2

Thursday, January 19, 2017

The San Juan Daily Star

GOOD MORNING

3

January 19, 2017

The San Juan Daily Star, the only paper with News Service in English in Puerto Rico, publishes 7 days a week, with a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday ediƟon, along with a Weekend EdiƟon to cover Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Puerto Rico Needs Urgent Congress Action: US Treasury, Health Chiefs T

INDEX Local Mainland Business InternaƟonal Viewpoint Entertaiment Cinema

3 8 14 17 21 23 24

NoƟcias en Español Legal NoƟces Sports Games Horoscope Cartoons

26 28 41 45 46 47

he secretaries of the U.S. Treasury and Health and Human Services called for fast congressional action to help Puerto Rico out of its economic mess, and said a bipartisan task force report failed to go far enough on recommending a low-income tax credit for the commonwealth. In a letter to U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell reaffirmed calls to step up healthcare funding for Puerto Rico. “We write to underscore the need for additional legislation early in this [congressional] session to address the economic and fiscal crisis in Puerto Rico,” the letter sent Tuesday said. They noted that 900,000 Puerto Ricans could risk losing healthcare unless Congress takes action by April. The U.S. territory is hampered by $70 billion in debt, unemployment more than twice the U.S. average, a 45 percent poverty rate and a decreasing population as locals flock to the U.S. mainland. A congressional task force of U.S. senators

Paul Ryan

and congressmen in December recommended several fixes for Puerto Rico, including boosting healthcare funding and exploring giving the island access to the federal Earned Income Tax Credit. The benefit for low- to moderate-income workers has been used to combat poverty, and the Obama Administration has proposed expanding it to Puerto Rico. If the credit exceeds a worker’s income tax liability, the government will refund the balance. The report (available online at reut. rs/2e4T00o) did not go far enough with the tax credit, Lew and Burwell said, calling the benefit a “powerful economic driver.” The task force report described healthcare in Puerto Rico as “a serious and urgent issue,” but did not agree on solutions. For decades, the United States offered lower payments to most island residents under the federally sponsored Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs. Funding for the Medicaid program for the poor, for example, has been capped by Washington, spurring island officials to borrow heavily through municipal bonds.

4

Thursday, January 19, 2017

The San Juan Daily Star

Governor Testifies on Status Before Senate Committee By JOHN McPHAUL [email protected]

G

ov. Ricardo Rosselló Nevares referred to the colonial status of Puerto Rico on Wednesday, telling the Puerto Rico Senate Committee on Federal, Political and Economic Relations that “it is unworthy and limits us.” Rosselló was testifying on Senate Bill 51 to establish the Law for the immediate decolonization of Puerto Rico. In the Leopoldo Figueroa Hall of the Capitol, the governor declared that the bill “allows us to take an affirmative step.” “Puerto Rico wants to end the longest colonial condition,” he said. Rosselló said with annexation as a state of the United States, “we would be in a position of better economic development and greater stability.” He said Puerto Rico has “the third lowest labor participation in the world and one of the worst rates of education.” “And it’s not our people, it’s the [commonwealth] system,” he said. On the Tennessee Plan for attaining statehood, he said we do not know “what is the magic bullet that will solve the problem, but what we do have are alternatives.” “It is a strategy, but we are making multiple efforts, with initiatives from the administration, the Legislature and the office of the resident commissioner,” Rosselló said. He affirmed that he “will fight and fight” against the colony. The governor also said that if one compares

the island with similar states in the U.S., such as Kentucky, the capital growth if Puerto Rico became a state is more than $10 billion, “as a conservative capital estimate.” “Under statehood it is not difficult to convince an investor; there would be more stability,” he said. “We are the oldest and most populous colony in the world,” the governor said. “We are offering an alternative so that the people can express themselves. If you are living in a state you will have a better quality of life, employment, education of high caliber, democratic participation …” The governor said that to abolish slavery and to win rights for women “there was no environment, the environment was created,” and reiterated that his government will promote the annexation of the island to the United States. In terms of population, the island would be the 24th or 25th largest in the U.S. In legislative representation, Puerto Rico would have five representatives and two senators in Washington, D.C. In addition, the presidential vote would be counted, something to which Puerto Ricans living on the island are not currently entitled. “Culturally, we have taken a step forward: we reject the colonial system” Rosselló said. “Now, we have to take this fight to the relevant forums.” The governor said the decolonizing formulas are statehood, independence or free association. “We have already taken a step, which is irreversible,” he said. On whether the bill is a distraction from eco-

