Washington, DC - As Democratic presidential candidates debate student debt, States attempt to tackle what they see as a debt problem impacting their economies. California relieved $59 million in student debt for doctors in exchange for treating low-income communities. Maryland passed a tax credit to offer student debt relief.

“We are dealing with a student debt crisis that makes inequality worse," noted Eric LeCompte, the director of the religious debt relief group Jubilee USA. "Students are also being exploited by for-profit colleges that offers students high debt loads with too few job opportunities."

New US Federal research shows for-profit colleges are increasing student enrollment while increasing high levels of student debt. The data illustrates that less than 40% of students graduating from for-profit colleges had salaried positions a year from graduation. The federal research noted that public university and nonprofit private school graduates attained salaried positions at higher levels of between 45% and 51% within a year of graduation.

Read the recent federal research on for-profit colleges and debt

Read about student debt debated by presidential candidates and Republican and Democratic proposals

Washington, DC - On Thursday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for more relief aid to be sent to disaster-recovering Mozambique. The country is reeling from two devastating cyclones and wrestling with debts that Mozambique's high court calls illegal. 

“The International community needs to deliver rebuilding aid to Mozambique," noted UN finance expert and head of the religious development group Jubilee USA, Eric LeCompte. "Debts declared illegal by Mozambique's courts should not be repaid, especially as the country is struggling to recover."

The top court of Mozambique declared last month that the $850 million Eurobond to Ematum, the state-run tuna operation, is illegal.  In 2016, the International Monetary Fund ceased funding for the East-African country because of billions of dollars in debt that was supposed to equip fishing boats, but instead created Mozambique military attack crafts.

“Mozambique desperately needs debt and disaster relief,” said LeCompte. “Mozambique is a troubling tale of corruption and poor people being exploited because of a lack of public budget transparency and international standards on responsible lending," said LeCompte. 

Washington DC - American student loan debt topped $1.6 trillion dollars this year, surpassing credit card and auto loan debt combined. More than 45 million people hold student debt, owing an average of $35,000. 20% of current borrowers are behind in student loan payments and the Brookings Institution released data that 40% of student borrowers will default by 2023.

Presidential candidates, Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) proposed student debt relief plans. The Sanders plan seeks to eliminate all student debt while the Warren plan offers substantial relief on a sliding income scale.

“Student debt is a cause of inequality and a challenge for our economic growth,” stated Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious debt watchdog group Jubilee USA Network. “Americans need student loan relief and we also need solutions for the root causes of high student debt. We need to reign in for-profit colleges and schools that have low retention rates. Student borrowers should be able to access bankruptcy protection and we need to address the high costs of university education.”

The Trump Administration suggests there should be caps on student lending that, the White House argues, would drive the cost of college tuition down and ensure responsible lending and borrowing. In the last Congress, Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) sponsored the Prosper Act to stop student loans from accruing interest while students are still taking classes. Foxx's legislation would also eliminate or lower other types of federal aid or student loan relief.

"When students graduate with high debts, they don't buy homes and invest in our economy. Student debt is affecting our entire economy and we can not afford to leave this problem unaddressed," noted LeCompte. 

Washington DC - Last Wednesday, Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced the Corporate Transparency Act of 2019, which would reveal the secret owners of shell corporations to law enforcement.

"This legislation is critical to stop crime, tax evasion and corruption," stated United Nations finance expert and Jubilee USA Executive Director, Eric LeCompte. "Shell companies facilitate human trafficking, tax evasion and the stealing of relief monies in the developing world."

In mid-June the House of Representatives voted in the House Financial Services Committee to release the House Bill for a vote this year. The House legislation is sponsored by Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Representative Peter King (R-NY) and Representative Tom Malinowski (D-NJ).  

Jubilee USA Releases Statement 

Washington DC - The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, was nominated Tuesday to lead the European Central Bank.

Friends,

Thanks to your support and partnership, we won our campaign for emergency food and housing assistance for people recovering from hurricane destruction in Puerto Rico.

Your support, e-mails and calls to Congress moved forward more than $8 billion in debt relief and disaster aid for Puerto Rico and billions more for Americans wrestling with disasters from California to Minnesota and Texas to Florida. 

Please join me and make a donation to Jubilee USA Network today so we can keep on winning. For the next week, your tax-deductible gift will be doubled.

Your gift means:

• We can move forward debt and disaster relief for Puerto Rico. Already your efforts won $50 billion in aid and moved forward a super bankruptcy process for the island. Your gift means we can work to make sure debt relief means stopping austerity policies and winning the $70 billion in recovery aid Puerto Rico still needs.
  
