Puerto Rico Journal

The Republic

New Leads in Old Slaying of Sailors in Puerto Rico
ABC News
When he got there, he was met by federal agents investigating a 1979 attack by Puerto Ricanindependence militants that killed two U.S. sailors and wounded 10. "He obviously didn't expect to see us," said Special Agent Tim Quick of the Naval Criminal ...
US pledges funds to explore Puerto Rico trenchesYahoo News UK

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New leads in old slaying of sailors in Puerto Rico - The State
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 2:09 PM

The State

New leads in old slaying of sailors in Puerto Rico
The State
FILE- In this Dec. 9, 1979, file photo, an honor guard of the U.S. Navy carries the coffin bearing the remains of Radioman 3rd Class Emil E. White, one of two sailors killed in a terrorist attack on a Navy bus in Puerto Rico. At one point, 13 people ...

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New leads in old slaying of sailors in Puerto Rico - Houston Chronicle
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 2:09 PM

Houston Chronicle

New leads in old slaying of sailors in Puerto Rico
Houston Chronicle
FILE - In this Dec. 3, 1979, file photo, large-caliber bullet holes pierce the driver's window of theU.S. Navy bus that was ambushed by terrorists in Puerto Rico. Federal authorities reopened the case after the Sept. 11 terror attack on the U.S ...

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New leads in old slaying of sailors in Puerto Rico - Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 2:08 PM

Bonner County Daily Bee - Opinion/Letters To Editor,Opinion/Letters To Editor/

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

New leads in old slaying of sailors in Puerto Rico
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
FILE- In this Dec. 9, 1979, file photo, an honor guard of the U.S. Navy carries the coffin bearing the remains of Radioman 3rd Class Emil E. White, one of two sailors killed in a terrorist attack on a Navy bus in Puerto Rico. At one point, 13 people ...

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New leads in old slaying of sailors in Puerto Rico
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 2:08 PM

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Juan Galloza Acevedo was living a quiet retirement near the suburbs of Puerto Rico's capital when his radical past finally caught up with him.

Galloza got a call from local police, telling him his car had been in an accident and he needed to come to the station. When he got there, he was met by federal agents investigating a 1979 attack by Puerto Rican independence militants that killed two U.S. sailors and wounded 10.

"He obviously didn't expect to see us," said Special Agent Tim Quick of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

With the recent sentencing of the 78-year-old Galloza, NCIS officials say they will be back in the U.S. territory soon to work with local authorities in hopes of surprising some more militants as they seek to unravel the long-unresolved case from a violent phase of Puerto Rico's national movement.

"We see potential for additional arrests," Quick said.

Galloza, who was sentenced May 8 to five years in prison, played a minor role in the attack, which the group known as Los Macheteros staged in reaction to the death of an activist in a U.S. prison. Attackers fired assault rifles and a machine gun at a bus carrying 17 sailors from a Navy base at Sabana Seca, a coastal area several miles from the house where Galloza was living when authorities found him in 2006.

At one point, 13 people were suspected of involvement. Four of those have since died, including one suspected gunman who authorities say died in a drug-related shooting.

NCIS officials declined to provide further details on the hunt because the investigation might be jeopardized.

Federal authorities reopened the case after the Sept. 11 terror attack on the U.S. revived Washington's interest in suspected terrorists. Still, as the investigation dragged on, many people questioned whether it was worth the time and money, said Lou Eliopulos, director of NCIS's Office of Forensic Support.

"It was an incredible task to try to put it together," he said, adding that agents were lucky a retired Puerto Rico police detective had preserved the evidence. "We were faced with individuals who asked why we were doing this, that we would never make it to the courtroom."

Galloza is one of those wondering why authorities are still pursuing suspects.

"God imparts justice," he said in a brief phone interview with The Associated Press from the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City. "What do people gain from catching someone else and making them pay for something after so many years?"

A widow of one of the sailors killed in the attack has a different view. Patty Ball acknowledged that Galloza expressed remorse and apologized to the families of victims at his sentencing hearing in New York, but said that wasn't enough.

