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<h1 id="reader-title">21st Century Colony: US Picks Businessmen
to Rule Puerto Rico</h1>
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<p>August 31, 2016<br>
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<p>The U.S. government on Thursday revealed the members of
a federal board that will oversee the financial
restructuring of Puerto Rico's debt, which is mostly
composed of white businessmen who have a financial
interest in pleasing the private sector rathern than the
Puerto Rican people. </p>
<p>Among the seven board members, six are men, four were
selected by Republicans in Congress, and five worked for
financial institutions in both the private and public
sector: </p>
<p>The members of the new board that will rule Puerto Rico
are: </p>
<p>- Andrew Biggs, a resident scholar at the American
Enterprise Institute with expertise in pensions and
entitlements; </p>
<p>- Jose Carrion III, president of a company that in 2012
bought an insurance broker in San Juan; </p>
<p>- Carlos Garcia, a past president of Puerto Rico’s
Government Development Bank, just like José Ramón
González; </p>
<p>- David Skeel, a bankruptcy law professor; </p>
<p>- Arthur Gonzalez, a retired judge, and former chief
judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern
District of New York, who presided over major corporate
bankruptcies; </p>
<p>- and the only female member, Ana Matosantos, a former
director of the California Department of Finance. </p>
<p>The idea of a Republican-imposed fiscal control board,
known colloquially as La Junta in Puerto Rico, is
largely reviled on the island. </p>
<p>Opponents argue it will be oblivious to the social
needs of Puerto Rico and impose harsh austerity
measures, including severe cuts in public services and
pension funds. </p>
<p>The Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic
Stability Act, also known as the <a target="_blank"
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/US-House-Set-to-Vote-on-Colonial-Puerto-Rico-Debt-Crisis-Bill-20160609-0010.html">PROMESA
Bill</a>, was passed in Congress one day before Puerto
Rico’s July 1 debt payment deadline. </p>
<p>PROMESA proposed to hand control of Puerto Rico’s
economy, including <a target="_blank"
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/US-Supreme-Court-Wont-Let-Puerto-Rico-Restructure-70B-Debt-20160613-0024.html">debt
restructuring</a>, over to a Washington-appointed
federal oversight board. </p>
<p>Protestors set up a <a target="_blank"
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Ongoing-Puerto-Rico-Protest-Camp-Blasts-Colonial-PROMESA-Bill-20160712-0016.html">longstanding
camp</a> outside of the U.S. district court house in
Hato Rey, chanting “No to the board and no to the debt.”
</p>
<p>“PROMESA is undemocratic and will ensure payments are
made on 'illegitimate' public debt while redirecting
funds away from basic services such as health care,
education and public transport,” Shelimar Velazquez, a
spokesperson for the protesters, said at a press
conference.
</p>
<p><a target="_blank"
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/5-Leftists-Speak-out-Against-Colonial-Puerto-Rico-Debt-Bill-20160630-0008.html">U.S.
Senator Bernie Sanders called</a> the PROMESA bill
“both a political and economic disaster for the people
of Puerto Rico” that “takes away their democratic rights
and self-governance and will impose harsh austerity
measures, which will make the poorest people in Puerto
Rico even poorer.” </p>
<p>The bill has already compelled Puerto Rico's government
to lower the minimum wage down to just US$4.25 per hour
for workers under 25 years old. About 45 percent of
Puerto Ricans live in poverty and 60 percent of adults
are unemployed. </p>
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