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A12 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 28 September 2019

Police watch as protesters set up burning barricades during a
protest to demand the resignation of President Jovenel Moise in
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, Sept. 27, 2019.
Associated Press
Protesters in Haiti In this Sept. 27, 2017 file photo, a ripped Puerto Rican national flag spray painted with the
words “Together as One” hangs from the facade of a business, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
burn businesses in Federal board files plan to reduce
Associated Press

push to oust leader Puerto Rico debt by 60%

By EVENS SANON
Associated Press By DÁNICA COTO Puerto Rico was drag- money since it doesn’t
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Thousands of protesters Associated Press ging more than $70 bil- have access to capital
seeking to oust President Jovenel Moise attacked busi- SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico lion in public debt after markets, officials said.
nesses and government buildings across Haiti Friday, cre- (AP) — A federal con- decades of mismanage- Board members met on
ating chaos on the streets after a weeks-long shutdown trol board that oversees ment, corruption and Friday to talk about the
of vital services that has damaged the country’s ailing Puerto Rico’s finances excessive borrowing to plan’s details, noting that
economy and shaken the president’s already tenuous filed in court Friday a balance budgets. In while they expect credi-
position. long-awaited plan that June 2015, the govern- tors to fight back, the re-
In the capital, Port-au-Prince, hundreds of opposition it says would reduce the ment declared the debt structuring is needed.
supporters ransacked a police station used by a special U.S. territory’s debt by unpayable, and in May Natalie Jaresko, the
tactical unit, hauling out office furniture and even Kevlar more than 60 percent 2017, Puerto Rico filed for board’s executive direc-
vests and ammunition in the city shantytown of Cite Soleil. and pull the island out of the biggest U.S. munici- tor, said Puerto Rico’s
An Avis car rental office and Western Union branch were bankruptcy in what gov- pal bankruptcy in history. bankruptcy is larger than
also attacked and burnt. ernment officials called a Since then, several multi- that of General Motors
Several houses in the Delmas neighborhood were burned, historic moment. million-dollar deals have in 2009 as she praised
and groups of protesters hurled rocks at police, who re- The plan comes three been reached with credi- the aim to reduce the is-
sponded with tear gas. A radio station in the city of Jac- years after U.S. Congress tors holding bonds issued land’s debt by 60%. How-
mel reported that a courthouse there had been burnt. created the board and by certain Puerto Rico ever, Carrión acknowl-
“We are telling the people who live in the Cite Soleil area would reduce $35 billion government agencies. edged that the plan it-
and the Haitian population to rise up to overthrow this in liabilities to $12 billion, a The newest plan targets self would not lift Puerto
government because President Jovenel Moise is not do- move that some believe general obligation bonds Rico’s economy or spur
ing anything for us, just killing us,” said protester Francois would help ease Puerto and other debt held by economic development.
Pericat. He said police had fatally shot three demonstra- Rico’s financial crisis amid the government, and it “It’s not a panacea,” he
tors. a 13-year recession, pave still has to be approved said, adding, “Nothing
Government officials did not immediately return requests the way to the board’s by a federal judge over- can happen unless we
for comment. departure and allow seeing a bankruptcy-like get out of bankruptcy.”
Other demonstrators waved green tree fronds as a sign Puerto Rico to regain fis- process as Puerto Rico If approved, the debt
that they were peaceful. cal autonomy. still struggles to recover restructuring plan would
Opposition leaders pledged that there would be no “Today we have taken a from Hurricane Maria. reduce Puerto Rico’s an-
peace until Moise, who took office in 2017, resigns. big step to put bankrupt- The island’s infrastructure nual debt service to un-
Sen. Youri Latortue, one of the opposition leaders, told cy behind us,” said board remains weak as evi- der 9%, down from almost
Radio Caraibes that “if Jovenel doesn’t resign today, chairman José Carrión. denced by Puerto Rico’s 30% prior to Congress ap-
whatever happens to him is not our responsibility.” “Three years after Con- Electric Power Author- proving a financial pack-
“Jovenel Moise will be held accountable for everything gress passed PROMESA ity announcement late age that led to the cre-
that happens in the country today,” he said. and two years after the Thursday about selective ation of the board.
Haiti has seen months of protests over the government’s most severe hurricane in power cuts given high The plan also would re-
reluctance to investigate and prosecute accusations more than 100 years hit demand and an over- structure general obliga-
that Moise’s allies in the country’s previous administration Puerto Rico, after more whelmed power grid that tion bonds and others
embezzled and wasted billions in proceeds from a Vene- than a decade of eco- has left tens of thousands issued in previous years
zuelan program gifting Haiti with subsidized oil. Those pro- nomic decline and fis- without power overnight. by Puerto Rico’s gov-
tests have been followed by strikes and violent demon- cal disarray, after tens In addition, the fiscal crisis ernment, with creditors
strations as the government has proven unable to import of thousands of Puerto has crippled Puerto Rico’s who hold bonds issued
enough fuel to meet the nation’s daily needs. Ricans left their island to ability to recover from the after 2011 facing big-
For three weeks, leaders of opposition parties have sent find prosperity elsewhere, Category 4 storm that hit ger cuts since that debt
groups of young men onto the streets to enforce a shut- we have now reached a in September 2017 be- has been challenged as
down of businesses and public services, which opposition turning point.” cause it cannot borrow unconstitutional.q
leaders pledged would continue over the weekend.q