Airport Privatization Takes Off in Puerto Rico

[marmar]

Airport Privatization Takes Off in Puerto Rico

Tuesday, 23 April 2013 09:47
By Darwin BondGraham, Truthout | News Analysis


Luis Muñoz Marin Airport, San Juan, Puerto Rico.Luis Muñoz Marin Airport, San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Photo: khowaga1)Seventeen years ago, lawmakers slipped an obscure section of text into the annual federal aviation bill. In February, the intent of that law was enacted for only the second time when the Federal Aviation Administration approved the privatization of Puerto Rico's Luis Munoz Marin International Airport.

The deal has come under withering criticism from many on the island. Numerous elected officials, lawyers and economists have denounced it as a bad bargain for Puerto Rico. Major protests roiled San Juan prior to the transfer two months ago. Puerto Ricans now worry that their publicly owned ports, highways and other public goods will be sold off, liquidating a century of public investments. Indeed, two highways have already been handed over to private investors prior to the airport's transfer. Similar privatization agreements may soon arrive in Illinois and other states, where local leaders are considering selling airports under long-term lease agreements to private operators, most of them European, Australian and Latin America companies.

A Decade of Tax Cuts and Ballooning Debt

Taking control of the Luis Munoz Marin Airport is Aerostar Airport Holdings, a combination of the Mexican corporation Aeropuertos del Sureste (ASUR) and High Star Capital. Aerostar will be allowed to monopolize operation of the airport for 40 years and to collect the airport's revenues as profit. In exchange, Aerostar will pay the Puerto Rico Port Authority up to $1.75 billion and has promised $1.4 billion of investments in the airport's basic infrastructure.

When the deal was first announced in July of last year, Puerto Rico's then-Governor Luis Fortuño called it a "milestone day" for the island and for the whole United States, noting that "this will be the first major airport investment of its kind ever." Fortuño, however, also said the sale of the airport was compelled by the need to provide cash to pay down the government's crushing debt. .......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://truth-out.org/news/item/15891-airport-privatization-takes-off-in-puerto-rico

[Laelth]

1. Frightening and very important. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth