Deirdre Fulton (Common Dreams) writes about faith leaders in Puerto Rico and how they have been responding to austerity measures, saying that “the call goes beyond debt relief.” The leaders have said that they “call for economies to serve people, not for people to serve economies.” [Many thanks to Rod Fusco for providing this information.]

Denouncing new austerity plans and proposed “fiscal adjustments” that they say will adversely impact Puerto Rico’s poor and needy people, the island’s faith leaders on Monday called for debt relief and a resolution to the financial crisis that eschews further austerity.

With a working group restructuring plan due to be delivered to Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla on or before September 8, the letter from religious leaders (pdf) comes as the U.S. territory struggles to address crippling debt and double-digit unemployment.

Two recent reports, one commissioned by a group of hedge funds who purchased…