Washington DC – Over the past year, the Biden Administration has taken important and needed steps to alleviate the situation of Puerto Ricans—from condoning $300 million in Community Disaster Loans (CDL) made to Puerto Rico municipalities, to pushing for parity in Medicaid funding, lifting punitive and political Trump-era restrictions on federal aid, and making disaster assistance available for the earthquake that hit in 2020. We applaud the swift action on these and other unfair burdens.
At the same time, we must also note that President Biden has failed to act on commitments that he explicitly made, especially on pressing issues where the Puerto Rican people, from the Island to the Diaspora, have been abundantly clear about the need for action: abolishing the unelected fiscal Junta and decolonizing the island. While on the campaign trail, President Biden promised to support a fair and inclusive self-determination process, yet his White House Task Force on Puerto Rico is excluding this from its scope of work. The President stated that he would reverse the austerity measures imposed by the unelected Junta, aka the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB), and bring transparency to an unaudited debt. Yet nothing has happened on this campaign promise. Additionally, the Biden Administration continues to uphold that the U.S. Supreme Court has the authority to deny Puerto Rico residents Supplemental Security Income (SSI). This, as it also continues to embrace what is essentially a $1.5 billion annual tax —to the benefit of a corporate duopoly— on the backs of Puerto Ricans via the Jones Act (Merchant Marine Act).
The injustices Puerto Ricans have been pushing to the front —from the harmful policies the colonial board is imposing on generations of Puerto Ricans, to the delay and denial of fair, transparent and inclusive self-determination— cannot remain the status quo. As President Biden remarks on democratic and human rights values, he should reflect on how the United States contradicts those values in its continued subjugation of Caribbean and Pacific Island peoples. The time to rectify this is now.
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