Organizations Press U.S. Dems to Fulfill Promises to Puerto Rico

Today marks the beginning of a new U.S. government, with President Joe Biden working alongside a Democrat-controlled Congress, and after vowing to include Puerto Rico’s welfare and recovery in their public policies, these elected officials must show that the island’s issues are top concerns for the new administration and not just mere promises to secure votes from Puerto Ricans living on the mainland.

Julio López, of the Center for Popular Democracy, believes that the impact of Puerto Rican voters on the stateside general elections showcase “ there are real consequences to not listening to the Puerto Rican community.” He is optimistic - albeit reserved - that strong voices in Congress with Puerto Rican roots, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY 14th District) and Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-Brooklyn) will push the Biden administration to fulfill its promises to the island.

“What we saw when [Biden] made his proposal around Puerto Rico [some] months ago, was that there was strong recognition about the demands that many community groups have with stuff like auditing the debt, the cancellation of the debt, fund parity on Medicaid. So, if anything, we can safely say that they are listening to the demands. The question is, are they going to do something? We’ll see,” he told THE WEEKLY JOURNAL.

Asked to elaborate on the local issues that should be attended from the mainland, López opined that the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (Promesa), which created the Financial Oversight and Management Board to scrutinize the island’s budget and oversee the bankruptcy process, has had a “dire impact” on the island’s residents and must be repealed.

Likewise, in an open letter to Biden penned last December by the Center for Democracy and a number of other progressive and Latino-oriented organizations, the groups argued that the law signed by then-President Obama has “not achieved its intended purpose of paving the way for long-term recovery and fiscal health” for Puerto Rico. They urged Biden to repeal Promesa, cancel the island’s debt and “order a comprehensive study of the distorting, opaque, and anti-democratic effects of hedge funds in the restructuring of Puerto Rico’s debt with the goal of designing and enacting policies to achieve long-term economic recovery for Puerto Rico and ensure the integrity of the municipal bond market and future public debt restructurings.”

They added that to ensure a “just recovery” for Puerto Rico, the U.S. government must release all disaster relief funding through the pertinent federal agencies; issue a permanent waiver that exempts Puerto Rico from the Jones Act; establish a victims’ compensation fund for residents of Vieques and Culebra affected by the U.S. Navy’s former presence in these island municipalities; and work with local governments to ensure the adequate distribution of federal funds, among others. A tall order, indeed.

Meanwhile, the Center for a New Economy (CNE) pressed the new administration through a Transition Memo to focus on providing Puerto Rico residents with equal access to federal programs, such as Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Earned Income Tax Credit and Supplemental Security Income.

“In Puerto Rico, the magnitude and depth of issues are even more daunting, and could instinctively move officials to tackle everything at once. However, in order to avoid some of the mistakes of the past, it is our recommendation that officials instead opt for a more targeted and strategic approach – one that provides Puerto Rico access to the federal safety net programs that benefit millions of Americans every year,” wrote Rosanna Torres, director of the CNE’s office in Washington, D.C.

Reshoring Takes Backseat

Meanwhile, López believes that the topic of reshoring biopharmaceuticals from foreign markets to Puerto Rico, which gained momentum in local and federal spheres during the past administration, would not be a priority for the White House and Congress. This, given the fact that it was former President Trump who popularized the idea by asserting “fire China, hire Puerto Rico,” then echoed by local politicians.

“The fact that the conversation was started by the Trump administration means that Democrats don’t take it as seriously… There is a real concern about bringing jobs back to Puerto Rico and there is a real understanding that Puerto Ricans have levels of skills that could be useful when it comes to bringing back those jobs and supporting the U.S… I don’t think that Democrats have been as vocal as the Trump administration on that versus other topics they have discussed,” he explained.