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Puerto Rico News Digest For December 11, 2015

BHATIA CONDEMNS GOP FISCAL BILL

From Caribbean Business:

"If Congress does not approve Chapter 9 protections for Puerto Rico
before the end of the year, Bhatia said that the commonwealth will
have to default on Jan. 1 and deal with the legal consequences.“The
proposals set forth by Republicans are not acceptable to anyone at
the moment. I think we have to reject them or amend them,” Bhatia
said in a radio interview. “There is a lot of work to be done during
this week and the next to amend that [bill], and obtain acceptable
proposals for Puerto Rico,” he added. The Puerto Rico Assistance
Act provides short-term tax relief to workers and makes $3 billion
in funds available to the commonwealth, but stops short of granting
the commonwealth access to Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection..."

PR SHOPLIFTING LOSSES AT $490M

From News Is My Business:

"Puerto Rico retailers and the government are losing some $490 million
in annual revenue as a result of shoplifting and organized crime, mem-
bers of the Puerto Rico Marketing, Industry and Food Distribution Cham-
ber said Wednesday. The problem also affects consumers, who pay higher
prices as businesses attempt to compensate for the costs. A portion of tho-
se losses are also attributed to uncollected sales and use tax revenue that
the Puerto Rico Treasury Department is failing to receive..."

PREPA RESTRUCTURING EXTENSION EXPECTED

From San Juan Daily Star:

"As the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) secured another
extension from bondholders to get insurance companies to sign onto an
agreement to restructure the agency’s $8.2 billion of debt and for comm-
onwealth lawmakers to approve the proposal, financial analyst Daniel
Hanson said Wednesday that he is not surprised by the news. The agree-
ment extends termination dates on an earlier accord between PREPA and
investors owning about 35 percent of the agency’s bonds to Dec. 17, the
utility said in a statement. The pact, which was set to expire Thursday,
was extended for a third time since being signed last month..."

FIRST SAME SEX ADOPTION APPROVED

From Latin Correspondent:

"A court in Puerto Rico has allowed adoption by same-sex couples for
the first time in the country’s history. Judge Ladi Buono De Jesús today
answered Ángeles Judith Acosta Rodríguez’s request to adopt her partner
Carmen Milagros Vélez Vega’s biological child Juliana. The minor will
remain in the national registry under both women’s surnames, according
to Vanguardia.  This was the second time that the couple attempted the
claim..."

COMERIO TWITTER TROLL ARRESTED

From Fox News Latino:

"A Puerto Rico man accused of creating 300 Twitter accounts to harass
people online has been arrested in the first case of its kind for the U.S.
territory, authorities said Tuesday. The island's Justice Department said
27-year-old Omar Falcon Torres is suspected of operating under the na-
me "MedeaBot" for two years. He faces charges that include stalking,
misappropriation of identity and intimidating witnesses in part by send-
ing people "violent sexual imagery" and using violent language, authori-
ties said..."

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