Beatriz Rosselló

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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Areizaga and the second or maternal family name is Garcia.
Beatriz Isabel Rosselló
BeatrizRossello.jpg
14th First Lady of Puerto Rico
In role
January 2, 2017 – August 2, 2019
GovernorRicardo Rosselló
Preceded byWilma Pastrana
Succeeded byJorge Díaz Reverón
Personal details
Born
Beatriz Isabel Areizaga

(1985-01-04) January 4, 1985 (age 36)
San Juan, Puerto Rico
NationalityPuerto Rican
Political partyNew Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 2012)​
Children2
Alma materInteramerican University of Puerto Rico

Beatriz Isabel Areizaga (born January 4, 1985), aka Beatriz Rossello,[1] is the former First Lady of Puerto Rico and wife of Ricardo Rosselló, the former Governor of Puerto Rico, who resigned office due to the Telegramgate scandal. She served as First Lady of Puerto Rico from January 2017 to August 2019.

Personal life[]

Rosselló was born Beatriz Isabel Areizaga Garcia[2] in San Juan, Puerto Rico on January 4, 1985. She married Ricardo Rosselló on October 14, 2012, in a ceremony in New Orleans, Louisiana.[3] The couple have two children: Claudia Beatriz and Pedro Javier.

Early life and education[]

Areizaga studied at the Julián Blanco School, which specializes in ballet.[4] She attended college at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico.

She completed her bachelor's degree in psychology at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, where she graduated magna cum laude. Rosselló also pursued post-graduate studies at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University in North Carolina, where she was the only Puerto Rican woman selected among a group of 56 students.[5]

Early career[]

Rosselló was the chapter president of the Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association at the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico and vice president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico's youth group in San Juan.[6]

Tenure as first lady[]

Rosselló has been involved in initiatives such as “Fortaleza Para Ti”, Back To School, Women's Council, and Spayathon for Puerto Rico. As a First Lady she ordered the commissioning of a monument to diversity called "Portico de la Igualdad" in June 2019, which was subsequently painted white during the Telegramgate protests.[7][8][9][10][11]

Unidos por Puerto Rico Controversy[]

In July 2019, among calls for her husband to resign due to a scandal stemming from his involvement in an incriminating group chat with other government officials, Beatriz Rosselló was criticized for her management of Unidos for Puerto Rico, an agency established after Hurricane María which is currently under investigation by the FBI. Rosselló has been pointed out as having delayed the distribution disaster relief supplies. In August 2018, at least 10 trailers which held these supplies were found abandoned in a lot near a state election office; according to The New York Times, they had "broke[n] open and became infested by rats".[12] A spokeswoman for the elections commission said the offices were being used as a storage point at the request of the First Lady. Raúl Maldonado Nieves, the son of former CFO and Treasury Secretary Raúl Maldonado Gautier, claimed to have been present in a meeting in which Ricardo Rosselló demanded an amendment to an audit report into the containers as, according to Maldonado Nieves, the report would have “affected” the First Lady.

The FBI is also investigating the organization's finances and donations.[13][14] The organization received $41 million in donations, and it was run for a time by Jorge del Pino, the brother-in-law of lobbyist and group chat member Elías Sánchez.[15]

References[]

  1. ^ Beatriz Rosselló emitió orden de pintar Pórtico de la Igualdad. InterNews Service. wapa.tv. 22 November 2013. Accessed 4 February 2021.
  2. ^ Ricardo Rossello’s Wife Beatriz Areizaga. WagCenter.com Accessed 4 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Se Casó "Ricky" Rosselló". El Vocero. issuu. 2012-11-12. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
  4. ^ "Primera dama celebra mejoras a escuela Julián E. Blanco". El Vocero de Puerto Rico. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Enfocada Beatriz Rosselló en la campaña de su esposo". El Nuevo Dia. 21 May 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Beatriz Rosselló". Nga.org. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  7. ^ "Misterio rodea el Pórtico de la Igualdad tras ser pintado de blanco". El Nuevo Dia (in Spanish). August 4, 2019.
  8. ^ "La Fortaleza crea programa para comunidades desventajadas". El Nuevo Dia. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  9. ^ González, Jennifer. "Beatriz Rosselló anuncia iniciativa "Regreso a Clases con Fortaleza Para Ti"". Metro.pr. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  10. ^ "Ricardo y Beatriz Rosselló visitan clínica de esteralización de mascotas - Telemundo Puerto Rico". Telemundopr.com. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  11. ^ "La Fortaleza celebra Fiesta de Reyes en varios municipios". Primerahora.com. 6 January 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  12. ^ Robles, Frances (10 August 2018). "Containers of Hurricane Donations Found Rotting in Puerto Rico Parking Lot". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  13. ^ Correa Velázquez, Melissa. "Apunta el FBI a Unidos por Puerto Rico". El Vocero. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  14. ^ "FBI investiga finanzas y donativos de Unidos Por Puerto Rico". NotiUno. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  15. ^ "Five things to know about Puerto Rico's protests and scandals".
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