Jubilee USA Network Executive Director Eric LeCompte was featured in a June 14 Telemundo broadcast discussing recently decided Puerto Rican pension agreements. In a press conference, LeCompte and several faith leaders from the island praised the agreements as  positive step forward in addressing Puerto Rico’s unmanageable debt. Read an excerpt from the broadcast below, and follow this link to the full video.

Eric LeCompte was recently cited in the Alabama Political Reporter on the recently passed disaster relief aid package. Read the excerpt below and follow this link to the full article.

House passes disaster relief bill

“The passage of disaster relief for Americans from California to Puerto Rico is so needed,” said Eric LeCompte, the executive director of Jubilee USA, a religious development organization. “We’ve worked for months for the passage of disaster relief, and now it’s a reality.”

The legislation includes more than $900 million for Puerto Rico recovery including $600 million in emergency disaster food assistance for vulnerable communities. The disaster package expedites the release of $8.9 billion already approved by Congress for Puerto Rico disaster relief.

Read more here.

Eric LeCompte is cited by El Nuevo Dia on disaster aid legislation passed by the House of Representatives and funding for disaster recovery in Puerto Rico.. Read an excerpt below and follow this link to the full article.

La Cámara federal aprueba un proyecto que asigna cerca de $1,400 millones en asistencia para la isla

La coalición Power4PuertoRico destacó que el Congreso haya pasado por encima de las objeciones del presidente Trump, quien falsamente alegó que Puerto Rico ya había recibido $91,000 millones en fondos para mitigar el desastre causado por el huracán María. Erica González, directora de Power4PuertoRico, sostuvo que al final se escuchó el mensaje de que “no podemos dejar al presidente seleccionar qué grupo de ciudadanos estadounidense merece más ayuda que otros”.

Para el director ejecutivo de la red religiosa Jubilee USA, Eric LeCompte, “la aprobación del proyecto encamino alivios muy necesitados desde California a Puerto Rico”.

Read more here.

Eric LeCompte was recently quoted by the Fence Post on the disaster aid package in Congress, especially on the effects the legislation would have in Puerto Rico. Read an excerpt below and follow this link to the full article.

Senate passes disaster aid, Congress heads home

The Senate package includes $600 million in disaster food assistance and another $300 million in housing rebuilding funds for Puerto Rico. It also would expedite allocation of $8.9 billion Congress has already passed for the territory.

“Millions of Americans are suffering and this disaster relief plan is urgently needed,” noted Eric LeCompte, who leads the religious development group Jubilee USA.

“We applaud Senate leaders and the White House for agreeing on a disaster deal,” he said. “In Puerto Rico alone, more than a million Americans lost disaster food assistance in March and that aid is finally restored.”

Read more here.

Jubilee USA was recently featured by The National Catholic Reporter on Jubilee's efforts in Puerto Rico's debt and humanitarian crisis as well as Jubilee's partnership with religious leaders on the island. Read an excerpt below and follow this link to the full article.

The suffering of Puerto Rican people continues to mount

May 8 would have been my mother's 91st birthday. I visited her grave and said a prayer. The day also marked another anniversary: It was the 20th anniversary of the installation of Archbishop Roberto Gonzalez as the Archbishop of San Juan. Gonzalez has, along with Fr. Heriberto Martinez, been at the forefront of the fight for debt relief for the island. They have been assisted most ably by Eric LeCompte and the good people at Jubilee USA. LeCompte knows more about public debt in poor countries than anyone I know, and what is more, he knows how to build a consensus on Capitol Hill for action to relieve debt burdens. He is one of the angels in the public policy world. Congratulations to Gonzalez on his anniversary and, even more, to the Catholic people of San Juan who have such a courageous spiritual leader.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA, recently spoke with ValueWalk about the policy challenges faced in achieving the sustainable development goals. Read an excerpt below and follow this link to the full article.

As Jamie Dimon Says Lehman Won’t Happen Again, IMF Analysis Points To Next Global Financial Crisis

“Developing countries are wrestling with crisis,” UN sovereign debt analyst and Executive Director of Jubliee USA Eric LeCompte told ValueWalk, pointing to a virus that could quickly spread to the developed world. “There is more than one canary in this coal mine.”