"This was not about forgiveness. This was about justice and responsibility," she said in a phone interview. "I think that people need to be held responsible for their actions. I don't care how old a case this is."

She was living in Puerto Rico with her husband, Petty Officer John Ball, and their two children as part of his three-year assignment when the attack occurred. She moved her family back home to Wisconsin the next day.

Galloza became a supporter of Los Macheteros around 1969 but didn't become active until about 1978, according to court documents. Three weeks after the attack, Galloza left the group because of his objections to its tactics and later found a job in a purse factory, officials said.

The group, which is listed by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for killings, bombings and robberies in the 1970s and '80s, including a $7 million holdup of a Wells Fargo depot in 1983. Its visibility diminished after a flurry of arrests in 1985.

Galloza says he didn't know authorities were looking for him. "The only thing I said was, 'If I made a mistake, I will pay for it,'" he said. "I want to make things right."

Recently put in a prison hospital in Massachusetts for treatment of heart problems, Galloza would like to be transferred to Puerto Rico because of his health troubles, which also include rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes.

"They sentenced me to die," he said. "They knew I was not going to last five years. I'm more dead than alive."

___

Danica Coto on Twitter: https://twitter.com/danicacoto

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New leads in old slaying of sailors in Puerto Rico - Bonner County Daily Bee
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 2:05 PM

PR Economy And Business News Review

New leads in old slaying of sailors in Puerto Rico
Bonner County Daily Bee
"God imparts justice," he said in a brief phone interview with The Associated Press from the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City. "What do people gain from catching someone else and making them pay for something after so many years?" A widow ...

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Puerto Rico aims to retain young entrepreneurs - Yahoo News
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 2:05 PM

The Republic

Puerto Rico aims to retain young entrepreneurs
Yahoo News
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's governor has signed a law that aims to keep young business owners on a U.S. territory struggling with population loss. The bill signed Thursday by Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla allows for local income tax ...
New leads in old slaying of sailors in Puerto RicoBusinessweek

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Brooklyn sluggers win World Series in Puerto Rico
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 2:03 PM

Puerto Rico Newswire

... Serrano of the Brooklyn Blue Storm gets pumped during the American Amateur Baseball Congress World Series in Puerto Rico. sThe Brooklyn Blue Storm beat the powerful Puerto Rican national team 8-4 on Sunday in the World Series championship game in ...

Detection of Chikungunya virus adds to local public health concerns - Chron.com
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 2:02 PM

CARIBBEAN BUSINESS's Facebook Wall

USA TODAY

Detection of Chikungunya virus adds to local public health concerns
Chron.com
This mosquito-borne illness is usually found in freshwater hardwood swamps in the Atlantic and Gulf Coast states and the Great Lakes region, with cases in the United States being reported in Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts and New Jersey. In the United ...
Detection of Chikungunya virus adds to local public healthHouston Chronicle

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Feds bust $10M mortgage fraud scheme - Caribbean Businesswww.caribbeanbusinesspr... by CARIBBEAN BUSINESS
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 2:00 PM

Feds bust $10M mortgage fraud scheme - Caribbean Business
www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com
a federal grand jury in puerto rico has handed up an indictment against four suspects in a $10 million mortgage fraud scheme.

New York Fed study finds Puerto Rico emigration has not led to 'brain drain' - Central Banking (subscription)
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:59 PM

New York Fed study finds Puerto Rico emigration has not led to 'brain drain'
Central Banking (subscription)
... in part because people without college degrees have been leaving in higher numbers," the study notes. Abel and Deitz also call for measures to shore up Puerto Rico's economy, including programmes that expand job opportunities for lower-skilled workers.

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8/8-24: VYT's 'West Side Story' at Herberger Theater - azcentral
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:58 PM

Puerto Rico Economy - Google News

azcentral

8/8-24: VYT's 'West Side Story' at Herberger Theater
azcentral
"It's a rough story about friends, following your heart, finding love and discovering who you are in a 1950s gang-ridden community," he said. Cooper said such productions as "West Side Story" not only help young people grow as actors, dancers and ...

