Arecibo, Puerto Rico Signs Purchase Agreement with COPsync

DALLAS, TX, Jan 25, 2017 (Marketwired via COMTEX) -- Arecibo becomes the "Safest City in the Caribbean" by using COPsync

DALLAS, TX--(Marketwired - Jan 25, 2017) - COPsync, Inc. COYN, +4.29% today announced that the Municipality of Arecibo, Puerto Rico has signed a contract with the Company to acquire the COPsync law enforcement communication Network™ and the COPsync911™ threat-alert system to keep its residents and tourists safer. These COPsync systems are expected to provide increased safety for the City's residents and the millions of tourists that visit Puerto Rico annually. The contract follows an evaluation conducted by the City.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, although the contract is expected to be the largest in the Company's history by orders of magnitude once fully implemented.

"With COPsync, we are prepared to welcome and protect tourists from all over the world. I am committed to making Arecibo the safest city in the Caribbean," said Carlos Molina Rodriguez, Mayor of the Municipality of Arecibo. "Emergency Management and the Police Municipality of Arecibo will have the best state-of-the-art technology, which will be able to connect with all the law enforcement agencies that belong to the COPsync Network in the US mainland and other Caribbean countries that follow our example," continued Mayor Rodriguez.

Arecibo is home to the second largest telescope in the world and the tallest statue in the Americas, "The Birth of the New World Statue." These attractions bring hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, and tourism is a massive economic driver of the Arecibo economy.

"For the Municipality of Arecibo, the COPsync technology allows the agencies to acquire delinquent citation fees across the entire COPsync Network," said Professor Esdras Velez, Secretary of the Municipality of Arecibo. "The COPsync systems will improve the safety of our residents and visitors by providing the capability to rapidly share law enforcement information with other agencies and jurisdictions. COPsync's systems can save minutes when seconds count and will help save lives and protect our citizens, communities and tourists," continued Professor Velez.

Mr. Ronald A. Woessner, CEO of COPsync commented, "Arecibo is an important city in Puerto Rico. It is home to the island's milk industry and supports a thriving tourist industry. We are honored that the COPsync systems have been chosen to help protect the safety of the City's residents and visitors. The Arecibo community deserves these investments to improve the citizens' quality of life, and COPsync is proud to help create a new era of safety in Arecibo and throughout Puerto Rico. We look forward to implementing the COPsync systems in Arecibo and conducting intensive training for its municipal police and emergency management officers and supervisors."

About COPsync, Inc.

COPsync, Inc. COYN, +4.29% is a technology company that connects law enforcement officers across the nation, so they can communicate and share mission-critical non-adjudicated information in real-time. This saves officers' lives and keeps the public safer; helps law enforcement officers catch criminals and stop child kidnappings, vehicle thefts, bank robberies and other crimes in progress; and arms the nation's law enforcement officers with needed information so they can help defend against terrorism. For more information, go to www.copsync.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Statements in this press release that are not purely historical facts or that depend upon future events, including statements about forecasts of earnings, revenue, product development, sales, proposed financing transactions or other statements about anticipations, beliefs, expectations, intentions, plans or strategies for the future, may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. For example, statements containing words like "expect," "anticipate," "potential," "believe," "confident," "estimated," "future," "plan," "planning," "projected," "strategy," "pursuing," "objective" and other similar terms, express management's current views concerning future events, trends, contingencies or results, which may be considered forward-looking statements. Specifically, the statement, "... the contract is expected to be the largest in the Company's history by orders of magnitude once fully implemented." This and other similar statements are highly dependent on the contract size and associated dollar figure as well as the Company's success in implementing the proposed COPsync systems in Arecibo. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to the Company on the date this release was issued. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Any forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the events or results described in the forward-looking statements, including risks or uncertainties related to the Company's ability to succeed in its sales strategy, raise sufficient capital, maintain its NASDAQ listing or succeed in its business strategy, which may adversely affect the Company's business and the value of an investment in the Company's stock. The Company may not succeed in adequately addressing and managing these and other risks. Further information regarding factors that could affect the Company's financial, operating and other results can be found in the risk factors section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investor Relations Everest Corporate Advisors, Inc. 702-902-2361 702-982-1339 For COPsync: Ronald A. Woessner Chief Executive Officer 972-865-6192 invest@copsync.com Media: Cynthia Vetter Director of Media and Investor Relations cvetter@copsync.com

