While this triggered the longest blackout in modern history, the real disaster hit when the local and federal governments, through ill preparation and outright neglect, failed the people of Puerto Rico.
PUERTO RICO’S DEBT NEEDS TO BE CANCELLED, RESERVE FUNDS USED TO HELP EARTHQUAKE/HURRICANE VICTIMS, NOT WALL STREET
Jan. 23, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Power 4 Puerto Rico Coalition reiterated its call for Puerto Rico’s debt to be discharged, and for billions in reserve funds meant to pay down the island’s debt to instead be used to rebuild homes and provide shelter for tens of thousands of earthquake and hurricane victims whose homes and communities were destroyed by a series of natural disasters starting in 2017. The diaspora based coalition also called on the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB or the “Junta”) imposed by Congress on the island to authorize the use of billions of dollars it forced the Commonwealth to set aside to pay down Puerto Rico’s public debts to help the victims of Hurricanes Irma and Maria and the recent earthquakes that have rocked the island.
