Friends,

As part of the coronavirus stimulus package, Congress passed an additional $600 million in food benefits for Puerto Rico.

This is exciting progress that impacts more than 1.5 million people who rely on Nutrition Assistance Program aid on the island.

This progress is possible because of the calls we all made to Congress and because of the powerful stimulus advocacy of Puerto Rico's religious leaders and our national faith partners during stimulus negotiations. 

Thank you.

As Congress faces more votes on Puerto Rico, please take action and call your Senators. If you already called, please call again and leave another message for your Senator.

Since the pandemic hit, Puerto Rico religious leaders, US national faith groups and Jubilee USA pressed Congress to include Puerto Rico in stimulus package plans. Representing more than 95% of Puerto Rico’s population, island religious leaders wrote Congress to include Puerto Rico job creation, disaster relief and $1.2 billion in Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. 

The new food assistance in the stimulus bill will help the many people in Puerto Rico who suffered cuts to food benefits.

Before the New Year, please leave a message for your Senators. You can leave a message 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. The new stimulus funding is progress and Congress must do more. Before the pandemic, Puerto Rico wrestled with debt crisis, natural disasters and 60% of kids living in poverty.

In the fall, your actions meant the White House announced a FEMA award of $13 billion in Puerto Rico disaster aid to rebuild the power grid and schools. A few days later, Congress included pandemic-related food aid for schoolchildren in Puerto Rico as part of the continuing resolution extending government funding. President Trump also expressed support for our Jubilee call to return manufacturing jobs to the island.

This progress is only possible because of your partnership and actions.

Thank you,

Aldo

Aldo Caliari
Senior Director of Policy and Campaigns
Jubilee USA Network
aldo@jubileeusa.org
www.jubileeusa.org/support-us

Washington DC – Congress passed additional Nutrition Assistance Program food benefits for Puerto Rico as part of its $900 billion COVID stimulus plan.

“During the pandemic too many people in Puerto Rico suffered cuts to food benefits,” said Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA. “The new food assistance in the stimulus bill impacts 1.5 million people on the island.”

Since the pandemic hit, Puerto Rico religious leaders, US national faith groups and Jubilee USA encouraged Congress to include Puerto Rico in stimulus package plans. Representing more than 95% of Puerto Rico’s population, island religious leaders wrote Congress to include Puerto Rico job creation, disaster relief and $1.2 billion in Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. The stimulus package increases food aid by $600 million. Jubilee USA coordinated meetings with Republican leadership and US religious groups and the Puerto Rico religious leaders during the final stimulus package negotiations.

“The increased food benefits for Puerto Rico are desperately needed. This stimulus funding is progress and Congress will need to do more,” shared LeCompte. "Before the pandemic, Puerto Rico wrestled with debt crisis, natural disasters and 60% of kids living in poverty."

Read the Jubilee Puerto Rico Religious Leader Letter to Congress here.

Washington DC – As Congress negotiates a coronavirus stimulus bill, Puerto Rico and US religious leaders met with Congress leaders on job creation, disaster relief and food benefits for Puerto Rico.

In response to the calls for job creation, President Trump expressed support this fall for increasing pharmaceutical jobs on the island.

"In the mid-2000s, Puerto Rico lost over 100,000 good jobs to India and China. This loss led to our current debt crisis and many of the economic challenges we now face, further exasperated by a series of natural disasters. Given the constraints that exist in global supply chains and critical needs faced by all US citizens, current stimulus plans should include measures to bring pharmaceutical manufacturing jobs immediately to Puerto Rico and revive Puerto Rico's failing and debt-burdened economy," wrote Puerto Rico religious leaders in their letter to Congress.

Read the Jubilee Puerto Rico Religious Leader Letter to Congress here.

Friends,

After ten years of work, the Senate passed Jubilee's Corporate Transparency Act. Thanks to the tens of thousands of phone calls, postcards, petitions and letters that you generated - now our legislation heads to President Trump's desk to be signed into law.

Our legislation reveals the real owners of so-called anonymous shell companies to authorities. Shell corporations are used by polluters, tax-evaders, human traffickers and public officials who steal debt relief and development aid. United Nations experts recently found that $1.6 trillion is laundered per year through shell companies and related mechanisms.