The IMF has released a series of reports on unsustainable debt levels in developing economies that it says makes the global environment “unsettled.”

LeCompte notes that even with a relatively strong global economy, many developing nations are finding trouble with GDP to debt levels above 100% and 17 countries are in default. He was moderating an IMF panel discussion on the topic when unknown derivatives risk exposures tied to the debt was raised as an issue that could derail the economy, calling it “the scariest IMF meeting I’ve ever attended.”

The debt crisis is now engulfing 40% of low-income nations with the IMF concerned of rising debt levels in African nations that is even starting to impact wealthy regions such as Kenya and South Africa.  What also concerns LeCompte is how the debt problem is spreading in Latin America, right on the doorstep of the US. Brazil, El Salvador, Venezuela and Argentina are all showing signs of cracking under a mountain of debt. According to LeCompte,  three Latin American countries are beyond 70% debt to GDP.

Argentina, which lost a debt fight with hedge funds led in part by Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, is particularly hard hit. Investors are now pricing in a 49% chance of default, up from 22% a year ago, according to credit-default swaps pricing.

“In Argentina, public money (from the IMF) is bailing out hedge funds,” LeCompte quipped, noting that solutions for another global debt crisis have not been put in place.

Read more here. 

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA, recently spoke with Devex about the policy challenges faced in achieving the sustainable development goals. Read an excerpt below and follow this link to the full article.

What will it take to fix flailing SDG funding?

While the financing for development process has helped build consensus around several issues, the challenge is that very little about it is binding, said Eric LeCompte, executive director of the financial-reform focused alliance Jubilee USA. Addis brought up illicit financial flows but created no mechanism to support countries in retaining their resources, he said. The Addis agreement also called for debt restructuring to be improved, which needs to be done, especially with growing indebtedness.

“Across the board — particularly with tax, transparency, debt policies — we are at a point where we need to move beyond voluntary mechanisms because we don’t have the ability to reach the SDGS,” LeCompte said.

Read more here. 

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA, was cited in MarketWatch on the global economy and IMF Managing Director Lagarde's recent address. Read an excerpt below and follow this link to the full article.

IMF’s Lagarde: Global economy has lost momentum but will likely avoid recession

Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA, said he thought the undercurrent of Lagarde’s speech was “heightening concern for economic stability and growth.”

In her speech, Largarde warned again that there would be no winners in a trade war between the U.S. and China.

Read more here.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA, recently spoke with the Latin America Advisor about the recent COFINA debt deal on Puerto Rico debt. Read an excerpt below and follow this link to the full article.

Does Puerto Rico’s Bond Restructuring Offer a Fresh Start?

Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network: “Before Puerto Rico was hit by two hurricanes in 2017, the oversight board and the governor were reviewing plans to cut total debt payments by as much as 80 percent. After the hurricanes, Puerto Rico saw temporary economic growth due to disaster aid and rebuilding efforts. Part of the problem with the Cofina deal is that it seems to be based on rosy economic estimates from temporary post-hurricane growth. They are also basing Puerto Rico’s ability to repay on the assumption that Congress and the White House will approve more significant disaster aid. This is in doubt. We are worried that not enough debt is being cut and that Puerto Rico’s people are carrying heavy austerity burdens. Nearly six out of 10 kids live in poverty in Puerto Rico. The math isn’t adding up. If plans to restructure the remaining debt fail to cut the majority of the island’s debt load, Puerto Rico won’t see sustained economic recovery
and growth. If future debt deals don’t cut enough debt, the economy will not be able to recover and will continue to contract until another debt restructuring has to take place. I am worried that this type of plan will mean Puerto Rico will be trapped in an endless cycle of debt.”

Read more here. 

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA, recently spoke with the Nonprofit Quarterly about the recent COFINA debt deal on Puerto Rico debt. Read an excerpt below and follow this link to the full article.

Puerto Rico Finalizes First Debt Restructuring, but at a High Cost

Still, debt remains a major obstacle to recovery. Eric LeCompte, who directs Jubilee USA, a network of community and faith-based organizations, tells Bradford that, “The math isn’t adding up. If plans to restructure the remaining debt fail to cut the majority of the island’s debt load, Puerto Rico can’t see sustained economic recovery and growth.”

Read more here.