, using it in short sentences as they looked back and forth between the bucket and the dog. After several such training sessions, the dogs were able to correctly retrieve the new toys by name nearly 80% of the time on average.

In a study published in the journal Scientific Reports in November, Kaminski and her colleagues found that compared with typical dogs, label learners were more interested in and focused on novel objects and exhibited better self-control. But it’s unclear what comes first, she noted. Do these traits allow dogs to learn the names of new toys? Or does learning and repeatedly practicing these object labels help dogs hone these skills?

One challenge is that label learning appears to be a rare enough skill in the canine kingdom that scientists don’t have many subjects to study.

“We’re always searching for more dogs,” Dror said. “We would be happy for any dog owner that thinks their dog knows the names of toys to reach out.”

LEGAL NOTICE

SUMMONS (CITACION JUDICIAL)

NOTICE TO DEFENDANT: (AVISO AL DEMANDADO):

ROBERT L. TELLES, JR.

YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF:

(LO ESTÁ DEMANDANDO EL DEMANDANTE): MILESTONE EXPLORATION, LLC

NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below. You have 30 CALENDAR

DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/ selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court. There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www. lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/ selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case.

¡AVISO! Lo han demandado. Si no responde dentro de 30 días, la corte puede decidir en su contra sin escuchar su versión. Lea la información a continuación. Tiene 30 DÍAS DE CALENDARIO después de que le entreguen esta citación y papeles legales para presentar una respuesta por escrito

en esta corte y hacer que se entregue una copia al demandante. Una carta o una llamada telefónica no lo protegen. Su respuesta por escrito tiene que estar en formato legal correcto si desea que procesen su caso en la corte. Es posible que haya un formulario que usted pueda usar para su respuesta. Puede encontrar estos formularios de la corte y más información en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (www.sucorte. ca.gov), en la biblioteca de leyes de su condado o en la corte que le quede más cerca. Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentación, pida al secretario de la corte que le dé un formulario de exención de pago de cuotas. Si no presenta su respuesta a tiempo, puede perder el caso por incumplimiento y la corte le podrá quitar su sueldo, dinero y bienes sin más advertencia. Hay otros requisitos legales. Es recomendable que llame a un abogado inmediatamente. Si no conoce a un abogado, puede llamar a un servicio de remisión a abogados. Si no puede pagar a un abogado, es posible que cumpla con los requisitos para obtener servicios legales gratuitos de un programa de servicios legales sin fines de lucro. Puede encontrar estos grupos sin fines de lucro en el sitio web de California Legal Services, (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California, (www.sucorte.ca.gov) o poniéndose en contacto con la corte o el colegio de abogados locales. AVISO: Por ley, la corte tiene derecho a reclamar las cuotas y los costos exentos por imponer un gravamen sobre cualquier recuperación de $10,000 ó más de valor recibida mediante un acuerdo o una concesión de arbitraje en un caso de derecho civil. Tiene que pagar el gravamen de la corte antes de que la corte pueda desechar el caso.

The name and address of the court is: (El nombre y dirección de la corte es):

Contra Costa County Superior Court of California - Wakefield Taylor Courthouse, 725 Court Street, Martinez, CA 94553

CASE NUMBER:

(Número del Caso): C25-00847

The name, address, and telephone number of plaintiff’s attorney, or plaintiff without an attorney, is:

(El nombre, la dirección y el número de teléfono del abogado del demandante, o del demandante que no tiene abogado, es):

DATE: (Fecha)

3/26/2025 8:00 AM

Clerk, by (Secretario), /s/ C. Padilla, Deputy LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAROLINA COMPU-LINK (COMPULINK CORPORATION DBA CELINK)

Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN DE UFRACINA GUZMÁN MARTÍNEZ COMPUESTA POR MARGARITA C. ABREY GUZMÁN T/C/C MARGARITA ABREU, MARÍA Z. GUZMÁN, ELÍAS COUVERTIER

GUZMÁN, FULANO Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRE DESCONOCIDO; SUCESIÓN DE RICARDO ABREU GUZMÁN

COMPUESTA POR RICARDO ABREU RODRÍGUEZ, ENID ABREU RODRÍGUEZ, FULANO Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRE

DESCONOCIDO; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS

MUNICIPALES Y LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

Demandados Civil Núm.: CA2025CV00949. Sala: 407. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA IN REM. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

A: UFRACINA GUZMÁN

MARTÍNEZ COMPUESTA

POR MARGARITA C. ABREY GUZMÁN T/C/C MARGARITA ABREU, MARÍA Z. GUZMÁN, ELÍAS COUVERTIER GUZMÁN, FULANO Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRE DESCONOCIDO; SUCESIÓN DE RICARDO ABREU GUZMÁN COMPUESTA POR RICARDO ABREU RODRÍGUEZ, ENID ABREU RODRÍGUEZ, FULANO Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRE DESCONOCIDO; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES Y LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA.

Yo, HÉCTOR L. PEÑA RODRÍGUEZ, ALGUACIL PLACA #278, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Carolina, a los demandados, acreedores y al público en general con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se describe, y al público en general, por la presente CERTIFICO, ANUNCIO y HAGO CONSTAR: Que el día 2 DE FEBRERO DE 2026, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Carolina, Carolina, Puerto Rico, procederé a vender en Pública Subasta, al mejor postor, la propiedad inmueble que más adelante se describe y cuya venta en pública subasta se ordenó por la vía ordinaria mediante Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, la cual se notificó y archivó en autos el día 10 de octubre de 2025. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría durante horas laborables. Que, en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta a celebrarse, se celebrará una segunda subasta para la venta de la susodicha propiedad, el 9 de febrero de 2026, a las 10:15 de la mañana; y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una tercera subasta el día 17 de febrero de 2026, a las 10:15 de la mañana, en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que ha sido liberado por la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Carolina, en el caso de epígrafe con fecha de 5 de diciembre de 2025, procederé a vender en pública subasta y al mejor postor, todo derecho, título e interés que tenga la parte demandada de epígrafe en el inmueble que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar número SIES (6) del bloque BY de la URBANIZACION JARDINES DE COUNTRY CLUB, en el Barrio Sabana Debajo de Carolina, Puerto Rico, de TRESCIENTOS CINCO punto NOVENTA y CUATRO metros cuadrados (305.94 M.C.). En lindes por el NORTE, en veintidós punto veinticinco metros, con el solar número SIETE del

mismo bloque; por el SUR, en veintidós punto veinticinco metros, con el solar número CINCO del mismo bloque; por el ESTE, en trece punto setenta y cinco metros, con los solares número veintitrés y número veinticuatro del mismo bloque; y por el OESTE, en trece punto setenta y cinco metros con la calle número veintinueve. Enclava una edificación para fines residenciales. Finca número 15,711, inscrita al folio 56 del tomo 410 de Carolina Norte. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección I de Carolina. Dirección de la Propiedad: Lot No. 6 Block BY, Sabana Abajo Ward, t/c/c BY-6 129 Street, Jardines de Country Club Dev., Carolina, PR 00983. La subasta se llevará a cabo para satisfacer, hasta donde alcance, el importe de las cantidades adeudadas a la parte demandante conforme a la sentencia dictada a su favor, a saber: de $269,276.68 de principal, intereses al 3.64% anual, la cual incluye los intereses acumulados, hasta su completo pago, más la cantidad de $22,950.00, así como la cantidad líquida estipulada en los documentos del préstamo para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado en caso de reclamación judicial y que correspondan a intereses y cargos por demora posterior a dicha fecha, y la suma equivalente al 10% de la suma principal original pactada, estipulada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; más recargos acumulados hasta la fecha en que se pague la deuda; más cualquiera suma de dinero por concepto de contribuciones, primas de seguro hipotecario y riesgo, así como cualesquiera otras sumas pactadas en la escritura de hipoteca, todas cuyas sumas están líquidas y exigibles. La hipoteca a ejecutarse en el caso de epígrafe fue constituida mediante la escritura número 128 otorgada el día 27 de febrero de 2009, San Juan, Puerto Rico, ante el Notario Público Luis O. Davila Alemán, y consta inscrita al folio 56 del tomo 974 de Carolina Norte, finca número 15,711, inscripción 6ta. Por la presente se notifica a los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante o acreedores de cargos o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca del actor y a los dueños, poseedores, tenedores de o interesados en títulos transmisibles por endoso o al portador garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito del actor que se cele-

brarán las subastas en las fechas, horas y sitios señalados para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les conviniere o se les invita a satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, otros cargos y las costas y honorarios de abogado asegurados quedando subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. Entiéndase: Hipoteca Revertida en garantía de un pagaré a favor del Secretario de la Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano, o a su orden, por la suma principal de $229,500.00, con intereses al 3.64% anual, vencedero el día 14 de enero de 2084, constituida mediante la escritura número 129, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 27 de febrero de 2009, ante el notario Luis O. Dávila Alemán, e inscrita al folio 56 del tomo 974 de Carolina Norte, finca número 15,711, inscripción 7ma. Que la cantidad mínima de licitación en la primera subasta del inmueble antes descrito será la suma de $229,500.00 según se establece en la escritura de hipoteca antes relacionada. En caso de que el inmueble a ser subastado no fuera adjudicado en su primera subasta se ordena la celebración de una segunda subasta de dicho inmueble, en la cual, la cantidad mínima será una equivalente a 2/3 parte de aquella, o sea la suma de $153,000.00; desierta también la segunda subasta de dicho inmueble, se ordena la celebración de una tercera subasta en la cual, la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado para la primera subasta, es decir la suma de $114,750.00. La propiedad se adjudicará al mejor postor, quien deberá satisfacer el importe de su oferta en moneda legal y corriente de los Estados Unidos de América en el momento de la adjudicación, entiéndase efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, y que las cargas y gravámenes preferentes, si los hubiese, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad no está sujeta a gravámenes anteriores y/o preferentes según surge de las constancias del Registro de la Propiedad en un estudio de título efectuado a la finca antes descrita. Una vez efectuada la venta de dicha propiedad, el Alguacil procederá a otorgar la escritura de traspaso al licitador victorioso en subasta, quien podrá ser la parte demandante, cuya oferta po-

drá aplicarse a la extinción parcial o total de la obligación reconocida por la sentencia dictada en este caso. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Se dispone, conforme con la sentencia dictada en este caso que, una vez efectuada la subasta y vendido el bien inmueble, los adjudicatarios sean puestos en posesión del mismo dentro del término de veinte (20) días por el Alguacil de este Honorable Tribunal y los actuales poseedores lanzados del referido inmueble. Y para la concurrencia de licitadores y para el público en general, se publicará este Edicto de acuerdo con la ley, mediante edicto, en un periódico de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, una vez por semana, por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, y para su fijación en tres (3) lugares públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía, y se le notificará además a la parte demandada vía correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto de Subasta para conocimiento y comparecencia de los licitadores, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en Carolina, Puerto Rico, a 17 de diciembre de 2025. HÉCTOR L. PEÑA RODRÍGUEZ, ALGUACIL PLACA #278, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA DE CAROLINA.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

FIRSTBANK

PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. JONATHAN

COLON CRUZ

Demandada Civil Núm.: CA2023CV03851. Sobre: INCUMPLIMIENTO DE CONTRATO; COBRO DE DINERO y REPOSESIÓN. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. AL PUBLICO EN GENERAL; A LA PARTE DEMANDADA Y A LOS TENEDORES DE GRAVÁMENES POSTERIORES.

YO: EDGARDO ALDEBOL MIRANDA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Caguas, al público en general:

CERTIFICO Y HAGO SABER: Cumpliendo con un Mandamiento de Venta de Ejecución de Sentencia del Secretario del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Carolina, venderé en pública subasta al mejor postor en moneda legal de los Estados Unidos, el cual se encuentra en el Lote de Firstbank localizado en: Centro Industrial Rio Cañas, Calle North, Lote 1516, Carr. 175, Entrada Carrraízo, Caguas, Puerto Rico, el día 13 DE FEBRERO DE 2026 A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA el siguiente bien mueble: Marca: TOYOTA. Modelo: HIGHLANDER. Núm. de Serie: 5TDKKRFH2G8S148338. Año: 2016. Tablilla: IVN-344. La venta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer hasta donde sea posible, para responder por las siguientes cantidades a la parte demandante el balance de $20,315.38 más los intereses al 8.45% que se continúan acumulando hasta el total y completo pago de la deuda; más los cargos por mora los cuales se continúan acumulando hasta el total y completo pago de la deuda; más una suma equivalente el 10% del total adeudado para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, equivalentes a $2,083.92. Sobre el vehículo. Por tal razón dicho producto será consignado judicialmente para que su desembolso esté condicionado a la ulterior resolución por el Tribunal con competencia sobre el caso de epígrafe. Se apercibe a todos los interesados que el vehículo objeto de la subasta se encuentra localizada en el Centro Industrial Rio Cañas, Calle North, Lote 1516, Carr. 175, Entrada Carrraízo, Caguas, Puerto Rico, por lo que todo aquel que quiera participar de su subasta podrá pasar por dicha localización, en horas laborables, previo a su celebración, para inspeccionarlo físicamente. La subasta se llevará a cabo el día y a la hora señalada habiendo las personas interesadas inspeccionado o no el mencionado bien. En adición, por la presente se informa que siendo la propiedad a subastarse un bien mueble no habrá tipo mínimo en la misma, por lo que el vehículo será adjudicado al mejor postor en ese momento. La forma de pago deberá ser en efectivo, giro o cheque de gerente a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia. Si se declarase desierta la subasta, se dará por terminado este procedimiento pudiendo adjudicarse el acreedor el vehículo dentro de los diez (10) días siguientes, si así lo estimare conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada,

si ésta fuera igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la subasta, y abonándose dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si ésta fuere mayor. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán manifiestos en la Secretaría del Tribunal con competencia sobre el caso de epígrafe durante horas laborables. De acuerdo con el mejor conocimiento de la parte demandante, la propiedad antes descrita que ha de venderse en subasta no tiene gravámenes anteriores, ni posteriores. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titulación y que las cargas preferentes, si alguna continuará subsistente; entendiéndose que el remanente los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad del mismo, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Para la publicación de este Edicto en un periódico de circulación general una vez por semana durante dos (2) semanas consecutivas, y para la colocación del mismo en tres (3) sitios públicos visibles del municipio en que se celebre la subasta, al igual que en el municipio en que reside la parte demandada, libro el presente en Caguas, Puerto Rico, hoy 8 de enero de 2026.

EDGARDO ALDEBOL MIRANDA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE AGUADILLA FIRSTBANK PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. JOSE C BLAS SANCHEZ

Demandado

Civil Núm.: AG2024CV01790.

Sobre: INCUMPLIMIENTO DE CONTRATO; COBRO DE DINERO Y REPOSESIÓN. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. AL PUBLICO EN GENERAL; A LA PARTE DEMANDADA Y A LOS TENEDORES DE GRAVÁMENES POSTERIORES.

YO: EDGARDO ALDEBOL MIRANDA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Caguas, al público en general: CERTIFICO Y HAGO SABER: Cumpliendo con un Mandamiento de Venta de Ejecución de Sentencia del Secretario del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Aguadilla, venderé en pública subasta al mejor postor en moneda legal de los Estados Unidos, el cual se encuentra en el Lote de Firstbank localizado en: Centro Industrial Rio Cañas, Calle North, Lote 1516, Carr. 175, Entrada Car-

