Hispanic Federation Report 2015 on Puerto Rico Debt Crisis



 

 

http://www.hispanicfederation.org/images/pdf/hfprpolicy2015.pdf

Click on the above link to read the report.

 

Here is another example of Puerto Ricans who don’t want to talk about the root of our problem.  Our problem is Puerto Rico's 117 years of a colonial relationship with the United States government.

The only place you will see colonialism referred to in this report is on the first paragraph of page 8, “…and the complicated and opt unjust relationship between the U.S. and Puerto Rico, to name a few.”

The report’s recommendations do not address the reason why Puerto Rico has this crisis.  For example, this report does not:

1.      Acknowledge that the United Nations (UN) declared colonialism a crime against humanity in 1960, because it constitutes a threat to world peace.   

2.      Acknowledge that the United States government commits a crime under international law by maintaining Puerto Rico as its colony.

3.      Acknowledge the fact that the United States government has ignored 34 UN resolutions asking it to immediately decolonize Puerto Rico.

4.      Recommend as the only permanent solution to Puerto Rico’s massive exploitation by the US government since 1898, the immediate decolonization of Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico could never remain a colony of the United States under international law even if the 5 million Puerto Ricans living off our island, and the 3.5 million living in Puerto Rico wanted to.  So there is no reason for Puerto Ricans to ever discuss at this time what political options we prefer.  That discussion will have to wait until Puerto Rico becomes an independent nation.

The report’s recommendations are ridiculous.  Colonies are for exploitation, and that is exactly what the US government has done, and will continue to do!  We need to understand is that nations that have colonies do not believe in JUSTICE FOR ALL!

The Hispanic Federation should have recommended instead that all Puerto Ricans ought to protest permanently and continuously to force the United States government to immediately decolonize Puerto Rico.  That is the obvious solution to our eternal crisis!

What are we waiting for? 

The Report's Conclusion / Recommendations

Puerto Rico and its citizens are inextricably intertwined with the United States by history, emigration and economics. Puerto Ricans, both on the island and stateside, have fought valiantly in every war since World War I, and its citizens have contributed to this nation in innumerable ways.  Its diaspora – five million strong, still intimately connected to the island – are a visible presence in communities throughout the fifty States of the Union. Just as significantly, three out of every four municipal funds in the country hold Puerto Rico’s bonds.

Because of these intimate interconnections, what affects Puerto Rico affects the U.S.  The fact that Puerto Rico faces the worst economic crisis in more than a century should be of the highest concern to all Americans. If Puerto Rico is forced to enact even more draconian cuts to its budget, the island will almost certainly spiral into an even deeper crisis. Given the interpenetration of the Puerto Rican population and economy with the U.S., this will have incalculable repercussions on communities, towns and cities stateside.

The time to debate or assign blame is past, as is any hope that the U.S. could avoid economic fallout from this crisis. The real question is, do we have the will to act in order to ameliorate its very worst effects?

To do so, we urge the Administration and Congress to resist calls by hedge funds to force more cuts to social services.

We urge Congress to give Puerto Rico the ability to file for bankruptcy protection and to pass legislation rectifying economic inequities including the Jones Act and Mi Salud.  We urge the President to call for a full federal agency review of policies that are economically harmful to Puerto Rico, including health care reimbursement, and convene his Working Group on Financial Markets to develop an in-depth debt relief, repayment, and investment plan to stabilize the island’s economy. A focus on sustained growth and prosperity for the people of Puerto Rico must be at the core of this fiscal reform plan.

We urge the President and Congress to take strong, substantive and constructive action now to stabilize Puerto Rico and protect the current and future livelihood of millions of American citizens living on the island.