Presentation by Oscar López Rivera online on May 30, 2020

1. ABOUT
THE
JONES
ACT
Fundación
OLR-Libertá
National Boricua
Human Rights
Network
CANCEL
THE
DEBT
CLIMATE
CHANGE ENVIRONMENTAL
ISSUES
QUESTIONS
&
DISCUSSION
SUMMARY
PROMESA
ACT
JUST
RECOVERY

2. 56%US56%US
$2.8-9.8$2.8-9.8
48K48K
THE JONES ACT
MERCHANT MARINE ACT OF 1920
• The Jones Act (Merchant Marine Act of 1920) bans the
waterway transport between two U.S. ports—except
if the ship is U.S. built, owned, crewed, and American
flagged.
• Monopoly on the Puerto Rican market.
• Fifth largest market in the world for US products.
• All non-U.S. goods cost Puerto Ricans 15 to 20% more.
• Contributing factor to Puerto Rico’s $74 billion debt.
The Jones Act has converted Puerto Rico into a cap-
tive market of the United States. Because of that, Puerto
Rico must purchase goods from the U.S. It is the great-
est contributing factor to Puerto Rico’s deficit and has
impeded access to much needed aid in time of natural
disasters. The law is unjust because the U.S. receives
foreign cargo without penalty and other U. S. “territories”
are exempt, such as the U.S. Virgin Islands and American
Samoa.

3. 14th
14th
13%13%
5th
5th
THE JONES ACT
• The Jones Act sets the terms and prices for imported
goods.
• For over 100 years, Puerto Rico has been obliged to pay
inflated shipping costs, fees, and taxes due to its enact-
ment.
• Economists from UPR found that the Jones Act alone
caused a $17 billion loss from 1990 to 2010
THE JONES ACT 1917
• The 1917 Jones Act mandated statutory, not Constitu-
tional, U.S. citizenship to the people of Puerto Rico.
• As U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans are required to serve in
the U.S. military.
• Puerto Rico is denied a voting representative in the U.S.
Congress; and Puerto Ricans do not have federal voting
rights.
The Jones Act of 1917 deprives Puerto Rico of federal
representation, the right to self-determination, reduces
political/civil/voting rights, and lacks Bill of Rights’ pro-
tections. By way of the Jones Act, Puerto Rico remains
under the jurisdiction of the U.S. and can be defined as a
modern-day colony.

4. Act 71Act 71
96%96%$129B$129B
THE DEBT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL
• Extraconstitutional Debt & Excessive Fees
• 1917: Jones-Shafroth Act
• 1984: Island excluded from Ch. 9
• 2006: Section 936 (IRS Tax Code)
• 2016: PROMESA
UNITED NATIONS
• The doctrine of “odious debt “
• Basic Human Rights
The vulture funds holding debt are the same funds
tormenting many countries around the world (Ireland,
Greece, Brazil, Argentina, Detroit, New York).
CANCEL THE DEBT

5. $54.5B$54.5B$30B+$30B+$6B$6B
WHERE DID THE MONEY GO?
• Auditing Stalls
• 2015: Law 97 establishes the Puerto Rico Commission
for the Comprehensive Audit of the Public Credit
• 2017: La Junta hires Kobre & Kim to conduct an audit
DID YOU KNOW?
• 5 U.S. Presidential Candidates called for canceling
Puerto Rico.’s debt
It is imperative to flip the script and make a model of
how to effectively resist Wall Street’s austerity agenda.
Natural disasters leave destruction in their wake and
there are fewer resources to provide relief because the
debt is strangling the resources and ability to make deci-
sions by the local government.
CANCEL THE DEBT

6. 2.1ft2.1ft0.6in0.6in1.5°
1.5°
25%25%62%62%
CLIMATE CHANGE
SEA LEVEL RISE
• Increased coastal erosion and flooding.
• Expected greater saltwater intrusion.
INCREASED OCEAN TEMPERATURE
AND ACIDITY
• Degradation of coral, mangroves and
other marine habitats.
INCREASED AIR TEMPERATURE, FREQUENCY
AND INTENSITY OF EXTREME HEAT EVENTS
• Decrease in agricultural productivity
CHANGING RAINFALL PATTERNS
• Water supply impacts and shortages.
STRONGER AND MORE FREQUENT EXTREME
EVENTS (EX. DROUGHTS, STORMS)
• Negative effects on communities livelihoods
CHANGES IN OUR LAND
• Loss of ecosystems, wildlife habitats, agricultural lands,
and biological species
INCREASED RISK EXPOSURE TO VECTOR-
BORNE DISEASES
• Increased risk for human health.

7. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
HABITAT DESTRUCTION
• Continued emphasis on construction and development
projects instead of protecting precious ecosystems and
resources.
• Construction in the majority of cases has not been
planned out according to environmental policies and
regulations.
50+ YEARS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTESTS1
• Puerto Rico outlaws Round-Up in 2019
TOXIC DUMPING IN PEÑUELAS
• Applied Energy Systems company has dumped
>300,000 tons of toxic ashes
GROWING OUR OWN FOOD MATTERS
• Since the 1950s, the agricultural economy in the island
has been dismantled, favoring development and con-
struction instead.
• Most of the current agricultural production is based on
monocultural one big crop production, which use herbi-
cides and pesticides.

8. 300K tons300K tons16%16%80%
80%
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
2019: RECLASSIFICATION OF LAND USE PLAN -
PUERTO RICO PLANNING BOARD
• Reducing and/or eliminating natural reserves. Reduc-
ing and/or eliminating agricultural reserves.
• Allowing construction in current protected areas.
• Commercialization of previous residential areas.
• More development of our coastal and rural lands.
• Displacement and gentrification of our vulnerable com-
munities.
• In a nutshell: Puerto Rico is FOR SALE to others, and not
for Puerto Ricans. Stringent regulations must be enacted
to conserve and protect habitat and natural resources
for present and future generations. Puerto Rico is not for
sale!

9. $300K$300K
$625K$625K200200
PUERTO RICO OVERSIGHT, MANAGEMENT,
AND ECONOMIC STABILITY ACT
• Power of the Board
- Commonwealth Budget
- Legislature and Courts
- Union contracts
- Pension system
- Prosecutorial Powers
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
• Members of Congress
• Banco Santander
The models followed by the Board do not conform to
the Puerto Rican social reality or human rights. The Fiscal
Control Board has absolute power over the Puerto Rican
government. From the reduction of pensions, elimination
of services, and the use of alternative services delivery
mechanisms, including privatization and commercializa-
tion. Nor does it recognize vital institutions that improve
the quality of life for the population.
PROMESA

10. $450M$450M8.5%8.5%
660660
AUSTERITY MEASURES
• Puerto Rico Under 20 Minimum Wage - $4.25 - Federal
law allows any employer in Puerto Rico to pay a new
employee who is under 20 years of age a training wage
of $4.25 per hour for the first 90 days of employment.
• “Opportunity Zones”
• Privatization
• WIPR (PR Public media)
• PREPA (PR Electric Power Authority)
In the year since Hurricane Maria laid waste to Puerto
Rico, the island’s already dire economic situation has
gotten even worse. And, rather than pursue fiscal re-
forms and debt restructuring, the commonwealth’s over-
sight board has just certified a program that will perma-
nently weaken the island’s economic potential. -Joseph
E. Stiglitz, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
PROMESA

11. $16.9B$16.9B$23.5B$23.5B $5.4B$5.4B
GENERAL AGREEMENT
• No relief or rebuilding money should go to servicing
debt. Oppose the historically predatory behavior by Wall
Street banks and investors.
• No federal aid should be used to undermine democ-
racy in Puerto Rico. Congress should grant no additional
powers to the Control Board in exchange for rebuilding
Puerto Rico.
• Congress must provide Puerto Rico with a clean slate;
pressure the Control Board to suspend debt payments
as part of any fiscal plan and to request writing down
Puerto Rico’s debt as part of any court-supervised debt
restructuring process.
JUST RECOVERY

12. JUST RECOVERY
• Puerto Rico needs swift and comprehensive federal in-
vestments in healthcare, infrastructure, and workforce de-
velopment to get the local economy back on its feet and on
the road to future growth and prosperity.
• Support for community-led transparency and accountabil-
ity measures in the delivery of aid as Puerto Rico recovers.
Utilities should not be privatized so that the people who are
most impacted by these decisions can have a voice in the
rebuilding of their communities.
• US cities and local governments must be ready to wel-
come Puerto Ricans fleeing dire situations from Puerto Rico
with robust relocation support from the federal government.

13. IS A PROJECT THAT IS GREATER
THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS
DECOLONIZATION
Puerto
Rico
Di-
aspora
In-
terna-
tional
Soli-
darity
THE
JONES
ACT
CLIMATE
CHANGE
CANCEL
THE
DEBT
PROMESAACT
JUST
RE-
COVERY
CODIGO
CIVIL
NEXTSTEPS
DECO-DECO-
LONI-LONI-
ZATIONZATION
PO
LICE
BRU
TALITY
EDU-
CATION
DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE
ENVIRON-
MENTAL
ISSUES &
POLICIES
PRIVITI-
ZATION
GENTRI-
FICA-
TION
CORRUP-
TION
FOOD
SECURITY/ AGRICUL-
TURE

14. Resources & Appendices
Click on the Google Doc link to access additional resources for each
section.
Oscar’s presentation team:
Aixa María Gannon
Margarita Gallagher Huertas
Nicole Hernández Méndez
Betsabé D. Castro Escobar
Jorge Rivera
Luis Alejandro Molina
For more information: margaritag@boricuahumanrights.org
Fundación
OLR-Libertá
National Boricua
Human Rights
Network