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 June 15, 2016

PUERTO RICO MOURNS ORLANDO VICTIMS

From US News/AP:

"Puerto Ricans held somber vigils and prepared to bury many of their own
after authorities said nearly half of those killed at a gay night club in Florida
had ties to the U.S. territory. Officials said that while it's still unclear how ma-
ny of the 23 Puerto Ricans killed were born on the U.S. mainland or had mo-
ved there from the island, they expect many of them to be laid to rest in Puer-
to Rico in the coming days...The shooting early Sunday at the Pulse nightclub
in Orlando that killed 49 people has shaken Puerto Rico's gay community and
shocked the U.S. territory as a whole..."

US SENATE TO CONSIDER PROMESA IN JUNE

From Caribbean Business:

"Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday the Senate will consider a
rescue package to ease Puerto Rico’s financial crisis before the U.S. territory’s
$2 billion payment to creditors is due July 1. The House overwhelmingly pa-
ssed legislation to create a new control board and restructure some of Puerto
Rico’s $70 billion debt last week. The Senate is expected to take up the same
bill “sometime before the end of the month,” McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters
Tuesday..."

FBI INVESTIGATES BANKER'S DEATH IN PR

From The New York Times:

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation has identified possible suspects in its long-
running investigation into the murder of a banker in Puerto Rico,  but it is now
asking the public for help in solving the 2011 killing. Five years ago this week,
Maurice Spagnoletti, a top executive at Doral Financial, the holding company
that owned a Puerto Rico bank, was gunned down on his way home from work
in San Juan...The F.B.I. announced on Tuesday a $20,000 reward for information
that leads to an arrest..."

LIBERTY LAUNCHES HBO NOW IN PUERTO RICO

From News Is My Business:

"Starting [yesterday], Liberty Puerto Rico’s customers will begin to enjoy HBO
NOW, a new service from HBO for internet customers who want to watch the
network’s programming but are not subscribed to a video service. Liberty Puer-
to Rico is the only telecom provider to offer this service on the island, the com-
pany said. HBO NOW is an independent streaming service from HBO Networks
that provides unlimited access to all of HBO’s programming, including series, mo-
vies, documentaries and specials..."

Puerto Rico News Digest For December 11, 2014

HEDGE FUNDS BACK $2.9B BOND SALE

From The San Juan Daily Star:

Contrary to what Treasury Secretary Melba Acosta said, hedge
funds that hold Puerto Rico’s general obligation bonds will
back a proposed bond sale of up to $2.9 billion even after
lawmakers capped the interest rate on the bondsat 8.5 percent,
a source close to the hedge funds told Reuters on Tuesday.

“The rate limit does not change the broad view on Puerto Rico
or the bond sale itself,” said the source, who declined to be
named as details of the transaction were not public. At a news
conference, Acosta said she was not pleased with the bill that
hikes the crude oil tax to $15.50 from $9.25. The hike will
fund the bond issue and mass transit operations. The bond issue
will help pay a $2.2 billion credit line that the Highway and
Transportation Authority has with the Government Develop-
ment Bank to give it liquidity.

MAN MURDERED IN CAYEY

EL Vocero reports that an unidentified man's body was found
last night by Police on 25th Street of the Polvorín neighborhood
in Cayey. The man displayed several gunshot wounds which
presumably killed him instantly. Agents from the Criminal
Investigative Body out of Guayama are in charge of the
investigation.

LIBERTY ACQUIRES CHOICE CABLE TV FOR $272M

From Fox News Latino:

The Puerto Rican unit of cable television, telephone and broadband
provider Liberty Global on Wednesday announced the acquisition
of local rival Choice Cable TV for $272.5 million, saying the deal
will allow it to reach 80 percent of homes on the U.S. commonwealth
and expand its customer base there by nearly 20 percent.

The transaction, which was announced Wednesday by Liberty
Cablevision of Puerto Rico but still is subject to regulatory approval,
will give Liberty control over the leading cable and broadband services
provider in Puerto Rico's southern and western regions.

Liberty's operations in Puerto Rico are currently focused on the
island's northern, eastern and central regions.

RETAIL SALES UP 1% IN SEPTEMBER

From News Is My Business:

Retail sales of commercial in Puerto Rico were up 1.06 percent in
September 2014 compared to the same month in 2013, Puerto Rico
Trade and Export said Wednesday.

Sales reached $3.09 billion in September 2014, versus $3.06 billion
in September 2013, representing $32 million in added activity, PR
Trade Executive Director Francisco Chévere said.

ALVAREZ VS COTTO SET FOR MAY

From The Int'l Business Times:

It’s not at the level of Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Manny Pacquiao
but a Canelo Alvarez vs. Miguel Cotto bout would be on top of
the list of the most anticipated fights in 2015. The latter
fight is now being finalised after both Oscar De la Hoya and
Bob Arum admitted that discussions between the two camps have
been going well.

The Alvarez vs. Cotto bout will air on HBO Pay-Per-View (PPV)
on the much-coveted date of the weekend of the Mexican holiday
Cinco de Mayo. The probable venue would be in San Antonio,
Dallas, Las Vegas or New York, also according to De La Hoya.

The 34-year-old Cotto (39-4-0, 32 KOs), who is from Caguas,
Puerto Rico, is coming off back-to-back victories. Meanwhile,
the 24-year-old Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs), who is from Tlajomulco
de Zúñiga, Jalisco, Mexico, is also coming off two wins in a
row over Alfredo Angulo (10th round TKO) and Erislandy Lara
(12 rounds split decision).