Roberto Sanchez Vilella

Roberto Sanchez Vilella (1913-1998) was a native of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico who was Puerto Rico's second democratically elected governor. He was a member of the PPD (Partido Popular Democratico, or Popular Democratic Party), which elected him to represent that party for the 1964 elections, after Luis Munoz Marin decided to step down as Governor. Sanchez Vilella won, taking office in 1965 and remaning there until 1969.

Vilella, who was also a renowned architecht, had ocuppied the position of mayor of San Juan before becoming Governor. He and Munoz Marin were close collaborators, and he gained Munoz Marin's trust.

During his period as Governor, Sanchez Vilella was known for trying to change his party's facial make up, pushing for younger blood to come up in the party's organization. It could be argued that Vilella might have been influenced by the youth movement that the island was experiencing country wide during the 1960s, a period where many social areas in Puerto Rico, including television, music and sports, were being introduced to fresh, younger personalities. Because of his revitalization ideas, he was not allowed by his party to run again for governor in '68, and many members of the party left, to form the shortly lived Partido Del Pueblo (The Public's Party), which lost in the election, but caused a considerable percentage of PPD voters to vote for them, indirectly helping Luis A. Ferre and his PNP party to win the elections that year.

After leaving La Fortaleza[?], Sanchez Vilella lived a relatively quiet life, util his death in 1998.