After this historic victory, as Jubilee USA continues our year-end COVID-19 stimulus advocacy on student debt and poverty alleviation, we need you to call your Senators now for Puerto Rico. Please call now as Puerto Rico aid, jobs and child poverty reduction face votes in this Congress.

As you make your calls, Puerto Rico's religious leaders, our Jubilee USA staff, national religious partners and grassroots religious leaders are meeting with Republican Senate leadership as stimulus negotiations continue.

Puerto Rico needs disaster recovery monies, measures to bring back pharmaceutical manufacturing jobs and the authorization of $1.2 billion for Nutrition Assistance Program benefits that impact 1.5 million people on the island. Across Puerto Rico, leaders of the Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Christian (Disciples) and Evangelical Churches and Puerto Rico Council of Churches, Catholic Charities (Caritas) and General Bible Society are leading this campaign with Jubilee USA.

Because of your actions already, the House passed a stimulus bill including the additional $1.2 billion for Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, exactly our demand. The White House announced $13 billion in Puerto Rico disaster aid to rebuild the power grid and schools. President Trump expressed support for Jubilee USA and Puerto Rico religious leaders’ call to bring back jobs to the island.

Now the Senate must act.

Your calls to Congress really matter and already made a difference. We know that even 3 calls from constituents can change the minds of Senators. Please make a call for Puerto Rico today. Your calls amplify our meetings with Senate Republicans and Puerto Rico religious leaders, grassroots US religious leaders and national religious partners from the Evangelical Lutheran Church to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The power of Jubilee USA resonates on a global, national and local level. The calls you make to Congress along with petitions from hundreds of national and local faith communities and mainstream interfaith voices win campaigns. It's why we just moved forward a major global COVID G20 debt relief deal for poor countries. It's why after 10 years of work, we just passed the Corporate Transparency Act.

Jubilee USA Network coordinated over 100 faith communities and some of the largest US religious institutions to encourage Congress and the White House to pass the legislation. Some of the religious groups joining Jubilee USA to pass our Corporate Transparency Act included: the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, National Council of Churches, Presbyterian Church, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, Catholic religious orders and Jewish, Christian and Muslim faith communities.

Our new Jubilee anti-corruption law is the fruit of years of bipartisan advocacy and national and local grassroots organizing. Since 2015, we continually moved Congress on Puerto Rico. Now we must make sure that the Senate addresses Puerto Rico's 60% child poverty epidemic, disaster aid and supports bringing jobs back to island. Congress and the White House will act on Puerto Rico this year or early next year. Please call your Senators as soon as possible.

In 2020, because of your partnership, we continue to win campaigns and make the impossible, possible. Let's win more, before the new year.

Gratefully,

Eric

Eric LeCompte
Executive Director

Twitter: @Eric_LeCompte
www.jubileeusa.org/support-us

The Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Center for Sustainable Finance (SOAS, University of London), and the Global Development Policy Center (Boston University) published a paper by Jubilee USA's Senior Director for Policy and Campaigns, Aldo Caliari, as a contribution to their Debt Relief for a Green and Inclusive Recovery Project.

Read Aldo Caliari's Linking Debt Relief and Sustainable Development: Lessons from Experience

Abstract

The Covid-19 crisis has dealt a blow to developing-country economies, which were already facing rapidly rising debt burdens, calling into question their ability to scale-up climate investments. As the international community considers a menu of options to address the rising prospect of widespread debt distress and defaults in the developing world, it will be crucial that it weighs how such options can best contribute towards addressing the equally urgent climate crisis. Having that need in mind, the current paper examines the experience with debt-for-development swaps and major debt relief processes in order to draw some lessons that could help shape a debt-for-climate initiative (DCI). It concludes that, in order to significantly expand the fiscal space and create the incentives for investing in climate change adaptation and mitigation, a DCI would have to be a transaction capable of combining debt cancellation and swaps in creative ways. It also makes some recommendations to ensure the scheme reaps the benefits that swaps and debt relief have proven they can bring, while avoiding some of their identified shortcomings.

Development Group Urges Shared Solutions for Debt and Climate Crises

Legislation Combats Human Trafficking and Curbs Theft of Development Aid, Say Advocates

Friends,

Last week the leaders of the G20 approved a debt relief process for 73 of the world's poorest countries. Because of the petitions you signed, the major organizations and faith communities that we organized together, the G20 made progress on our Jubilee solutions to confront the global coronavirus health and economic crisis. Your calls and letters to the White House and Treasury mean the Trump Administration wants to extend our debt relief process to more developing countries. Because of you, this is beyond what other G20 countries want to do.

