Puerto Rico’s capital San Juan came to a standstill Thursday as public workers and other interest groups staged a general strike protesting Government’s plan to axe 17,000 jobs.

The Government
is trying to reduce its US$3.2 billion deficit and Governor Louis Fortuno has said the lay-offs are necessary to avoid a further downgrade of the country’s credit rating.

Sergio Fernandez, General Manager of the radio station WSO Puerto Rico gave this update on the situation in the country:

“Puerto Rico has been in a recession for the past 3+ years and the Government has been borrowing money to meet its obligations with its expenses which have grown massively over the years. This has come to a stop as the Puerto Rican Government for the most part cannot go back to the bond market to borrow more and continue operations etc.,” he said.

According to Mr. Fernandez, this led the Government to put forward the emergency fiscal law which steps such as cutting the size of Government and laying off employees as a means to curb expenses.

Unions in the country have vowed to step up action to get the Government to reverse its decision.

source: http://www.radiojamaica.com/content/view/22362/88/