rraízo, Caguas, Puerto Rico, el día 6 DE FEBRERO DE 2026 A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA el siguiente bien mueble: Marca: CHEVROLET. Modelo: COLORADO. Núm. de serie: 1GCPTCE14L1173463. Año: 2020. Tablilla: 1047299. La venta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer hasta donde sea posible, para responder por las siguientes cantidades a la parte demandante al 28 de agosto de 2024 la cantidad de $44,312.06 de principal; más intereses acumulados a razón del 9% los cuales se continúan acumulando hasta el total y completo pago de la deuda; más cargos por demora, más los que se acumulen hasta su total y completo pago; más una suma equivalente al 10% del total adeudado para honorarios de abogados según pactado; y por la tarjeta de crédito la cantidad de $16,627.45; más una suma equivalente al 10% del total adeudado para honorarios de abogados según pactado, equivalente a $6,093.95. Sobre el vehículo. Por tal razón dicho producto será consignado judicialmente para que su desembolso esté condicionado a la ulterior resolución por el Tribunal con competencia sobre el caso de epígrafe. Se apercibe a todos los interesados que el vehículo objeto de la subasta se encuentra localizada en el Centro Industrial Rio Cañas, Calle North, Lote 1516, Carr. 175, Entrada Carrraízo, Caguas, Puerto Rico, por lo que todo aquel que quiera participar de su subasta podrá pasar por dicha localización, en horas laborables, previo a su celebración, para inspeccionarlo físicamente. La subasta se llevará a cabo el día y a la hora señalada habiendo las personas interesadas inspeccionado o no el mencionado bien. En adición, por la presente se informa que siendo la propiedad a subastarse un bien mueble no habrá tipo mínimo en la misma, por lo que el vehículo será adjudicado al mejor postor en ese momento. La forma de pago deberá ser en efectivo, giro o cheque de gerente a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia. Si se declarase desierta la subasta, se dará por terminado este procedimiento pudiendo adjudicarse el acreedor el vehículo dentro de los diez (10) días siguientes, si así lo estimare conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada, si ésta fuera igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la subasta, y abonándose dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si ésta fuere mayor. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán manifiestos en la Secretaría del Tribunal con competencia sobre el caso de epígrafe durante horas laborables. De acuerdo con el mejor conoci-

miento de la parte demandante, la propiedad antes descrita que ha de venderse en subasta no tiene gravámenes anteriores, ni posteriores. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titulación y que las cargas preferentes, si alguna continuará subsistente; entendiéndose que el remanente los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad del mismo, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Para la publicación de este Edicto en un periódico de circulación general una vez por semana durante dos (2) semanas consecutivas, y para la colocación del mismo en tres (3) sitios públicos visibles del municipio en que se celebre la subasta, al igual que en el municipio en que reside la parte demandada, libro el presente en Caguas, Puerto Rico, hoy 8 de enero de 2026. EDGARDO ALDEBOL MIRANDA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Demandante V. SUCESIÓN DE INÉS AMARO LEBRÓN, COMPUESTA POR LA SUCESIÓN DE MILAGROS SOTO AQUINO COMPUESTA POR ROBERTO MELLÁN

SOTO, BIENVENIDO MELLÁN SOTO Y LUCILO TAVAREZ

GUERRERO COMO VIUDO, BIANELA ANTONIA AMARO ROJAS, ÁNGEL IVÁN AMARO CLEMENTE Y RUTH ANGELINE AMARO CLEMENTE; SUCESIÓN DE MILAGROS SOTO AQUINO COMPUESTA POR ROBERTO MELLÁN

SOTO, BIENVENIDO MELLÁN SOTO Y LUCILO TAVAREZ GUERRERO COMO VIUDO; JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE” COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LAS SUCESIONES DE INÉS AMARO LEBRÓN Y MILAGROS SOTO

AQUINO; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS

MUNICIPALES (CRIM)

Demandado

Civil Núm.: SJ2024CV11081. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE SUBASTA. El que suscribe, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior, Centro Judicial de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico, hago saber, a la parte demandada y al PÚBLICO EN GENERAL: Que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia expedido el día 9 de diciembre de 2025, por la Secretaría del Tribunal, procederé a vender y venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor la propiedad que ubica y se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar compuesto de doscientos cincuentidos metros ochentiún centímetros cuadrados y formando por parte del solar ciento sesentiocho y resto del solar ciento sesentisiete del plano de la Urbanización Las Palmas, radicado en la Sección Norte del Barrio de Santurce Norte de esta Ciudad, que mide por el NORTE, veinte metros veintidós centímetros y medio con el resto del solar número ciento sesentiocho de la finca principal de que se hace esta segregación; por el SUR, veinte metros con solar de la finca principal segregado y vendido a Lydia Simonet antes, hoy Vicente Juarbe, por el ESTE, su frente, con la Calle Laguna; y por el OESTE, su fondo, en igual medida con terrenos del Doctor A. G. Melhorf. Contiene un edificio de concreto de 2 plantas. Inscrita en la finca 7,331, inscrita al folio 49 del tomo 179 de Santurce Norte, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Primera Sección de San Juan. La dirección según pagaré es; 360 Laguna St. Villa Palmera Dev. Santurce, PR. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada en este caso, el 10 de junio de 2025 y notificada el 13 de junio de 2025, en el presente caso civil, a saber la suma de $75,912.67 por concepto de principal; generando intereses a razón de 6.875% desde el 1ro de septiembre de 2023; cargos por demora los cuales al igual que los intereses continúan acumulándose hasta el saldo total de la deuda reclamada en este pleito, y la suma de $13,500.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; y demás créditos accesorios garantizados hipotecariamente. La adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el acto mismo de la adjudicación, en efectivo (moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América), giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del algua-

cil del Tribunal. La PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a efecto el día 2 DE FEBRERO DE 2026 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en el Centro Judicial de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $135,000.00. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 9 DE FEBRERO DE 2026 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $90,000.00, equivalentes a dos terceras (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una TERCERA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 17 DE FEBRERO DE 2026 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la TERCERA SUBASTA será de $67,500.00, equivalentes a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente; se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor, todo ello a tenor con lo dispone el Artículo 104 de la Ley Núm. 210 del 8 de diciembre de 2015 conocida como “Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico”. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquiere libre de toda carga y gravamen que afecte la mencionada finca según el Artículo 102, inciso 6. Una vez confirmada la venta judicial por el Honorable Tribunal, se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura de venta judicial y se pondrá al comprador en posesión física del inmueble de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda aquella persona o personas que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de todos los licitadores y el público en general, el presente Edicto se publicará por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas, con un intervalo de por lo menos siete días entre ambas publicaciones, en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico y se fijará además en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio en que ha de celebrarse dicha venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía. Se les informa, por último, que: a. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al proce-

dimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la secretaría del tribunal durante las horas laborables. b. Que se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. EXPIDO, el presente EDICTO, en San Juan, Puerto Rico, hoy día 16 de diciembre de 2025.

MARÍA DE LOURDES LÓPEZ

MOREIRA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR, DIVISIÓN DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS

ORIENTAL BANK

Demandante V.

SUCESION DE RAFAEL RAMÍREZ MÁRQUEZ, COMPUESTA POR SU VIUDA ANA IRMA ROSADO TORRES POR SÍ Y COMO MIEMBRO DE LA SUCESIÓN, Y LOS HIJOS DE ESTE, RAFAEL ARTURO RAMÍREZ JIMÉNEZ Y JACKELINE RAMÍREZ JIMÉNEZ Y JANE Y JOHN DOE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; CENTRO DE DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA POR CONDUCTO DE LA DIVISION DE CAUDALES RELICTOS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Demandados

Civil Núm.: CG2025CV00187.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. AL PUBLICO EN GENERAL; A LA PARTE DEMANDADA Y A LOS TENEDORES DE GRAVÁMENES POSTERIORES. YO, EDUARDO ALDEBOL MIRANDA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, al público en general, POR LA PRESENTE HAGO

SABER: CERTIFICO Y HAGO

SABER: Cumpliendo con un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia del Secretario de este Tribunal, venderé en pública subasta al mejor postor

en moneda legal de los Estados Unidos, en mi oficina, en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Caguas, el día 17 DE FEBRERO DE 2026, A LAS 10 DE LA MAÑANA, la siguiente propiedad: URBANA: Solar radicado en la Urbanización Jardines de Gurabo, en el Barrio Mamey del término municipal de Gurabo, Puerto Rico, marcado con el número 196, con una cabida superficial de trescientos veinte punto treinta y nueve (320.39) metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, en veintitrés punto cero cero (23.00) metros, con el solar ciento noventa y cinco (195); por el SUR, en veintitrés punto cero cero (23.00) metros, con el solar ciento noventa y siete (197); por el ESTE, en trece punto noventa y res (13.93) metros, con el solar ciento noventa y siete (197); y por el OESTE, en trece punto noventa y tres (13.93) metros, con los solares ciento noventa y uno (191) y ciento noventa y dos (192). Contiene una casa de vivienda de hormigón y bloques de hormigón de una sola planta con marquesina y balcón modelo sencillo. Consta inscrita al folio 111 del tomo 181 de Gurabo, Finca Número 6,879, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección II de Caguas. La dirección física es: Urbanización Jardines de Gurabo 196 Calle 10, Gurabo PR, 00778. Los tipos mínimos fijados para la ejecución del bien inmueble antes mencionado lo es la suma de $57,000.00 para la Primera Subasta; $38,000.00 para la Segunda Subasta; $28,500.00 para la Tercera Subasta. La venta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante, hasta donde sea posible, el importe de la sentencia dictada el pasado 23 de octubre de 2025 y notificada el 24 de octubre de 2025 en el caso de epígrafe, ascendente a las siguientes cantidades: 46,685.45 de principal, más $1,804.18 de intereses acumulados hasta el 7 de enero de 2025, más los que continúen acumulándose hasta el pago total y completo de la deuda a razón de $8.74 diarios, más la cantidad de $130.58 por recargos; más los que continúen acumulándose hasta el pago total y completo de la deuda; más la suma de $5,700.00 por honorarios de abogados pactados. En caso de que el inmueble a ser subastado no fuera adjudicado en la primera subasta, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 24 DE FEBRERO DE 2026

A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, y el tipo mínimo para ésta será $38,000.00 que es las dos terceras partes del precio mínimo establecido para la primera subasta. Si tampoco hubiera remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el

día 3 DE MARZO DE 2026 A LAS 10 DE LA MAÑANA, y el tipo mínimo para esta subasta será $28,500.00 que es la mitad del precio mínimo pactado para la primera subasta. Cuando se declare desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si esta fuera igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente. Se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si ésta fuere mayor. Todas las subastas deberán ser acordadas y celebradas según lo ordenado por el Tribunal. La subasta antes indicada se llevará a cabo en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante las horas laborables. El inmueble antes relacionado NO consta afecto por gravamen preferencial. El inmueble antes relacionado consta afecto por el siguiente gravamen posterior: Pendiente de Despacho AL ASIENTO 2025-138345-CA02 DEL SISTEMA KARIBE, se presentó el día 21 de noviembre de 2025, Aviso de Demanda de fecha 22 de enero de 2025, expedida en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Caguas, el Caso Civil número CG2025CV00187, sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca, por la Vía Ordinaria, seguido por Oriental Bank, versus Rafael Ramírez Márquez y Ana Irma Rosado Torres por sí y en representación de la Sociedad Legal de Gananciales compuesta entre ambos, por la suma de $46,685.45 más intereses y otras sumas. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titulación y que las cargas preferentes, si alguna, continuarán subsistentes; entiéndase que el rematante los acepta y quedan subrogados en la responsabilidad del mismo sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Para la publicación de este edicto en un periódico de circulación general una vez por semana, durante dos semanas consecutivas, y para la colocación del mismo en tres sitios públicos visibles del municipio en que se celebre la subasta, libro el presente en Caguas, Puerto Rico, hoy día 11 de diciembre de 2025. EDUARDO ALDEBOL MIRANDA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA CAGUAS ***

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE AIBONITO SALA SUPERIOR JACQUELINE

GONZÁLEZ ESPADA Y ELVIN RIVERA REYES

Parte Demandante Vs. JOENGIE JANYLLE ESCALERA Y DOMINGO

ZAYAS RIVERA

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: AI2025RF00455. Sobre: ADOPCIÓN. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS E.E. U.U., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS.

A: Sra. Joengie

Janylle Escalera2430 W Emaus Ave. Apt. 2

Allentown, PA 18103

Se le notifica a usted que se ha radicado en esta Secretaría la Demanda que exhibe el epígrafe. Se le emplaza y requiere para que notifique al Lcdo.

Manuel López Gay, Servicios Legales de P.R., Inc., PO Box 2036, Aibonito, Puerto Rico 00705-2036, representante legal de la parte demandante, copia de su contestación a la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC) (según enmendada), 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. Si dejare de contestar la Demanda radicando el original de la contestación a través de SUMAC y copia a la parte demandante, podrá dictarse sentencia en rebeldía concediéndose el remedio solicitado en la demanda. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal en Aibonito, Puerto Rico, a 07 de enero de 2026. MAYRA LIZ CABRERA GARCÍA, SECRETARIA. EDWIN J. ROBLES MORALES, SECRETARIO AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN. OFICINA DEL COMISIONADO DE INSTITUCIONES FINANCIERAS

Parte Demandante v. JOSÉ M.

CANDELARIO PADILLA

Parte Demandada

CIVIL NÚM.: SJ2025CV10620.

SOBRE: Solicitud en Auxilio de

Jurisdicción; Ley Núm. 4-1985; Ley Núm. 60-1963. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS. A: JOSÉ M. CANDELARIO PADILLA 1206 Hasley Place Melbourne FL, 32940

POR LA PRESENTE, se notifica a JOSÉ M. CANDELARIO PADILLA que la OFICINA DEL COMISIONADO DE INSTITUCIONES FINANCIERAS ha radicado una Demanda en su contra, solicitando a este Tribunal auxilio de jurisdicción para hacer efectivo el cobro de las sumas adeudadas. POR LO TANTO, se le emplaza por edicto y se le requiere que presente su alegación responsiva a la Demanda dentro del término de treinta (30) días contados a partir de la publicación de este edicto, el cual se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en Puerto Rico, con copia de la misma a los abogados de la parte demandante: MARINI PIETRANTONI MUÑIZ LLC., 250 Ponce de León Ave., Suite 900 San Juan, PR 00918, Tel. 787-7052171; Lcdo. Mauricio O. Muñiz Luciano (mmuniz@mpmlawpr. com) y Lcda. Paola M. Torres Rodríguez (ptorres@mpmlawpr.com). 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. No obstante, si se representa por derecho propio, deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan. SE LE ADVIERTE que, si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del término antes indicado, se le anotará la rebeldía y podrá dictarse sentencia en su contra, concediendo a la parte demandante los remedios solicitados en la Demanda o cualquier otro que el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, entienda procedente, sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDO BAJO FIRMA Y SELO DE ESTE TRIBUNAL. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, a 13 de enero de 2026. Sra. Griselda Rodriguez Collado, SECRETARIO GENERAL. Enid Diaz Rios, SECRETARIO AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE SALA SUPERIOR DE YAUCO ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE ACE ONE

FUNDING, LLC

Demandante V. GABIER TORRES PAGAN

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: YU2025CV00207. (Salón: 1 SALA SUPERIOR).

Sobre: COBRO DE DINEROORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. GABRIEL ANTONIO RAMOS COLÓN

GABRIEL.RAMOS@ORF-LAW.COM.

A: GABIER TORRES

PAGÁN P/C LCDO.

GABRIEL ANTONIO

RAMOS COLÓN.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 09 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 14 de ENERO de 2026. En YAUCO, Puerto Rico, el 14 de ENERO de 2026. CARMEN G. TIRÚ QUIÑONES, SECRETARIA. DELIA APONTE VELÁZQUEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Demandante V. JOAN ZAYAS GONZALEZ Y OTROS

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: CG2024CV03488. (Salón: 705). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO Y OTROS. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. REGGIE DÍAZ HERNÁNDEZRDIAZ@BDPRLAW.COM. A: JOAN ZAYAS GONZÁLEZ, LUIS

RAUL DÁVILA RUIS Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS - 168 PASEOS

DEL RÍO, CAGUAS, PR 00725; PASEO DEL RÍO 168 RÍO INDIO, CAGUAS, PR 00725. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 13 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 14 de enero de 2026. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, el 14 de enero de 2026. IRASEMIS DÍAZ SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. MARTA E. DONATE RESTO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

THE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION OF URBANIZACIÓN LAS GAVIOTAS, INC.

Demandante v. OMAF ELECTRICAL SUPPLIES, INC.

Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: FA2025CV00772 (SALÓN 302). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. JOSÉ R. GONZÁLEZ RIVERA JRG@GONZALEZMORALES.COM NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO A: OMAF ELECTRICAL SUPPLIES, INC.

CARR 1 KM 24.5 RIO PIEDRAS, PR 00926 PO BOX 70118 SAN JUAN, PR 00936-8118

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 12 DE 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 12 de ENERO de 2026. En FAJARDO, Puerto Rico, el 12 de ENERO de 2026. WANDA SEGUI REYES, Secretario(a). f/LYDIA E. RIVERA MIRANDA, Secretario(a) Auxiliar del Tribunal. LEGAL NOTICE

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

NASHALI DELGADO PARRILLA

Demandante V. EDUARDO LUIS

RODRÍGUEZ CORA

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: RG2025RF00114. (Salón: 202 SUPERIOR). Sobre: CUSTODIA - MONOPARENTAL O COMPARTIDA Y OTROS. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. LUIS RICARDO RIVERA SANTOSLRRIVERA@SERVICIOSLEGALES. ORG. OLGA M MARTÍNEZ RODRÍGUEZOMARTINEZ@SERVICIOSLEGALES. ORG.

