On Thursday, Lin-Manuel Miranda arrived in Puerto Rico to be part of the final preparations for the San Juan run of “Hamilton” in January. As reported by by El Nuevo Día, Miranda covered several topics, including the the decision to relocate the production from the University of Puerto Rico to Centro de Bellas Artes in Santurce.
In addition, Miranda was asked about his latest position on the island’s $73 billion debt crisis, which is different from his position in 2016, when he penned his support for the current bipartisan PROMESA law, which led to the creation of a fiscal control board and austerity measures for Puerto Rico (especially the UPR system). That letter led to several high-profile appearances by Miranda, where he called for the passage of PROMESA.
When asked about whether he would have changed his position on PROMESA, Miranda said the following: “I can’t get in a time machine. I advocated for debt relief because we needed it. We were heading towards this cliff and the options were all bad, and that one that emerged was PROMESA. I do not believe that squeezing students is going to pay back anybody. I do not believe that is the answer, and I believe the debt should be forgiven, because I believe Puerto Rico’s been through enough. And if they’re really going to reconstruct, we need a clean break and a clean start. That being said, I can’t go back and change that, but I do believe that the debt should be forgiven. I don’t think any kind of austerity… I think it squeezes the future of our island. I think the university students and the students and the young people, they’re exactly who we need to keep on the island. We need to keep them from going to the United States because they’re going to be the ones to rebuild Puerto Rico. And so, I’m inspired by them, and that’s my answer. It’s not a perfect answer, but it’s the only one I can give you.”
Le pregunté a Lin-Manuel que si pudiera viajar en el tiempo, todavía apoyaría PROMESA. pic.twitter.com/gzQYaaUIhG
— José E. Maldonado (@pollomaldonado) December 27, 2018
This is not the first time that Miranda has questioned his own position from 2016. Last year, he tweeted the following when news of debt protests were happening in Puerto Rico:
I was vocal about debt relief for PR.
What emerged was PROMESA.
And I think we agree no one is feeling relief. https://t.co/M6ta5ywLT9— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) May 2, 2017
After Hurricane María in 2017, Miranda also called for the debt’s cancellation.