Ricardo Rosselló Nevares nomic development measures, he commented on the various initiatives of the government to promote economic development. He noted that “we have to go to the U.S. and ask if it is good to maintain a colony that represses civil rights.” “The colonial system limits the economic aspect, but above all, it limits democratic rights,” Rosselló said. “We must assert the will of the people of Puerto Rico and demand that the U.S. Congress take proactive action.” On why he had not taken “action” before, the governor said that “before they were sitting obviously would be more difficult to achieve.” “Now we are enabling another bill where there will be non-territorial, non-colonial alternatives,” he said.

Gov’t Contracts Financial Advisory Firm Rothschild to Help with Fiscal Plan Implementation By JOHN McPHAUL [email protected]

T

he Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency & Financial Advisory Authority (AAFAF by its Spanish initials) announced Wednesday that the independent financial advisory firm Rothschild & Co has been contracted to advise the government of Puerto Rico on financial matters related to the development and implementation of the fiscal plan and the restructuring of debt and negotiations with creditors, as well as communications with creditors and the federal Fiscal Oversight Board, among other matters. The Rothschild & Co team will be led by Todd R. Snyder, executive vice president and co-

chair of North American Restructuring & Debt Advisory. In addition to advising numerous corporations, governments and agencies in the context of restructuring and reorganization, Snyder has experience in advising the U.S. government team on the restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler. In announcing the appointment, Gerardo Portela, executive director of the Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency & Financial Advisory Authority, said “[w] e chose Rothschild & Co based on its commitment to Puerto Rico and its extensive history advising on many of the most complex transactions in recent years.” Meanwhile, Snyder said “we are honored to help Puerto Rico at this critical time and commit-

ted to working constructively with all groups to achieve practical solutions for the island and stakeholders.” Rothschild & Co is an independent family business that has been at the heart of the world’s financial markets, La Fortaleza said in a press release. It is one of the largest independent financial advisory groups in the world, employing approximately 2,800 people in 40 countries. Rothschild & Co offers restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, asset management and fundraising services to governments, companies and individuals around the world. The group has three main branches: global counseling, private and asset management, and commercial banking.

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Puerto Ricans Celebrate Clemency for López Rivera

By JOHN McPHAUL [email protected]

P

uerto Ricans on Wednesday celebrated the decision by President Barack Obama to commute the sentence of imprisoned Puerto Rican nationalist Oscar López Rivera, calling it an act of justice and mercy with just a few days left in the president’s administration. Obama commuted López Rivera’s sentence along with granting clemency to dozens of other prisoners Tuesday, effective May 17. López Rivera himself expressed gratitude through his lawyer Jan Susler. “He is ‘very grateful’ to the people of Puerto Rico, the people of the United States and the world after learning of the forgiveness granted him today by outgoing President Barack Obama,” Susler told the Spanish news service Efe after talking with López Rivera in federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind. The lawyer of the Puerto Rican activist remarked that the 36 years that the independence leader has spent in prison are “too many,” and stressed that his patience was rewarded with Obama commuting the sentence three days before his leaving office and the inauguration of the president-elect, Donald Trump.