Arecibo, Puerto Rico Signs Purchase Agreement with COPsync

Puerto Rico governor wants new debt policy as creditor talks ramp up

Puerto Rico's new governor wants to replace a law that allows the U.S. territory redirect revenues earmarked for bondholders to pay for essential services, the latest move to court holders of $70 billion in debt ahead of high-stakes restructuring talks.

Ramon Rosario, a spokesman for Governor Ricardo Rossello, told reporters in San Juan on Tuesday the government planned to introduce legislation on the so-called debt moratorium law by Wednesday.

Rosario gave few details on the legislation, leaving an open question on whether it would allow the government to keep revenue streams it has already redirected or "clawed back."

The moratorium was signed last year by then-Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla, who did not run for re-election.

As he prepares to embark on months of likely arduous talks to restructure debt, Rossello seems willing to work with creditors, promising to pay as much debt as resources allow after belt-tightening measures like government consolidation.

But the governor will have to get on the same page with a federal oversight board created last year under the Puerto Rico rescue law known as PROMESA.

The board has to approve all restructuring deals, but has met with skepticism from both the island's government and some creditors.

Rossello and the board share a holistic vision to save Puerto Rico through a combination of debt restructuring, spending cuts and revenue measures.

Still, Rossello has talked tough, saying he disagrees with some of the board's initiatives, rhetoric that could curry political favor with many voters who see the board as an unwelcome extension of U.S. imperialism.

Some creditors have privately criticized the board's hiring of attorney Martin Bienenstock because he previously represented the island's government in efforts to cut debt. "That annoyed me," one creditor source said, noting that the board has still not hired an executive director. "The board needs to bring in people that can knock some heads together, get people to move."

PROMESA offers mechanisms for both out-of-court restructuring talks and an in-court option akin to U.S. bankruptcy.

Keeping talks out of court may be tough, given time constraints. PROMESA imposed a freeze on lawsuits as a way to foster consensual negotiations, but it ends on Feb. 15. The board will likely extend the freeze, but only to May 1.

July 1 is also a benchmark for potential litigation, particularly with holders of more than $15 billion of so-called COFINA bonds which are backed by sales tax revenues.

Each fiscal year, Puerto Rico's sales tax is earmarked for COFINA debt until the year's COFINA debt service is accounted for, which takes a few months.

Puerto Rico must begin servicing COFINA debt on July 1, a burden for a cash-strapped island that could spark a new round of lawsuits if a COFINA restructuring deal is not complete by then.

Getting to a deal with COFINA will not be easy. Advisers for COFINA holders have been proactive in pushing restructuring proposals during meetings with the government and the board in recent weeks, according to a source close to the talks.

But the proposals likely will not gain much traction with the government until the group's bondholders settle internal conflicts over how to divide payouts among different subsets of COFINA bondholders, the source said.

Senior most COFINA holders, led by funds like Tilden Park and GoldenTree, have proposed accepting 95 cents on the dollar, but a more subordinated class, which includes OppenheimerFunds and Franklin Advisers, is pushing for steeper haircuts for seniors, in the neighborhood of 20 percent, according to the source.

COFINA also faces a lawsuit from holders of Puerto Rico's $17 billion in general obligation bonds, which the island's constitution says it must pay before any other expenses.

With sales tax backing their debt, COFINA creditors say this separate revenue stream leaves them exempt from clawback. Attempts by general obligation holders "to challenge the Puerto Rico statutes that created liens for COFINA bondholders are self-serving and built on deceptive half-truths," COFINA's senior bondholder group said in a statement on Tuesday.
By Nick Brown
Puerto Rico governor wants new debt policy as creditor talks ramp up

New Puerto Rico governor seeks amicable debt crisis resolution

Mr Rosselló, who was elected in November last year to the US territory’s highest public office, said in an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday that he wanted to take a “philosophical shift” from the prior administration’s handling of creditor negotiations and “show there is a willingness to pay”. “There will be real fiscal oversight and we are willing to sit down,” he said. “We are taking steps to make bold reforms. It is not a political bumper sticker any more. What we are asking for is runway to establish these reforms and have Washington recognise that they have a role to play.” The governor has acted swiftly since he was sworn in on January 2, passing executive orders that will force Puerto Rican government agencies to cut operating expenses by 10 per cent this fiscal year and reduce political appointees by a fifth.

Puerto Rico and its creditors have returned to the bargaining table this week as newly-elected governor Ricardo Rosselló seeks to reset negotiations after an acrimonious two years between the island and its bondholders.

The belt-tightening is aimed at restarting a constructive dialogue with creditors, the governor’s team says, as they ready for the largest ever restructuring in the $3.7tn municipal bond market. Puerto Rico owes creditors roughly $69bn and has defaulted on a large swath of its debts since 2015, including bonds backed by the US commonwealth’s constitution. The island of 3.4m people has been stymied by a near decade of economic decay, which has depleted it of one of its most important resources: its people. The population has declined by more than 8 per cent from 2010, a greater deterioration than any other state. Last year, in a rare showing of bipartisan support, the US Congress passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act — known as Promesa, Spanish for promise. The law installed a control board of seven congressional appointees who must sign off on the island’s budget as well as agree to terms of any restructuring. The law also provides Puerto Rico with access to bankruptcy-like processes, which were not available to the US territory, and halted all litigation against the island until February 15. The board has said it is “favourably inclined” to extend the stay on litigation until May 1.

Despite the rapprochement from the governor, creditors are galvanised for what may be rancorous deliberations. The $69bn debt burden is split among a complex set of issuing groups with competing claims, including more than $17bn of bonds backed by the island’s sales taxes and $13bn general obligation bonds, considered sacrosanct by municipal bond investors. The prior administration, under former governor Alejandro García Padilla, had asked bondholders to take a haircut of between 19 and 40 per cent. The García Padilla administration’s last proposal envisaged debt service of $1.3bn by fiscal 2019 before rising to $2bn by 2029. The control board on Wednesday flummoxed investors and bondholder advisers when it projected that Puerto Rico could spend just $800m in 2019 servicing its obligations. In the 2019 fiscal year, the island will owe creditors $3.9bn. The board forecast a $7bn average annual fiscal deficit between its 2019 and 2026 fiscal years and recommended a 10 per cent cut to pension benefits. Mr Rosselló, who has often been viewed as more sympathetic to investors, said on Thursday that he was not yet ready to comment on the debt haircut that he would seek, noting that the forecasts from the control board “show[ed] where they see” it. He added that his administration had ranked bond issuing entities by priority. Puerto Rico has retained Rothschild and Dentons to advise it on financial and legal matters, and Mr Rosselló said that he was “willing to look at different structures” to address the shortfalls. Already, Mr Rosselló is confronted with a looming liquidity squeeze in February, when more than $1.3bn of debt service is due. “We are aggressively looking for solutions,” he said, as the threat of a government shutdown in his first 100 days in office hangs over him. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2017. All rights reserved. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
Ricardo Rosselló says there is ‘a willingness to pay’ creditors and make reforms
New Puerto Rico governor seeks amicable debt crisis resolution

Congress must hear 'The Voice of Equality' on Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico needs to achieve equality with the States during the next four years, we can’t wait any more. Enough is enough, more than 118 years of colonial rule has left our economy in shambles, suffering the most prolonged recession in the history of any U.S. jurisdiction. In fact, we are now well into the second decade of a recession that started way back in the third quarter of 2005.

In 2012 Puerto Ricans went to the polls and soundly rejected the current political status with the United States. In that same democratic process, the voters on the Island favored statehood as the way to end this unjust and immoral colonial status. Unfortunately, neither the Republican-controlled Congress nor the Obama White House “heard” the Voice of Equality, that of the people of Puerto Rico.

