The year was 1992, and a little-known insurgent candidate, Nydia Velázquez, had just slayed a giant.

“This is a dream come true for a hivara from el barrio Limones de Yabucoa,” Velázquez said at the time.

Velázquez defeated a nine-term incumbent in a newly drawn majority-Hispanic district to become the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress.

“She never took on weak people. She took on the powerful. That’s what she’s done her whole life — opening up doors,” NY1 political commentator Gerson Borrero said.

Borrero has closely watched Velázquez’s career, and says the congresswoman always stayed true to her roots, supporting immigrants and workers.

Velázquez was the first Latina to chair the Small Business Committee. She used that position to elevate women-owned businesses through a c

See Full Page