Luis "Rolan" Maldonado Rodríguez (born June 27, 1954) is a Puerto Rican politician and the former mayor of

Ciales Ciales (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico, located on the Central Mountain Range, northwest of Orocovis; south of Florida and Manatí; east of Utuado and Jayuya; and west of Morovis. Ciales is spread over eight barrios and Cial ...

. Maldonado is affiliated with the New Progressive Party (PNP) and served as mayor from 2005 to 2013 and from 2016 to 2020.

Early years and studies

Luis Maldonado Rodríguez was born in

Arecibo, Puerto Rico Arecibo (; ) is a Arecibo barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado, Puerto Rico, Utuado and Ciales, Puerto Rico, Ciale ...

, on June 27, 1954, to Raúl Maldonado de León and Juanita Rodríguez Espinosa. He is the third of four children. Maldonado was raised in Barriada Víctor Rojas in Arecibo. He graduated from Antonio Luchetti High School with a vocational curse in

woodwork Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by ...

Professional career and public service

After graduating from high school, Maldonado began working as an

interior designer Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...

for five years. In 1978, Maldonado began working for the Municipality of Arecibo, as Coordinator of Transport and Equipment. After that, he became interim director of the Municipal Hospital, under the administration of then-Mayor José A. Cedeño. He also served as aide of the interim Mayor Rafael Enrique Negrón Tavarez. In 1984, Maldonado returns to work as interior designer.

Political career

Maldonado entered active politics in 1988, when he was named Treasurer of the Municipal Committee of the New Progressive Party in

, where he had been living since 1982. In 1991, Maldonado decided to run for the

House of Representatives of Puerto Rico The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico () is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the bicameral territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The House, together with the Senate, control the legislative branch of the go ...

representing District 13. He was elected at the 1992 general election. During his first term, Maldonado presided the Commission of Development of the Central Region. Maldonado was reelected in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, after which he presided the Commission of Cooperativism. Maldonado was elected for a third term at the 2000 general election. He was the District Representative from his party with most votes on that election. For the 2004 general election, Maldonado decided to run for Mayor of

. He was elected obtaining 51.31% of the votes. Maldonado was reelected in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, obtaining 56.12% of the votes. However, he was defeated by

Juan José Rodríguez Pérez Juan José Rodríguez Pérez is a Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican politician and former mayor of Ciales, Puerto Rico, Ciales. Marcano is affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico, Popular Democratic Party (PPD) and he served ...

(from the PPD) at the 2012 general election. Maldonado's defeat was by only 83 votes. According to an analysis of ''

El Nuevo Día ''El Nuevo Día'' (English: ''The New Day'') is the newspaper with the largest circulation in Puerto Rico. It is considered mainstream and the territory's newspaper of record. It was founded in 1909 in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and today it is a subsi ...

'', some of the factors that could've led to Maldonado's defeat were the

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

and the economic deficit of the city. In the 2016 general election, he won again for the position of mayor. In 2018 he announced he would not seek reelection in the 2020 elections.

Personal life

Maldonado has been married to María Santiago de Jesús since 1977. They have two children together: Luis and Erika.

References

External links

Luis "Rolan" Maldonado Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maldonado, Luis 1954 births Living people Mayors of places in Puerto Rico People from Arecibo, Puerto Rico New Progressive Party members of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico People from Ciales, Puerto Rico 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico