Declaraciones de Pedro Pierluisi ante el posible cierre del gobierno federal

WASHINGTON, DC- “Desafortunadamente continúa la incertidumbre en Washington en cuanto al posible cierre del gobierno federal. Aunque la Cámara federal acaba de aprobar un proyecto de resolución que permitiría que el gobierno federal permanezca abierto una semana adicional con el fin de tratar de llegar a un acuerdo en cuanto a las asignaciones presupuestarias pendientes para este año fiscal, queda por verse si el Senado le dará paso a la misma y si el Presidente le imparte su firma.

No es probable que el Senado le dé paso a la medida y menos aún que el Presidente le imparta su firma. Y la razón principal para el tranque es que el liderato en la Cámara no sólo ha incluido unos nuevos recortes de $12,000 millones de dólares en el proyecto, sino también ha entrado en materia que no tiene que ver con el presupuesto.

Parece mentira que veamos seriamente afectados el buen nombre del gobierno de los Estados Unidos, los servicios que le ofrece al pueblo y el bienestar de cientos de miles de sus empleados, incluyendo los que laboran en Puerto Rico.

Esperemos que el sentido de responsabilidad y la sensibilidad predominen en las negociaciones que se llevarán a cabo en las próximas horas.

En lo que respecta a mi oficina, al igual que en la de la gran mayoría de mis colegas demócratas, todo el personal se mantendrá cumpliendo su misión en los próximos días".

Inestabilidad total con “shock absorbers”

Ricardo Roselló Nevares   (abril 6, 2011)
Vocero.com

Estos días es difícil abrir la página de un rotativo, o cambiar el canal, sin ver algún país en revuelta. Egipto, Libia, y Túnez son sólo ejemplos de pueblos que se levantan para ser escuchados y cambiar su status quo. La razón primordial citada por estas revueltas es la búsqueda de la “democracia”. Y aunque estoy parcialmente de acuerdo con esta premisa, también pienso que hay otro elemento fundamental -hasta más importante- que está en juego: la búsqueda de la estabilidad.

Podemos citar miles de factores que generan la estabilidad de un pueblo, pero entiendo que hay dos elementos esenciales: Trabajos y Producción. Si no hay producción, no hay trabajos. Si no tienes trabajo, en general, no tienes cómo mantenerte a ti y a tu familia. Si no puedes mantenerte, vives en ansiedad ante el reto de sobrevivir día a día.

Entiendo que algunos duden de la premisa, pero sólo hay que tomar países democráticos, como Estados Unidos, Japón, Colombia y el Congo, para ver cómo los primeros dos permanecen estables por su producción y desarrollo de trabajos, mientras que los últimos dos viven en constante revuelta e inestabilidad, caracterizados por la baja producción y la falta de trabajos para un gran segmento de la población. De la misma forma, podemos tomar países no democráticos, como China y Libia, donde observamos la misma diferencia en estabilidad, dada la producción y los trabajos.

Entonces, hay una clara distinción entre países estables e inestables. Dado esto, ¿dónde cae Puerto Rico en el espectro de la estabilidad e inestabilidad? Si tomamos los números de manera objetiva, Puerto Rico no produce trabajos nuevos y es uno de 5 países/territorios en el mundo que está en contracción económica. Es decir, tenemos una de las peores economías de producción en el mundo, y prácticamente sólo 1 de cada 4 personas trabaja.

Otros parámetros son menos alentadores. La educación del sistema público es de las peores en calidad del mundo y le falla a la gran mayoría de sus estudiantes. La criminalidad está rampante, cobrando vidas a niveles nunca antes vistos, y afectando la fibra de nuestra familia. Y como éstos, nos afectan muchos otros factores que hemos tocado en esta serie de columnas.

Estrictamente hablando, estamos peor que Egipto, Libia, Colombia, y Túnez ¿Por qué entonces no vemos una revolución en la Isla? La razón es sencilla. Aunque todas las condiciones están maduras para que la inestabilidad económica se transforme en una inestabilidad social, hay dos grandes amortiguadores, o “shock absorbers”, que evitan este evento:
* Veintidós mil millones de dólares ($22,000,000,000) anuales, cortesía de EE.UU.
* El pasaporte americano (y el pasaje de avión que lo acompaña)

Para que tengan una idea de cuánto dinero es despachado a Puerto Rico por los Estados Unidos, Egipto recibía $1,500 millones; el segundo país en el mundo que más ayuda recibe de EE.UU. (después de Israel). La población de Egipto es de 80 millones, mientras que la de Puerto Rico es de 4 millones. Es decir, recibimos más de 15 veces lo que recibe Egipto, y tenemos una población 20 veces menor. El neto por persona que recibimos es más de 300 veces la “ayuda” por persona de los egipcios.



