Puerto Rico News Digest For August 30, 2016

PERELLO RESIGNS AS HOUSE SPEAKER

From Caribbean Business:

"Jaime Perelló resigned from his position as Speaker of the Puerto Rico House
of Representatives Monday afternoon. He announced his resignation in the Ca-
pitol rotunda next to an original text of the Puerto Rico Constitution...Perelló
left his position after meeting with 16 lawmakers at the Capitol to discuss a tr-
ial underway in federal court of three former House employees under his dire-
ct supervision who were charged in a pay-for-play scheme to benefit the form-
er speaker’s fundraiser, Anaudi Hernández. During the trial Monday, Hernán-
dez said he raised more than $60,000 in cash for Perelló as part of a pyramid
scheme organized by attorney Irvin Faccio in which he was required to raise
$75,000 for the House leader..."

PUIG HEADS TO US OPEN AFTER GOLD MEDAL

From Bloomberg:

"Tennis player Monica Puig, who won the commonwealth’s first Olympic gold
medal in Rio de Janeiro earlier this month, competes Monday in her first match
this year at the U.S. Open in Queens, New York. Puig’s Olympic victory comes
amid dire Puerto Rico headlines of escalating debt, a broke pension system, a Zi-
ka outbreak, and a 10-year economic recession. Thousands of cheering fans gree-
ted her at the airport in San Juan when she arrived on Aug. 20, a week after her
win..."

BERNABE: AGRICULTURAL REFORM "URGENT"

From The San Juan Daily Star:

"Working People’s Party (PPT by its Spanish acronym) Rafael Bernabe said
late last week that the destruction of the island’s agriculture has been one of the
greatest tragedies in Puerto Rico’s recent history. Speaking at a forum sponsored
by the Puerto Rico Agriculture Association during its annual assembly, Bernabe
laid out some of the PPT’s proposals for the agricultural sector. “It’s a scandal that
today we import 85 percent of our food and that with the ability to export much
more and having a much broader food industry, we don’t do the first, and we don’t
have the second,” he said, according to an Inter News Service report. He added that
the reconstruction of island agriculture, with an agro-ecological emphasis, “is an ur-
gent and crucial task...”

LIBERTY GOES SOLAR AT LUQUILLO HQ

From News Is My Business:

"Oak Leaf Solar X LLC, a Yarotek entity, has installed 2,444 solar panels at Li-
berty Puerto Rico’s facility in Luquillo, making the provider’s operations more
sustainable and “reaffirming the companies’ respective commitments to Puerto
Rico and the environment,” the company announced Monday. Liberty entered
into a long-term power purchase agreement to buy its solar power from Oak Le-
af Solar X, an independent power producer and developer focused on solar energy..."

Puerto Rico News Digest For April 27, 2015

PR MAN MISSING AFTER NEPAL QUAKE

As reported today by El Nuevo Dia, Francis H. González, a scientist
from Puerto Rico, is currently missing in Nepal, days after it was shaken
by a strong earthquake which has left thousands dead and injured. A
friend of the young man last heard from González via email on April 16,
two days after he arrived in Nepal during a tour of Asia which began last
year. González may or may not have left the country before the quake.
The Department of State will be holding a conference call with the Ne-
palese embassy in Washington DC today to discuss efforts to find the
scientist.

PERELLO: GOV'T SHUTDOWN OUT OF QUESTION

From The San Juan Daily Star:

House Speaker Jaime Perelló said Thursday that he doesn’t know
the exact date when the government could shut down operations
due to the lack of liquidity at the Government Development Bank
(GDB) “because we are working so that a government shutdown isn’t
even an issue under consideration.” “We are not willing to shut down
the government,” Perelló said. “We are not willing to fire one single
public worker. And we are going to approve what we have to approve
so that our public workers get paid on the 15th and on the 30th of each
month and for government services to continue operating. That is why
we are working with such seriousness.” Perelló was reacting to a letter
sent by the GDB board of directors warning lawmakers of a possible
government shutdown within the next three months as the bank is rea-
ching levels of insolvency with a  little more than $500 million left in
its portfolio.

PR DOWNGRADED TO CCC+ BY S&P

From CNBC:

Standard & Poor's downgraded Puerto Rico's general obligation rating
to "CCC+" from "B." The ratings agency said the downgrade - issued late
Friday and announced again Monday morning - was based on its view that
"the commonwealth's market access prospects have further weakened and
Puerto Rico's ability to meet its financial commitments is increasingly tied
to the business, financial, and economic conditions on the island." It also
placed the general obligation rating on CreditWatch negative.

CULINARY FEST TO BE HELD MAY 16

From Caribbean Business:

Universidad del Este's José A. (Tony) Santana International School
of Hospitality and Culinary Arts will hold its first food festival,
Gastroarte 2015. The event, which promises to exhibit the best of
Caribbean flavors, will take place May 16 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. in
Carolina. It will feature music, restaurant exhibitions, artisans, coffee
growers and mixologists, as well as presentations by renowned Puerto
Rican chefs. Gastroarte is the first event to be held with the aim of de-
monstrating the school's academic excellence as the best in hospitality
and culinary arts in Puerto Rico.

OLIVE GARDEN TO HIRE 250 FOR SAN PATRICIO

From News Is My Business:

Looking to promote local economic development and job creation, Puerto
Rican company Restaurant Operators Inc., announced it is looking to fill
250 slots at its second Olive Garden restaurant expected to open this
summer in San Patricio Plaza in Guaynabo. The company is looking for
part-time waiters, service assistants, cooks, hosts and bartenders, among
other employees.

Puerto Rico News Digest For March 20, 2015

PRODUCE FROM DOM. REP. QUARANTINED

From Caribbean Business:

Customs and Border Protection (CBP), through its Field Operations
Office, announced Wednesday the implementation of a federal quaran-
tine order suspending imports of fruit and vegetables from the
Dominican Republic due to the Mediterranean fruit fly, or Medfly.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), through its Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued a federal order
(FO-2015-14) to immediately prevent entry or the introduction of
vegetables and fruits from the Dominican Republic to the U.S. to
avoid the introduction of the fruit fly, a very damaging pest.

CROWLEY ADDS FREIGHT CAPACITY FOR PR

From News Is My Business:

Just as Puerto Rico businesses are starting to feel the pinch of a
slowdown in merchandise imports in the wake of Horizon Lines’ exit
from the market, maritime shipper Crowley announced Thursday the
addition of a new flat-deck barge capable of carrying up to 400 loads.
The barge is scheduled to arrive in San Juan on Monday with a full
load of cargo for the island. The vessel’s deployment “marks an
important milestone in Crowley’s rapid response to the sudden depar-
ture of Horizon Lines from the Puerto Rico trade,” the company said.

HOUSE SPEAKER: 12% IVA MOST VIABLE OPTION

From The San Juan Daily Star:

House Speaker Jaime Perelló said Wednesday that in all probability
the value added tax would be 12 percent and not 16 percent as pro-
vided in the Tax Transformation Act legislation fi led by Gov.
Alejandro García Padilla. The Puerto Rico House of Representatives,
after listening to more than 100 agencies and individuals, is now
in the process of amending the proposed reform. The House is eva-
luating establishing different rates of the value-added tax (IVA
by its Spanish acronym), but on Wednesday Perelló said lawmakers
are leaning toward a 12 percent rate.

MAN WHO KILLED HIGLER COULD GET 8 YEARS

Gerardo De La Paz, the driver who killed Dutch globetrotter Laurens

Higler in a hit and run last week, could face up to 8 years of jail time

without parole for leaving the scene of the accident. Police are conti-

nuing their investigation in Guayama.

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