No democracy with a junta

There’s been a lot of interest in recent days about Puerto Rico. This time, it’s a media storm — not a natural disaster — that brings attention to the island. 

At the Republican Convention on Monday, there was one speaker in particular that lit a firestorm on social media about what it is to be Puerto Rican, who is an immigrant and musings about the Spanish-American War. Whether this is an intended distraction or not, this debate takes us away from the fact that four years after PROMESA, three years after Maria, earthquakes and COVID-19, Puerto Rico is still bankrupt, with a deteriorated infrastructure and a collapsed economy. PROMESA installed a fiscal board over the island with authority akin to a Latin America military junta that overruled the civilian authorities. Puerto Rico does not want or need an all-powerful Junta.

Also this week, New York Democratic Reps. Nydia Velázquez and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced a bill in Congress named the Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act of 2020 to fairly and conclusively tackle the question of the future relationship of this island territory. This new bill, however, is not the only one introduced in Congress regarding the future of Puerto Rico. It is likely we will have a battle royal in the House Natural Resources Committee on these competing bills about why and how Puerto Rico’s future ought to be decided. If any law is passed in the lower chamber, it will likely stall in the Senate.

This is such an important issue that the Democratic Party Platform dedicated a section on self-determination. As supportive as I am for Congress to address the status question, the people of Puerto Rico are no better off than they were in 2017. Shouldn’t Congress find out where the money is and why things are not better? After all, how can Congress talk about self-determination for the island when it put in place a board to control Puerto Rico’s finances, with the power to manipulate the public funds and services provided to the people?

Four years ago, the enactment of PROMESA installed the Fiscal Oversight Management Board (FOMB). It was designed to oversee Puerto Rico’s fiscal policy and to map its economic future. Now that there are three out of seven vacancies on the board, it is time to review its work and consider its sunset.

Neither PROMESA nor the FOMB have successfully implemented sustainable measures to rebuild Puerto Rico’s economic future with tangible results for the people. It has been unable to tackle the economic problems facing Puerto Ricans. Without economic development, and the creation of wealth that could be taxable, it is unthinkable that any payment of debt will ever be feasible. In fact, there are members that advocate for forgiveness of the debt.

PROMESA failed to provide the right economic tools that could bring the island to a sustainable recovery from bankruptcy. Since Hurricane María, bipartisan efforts in Congress have sought solutions for Puerto Rico to help address federal funding disparities. However, even after the CARES act, the people in Puerto Rico get little to no relief. Who is responsible for this? If taxpayers asked, “why isn’t my money helping people on the island,” can Congress get answers to these questions?  

It is time to find out why things are not better in Puerto Rico. By delaying the release of needed funding, are federal agencies the problem? Or is it an issue of competence from the Puerto Rican government and its management the funds? Has the existence of the FOMB made things more transparent or more complicated? 

The FOMB issues reports on what it has done, what Congress should do and what the Puerto Rico government could have done. Can Puerto Rico really afford the cost of this redundant structure overseeing the island’s government? Congress can hold hearings on Puerto Rico. They should include in the agenda why things are not working now as expected, and let the chips fall where they may. People need relief now. 

Some believe that increasing the FOMB’s authority is the answer. It has been ineffectual with its current authority; it may be time to take that authority away. Last year’s protests demonstrated that no one individual or entity can rule in a democratic society, with a republican system of government, without the consent of the governed. 

Puerto Ricans can and must be part of the solution to their current problems. Congress must act to sunset the FOMB and restore self-government in Puerto Rico, then the island can embark on a transparent self-determination process.

Max J. Trujillo is president of MJTPOLICY LLC, a strategic policy and government relations consulting firm. He is a former senior policy advisor for Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.).