Con esos $22 mil millones se mantiene un gobierno burocrático e ineficiente, y se le provee un mínimo para sobrevivir a los que no tienen empleo. Así es que se mantiene a un pueblo inestable sin desatar una revolución -dándole lo mínimo, para que se quede ahí, estancado y sin progresar, pero con lo suficiente para sobrevivir, y siendo dependiente del gobierno.

¿Y aquellos que no están felices con su condición al no tener trabajos o ganar 3 veces menos que sus conciudadanos americanos en los estados? Pueden sencillamente tomar un avión en cualquier momento, y mudarse a una jurisdicción donde existan trabajos, y donde se puede ganar $3,000 por el mismo tipo de empleo que aquí pagaría $1,000. La decisión no es fácil para la gran mayoría, pero las necesidades de producir para los suyos, los obligan a tomar esa decisión, ya que en su patria, no hay oportunidades.

Podemos concluir entonces que el status quo del ELA-Colonial tiene que acabar. Es un sistema totalmente inestable, donde cerca de la mitad de sus ciudadanos viven bajo el nivel de pobreza (>50%), donde carecen los trabajos y la producción, donde la educación es deficiente y se depende al extremo de un gobierno paternalista. En sí, es un status quo colonial que promueve el éxodo de sus mentes más hábiles y productivas hacia otras jurisdicciones.

Hay quienes dirán que, a pesar de nuestros grandes problemas, con los “amortiguadores” nos mantenemos y “sobrevivimos”, mientras que en otros países no. La cuestión es que venimos acarreando el yugo colonial por demasiado tiempo ya, y venimos sintiendo cada vez más las implicaciones negativas de esto, sobre todo en los últimos 10 años. De no cambiar nuestro curso, pronto veremos problemas aún mayores, que no habrá amortiguador alguno que los aguante.

¿Cuáles son esos problemas? ¿Qué soluciones propongo? Esto será tema para la próxima columna… Pero algo es claro: la colonia es, y seguirá siendo, el principal impedimento a nuestro crecimiento, progreso y estabilidad. El ELA-colonial esta expirado.

Y la decisión fundamental para Puerto Rico en el Siglo XXI será: Estadidad o Independencia.

*Pueden contactar al autor en facebook.com/rossello.nevares

McClintock remarks on E3 Summit

Remarks by
Kenneth D. McClintock
Secretary of State of Puerto Rico
(as prepared for delivery)

E3 Summit
Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce

San Juan, Puerto Rico
April 7, 2011


Thank you Edgardo for the introduction… I would also like to express my appreciation to the Chairman of the Board of the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce, Raúl Gayá-Nigaglioni… and its Chairman-Elect, Salvador Calaf-Legrand, …as well Pablo Figueroa, Chairman of the Summit for the kind invitation to join you this morning, as well as the invitation you have extended to Governor Fortuño to address you later on today..

On behalf of the Government of Puerto Rico I am very pleased to welcome the many distinguished speakers, panelists and guests who have come to the Islands to participate in the First E3 Summit of the Americas 2011.

This Summit is an initiative for which the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce deserves to be praised and commended… it demonstrates the keen awareness of the business sector to provide a forum to discuss the path that Puerto Rico should take to global competitiveness.

Trade is a proven engine for economic growth… and if Puerto Rico is to develop an export economy it is clear by now that we should do much more than enact laws to make investment easier and more attractive.
An entrepreneurial spirit can be stifled by the wrong laws but the Legislative Assembly cannot create an entrepreneurial spirit by enacting the right laws.

There is no silver bullet… whether in life, in business or in government. You cannot think or will change… change takes effort… and the results do not happen overnight.

Developing a true export economy is likely to require a profound change in the way that we think… and in how we see ourselves individually and collectively as a society.

And that will certainly take a different kind of education than that which, for decades, we have been providing in our schools and universities… For starters, it will require a civic education curriculum… one in which students learn that a truly free society cannot exist without a market economy… and that individual liberties and economic freedom are an integral part of the fabric of democracy.

Entrepreneurship cannot thrive in a society that does not value the role of the business sector in achieving a better quality of life… and much less in a society that distrusts the business sector and believes that the interests of the business sector are in opposition to the welfare of society.

What kind of beliefs and values are being instilled in our students? What kind of society is being developed in our schools and universities…?