  
• Congress just introduced our legislation to combat financial secrecy and anonymous shell corporations. This type of "Panama Papers" secrecy facilitates the theft of debt relief aid, human trafficking and contributes to the loss of more than a trillion dollars of revenue in the developing world. With your support, we can get this legislation signed into law in the next year.
  
  
• Working together, we moved the White House on eliminating harmful provisions in trade agreements that favor predatory debt collecting hedge funds and abusive corporations. Now as negotiations continue on a new NAFTA, your support means we can push for access to medicines for vulnerable populations and all who need life saving medicines.
  
  
• When you make a contribution to Jubilee USA now, you further our efforts to address student debt and payday lending. Working together, we ensured certain types of student loans had low interest rates. When you donate to Jubilee USA now, it means our bipartisan work can build bridges to protect students and consumers.

Please make a contribution to Jubilee USA today so we can continue to move forward strategic campaigns. Your gifts are doubled and matched for the next week.

Summer is the most difficult time for fundraising and for us to sustain our work.

Your contributions are needed and so appreciated as we work to move the White House, Congress, the G20 and the IMF during these hot summer months.

Gratefully,

Eric

Eric LeCompte
Executive Director

Jubilee USA Releases Statement on Japan Summit

Osaka, Japan - Leaders of the world's wealthiest economies gathered at the annual G20 Summit to discuss global policies on trade, climate, debt, tax and financial crisis prevention.

Eric LeCompte the Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA, releases the following statement on the G20 Japan Summit:
"Trade tensions, climate change concerns and preventing global financial crisis dominated much of the Osaka Summit.

"There is great concern at the G20 meetings about debt crises and future financial crisis.

"The G20 was founded to prevent financial crisis and there is willingness to move forward global policies on debt sustainability and transparency. The question is whether or not we can achieve policies that move beyond voluntary crisis prevention and implement binding policies that will prevent future crisis.

"Combating financial secrecy and raising revenue in countries remained a key focus of the Japan meetings.

"Fundamentally, we need trade policies that protect workers and the vulnerable. We need to see shifts in the status quo on trade policies.

"Climate is a critical issue, especially as the G20 focused this meeting on ensuring that economies can be more resilient in the face of natural disasters. Economies that can be resilient in the face of disaster need debt policies that offer relief until recovery goals are met."

San Juan, Puerto Rico - Last week, Archbishop Roberto González—the leader of the Archdiocese of San Juan, the Secretary General of the Puerto Rico Bible Society—Reverend Heriberto Martínez and the island's Catholic Charities head, Reverend Enrique Camacho released a statement urging solidarity with countries wrestling with debt crisis and economic challenges.

San Juan, Puerto Rico - Archbishop Roberto González, the Secretary General of the Puerto Rico Bible Society Reverend Heriberto Martínez and the island's Catholic Charities head, Reverend Enrique Camacho released a statement calling for support of pension agreements and debt and disaster relief for the island on Friday.

Pero, si alguien hace pecar a uno de estos pequeños que creen en mí,
más le valdría que le colgaran al cuello una gran piedra de molino
y lo hundieran en lo profundo del mar
– Mateo 18:6.

Desde el 2015, con la ayuda y colaboración de la organización religiosa Jubilee USA Network, hemos hecho un llamado a líderes, a nuestro pueblo y creyentes para trabajar por un Jubileo para Puerto Rico.

Frente a la crisis de la deuda y una tasa de pobreza infantil de 60%, hacemos un llamado a reducir por la reducción en la deuda, detener las políticas de austeridad, y proteger las pensiones, al mismo tiempo reducir pobreza infantil en la isla.

Estamos preocupados por la corrupción gubernamental. El Congreso prometió, que a cambio de un mecanismo de restructuración de la deuda, se impondría la creación de una junta de supervisión fiscal en Puerto Rico

Después de que el Congreso aprobó una legislación emergencia para restructuración de la deuda en 2016, entendíamos que nuestro pueblo estaría en una mejor posición con este acuerdo. Los primeros planes fiscales, creados por la junta de supervisión fiscal, consideraron una reducción de un 80% de los pagos de la deuda. Además, cabe destacar que esta legislación del Congreso estableció protecciones para las pensiones y el proceso oficial de auditoría. El Congreso dirigió su esfuerzo para tomar medidas para reducir la pobreza infantil.

Esperamos que las promesas hechas a nuestro pueblo se cumplan.

