by Hannah Rank, Medill Reports Chicago
A quiet chatter filled the cafeteria of Aspira Business and Finance High School on Friday night. Loved ones and old friends greeted one another heartily. On a vaulted stage positioned on the other end of the room sat a group of seven chairs lined up in two rows. The chairs began to fill slowly.
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| Hannah Rank_MEDILL |
First a professor from Hunter College, then two top administrators of the the high school took a seat. Then the 30th ward alderman, Ariel Reboyras, positioned himself in the front right chair. On the other end of the row sat the up-and-coming 35th ward alderman, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, who after less than a year in the City Council has already made quite a splash. Finally, State Senator Iris Martinez of the 20th district and U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-4th) entered. Once the elected leaders had settled on the stage, Jose Lopez, leader of the Puerto Rican Agenda, the organization hosting Friday’s event, motioned for the attendees to take their seats.
The crowd had a familiar comfort. But this was no casual get-together; Illinois’ pre-eminent Puerto Rican leaders don’t often gather publicly in the same room. The topic of discussion: Puerto Rico, their “tierra.” It’s in serious debt, and they’ve come to galvanize support and discuss solutions.
“Tonight is the first time Puerto Rican elected leadership, along with leaders from the local Puerto Rican Community are publicly coming together to discuss these concerns,” Cristina Pacione-Zayas, the co-chair of the Puerto Rican Agenda, said in her introduction. “This presidential election is very critical, and we really have a grand opportunity to put these issues on the map and to really do something for our community.”First to speak was Edwin Melendez, director of The Center for Puerto Rican studies at Hunter College. He explained the scale and implications of the current debt crisis plaguing the island.
“Because we are in junk bond territory – there is no value to the debt that Puerto Rico has access to – the most recent administration cannot borrow any money,” Melendez said. “So, the fight right now is that we need some kind of territorial bankruptcy to protect the commonwealth and the corporations from the debt that they have to pay.”
Right now, because Puerto Rico is not a state, under U.S. law the island’s municipalities may not file for bankruptcy protections.
Melendez said nearly half of Puerto Ricans on the island are living in poverty.
“Because of that, we have an unprecedented migration to the U.S. All our communities are receiving newcomers,” he said. Melendez noted that one state receiving new Puerto Ricans is Pennsylvania, poised to be a swing state in the elections.
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