By Sophia Har
The Archbishop of San Juan, Puerto Rico, calls for Congress to grant the island bankruptcy protection. In the following op-ed from TIME Magazine, he applauds Jubilee USA for our debt relief efforts and calls for a global bankruptcy process.
Archbishop: Congress Should Allow Puerto Rico To Declare Bankruptcy
By Roberto González Nieves
Roberto González Nieves is the Catholic Archbishop of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
My people need a jubilee
Puerto Rico, the island where I serve as Archbishop of San Juan, is $72 billion in debt. That $72 billion represents about $20,000 of debt for every man, woman, and child on our island. Governor Alejandro García Padilla announced last month that the island cannot pay its debts, and that a solution is needed. Many bad scenarios now loom, including default.
The victims of this crisis are not any government—they are my people.
Puerto Rico’s debt comes from a combination of mismanagement, bad luck, and its unique colonial status as neither a sovereign country nor a U.S. state. In recent years, Puerto Rico’s debt has become a death spiral. Debt payments prevent the island from providing critical services to its people, so many Puerto Ricans who can afford a plane ticket leave the island for the U.S. mainland in search of a better life. Their absence means less tax revenue for a government that already struggles to collect taxes. Less revenue means more loans and more debt.
The consequences are tragic. About 80% of children in Puerto Rico live in high-poverty areas, compared to about 11% of children in the U.S. The island’s poverty rate is about 44%, and unemployment is almost 13%. Already the island is feeling the impact of austerity—last fall, the Department of Health cancelled emergency helicopter service due to lack of funds. Debt is bringing death and increased hardship to our people.
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