{{short description|Puerto Rican politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Mercedes Otero | image = | caption = | birth_date = April 16, 1938 | birth_place = Ciales, Puerto Rico | death_date = {{Death date and age|2012|06|20|1938|04|16}} | death_place = Hato Rey, Puerto Rico | spouse = Israel Ramos Perea | children = Pedro | alma_mater = University of Puerto Rico (B.Ed.)<br>University of Missouri (PhD) | profession = Politician | party = Popular Democratic Party (PPD) | other_party = Democratic Party | office1 = Member of the<br />Senate of Puerto Rico At-large District | term_start1 = January 2, 1993 | term_end1 = January 1, 2001 | succeeding1 = | office2 = Secretary of Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation | governor2 = Rafael Hernández Colón | term_start2 = 1985 | term_end2 = 1992 | preceded2 = | succeeded2 = | office3 = | term_start3 = | term_end3 = | office4 = | governor4 = | term4 = | preceded4 = | succeeded4 = | website = }}
'''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 from 1985 to 1992. After that, she served as a member of the Senate of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001.
==Studies and personal life==
Mercedes Otero received a Bachelor's degree in Secondary Education from the University of Puerto Rico. She also completed a Master's degree in Business Education, with a minor in Secretarial Science and Counseling, and a Doctorate in Sociology and Criminology, both from the University of Missouri.<ref name="gobelamenta">{{cite news|url=http://www.elnuevodia.com/gobernadorlamentamuertedemercedesotero-1283089.html|title=Gobernador lamenta la muerte de Mercedes Otero|work=El Nuevo Día|date=June 20, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623041432/http://www.elnuevodia.com/gobernadorlamentamuertedemercedesotero-1283089.html|archive-date=June 23, 2012}}</ref>
Otero was married to Israel Ramos Perea. They had a son together: Pedro.<ref name="resaltan" />
==Professional career==
Otero worked as a teacher in the public school system, in the Puerto Rican College of Girls, and in the University of Puerto Rico for more than 30 years.<ref name="gobelamenta" />
==Public service: 1985–1992==
In 1985, Otero was appointed by Governor Rafael Hernández Colón as Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. During her time leading the public agency, the inmates referred to her as "Mamá Meche".<ref name="gobelamenta" /> During her time, she implemented the first program to grant paroles to certain prisoners with constant electronic surveillance. She also wrote papers on women in the penitentiary system.<ref name="resaltan">{{cite news|url=http://www.elnuevodia.com/resaltanlalabordemercedesotero-1283293.html|title=Resaltan la labor de Mercedes Otero|work=El Nuevo Día|author=Hernández, Yanira|date=June 21, 2012}}</ref>
In 1992, Otero resigned when she considered that some of the signed agreements from a case couldn't be granted.<ref name="resaltan" />
==Political career: 1992–2001==
Otero was elected to the Senate of Puerto Rico in the 1992 general election as a Senator At-large.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://209.68.12.238/elecciones1992/escrutinio/at-large.php?cuerpo=S|title=Elecciones Generales 1992: Senadores por Acumulación|work=CEEPUR}}</ref> Otero was reelected at the 1996 general election.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://209.68.12.238/elecciones1996/escrutinio/mapas/legisladores.html|title=Elecciones Generales 1996: Senadores por Acumulación|work=CEEPUR}}</ref> Fellow senator Eduardo Bhatia described Otero as her "comrade in arms, mentor, and teacher."<ref name="resaltan" />
==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 and a myocardial infarction but recovered.
In March 2012, Otero was honored by the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, along with other female legislators, for her public service. Several months later, she was hospitalized with a swelling in the stomach.<ref name="grave">{{cite news|url=http://www.elnuevodia.com/gravelaexsenadoramercedesotero-1282649.html|title=Grave la ex-senadora Mercedes Otero|work=El Nuevo Día|author=Hernández, Yanira|date=June 19, 2012}}</ref> It was later revealed that her appendix had broken without her noticing, causing the swelling. Otero died on June 20, 2012, at the Hospital del Maestro in Hato Rey, a sector of San Juan.<ref name="fallece">{{cite news|url=http://www.elnuevodia.com/fallecemercedesotero-1283069.html|title=Fallece Mercedes Otero|work=El Nuevo Día|date=June 20, 2012}}</ref>
Otero's remains were exposed at Ehret Funeral Home in Río Piedras and cremated the next day after a religious service. Governor Luis Fortuño declared three days of mourning.<ref name="resaltan" />
==See also== * 21st Senate of Puerto Rico
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otero, Mercedes}} Category:1938 births Category:2012 deaths Category:Deaths from appendicitis Category:Members of the Senate of Puerto Rico Category:People from Ciales, Puerto Rico Category:Puerto Rican educators Category:Puerto Rican women educators Category:Puerto Rican Roman Catholics Category:University of Missouri alumni Category:University of Puerto Rico alumni Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico
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