Having the right kind of education is crucial… but we would be somewhat naive if we believed that education alone would be sufficient to achieve the kind of society we intend to build. The change that Puerto Rico needs will require strong and continued support for the policies that will take us where we need to go… and that means that the private sector must be fully involved in the public policy debate.

The E3 Summit of the Americas is an important step in the right direction.

The potential for a future of growth and prosperity is before us. I am confident that together —government, the business sector, and the academia— we can make that potential a bright reality.

Thank you for being here.

McClintock remarks before the Black Agency Executives

Remarks by the
Hon. Kenneth D. McClintock
Secretary of State of Puerto Rico
Black Agency Executives Retreat
Río Grande, Puerto Rico
(as prepared for delivery)

April 6, 2011

We are very pleased that you have chosen Puerto Rico to hold your retreat.

I can only look with support and solidarity at the effort that Black Agency Executives is carrying-out to empower black communities in New York.

It is certainly easier to find solidarity in shared experiences… in historical events to which one can relate… and Puerto Ricans are now engaged in a struggle that African Americans took on and won in the Supreme Court and in Congress many years ago —and that is the struggle for equality… the struggle to be recognized as part of “We the People”.

Let me explain what I am referring to…

Not long ago a regular contributor to an influential conservative publication proclaimed Puerto Rico —a community of 3.7 million American citizens— to be a foreign country and proposed that Congress dispose of the Islands on the grounds that the American citizens of Puerto Rico are a distinct people with their own history, culture and language.

It would seem that he has not been to Texas —where my father was born. With the criteria that he used to call for Puerto Rico’s independence, he may consider supporting the Texas secessionist movement because Texas, as the tourism slogan so aptly describes, “It’s like a whole other country.”

The fact that natural-born American citizens may be denied today as true Americans only on the basis of their origin reminds me of the U.S. Supreme court cases of Dred Scott v. Sanford, decided in 1857, and Balzac v. People of Porto Rico, decided in 1922.

In the Dred Scott case, the Supreme Court ruled that persons of African descent, whether or not they had been emancipated, were not citizens or constituent members of the people of the United States and therefore had no political rights under the Constitution because they were “a subordinate and inferior class of beings.”

After Congress granted American citizenship to Puerto Ricans in 1917 it was understood that Puerto Rico had been incorporated into the United States. But five years later, in an act of judicial legislation, the U.S. Supreme Court disavowed Congress and departed from the precedents of Alaska and the Louisiana Purchase in which granting citizenship to its inhabitants resulted in incorporation.

The opinion of the Court was written by Chief Justice Taft —the same William Howard Taft that had held the office of President of the United States.

This is how Taft set aside the precedents of Alaska and Louisiana.

“It is true that, in the absence of other and countervailing evidence, a law of Congress or a provision in a treaty acquiring territory, declaring an intention to confer political and civil rights on the inhabitants of the new lands as American citizens, may be properly interpreted to mean an incorporation of it into the Union, as in the case of Louisiana and Alaska. This was one of the chief grounds upon which this court placed its conclusion that Alaska had been incorporated in the Union… But Alaska was a very different case from that of Porto Rico. It was an enormous territory, very sparsely settled and offering opportunity for immigration and settlement by American citizens. It was on the American Continent and within easy reach of the then United States. It involved none of the difficulties which incorporation of the Philippines and Porto Rico presents.”

Then Taft went on to write: “We need not dwell on another consideration which requires us not lightly to infer, from acts thus easily explained on other grounds, an intention to incorporate in the Union these distant ocean communities of a different origin and language from those of our continental people.”

What Taft meant by different origin and language can be better understood by his view of the Philippines to which he made reference in his opinion together with Puerto Rico.

Taft, who was once Governor of the Philippine Islands, at one time said to President McKinley that "our little brown brothers" would need "fifty or one hundred years" of close supervision "to develop anything resembling Anglo-Saxon political principles and skills."

And thus, the Supreme Court decided that Congress could determine which parts of the Constitution were applicable to Puerto Rico because Puerto Rico was a property belonging to the United States rather than a part of the United States.

Going back to the regular contributor to the conservative publication, he went on to attack the character of Puerto Ricans by stating that “Puerto Ricans don’t want independence at this point, because it would end the gravy train”.

I was reminded of those who in 1899 attached the character of blacks in the South describing them as “lazy, devoid of ambition, slow to learn, and prone to lie” —and I am quoting from a New York Times article— in the same way that the call to give independence to Puerto Rico reminded me of those who after the Emancipation Proclamation proposed to “ship the negroes back to Africa” because they saw free blacks as a threat to their communities.

