#colonialismo

Did you know that wealthy people are able to evade most taxes if they move to Puerto Rico? Did you know Puerto Rico is the only place in the world where Americans can move and not pay federal income taxes, without giving up their US passports? Is your community or state being deprived of tax dollars to fund public services while these millionaires get to pack up and leave to live tax free in the Caribbean? Is this hurting or helping local communities in Puerto Rico? Have you heard of Puerto Rico’s displacement and how this has made it much harder to rebuild after historic natural disasters and financial crisis? Were you aware that crypto investors are exploiting Puerto Rico and making it much harder for average Puerto Ricans to live in their own island nation? As a US colony, Puerto Rico is already at a disadvantage - rich outsiders from the states are making it that much harder. Why this impacts me? If you live in one of the 50 states or Washington, DC, rich people from your community may be moving to Puerto Rico to exploit extraordinary tax loopholes - where they can not only evade most US taxes, but Puerto Rican taxes as well. When the rich move their residence to tax havens, they deprive your state and local government of the tax revenues needed for your public services. Ironically, the bankrupt US territory of Puerto Rico is also deprived of essential services under this scheme. If you are a boricua* in the diaspora and have loved ones on the island, chances are they live in communities where many are being priced out by outsiders not paying their fair share. What is happening and who is to blame? Rich outsiders from the US are moving to Puerto Rico and causing the displacement of Puerto Ricans due to tax loopholes not available to Americans anywhere else on the planet. One particular loophole, PR Act 22, is only available to outsiders, not local Puerto Ricans. You may have seen the crypto community advocating to move to Puerto Rico for tax breaks through well known influencers like Logan Paul. Locals have voiced outrage at their audacious evangelizing, labeling them “crypto colonizers.” What does change look like? Our goal is to repeal the Puerto Rican law that invites Americans to move to the island and pay zero US federal income taxes and close to zero Puerto Rican taxes. The repeal can happen if Congress decides to no longer allow Americans that move to the island to avoid paying federal taxes, or if the Puerto Rican legislature passes a law revoking Act 22 (now part of Act 60). Background on displacement crisis Puerto Rico has been suffering an economic crisis since 2006 that, along with a series of natural disasters of epic proportions, have destroyed the island’s infrastructure and caused massive migration. More than 200,000 Puerto Ricans have left the island. And a lack of jobs, housing insecurity, increased cost of living and difficult daily life due to an energy crisis, have made normal life almost impossible. The Cause In 2011, Act 22 was enacted to attract investors to Puerto Rico, hailed as a way to reinvigorate the island which was dealing with multiple crises. But it has had the opposite effect, causing a crisis of displacement. Act 22 allows anyone who has not lived in Puerto Rico for seven years to move to the island and pay ZERO American income taxes and close to ZERO Puerto Rican taxes. They only have to live there part of the year and buy a residence. This has attracted millionaires and billionaires seeking to evade taxes. The result: skyrocketing rent and property values that make it impossible for many boricuas to live in their own island-nation. And Puerto Rico is at risk of losing its identity and culture to outsiders with no connection to the island. #puertorico #puertorican #puertoricoselevanta #luma #Congress #hurricanemaria #climatechange #boricua #badbunny #crypto #getrich #taxbreak #taxbreaks #act22 #law60 #trump #brockpierce #tether #bitcoin #ftx #colony #colonialismo #colonization #imperialism #taxgaming #taxstrategy #taxevasion #offshore #caribbean #travel #vacation #beaches #dogcoin #billionaire #makemoney #makemoneyonline #capitalism #socialism #dsa #trump #democrats puertorico #puertorican #puertoricoselevanta

Historian Daniel Immerwahr talks about the legacy of Cornelius Rhoads, a doctor and cancer researcher who enthusiastically claimed he killed eight of his patients during his time in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he studied anemia in the 1930s. “What’s extraordinary to me is just how long he got away with it,” says Immerwahr. “How many Puerto Ricans he was able to experiment on, in some of the worst ways imaginable, without facing the consequences of that.” #PuertoRico #USterritories #USEmpire Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on nearly 1,400 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream 8-9AM ET: https://democracynow.org Please consider supporting independent media by making a donation to Democracy Now! today: https://democracynow.org/donate FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE: YouTube: http://youtube.com/democracynow Facebook: http://facebook.com/democracynow Twitter: https://twitter.com/democracynow Instagram: http://instagram.com/democracynow SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/democracynow iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/democracy-now!-audio/id73802554 Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe