In addition to the disappointingly sluggish nature of federal relief efforts in general, it is clear that the timeline for recovery on the mainland is markedly different from that of a U.S. territory. At this point there is no concealing the double standard.
Professor Déborah Berman-Santana’s discusses the cynical manipulation of post-Maria recovery efforts. The effect so far has been to enrich the powerful and delay return to normal life for millions of Puerto Ricans.
LAS PIEDRAS, PUERTO RICO – In this second part of her interview with MintPress News, Professor Déborah Berman-Santana’s focus turns to the cynical manipulation of post-Maria recovery efforts. The effect so far has been to enrich the powerful and delay return to normal life for millions of Puerto Ricans. You can read part one
Part of the problem with the colonized mentality is that the one who is colonized begins to believe the lies that have been told by the colonizer: that we are inferior, we are backward, that we would be poor, that we would have no hope if it were not for a more developed, more civilized, more powerful entity.
ATHENS, GREECE and LAS PIEDRAS, PUERTO RICO – Until recently, the similarities were stunning. Puerto Rico, mired in a deep economic crisis for the past decade, has often been dubbed “The Greece of the Caribbean.” While there are a great many similarities in the “debt crises” both Greece and Puerto Rico have been experiencing, this
“Whether it’s water or energy, privatization helps Wall Street, not communities.”
Many Puerto Ricans continue to live in primitive and dangerous conditions more than a month after Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory in the Caribbean.
Last Thursday, President Trump gave his administration a “ten out of ten” for its handling of the hurricane recovery in Puerto Rico, However, even as Trump was patting himself and his team on the back the power grid in San Juan went down again throwing the city into darkness. Meanwhile, those living in more remotes areas of
Puerto Rico’s infrastructure, which already faced severe pressures because of the U.S. territory’s huge debt and demands from its creditor, has now been devastated by Hurricane Maria.
Though President Trump bragged about the relatively low death toll from Hurricane Maria — 16 at the time of his visit on Tuesday — the number soon jumped to 34 and was expected to rise much more when isolated hospitals could finally report in. Many of the island’s 59 hospitals were cut off from power and half the island’s 3.4
Post-Maria conditions in Puerto Rico have exposed the shameful benign neglect that the U.S. government has long showered on its most visible territory. Unfortunately that exploitation and disregard extend even to “independent” nations tied to the U.S. apron, as exemplified by Ebeye in the Marshall Islands.
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – Since Hurricane Maria devastated the island of Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory – which rarely garners much attention from the national media – has received widespread coverage which has focused on the Trump
