by Luis Alejandro Molina
The Puerto Rican and activist communities mourn the loss of Ramón Figueroa Sorrentini, a steadfast independence activist, retired educator, and lifelong champion for the island municipality of Vieques. Alongside his partner, Irmgard Iglesias, Figueroa Sorrentini dedicated decades of his life to grassroots advocacy, community empowerment, and the preservation of Puerto Rican heritage.
As a co-founder of the Comité de Trabajo y Apoyo a Vieques and the beloved Festival Reyes Magos de Vieques (Three Kings Festival), he helped sustain a profound cultural tradition for nearly thirty years.Comité de Trabajo y Apoyo a Vieques – Festival Reyes Magos de Vieques. What began as a labor of love evolved into an essential institution that brought holiday joy, educational resources, and hundreds of gifts to generations of Vieques schoolchildren, while fiercely guarding local dignity against historical military abuses and neglect.
His legacy lives on in every wooden-horse procession, every scholarship awarded to local youth, and his unbroken spirit of solidarity.
Nuestro más sentido pésame.
This short mini-documentary, part of the Hispanic Information Telecommunications Network’s (HITN) Puerto Rican Heritage series, highlights the decades of community work and cultural preservation by Ramón Figueroa Sorrentini and Irmgard Iglesias in Vieques.