No editor would publish such abhorrent expressions of racial intolerance today and yet an attack on the character of a community of American citizens based on their origin passed unnoticed demonstrating that the chauvinistic “us” v. “them” mentality, which was at the heart of the Balzac decision, is not only good law today but can still find expression in modern political debate.

The American citizens of Puerto Rico are separated from their counterparts in the States by a wall of political inequality built upon the foundation of Balzac v. Porto Rico which, by virtue of the Territory Clause, allows Congress to treat the American citizens of Puerto Rico differently on the interpretation that Puerto Rico is not a part of the United States but an appurtenance thereof.

In his book The Supreme Court and Puerto Rico: The Doctrine of Separate and Unequal, U.S. Circuit Judge Juan Torruella pointed-out that the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Balzac is the reason why we face a problem with Puerto Rico’s political status today.

Puerto Rico’s political status is an anomaly of the U.S. Constitutional system. America should not accept a lesser class of American citizenship for Puerto Ricans as it was once acceptable to have a lesser class of American citizenship for African Americans and women.
A judicial decision that, departing from law and precedent, was guided by prejudice should find no further recognition in American jurisprudence and have no application by our government. Balzac v People of Porto Rico is bad law. The Territory Clause cannot be the Constitution’s escape clause. Puerto Rico is a part of the United States and must be treated as such. And if America is to be true to its values, Congress must tear down that wall of Balzac in the same way that it tore down the walls of Dred Scott and Plessy v. Fergurson.

The only way to do it would be for Congress to allow Puerto Rico becoming a State.

It should not come to anyone’s surprise that the person to first champion the cause of political equality for Puerto Ricans was a man of African descent: Dr. Jose Celso Barbosa.

He was the first black man to attend the Jesuit seminary in Puerto Rico. In 1875, he went to New York City and learned English. After being rejected from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, which became Columbia University Medical School, because of his race, Barbosa enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1877.

In 1880 he graduated with a degree in medicine, first in his class and valedictorian of a very distinguished group of graduates that included one of the Mayo brothers who went on to found the Mayo Clinic.

Upon graduation Barbosa returned to Puerto Rico but not to become a wealthy man practicing medicine but to help the less advantaged to which he charged nothing. In 1893, Barbosa founded the second cooperative in the Americas (the first being founded in Canada): the Ahorro Colectivo to provide financing to people with limited means. And, in 1899, Barbosa founded the Puerto Rico Republican Party which advocated that Puerto Rico become a State of the Union.

Barbosa died in 1921 believing that with the achievement of American citizenship in 1917 Puerto Rico had been incorporated into the United States and on the path to become a State.

This past Monday, in remarks given at a university in Bayamón, I reminded the audience that 43 years before another of my three heroes at the time had been shot down by an assassin, a hero who was cut down 105 years after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, still attempting to make Lincoln’s promise a practical reality.

In our case, almost 113 years after the Star-Spalgled Banner reached our shores we are still struggling to make the implicit promise that the stars and stripes represent a practical reality in our lives.

African Americans and Puerto Ricans may have different cultural identities but share the experience of inequality and the struggle to find our place in “We the People”.

With that said, welcome to Puerto Rico, which I consider a part of the United States and not simply a property appurtenant to the nation of which we’ve been citizens for over 94 years.

Thank you.

Ahead of the curve: Puerto Rico’s successful implementation of its Fiscal and Economic Reconstruction Plan

Remarks by Luis G. Fortuño, Governor of Puerto Rico

To the Strategas 5th Annual Global Macro Conference

New York, NY

March 24, 2011



Good evening. It is great to be with you all, and to have the opportunity to share the story of the fiscal and economic reconstruction process we have underway in Puerto Rico.

Ohio…Wisconsin…New York… New Jersey, and the list goes on.

These states have seized headlines of late as they grapple with the fiscal and economic challenges of our time – those facing our federal government and governments throughout the world.

Puerto Rico has a unique story to tell in this global narrative. Because our tough work on these issues began over two years ago, Puerto Rico is now ahead of the curve and is increasingly seen in policy and economic circles as a model case for the rest of the country to follow.

Through the tough decisions we made early in my Administration, we are addressing an inherited fiscal crisis that was the worst in the nation.

Tonight I want to share with you how we changed our fiscal course in Puerto Rico – from inheriting a government near bankruptcy just over two years ago, to today, when the rating agencies are responding to our reforms with positive actions on our credit.

When I took office two years ago, we had been experiencing the deepest recession since the 1930s, a recession that began two full years before it began in the rest of the country.

Puerto Rico’s economy wasn’t particularly healthy even before the official onset of the recession.

However, this economic slump was never acknowledged by the previous government, which consistently over-estimated economic growth and tax receipts -- with the gap growing over time.

Predicting economic growth despite contrary evidence was one of many ways the government avoided confronting the growing structural deficit.

The details are grim. During this “overheating” period, which were the years prior to the outbreak of the recession in Puerto Rico in 2006, government expenses had been increasing 8 percent annually, while revenues increased only 2 percent.

One group that definitely became leery of lending to the government was the bondholders. Both Moody’s and S&P downgraded Puerto Rico’s bond ratings to one step above junk.

After I was elected in November of 2008 and before I was sworn in, it was actually during the transition that my team and I discovered the true extent of the fiscal abyss we faced.

And it was far worse than anything that had been disclosed to the public by my predecessors.

As Governor-elect, I flew here to New York to meet with the rating agencies to avoid a downgrade of our bonds to junk and to ask for time for us to act.

When I took the oath of office, our deficit stood at $3.3 billion. Proportionally speaking, it was the largest state budget deficit in the country, representing 44 percent of revenues.

My team discovered that we didn’t have the money to meet our first payroll. We had to take out a loan to pay it.

We immediately enacted fiscal emergency legislation, with the support of our Legislature, requiring serious spending cuts. And we established a Fiscal Restructuring and Stabilization Board to help lead the effort.

In just two years, we have cut government expenses by almost 20 percent.

I started with my own salary. I took a 10 percent pay cut and my agency heads took a 5 percent cut.

We froze all salaries for two fiscal years, and reduced political appointments by 30 percent.

We cut government operating expenses 10 percent, including official vehicles, cell phones, and credit cards. I pay for my own cell phone.

We reduced the number of government agencies through consolidation and dramatically increased the number of services that could be provided online.

Because payroll expenses were dominating 70 percent of our budget, we had no choice but to shrink the government employee ranks by 23,000 through a combination of voluntary and mandatory measures.

Our over bloated and costly government payroll was the result of the irresponsible hiring and unchecked benefit increases approved by past administrations while the fiscal situation was deteriorating.

In addition to payroll, like many states, we’re also tackling the challenge of funding our retirement system.

On the positive side, we are among the few jurisdictions that eliminated defined benefit plans, instead moving all future employees to a performance-based defined contribution plan. So we have eliminated the risk of widening actuarial deficits.

We are now working to achieve a permanent solution to the unfunded liability challenge presented by our pension system.

We didn’t shy away from the tough decisions. In just two years, our progress is clear and compelling on both the fiscal and economic side.

We have cut expenses and brought down the budget deficit from 44 percent to 11 percent of revenues. That includes reducing payroll expenses by $935 million or 17 percent of total government payroll. We are now on course to balance our budget before the end of my first term.

We’ve reduced our deficit proportionally more than any other state or territory. In a ranking of all the states by budget deficit, as a percentage of revenues, we started off dead last. Now, we are ranked 20th in the country and closing in.

The rating agencies have noticed.

Last April, Moody’s increased Puerto Rico general obligation bond ratings by three notches to A3 from Baa3, the highest improvement given to any of the 34 states whose ratings it upgraded, and the highest for Puerto Rico in 35 years.

In November, Standard & Poor’s raised from “stable” to “positive” its outlook on Puerto Rico’s credit - the first positive credit review on record since 1983.

Fitch Ratings recently assigned a BBB + rating with a stable outlook to the general obligations of the Government of Puerto Rico.

And earlier this month, Standard & Poor again looked at Puerto Rico and upgraded its rating for Puerto Rico’s general obligation debt improving it from BBB- to BBB, the first upgrade S&P has given Puerto Rico’s credit in 28 years.

These positive actions not only take into account fiscal progress, but also the new direction we’re taking on our overall economic front.

Because while we’ve been putting our fiscal house in order, we’ve also been changing the course of Puerto Rico’s economic future.

Through our Strategic Model for a New Economy, the government has formulated a vision for Puerto Rico and specific actions to achieve it. It is the most comprehensive economic development program Puerto Rico has had in decades, and details specific actions in the short and long term to grow the economy.

It is based on performance metrics that measure growth in the economy, competitiveness and job creation.

Through this framework, we have been implementing a pro-growth reform agenda supported by a series of key public policy reforms.

