Governor announces coronavirus protocol

On Saturday, Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced unveiled Puerto Rico’s COVID-19 protocols and called for the public to remain calm but on alert. Among the governor’s suggestions was a call for caution in travel. “Travel is recommended; what one has to do is be careful about where we’re going,” she said, warning against travel to countries in which person-to-person transmission of the virus has been confirmed.

On Friday, it was announced that Puerto Rico is at a Level 3 alert due to the virus. This, the lowest tier in the three-level system, calls for the public to be kept informed of the risks associated with the disease, as well as for updates on the inventories for goods, the enactment of preventative measures steps for the early identification of cases of the virus.  

Should COVID-19 reach Puerto Rico, however, it will find an Island in the midst of a health-care crisis. Doctors continue to depart in large numbers, and troubles with insurance reimbursement abound. The island municipality of Vieques has been without a hospital since 2017. Additionally, hundreds of people still sheltered in tents following January’s earthquakes are particularly at risk. 

Municipal administrators warn of harmful effects of Act 29 annulment

Signed last year, Act 29 lifted two financial burdens from Puerto Rico’s municipalities: making payments towards Puerto Rico’s health plan and contributions towards pensions under the “PayGo” system. The Fiscal Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico (FOMB) has maintained that the law endangers pensions and was passed in violation of PROMESA.

Several Puerto Rico mayors, however, argue that the law is keeping multiple cash-strapped municipalities afloat, and that its annulment would leave them unable to operate.  “If Act 29 is eliminated without an alternative, then truly, most of the small municipalities, in a year or two, will have to close,” said Ciales mayor Luis “Rolan” Maldonado, who called on Governor Vázquez Garced and the Legislature to enact a concrete alternative to the statute. 

Governor submits revised fiscal plan

Governor Vázquez Garced has submitted a revised fiscal plan to the FOMB. The fiscal plan includes a billion-dollar contribution to fund a retroactive account for reconstruction projects. It also includes $146 million (expected to rise to $155 million by fiscal year 2025) to implement a Uniform Repayment plan for career public employees, as well as funds to finance police retirement and municipal coffers. 

The plan, while contemplating further delays in federal emergency funds, also rests upon them to boost the economy to a greater degree than projected a year ago. The document also claims for the first time in several years that it is able to service its debts. In general terms, the plan, drafted by the Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency and Financial Affairs Authority (AAFAF, in Spanish) paints a comparatively rosy picture of Puerto Rico’s near-term future. The fiscal plan also touts savings in public spending caused by decreasing the number of public employees and employee benefits, actions which it also credits with increasing employment. Additionally, it forecasts further cuts, to the tune of $2 billion, while also projecting an increase in revenue of $474 million. 

Costs associated with the restructuring of debt are expected to reach $1.1 billion.

In the wake of Alexa Negrón’s murder, Puerto Rico grapples with transphobia

The challenges faced by Puerto Rico’s trans population gained new prominence this week, after the murder last Monday of Alexa Negrón and the circumstances surrounding it sparked widespread outrage on the Island and beyond. On Wednesday, senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren expressed her condolences. A day later, rapper Bad Bunny appeared on The Tonight Show wearing a t-shirt saying Mataron a Alexa, no un hombre con falda (“They killed Alexa, not a man in a skirt”). 

On the Island itself, Governor Vásquez Garced has called the murder a hate crime, while dozens congregated on Saturday for a vigil for the homeless woman whose life, encounters with the police (for using the women’s bathroom at a fast food restaurant, hours before her body was found) and even her murder had served as social media fodder. In the video of Alexa’s murder, (which was recorded by the perpetrators), laughter can be heard before the gunshots were fired. Initial police reports of the murder misgendered Alexa, labeling her as a man in a skirt.