Rubio Addresses Puerto Rico Status, Calls for a Two-Option Ballot Plebiscite by Associate Writer
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:57 PM

Puerto Rico Report

Following a ceremony honoring Puerto Rico’s Borinqueneers earlier this week, Sen. Marco Rubio stated his support for a two-option ballot to guide Puerto Rico’s next plebiscite. Answering a question from a reporter about his position on Puerto Rico statehood, Sen. Rubio first emphasized the importance of deferring to the people of Puerto Rico regarding the islands’ status and then turned to talk about his position on the best format for the next plebiscite ballot.

“Ultimately, the people of Puerto Rico will have to decide” the territory’s status, explained Rubio, but, he added, any upcoming referendum should include “a ballot question that allows them two choices – not three – but two very clear choices” given the disputes that followed the 2012 vote.

(Click here to see the interview.)

In raising the two-option ballot idea, Rubio highlighted an idea that has gained increasing support in the U.S. Congress. Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi has introduced legislationcalling for a vote in Puerto Rico in which the electorate would be asked to choose only between statehood and Puerto Rico’s current territorial status. In the Senate, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) has introduced an identical bill. The legislation has the support of the nation’s largest Latino organization, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla has announced plans to hold a status plebiscite before the end of his current political term in 2016. The structure of that ballot remains uncertain.

Rubio’s remarks do not represent the first time that the Senator has expressed an interest in Puerto Rico. In a 2011 hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Global Narcotics Affairs, Senator Rubio questioned a witness about the U.S. response to the growing epidemic of drug trafficking and narcotics in the Caribbean. Focusing on Puerto Rico, Rubio stated: “This is a domestic obligation of ours. This is not another country. This is under our jurisdiction, and these are American citizens. Ans so what is our plan there? How are we working that? How is that developing? Are we looking at some new things that we can do?” (See video here at the one hour 30 seconds mark)

Beyond the minimum wageby jpicard@thehill.com (Jacob Humerick)
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:56 PM

The Hill: Congress Blog

The conversation surrounding economic inequality in the United States has risen from its usual steady drone to a headline-grabbing roar in recent weeks. Unlike in 2011, when protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street acted as the main catalysts of...

Puerto Ricans Are Fleeing the Economic Disaster That Is Their Home Island - Slate Magazine (blog)
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:55 PM

Puerto Ricans Are Fleeing the Economic Disaster That Is Their Home Island
Slate Magazine (blog)
Population declines can be a symptom of economic malaise. They also perpetuate that malaise by shrinking tax rolls and killing growth, which is pretty much the last thing a small, semi-autonomous island needs when it's struggling to pay back creditors.
New York Fed study finds Puerto Rico emigration has not led to 'brain drain'Central Banking (subscription)

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Rekindling old friendships Cuba is once again resorting to geopolitics to ... - The Economist
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:55 PM

The Economist

Rekindling old friendships Cuba is once again resorting to geopolitics to ...
The Economist
CARLITO, a wiry man with greying hair, sits under a palm tree in Mariel, a town on a bay 40km (25 miles) west of Havana, sipping rum and watching a container ship edge out towards theCaribbean. He recalls seeing a flotilla of smaller boats leaving ...

Review: Carmen | Santa Fe Opera - TheaterJones Performing Arts News
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:54 PM

TheaterJones Performing Arts News

Review: Carmen | Santa Fe Opera
TheaterJones Performing Arts News
Here, they are smuggling drugs and children into the United States. The role of Carmen is one of the ... Puerto Rican-born soprano Ana María Martínez is listed in the program as a soprano but you would have to look it up to be sure. She certainly ...

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83°Juez José Fusté defiende a Sánchez Betances
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:54 PM

Últimas Noticias De Puerto Rico

83°

Juez José Fusté defiende a Sánchez Betances

Junto con el ex juez José Andreu García sirvió de "testigo de reputación" en el caso ético 08/08/14 | 03:20

Entregan botas nuevas a más de 100 policías

Muchos de los 14,538 agentes del orden en la Isla tienen que costear sus uniformes 08/08/14 | 02:48

Presentará argumentos finales en el caso Y...