We addressed a tax code that was putting our businesses at a competitive disadvantage.

Puerto Rico, as a U.S. territory, has a code that is close to a mirror image of the Internal Revenue Code. We faced the same challenge presented by the federal code in that high taxes – especially on the corporate side –hindered our competitiveness.

So we exacted the largest across-the-board tax cuts at the individual and corporate level in Puerto Rico history.

Starting January 1 of this year, we cut the top corporate rate from 41 percent to 30 percent. In 2014, that top rate will drop further to 25 percent. The previous seven-tier corporate bracket has been flattened, into first three, and then two lowered rates.

For individuals, tax rates are dropping an average of 25 percent this year, increasing to a nearly 50 percent reduction over six years.

To ensure that we sustain fiscal responsibility, individual tax reductions for years 2014 through 2016 will be contingent on the government meeting targeted goals to guarantee that we continue to balance our budget.

Thus, we are making the taxpayer the watchdog for fiscal discipline, and ensuring government keeps that discipline.

In addition, 1 percent of the budget in 2014, and 1.5 percent in 2015 and 2016 will be deposited into a fiscal reserve fund, providing a “rainy day” fund to make sure we never again sink into the financial hole from which we’ve managed to emerge.

In addition to tax reform, we have instituted other significant planks in our economic reform agenda to promote growth and create jobs.

We enacted one of the most advanced and aggressive Public-Private Partnership law in the country to encourage greater private investment and bring competition and efficiencies to schools, roads, airports, energy, water facilities and other public infrastructure.

This has been the model for much new infrastructure around the world, with the conspicuous exception of the United States.

Through our P3 program, we’re currently in the process of moving forward $3.5 billion in infrastructure projects.

That includes the full concession of major toll roads and of our main airport, and the modernization of 100 public schools throughout the Island, among other major infrastructure projects.

We have some of the highest energy costs in the nation and rely on imported oil for almost 70 percent of our power generation. So we have begun a comprehensive energy program to dramatically reduce our dependence on oil, in favor of natural gas and renewable energy.

By 2012, we are working to shift Puerto Rico’s fuel mix from 69 percent petroleum to 72 percent natural gas. Vía Verde, or “Green Way,” as our natural gas project is known, will reduce fuel costs by double digit percentages.

We are further diversifying our fuel mix to include renewable sources such as solar, wind and waste-to-energy. Renewable energy projects are bringing with them hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment in Puerto Rico and the creation of thousands of new jobs in our economy.

We launched the best housing market incentives in the country – available to residents and non-residents through June of this year.

We’re seeing a double digit spike in housing sales in Puerto Rico, because these incentives include:

-ZERO property taxes for five years for new residential properties purchased during this special window

-ZERO recording fees and

-ZERO capital gains tax obligation, with no expiration date.

Purchases of existing properties benefit from 50 percent exemption on recording fees and a 50 percent exemption on capital gains.

People who buy either a new or existing property to rent during this time frame, are also eligible for ZERO tax obligation for 10 years on net rental income.

To all of you, let me say this: this is the best time to buy a second home or investment property in Puerto Rico.

We are also merging government agencies to cut duplications, and streamlining operations to be quick, agile and efficient so that government red tape doesn’t get in the way of entrepreneurship and job creation.

A perfect example is the government permitting process. We had government agencies issuing 28 different permits. Now we have 1 permit to do business.

In cases not requiring detailed evaluations, the new system has resulted in an 85 percent reduction in the permit granting and approval process. And for major projects involving site and land use consultations, a process that could take three to five years is now down to a maximum of 180 days.

On the tourism front, we enacted a comprehensive incentives package to attract the development of world-class tourism projects, and that strategy is already bearing fruit.

New luxury resorts such as the St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort in Río Grande and the W Resort in Vieques are important new additions to our portfolio.

Construction is currently underway for the six-star Dorado Beach Ritz Reserve. We currently have 11 projects under evaluation with more than 1,300 additional rooms and a total investment of almost $900 million.

Earlier this month, I signed into law a new Film Incentives Law designed to make Puerto Rico’s current production incentives among the most attractive in the industry, as well as promote the development of state-of-the-art media infrastructure, including high-capacity studios.

Over 60 productions have taken advantage of Puerto Rico’s current incentive program, including Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean 4,” Universal Picture’s “Fast 5” and Warner Brothers’ “The Losers,” and we’re expanding our ability to attract both Hollywood and international productions.