What happened next was sadly predictable. Puerto Rico began losing people in bunches. Last year alone, almost 79,000 American citizens left the Island mainly because of the dire economic conditions caused by the inability of Congress to move forward legislation that would end more than a century of U.S. colonial rule. In the last four years, around 300,000 Puerto Ricans have migrated to the Continent. In essence, we lost a generation, and, much like Great Britain's ‘lost generation’ during World War One, it will take years to rescind it.

To aggravate the situation, we are losing our best and brightest, as well as the young people needed to rebuild our socioeconomic fiber in the coming decades. According to several research studies, as much as 47 youths migrate daily to the States, that’s an astonishing figure by any standard. Most of the people who left Puerto Rico the past four years are professional, including doctors, engineers and teachers. In fact, last year four of the Island’s eight pediatric urologists moved their practices to Florida causing delays in appointments of well over six months.

This historic youth migration cost our economy almost $3,000 million a year. The overall drainage to our already battered economy is still in discussion, but conservative estimates placed it well over $9,000 million every year.

I have dedicated most of my adult life advocating for Puerto Rico to become our nation’s newest state, mainly because we are Americans residents living in un-American conditions. Congress has refused to hear the Voice of Equality, even though during the last three years, several congressmen have filed admission bills, in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. There’s a bipartisan consensus that something must be done, but when? That’s the question. We can wait for another century to pass us by.

I urge this Congress to act on behalf of the almost 3.5 million American citizens living in Puerto Rico by passing into law the Puerto Rico Admission Act presented by Resident Commissioner, Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon. This bill can change, in a nutshell, 118 years of unjust rule by Washington, D.C. over the territory of Puerto Rico. Its time, we can’t afford to lose another “generation” due to inaction.

Jose Aponte-Hernandez is a state representative in Puerto Rico and is the former Speaker of the House for the territory.

BY JOSE APONTE HERNANDEZ
Congress must hear 'The Voice of Equality' on Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico Govt Could Collapse if No Steps Taken

The administration of Puerto Rico's new governor warned on Tuesday that the government of the U.S. territory could shut down if dramatic measures to offset its financial crisis aren't taken soon.

The warning came as officials released new data provided by the previous governor during the transition process that they say shows the government's revenue problems after the island's decade-long economic slump are even worse than previously believed.

"If we don't make a dramatic adjustment, there could be a total collapse in upcoming months," said Elias Sanchez, the governor's representative to a federal control board created last year to oversee Puerto Rico's finances.

He told reporters that the extent of the fiscal crisis is still unknown, in part because of a lack of communication among public agencies. Puerto Rico is seeking to restructure a public debt load of nearly $70 billion, and the island has defaulted on millions of dollars' worth of bond payments since August, angering creditors who have filed multiple lawsuits.

The report released Tuesday reported deficits of $230 million for the island's Education Department and $45 million for the police department and said the Highway Authority owes suppliers more than $500 million.

The report also said Puerto Rico's largest public university has $91 million deposited in the Government Development Bank that it cannot access because of a debt moratorium. Officials say the bank, which oversees the island's debt transactions, turned over its routing number in April and has not issued any checks since. All of the bank's deposits have been moved to private banks.

"The crisis is real and more severe than people think," Sanchez said.

Puerto Rico has a multimillion-dollar bond payment due in February, but Sanchez said it is too early to say whether it will be made. He said the government will talk with the federal control board in the upcoming days about that payment.

"We're going to see what kind of agreement we can reach," he said.

A group representing interests who hold $17 billion in outstanding bonds issued by Puerto Rico's Sales Tax Financing Corporation said it supports economic growth but added that any potential relief needs to respect its seniority and property rights.

"We continue to try to show constructive leadership though our willingness to provide relief to the government via liquidity or voluntary reductions," the group said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press. Some of those represented by the COFINA Senior Bondholders Group are individuals and retirees.