A: EDUARDO LUIS RODRÍGUEZ CORA5282 SW. 164 PL, MIAMI, FL 33185.

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 14 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 14 de ENERO de 2026. En Fajardo, Puerto Rico, el 14 de enero de 2026. WANDA SEGUÍ REYES, SECRETARIA. ROCHELLY COLÓN RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN SEBASTIÁN.

CARMEN MILAGROS PÉREZ CRUZ Y MIGUEL ÁNGEL MERCADO GONZALEZ; LA SOCIEDAD DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

PARTE DEMANDANTE VS LUIS A. TORRES PÉREZ Y ROSALÍA QUINTANA TORRES Y LA SOCIEDAD DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS Y/O SUS POSIBLES HEREDEROS Y/O LEGATARIOS; SUCESIÓN DE PAULINA ACEVEDO PÉREZ; FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL PARTE DEMANDADA CIVIL NÚM.: SS2025CV00906

SALÓN: SOBRE: ACCIÓN DECLARATIVA DE USUCAPIÓN. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS. A: LUIS A. TORRES PÉREZ Y ROSALÍA QUINTANA TORRES Y LA SOCIEDAD DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS Y/O SUS POSIBLES HEREDEROS Y/O LEGATARIOS; SUCESIÓN DE PAULINA ACEVEDO PÉREZ; FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO PERSONAS CON INTERÉS SOBRE LA PROPIEDAD OBJETO DE PRESENTACIÓN. Dirección Desconocida POR EL PRESENTE, se le emplaza para que presente al Tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los treinta (30) días de haber sido diligenciado este emplazamiento, excluyéndose el día de la publicación. 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://www.poderjudicial. pr/index.php/tribunalelectronico/ salvo que el caso sea de un expediente físico o que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal y notificar copia de la misma a la representación legal de la parte demandante, quien es: Lcda. Janice Lymarie Soto Cardona RUA 22,690 Colegiada 21,069 HC 5 Box 54748 San Sebastián, PR 00685 Calle Luis Muñoz Rivera #2 bajos San Sebastián, PR TEL. (787)896-2022; (787)238-0952 Email: lcdajanicesotocardona@ gmail.com

Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar Sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Se le advierte de su derecho a comparecer acompañado(a) de abogado (a) en los casos que proceda. EXPEDIDO, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, el 7 de enero de 2026. Sarahi Reyes Perez, Secretario (a) Regional. Jessica Mendez Romero, Secretario (a) Auxiliar del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAGUAS SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Demandante V. JORGE ORTIZ COLON

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: JU2025CV00086. (Salón: 803 - CIVIL). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. NATALIE BONAPARTE SERVERANATALIE.BONAPARTE@ORF-LAW. COM.

A: JORGE ORTIZ COLON. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 13 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 13 de ENERO de 2026. En CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, el 13 de ENERO de 2026. IRASEMIS DÍAZ SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. GLORIMAR RIVERA RIVERA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE AIBONITO SALA SUPERIOR DE AIBONITO EVELYN LOPEZ MALDONADO Demandante V. JAILENE ENID GONZALEZ Y OTROS Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: AI2025RF00382. (Salón: 003). Sobre: CUSTODIA -MONOPARENTAL O COMPARTIDA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. ISAMILLIE MELÉNDEZ CARABALLO - IMELENDEZ@ SERVICIOSLEGALES.ORG. A: SRA. JAILENE ENID GONZALEZ1226 HUNTERS LANE RADCLIFF, KENTUCKY UNITED STATES 40159; SR. JOSE ORLANDO VILLANUEVA LOPEZ - 675 PORTLAND, CUMBERLAND MAINE, UNITED STATES 04101. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia par edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 08 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 15 de enero de 2026. En Aibonito, Puerto Rico, el 15 de enero de 2026. MAYRA L. CABRERA

GARCÍA, SECRETARIA. CINDY REMON LAGE, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL. LEGAL NOTICE

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

DOLMARIE

RODRIGUEZ NIEVES

Demandante V. ANGEL ALEXIS

SUAZO COLON

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: AI2025RF00399. (Salón: 003). Sobre: CUSTODIA -MONOPARENTAL O COMPARTIDA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. ISAMILLIE MELÉNDEZ CARABALLO - IMELENDEZ@ SERVICIOSLEGALES.ORG.

A: SR. ANGEL ALEXIS

SUAZO COLON HEYL TRUCK LINES NC 220

NORKA DR AKRON, IOWA 51001.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 08 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 15 de enero de 2026. En Aibonito, Puerto Rico, el 15 de enero de 2026. MAYRA L. CABRERA

GARCÍA, SECRETARIA. CINDY REMON LAGE, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO

DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAGUAS SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS

MIGUEL ANGEL

MARTINEZ DEL VALLE

Demandante V. ANETTE MARIE

SANTIAGO REYES

Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: CD2025RF00093. (Salón: 502). Sobre: DIVORCIO - RUPTURA IRREPARABLE. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. TANYA E. VÁZQUEZ RIVERATVAZQUEZ@SERVICIOSLEGALES. ORG.

A: ANETTE MARIE

SANTIAGO REYES.

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 13 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 15 de enero de 2026. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, el 15 de enero de 2026. IRASEMIS DÍAZ SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. IVELISSE VÁZQUEZ SANTIAGO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

STEPHANIE ARROYO VALENTIN

Demandante V. EMIL RIVERA COLON

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: FA2025RF00190. (Salón: 202 SUPERIOR). Sobre: CUSTODIA - MONOPARENTAL O COMPARTIDA Y OTROS. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. JENNIFER LYNN JIMÉNEZ RIVER

A - LCDA.JIMENEZRIVERA@ OUTLOOK.COM.

A: EMIL RIVERA

COLON - DIRECTION DESCONOCIDA.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 12 de 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 13 de enero de 2026. En Fajardo, Puerto Rico, el 13 de enero de 2026. WANDA SEGUÍ REYES,

SECRETARIA. NORANGELY RIBOT AGUIAR, SECRETARIA

AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAROLINA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA

ORIENTAL BANK

Demandante V. ANITA GERTRUDE

JOSEPH T/C/C

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: CA2025CV01489.

(Civil: 406). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO Y OTROS. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. DUNCAN R. MALDONADO EJARQUE - EJECUCIONES@CMPRLA W.COM. A: ANITA GERTRUDE

JOSEPH T/C/C. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 15 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 Re-

solución, 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 15 de enero de 2026. En Carolina, Puerto Rico, el 15 de enero de 2026. KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA. MARICRUZ APONTE ALICEA, 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

LEYSHAMARIE

TAVAREZ VILLANUEVA

Demandante V. JOHANSEN ANTONIO DE PEÑA SALAS

Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: SJ2025RF01514. (Salón: 703 RF). Sobre: CUSTODIA - MONOPARENTAL O COMPARTIDA Y OTROS. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. YOLANDA MACHADO TORRESYMACHADO@SERVICIOSLEGALES. ORG.

A: JOHANSEN ANTONIO DE PEÑA SALAS.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 15 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 15 de enero de 2026. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 15 de enero de 2026. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA. ISABEL ORTIZ CRUZ, 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

JUAN CARLOS HERNÁNDEZ ORTIZ

Demandante V. NIURKA SÁNCHEZ SUÁREZ Y OTROS

Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: SJ2025CV05902. (Salón: 906 CIVIL). Sobre: DIVISIÓN O LIQUIDACIÓN DE LA COMUNIDAD DE BIENES HEREDITARIOS. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

JUAN JOSÉ BERRÍOS COLÓN - JBERRIOS@ VAZQUEZYASOCIADOSPR.COM. A: NIURKA SÁNCHEZ SUÁREZ E ILEANA SÁNCHEZ SUÁREZ.

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 12 de 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 12 de enero de 2026. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 12 de enero de 2026. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA. MYRNA D. VILLEGAS TRINIDAD, 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

ISLAND PORTFOLIO

SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE ACE ONE FUNDING, LLC

Demandante V. ARTHUR J.

