Governor Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon has announced a day of mourning for Puerto Rico’s loss of “an illustrious man” — Sen. Eudaldo Báez Galib. The specific date has not yet been fixed. “I deeply regret the passing of Eudaldo Báez Galib, a former senator who dedicated decades of his life to public service and to the debate surrounding issues in Puerto Rico,” the governor said in a press release. The senator died on October 29, 2026, at the age of 87.
Rep. Pablo José Hernández Rivera, Puerto Rico’s resident commissioner in Washington and president of the political party to which Báez Galib belonged, posted, “I mourn the passing of Eudaldo Báez Galib…I extend my deepest condolences to his entire family, including his son, former Representative José Báez — who has contributed to our party’s renewal as a presidential delegate in San Juan. May he rest in peace.”
Former Gov. Alejandro García Padilla said in a written statement, “With his passing, Eudaldo Báez Galib invites us to reflect on the kind of politician this country needs. He was a prime example that not all politicians are the same. He was decent, intelligent, capable, gentlemanly, and serious — the type of person who persuades others without shouting, and certainly without any need to resort to insults. He was a good person.”
Eudaldo Báez Galib
Senator Eudaldo Báez Galib was a lawyer, political leader, and a four-term senator affiliated for the Popular Democratic Party, the “commonwealth” party. He served four consecutive terms as an at-large senator, from 1993 through 2008, and also held two important party positions: electoral commissioner and secretary general. He also chaired the Senate’s Judiciary and Ethics committees.
Early life and education
Báez Galib was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, in 1939. His parents were Rosita Galib and attorney Eudaldo Báez García, who represented Mayagüez in Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics at the University of Puerto Rico and graduated from its law school in 1965. He practiced law privately from 1965 to 1985. Within the Puerto Rico Bar Association, he chaired the Mayagüez delegation on several occasions, served on the governing board, and headed its Civil Rights Commission.
Position on Puerto Rico’s political status
As a member of the “commonwealth” party, the senator was committed to an enhancement of the current territorial status for Puerto Rico. “People don’t analyze the formulas,” he said of the status debate. “They’re emotionally attached.”
However, he also, according to former Governor Rafael Hernandez Colon, presented “a resolution [which] would notify the president of the United States that he has a five-year deadline to obtain from Congress a bill that would fully develop Commonwealth status or, if he should fail to do so, the members of the Popular Democratic Party would be free to support other status alternatives beside Commonwealth.”