Rossello's administration already has requested an extension on a deadline to turn in a revised fiscal plan that the control board is supposed to approve by Jan. 31. Officials also have asked for an extension on a moratorium that temporarily protects Puerto Rico from creditor lawsuits. The board has not responded publicly to those requests.

Rossello's administration has pledged to restructure the government to reduce costs as well as reform the island's tax and retirement systems. The governor already signed several executive orders aimed at turning around the government's financial crisis, including ordering agencies to reduce their budgets and contracts for professional services by 10 percent.

He also has submitted a labor reform bill that seeks to cut the size of a mandatory Christmas bonus and the required number of vacation and sick days granted to workers. Puerto Rico's Senate is debating the bill amid a growing number of protests.

Puerto Rico Govt Could Collapse if No Steps Taken

Puerto Rico oversight board favors more time for restructuring talks

Puerto Rico's federal oversight board said on Wednesday it was willing to extend key deadlines that would give the debt-laden U.S. territory's government more time to negotiate restructuring deals with holders of its roughly $70 billion in bonds.

In a letter to Governor Ricardo Rossello, the oversight board said it "is favorably inclined" to grant the governor's request to extend to May 1 from Feb. 15 a freeze on litigation from creditors over missed debt payments.

It also said it favored extending until Feb. 28 from Jan. 15 a deadline for Rossello to submit a fiscal turnaround plan for the island.

Both requests will be taken up formally "later this month," the board said, and would be conditioned on the government agreeing to turn over more information about its financial picture and not to take on more short-term liquidity loans.

The board said Rossello's fiscal plan should aim to generate $4.5 billion annually in new revenues or savings through fiscal 2019. It laid out specific areas the plan should address, including shrinking the size of the government, pension reform and spending reductions in higher education and healthcare.

In addition to its nearly $70 billion in debt from a myriad of public issuers, Puerto Rico is struggling with a 45 percent poverty rate and unemployment that is more than twice the mainland U.S. average.

The bipartisan, seven-member oversight board was created under the federal Puerto Rico rescue law known as PROMESA, passed by the U.S. Congress last year. It is charged with helping the island manage its finances and navigate its way out of the economic jam, including by negotiating restructuring deals with creditors.

PROMESA calls for Puerto Rico's governor to deliver a fiscal turnaround plan, due on Jan. 28, to serve as a blueprint for the island's path out of crisis.

The law also imposed a freeze on litigation from creditors over debt payments, set to run out on Feb. 15.

Rossello, who won election in November and was sworn in on Jan. 2, asked for the deadline extensions, saying his new administration needed more time to assess the local financial situation and negotiate with creditors.

Rossello has only just now hired lawyers and financial advisers to represent the government in those talks.

Failing to reach consensual restructuring deals could push Puerto Rico and its many debt-issuing agencies into a messy and costly bankruptcy-like process under PROMESA.

(Reporting by Nick Brown; Editing by Daniel Bases and Leslie Adler)
By Nick Brown
Puerto Rico oversight board favors more time for restructuring talks

US Court of Appeals for First Circuit rules in favor of Puerto Rico, maintains stay

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled Wednesday in favor of the Puerto Rican government in allowing the stay on litigation established by Promesa to continue in several creditor cases.

In its ruling, the Boston court upheld the district-level determination by federal Judge Francisco Besosa, who stayed the claims by several creditor groups against the Puerto Rican government, in which they allege the debt moratorium law implemented by the past administration is unconstitutional.

Plaintiffs – which include bond insurers, individuals and institutional mutual funds – who appealed Besosa’s decision are creditors of the Government Development Bank (GDB), Public Financing Corp. (PFC), Employee Retirement System (ERS) and Highway & Transportation Authority (HTA).

Specifically, the panel of judges upheld Besosa’s determination in the case of HTA creditors Peaje Investments, while dismissing as moot most of the appeals made by the other groups of plaintiffs.

However, in the case of Altair, an ERS creditor, the Boston court indicated that the plaintiffs are entitled to a hearing over their claim that Promesa’s stay be lifted. On the other hand, the appellate forum revoked Besosa and allowed the fiscal control board of Promesa to seek intervention in that lawsuit.

