The Bar Association of Puerto Rico (Colegio de Abogados y Abogadas de Puerto Rico) published in their Revista Juridica an article by Dr. Samuel Quiñones-Garcia entitled El acceso a información pública, la prensa y la pandemia. An excerpt (English translation) reads: "In practical terms, we tend to classify as transparent those governments where anyone can request public information without expressing reason. But a fuller appreciation of the term includes regimes where public documents are routinely released. Particularly, those that can be used to control them. The best way to demonstrate this difference is if, when faced with an indication of possible corruption, their officials cede them to external corroboration. Given that these requests are made in different contexts, it is worth highlighting the one that interests us most. I am referring to those with the greatest potential to generate a corruption scandal in the midst of an epidemic. My thesis is very simple. The crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, by altering patterns of social behavior, is revealing hidden truths to us."
To read the full article in Spanish, visit Microjuris.com/Puerto Rico.
Prof. Quiñones is an experienced independent researcher with a demonstrated history of working in higher education and nonprofit organizations, political science, Latin American Studies, government, public speaking, and administration. He has collaborated with the UF Center for Hydro-generated Urbanism focused on resiliency in Puerto Rico through the Puerto Rico Re_Start 1 International Project and Research Workshop.