‘Any
“bailout” that might occur … seems directed only at the Wall
Street vultures who now control most of the debt,’ Déborah
Berman-Santana tells MintPress News in a sprawling interview about
the debt crisis in Puerto Rico.
Despite only
making headlines in recent months, the economic crisis in Puerto Rico
has been developing and worsening for the past several years, a
crisis which has led to Puerto Rico being dubbed “the Greece of the
Caribbean.”
In this
interview, Déborah Berman-Santana, professor emeritus of geography
and ethnic studies at Mills College in Oakland, California, analyzes
the latest developments in Puerto Rico.
Berman-Santana
is the author of “Kicking Off The Bootstraps: Environment,
Development, and Community Power in Puerto Rico,” a detailed
analysis of “Operation Bootstrap,” a post-World War II industrial
program launched by the United States that was one of the very first
of its kind in the world.
Speaking to
MintPress News, Berman-Santana analyzes the long history of colonial
exploitation of the island, how the current economic crisis
developed, and why the latest “bailout” of the island is only a
bailout for the vulture investors who have taken possession of much
of Puerto Rico’s debt and who now have their sights set on the
island’s valuable assets and resources. She also draws comparisons
with the economic crisis and subsequent “bailouts” that have been
seen in Greece, a country where she has spent extensive time over the
past year.
Full
interview:
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