Although in some cases no evidentiary hearings were held, the parties had the opportunity to stipulate facts and designate from the transcript of previous hearings before Besosa last September.

Plaintiffs argue their rights are being affected because several revenue sources pledged for the payment of their bonds are being misused by the government through the moratorium legislation. They also demand that Promesa’s stay be lifted due to the damage they claim to be sustaining.

The Boston court’s decision represents a new victory for the government of Puerto Rico in the cases of creditors that currently remain suspended as allowed by Promesa. The government has been represented by the firm Kirkland & Ellis, which despite being considered by the administration of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, wasn’t chosen as legal adviser to the new government.

The Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority (Fafaa) announced Wednesday its selection of Dentons as new legal advisers to the Puerto Rican government.

By Luis J. Valentín
US Court of Appeals for First Circuit rules in favor of Puerto Rico, maintains stay

Hotels bullish on Puerto Rico despite Zika, drop in business

Hotel developers and operators continue to invest in the Puerto Rico lodging industry despite two serious concerns: the impact of the Zika virus on leisure travel and a drop-off in meetings and conventions resulting from the expiration of a U.S. tax incentive that had made doing business on the island very attractive.

The Puerto Rico government announced last month that the island's first Four Seasons will open in Fajardo, on Puerto Rico's northeastern coast about 40 miles east of San Juan, by the end of 2018. The $230 million, 140-room project will be financed by Puerto Rico-based developer Flagship Services and New York-based DLJ Real Estate Capital, and it will receive about $15 million in government funding, according to Ingrid Rivera Rocafort, executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Co.

Next month marks the reopening of El San Juan Hotel, which changed hands in 2015 and shut down last August to receive more than $20 million in upgrades, including a new spa, a new restaurant and improvements to its 388 rooms. When it reopens, El San Juan, which debuted in 1957, will be Puerto Rico's first hotel to be flagged under Hilton Worldwide's Curio collection, a soft brand that enables the hotel to keep its name.

That activity follows up a spate of investments at higher-profile hotels in Puerto Rico, whose inventory of some 15,000 rooms is about a quarter of the Dominican Republic's and about three-fourths of Jamaica's.

The Caribe Hilton, which company founder Conrad Hilton opened in 1949 (Hilton still owns the property outright), received $8 million in upgrades in 2012, the same year $2 million was invested in the Hilton Ponce Golf & Casino Resort on the island's southern coast.

Two years later, the Sheraton Old San Juan underwent a $4 million renovation, while both the Embassy Suites in San Juan and Embassy Suites Dorado del Mar received upgrades in 2015.

"Puerto Rico is a growth market," said Juan Corvinos, managing director of development for Hilton's Mexico, Central American and Hispanic Caribbean regions. "Airlift is the biggest issue in the Caribbean, and low-cost carriers have pushed a lot of tourism toward Puerto Rico."

Still, after boosting its inbound tourism count by about 20% between 2012 and 2015, to more than 5 million visitors, Puerto Rico tourism activity flattened this year, as the combination of new air routes from low-cost carriers such as Southwest and Allegiant and more cruise-ship dockings was offset by fears over Zika.

In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last February forecasted that Zika might infect as many as 700,000 people on the island, spurring Puerto Rico's tourism bureau to launch its Facts vs. Fear campaign the following month. So far, Zika has infected about 35,000 people, or about 1% of the island's population, according to Rocafort.

"The growth trend stopped, but we've been able to stay even with a year that was a record high, and we've been able to dispel some of the fears about Zika," Rocafort said. She added that the cold weather and early snow in New England also helped spur inbound tourism starting last month.

Puerto Rico's draw as a gaming destination appears to have faded in recent years. The casino in the Condado Plaza Hilton closed in 2015, while the InterContinental San Juan's casino shuttered in early 2016.

On the other hand, the latter closing appears to have motivated the owners of El San Juan, which is adjacent to the InterContinental on Isla Verde Avenue, to add more gaming tables to its 7,500-square-foot casino, which was remodeled in 2014, with hopes of attracting high rollers.

