Rivera Schatz blasts fiscal board report to Congress

Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz

By THE STAR STAFF

Puerto Rico Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz sharply criticized a report sent by the Financial Oversight and Management Board to the U.S. Congress, which claims the island’s government “does not demonstrate fiscal stability” without the board’s supervision.

He was talking about reports issued by the oversight board late Monday, in which it summarized its tenure and provided recommendations to Congress.

Rivera Schatz dismissed the report as an attempt by the board to justify its continued presence and the “million-dollar contracts” it maintains at taxpayers’ expense. He argued the document paints an inaccurate picture of Puerto Rico’s finances, noting that the island government is not facing shutdowns or operational deficits.

“These claims are baseless,” the Senate leader said, accusing the board of seeking to protect its own interests and lucrative contracts. “Here in Puerto Rico, there are no shutdowns and no deficits.”

Pointing out what he called the oversight board’s contradictory stance -- warning Congress about Puerto Rico’s fiscal vulnerability while the U.S. itself struggles with budget crises, Rivera Schatz noted that the very Congress receiving the report recently endured a 43-day federal government shutdown due to budgetary disputes and fiscal instability in the United States.

Rivera Schatz also questioned the need for permanent oversight of a democratically elected government. He called Puerto Rico’s current territorial status “a disgrace,” arguing that it limits the island’s development and enables intervention by what he described as “colonial entities” like the oversight board.