Congressman Sean Duffy, one of the main authors of the PROMESA bill, will be visiting Puerto Rico to raise campaign funds and participate in activities with business groups interested in having access to him as a key player in Congress as to Puerto Rico issues and also to members of the Fiscal Control Board (FCB).

The Private Sector Coalition and Governor Ricardo Rosselló will also have access to Duffy, who is currently known as a congressman but rose to fame on the MTV reality show The Real World, as did his wife.

The fundraising activity will be held this Sunday afternoon in Old San Juan. Investors and entrepreneurs can sign up as co-hosts of the event to the tune of $2,500.00. Regular attendees of the reception in honor of Congressman Duffy will pay $1,000.00 per person.

The fundraiser for the Republican congressman for Wisconsin is organized by former Puerto Rico Attorney General, and member of the Hispanic advisory committee of the Republican Party, José Fuentes Agostini; national delegate of the Republican Party, Zoraida Fonalledas, and US investor Mark Curry, owner of Sol Partners and who recently acquired NotiCel.

Former congressman, and current lobbyist, Jerry Weller, who now represents the Puerto Rico Hospitals Association has also been mentioned as one of the organizers.

Fuentes Agostini works as a lawyer in Washington. Last year he received $270,000 as a lobbyist before Congress for Empresas Fonalledas amid discussions for PROMESA and the Congressional Task Force for the Economic Development of Puerto Rico established by PROMESA.

According to the portal Open Secrets, during the years in which alternatives were discussed in Congress to provide tools to restructure Puerto Rico’s debt, Empresas Fonalledas spent $1,665,000.00 on lobbying, due to the company’s interest in government bonds.

Like the Fonalledas, various sectors conducted intense lobbying in Washington to influence projects that would address the fiscal crisis and after the approval of PROMESA continued to seek proposals for economic development, tax incentives and federal funds in public ​​health matters.

In addition, as part of the agenda in Puerto Rico of the lead author of PROMESA, he will be the keynote speaker of a luncheon with members of the Private Sector Coalition on Monday. The meeting, scheduled for noon at Morton’s restaurant at the Caribe Hilton Hotel in San Juan, will also help to raise funds for the coalition’s efforts in Washington.

Private Sector Coalition coordinator Francisco Montalvo, along with Ramón Pérez Blanco, president of the Association of Products Made in Puerto Rico; and Ramón Leal, president of the Association of Restaurants (Asore), reported that the activity was drawn up to take opportunity of the congressman’s visit and to continue a discussion begun two years ago in Washington DC.

They explained that efforts must continue because of the need to achieve economic development tools after the approval of PROMESA and the country’s financial framework with the imposition of the Fiscal Control Board.

‘The congressman has a series of meetings. When we learned that he was going to be here we saw it as an opportunity for the congressman to present to the members of the Coalition his perspective on the situation in Puerto Rico,’ said Pérez Blanco.

The congressman who authored PROMESA is a key figure for his access to US House Speaker Paul Ryan, being both representatives of Wisconsin.

‘Precisely, having people like him as a Republican ally, close to the Speaker of the House, who worked the task force report; people who understand the problem of Puerto Rico from a more encompassing point of view and not from the simplistic point of view … Our expectation is that he is our ally to help educate that Republican majority,’ Perez said.

‘Governor Ricardo Rosselló Nevares will receive Congressman Sean Duffy at La Fortaleza. We will be in a position to provide more details later,’ La Fortaleza press officer Yennifer Álvarez confirmed to NotiCel.

See also:

The Powerful Lobbying that Delivered the PROMESA Bill