Roberto Sánchez Vilella (19 February 1913 – 24 March 1997) was the
governor of Puerto Rico
The governor of Puerto Rico () is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. Elected to a 4 year-term through popular vote by the residents of the archipelago and island, ...
from 1965 to 1969. Sánchez Vilella successfully ran for governor in the 1964 elections for the ''
Partido Popular Democrático''. He is also the founder of the
People's Party (Puerto Rico), "Partido del Pueblo", also known as el Partido del Sol.
Early years and education
Sánchez Vilella was born in
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Mayagüez (, ) is the ninth-largest Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in Puerto Rico. It was founded as Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez (Township of Virgin of Candelaria, Our Lady of Candelaria), and is also ...
, to Luis Sánchez Frasqueri and Angela Vilella Vélez and his family moved to
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...
when he was five years old. In Ponce he attended elementary and secondary schools, including the
Ponce High School. After graduation, he attended
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
where he graduated with a bachelor degree in civil engineering in 1934. As an engineer, in 1941 he was president of the Ponce chapter of the ''Colegio de Ingenieros y Agrimensores de Puerto Rico'', the professional organization covering all engineers and land surveyors in Puerto Rico. He then was a professor for a short time at the
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...
.
Governor

After a long and distinguished career as city manager of the city of San Juan, Secretary of Public Works and as the first Secretary of State, Sánchez Vilella was handpicked by Governor
Luis Muñoz Marín to run as the PPD's candidate for governor in 1964. Sánchez won the election by a comfortable margin, becoming the second democratically elected governor of the island.
During his tenure, Sánchez Vilella tried to change his party's membership, urging a younger generation to rise in the friends party's organization. It could be argued that Sánchez Vilella was influenced by the youth movement that the island was experiencing countrywide during the 1960s, a period where many social areas in Puerto Rico, including television, music and sports, were being introduced to fresh, younger personalities.
Sánchez Vilella had public marital problems during his term. In March 1967, his
affair
An affair is a relationship typically between two people, one or both of whom are either married or in a long-term Monogamy, monogamous or emotionally-exclusive relationship with someone else. The affair can be solely sexual, solely physical or ...
with his 35-year-old, twice-divorced former legislative aide,
Jeannette Ramos Buonono, became public.
Sánchez Vilella and his wife of 31 years, then
First Lady Conchita Dapena, separated shortly afterwards when Governor Sánchez Vilella announced his intention to seek a
divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...
in order to marry Ramos.
[ In October 1967, Governor Sánchez Vilella and Jeannette Ramos married in a civil ceremony held in ]Humacao, Puerto Rico
Humacao () is a Humacao barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, Yabucoa; south of Naguabo, Puerto Rico, Naguabo; east of Las Pi ...
, just two days after his divorce from Dapena was finalized.[ This was the governor's second marriage and Ramos' third marriage.][ His marital problems were brought to center stage during the 1968 gubernatorial campaign, given the still-conservative Puerto Rican moral values of the time, including the stigmatization of divorce. The affair effectively ended Sánchez Vilella's political career and he announced at the time that he would not seek re-election.][
His goals of revitalization and change led to a public break with former governor, Luis Muñoz Marín, who was still party leader. Because of this, the PPD nominated Luis Negrón López for governor in the elections of 1968. Sánchez Vilella left the PPD and founded his own party, the '' Partido del Pueblo'' (''The People's Party''). While his new party lost in the 1968 elections, it caused a considerable percentage of PPD voters to vote for him, indirectly helping Luis A. Ferré and his New Progressive Party to win that year. It did not matter that Ferré had made a similar split with his ''Partido Estadista Republicano'' (Statehood Republican Party) due to that party's decision not to support the statehood status option in the 1967 Puerto Rican status plebiscite (Ferré created the ]New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
The New Progressive Party (, PNP) is a political party in Puerto Rico that advocates for statehood.[United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...](_blank)
officials, scorned by Sánchez Vilella as long-time meddlers in Puerto Rican affairs (in a by-now famous episode, Sánchez Vilella had thrashed a hotline
A hotline is a Point-to-point (telecommunications), point-to-point information transfer, communications Data link, link in which a telephone call, call is automatically directed to the preselected destination without any additional action by t ...
telephone that linked the governor's office and the local Navy command) used Navy intelligence resources to prepare a smear campaign against Sánchez Vilella and helped Ferré with logistics and money for his own gubernatorial campaign. Nevertheless, Sánchez Vilella was finally blamed for the first loss in the history of the PPD. His relationship with former governor Muñoz Marín was severely strained, but the two friends mended their differences in the late 1970s.
In 1972, Sánchez Vilella made his third and last run for elective office when he obtained 59,000 votes in his bid to become a representative-at-large, but lost when the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico () is the highest court of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority to interpret and decide questions of Puerto Rican law. The Court is analogous to one of the state supreme courts of the states of the United State ...
certified the election of Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) candidate Luis Ángel Torres, who polled fewer than 150 votes, based on its interpretation of the Puerto Rico Constitution's rules regarding the election of at-large legislative candidates.
Retirement and legacy
After leaving La Fortaleza and his unsuccessful House bid in 1972, Sánchez Vilella lived a relatively quiet life, serving as a professor at the University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...
's School of Public Administration and its law school, and as a radio commentator. The Puerto Rican sculptor Tomás Batista
Tomás Batista (born December 7, 1935) is a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican sculptor. He is the creator of some of Puerto Rico's most notable monuments.
Early years
Batista (birth name: Tomás Batista Encarnación) was born and raised in Luquillo, ...
created a bust in his honor, and it is located in the city of Ponce, at the Parque del Tricentenario.
He died on 24 March 1997 and was buried at the Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro in Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...
which he had claimed as his adoptive city.''Ponce History Museum.''
Inter-American University of Puerto Rico. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
The legacy of Sánchez Vilella, who was initially judged rather harshly by historians, has been perceived in a better light recently. His term was overshadowed by the legacy of Muñoz, his predecessor, and the PDP's loss in the 1968 elections is still blamed on him. However, he is perceived by many political commentators to have led the most efficient public administration of all Puerto Rican-born governors, and many long for Sánchez Vilella's frankness and political integrity in light of the deteriorating political climate that has developed after he left office. As the perception of his legacy improves, he is now being honored more frequently. The Government's largest building complex at Minillas, in Santurce, was named after him, and a bust of Sánchez Vilella was placed in the Governor's Hall of the Puerto Rico capitol building in 2007.
Sánchez Vilella had two daughters, Evelyn and Vilma, from his marriage to First Lady Concepción "Conchita" Dapena. He also had two children, Olga Elizabeth and Roberto José, from his marriage to Jeannette Ramos.
Honors
In 1997, Governor Pedro Rosselló signed into law a bill introduced by then senator Kenneth McClintock converting a major highway built by Sánchez Vilella between Ponce and Mayagüez into the "Roberto Sánchez Vilella Expressway", honoring not only his service as Governor but as Secretary of Public Works.
A new Puerto Rican highway, PR-66, named in honor of Roberto Sánchez Vilella was inaugurated on 31 March 2006.
The University of Puerto Rico's School of Public Administration, where he served as a professor, bears his name.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez Vilella, Roberto
1913 births
1997 deaths
Burials at Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro
Democratic Party governors of Puerto Rico
Governors of Puerto Rico
Mayors of San Juan, Puerto Rico
Ohio State University alumni
People from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Politicians from Ponce
Popular Democratic Party (Puerto Rico) politicians
Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent
Secretaries of state of Puerto Rico
20th-century mayors of places in Puerto Rico
20th-century Puerto Rican politicians