Administrația Biden va acorda prioritate recuperării de 65 de miliarde de dolari a Puerto Rico, nu statutului politic

Un grup operativ recent reînviat de la Casa Albă din Puerto Rico se va concentra pe avansarea reconstrucției pe teritoriul SUA după aceea Uraganele Maria și Irma în 2017, last year’s earthquakes si Covid-19 pandemie în loc să se alăture congressional debate over Puerto Rico’s political status, un răspuns la decenii de tensiune around the fate of the island’s relationship to the mainland.

“We don’t have jurisdiction on status, but we do have jurisdiction on the billions of dollars that have gone to the island. And there’s a real concern that these dollars might not be spent in a way that would make a real difference,” Gretchen Sierra-Zorita, the White House’s associate director for Puerto Rico and the territories, said Wednesday.

Guvernul federal a alocat peste 65 de miliarde de dolari în fonduri de recuperare Puerto Rico, dar comunitățile de pe insulă au primit doar aproape 21 de miliarde de dolari, potrivit Biroul de Recuperare, Reconstrucție și Reziliență.

Majoritatea fondurilor au fost alocate Agenției Federale de Management al Urgențelor și departamentelor de Educație și Locuințe și Dezvoltare Urbană.

“This is such a historic opportunity to do it right at all levels and to use these resources,” Sierra-Zorita said. “You don’t want to have a situation where you’re spending money and then, 20 or 30 years down the line, you say: ‘What did we do? What did we spend that money on?’

“We want to spend our energy and focus on doing it right, or at least attempt to do it right, rather than to be bogged down by a debate on the status,” she said.

The White House Working Group on Puerto Rico held its first meeting Tuesday. It was attended by a significant number of officials, including 10 members of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet and four deputy agency secretaries, according to the White House.

Investiția în reziliența pe termen lung a insulei și a infrastructurii acesteia pentru a se asigura că comunitățile pot rezista dezastrelor viitoare este o prioritate de top pentru grupul de lucru, a spus Casa Albă în o declarație.

But when they consider Puerto Rico’s ability to withstand future disasters, officials are also thinking about the impacts of the island’s decadeslong fiscal crisis, which was triggered when U.S. laws a exclus în mod arbitrar Puerto Rico din codul federal al falimentului.

Mișcarea a împiedicat insula să-și rezolve criza datoriilor de 72 de miliarde de dolari prin Capitolul 9 și a determinat Congresul să adopte legea PROMESA în 2016 pentru a crea un consiliu fiscal desemnat de federal responsabil de restructurarea datoriei. Mișcarea a dus la măsuri dure de austeritate.

Sierra-Zorita said the task force’s recommended policy priorities include economic development, education and workforce development, and recovery and delivery.

“Under economic development, that’s where you’ll see things like the fiscal issues and job growth,” she said.

In addition, under recovery and delivery, officials will focus on addressing issues limiting Puerto Rico’s capacity to manage its crises.

“If you teach the island how to manage these huge amounts of funds and how to deliver these services, you’re building capacity. That capacity can be transferred to other areas of government,” Sierra-Zorita said. “The notion, to some extent, is to cut the dependency, not because we don’t want to help, but because people don’t want to be dependent. They want to manage their own affairs, and they want to be resourceful on their own.”

Officials say reinstating the task force, which has existed during almost every recent administration expect former President Donald Trump’s, was part of Biden’s campaign promise to Puerto Ricans.

Reactivating the task force “is an expression of that commitment,” Sierra-Zorita said.

Under Trump, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Peter Brown was appointed as the White House’s special representative for Puerto Rico’s disaster recovery, 10 months before Trump’s term ended.

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