On Tuesday, we had an incredibly positive meeting with the leadership of the Biden transition team on all of our coronavirus response efforts and our Jubilee USA proposals to address the root causes of poverty, climate change and inequality. 

As our critical work moves forward, please support our coronavirus campaigns and Jubilee USA's mission to lift the vulnerable. Now and through Giving Tuesday your tax-deductible GIFT to Jubilee USA is matched and DOUBLED!

This year, Jubilee USA appeared in hundreds of thousands of newspapers and shows on our debt, tax, trade, transparency, coronavirus response and Puerto Rico efforts. Below you can find a sampling of news stories.

Gratefully,

Aldo Caliari
Senor Director of Policy and Campaigns
Jubilee USA Network
https://jubileeusa.nationbuilder.com/support-us

JUBILEE IN THE NEWS 

Few results from G-20 meeting as decisions await new US administration Devex (November 24th)  

Saudi G20 summit pledges fair global vaccine access but stops short of developing world debt relief The Independent (November 22th)  

G20 to extend debt relief to mid-2021, pushes private sector to help Devex (November 22th)

G20 determined to use all tools to contain pandemic, save jobs, incomes Reuters (November 20th)  

FCDO's foreign nationals policy, G-20 debt framework, and Iota's compounding impact: This week in development Devex (November 19th)  

Africa’s First Pandemic Default Tests New Effort to Ease Debt From China Wall Street journal (November 18th)  

G20 Releases Debt Framework Details Devex (November 16th)  

World’s poorest countries get fresh debt relief hope from creditor nations Financial Times (November 13th)  

G20 strikes historic debt pact to help poorer states hit by COVID Reuters (November 13th)  

G-20 Looks to Deepen Debt Relief Drive With China’s Coordination Bloomberg (November 12th)  

IMF Eyes New Relationship With Biggest Shareholder After Biden Win US News and World Report (November 11th) 

Francis Names 13 New Cardinals, Including Washington's Archbishop Gregory National Catholic Reporter (October 25th) 

As World Bank pushes others on debt relief, it doesn't participate Devex (October 19th) 

Coronavirus Deals a Blow to Global Battle Against Poverty Wall Street Journal (October 18th) 

'Intense' G20 negotiations fall short on debt support expectations Devex (October 15th) 

IMF warns global economy could be permanently scarred Associated Press and other outlets (October 15th) 

IMF encourages countries affected by COVID to keep spending on safety net Marketplace (October 15th) 

G-20 Extends Debt Relief Plan Amid Warnings It’s Not Enough Bloomberg (October 14th)

G-20 Seen Extending Poor Nations’ Debt Relief Into Next Year Bloomberg (October 13th) 

Proposals and pressure mount for more action on COVID-19 financing Devex (October 5th) 

G7 ministers back extension of debt freeze for poorest nations, urge reforms Reuters (September 24th) 

Le candidat de Trump élu à la tête de la BID Les Echos (September 13th) 

Jubilee USA Network Works Internationally for Economic and Covid Relief Wort FM Radio (September 9th) 

UK aid cuts, G-20 debt delays, and the EU's budget deal: This week in development Devex (July 23th) 

Covid 19: G20 nations put off debt relief decisions until autumn meeting Vatican News (July 21st) 

G20 criticado por adiar decisão sobre extensão da moratória da dívida Sol (July 19th)  

G-20 to Make Debt Relief Extension Call Closer to Year End Bloomberg (July 18th) 

G20 finance officials poised to recommend extension of debt freeze Reuters (July 18th) 

G20 finance officials poised to recommend extension of debt freeze Bloomberg (July 17th) 

Puerto Rico experts, participants discuss its future The Bond Buyer (July 6th) 

PROMESA after four years: Key questions remain  The Bond Buyer (June 30th) 

World Bank chief calls for more private sector buy-in on G20 debt relief Reuters June 22)

An Interview with Eric LeCompte Catholic Profiles (June 14)

UN urges help for countries near ‘debt distress’ from virus Associated Press (June 3)

