José Aníbal Díaz
{{Short description|Puerto Rican politician (1971–2023)}}
{{family name hatnote|Díaz|Collazo|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = José Aníbal Díaz
| image =
| smallimage =
| order = Member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives from the 29th District
| term_start = November 16, 2015
| term_end = April 24, 2023
| predecessor = Carlos Vargas Ferrer
| successor = Gretchen Hau
| order2 =
| office2 =
| term_start2 =
| term_end2 =
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1971|02|16}}
| birth_place = Cayey, Puerto Rico
| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|04|24|1971|02|16}}
| death_place = San Juan, Puerto Rico
| alma_mater = Instituto Tecnológico de Puerto Rico (AS)
| profession =
| party = Popular Democratic Party (PPD)
|spouse = Migdalia Santiago
|children = Aleysha
José Aníbal
}}
José Aníbal Díaz Collazo (February 16, 1971 – April 24, 2023) was a Puerto Rican politician affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). He was elected to replace Carlos Vargas Ferrer in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives in 2015 after Vargas' death. Díaz represented District 29 until his death in April 2023.{{cite news|url=http://www.noticel.com/noticia/183317/juramenta-hoy-el-sucesor-de-carlos-vargas.html|title=Juramenta hoy el sucesor de Carlos Vargas|newspaper=NotiCel|date=November 16, 2015|accessdate=November 16, 2015}}
Biography
Díaz Collazo grew up in the Jajóme Bajo sector of Cayey. His father is Aníbal Díaz Ofray. Díaz has an associate degree in electrical engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico de Puerto Rico.
In the 1990s, Díaz started working as a housing inspector for the city of Cayey. After that, he worked as Director of Public Works for Cayey.{{cite news|url=http://www.pressreader.com/puerto-rico/el-nuevo-dia/20151110/281732678370229/TextView|title=Se prepara para llenar escaño de Vargas Ferrer|newspaper=El Nuevo Día|author=Rivera, Aurora|date=November 10, 2015|accessdate=November 16, 2015}}
On October 15, 2015, Díaz announced his intention to represent District 29 (which includes Cidra and Cayey) in the House of Representatives at the upcoming general elections. In his speech, he emphasized his service to his hometown of Cayey for the past 20 years.{{cite news|url=http://www.lacordillera.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8590:nuevo-representante-en-el-ppd&catid=42:noticias&Itemid=109|title=Nuevo representante en el PPD|publisher=La Cordillera|date=October 21, 2015|accessdate=November 18, 2015}}
After the death of representative Carlos Vargas Ferrer, Díaz was selected to replace him in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives by the delegates of the Popular Democratic Party. His selection was unanimous, and was later ratified by the Governing Board of the Party.{{cite news|url=http://elvocero.com/ayudante-del-alcalde-de-cayey-ocupara-vacante-de-vargas-ferrer/|title=Ayudante del alcalde de Cayey ocuparía vacante de Vargas Ferrer|publisher=El Vocero|author=Alvarez, Yennifer|date=November 8, 2015|accessdate=November 18, 2015}}{{cite news|url=http://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/politica/nota/ppdratificaaanibaldiazparallenarvacantedecarlosvargasferrer-2123706/|title=PPD ratifica a Aníbal Díaz para llenar vacante de Carlos Vargas Ferrer|newspaper=El Nuevo Día|author=Banuchi, Rebecca and Michelle Estrada|date=November 8, 2015|accessdate=November 18, 2015}} Díaz was sworn in on November 16, 2015.{{cite news|url=http://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/politica/nota/juramentasustitutodevargasferrer-2127339/|title=Juramenta sustituto de Vargas Ferrer|newspaper=El Nuevo Día|author=Banuchi, Rebecca|date=November 16, 2015|accessdate=November 18, 2015}}
Personal life and death
Díaz Collazo was married to Migdalia Santiago. He had two children, Aleysha and José Aníbal Díaz.
Díaz Collazo died from cancer in San Juan, Puerto Rico on April 23, 2023, at the age of 52.{{cite news |last1=Bauzá |first1=Nydia |title=Legisladores rendirán honores fúnebres el miércoles a José Aníbal Díaz en el Capitolio |url=https://www.primerahora.com/noticias/gobierno-politica/notas/legisladores-rendiran-honores-funebres-el-miercoles-a-jose-anibal-diaz-en-el-capitolio/ |access-date=25 April 2023 |publisher=Primera Hora |date=25 April 2023}}