When President Donald Trump in September removed all but one member of Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB), it gutted the body amid a yearslong court fight over the $9 billion debt restructuring of the island’s increasingly privatized power authority.
Advocates and former officials say Trump’s purge is an attempt to dominate in the high-stakes battle over Puerto Rico’s electricity costs.
All the while, residents are struggling to keep their lights on as they grapple with an unreliable electrical grid.