The PROMESA Financial Oversight and Management Board was established nearly a decade ago. It is a group of unelected individuals with the power to overrule the territory’s elected representatives. They’ve been working to help Puerto Rico gain economic stability and access to credit. During the time the Board has existed, they’ve clashed with the territory’s leaders and stirred up strong feelings among the residents of Puerto Rico. They’ve also been able to help reduce the territory’s debt. Puerto Rico has a balanced budget this year, for the first time since 2016.
Recently, the White House fired most of the board, leaving it unable to do its job. A court order sent enough of the board members back to work to establish a quorum and allow the group to conduct business. But things are very much in the air.
“How did we get here?” asks George Laws Garcia. He explains that the Board was created as an emergency measure to help restructure the crippling debt Puerto Rico faced at the time. That debt has now been reduced significantly.
The remaining debt for PREPA is still in contention. The Board agreed to pay about $2 billion to the bondholders, but the bondholders wanted more than $8 billion — and the creditors believed they were owed more than $10 billion. Some members of Congress claimed that the firing of the Board was a precursor to stocking the Board with new members who would prioritize the creditors over the people of Puerto Rico.
The bigger picture
A Fiscal Oversight and Management Board like this could not be imposed on a state. It is colonial control over Puerto Rico, which is an unincorporated territory of the United States. The Board has accomplished some of its goals, but has also imposed austerity measures on the people of Puerto Rico and stood in the way of the decisions of elected representatives. While different people take different views of the success and value of the Board, it is clear that this is a colonial solution to the problems faced by Puerto Rico.
What’s more, the problems face by Puerto Rico are caused by the colonial relationship in the first place.
“Real economic prosperity requires resolving the Island’s unequal political status once and for all,” says Laws Garcia, “The time for territorial colonialism is over.” The voters of Puerto Rico have chosen statehood for the Island four times — that’s every referendum held during this century. Statehood has brought prosperity and order to every territory that has already become a state, and it can do the same for Puerto Rico. Tell your legislators that you want to see statehood for Puerto Rico now.
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