Being that D's heritage is Puerto Rican we have made it our destination for our annual summer vacation. We visit family, have daily beach jaunts, and stuff our faces with KuchiFritos {Puerto Rican Soul Food}. In the last two years we have noticed a change in the number of businesses we once frequented as several of them have closed.
Fast forward to Hurricane Maria, we haven’t been since the storm but we’ve read the reports,, heard about the lack of aid, electricity, and staggering death count. It amazes me how our “great” country supports less melanated regions, but their own territory gets minimal. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, I mean look at Flint!
Some Facts About the Commonwealth
"Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States. It is a distinction that, for years, has carried many of the advantages of being a state and few of the downsides. Most notably, Puerto Rico receives federal assistance, but most of its residents do not pay federal personal income taxes.
But the lack of statehood is now hurting the island at its time of greatest need. Unlike states, which can authorize their municipalities to declare bankruptcy, Puerto Rico has no such access to bankruptcy courts for its government entities. That has left the island facing a chaotic debt restructuring with no legal referee.
While there are proposals on Capitol Hill to give Puerto Rico bankruptcy powers, the island’s status hurts here, too. Puerto Rico’s lone representative in Congress has no vote, which has hampered the bills’ progress." SOURCE
I began this post on December 31, 2018 and today is July 9, 2019. According to Amnesty International here are the key points a year after Hurricane Maria:
KEY FACTS:
Hurricane Maria, the strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in nearly a century, made landfall on 20 September 2017. It compounded destruction caused by hurricane Irma just weeks before.
More than 44% of the population of Puerto Rico lives in poverty, compared to the national US average of approximately 12%.
On 28 August 2018, Puerto Rico’s Governor revised the official death count from 64 to 2,975. Prior to that various other studies had estimated the death count to be even higher. US President Trump has denied the numbers.
A year after Maria, tens of thousands in Puerto Rico are still living under blue tarps, designed as temporary roofs.
After a Federal Court decision on 30 August, Puerto Ricans temporarily housed in the USA lost FEMA’s housing support on 15 September.
God help us if a similar situation were to occur on the continental US.