This crisis is hard on us. It’s even harder on countries that aren’t rich Marketplace (May 21)

 Debt relief needed to help poor nations in pandemic The Tablet (May 18)

Advocates seek debt relief to respond to pandemic Crux (May 15)

Private creditors push back against blanket debt relief for Africa Reuters (May 15)

The World’s Poor are Drowning in Debt. Here’s how to help them Barron’s (May 8)

High-profile economists back Argentina’s debt restructuring bid Buenos Aires Times (May 6)

Canje de deuda: Stiglitz, Sachs, Piketty y más de 130 economistas respaldaron la oferta argentina Pagina12 (May 2)

Restructuring Argentina’s Private Debt is essential Project Syndicate (May 2)

FMI da crédito de emergencia a Ecuador azotado por Covid y bajos precios del crudo Swissinfo (May 2)

Coronavirus could push Latin America, Caribbean into deepest recession since 1930s Miami Herald (April 27)

What will it take to fix flailing SDG funding? Devex (April 23)

Eric LeCompte: El Papa Francisco seguirá pidiendo el alivio de la deuda Perfil (April 22)

Motivation | Natalie Herder The Select 7 (April 21)

IMF, World Bank Pledge Help Amid Calls For More Debt Relief The Jamaica Gleaner (April 19)

G20, IMF deliver on debt relief, but more is needed, experts say Devex (April 17)

World Business Report BBC World News (April 15)

‘Urgent action’ needed on debt relief for poor countries, expert says Crux (April 15)

G20 avala suspensión temporal del pago de la deuda para los países pobres France 24 France 24 (April 15)

FMI alivia deuda de 25 países pobres Inter Press Service (April 15)

G20 apoia suspensão por um ano do pagamento de dívida dos países pobres Reuters (April 15

) G-20 has agreed to debt standstill for world’s poorest countries, IMF and World Bank heads say Marketwatch (April 15)

Faith groups, AFL-CIO urge U.S., IMF, G20 to cancel debt for poor countries Reuters (April 14)

IMF Predicts Global Coronavirus Crisis Akin to the Great Depression US News and World Report (April 14)

IMF Announces Debt Relief for African Nations to Fight Pandemic Voice Of America (April 14) 

IMF cancels debt payments for 6 months for 25 poor nations Associated Press (April 13)

Amid Pandemic IMF & G20 Called on to Cancel Poorest Nations’ Unsustainable Debt Between the Lines (April 13)

Ilhan Omar Joins Global Call for Debt Relief as Coronavirus Threatens to Push Developing Nations 'Over the Edge' Common Dreams (April 13)

IMF to provide debt relief to help 25 countries deal with pandemic Reuters (April 13)

'Force of nature' Georgieva leads IMF through coronavirus storm Yahoo Finance (April 13)

Bishop, faith groups urge Trump to support debt relief for poor nations Crux (April 10)

IMF’s Georgieva creates external advisory panel on pandemic Reuters (April 10)

Global Business, Workers, Civil Society Join Call for Debt Relief for Poorer Nation Reuters (April 10)

Catholic bishops, faith groups urge Trump to back debt relief for poor countries Reuters (April 9)

Eric Lecompte Interview Voice of America (April 7)

IMF working to support Georgian economy amid coronavirus crisis Click Lancashire (April 4)

The church after coronavirus: new understandings of social mission National Catholic Reporter (April 3)

Declare a jubilee: Pandemic is time to forgive debts, cardinal suggests Catholic News Service (April 1)

IMF head says global economy now in recession Associated Press (March 27)

COVID-19 is hitting Caribbean and Latin American economies hard. Can they survive? The Miami Herald (March 27)

Leaders on Global Finance reform meet at Vatican Catholic Philly (Feb 6)

Game changers: Vatican opens doors to leaders ready for finance reform The Dialog (Feb 6)

Pope’s direct experience of financial crisis informs views on economy, expert says  Crux (Feb 5)

Pope Francis gets involved in Argentina’s debt relief National Catholic Reporter (Feb 5)

The convergence: Third-world debt and the climate crisis are intimately connected Salon (January 26)

IMF boss says global economy risks return of Great Depression The Guardian (January 17)

Reuters quotes Eric LeCompte on the G20's approach to combatting the COVID-19 pandemic and restoring the global economy. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.