Mercedes Otero de Ramos (April 16, 1938 – June 20, 2012) was a Puerto Rican politician and public servant from the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). Otero served as Secretary of the

Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation The Puerto Rico Department of Correction and Rehabilitation () is the law enforcement executive department of the government responsible for structuring, developing, and coordinating the public policies in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territ ...

from 1985 to 1992. After that, she served as member of the

Senate of Puerto Rico The Senate of Puerto Rico ( es, Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, control th ...

from 1993 to 2001.

Studies and personal life

Mercedes Otero received a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in Secondary Education from the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

. She also completed a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Business Education, with a minor in Secretarial Science and Counseling, and a

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in Sociology and Criminology, both from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

. Otero was married to Israel Ramos Perea. They had a son together: Pedro.

Professional career

Otero worked as a teacher in the public school system, in the Puerto Rican College of Girls, and in the

for more than 30 years.

Public service: 1985–1992

In 1985, Otero was appointed by Governor

Rafael Hernández Colón Rafael Hernández Colón (October 24, 1936 – May 2, 2019) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1973 to 1977 and 1985 to 1993 for a total of three terms. An experienced politician, Hernández held the ...

as Secretary of the

. During her time leading the public agency, the inmates referred to her as "Mamá Meche". During her time, she implemented the first program to grant

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

s to certain prisoners with constant electronic surveillance. She also wrote papers on women in the penitentiary system. In 1992, Otero resigned when she considered that some of the signed agreements from a case couldn't be granted.

Political career: 1992–2001

Otero was elected to the

in the 1992 general election as a Senator At-large. Otero was reelected at the 1996 general election. Fellow senator

Eduardo Bhatia Eduardo Bhatia Gautier (born May 16, 1964) is a Puerto Rican attorney and politician. Bhatia is a former 15th President of the Senate of Puerto Rico and executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration. Early life and educa ...

described Otero as her "comrade in arms, mentor, and teacher."

Return to private life and death: 2001–2012

After retiring from the Senate, Otero returned to her private life. In 2002, she suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

and a

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may ...

, but recovered. In March 2012, Otero was honored by the

Puerto Rico House of Representatives The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico ( es, Cámara de Representantes de 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 Sen ...

, along with other female legislators, for her public service. Several months later, she was hospitalized with a swelling in the stomach. It was later revealed that her appendix had broken without noticing, causing the swelling. Otero died on June 20, 2012, at the Hospital del Maestro in

Hato Rey Hato Rey is a former barrio located in the northwest part of the dissolved municipality of Río Piedras. It now stretches over three barrios, of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico: Urban landscape Its name means "king's cattle farm" (' ...

a sector of San Juan. Otero's remains were exposed at Ehret Funeral Home in

Río Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

and cremated the next day after a religious service. Governor

Luis Fortuño Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset (born 31 October 1960) is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, from 2009 to 2013. Fortuño served as the first secretary of econom ...

declared three days of mourning.

References