Protests Erupt in San Juan as Obama Forms Unelected Control Board to Run Puerto Rico

[TexasTowelie]

President Obama has appointed seven members to a federal control board that will run the finances of Puerto Rico’s nearly bankrupt government for at least the next five years and restructure nearly $70 billion in debt. The board is made up of three Democrats and four Republicans who will not only approve any budgets created by the island’s politicians, but also attempt to negotiate with the island’s nearly 20 creditors. On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters in Puerto Rico blocked a street in front of a hotel where bankers and business executives were gathering for a conference hosted by the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce. Meanwhile, a new report from the ReFund America Project has revealed firms like UBS, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Barclays Capital have collected $1.6 billion in underwriting fees from Puerto Rico since 2000 just for refinancing bonds to pay interest and fees on older bonds.

TRANSCRIPT
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JUAN GONZÁLEZ: President Obama has appointed seven members to a federal control board that will run the finances of Puerto Rico’s nearly bankrupt government for at least the next five years and restructure nearly $70 billion in debt. The board is made up of three Democrats and four Republicans, who will not only approve any budgets created by the island’s politicians, but also attempt to negotiate with the island’s many creditors.

On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters in Puerto Rico blocked the street in front of a hotel where bankers and business executives were gathering for a conference hosted by the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce on the new PROMESA bill, as it’s called, the congressional legislation that was passed two months ago. Democracy Now! correspondent Juan Carlos Dávila was there in San Juan.

JUAN CARLOS DÁVILA: The black-and-white flag of Puerto Rico has become a symbol of resistance, resistance against U.S. colonialism. This flag has been adopted by the movement Se Acabaron Las Promesas, Promises Are Over, which called for a protest to shut down the first PROMESA conference on Wednesday morning.

Read more: http://www.democracynow.org/2016/9/1/protests_erupt_in_san_juan_as

[Egnever]

1. Interesting.

is this not a bail out plan?

[MADem]

2. Their best option, with Cuba coming online, is statehood.

If they "shake off their colonial past" and go it alone that island will empty out and Puerto Ricans will leave at even a faster pace than they are leaving already. Planes going "to" are empty, planes leaving are always full.

The police outnumbered the protesters at the Condado Hilton.

[DonViejo]

7. They voted for statehood in 2012....

the Republicans oppose statehood because they want an English-only law but, in reality, are opposed because statehood would add two Democratic Senators to the U.S. Senate and at least one Democratic Congress critter. One Presidential candidate (Santorum, in 2012) went so far as to tell Puerto Ricans he would support statehood only when PR is an English-only state.

Ironically, the GOP-aligned Partido Nuevo Progresista (New Progressive Party) is pro-statehood and the Democratic Party-aligned Partido Popular Democrático (Popular Democratic Party) is opposed to it. The Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño (Puerto Rican Independence Party) is fairly powerless, they received 7% of the total vote years ago, they haven't received more than 5% of the vote since

[Hortensis]

10. Useful summary, thanks. More responsible (sometimes) media

and independent analysts have not published on this yet. I'll be waiting for those.

People in PR have much reason for anxiety, but, let's face it, there is absolutely nothing in either reality or in fantasy that government could do that would not draw "hundreds of protesters."

[MADem]

14. The system appears designed to stagnate, and that is unfortunate.

I would like to see statehood because I have family there (selfish me), and I'm tired of seeing the island struggle--these feast/famine cycles are not good. And the police need to be reformed, that's unlikely to happen without this island being part of the fold.

Condado, where those demonstrations took place, is/was one of the "premiere" tourist areas in San Juan. You used to be able to wander around at three in the morning and not worry about a thing--there was a cop every fifty feet. Now, the area has some worrisome graffiti and even the street sweeping doesn't seem to happen very often. It's getting a little seedy....and that's not good.

People in PR speak better English than people on the mainland speak Spanish. Carving out an English-only exception in PR is shameful.

[grubbs]

3. Why protest now?

I think this has been in the works for ages. Of course with four out of seven being republicans it is only going to get worse. I would leave.

[DonViejo]

4. Huh? What "black and white flag of Puerto Rico" is Juan Carlos Davila talking about...

I lived in PR for over 6 years and have been going there for over ten years; never ever saw a "black and white flag of Puerto Rico" This is the flag of Puerto Rico:

The three red stripes represent the blood from the brave warriors. The two white stripes represent the victory and peace that they would have after gaining independence. The white star represented the island of Puerto Rico. The blue represents the sky and blue coastal waters.

[image][/image]

[TexasTowelie]

6. When PROMESA was passed

a symbolic flag signifying the death of Puerto Rico was displayed that replaced the red and blue with black instead.

Here is the thread that includes a picture of that flag:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028025700

[Jeffersons Ghost]

5. K&R how many other nations are on the brink of economic collapse?

total economic collapse tends to create a domino effect.

[FLPanhandle]

8. They default on $70 Billion and expect what?

Hint: Don't take on so much debt in the first place if you can't pay.

[Hortensis]

9. Kind of easy to say. How would YOU provide water,

power and everything else required to keep the people living in PR literally sustained without borrowing when tourism collapsed, the manufacturing sector PR/US tried to establish failed? As it is, a very large part of the population has left.

[FLPanhandle]

11. In other words, it's a black hole for cash.

Unsustainable.

[Hortensis]

12. An attempt to establish industry that would make

PR self sustaining did fail. However, many counties, even states, on the mainland U.S. would have failed many times if it weren't for the transfer of wealth from prosperous states to struggling ones. We've had many population migrations on the mainland when successful infusions of funds came much too late or failed, and people were forced to leave their homes and move far away.

Interestingly, I've read of at least one investor who's considering "redeveloping" PR for the wealthy. Their infusions of their very considerable pocket change into real estate and luxury services would more than support handsome amenities and less-handsome for a low-income serving class. It's easy to imagine the day when a visit there would be way too expensive for us to consider. We travel cheap when we do.

Our DIL lived there for a few years and would love to move back, such as in retirement, and I told her this depression would be the time to buy a piece of land if she thought she might ever get serious about that. Taxes alone would have been a reason, but of course ridiculously low tax rates are a real piece of the PR crisis, and those can be expected to change at some point.

[FLPanhandle]

13. Heck, I'm retiring in 5 or 6 years.

Maybe it's worth looking into property there.

[MADem]

15. Right now, stick to gated communities--and even at that, they're not immune to robbery

if the gate guard is lazy. One of the "two tier" (Guard at a main gate, then another one at a secondary gate into a specific neighborhood) communities is your best bet. There are bargains to be had, but time will tell.

Alternatively, you could head out into the country--it's still pretty peaceful away from the city.