El juez Francisco Borelli evaluará la prueba contra el ex policía Roberto Quiñones 08/08/14 | 02:50

Fatal colisión de motoras en la Baldorioty

Las tres motoras que chocaron iban en un grupo de 70 motoristas; hubo un muerto y dos heridos.08/08/14 | 01:23

El norte del DE será cortar la burocracia

Rafael Román apuesta a una reorganización y mayor agilización y flexibilización de los trámites08/08/14 | 03:19

En paro los celadores de línea de la AEE

Aseguran que no tienen “paz laboral” por la Ley 66 mediante la cual muchos se jubilaron. 08/08/14 | 03:23

La Hora Del Chavo – 8 de agosto
Alondra Santiago Román, Joseph Abner, Yeanthzy Meléndez, José y Nayalie, Lisandra Rodríguez, Jaydalisse, Alishka Santos, Eliezer de Jesús.

La Hora Del Chavo – 8 de agosto
Premian el éxito academico
La Fundación Banco Popular reconoció a 100 estudiantes de cuarto año de esceual superior.

Premian el éxito academico
Jonathan “Bomba” González regresa al ring
El peso mosca cagüeño se medirá Miguel "Samurái" del Valle el 30 de agosto en Ponce

Jonathan “Bomba” González regresa al ring
Miss Mundo Megan Young llegó a Puerto Rico
La reina participará en varias actividades relacionadas con la el certamen local

Miss Mundo Megan Young llegó a Puerto Rico
Llega onda tropical a Puerto Rico
Las lluvias se disiparán el viernes y se espera un fin de semana soleado.

Llega onda tropical a Puerto Rico
Juez José Fusté defiende a Sánchez Betances
Junto con el ex juez José Andreu García sirvió de "testigo de reputación" en el caso ético

Juez José Fusté defiende a Sánchez Betances
Entregan botas nuevas a más de 100 policías
Muchos de los 14,538 agentes del orden en la Isla tienen que costear sus uniformes

Entregan botas nuevas a más de 100 policías
Presentará argumentos finales en el caso Y...
El juez Francisco Borelli evaluará la prueba contra el ex policía Roberto Quiñones

Presentará argumentos finales en el caso Y...
Fatal colisión de motoras en la Baldorioty
Las tres motoras que chocaron iban en un grupo de 70 motoristas; hubo un muerto y dos heridos.

Fatal colisión de motoras en la Baldorioty
El norte del DE será cortar la burocracia
Rafael Román apuesta a una reorganización y mayor agilización y flexibilización de los trámites

El norte del DE será cortar la burocracia
En paro los celadores de línea de la AEE
Aseguran que no tienen “paz laboral” por la Ley 66 mediante la cual muchos se jubilaron.

En paro los celadores de línea de la AEE
Caen 80 por prostitución en Puerto Rico
Un ex sacristan pidió un favor sexual a un agente encubierto que procedió a arrestarlo.

Caen 80 por prostitución en Puerto Rico
Prostitutas posan para las cámaras
Desinhibidas, las mujeres no temieron en taparse las caras ante la prensa.

Prostitutas posan para las cámaras
Hay que buscar un propósito para la vida
Myrna Pérez te da algunos consejos para que logres crear un propósito para tu futuro.

Hay que buscar un propósito para la vida
La Mujer del Vendaval - 8 de agosto
Marcela recibió la agradable sorpresa de una persona. ¿De quién sería?

La Mujer del Vendaval - 8 de agosto

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Shields and Brooks on Iraq reluctance, Nixon’s legacyby PBS NewsHour
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:53 PM

PR Videos - Review

	Shields and Brooks on Iraq reluctance, Nixon’s legacy Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week's top news, including U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State militant...	From: PBS NewsHour Views: 14 0 ratings
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Is the U.S. underestimating the Islamic State? by PBS NewsHour
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:52 PM

PR Videos - Review

	Is the U.S. underestimating the Islamic State? Is the U.S. doing enough to defeat the militants of the Islamic State group and relieve the humanitarian crisis in Iraq? Hari Sreenivasan gets two views from Feisal Istrabadi of Indiana University...	From: PBS NewsHour Views: 11 2 ratings
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Carl Bernstein: U.S. trying to halt ISIS by CNNInternational
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:52 PM

