Fernando Martín García is a Puerto Rican politician and former

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. He was a member of the Senate of Puerto Rico from 1989 to 1993, and then from 2000 to 2004.

Early years and studies

Fernando Martín García finished his elementary and high school at the Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

. He then studied at the University of Puerto Rico receiving his bachelor's degree with a major in history in 1969. He then completed his master's degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government and his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1974. Since 1975, Martín García has worked as a professor of administrative law and ethics responsibility at the

University of Puerto Rico School of Law The University of Puerto Rico School of Law is a law school in Puerto Rico. It is one of the professional graduate schools of University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus and the only law school in the University of Puerto Rico System. It w ...

Political career

Martín García was candidate for

Governor of Puerto Rico The governor of Puerto Rico ( es, gobernador de Puerto Rico) is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and commander-in-chief of the Puerto Rico National Guard. The governor has a duty ...

for the Puerto Rican Independence Party at the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and 1992 general elections. At the

1988 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1988. Africa * 1988 Cameroonian general election * 1988 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1988 Kenyan general election * 1988 Malian parliamentary election * 1988 Rwandan parliamentary elect ...

, Martín García was elected to the Senate of Puerto Rico for the first time. For the

1996 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1996. * 1995–1996 Azerbaijani parliamentary election * 1996 Beninese presidential election * 1996 Comorian presidential election * 1996 New Zealand general election * 1996 Nicaraguan general electio ...

, he was a candidate for senator for the District of San Juan, but lost. Martín García was elected again to the senate at the 2000 general elections. After that term, he ran for mayor of

, but lost to incumbent Jorge Santini.Elecciones Generales 2004: Recuento
on CEEPUR

International presence and support for independence

Martín García has been a supporter of Puerto Rican independence for a long time. He has defended his position in international forums like the United Nations, the Permanent Conference of Political Parties for Latin America, the Latin American Association of Human Rights, and the Socialist International. Martín García was also one of the lead protesters against the presence of the United States military during the Navy-Vieques protests. As a result, he was arrested for

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...

References

External links

Biografía Fernando Martín
on Independencia.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin Garcia, Fernando Members of the Senate of Puerto Rico Living people Harvard Kennedy School alumni Puerto Rico Independence Party politicians Year of birth missing (living people) Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola alumni Harvard Law School alumni Puerto Rican independence activists