José Roberto Martínez Ramírez

José Roberto Martínez Ramírez was born on 28 May 1954 in Miramar, San Juan. He completed primary school in 1968 and secondary school in 1972 at Academia de Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro in Miramar, where he earned the lifelong nickname Billi. His entire university formation was at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut: a B.A. cum laude in political science (May 1976), an M.A. in political science (May 1981) and a J.D. from Yale Law School (June 1981). He continued in Yale's political science doctoral programme from 1981 to 1984.

From January 1985 to June 1989 Martínez served in Madrid as Puerto Rico's general delegate for Europe and permanent representative to European-based UN agencies (WHO, FAO, UNWTO) and related bodies, and as special envoy to the Holy See. From July 1989 to December 1992 he was executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration in Washington, D.C., also representing Puerto Rico before ECLAC and PAHO. He practised law in Washington from 1993 to 1997. Named to the Luis Muñoz Marín Foundation board in 1993, he was executive director from April 1997 to December 2012, expanding public access to the foundation's archives, home and free concerts. From 2013 he practised privately in Puerto Rico. He sat on boards of Casa de España, Pro Arte Musical (treasurer) and the Felisa Rincón de Gautier Foundation, and was a close adviser and editorial collaborator to former Governor Rafael Hernández Colón on Vientos de Cambio.

Martínez was married to Setaré Milantchi, a professor of languages born in Iran who earned degrees at Oberlin College and pursued graduate study at Yale. They were active supporters of young musicians. Their three children, María de las Mercedes, José Darío and José Ciro, studied at Yale and worked as authors and translators in several languages, including Persian. He was also survived by siblings and grandchildren Sebastián Alí and Leila Cecilia. Neighbours and colleagues recalled his attentiveness to older friends and his constant presence at San Juan concerts.

José Roberto Martínez Ramírez died on 23 September 2026 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, at the age of 72. Family and organizations including the Fundación Rafael Hernández Colón and the Popular Democratic Party invited the public to a celebration of his life at 6:00 p.m. on 2 October 2026 at Parroquia Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro in Miramar. Tributes described him as a defender of Puerto Rico's historical heritage and a promoter of music and the arts. No detailed medical cause of death was published in the notices available at the time of writing.

Martínez is remembered for bridging government, diplomacy and culture: as Puerto Rico's face in Madrid and Washington, as long-time director of the Luis Muñoz Marín Foundation, and as a board leader at Pro Arte Musical and related institutions. The foundation's work digitizing documents, opening Muñoz Marín's home and staging free concerts continues under that imprint. Colleagues praised his intellectual curiosity, humility and insistence that material progress be matched by justice, art and civic purpose.