PR Videos - Review

	Carl Bernstein: U.S. trying to halt ISIS Carl Bernstein and Gloria Borger discuss how successful the U.S. government has been in handling ISIS militants.	From: CNNInternational Views: 0 0 ratings
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Pseudo Science on Possession Trance | The Seven Worldsby thesevenminds
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:48 PM

PPT has been researched in many countries, including Puerto Rico, China, India, Iran, Turkey, Uganda and the USA. PPT covers involuntary possession experiences ... whom the sufferer's social network can interact… It is of interest that in the more sociocentric Eastern cultures, dissociative identities take the form of a member of the community, while in the more individually focused Western cultures, the dissociation involves a variety of internal individual identities.”.

Costa Rican special operations unit participates in regional 'war games' - Tico Times
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:46 PM

Latin American Herald Tribune

Tico Times

Costa Rican special operations unit participates in regional 'war games'
Tico Times
Over the past two decades, as drug trafficking routes shifted from the Caribbean to the Central American corridor, the U.S. government has worked with seven Central American nations to promote an increasingly militarized “War on Drugs,” Main wrote.

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Mexican to Coordinate Care for Immigrants, Undocumented Children in Chicago
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:45 PM

Mexican-American Tonantzin Carmona, 24, has assumed the management of the Office of New Americans at Chicago City Hall, which provides needed aid to immigrants and will coordinate shelter in this city for 1,000 undocumented Central American children.

Costa Rica Seeks Investigation of Immigrant Bribes to Nicaraguan Military
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:45 PM

Latin American Herald Tribune

Costa Rica’s Foreign Ministry asked Nicaragua to investigate the case of immigrants from that country paying suspected bribes to the Nicaraguan military for help in entering Costa Rica illegally.

Danny Garcia stops Rod Salka in second round - USA TODAY
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:43 PM

Puerto Rico News - Google News

USA TODAY

Danny Garcia stops Rod Salka in second round
USA TODAY
Garcia's manager Al Haymon, however, didn't want the bout to happen now, especially after he struggled in a unanimous decision over Mauricio Herrera in Puerto Rico five months ago. Peterson also fought an unheralded opponent, stopping New York native ...

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JetBlue flight headed to JFK from San Juan evacuated; 3 injured - WABC-TV
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:42 PM

JetBlue flight headed to JFK from San Juan evacuated; 3 injured
WABC-TV
A JetBlue flight headed to JFK Airport from Puerto Rico was evacuated after the left engine caught on fire Saturday night. Flight 704 from Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan experienced the engine fire while taxiing before takeoff ...

N.Y.-Bound JetBlue Flight Evacuated After Engine Fire - NBC News.com
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:41 PM

N.Y.-Bound JetBlue Flight Evacuated After Engine Fire

collapse story

An engine fire forced evacuation of a New York-bound JetBlue flight before it could take off on Saturday, Puerto Rico airport officials said.

Puerto Rico airport authority official Rolando Padua said in a statement that the 186 passengers aboard were evacuated after the pilot halted the A-320 at 7 p.m. ET before it could take off. Firefighters at Luis Munoz Marin airport then extinguished the fire.

He said three people suffered minor injuries because of the emergency evacuation. Flight 704 had been scheduled to land at John F. Kennedy Airport at 10:37 p.m. JetBlue said it was working to put the passengers on an alternate flight.

RT @
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:39 PM

News Is My Business

RT @NBCNews: 3 people suffer minor injuries in evacuating JetBlue flight after engine fire at Puerto Rico airport http://t.co/3BEUbfWK0d

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368,00010:54New York-bound flight evacuated in Puerto Rico
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:38 PM

Puerto Rico News - YouTube

368,000

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JetBlue plane evacuated after engine fire
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:37 PM

Puerto Rico Newswire

A JetBlue Airways flight departing from Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, was evacuated Saturday evening after one of its engines caught fire, according to a Federal Aviation Administration statement.

