On Tuesday, May 9, Radio Amateurs in Puerto Rico will celebrate Puerto Rico Amateur Radio Operator Day (Dia del Radioaficionado), observed each year on the second Tuesday in May. This year marks the celebration's 20th anniversary.

The Amateur Radio Operator Day proclamation (en Español), signed by Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello Nevares and Secretary of State Luis Marin Rivera, recognizes Amateur Radio’s public service contributions; Puerto Rico’s status as an ARRL Section, home to more than 4,000 radio amateurs and nine ARRL-affiliated clubs, and the 5th ARRL Puerto Rico State Convention.

“This commemoration provides the opportunity to exalt the valuable Amateur Radio service in Puerto Rico and their contribution to the development and evolution of this important communication medium in our society,” the proclamation asserts.

It makes special mention of Joaquin Agusty Ramirez y Arellano, 4JE a broadcasting pioneer (WKAQ) and radio amateur, who, with Jesus T. Pinero, 4KT, co-founded the Porto Rico Radio Club in 1922. Pinero later would become Puerto Rico’s first governor in 1948.

To mark the occasion, the ARRL-affiliated Federacion de Radio Aficionados de Puerto Rico will activate KP4FRA on its repeater system and offer an electronic certificate; a special net will convene at 0000 UTC. The Combete Contest Club will do the same via the Movimiento Radioaficionados de Puerto Rico repeater system.