“Luckily the president had the wisdom to finally return this son to Puerto Rico,” the attorney said. “We are grateful, very happy and now we can start a happy year 2017.” Susler said López Rivera, his family and all those who have supported him are “satisfied” that Obama has done “what he should do” before leaving the presidency. López Rivera never lost faith that he would be freed and always hoped that he would return to Puerto Rico as a free man. The 74-year-old Puerto Rican independence leader served 36 years of a 55year sentence for seditious conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government and in 1988 was sentenced to another 15 years in prison for an attempted escape. Gov. Ricardo Rosselló expressed his gratitude over Twitter. “Thank @BarackObama for listening to the calls of Puerto Ricans and pardoning Oscar López. After much time he will return to his home and his family,” said the governor. “I receive all the Puerto Rican people in Fortaleza, which is open to everyone. There is no discrimination against anyone,” Rosselló said Wednesday when asked if the prisoner would be welcomed at the governor’s residence on his return in May.

Rosselló, who was one of the island’s political leaders who lobbied for Lopez’s release, said he was “happy” for Obama’s action. “Everybody had his reason [to lobby for him],” the governor said. “Mine was that others who had committed the same crime had been pardoned 16 years ago. And now that I realize there was a family waiting for him, it makes me happy that we can have an example of a family being reunited.” López reached out to Rosselló on Wednesday to thank him for his solidarity. “Today Oscar asked us that when I spoke to the governor to let him know that he was very grateful for the gesture of solidarity that the governor had made with him and his family,” said San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto. The mayor said “I have to thank the governor of Puerto Rico, who sent a very nice tweet from the humanitarian point of view.” The Archbishop of San Juan, Roberto González Nieves, thanked God for the commutation of the prison sentence. In a written statement, the monsignor said, “I would like to give from the bottom of my heart thanks to God for the announcement of the commutation of the sentence to Oscar López Rivera reaffirming once again what Jesus said that ‘the impossible for man

5

is possible for God.’” The archbishop also thanked President Obama “for his gesture of clemency, for having heard the plea of the Puerto Rican people and world leaders.” “On behalf of the bishops of the Puerto Rican Episcopal Conference, we would like to thank Pope Francis for his interventions in favor of the release of Oscar López Rivera,” the archbishop said. He also thanked the people “for the determination with which they united spiritually in this noble cause and that this unity is an omen of uniting respectfully in diversity.” The prelate said that joining in the “noble cause” were politicians from all parties and ideologies, religious leaders and faithful from different denominations, and Puerto Ricans from the island and from the diaspora. Last week, about 200 people in Washington made a final clemency appeal to Obama in favor of López Rivera and took boxes with 105,000 signatures collected to the White House, adding to another 108,000 registered on the website “We The People.” Recognized public figures signed the petition and showed public support for the activist, including the outgoing and incoming governors of Puerto Rico, Alejandro García Padilla and Rosselló, respectively, singer Ricky Martin, the musical group Calle 13 and former president Jimmy Carter. San Juan Mayor Cruz Soto urged people to celebrate the coming liberty of López Rivera beginning today at the San Sebastián Street Festival (see related story on page 23). The mayor participated in various activities on the island and in the mainland United States in support of López Rivera’s clemency. “Hello San Juan, hello Puerto Rico, freedom for Oscar López Rivera, soon to be with us,” said the mayor in a video. “We must thank all the Puerto Ricans who for many years, before many of us met Oscar López, were waging that battle. Soon we will give details of how we will make that celebration, when we receive that great Puerto Rican patriot who shows us that, despite our differences, we can do great things.” The mayor of the capital city invited people to celebrate at the annual weekend festival. “These San Sebastián Street fiestas are going to be extraordinarily big, let’s celebrate with our heart,” Cruz Soto said. “Thank you President Obama and let Oscar López Rivera live.” Peggy Ann Bliss contributed to this report.

