“We are living in alarming times,” warned Luis José Torres Asencio, referring to a growing trend among government officials to replace spaces for accountability with controlled messaging and propaganda.
The attorney made these remarks during his keynote, “What’s Public Is Ours: Four Decades of the Right to Know in Puerto Rico,” organized by the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI) as part of Journalism Week.
Torres Asencio denounced the dwindling opportunities for the public to question those in power, and the increasing practice of public officials ignoring journalists who hold them accountable.
“Today more than ever, access to high-quality, reliable information is essential — not just to fight government secrecy, but to resist efforts to reduce this right to a mere extension of public relations,” he said, noting that officials now prefer to disseminate only favorable information through social media and digital platforms.
He stressed that defending the right to information is especially crucial in privatization processes that involve matters of high public interest, such as energy generation and environmental permitting.
Torres Asencio is an attorney, academic, and social justice advocate in Puerto Rico. He heads the Access to Information Project at the Legal Clinic of the Inter American University School of Law. His work has been influential in the areas of constitutional and environmental law, government transparency, and public access to information.
During the event — organized by CPI’s Institute for Journalistic Training and held Tuesday, August 5, at the Inter American University’s School of Law Theater — he offered a sweeping historical overview and analysis of the advances, setbacks, and threats to the right to public information in Puerto Rico.
Access to information, he emphasized, is a vital tool not only for journalism, but for citizens to expose injustice, demand accountability, and strengthen democratic processes. Although the legal framework surrounding this right has expanded over the years, Torres Asencio argued that actual, effective access to public records has deteriorated due to government actions.
You can watch the full keynote address here:
Legal Reforms vs. Practical Barriers
Torres Asencio warned that legal progress does not always result in real-world access. Since the enactment of Act 141 of 2019, signed by then-Governor Ricardo Rosselló Nevares during his final days in office, the process of requesting public information has become more bureaucratic and opaque, he said.
According to data from the Access to Information Project at the Inter American University’s Legal Assistance Clinic, only one-third of requests for information receive a formal response —such as a basic acknowledgment— compared to 47.6% before the law took effect.
Response times have worsened: before Act 141, agencies took an average of 26 days to respond; now it’s nearly 40 days.
More agencies now hire outside attorneys to litigate these cases, making the process more expensive and limiting access.
Previously, two-thirds of government lawyers handling such cases were staff attorneys from the Department of Justice or the agencies concerned. Now, half of the cases taken on by the Access to Information Project face external legal representation.
These developments, he said, validate the objections raised when the law was introduced. At the time, many civil society groups and transparency experts warned that the measure would create new barriers to the timely and full release of government-held information.
Torres Asencio credited the then law student Efrén Rivera Ramos for his influential 1975 essay, “Freedom of Information: The Need for Its Regulation in Puerto Rico.” He called the essay —still the most-cited student article by Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court— a foundational pillar in the ongoing fight for transparency and the right to be informed.
Photo by Brandon Cruz González | Centro de Periodismo Investigativo
The conversation with the audience, moderated by CPI Executive Director Carla Minet, underscored both the urgency of the issue and the public’s deep interest. Attendees raised questions about the rights that apply under Puerto Rico’s Fiscal Control Board, legal loopholes regarding private entities performing public functions, and the lack of consequences for officials who fail to disclose information properly or on time.
Cynthia Burgos López, executive director of nonprofit La Maraña, expressed appreciation for the conference’s relevance to their participatory planning work with communities.
“I didn’t know I didn’t have to tell an agency why I’m requesting information. That’s really important to me,” she said.
With Torres Asencio’s support, her organization has filed information requests that prompted changes in agencies such as the Integrated Transportation Authority (ATI in Spanish). She stressed the importance of forums like this one to ensure that “legal tools become everyday tools.”
Cerro Maravilla and a Constitutional Right
Torres Asencio highlighted the Cerro Maravilla case, in which the Puerto Rican government attempted to cover up the 1978 murder of two young independence activists by the police, as a turning point in the fight for the right to know.
That case, he explained, led to the recognition of the right to access information as a constitutional right, thanks to a combination of journalistic investigations, legal action, brave witnesses, and sustained public pressure.
The government’s refusal to release key documents — citing a law passed just 12 days before the killings that declared all materials held by the Bureau of Special Investigations confidential — showed how secrecy can be used to shield abuses of power. That law was the main reason authorities withheld autopsy protocols, photos, and witness statements.
In Soto v. Secretary of Justice, the court ruled that absolute confidentiality must be subject to strict scrutiny, and that when requested information could reveal potential government abuses, the public’s right to know outweighs the state’s interest in concealing it.
Torres Asencio concluded with a powerful call to action: “Rights must be used.” He reaffirmed that the Access to Information Clinic remains open to organizations and individuals seeking legal support in exercising this fundamental right.
He invited the public to reflect on what might have happened if information had not been accessible during crucial moments in Puerto Rico’s history — such as the Cerro Maravilla case or the aftermath of Hurricane María.
“Access to information, more than an end in itself, is a vehicle to prevent grave injustices, uncover truths, and demand accountability,” he said.
This translation was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and clarity.