While Puerto Rico has an advantage over destinations such as the Dominican Republic and Jamaica because U.S. residents don't need a passport to visit, the inbound meetings and convention market has suffered because of dwindling tax advantages once enjoyed by U.S. companies that built plants in Puerto Rico, according to Scott Smith, managing director at CBRE Hotels.

A tower guest room in the renovated El San Juan Hotel, reopening Feb. 5.

Drug companies, especially, came to Puerto Rico in the late 1960s and 1970s to take advantage of a federal tax incentive that allowed U.S.-based manufacturers to send all profits from Puerto Rican plants back to the U.S. without having to pay federal taxes. That incentive has now expired.

As a result of the influx of U.S. companies, Smith said, "San Juan had some pretty strong demand Monday through Friday, but Puerto Rico has lost some of that corporate demand."

Hilton is counting on the combination of minimal new development and the relative familiarity and safety of Puerto Rico compared with other Caribbean destinations to keep its 5,000 rooms on the island occupied. (Four Seasons representatives declined to comment.)

Hilton has 11 properties in Puerto Rico, while Marriott International has five flagged under its legacy brands and five more that it gained last year with the acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

One big unknown is whether or not the stigma of Zika fades soon enough for those newer and upcoming hotel investments to pay off.

"Puerto Rico is considered a safe Caribbean destination, as is Aruba and Grand Cayman," Smith said. "It's more Americanized than Jamaica or the Dominican Republic, and Old San Juan has a lot of culture. But that Zika virus is a real stigma, and you've had a lot of displaced demand that has gone to St. Thomas or St. Croix."

The El San Juan Hotel will join Hilton's Curio collection.
By Danny King
Hotels bullish on Puerto Rico despite Zika, drop in business

It's Coming! Get Ready for the 'Great American Total Solar Eclipse' of 2017

Puerto Rico's new governor is seeking more time to present a fiscal turnaround plan for the struggling U.S. territory, saying the Jan. 31 deadline set by the commonwealth's federal oversight board is too tight.

In a letter to the board dated Jan. 4, a representative for Governor Ricardo Rossello, who was sworn in on Monday, sought at least a 45-day extension, which would push the deadline to present a plan to March 17.

Under the territory's federal rescue law known as PROMESA, passed last year, Puerto Rico's governor has to present a blueprint for the island's financial future that must be approved by the federally-appointed board tasked with managing its dire fiscal position.

The board last year set a Jan. 31 deadline for the plan, but Elias Sanchez, Rossello's liaison to the board, said the deadline would give the administration too little time to assess Puerto Rico's finances or attempt restructuring talks.

The governor also sought a 75-day extension of PROMESA's so-called automatic stay provision, which prevents creditors from suing Puerto Rico over missed debt payments. With the stay set to expire on Feb. 15, Rossello asked the board to extend it until May 1.

That would give the island more time to try to negotiate restructuring talks with holders of $70 billion in debt issued by Puerto Rico and its public agencies.

If the deadline expired in February, it could force Puerto Rico or the board to preemptively push some public agencies into a legal process under PROMESA akin to U.S. bankruptcy protection, known as Title III, the letter said.

"We are very concerned that a rushed process to certify a fiscal plan by January 31, 2017, and a view that the movement of the PROMESA stay on February 15, 2017, is an intractable deadline, could prematurely precipitate Title III filings for some or all" of the government's public debt issuers, the letter stated.

Puerto Rico owes $18 billion in general obligation debt, backed only by a constitutional promise; $15 billion in so-called COFINA debt backed by sales tax proceeds, and billions more in debt at myriad public entities, such as the PREPA power authority and PRASA water utility.

The island has an unemployment rate more than twice the U.S. average, its 3.5 million population is shrinking as locals flock to the mainland and nearly half of those who remain live in poverty.

(Reporting by Nick Brown; editing by Daniel Bases, G Crosse)
By Nick Brown
It's Coming! Get Ready for the 'Great American Total Solar Eclipse' of 2017