NPRC Welcomes Task Force, Criticizes Interior's Barbauta

"Captain Morgan Deal Shows Recklessness, Not 'Foresight and Ingenuity'"

WASHINGTON, March 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Puerto Rican Coalition welcomes tomorrow's meeting of President Obama's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status, but expressed concern about remarks by a Task Force member, Assistant Interior Secretary Anthony Barbauta, who in November praised the $2.7 billion Rum cover-over giveaway to British liquor giant Diageo, LLC.

"In his speech before the U.S. Virgin Islands' Legislature on November 19, Assistant Secretary Barbauta lavishly praised the excessive and irresponsible diversion of billions of badly-needed dollars to Captain Morgan and Cruzan Rums," said NPRC Chairman Miguel Lausell. "I hope that during his visit to our Island, he looks into the faces of the 16 percent of Puerto Ricans who are unemployed, and the 1 in 3 Puerto Ricans who are living in poverty. Maybe he will reconsider whether these billions of dollars are better spent to meet social needs – or to line the pockets of the world's biggest and richest corporations."

In his speech to the Virgin Islands Legislature on November 19, Barbauta praised Virgin Islands politicians for their "foresight and ingenuity" in diverting half their Rum cover-over revenues to the distillers themselves. "We must promote business in order to create new jobs and to provide the funds needed for the ambitious projects of the local government," he added.

"With all due respect to Assistant Secretary Barbauta, the Captain Morgan deal shows recklessness, not 'foresight and ingenuity,'" said NPRC President Rafael Fantauzzi. "Nobody doubts the importance of economic development, but to give Diageo twice as much as it costs them to make their product is both excessive and irresponsible. It's one thing to encourage business to create jobs, but quite another to close your eyes to the real needs of poor people in both Territories. We are each facing an economic meltdown, and can't afford to give billions to corporations that don't need it."

Lausell again urged the Task Force to "develop a government-wide 'Marshall Plan'" to rebuild the Island's economy. "Puerto Rico is in economic crisis, and while questions of status divide us, all Puerto Ricans stand together on the need for jobs, economic growth – and the restoration of $6 billion in revenues that will be lost if the Captain Morgan scheme goes forward."

SOURCE National Puerto Rican Coalition