Luis Gautier

[5] In 1887, he was one of 10 delegates from Ponce to the Island-wide political assembly held at Teatro La Perla, and which resulted in the founding of the Partido Autonomista Puertorriqueño.

[7] Puerto Rico had received from Spain a Charter of Autonomy on 25 November 1897, just 2 weeks before Gautier Quesada took office.

[9] Gautier was the sitting mayor of Ponce when Spain declared war on the United States, and municipal government cash flow immediately became a concern.

Also, while the war carried on, Gautier Quesada also made sure there was enough of a supply of groceries and other basic necessities in the stores to help feed the residents of Ponce.

Under the threat of an American incursion into Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico had been in a state of war since 27 March 1898), Gautier Quesada also dealt with the depletion of the existing reserves of coal for lighting the city streets.