CONKLIN SILVA

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: SJ2025CV03250. (Salón: 505 CIVIL). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDI-

NARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. GABRIEL ANTONIO RAMOS COLÓN GABRIEL.RAMOS@ORF-LAW.COM.

A: ARTHUR J CONKLIN SILVAEL COMANDANTE 937 CALLE CECILIO LEBRON, SAN JUAN PR 00924-3513. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 12 DE 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 13 de ENERO de 2026. En SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, el 13 de ENERO de 2026. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA. JANE VILLEGAS DÍAZ, 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

JUAN CARLOS

HERNÁNDEZ ORTIZ

Demandante V. NIURKA SÁNCHEZ SUÁREZ Y OTROS

Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: SJ2025CV05902. (Salón: 906 CIVIL). Sobre: DIVISIÓN O LIQUIDACIÓN DE LA COMUNIDAD DE BIENES HEREDITARIOS. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. JUAN JOSÉ BERRÍOS COLÓN - JBERRIOS@ VAZQUEZYASOCIADOSPR.COM. A: NIURKA SÁNCHEZ SUÁREZ E ILEANA SÁNCHEZ SUÁREZ. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 12 de 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 12 de enero de 2026. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 12 de enero de 2026. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA. MYRNA D. VILLEGAS TRINIDAD, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE SALA SUPERIOR ORIENTAL BANK COMO AGENTE DE SERVICIO DE THE MONEY HOUSE, INC.

Demandante Vs. RAMON FERNANDO DIAZ VELAZQUEZ

Demandados Civil Núm.: PO2025CV00519. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA (VÍA ORDINARIA). EDICTO DE SUBASTA. El Alguacil que suscribe por la presente CERTIFICA, ANUNCIA y hace CONSTAR: Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que le ha sido dirigido al Alguacil que suscribe por la Secretaría del TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE, SALA SUPERIOR, en el caso de epígrafe procederá a vender en pública subasta al mejor postor en efectivo, cheque certificado en moneda legal de los Estados Unidos de América el 18 DE FEBRERO DE 2026, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en su oficina sita en el local que ocupa en el edificio del TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE, SALA SUPERIOR, todo derecho, título e interés que tenga la parte demandada de epígrafe en el inmueble de su propiedad que ubica en: URB. JARDINES DEL CARIBE B-103 CALLE PRINCIPAL PONCE, PR 00728 y que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar marcado con

el número 11 del Bloque B del plano de inscripción de la Urbanización Jardines del Caribe, situada en Ponce, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 323.942 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, en una distancia de 24.387 metros, con el solar 10 del Bloque B; por el SUR, en una distancia de 24.370 metros, con el solar 12 del Bloque B; por el ESTE, en 13.288 metros, con la Calle Principal del Proyecto; y por el OESTE, en una distancia de 13.288 metros, con los solares número 14 y número 15 del Bloque B. Sobre este solar enclava una casa de concreto reforzado para fines residenciales. La propiedad antes relacionada consta inscrita al Folio 186 del Tomo 1256 de Ponce, finca número 631 (antes 27,344), Registro de la Propiedad de Ponce, Sección Segunda. El tipo mínimo para la primera subasta del inmueble antes relacionado, será el dispuesto en la Escritura de Hipoteca, es decir la suma de $103,886.00. Si no hubiere remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta del inmueble mencionado, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA en las oficinas del Alguacil que suscribe el día 25 DE FEBRERO DE 2026, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA. En la segunda subasta que se celebre servirá de tipo mínimo las dos terceras partes (2/3) del precio pactado en la primera subasta, o sea la suma de $69,257.33. Si tampoco hubiere remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA en las oficinas del Alguacil que suscribe el día 5 DE MARZO DE 2026, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA. Para la tercera subasta servirá de tipo mínimo la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado para el caso de ejecución, o sea, la suma de $51,943.00. La hipoteca a ejecutarse en el caso de epígrafe fue constituida mediante la escritura de hipoteca número 462 otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 15 de julio de 2024, ante el Notario Anne M. Galanes Valldejuli, y consta inscrita al Tomo Karibe de Ponce, finca número 631 (antes 27,344), inscripción Vigésimo cuarta (24ta), Registro de la Propiedad de Ponce, Sección Segunda. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer al Demandante total o parcialmente según sea el caso el importe de la Sentencia que ha obtenido desde el pasado 17 de septiembre de 2025 contra la parte demandada, ascendente a la suma de $103,792.09 por concepto de principal, desde el 1ro de octubre de 2024, más intereses al tipo pactado de 6.50% anual que continúan acumulándose hasta el pago total de la obligación. Además la parte demandada adeuda a la parte demandante los car-

gos por demora equivalentes a 4.00% de la suma de aquellos pagos con atrasos en exceso de 15 días calendarios de la fecha de vencimiento; los créditos accesorios y adelantos hechos en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca; y las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado equivalentes a $10,388.60. Por razón de dicho incumplimiento, y al amparo del derecho que le confiere el Pagaré, el demandante ha declarado tales sumas vencidas, líquidas y exigibles en su totalidad. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al Procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la SECRETARIA DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE, SALA SUPERIOR durante las horas laborables. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titulación del inmueble y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio de remate. La propiedad no está sujeta a gravámenes anteriores y/o preferentes según surge de las constancias del Registro de la Propiedad en un estudio de título efectuado a la finca antes descrita. Surge de un estudio de título que, sobre la finca descrita anteriormente, pesa el gravamen posterior a la hipoteca que se ejecuta mediante este procedimiento que se relaciona a continuación: Hipoteca directa a favor de la Autoridad para el Financiamiento de la Vivienda de Puerto Rico, por la suma principal de $55,000.00, sin intereses, vencedero el día 15 de julio de 2029, constituida mediante la escritura número 463, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 15 de julio de 2024, ante la notario Anne M. Galanes Valldejuli, e inscrita al tomo Karibe de Ponce, finca número 631, inscripción 25ta. Sujeta a condiciones bajo el Programa CDBG-DR Administrado por el Departamento de la Vivienda de Puerto Rico (PRDOH, por sus siglas en inglés) bajo el Programa de Asistencia Directa al Comprador (HBA) por un término de 5 años. Por la presente se notifica a los acreedores desconocidos, no inscritos o presentados que sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante o acreedores de cargos o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca del actor y a los dueños, poseedores, tenedores de o interesados en títulos transmisibles por endoso o al portador garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito del actor que se celebrarán las

subastas en las fechas, horas y sitios señalados para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les conviniere o se les invita a satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, otros cargos y las costas y honorarios de abogado asegurados quedando subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. La propiedad objeto de ejecución y descrita anteriormente se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores una vez el Honorable Tribunal expida la correspondiente Orden de Confirmación de Venta Judicial. Y para conocimiento de licitadores del público en general se publicará este Edicto de acuerdo con la ley por espacio de dos semanas en tres sitios públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía. Este Edicto será publicado dos veces en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas. Expido el presente Edicto de subasta bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal en Ponce, Puerto Rico, hoy día 29 de diciembre de 2025. MANUEL MALDONADO, ALGUACIL DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE, SALA SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN

WILDA MARIA

MERCADO SOTO TAMBIEN CONOCIDA COMO WILDA MERCADO SOTO, WILDA M MERCADO SOTOMAYOR, HELDA MERCADO SOTOMAYOR E HILDA MERCADO SOTOMAYOR REPRESENTADA POR SOBRE: HERENCIA MILAGROS ANTONIA MARQUEZ MERCADO Demandante Vs LUIS FERNANDO RIVERA MERCADO Demandado Civil Núm.: BY2025CV06662. Sobre: HERENCIA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS. A: LUIS FERNANDO

RIVERA MERCADO, 3223 LACONIA AVE BRONX NY 10469. Por la presente se le notifica que se ha radicado en esta Secretaría una demanda en su contra sobre división de herencia de la sucesión de Candido Rivera Gonzalez, tcc Candido Rivera, y Candido Gonzalez

Rivera. Se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva a la demanda dentro los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este edicto, excluyéndose el día de la publicación. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr/sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal y enviando copia a la parte demandante: Lcdo. Jorge García Rondón

Rua #12,562

267 Calle Sierra Morena, PMB 538, San Juan, PR 00926

Tel: (787) 203-5222

Email: jafgrondon@outlook.com Se le apercibe y notifica que si no contesta la demanda radicada en sus contra dentro del término de sesenta (30) días de la publicación de este edicto, se les anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia concediendo el remedio solicitado en la demanda, sin más citársele, ni oírsele. Dentro de los Diez (10) días siguientes a la publicación del Edicto, se le dirigirá al demandado, por correo certificado con acuse de recibo una copia del emplazamiento y la Demanda al lugar de su dirección conocida a: 3223 Laconia Ave Bronx NY 10469. El tribunal ha ordenado al demandado a que acepte o repudie la herencia dentro del término de 30 días de publicado este edicto. De no hacerlo en dicho plazo se tendrá por aceptada la herencia. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, a 7 de enero de 2026. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, SECRETARIA. MARÍA E. COLLAZO, SUB-SECRETARIA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN SALA DE FAMILIA Y MENORES DOLLYMAR

AVILÉS MARRERO

Demandante Vs. ALEXANDER JAVIER

ROSADO COLÓN

Demandada Civil Núm.: BY2025RF02104. Sala: 3006. Sobre: CUSTODIA Y PATRIA POTESTAD. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: ALEXANDER JAVIER

ROSADO COLÓN, CALLE DOMINGO PÉREZ ORTIZ, 3R-34 LOMAS

VERDES, BAYAMÓN, PR 00956.

