TRUMP PLANS TO PROFIT FROM PUERTO RICO’S SUFFERING.

The Mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz, exposes Donald Trump's efforts to profit from Puerto Rico's disasters.


Democracy Now!'s Juan González and I (Amy Goodman) spoke to the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz. I started by asking her what the situation on the island is, five months after Hurricane Maria hit.

 

MAYOR CARMEN YULÍN CRUZ: We are facing putting together a massive recovery effort. And that is part of the problem. It doesn't seem - wheels are spinning, but things don't seem to get off the ground. The botched effort continues to be deciphered. Fifty-five percent more - increase in the suicide rate, which tells you the mental state where people are at because of the dire situations and living conditions that we're still in.

 

As you mentioned, 25 percent of the island is still without power. And just last night, Judge Taylor Swain denied the administration's request for an emergency loan for our power authority. So the government is now saying that employees are going to be let go, laid off, and that we're going to go to program blackouts. So, for many people, it will mean going back to September 20th, at least for a few days during the week. Our power grid is still very unstable, even those of us that have electricity. Just in San Juan this past Sunday, a massive community of San Juan just got electricity for the first time, but things come and go.

 

So we're facing a privatization on the energy front. We're also facing privatization of the educational point. The local government of Puerto Rico has introduced the concept of charter schools and has said that it's going to privatize schools. It almost seems like the perfect storm for disaster economics or what they call disaster capitalism. Everything seems to be out there for sale, while those essential services, that do more than provide services - they are sort of the equalizers of our society - are all put on sale. Still, the money from FEMA is not coming. The municipalities are facing a dire need of cash in order to continue to provide services and make payroll. For San Juan, the situation is a little better, but we are still in a very delicate financial situation.

Excerpt from - https://www.democracynow.org/2018/2/19/five_months_after_maria_san_juan