Puerto Rico’s governor yesterday fiercely defended his administration’s right to help steer the insolvent, storm-ravaged island out of bankruptcy after a U.S. congressman said the process should be led by the island’s creditors and federally appointed oversight board, Reuters reported. In a scorching, 6,000-word letter delivered yesterday to Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), Governor Ricardo Rosselló accused the Republican lawmaker of turning “back the clock many decades to a time when the federal government simply imposed its will” on the U.S. territory. Bishop, who chairs the House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources, was at the forefront of a 2016 federal law known as PROMESA, which moved Puerto Rico’s finances under the management of a federally appointed board. In a letter last week, Bishop censured the board for lack of progress on a massive planned debt restructuring in Puerto Rico, directing the board to seek more input from the island’s financial creditors on a plan to stabilize the island. Rosselló said yesterday that flew in the face of PROMESA, which calls for the board and the governor to work together. He said that the sides had made consensual progress on elements of Puerto Rico’s restructuring. Read more.
The people of Puerto Rico need your help. Thousands are still without regular power service, and many more need to rebuild their homes. Please join the ABI Endowment and the Mariano Rivera foundation tomorrow for a charity benefit for Puerto Rico at the New York Athletic Club.
