acciowriting:

(the photos are captioned with sources and translations, please don’t remove)

I know Tumblr has an aversion to reading long posts, and I understand! Me too! But please, give me five minutes, because this is important for Americans as well as Puerto Ricans. (Here is a TeleSur video in English which I think is pretty good and summarizes many of the things I will say.)

Today, 1st of May, Puerto Ricans are marching because of the situation of our island. Most of the protests are in San Juan, with smaller protests around the island in cities such as Ponce, Caguas, and Mayagüez. Tonight at midnight, the government has a deadline to reach an agreement and approve a Fiscal Plan to cut their debt, or else Wall Street creditors can sue the government.

Because, if you’ve seen the news: we’re in debt. Like, $70 billion in debt. Can we file for bankruptcy? Well, no, because our constitution does not allow it. Can we restructure our debt? Well, Congress (and our own government tbh) is pretty adamant that we can pay our debts to the Wall Street creditors if we just tighten up a bit, which in turn mostly affects the working/middle class. The cost of life has risen and, to summarize, the government is pretty much taxing almost everything with the intent of paying the debt. People, mostly young professionals, have been leaving for the US in search of a better life. Puerto Rico currently has a 45-52% poverty rate and an unemployment rate of around 12%.

At the moment, our government can only pay for the “essentials”. Schools are being closed and the University of Puerto Rico’s budget will be cut over 50% of the money it receives from the government (more info below). Last night, the US Congress authorized for almost $300 million dollars to go to Medicaid to help Puerto Ricans under the program.

Here main things we’re protesting against, although there is more:

1. PROMESA (literally, “promise”) stands for the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, Economical and Stability Act. This was created by the US Congress and signed by Obama last year when our government tried to get help for the island. This creates as Fiscal Oversight Board, which is meant to restructure our debt and pay it. (Keep in mind, Puerto Ricans had no say on who would make up the Board.) There are claims of conflicts of interests with many of the members, more info in the link, as several are linked with politicians or businesses that have benefited from PR’s debt.. The Fiscal Board has already spent around $3 million ($9-15k per meeting) (source, in Spanish) and the new executive director will have an annual salary of $625k (source). Protesters ask that, if there need to be budget cuts, let it be across all the government and the Fiscal Board where there are high salaries and nepotism. 
2. We don’t really know exactly where those $70 billion dollars went, as Puerto Rico’s government is considered highly corrupt. Last week, our senate and governor eliminated a board meant to audit our debt, basically eliminating our chances of knowing who spent what amount of dollars in this debt and why. It would allow us to know how much of that money was received and spent illegally, so we could then take action against it. (By coincidence, our current governor, Ricardo Roselló, is the son of ex-governor Pedro Roselló. During his terms, $25 billion dollars of debt are estimated to have been accumulated for the national debt. ENDI) (Caribbean Business - Elimination of Debt Audit Commission). Protesters ask for the debt to be audited, as well as a moratorium so we don’t have to pay while the audit is in process.
   
3. The UPR and Public education. Okay, as an UPR student, this semester has been so stressful. I would like to say that it’s been just because of our studies, but also because throughout the semester the Fiscal Oversight Board and the government have been announcing budget cuts to the university system. First it was $300 million out of the $800 million dollars the UPR receives from the government, then $450, now $512 million (again, out of $800 million). There are eleven campuses throughout the island, to provide accessible education for anyone who wants it. If this budget cut passes, eight out of eleven campuses would have to permanently shut down. The remaining 3 would not be able to accommodate all the students from the other campuses. Our governor flat out told us that the budget cuts would either have to be for the UPR system or for the public health system. (Yikes.) (Pulso Estudiantil’s Statement about the Strike in English.) Protesters ask that the Education and Health sectors do not suffer disproportionate budget cuts that affect them in a large scale.
4. Laboral Reform and the 983 Project/Law - Basically, workers under the public sector are given less protections, less working hours, less vacation days, less sick days, they don’t paid for overtime work. The 983, which is now a law, deals with this, but also touches upon the healthcare plans, small and medium local businesses, and others. It even reduces the island’s emergency fund! (i.e., in case of a earthquake, hurricane, or tropical storm), even though, you know, our location puts us at risk for storms and hurricanes! (WAPA video). Again, protesters ask that if these reforms are necessary, let them not be only for the working class, but also for politicians with high salaries. 

Countries like Greece and Argentina (with which we’re usually compared with) received help from the EU or IMF which was supposed to provide relief from the austerity measures they had, but they’re still not in good shape. Meanwhile, PROMESA is the only proper help the US has given us and has provided nothing but austerity measures to this day. (Money for federal health care programs is not included, as Puerto Ricans are natural American citizens that deserve the same treatment as the Americans in the States.) These measures are meant to help the Puerto Rican government pay its debts to Wall Street creditors, with no intention of relieving the Puerto Rican population. Under the Trump administration, this is not expected to change.

Puerto Rico continues to be an US colony. It has been for a century now. A commonwealth, or estado libre asociado, is just an euphemism for a colony, in our case. All this illegal debt was accumulated under the US’s eyes for decades, but nothing was done as Wall Street vultures profited of our situation until it all exploded and Puerto Rico could pay the US/Wall Street, around two years ago. It hurts my heart, but the truth is that the US government does not care for Puerto Ricans. They don’t. They only care that the Puerto Rican government pays its debts to Wall Street creditors and that we don’t ask for more money. We are not a priority and, under Trump’s administration, if things change, it won’t be for the better. (Just look at his tweet the other day.)

Today marks 15 consecutive days of protests in San Juan, all from different groups: students, laborers, professors, feminist groups, and others. Today, they all joined for this national protest. Puerto Rico has been in economic recession for as long as I can remember, but this is the first time I have ever seen this. 

It’s been a gray, rainy day throughout all the island, so like one of the chants against disproportional budget cuts say: If it rains, let it rain for everyone.