Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon waves alongside her husband Jose Yovin Vargas during her swearing-in ceremony as governor outside the Capitol in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)
RESAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico senators grilled the island’s newly designated natural resources chief on Tuesday after critics rebuked his recent decision to shelve a probe into allegations of illegal construction in a protected area.
The investigation targeted alleged violators including the in-laws of Puerto Rico’s new governor, who has called it “political persecution.”
Just hours after appointed Waldemar Quiles as natural resources secretary earlier this month, he signed the administrative order shelving the investigation.
“I have no evidence of who benefits from this,” Quiles said during a hearing Tuesday.
He also said independent examining officers would determine whether the cases against alleged violators should be archived, even though the document he signed specifically orders them to archive those cases.
“It’s contradictory, what you’re proposing,” said Sen. Marially González, of the main opposition Popular Democratic Party.
Her colleague, Sen. Juan Dalmau, agreed. He said there was no room left for any official to take any action that isn’t shelving the investigation.
Quiles insisted under oath that he would not archive the case against the governor’s in-laws or anyone else.
The in-laws are accused of illegally cutting mangroves and expanding and remodeling a platform or dock at their home at La Parguera, a popular tourist spot that was designated a natural reserve in 1979 and is known for its bioluminescent bay.
González and her in-laws — José Vargas and Irma Llavona — have denied the accusations.
Quiles said no one ordered or asked him to sign the administrative order, which he maintains was prepared by the previous administration, denying that it was amended before he signed it.
When asked why that was the first order he signed as designated secretary, Quiles replied, “Because it was there.”
He added that he did not consult with any local or federal agencies, and when asked if he knew of the legal opinions issued by the island’s Department of Natural Resources regarding the illegal constructions it was investigating, he responded, “There are a lot of legal opinions.”
Quiles said he would take other actions in the area including protecting its wetlands and bioluminescent bay as well as preventing overfishing.
During the three-hour hearing, one senator asked if Quiles thought it would have been “prudent” to consult the governor before signing the order.
“There is no conflict of interest here,” he responded. “It wasn’t necessary.”
The first structures were built in La Parguera around the 1960s, with fishermen living in ramshackle houses that have largely been replaced by high-end homes that environmentalists say must be removed.
Pedro Saadé, a Puerto Rico attorney who is an expert in environmental law, said the order Quiles signed is illegal and rejected the claims he made Tuesday.
“That’s a smoke screen,” Saadé said. “The text is clear.”
Like others, Saadé called for the order to be revoked.
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