Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer González Colón officially declared Wednesday, November 4, as a day of mourning for the death of former Senator Eudaldo Báez Galib. Under the declaration, flags will fly at half-staff at all government offices on Wednesday in recognition of the former legislator’s career and years of public service to Puerto Rico. The official mourning will coincide with the day of his burial, which the governor’s office described as a show of respect and solidarity with his family and loved ones.
On Monday, González Colón joined Báez Galib’s widow and relatives at a mass held in his memory. Báez Galib died Thursday at age 87. A former senator for the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), he served in the legislature from 1993 to 2009.
Before that, he was the PPD’s electoral commissioner in the 1980s, during the presidency of former Governor Rafael Hernández Colón. He was known for his deep, analytical thinking and, unlike many politicians, routinely financed his own political campaigns out of his own pocket.