Puerto Ricanstruction: University Professors Uniting Against Austerity
By Julian HaydaPuerto Ricanstruction: University Professors Uniting Against Austerity
By Julian HaydaMost of Puerto Rico’s public institutions have been facing harsh scrutiny since 2016. That’s when President Obama appointed a board of experts to deal with over $100 billion that the government owed to mostly private creditors. Among other austerity measures, oversight board proposes the University of Puerto Rico close seven of its eleven campuses and double its tuition. The move was postponed because of Hurricane Maria, but almost a year later, the board’s austerity measures are looking likely to go forward. A group of professors at the University have launched a lawsuit against the control board to keep the university from radical cuts. We’re joined by one of those professors, Evaluz Cotto-Quijano, of the College of Business Administration. She was in town as a visiting scholar at the University of Chicago where she researched the effect of austerity against Puerto Rico’s cooperative credit unions. Cotto joins Worldview to discuss the professors’ lawsuit and the banking sector in Puerto Rico.