Angel Viera Martínez

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Attorney Angel Viera Martínez was a prominent pro-statehood public servant in Puerto Rico during the second half of the 20th century.

He began his public service as a prosecutor. In 1968 he ran as a candidate for state representative under the banner of the New Progressive Party, which he helped found the year before. In January, 1969, he became Speaker of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, collaborating closely with pro-statehood Governor Luis A. Ferré, while the Puerto Rico Senate, presided by Rafael Hernández Colón, remained under the control of the opposition Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico. When Hernández Colón and his party swept the 1972 elections, in 1973 Viera Martínez became House Minority Leader until he once again became Speaker in 1977.

After the 1980 elections, neither of the two major parties initially controlled a majority of the seats in the House, forcing outgoing House Secretary Cristino Bernazard to remain as acting Speaker for three months. Viera Martínez agreed with PDP representative Severo Colberg to a power-sharing arrangement. As a result, Viera Martínez once again served as Speaker from April to December, 1981, after which Colberg served as Speaker for the remainder of the term. In 1982, Viera Martínez once again became the House Minority Leader. In 1983, he joined San Juan Mayor Hernán Padilla in bolting the NPP and founding the Puerto Rico Renewal Party, serving as its unsuccessful candidate for Resident Commissioner in the 1984 general elections, ending his elective career.

The House cloakroom was named after him before his death in 2006, when he was honored by Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, House Speaker José Aponte and Senate President Kenneth McClintock with a state funeral.

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