By Senabri Silvestre
SANTO DOMINGO, Dom. Rep. (AA) – Puerto Rico’s newly minted governor Ricardo Rossello vowed to push for U.S. statehood as a measure to resolve a debt crisis crippling the Caribbean island.
“The process of transition to statehood represents an opportunity to make the United States larger, pushing its borders to the Caribbean, and setting an example before the world of values that also represent cultural diversity in the nation,” Rossello said during his inauguration speech Monday after his victory in November.
The 37-year-old, who is the son of former governor Pedro Rossello Gonzalez, faces an uphill battle in the face of a debt crisis that has forced the Barack Obama administration to turn over the finances of the island – which is U.S. territory – to a federal committee.
The move comes as a band-aid against potential mass migration from Puerto Rico to the mainland after the island defaulted on its $70 billion debt in municipal bonds and $2 billion in interest last July.
On his first day in office, Rossello instructed government agencies to reduce their annual expenses by 10 percent and curtail operations that require outsourcing services.