Good Morning! - KWTX
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:37 PM

CARIBBEAN BUSINESS's Facebook Wall

Good Morning!
KWTX
A boat carrying Dominican migrants seeking a better life in Puerto Rico drifted back to almost the same spot where the voyage began nearly two weeks earlier; at least 55 of the 86 people on board had died. The 20-year-old woman who'd accused Kobe ...

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Fed says reviving PR economy is key to curbing ‘troubling’ population loss - Car... by CARIBBEAN BUSINESS
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:36 PM

Fed says reviving PR economy is key to curbing ‘troubling’ population loss - Caribbean Business
www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com
puerto ricos population has been falling for nearly a decade, and the pace of decline has accelerated in recent years, a “troubling” trend that presents a host of difficulties for the island, according to a new report by the federal reserve bank of new york.

Report: JetBlue flight to New York evacuated after engine catches fire - Sun-Sentinel
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:36 PM

Puerto Rican Community In New York - Google Blog Search

Report: JetBlue flight to New York evacuated after engine catches fire
Sun-Sentinel
8:11 a.m. EDT, August 10, 2014. NBCnews.com reported that an engine fire forced evacuation of a New York-bound JetBlue flight before it could take off on Saturday, Puerto Rico airport officials said. Puerto Rico airport authority official Rolando Padua ...

Something very strange is happening in Miami
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:35 PM

Salon.Com

At the core of a global city, like London or New York, a local might look askance at the skyward hulls of new buildings, knowing that these residential projects, with striking designs by prize-winning architects, do not fulfill traditional notions of housing.

These apartments aren’t places to live, even a few months out of the year, or to rent. They are simply unusually shaped deposit boxes where several million dollars (or pesos, or rubles) can be left in security and secrecy. Economists and elected officials hold that the “safe haven effect” can secure a city’s financial future; critics say it contributes to the irreversible erosion of a city’s character and drives up the cost of housing. Either way, in an era of worldwide turmoil, the phenomenon is on the rise.

The mind-boggling home prices of global finance capitals have so far hogged the headlines. But to really see the power that foreign direct investment can exert on a city’s skyline, you need to go to Miami.

Over the past quarter-century, the Miami skyline has grown at a cornfield pace, fueled largely, realtors say, by buyers from South America. This trend is more natural here than in cities like Vancouver, where mainland Chinese are big condo buyers, or Paris, where Americans, among others, trade chic pied-à-terres. After all, most Miami residents speak Spanish at home, and the metro area has the highest share of immigrant business ownership in the country, at 45 percent. This is why the city is sometimes called the “Capital of Latin America.”

Whether or not Miami deserves that moniker, it certainly attracts another kind of capital from Latin America.

A study released last month by the Miami Downtown Development Authority found that 90 percent of demand for new condos in Brickell, Downtown and Edgewater — a 4.5 mile swath of waterfront neighborhoods across the bay from Miami Beach — is from foreign buyers. More than six in 10 pre-sale buyers come from Latin America.

Most remarkably, for a major American downtown: Only one in 10 new apartments is purchased as a primary residence.

It’s hard to think of an appropriate parallel to another world city, let alone one in the United States. The area in question is not small: Imagine Manhattan’s West Side from 110th Street to 23rd Street, with 4,500 units under construction. (For comparison’s sake, Manhattan in toto, with a population four times that of Miami, authorized barely 5,000 new units in 2013.)

Miami has succeeded, in other words, in doing what Rust Belt towns like Detroit and Toledo are dreaming of: regenerating downtown through foreign investment. And this with an obvious threat to property values — in the form of sea-level rise and storm surges — looming on the horizon.

What distinguishes the current boom from the more gradual Latin American settlement of Miami, which has been underway for decades, is the amount of cash involved. “What’s changed is the deposit structure,” says Barbara Salk, a principal at the firm Sakor Development. “We’ve got very vested people buying into the real estate here.”

In response, developers have begun to adopt a model of real estate finance more commonly found in credit-tight South America, in which a buyer pays half the cost of a unit before the building is even finished. This favors developers, who need less equity to start a project, and gives confidence to lenders, who feel that buyers are committed.

