on April 12, 2016
SAN JUAN – The U.S. House
Committee on Natural Resources released Tuesday H.R. 4900, the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic
Stability Act (PROMESA), which if passed as is will
impose a seven-member financial oversight board over Puerto Rico that would be
appointed by the president and will have broad encompassing powers over the
island.
The Financial Oversight &
Management Board’s members would be selected from a list of candidates
submitted by the U.S. House speaker, Senate majority leader, and minority
leaders of the House and Senate. The board, which will have offices in Puerto
Rico and anywhere else needed, will appoint an executive director.
The governor of Puerto Rico
would be an ex-oficio member without voting powers.
Compañeros Unidos para la Descolonización de Puerto Rico: Cita Patriótica ONU Junio 2012
This year, 2016, marks a new era in Caribbean colonialism.
The US Congress is preparing a "Financial Control Authority," which will supervise the finances of the entire government of Puerto Rico -- its legislature and courts, public authorities, pension system and all leases, union contracts and collective bargaining agreements. The authority will also restructure the entire public workforce (including teachers and police), freeze public pensions and ensure "the payment of debt obligations." Then it will issue its own debt, spend the funds as it sees fit and leave Puerto Rico to pay the bill.
Congress can veto any law passed in Puerto Rico
The authority will also have prosecutorial powers. It will be empowered to "conduct necessary investigations" into the government of Puerto Rico, or in other words, be empowered to hold hearings, secure government records, demand evidence, take testimony, subpoena witnesses and administer oaths -- under penalty of perjury -- to all witnesses.
Any witness who fails to appear or to supply information will be subject to criminal prosecution and removal from office. This includes any elected official on the island: even the governor and attorney general.
All of these powers are enumerated in the 157-page Senate Bill 2381, also known as the "Puerto Rico Assistance Act of 2015," which is currently under review in the US Senate.
Read the full article in: Compañeros Unidos para la Descolonización de Puerto Rico: Cita Patriótica ONU Junio 2012
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