Por la presente se le notifica a usted que se ha presentado ante este Tribunal una Demanda de Custodia y Patria Potestad, a favor de la parte Demandante. Es abogado de la parte Peticionaria: LIC. JORGE M. DIAZ RODRIGUEZ, PO BOX 852, NARANJITO, P.R. 007190852, TELEFONO: (7187) 8694042, jJorgemdiazrodrigueztgmail.com. Este Tribunal ordenó que se publique la pretensión por una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general. Dentro de los diez (10) días siguientes a la publicación del edicto, se le dirigirá a la parte demandada una copia del emplazamiento y de la demanda presentada, por correo certificado con acuse de recibo. Usted tendrá treinta días para contestar la Demanda desde que se publicó el edicto. De no contestar la Demanda presentando el original de la contestación al Tribunal correspondiente, con copia a la parte Demandante, se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia para conceder el remedio solicitado, sin más citarle ni oírle. Por tanto libro la presente en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 9 de enero de 2026. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. YARITZA ROBLES ACEVEDO, SUB-SECRETARIA.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. CRISTOPHER FEBUS HERNANDEZ

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: TJ2025CV00591. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: CRISTOPHER FEBUS

HERNANDEZ - PARC SAINT JUST 645 CALLE LAS CRUCES, TRUJILLO ALTO PR 00976; - 4033 STATE ROUTE 209, ELIZABETHVILLE PA 17023-8419.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder

utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://www.poderjudicial.pr/index.php/tribunalelectronico, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Gabriel Ramos Colón cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección gabriel.ramos@orf-law. com y a la dirección notificaciones@orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en CAROLINA, Puerto Rico, hoy día 9 de enero de 2026. LCDA. KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA. MARICRUZ APONTE ALICIA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

ASHLEY MARIE LLERA ARZOLA Demandante V. ANGEL LUIS MARTINEZ TORRES Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: PO2025RF00457. (Salón: 405 RF Y MENORES). Sobre: PATRIA POTESTADPRIVACIÓN, SUSPENSIÓN O RESTRICCIÓN. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO ENMENDADA. JARRETTE MARIE PÉREZ RODRÍGUEZ - JMPEREZ@ SERVICIOSLEGALES.ORG. A: ANGEL LUIS

MARTINEZ TORRES, PARA SER NOTIFICADO POR EDICTO; P/C: LCDA. JARRETTE MARIE PEREZ RODRIGUEZ. (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 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 14 de enero de 2026. Notas de la Secretaría: SE ENMIENDA NOTIFICACIÓN A LOS EFECTOS DE CORREGIR EL NOMBRE DE LA REPRESENTACIÓN LEGAL DE LA PARTE DEMANDANTE. En Ponce, Puerto Rico, el 14 de enero 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 AGUADILLA SALA SUPERIOR DE AGUADILLA WILLIAM

GONZALEZ CORTEZ

Demandante V. EXPARTE

Demandado9a)

Caso Núm.: AG2025CV00684. (Salón: 603 CIVIL). Sobre: EXEQUÁTUR. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO ENMENDADA. ALFREDO III LÓPEZ GARAYALOPEZ@LOPEZASOCIADOSPR. COM.

A: LUZ MILKA RUIZ - 2388 COURTLAND BOULEVARD, DELTONA FLORIDA 32728. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 10 de octubre 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 14 de enero de 2026. Notas de la Secretaría: SE ENMIENDA PARA NOTIFICAR NUEVAMENTE

LA SENTENCIA POR EDICTO, SEGÚN ORDEN DEL JUEZ REYES. En Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, el 14 de enero de 2026. SARAHÍ REYES PÉREZ, SECRETARIA. AWILDA CABÁN SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

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 FINCA 11694 DE LA CALLE PEPITA ALBANDOZ, DEL TÉRMINO MUNICIPAL DE CANÓVANAS; VALENTÍN HACE GONZÁLEZ, ET ALS.

Partes con Interés Civil Núm.: CN2025CV00365. 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: VALENTÍN HACE GONZÁLEZ, CARMEN LUISA MONTAÑEZ, también conocida como CARMEN LUISA CRUZ VELÁZQUEZ y como CARMEN LUISA CRUZ DE MONTAÑEZ, por sí y como miembro de la sociedad legal de gananciales compuesta por Carmen Luisa Montañez y Nicolás Montañez Claudio; y NICOLÁS MONTAÑEZ CLAUDIO, por sí y como miembro de la sociedad legal de gananciales compuesta por Carmen Luisa Montañez y Nicolás Montañez Claudio, 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. 32, Serie 2024-2025, aprobada por la Legislatura Municipal de Canóvanas, Puerto Rico el 24 de junio de 2025; y, firmada por su Alcaldesa el día 26 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: CALLE PEPITA ALBANDOZ de Canóvanas. Cabida: 96 Metros Cuadrados. Linderos: NORTE, en seis metros cuarenta centímetros con la calle Pepita Albandoz. SUR, en seis metros cuarenta centímetros con un solar ocupado por la familia Correa. ESTE, en quince metros con otro solar ocupado por la señora Valentina López. OESTE, en quince metros con otro solar ocupado por la familia. Enclava una casa de madera y techo de zinc destinada a vivienda. FINCA 11694 inscrita al FOLIO 238 del TOMO 259 de Canóvanas. USO PÚBLICO: “CASA PILAR”, proyecto de vivienda digna para envejecientes sin hogar. CATASTRO NÚM.: 089086-034-07-001. JUSTA COMPENSACIÓN: $40,000, 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 les 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 Canóvanas, Puerto Rico a 9 de enero de 2026. LIC. KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA. MELISSA RIVERA ROMERO, SUB-SECRETARIA.

Sudoku

How to Play:

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

Sudoku Rules:

Every row must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

Every column must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

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

Crossword

Caribes win at home to close the gap in LVSM finals

By THE STAR STAFF

The two-time champion Caribes of San Sebastián successfully defended Luis Aymat Cardona Coliseum in San Sebastián on Monday night to secure their first victory in the Men’s Superior Volleyball League (LVSM) Final Series, defeating the Cafeteros of Yauco in four sets.

San Sebastián had lost the first two hard-fought matches in five sets, but Monday night was different. From the start, a more stable, more cohesive, and, above all, more confident team was evident, as expressed by middle blocker Pedro Nieves, a key component in the victory, as he reflected on the change in attitude shown by the Caribes.

“First of all, I’m grateful to God. This is a spectacle that fills me with great joy. These are two great teams that reached the final for a reason,” he said. “My respect always goes to the Cafeteros de Yauco. They hadn’t reached a final in years, and they have that hunger to beat us. They are a team that fights hard. I think the difference today was that we believed in ourselves more. We know that things will happen; we are human and we will make mistakes, but we look for ways to stay united as a family.”

Regarding what they need to do to return from Yauco with the series tied, Nieves was clear: “Stay calm, don’t get distracted by things that are not under our control. Focus on what we can do and trust the game plan.”

The set scores of the Caribes’ victory were 20-25, 2520, 25-23 and 25-21.

With the match tied at one set apiece, the third set became a point-for-point battle. The last tie came at 23, at which point San Sebastián closed out the set with an effective attack by Nieves through the middle and a double contact called on Cafeteros’ attacker Juan Felipe Castañeda, who attempted to return the ball on the third touch.