The model is also well-suited to Miami’s real estate clientele, many of whom are looking to move cash reserves from South America’s teetering currencies into American real estate. Only a quarter of Miami condo buyers take out mortgages, versus 70 percent nationwide.

As Ken Silverstein has shown in the Nation, this practice is conducive to corruption. “The real estate industry is more lightly regulated than financial institutions,” Silverstein writes,

Banks are required to file a Suspicious Activities Report (SAR) with the Treasury Department if they suspect a client is depositing or transferring corrupt money. Real estate agents and title insurers are exempt from that requirement—as are businesses that primarily sell luxury goods such as jewelry, yachts and private planes—which makes property an especially attractive vehicle to money launderers. Furthermore, bank tellers don’t receive a commission on the deposits they accept, so they are more likely to ask questions of a dubious customer than a real estate agent, who stands to make a huge commission on a multimillion-dollar luxury condo deal.

But Miami condos aren’t priced like their equivalents in New York City and London. The average price of a unit in a current selling project is $662,439. It’s not pocket change; but it’s also less than half the average condo price in Manhattan. Median sale prices in San Francisco recently topped $1 million.

Though funded by transfers from foreign bank accounts and seldom assumed as a primary residence, Miami’s new apartments aren’t anything to gawk at. The average Miami condo is closer in value to a healthy retirement savings account than a drug-money fortune.

This may be related to another difference between the market in Miami and its global-city big sisters. According to a recent New York magazine article, “30 percent of all apartments in the quadrant from 49th to 70th Streets between Fifth and Park are vacant at least ten months a year.” London, too, suffers from ghost districts dominated by part-time (or no-time) owners.

But the crop of downtown Miami condos from the last cycle, according to the Downtown Development Authority, are over 95-percent occupied, whether by part-time owners or, more likely, by tenants. Miami neighborhoods may lack the organic texture of 57th Street or Mayfair, but their buildings are not lacking for people.

Is it crazy to add 23,000 units – the crop of the current cycle – to a market with scant local demand, in a metro area with the highest foreclosure rate in the United States? Is downtown Miami a bubble?

“Greater Downtown Miami is always in a bubble,” the report finds, “because 90 percent of the demand is external, and hence not tied to economic fundamentals.”

Whereas a traditional housing market draws its strength from job growth and new residents, “safe haven” housing markets are fueled by global instability. And there’s certainly plenty of that to go around.

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JetBlue Flight Evacuated at Puerto Rico Airport - News 92 FMby Camille Bautista
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:30 PM

iStock Editorial/Thinkstock(SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico) -- Passengers suffered minor injuries Saturday after evacuating a New York-bound flight out of Puerto Rico. An engine fire forced the evacuation of JetBlue Airways Flight ...

Fed says reviving PR economy is key to curbing ‘troubling’ population
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:30 PM

Caribbean Business

Fed says reviving PR economy is key to curbing ‘troubling’ population loss

Puerto Rico’s population has been falling for nearly a decade, and the pace of d ...


Issued: August 10, 2014
Texas has beaten out Puerto Rico and other states in a race to land the wor ...

A federal grand jury in Puerto Rico has handed up an indictment against four suspects in a $10 million mortgage fraud scheme.

Codfish numbers at key fishery hits all-time low

Issued: August 10, 2014

PORTLAND, Maine — The level of codfish spawning in one of the most critical fisheries in the Northeast U.S. is at an all-time low, putting m ...

Venezuela to close border with Colombia at night

Issued: August 10, 2014

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela will close its border with Colombia at night to crack down on the smuggling of oil and food.

Pope expresses outrage at violence in Iraq

Issued: August 10, 2014

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday expressed outrage at violence aimed at religious minorities in Iraq, where fleeing children have died ...

Palestinians accept new 72-hour cease-fire offer

Issued: August 10, 2014

CAIRO — Palestinian negotiators in Cairo say they have accepted an Egyptian proposal for a new, three-day cease-fire with Israel.

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Isn't the US Pot Thing Frustrating? Great Success, Popular Support and Ugly ... - San Diego Free Press
Sunday August 10th, 2014 at 1:29 PM