Page 12 - Aruba Today

A12
WORLD NEWSTuesday 12 January 2016
Puerto Rico’s crisis threatens to cut gas, power supplies
DANICA COTO
Associated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)
— Puerto Rico’s govern-
ment and some institutions
face a worsening cash
crunch that threatens to
cut off their access to gas-
oline and electricity amid
the island’s economic crisis,
officials said Monday.
The U.S. territory reached
a tentative deal late last
week with Total Petroleum
Puerto Rico Corp. after the
company warned it would
no longer supply state vehi-
cles with gasoline because
of the government’s $16
million debt, said Danny
Brazil’s Rousseff focuses on economy in face of impeachment
M. SAVARESE
Associated Press
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — With
her job on the line, Brazil-
ian President Dilma Rous-
seff is spending January
developing an economic
plan she hopes will restore
faith in her leadership and
weaken looming impeach-
ment proceedings against
her.
The once-popular succes-
sor of former President Luiz
Inacio “Lula” da Silva has
fallen so far that it’s unclear
whether she can recover.
And she’ll have little room
to maneuver once Con-
gress reconvenes in Brasilia
in February: Her approval
ratings hover in the single
digits, both friendly and
hostile lawmakers are res-
tive and Latin America’s
largest economy is expect-
ed to continue contracting
in 2016.
“Dilma will have one month
with no major problems
blowing up in Brasilia to
come up with a plan to re-
Official: Drug seizures in USVI and Puerto Rico increasing
DANICA COTO
Associated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico
(AP) — Federal authorities
announced Monday that
they discovered more than
$4 million worth of cocaine
stashed in bushes along
Puerto Rico’s north coast
as they find more drug ship-
ments but with smaller pay-
loads in the U.S. Caribbean.
Some 340 pounds (154 ki-
lograms) of cocaine were

Hernandez, a spokesman vice can be avoided only structuring. Members of the U.S. House
for the General Services if the hospitals and clinics “We’re already seeing the Committee on Natural Re-
Administration. agree to a payment plan first consequences of this sources are scheduled to
The deal is good only if the in upcoming days. situation,” Public Affairs talk about Puerto Rico’s
government makes a $3 The company already cut Secretary Jesus Manuel economic problems on
million payment on Mon- off power to the govern- Ortiz said at a press confer- Tuesday. U.S. House Speak-
day and another $4 million ment’s Highway and Trans- ence on Monday. “If we er Paul Ryan, a Republican
payment before month’s portation Authority last don’t address the reality of from Wisconsin, recently
end, he said. month because of unpaid this crisis, it will only worsen.” pledged the House will
Puerto Rico’s heavily in- bills. Service was restored Ortiz renewed the govern- come up this year with “a
debted public power com- when a payment plan was ment’s plea for the U.S. responsible solution” for the
pany also announced it implemented. Congress to give Puerto island’s debt problems.
would cut electricity to The island’s worsening fi- Rico access to some sort Meanwhile, the U.S. Su-
three hospitals and clinics nancial situation comes of bankruptcy mechanism. preme Court is hearing
this week because they as Puerto Rico struggles The government already an appeal on a ruling
have not paid their multimil- through nine years of eco- faces its first lawsuit over that barred Puerto Rico
lion-dollar bills. Jose Daniel nomic stagnation and fac- how it has diverted funds from giving municipali-
Echevarria, a spokesman es $72 billion in public debt to meet certain bond pay- ties the power to declare
with the Electric Power Au- that the governor says is ments as its liquidity dwin- bankruptcy.q
thority, said that cuts in ser- unpayable and needs re- dles.

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff listens to a question in Brasilia, Rio. “I don’t even turn on ing, and that she has little
Brazil. With her job on the line, Rousseff is spending January of the TV anymore. All that to lose.“Let’s say she tries
2016 developing an economic plan she hopes will restore faith I wanted was for 2015 to something and it doesn’t
in her leadership and weaken looming impeachment proceed- end.” work. So what?” said Peter
ings against her. Nelson Barbosa, who took Schechter, director of the
over as finance minister in Atlantic Council’s Adrienne
(AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) December, is expected to Arsht Latin America Center.
propose a stimulus pack- “Does that mean she goes
vive a faltering economy,” have combined with tank- age and fiscal reforms over from 8 percent to 7 percent
the next several weeks. approval ratings?”
said Claudio Couto from ing commodity prices to Ideas being floated include Regardless of what Rousseff
infrastructure projects, tax proposes, Congress may
Brazilian think tank Funda- slam the economy, which breaks for home purchases not go along. The Work-
and a car-swap program ers’ Party has only 59 of the
cao Getulio Vargas. “The has suffered credit-rating to encourage buying new 513 members of the lower
vehicles. Some are propos- house and traditionally has
key is to bring some confi- downgrades, a sharp cur- ing a tax on banking trans- passed legislation by form-
actions and a reform of the ing coalitions with other
dence back.” rency devaluation and country’s pension system large blocs, which may find
to keep workers in the job little incentive to work with
That confidence has been 10-percent annual inflation. market an additional five the president now.
years. Depending on the It’s also unclear whether
shaken by a series of bal- “I can’t wait to stop hear- sector, women now can even reforms can slow the
retire between 50 and 55 tidal wave of bad econom-
looning crises over the past ing bad news from Brasilia,” years old, while men can ic news. Layoff announce-
do the same between 55 ments, from sugar mills to
year. Major scandals, some said Gabriela Malvezzi, a and 60. steel factories, are a daily
Pension reform is sure to occurrence. Even Wal-
of which touch Rousseff, 28-year-old psychologist in draw the ire of Rousseff’s Mart, one of the largest su-
base. But analysts say she permarket chains in Brazil,
must show she is serious said it would close 30 stores
about tackling spend- in January.q
found at a popular beach but with fewer large ones. cent increase from the with the drug flow that
in the town of Isabela, ac- “We’re seeing more inter- previous year. Meanwhile, got national attention,” he
cording to U.S. Customs dictions with smaller loads,” more than 18,000 pounds said.
and Border Protection. One Capt. Robert Warren, U.S. (8,000 kilograms) of mari- The number of slayings
man was arrested. Coast Guard commander juana have been seized, a in Puerto Rico has since
It’s one of the largest sei- in San Juan, told The Asso- 138 percent increase from dropped to the lowest point
zures in recent months. A ciated Press. “In the past, fiscal year 2014. in decades, but drug sei-
group of federal agencies we got primarily the big Warren attributed the in- zures have only increased.
including the U.S. Coast loads coming up from the crease in part to more fed- Puerto Rico police alone
Guard report an increase south.” eral resources after Puerto have reported a 170 per-
in cocaine and marijuana More than 16,000 kilograms Rico reported a record cent jump in heroin and
seizures in waters around (35,000 pounds) of cocaine 1,164 killings in 2011. marijuana seizures and a
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Vir- were seized in the past fis- “It was the growing vio- 47 percent increase in co-
gin Islands in the past year, cal year, a nearly 10 per- lence and the association caine seizures.q