In the fourth set, the aggressive serving of the Caribes and the combined offense of Pelegrín Vargas and Corey Chavers -- with 22 and 18 points respectively -- tipped the scales in favor of the home team. Nieves added 11 points, including four blocks.

On the Cafeteros’ side, setter Kevin Rodríguez acknowledged the difficulty of the match, although he did not hide his frustration with some moments of the game.

“We are in their home; we knew it was going to be a tough match, and it was,” he said. “They did what they had to do: defend their home court. We were going to play hard, but the errors killed us a little bit in the key moments.”

Rodríguez also reacted to some refereeing decisions, although without using them as an excuse.

“I don’t agree with what happened with the referees, but that’s no excuse. We had the game in our hands,” he said before looking ahead to the next match. “We need to be a little more patient and leave the referees alone. Patience is the key to this series. When we return here, minimizing errors and those counterattacks will be important in the tough moments. With that, we can come away with the victory.”

Yauco’s offense was distributed among Brandon Rat-

tray (17 points), Castañeda (12) and Diego Negrón (10). The best-of-seven series continues today at Raúl “Pipote” Oliveras Coliseum in Yauco starting at 8 p.m.

Upcoming matches:

* Today: San Sebastián at Yauco (8: p.m.)

* Friday: Yauco at San Sebastián (8 p.m.)

* Sunday, Jan. 25: San Sebastián at Yauco (7 p.m.) (if necessary)

* Tuesday, Jan. 27: Yauco at San Sebastián (8 p.m.) (if necessary)

Dodgers’ splurge on Tucker will increase calls for a salary cap

By KEN ROSENTHAL / THE ATHLETIC

Shortly after the Kyle Tucker news broke, a major league coach called me, unaware of what had just transpired. When I informed him of Tucker’s fouryear, $240 million agreement with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the coach blurted out, “We’re going to have a lockout.”

The coach is probably right, but a lockout always seemed inevitable when the collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1. The Tucker deal — which, even after deferrals, includes a record average annual value of $57.1 million — will further embolden Commissioner Rob Manfred and all of the owners who want to push for a salary cap. But the coming labor hysteria will also obscure realities that Manfred and Co. would prefer to ignore.

The Dodgers not only outspend every team by a wide margin, but also outsmart and outperform them. In the current system, their success prevents them from picking

high enough in the draft to access future stars like Paul Skenes, Bobby Witt Jr. and Tucker, who went fifth overall in 2015. Thus, the Dodgers are denied the best avenue to the most precious resource in the sport: young, controllable star talent. The only way for them to access such players is through trades and free agency. Now that they are awash in money thanks to Shohei Ohtani, are they supposed to stop trying their hardest to get good players?

Too many clubs, in large and small markets alike, take a defeatist approach, preferring to lament that “baseball is broken,” rather than figure out how to prove that it isn’t. No one can dispute that vast revenue differences exist in the sport, even between the Dodgers and other largemarket teams. But those differences can be addressed in ways other than a cap. And if the owners try to force one on the players union, it might shut down the industry for a full season at a time when the game is in the midst of a renaissance. Doesn’t seem like a great idea.

The Dodgers are convenient boogeymen, but the sport

derives an intangible benefit from a David vs. Goliath dynamic, with 29 teams trying to slay the giant. And all those who find the Dodgers’ gorging offensive also tend to overlook that their spending provides real benefits as well.

Not only did the Dodgers’ star power help them lead the majors in road attendance the past two seasons, but in that time they also paid $272.4 million in luxury tax, including a record $169.4 million in 2025. That is on top of the estimated $150 million per season they contribute in revenue sharing. Per The Athletic’s Evan Drellich, that money is essentially split between the league and the players, with half going to the clubs in some form and the other half to player retirement funds.

Rest assured that the Dodgers’ payout will be even greater this season. With Tucker, their luxury-tax payroll, according to FanGraphs, stands at $396 million, more than $90 million over the highest threshold.

If the league cannot get a cap, it surely will seek higher luxury-tax penalties in the next collective bargaining

agreement. The likelihood of increased restrictions on spending, in one form or another, perhaps gave the Dodgers additional motivation to go nuts for Tucker, whose average annual value beat Juan Soto’s record by more than $6 million. The high rollers in Hollywood wanted one last whiskey before the bar closed.

No other team can win under such circumstances, you say? Consider the facts, starting with this: The Dodgers did not carry the game’s highest payroll last season. The New York Mets did, and they failed to even make the playoffs.

Now look back on the past two postseasons, which ended with the Dodgers winning the World Series.

The San Diego Padres, who operated as a small-market franchise until their former owner Peter Seidler decided to run the club with a more grandiose vision, needed one win to eliminate the Dodgers in their 2024 division series. The Padres were at home, playing before their raucous fans and with the advantage of the Dodgers throwing a bullpen game. They could have put the Dodgers away, ending this dynasty before it started. Instead, the Padres were shut out in the final two games.

Last year, more of the same. The Toronto Blue Jays, carrying the game’s fifth-highest payroll, were still more than $80 million below the Dodgers in the World Series. That didn’t stop them from taking a lead of three games to two back to Toronto. Or getting within two outs of winning Game 7. But they, too, could not put the Dodgers away.

Both on and off the field, Ohtani is a major part of the Dodgers’ success. People forget that Ohtani reportedly offered his incredibly club-friendly 10-year contract — $70 million annually, with all but $2 million deferred — to at least three other teams. The Blue Jays and the San Francisco Giants accepted. The Los Angeles Angels declined. Ohtani chose the Dodgers, thinking they gave him the best chance to win. Smart move.

That short-term, high-dollar structure that Tucker just accepted, with opt-outs after Years 2 and 3? The Dodgers for years have offered free agents that type of deal. Some initially balked, including Bryce Harper, who in February 2019 turned down a four-year, $180 million freeagent proposal. Now players like Tucker and closer Edwin Díaz jump at such offers, eager to partake in the Dodgers’ culture and perhaps a championship parade. Following Ohtani’s lead, they are often willing to take deferrals, too. Success builds upon success, and yes, money is a big part of it. But the Mets under owner Steve Cohen want to be the Dodgers and can’t figure out how to do it. And what prevents other large-market clubs from standing up to the bully?

The Dodgers entered the offseason not necessarily intending to sign Díaz, the best closer on the market, and Tucker, the best hitter. But they “hung around the backboard” in their usual fashion, prepared to pounce.

Díaz and Tucker preferred to go with them instead of the Mets, who lack the Dodgers’ recent history of success and in both cases made lower offers. The Blue Jays offered Tucker a higher guarantee than the Dodgers over a longer term but a lower annual average value.

Signing free agents who reject qualifying offers comes with an additional price, one many teams often balk at paying. The Dodgers, because they exceeded the luxury tax last season, forfeited their second- and fifth-highest

draft picks plus $1 million in their international bonus pool for Díaz, their third- and sixth-highest picks for Tucker.

This isn’t the first time in recent years that the Dodgers forfeited picks — they also sacrificed their second- and fifth-highest to sign first baseman Freddie Freeman and Ohtani. Yet The Athletic’s Keith Law rated the Dodgers’ farm system the third-best in the game. Not bad, considering they haven’t had a top-10 pick since 2006 and a topfive choice since 1993.

Money is part of that, too. The Dodgers spend heavily on scouting and development. But the domestic draft and the international markets are capped, and still the Dodgers keep the young talent flowing, mostly through opportunistic selections at lower draft positions and forward-looking trades.

Again, baseball’s playing field needs to be more level. But as other leagues have shown, a cap is not necessarily a panacea for competitive balance, even with an accompanying salary floor. Owners who salivate over the idea of such a system increasing their franchise values seem to forget that a prolonged work stoppage would set those values back. And the owners almost certainly are not getting a cap without losing a chunk or all of the 2027 season.

So, stiffen the luxury-tax penalties for the Dodgers and the other big spenders. Increase revenue sharing for the small-market teams, give them additional draft picks, and come up with other creative solutions to help them better compete.

The Dodgers hold big advantages, sure. But they are hellbent on winning, and their success does not stem solely from spending. Let’s see other teams compete as fervently, to the best their resources will allow. Then we can have a conversation about the future of the sport.

Answers to the Sudoku and Crossword on page 21