Lamentablemente, en el otoño de 2017, cuando los huracanes María e Irma arrasaron nuestra isla, nuestras esperanzas de reestructuración de la deuda y reducción de la pobreza infantil también fueron víctimas adicionales de los huracanes.

Debido a proyecciones optimistas de crecimiento económico debido a la ayuda federal y los fondos de reconstrucción, la junta de supervisión fiscal negoció pagar más deuda. Si bien hubo algunos cambios en las propuestas de deuda de PREPA y COFINA, se quedaron cortos en la reducción de la deuda, quedándose cortas las promesas de Jubileo para Puerto Rico.

Cuando las propuestas fracasaron en el ofrecimiento una reducción significativa de la deuda, el costo de la misma será pagada por nuestro pueblo, en particular nuestros niños y niñas.

También observamos el proceso de desmantelar auditoría de la deuda. El Congreso no aprobó todas nuestras recomendaciones para reducir la pobreza infantil.

A pesar de que nos estamos recuperando de los huracanes, luchando contra la crisis de la deuda, todavía afirmamos como pueblo la esperanza. Somos un pueblo que deposita su esperanza en el Ministerio Pascual. La resurrección vence a la muerte y la luz siempre ilumina la oscuridad.

La semana pasada, el presidente Trump firmó un proyecto de ley para brindar más ayuda en casos de desastre a nuestras islas. Se asignaron más de $ 50 mil millones para la recuperación y solicitamos al Congreso y a la Casa Blanca que continúen con este esfuerzo y asignasen $ 70 mil millones adicionales necesarios para recuperación.

Esta semana la junta de supervisión se reunió y los trabajadores votaron por nuevas propuestas para las pensiones, conscientes de ello, nosotros valoramos el esfuerzo de la junta de supervisión por proteger las pensiones. A la vez, trabajamos junto a los líderes sindicales para exigir que protejan los planes de pensiones de la mayoría de nuestra gente.

En la medida que el proceso de bancarrota y las negociaciones con los acreedores continua esta semana, estamos agradecidos y esperanzados de que las discusiones se centren nuevamente en mayores recortes de deuda.

Hacemos un llamamiento al Gobernador, a la junta de supervisión y a los acreedores a realizar recortes similares a los propuestos planes fiscales presentados antes del pasos de los huracanes: recortes de deuda de 80 centavos por dólar. Debido al trabajo de destacados economistas y nuestros socios en Jubilee USA, sabemos que no podemos arriesgarnos a un recorte de la deuda de menor del 80%

Nuestra pueblo y funcionarios gubernamentales deben unir fuerzas para poner fin a la pobreza infantil y la epidemia de migración. Nuestro futuro está en nuestra gente y es un pecado social que muchos de nuestros niños vivan bajo niveles de pobreza.

Con esperanza y solidaridad, nos unimos a nuestros hermanos y hermanas en todo el mundo, que luchan contra de crisis de la deuda y las altas tasas de pobreza infantil. Apoyamos las propuestas de nuestros socios religiosos en todo el Caribe, que piden una restructuración de la deuda ante la realidad de huracanes y desastres naturales. Nos unimos a nuestros socios en otros países y de las Naciones Unidas, que solicitan un una restructuración de la deuda, al niveles de transparencia, un proceso responsable de prestar y tomar prestado, los esfuerzos en contra de la corrupción y el derecho a un proceso de quiebra global que proteja a los más vulnerables.

Puerto Rico enfrenta una limitación de instrumentos para lidiar cabalmente con los grades retos que enfrentamos: las deudas impagables y los desastres naturales.

Continuamos en crisis porque Puerto Rico es una colonia de los Estados Unidos.

Nuestra capacidad de resistencia, recuperación y resolución de nuestros propios desafíos está vinculada a nuestro estatus político y colonial. Hacemos un llamado a nuestra pueblo y a nuestros funcionarios para comenzar un diálogo nuevo y creativo para resolver nuestro estatus político.

Nuestro futuro y el de nuestros hijos dependen de nuestras respuesta a estas preguntas. El desarrollo de nuestro pueblo está directamente vinculado a la superación de las relaciones coloniales con los Estados Unidos. Es nuestra esperanza el cumplimiento de la promesa del Jubileo del Creador.

Arzobispo Metropolitano Roberto O. González Nieves, OFM, Arquidiócesis Católica San Juan de Puerto Rico

Reverendo Heriberto Martínez-Rivera, Secretario General de la Sociedad Bíblica de Puerto Rico y Coordinador de la Coalición Ecuménica e Interreligiosa de Puerto Rico

Padre Enrique Camacho, Director Ejecutivo de Caritas Puerto Rico