Protests over Puerto Rico’s economic crisis, held earlier this month on Park Ave. (Photo by Gerardo Romo via El Diario)
The Puerto Rican Diaspora is asking for support from President Barack Obama and Congress in view of the island’s critical economic situation. A multi-city demonstration was held July 28 in New York, Orlando and Washington, D.C., in which a group of politicians joined a petition for an investment plan for Puerto Rico.
Their demands include an amendment of the Jones Act (that makes imports to Puerto Rico more expensive) and, most importantly, the inclusion of all municipalities and public agencies in the bankruptcy law that the rest of U.S. cities are allowed to invoke.
The event included a warning that the inaction of U.S. politicians will have an effect on the 2016 election. “Do not let Obama forget how the Latino community helped him get to the White House,” said Marcos Crespo, a Puerto Rican state assembly member. “We need and deserve attention and federal action.”
Shirley Aldebol, vice president of 32BJ, the service employees’ union, said yesterday that New York unions will organize “Puerto Ricans in Florida to vote in the next election, as well as workers and the Latino community.” A large number of Puerto Ricans who have left the island have settled there. Because Florida is a swing state, their vote is crucial.
Puerto Rico, which has endured a deep recession for years, has a debt of more than $72 billion. The island’s governor, Alejandro García-Padilla, recently said that the debt is “unpayable.” Island authorities said July 27 that they would have trouble making a payment due on Aug. 1.
A group of 34 hedge funds to whom the island owes money hired former International Monetary Fund (IMF) economists to write a report on the situation. The report recommended the government raise taxes, sell public infrastructure and reduce public expenditures even further ‒ especially in the area of education ‒ in order to be able to meet their payments.
City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who is Puerto Rican, borrowed the adjective used in Argentina to name these funds, calling them “vulture” funds. From the steps of City Hall, she said: “Austerity is not the solution. The solution to this crisis cannot be at the expense of the working class and the most vulnerable.” She added that the hedge funds are actively lobbying the government not to get involved, and she demanded that the Obama administration and Congress take action.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said: “We see our brothers and sisters in trouble, and it’s our job to speak out and not leave them to fend for themselves … It’s the federal government’s obligation to act.” De Blasio advocated for Puerto Rico being able to use Chapter 9 bankruptcy law as municipalities and public aare allowed to, essential for being able to negotiate debt relief. Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories are not included in this law, an omission that has no legal explanation and which has allowed cities such as Detroit to renegotiate their debt with their creditors.
“If we don’t do it, Puerto Rico simply can’t get back on its feet,” said de Blasio. Public Advocate Letitia James and Comptroller Scott Stringer agreed in rejecting austerity as a recovery formula for the island. State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie also asked for help to restructure Puerto Rico’s debt. “The 3.5 million U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico need help desperately and we cannot leave them alone,” said Heastie.
(…)
“This cannot be ignored any longer. We are sending a clear message: Puerto Ricans [in the U.S.] will not forget who heeded this call to action,” said Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D – NY).
Her colleague, Rep. José Serrano (D – NY), said that the crisis will not affect Wall Street but that it has provoked a massive exodus from the island. He added that there are nearly a million Puerto Ricans living in Florida alone, whose vote will be decisive in 2016.
(…)
Luis Garden Acosta, director of community organization El Puente, said that the difference between the crises in Greece and Puerto Rico is that the Europeans are talking about it and are trying to solve it.
At the event held in New York, it was repeatedly mentioned that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens and that they deserve the same respect as the rest. “If Donald Trump, who is not as good a businessman as he says he is, had a right to go bankrupt, why can’t Puerto Rico do so too?”