We are also positioning ourselves to make Puerto Rico a hub for global shipping. The expansion of and our proximity to the Panama Canal provides us a unique opportunity, so we are readying our Port of the Americas to be a world class international trans-shipment port.

We have installed super Post-Panamax cranes and dredged a shipping channel that can handle the world’s largest cargo freighters.

In the future, cargo ships leaving from Singapore could head east instead of west, passing through the Panama Canal on to Puerto Rico, with goods destined for both the Eastern Seaboard and Latin American markets – and even Europe by way of Rotterdam.

This route would allow freight from Asia to bypass chokepoints along the western route, made more volatile by piracy off the Somali coast and unrest in North Africa.

Today, the government of Puerto Rico is fully engaged in serious economic reform. We have reduced government payroll, slashed bloated budgets, and introduced bold reforms of entrenched government programs that promise to re-ignite economic growth.

My advice to other Governors facing the same challenges has been: Don’t wait and don’t blink. Make the tough decisions early and stick to them with courage, because at the end of the day, people are expecting leadership.

In my case, I have found that some may not like every decision, but they will respect you for doing what is right and what you said you would do.

And by pursuing long-term reforms that hold the promise of dramatically improving the island’s economic position in the coming decades, Puerto Rico is sending an unmistakable message to companies and investors that the island is permanently changing its business environment for the better.

By scaling back the size of government while at the same time reducing tax rates, simplifying the tax code, increasing private investment in infrastructure, and diversifying our energy sources, I am convinced that we have the right equation for an economic renaissance in Puerto Rico.

Thank you all very much.

Estudiantes estadistas se ríen de García Padilla

El presidente de la Asociación de Estudiantes Estadistas de Puerto Rico calificó de risible el que el senador popular pretenda seleccionar un Comisionado residente

 

Por Inter News Service 

La Asociación de Estudiantes Estadistas de Puerto Rico (PRSSA) fustigó hoy al senador y virtual candidato a la gobernación del Partido Popular Democrático (PPD), Alejandro García Padilla.

Eduardo Soto, presidente de la Asociación, calificó de risible que García Padilla se considere capaz de elegir un candidato satisfactorio a la comisaría residente en Washington.

Soto señaló que en sus interacciones con García Padilla en Washington, el senador y también Presidente del PPD demostró no poseer el mejor interés de Puerto Rico en lo relacionado a los asuntos federales.
En declaraciones escritas enviadas desde Washington, comentó que los líderes de la Asociación de Estudiantes Estadistas compartieron con García Padilla en varias ocasiones durante mayo de 2010 cuando la entidad conservadora The Heritage Foundation auspiciaba un foro en oposición al plebiscito de estatus presentado ante el Congreso federal, y una delegación del Partido Popular, incluyendo a García Padilla, estaba presente y apoyando a los panelistas.

“Cuando los presentes cuestionamos al panel sobre su resistencia a la posible estadidad de Puerto Rico, la delegación popular proveyó información para armar al panel con argumentos. El panel apoyaba la imposición del inglés como idioma exclusivo y oficial de Puerto Rico y describía a los puertorriqueños como incapaces de aportar a la economía de la nación. Los miembros del panel describían a los puertorriqueños como extranjeros términos despectivos, a lo cual García Padilla sonreía en acuerdo”, rememoró Soto.
También aseguró que en intercambios con líderes de la Asociación, García Padilla admitió su relación con miembros del panel, algunos de los cuales estaban presentes bajo contrato con el PPD, y que notó su incapacidad de comunicarse en inglés.

Inestabilidad total con “shock absorbers”

Ricardo Roselló Nevares - Publicado en EL Vocero

Estos días es difícil abrir la página de un rotativo, o cambiar el canal, sin ver algún país en revuelta. Egipto, Libia, y Túnez son sólo ejemplos de pueblos que se levantan para ser escuchados y cambiar su status quo. La razón primordial citada por estas revueltas es la búsqueda de la “democracia”. Y aunque estoy parcialmente de acuerdo con esta premisa, también pienso que hay otro elemento fundamental -hasta más importante- que está en juego: la búsqueda de la estabilidad.


Podemos citar miles de factores que generan la estabilidad de un pueblo, pero entiendo que hay dos elementos esenciales: Trabajos y Producción. Si no hay producción, no hay trabajos. Si no tienes trabajo, en general, no tienes cómo mantenerte a ti y a tu familia. Si no puedes mantenerte, vives en ansiedad ante el reto de sobrevivir día a día.


