• @[email protected]
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    52 years ago

    From what I’ve heard, Puerto Rico got in a sticky situation with debt. They have a provision in their constitution that puts repayment of creditors before funding the people’s needs. Because of that, creditors were willing to heap on the debt, far beyond what Puerto Rico can pay.

    I wonder if this company (which does not appear to be imposed by the federal government) has anything to do with that. Its predecessor, which was owned by the government, was highly indebted.

      • @[email protected]
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        22 years ago

        The constitution was drafted by a Constitutional Convention and overwhelmingly ratified by the citizens of Puerto Rico. The US did step in and make changes, but they were unrelated to this.

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆OP
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          42 years ago

          Yeah, I’m sure there was absolutely no interference from US in its colony that US continues to cling to today.

          • @[email protected]
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            22 years ago

            As I stated, the US interfered. It just didn’t interfere in that part of the constitution. It was only decades later that Puerto Rico even started pilling the debt too high.

            • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆OP
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              -12 years ago

              It is fantastical to think that people of Puerto Rico decided to encode in their constitution that payments to creditors would be prioritized over their own needs. This is the same pattern we see in many countries US subjugates through institutions like IMF as well. Let’s not blame the victim here.

              • @[email protected]
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                22 years ago

                Honestly, when I read it I’m not sure the Constitutional Convention fully intended what came about. At any rate, Puerto Rico went through a bankruptcy process a few years back that significantly decreased the face value of their debt. At around the same time, the predecessor to this power company was going through its own debt crisis, with billions of dollars in loans with no realistic way to pay them.

    • @[email protected]
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      2 years ago

      Presumably the rational for this rather dubious provision was to assist in getting loans?

      Or is this like a standard clause in constitutions?