Page 12 - AT

A12 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 11 February 2020
Puerto Rico's economy in limbo as governor rejects debt deal

By DANICA COTO tions that the board denied
Associated Press in a letter earlier on Sunday
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico before it announced the
(AP) — Puerto Rico's fragile debt deal. "Allegations
economy is facing an un- that the...board has over
certain future after the is- 50 pending requests includ-
land's governor rejected a ing for food, water and
settlement announced late portable toilets are untrue,"
Sunday with bondholders it said. "None of the ten re-
that would reduce the U.S. quests received were for
territory's public debt by portable toilets or water. All
70%. requests were processed
The settlement is the big- within hours of receipt."
gest one to date since the Many have criticized
island's government an- Vázquez's administration
nounced in 2015 that it was over its response to the 6.4
unable to pay its more than earthquake that killed one
$70 billion public debt load person on Jan. 7 as heavy
and filed for the largest U.S. aftershocks keep further
municipal bankruptcy in damaging buildings.
May 2017. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico
It's unclear whether the economist José Cara-
deal will become final, with ballo told The Associated
Gov. Wanda Vázquez say- In this Aug. 21, 2019 file photo, Puerto Rico's Governor Wanda Vazquez holds a press conference Press that he worries the
ing it places too heavy a to announce new administrative appointments at the governor's official residence La Fortaleza in deal could threaten basic
San Juan, Puerto Rico.
burden on the island's retir- Associated Press government services and
ees and noting that it still re- leave the island without
quires legislative approval. tirees did not receive any- "The new agreement is an- struggles to recover from sufficient funds to respond
The deal also has to be ap- thing additional. other step forward for Puer- Hurricane Maria, which hit to the pending needs from
proved by a federal judge It's the latest clash between to Rico, one that gets the as a Category 4 storm in the hurricane and earth-
overseeing a bankruptcy- Vázquez and a federal con- island much closer to end- 2017, and a series of strong quakes. "The risk of a sec-
like process for Puerto Rico. trol board overseeing Puer- ing bankruptcy and to the earthquakes that have ond bankruptcy and a pro-
"If the bondholders re- to Rico's finances, which beginning of a true eco- damaged or destroyed longed recession is bigger
ceive better treatment in reached the deal with sev- nomic recovery," she said hundreds of buildings along than before," he said.
the bankruptcy process, so eral groups of bondholders in a statement. the island's southern region. Puerto Rico is mired in a 13-
should retirees," she said. to reduce the island's bond Board members did not Over the weekend, Puerto year recession, and roughly
"This is an issue of basic jus- debt from some $35 billion respond to the governor's Rico government officials half a million people have
tice." She said bondholders to roughly $11 billion. rejection of the settlement, including Vázquez ac- left the island in the past
received new legal protec- Natalie Jaresko, the board's and a board spokesman cused the board of delay- decade, fleeing from the
tions in amendments made executive director, said the did not return a call for ing approval to release economic crisis and the
to a September 2019 ad- island's bankruptcy needs comment. The announce- funds to help those affect- aftermath of the hurricane
justment plan, but that re- to be resolved. ment comes as Puerto Rico ed by the quakes, accusa- and earthquakes.q

Heavy rains, floods, mudslides Gastro outbreak forces

paralyze parts of Sao Paulo Caribbean cruise ship

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — to return to U.S.
Heavy rains in Sao Paulo
brought Brazil’s most pop- SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A Caribbean Princess
ulous city nearly to a halt cruise was cut short following a gastrointestinal outbreak
on Monday with floods, aboard the ship caused it to be denied entry to at least
mudslides and enormous one island before it headed to its home port in Fort Lau-
traffic jams. derdale, Florida, on Monday.
“Since 3 a.m., in some ar- At least 299 passengers and 22 crew members aboard
eas it rained half of what the ship operated by California-based Princess Cruise
was expected for the Lines Ltd. became sick, according to a statement from
month of February,” Sao the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Paulo Mayor Bruno Covas Trucks are stuck in a flooded street at the CEAGESP food “This is a highly unusual development and we share the
told the online news por- market in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, Feb. 10, 2020. disappointment of our guests,” the company said in a
tal G1. The Tiete and Pin- Associated Press statement to The Associated Press, adding that those af-
heiros rivers overflowed, according to the state’s França, a 27-year-old fected had mild cases of gastrointestinal illness but that
flooding nearby highways infrastructure secretary. electrical engineer, said out of caution, it discontinued the cruise.
and trapping drivers and One man who was un- he heard screams and Meanwhile, the Health Ministry of Trinidad & Tobago said
passengers for hours. able to get to work on ran out of his house, wit- in a statement that it denied the ship entry as a precau-
Parts of the city received Monday morning had no nessing a mudslide that tionary measure given the outbreak.
100 mm (4 inches) of choice but head back destroyed two nearby The ship was carrying more than 3,000 passengers and
within three hours, swell- home. houses and trapped a more than 1,100 crew members.
ing the Tiete River to its Soon after arriving in his little girl who was later res- It was on a two-week trip that began Feb. 2 and was
highest level in 15 years, neighborhood, Gabriel cued. q
scheduled to end Feb. 16.q