Entiendo que algunos duden de la premisa, pero sólo hay que tomar países democráticos, como Estados Unidos, Japón, Colombia y el Congo, para ver cómo los primeros dos permanecen estables por su producción y desarrollo de trabajos, mientras que los últimos dos viven en constante revuelta e inestabilidad, caracterizados por la baja producción y la falta de trabajos para un gran segmento de la población. De la misma forma, podemos tomar países no democráticos, como China y Libia, donde observamos la misma diferencia en estabilidad, dada la producción y los trabajos.


Entonces, hay una clara distinción entre países estables e inestables. Dado esto, ¿dónde cae Puerto Rico en el espectro de la estabilidad e inestabilidad? Si tomamos los números de manera objetiva, Puerto Rico no produce trabajos nuevos y es uno de 5 países/territorios en el mundo que está en contracción económica. Es decir, tenemos una de las peores economías de producción en el mundo, y prácticamente sólo 1 de cada 4 personas trabaja.


Otros parámetros son menos alentadores. La educación del sistema público es de las peores en calidad del mundo y le falla a la gran mayoría de sus estudiantes. La criminalidad está rampante, cobrando vidas a niveles nunca antes vistos, y afectando la fibra de nuestra familia. Y como éstos, nos afectan muchos otros factores que hemos tocado en esta serie de columnas.


Estrictamente hablando, estamos peor que Egipto, Libia, Colombia, y Túnez ¿Por qué entonces no vemos una revolución en la Isla? La razón es sencilla. Aunque todas las condiciones están maduras para que la inestabilidad económica se transforme en una inestabilidad social, hay dos grandes amortiguadores, o “shock absorbers”, que evitan este evento:
* Veintidós mil millones de dólares ($22,000,000,000) anuales, cortesía de EE.UU.
* El pasaporte americano (y el pasaje de avión que lo acompaña)


Para que tengan una idea de cuánto dinero es despachado a Puerto Rico por los Estados Unidos, Egipto recibía $1,500 millones; el segundo país en el mundo que más ayuda recibe de EE.UU. (después de Israel). La población de Egipto es de 80 millones, mientras que la de Puerto Rico es de 4 millones. Es decir, recibimos más de 15 veces lo que recibe Egipto, y tenemos una población 20 veces menor. El neto por persona que recibimos es más de 300 veces la “ayuda” por persona de los egipcios.

Con esos $22 mil millones se mantiene un gobierno burocrático e ineficiente, y se le provee un mínimo para sobrevivir a los que no tienen empleo. Así es que se mantiene a un pueblo inestable sin desatar una revolución -dándole lo mínimo, para que se quede ahí, estancado y sin progresar, pero con lo suficiente para sobrevivir, y siendo dependiente del gobierno.


¿Y aquellos que no están felices con su condición al no tener trabajos o ganar 3 veces menos que sus conciudadanos americanos en los estados? Pueden sencillamente tomar un avión en cualquier momento, y mudarse a una jurisdicción donde existan trabajos, y donde se puede ganar $3,000 por el mismo tipo de empleo que aquí pagaría $1,000. La decisión no es fácil para la gran mayoría, pero las necesidades de producir para los suyos, los obligan a tomar esa decisión, ya que en su patria, no hay oportunidades.


Podemos concluir entonces que el status quo del ELA-Colonial tiene que acabar. Es un sistema totalmente inestable, donde cerca de la mitad de sus ciudadanos viven bajo el nivel de pobreza (>50%), donde carecen los trabajos y la producción, donde la educación es deficiente y se depende al extremo de un gobierno paternalista. En sí, es un status quo colonial que promueve el éxodo de sus mentes más hábiles y productivas hacia otras jurisdicciones.


Hay quienes dirán que, a pesar de nuestros grandes problemas, con los “amortiguadores” nos mantenemos y “sobrevivimos”, mientras que en otros países no. La cuestión es que venimos acarreando el yugo colonial por demasiado tiempo ya, y venimos sintiendo cada vez más las implicaciones negativas de esto, sobre todo en los últimos 10 años. De no cambiar nuestro curso, pronto veremos problemas aún mayores, que no habrá amortiguador alguno que los aguante.

¿Cuáles son esos problemas? ¿Qué soluciones propongo? Esto será tema para la próxima columna… Pero algo es claro: la colonia es, y seguirá siendo, el principal impedimento a nuestro crecimiento, progreso y estabilidad. El ELA-colonial esta expirado.


Y la decisión fundamental para Puerto Rico en el Siglo XXI será: Estadidad o Independencia.


*Pueden contactar al autor en facebook.com/rossello.nevares