6

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Housing Secretary-Designate Meets with Ex-Officials to Discuss Policy Direction By JOHN McPHAUL [email protected]

T

he designated secretary of the island Housing Department, Fernando Gil Enseñat, met Wednesday morning with five former secretaries of the agency to exchange ideas and discuss some of the proposals and initiatives outlined by Gov. Ricardo Rosselló in the Plan for Puerto Rico. “It was a very productive meeting in which we examined some of the proposals, strategies and programs we will be working on over the next four years,” Gil Enseñat said. “In addition, we discussed how we can work together with other government agencies and other sectors to provide better services to Puerto Rican families without a home of their own.” The meeting was attended by former secretaries Miguel Hernández Vivoni, Car-

los González, Ana Carmen Alemañy, Carlos Vivoni and Jorge Pierluisi. They considered the initiatives established in the government plan to promote social and economic selfsufficiency in all island communities, as well as to promote autonomy for families that do not own a home. “In the Housing Department and the AVP [Public Housing Administration] we are entrusted to comply with the Plan for Puerto Rico of our governor, Ricardo Rosselló, and we have initiated a process of dialogue that will extend to other sectors related to housing,” Gil Enseñat said. “The experience, as well as the successes and mistakes, of these ex-officials serve as a point of reference for starting our management with clear and specific goals.” The former secretaries talked openly with Gil Enseñat about their experiences directing the agencies and the methods they

used to implement their public policy. They also discussed alternatives for addressing the imbalance that exists between the number of owned homes and the demand for housing in Puerto Rico. They also discussed public housing issues and the need for these complexes to be used as a transitional and non-permanent homes. “To the people of Puerto Rico, I reiterate my commitment to improving the services offered through the Department of Housing and the AVP,” Gil Enseñat said. “I reaffirm that by promoting education at an early age, we will improve the quality of life in our communities. One of our priorities will be to promote self-management and provide the necessary tools to public housing residents so that they can acquire their own home and leave the system where they have lived for years.” The official said that according to the

Gov’t to Ease Golden Years with ‘Techo Dorado’ Rental Aid By PEGGY ANN BLISS Special to The STAR [email protected]

W

hile the last years of life may be far from as golden as they are touted to be, at least the Golden Roof (Techo Dorado) program will make paying the rent easier for seniors. “This fast-growing group needs a roof over their heads so they can use their money for other necessities,” said Edwin Carreras Rivera, executive director of the Housing Finance Authority (AFV by its Spanish acronym). A 2010 study showed that 67,000 elderly families pay for housing and that number would grow to 80,000 in five years, Carreras Rivera said, noting that his agency will maximize the 4 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), an incentive to use private equity to develop affordable housing. The LIHTC accounts for 90 percent of all af-

fordable rental housing created in the United States today, he said. The expansion of the 4 percent LIHTC will combine with other programs to cover 50 percent of the construction of small homes for the elderly throughout the island. In an Alliance with the Health Department, Carreras Rivera will also launch the Assisted Living Program for the Handicapped, whose population was 286,000 in 2014, according to Labor statistics. The program, the AFV chief said, identifies unused government buildings that can be modernized and converted to complexes for adults with mental or physical disabilities who need minimal assistance with daily living. Carreras Rivera said his agency is working on a bill to amend the AFV law so it will no longer be a subsidiary of the Government Development Bank (GDB). He said the relationship with the GDB cripples AFV’s ability to fulfill its mission,

because it limits the management of human resources and creates red tape around purchases. “We have our own resources and federal funds, so total independence would open capital markets without our having to be burdened by GDB baggage,” he said. The GDB has $121.3 million belonging to the AFV, in certificates of deposit and liquidities, which have been frozen by moratorium, Law 21-2016. The same is true of another $67.4 million deposited in The Economic Development Bank. “If we add them up, it is $188.7 million that was once earmarked for programs. We are working as a team and in alliances to see how we can open up this flow, with small cutbacks, so our programs can begin to stimulate the economy directly,” Carreras Rivera said. The official said there is a deficit from the sale of a $109 million portfolio of mortgage assets that generated income of $6.7

