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WORLD NEWS A11
                                                                                                                  Thursday 9 March 2017

Board: Puerto Rico needs to take emergency action 

DANICA COTO                     services contracts by 50       Governor Ricardo Rossello speaks in San Juan, Puerto Rico. A federal control board warned on
Associated Press                percent and cut health         Wednesday that Puerto Rico’s government needs to take “major emergency actions” to avoid
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)      care costs by negotiating      shutting down because its cash flow is critically low.
— A federal control board       drug prices and reducing
warned on Wednesday             the rates of health plans                                                                                                                (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)
that Puerto Rico’s govern-      and providers.
ment needs to take “ma-         The board also urged Puer-     keeps ticking.”               such as cutting govern-        get “without the need to
jor emergency actions” to       to Rico’s Fiscal Agency and    Gov. Ricardo Rossello sub-    ment payroll by 30 percent     reduce the workweek and
avoid shutting down be-         Financial Advisory Adminis-    mitted a revised fiscal plan  and slashing the public        take more drastic mea-
cause its cash flow is criti-   tration to take immediate      last week that contains       pension system by 10 per-      sures.”
cally low.                      control of all the govern-     several medium- and long-     cent.                          “I trust the board will give it-
The comments published          ment’s accounts, revenues      term measures to cut costs    Rossello said in a state-      self time ... and analyze the
in a letter to Gov. Ricardo     and expenses. The public       and generate revenue. The     ment that the government       measures and data that
Rossello are the sharpest       corporation was created        plan lacks austerity mea-     already has taken several      it has been provided,” he
yet made by a board that        last year and has fiscal and   sures the board is seeking,   steps to balance the bud-      said. q
recently began overseeing       administrative autonomy.
the U.S. territory’s finances.  The letter sparked concern
The board released an au-       among Puerto Ricans and
dited financial statement       riled government officials,
that found this year’s gov-     including Public Affairs Sec-
ernment expenses could          retary Ramon Rosario.
be understated by $360          “This administration is not
million to $810 million. It     considering furloughs for
warned that Puerto Rico         its public employees in the
could face a $190 million       fiscal plan,” he told report-
cash deficit by July.           ers. “To the board: Do not
“Without major emergen-         shoot from the hip.”
cy actions, the Common-         The letter was released
wealth soon will be unable      on the same day that the
to pay essential services,      Spanish-language daily El
including pensions, edu-        Nuevo Dia published a col-
cation, health care and         umn by Carrion warning
public safety in a matter       that medium- and long-
of months,” wrote board         term measures will not be
chairman Jose Carrion.          sufficient.
The warning comes ahead         “Puerto Rico has run out
of a meeting on Monday          of money and time,” he
where the board is expect-      wrote. “This is only going
ed to approve a fiscal plan     to get worse as the clock
that many believe will be
amended to include aus-         Panama ex-dictator Noriega is critical after brain surgeries 
terity measures.
The board recommend-            JUAN ZAMORANO                  go back in that afternoon,    The tumor was detected in      Jan. 29 to prepare for the
ed in its letter that Puerto    Associated Press               his daughters and lawyer      the months after Noriega       procedure, which was orig-
Rico’s government take          PANAMA CITY (AP) — For-        said.                         returned to Panama in De-      inally scheduled for mid-
four key steps immediately.     mer Panamanian dictator        Noriega attorney Ezra An-     cember 2011 and was im-        February.
Among those is a furlough       Manuel Noriega was in criti-   gel said doctors succeed-     prisoned for corruption and    The former general ruled
for government workers,         cal condition and sedated      ed in stopping the bleed-     the killings of political op-  Panama with an iron fist in
teachers and other pub-         in a hospital’s intensive      ing during the second pro-    ponents during his reign in    1983-89.
lic employees to save as        care unit Wednesday after      cedure, and Noriega was       the 1980s.                     He was ousted by a U.S. in-
much as $40 million. The        undergoing two brain sur-      returned to intensive care.   Doctors have said it grew      vasion in 1989 and jailed for
furlough for government         geries.                        “His condition has not im-    unexpectedly recently and      years in the United States
workers would be four           Noriega, 83, underwent         proved, nor has it wors-      threatened the life of the     on drug charges.
days a month while those        the first procedure Tuesday    ened,” Angel said Wednes-     former dictator, who has       He was then imprisoned in
for teachers would be two       morning to remove a be-        day.                          also suffered from vascular    France for money launder-
days a month. The board         nign tumor from his brain.     Officials at the Santo Tomas  ailments and uses a wheel-     ing, before being returned
also advised the govern-        But after that surgery, doc-   public hospital in Panama     chair.                         in 2011 to Panama, where
ment to slash professional      tors discovered a hemor-       City did not comment or       Noriega was transferred        he had already been con-
                                rhage that forced them to      return calls.                 from prison to house arrest    victed in absentia.q
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