Fernando Gil Enseñat information gathered during transition hearings, a total of 27,000 Puerto Ricans are waiting for a safe roof over their heads. “It is worrying that despite having 53,000 housing units there are so many people on a waiting list,” the Housing secretarydesignate said. “We are going to review all this information and we will work responsibly to increase the availability of housing to 55,000 [units].” million. The transaction, finalized under the previous administration to “rescue” the GDB, was for $89 million, which was a loss and unnecessarily accelerated a line of credit that had a guaranteed source of repayment. “That source was the inactive accounts or unclaimed funds from the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions [OCIF],” he said. “The $57 million AFV account with Mi Casa Propia is held up in the Treasury Department accounts, which by law are pledged for these subsidies and have not been reclaimed.” On the other hand, Carreras Rivera rejected the idea that because the AFV is a public corporation that it be controlled by the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA). “Even if PROMESA had not come, the Plan for Puerto Rico is designed to maximize resources,” he said. “We do not affect the General Fund, but we are going to comply with the executive austerity orders signed by the governor. We are not obliged to because we are a corporation, but we will establish internal austerity controls, maximization of resources and reduction of expenses.” Carreras Rivera said he would meet with representatives of banks, cooperatives and mortgage outlets, among other private sector groups, to “recover confidence” and promote transparency.

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, January 19, 2017

7

UPR Bilingual Dental School Teams with Columbia U for Oral Health By PEGGY ANN BLISS Special to The STAR [email protected]

T

he world’s only accredited bilingual dental school – at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) -- and the prestigious Columbia University College of Dental Medicine (CDM) can smile more broadly today now that they have joined to improve oral health. The new partnership would achieve these goals through community-based research, education and care, the involved members announced last week. The partnership between two pre-eminent schools -- CDM, one of three Ivy League dental schools, and UPR, accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) -- “will pool academic and research resources to yield tremendous opportunities for students and faculty to develop joint ventures,” the participants said in a press release. Deans Christian S. Stohler, DMD, of Columbia and Ana N. López Fuentes, DMD, MPH, of the School of Dental Medicine at UPR, signed a memorandum of understanding to settle the

deal. The agreement identifies shared interests, such as community needs assessment and continuous care, oral health literacy, research and management technology. The program is aimed at reducing the shortage of Hispanic and Spanish-speaking dentists in the States as identified by the Hispanic Dental Association and other organizations. “We are the leading educational

institution for oral health professionals in Puerto Rico and Latin America,” López said. “By working with communities in Puerto Rico and New York City, we will encourage cultural competence in future clinicians. I believe this can help strengthen care for underserved Hispanic communities throughout the nation.” The partnership continues a longstanding relationship developed when Columbia helped found the

UPR dental school 60 years ago, López said. Stohler said both schools take a holistic and evidence-based approach to patient care, strengthened by their positions within academic medical centers. “Oral health is essential to overall health, and must be advanced by research, creating an evidence-based approach to care,” he said. López Fuentes, who has been on the UPR faculty for 29 years, took over her new role two years ago. She also serves on the Council of Deans Administrative Board to the American Dental Education Association and will become the chair/president of the council, the first UPR dean to hold the position. The two schools both celebrate landmark anniversaries this year: UPR, 60 years, and CDM, among the first university-affiliated dental schools in the United States, a century. For more information, visit dental.columbia.edu. The UPR School of Dental Medicine is a predoctoral and postdoctoral Dental Education Center for Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and Ibero-America.

Cada minuto ĐƵĞŶƚĂ͘͘͘

enero 2017

Patrono:

Recuerda que el pago del segundo semestre de la Póliza

de Seguro vence en

20

El Fondo le ofrece una cubierta completa de servicios médicos a tus empleados. Cumple con la Ley y conserva la inmunidad patronal que provee la Corporación del Fondo del Seguro del Estado. Accede a www.fondopr.com o visita cualquiera de nuestras oficinas regionales u Oficina Central. PUE

R

RIC

O

O

TO

BIERN

DE

O

Corporación del Fondo del Seguro del Estado

>ĞLJEƷŵ͘ϰϱĚĞϭϵϯϱ͕ƌơĐƵůŽϮϱ͕ϭϭ>͘W͘Z͘͘ƐĞĐ͘Ϯϴ͘

G

1-855-EL FONDO (1-855-353-6636) 1-844-PÓLIZAS (1-844-765-4927) 1-844-PATRONO (1-844-728-7666)