~MAYOR OF SAN JUAN, THE CAPITAL CITY OF PUERTO RICO~
Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto (born February 25, 1963) is an American politician who is the current mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Cruz is affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party.
~Wikipedia~
I have to confess that I didn’t know anything about this woman.
The first time I heard about her was during those terrible days after Hurricane María battered my country. I live in the mainland. I’ve been away from home since 1999.
She became the voice for those in the diaspora as we hungered for news about our country.
To this day you will hear negative comments about her.
She didn’t do her job, she took advantage of the situation to benefit her own political ambitions, she forgot about the people of San Juan, she’s posing because she wants to run for governor, she’s a socialist, she aligns herself with Puerto Rico’s independence while pretending to be a member of the Partido Popular Democrático, etc., etc.
I don’t care what they say about her, I don’t care what they think … to me, she became that voice that we desperately needed to hear.
She’s the only political official who has stood up to Drumpf and his administration.
I was hungry for news about the Island after the devastating hurricane
I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. I lived there all my life. I lived through many hurricanes, not María, of course. I know the landscape of my country. I know how the towns in the central part of the island were affected without me being there. I know, without being there, how the medical needs couldn’t be addressed because of lack of power. I knew 16, 64 deaths were not correct. There are at least 11 refrigerated vans at the forensic facility containing bodies … the capacity to conduct autopsies and eventual identification has been overwhelmed.
I have family and friends who were without power for 11 months. When communication was possible, I finally was able to get in touch with them. I sent care packages to them including the most basic items that we generally take for granted. I already went back to see.
By the time I returned, there was a semblance of recovery.
Yes, power is restored … not totally. And it’s still very fragile.
Power outings for hours and days at a time are commonplace.
Politics in Puerto Rico is ‘the national sport’.
My political ideology related to Puerto Rico has gone through a gamut of feelings, ideas and a new conviction. The relationship with the United States is difficult to define.
Track the route of San Juan’s Mayor Cruz after Puerto Rico was slammed by a catastrophic hurricane. The city leader stood up and fought for relief aid, becoming the heroic voice of her struggling island and the Puerto Rican people.
~~Mayor Carmen YulÍn Cruz~~
Breaking Big
~~Published on Sep 14, 2018~~
As Carmen Yulín and Drumpf enter another Twitter war, find out how the mayor of San Juan fought her way to international prominence.
“I am done being polite. I am done being politically correct. I am mad as hell,” she famously said as she fought against the entire U.S. government in managing the response to two hurricanes that devastated the Caribbean.
One year after Hurricane Maria made landfall, she’s no less mad.
Watch the season finale of Breaking Big to follow Cruz’s story from humble beginnings to becoming one of the most vocal mayors in the United States. Breaking Big is a new documentary series from the minds of OZY and PBS.
“So-called President Drumpf calling Puerto Rico response an unsung success is “a level of delusion that must be checked by those around him and by Congress,” warns @ChrisCuomo
Words from a dear friend in Puerto Rico who lived through Hurricane María and its aftermath
To say that the federal government’s intervention during Hurricane María was a success is to insult all of those who suffered thru months of darkness, lack of basic necessities, homelessness and loss of loved ones.
More than half of FEMA officials were not certified, which means many of those who applied for help were denied due to a lack of knowledge on their part.
Containers which sat at port, waiting for inspection, as if there was the most remote possibility of guns or explosives in them. A lack of a coordinated plan to distribute essentials. Not one temporary bridge put up by National Guard or Reserve members, (who do this on regular basis in other countries during their summer trainings) in areas where entire communities or towns were completely cut off from help and supplies.
Among other situations.
To use the Island as an example of a successful mission of rescue is an insult to it’s citizens (note I don’t even bother mentioning U. S. Citizens), to those who graciously and generously helped with donations and still are on the Island, rebuilding homes for the less fortunate. To still see so many blue tarps as roofs is depressing, knowing most are senior citizens who can barely get by and pay for food and meds, much less repair with the ridiculously jacked up prices of building materials.
A horrible thought of what may happen in the Carolinas, Virginia and it’s residents.
My fervent prayers for your safety and that you find comfort after the storm.
Jeanette P.
Donald J. Trump actually says
“I think Puerto Rico was an incredible, unsung success …”
PUERTO RICANS HAVE BEEN AMERICAN CITIZENS SINCE 1917
Now, after a study done by professionals, the official number is 2,975.
Who can anyone be sure?
Shame on Drumpf … it won’t matter because he doesn’t care!!
She’s the only person who has been vocal about the situation in Puerto Rico since Hurricanes Irma and María battered Puerto Rico!!
San Juan mayor says the Drumpf administration killed thousands through neglect during Hurricane María
Washington (CNN)
The Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, said Wednesday, August 29, that bureaucracy and inefficiency across local and federal government entities are to blame for the deaths of nearly 3,000 on the island in the wake of Hurricane María, which came to light as part of a newly released study commissioned by the Puerto Rican government.
In particular, Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz blamed Drumpf, federal officials and Puerto Rican officials for not providing more assistance in what the Puerto Rican government now acknowledges was a storm deadlier than Hurricane Katrina.
“You know, everybody is responsible because there were people in power that had the opportunity to request more aid, to request more aid when it was reasonable, to request more aid when it was needed, to tell the truth and they didn’t,”
“It’s 2,975 people and they’re still calling it an estimate – 2,975 people that will never see the light of day and many of them died because of what was done by the administration and that was silently approved by most of the political class in Puerto Rico.”
He went to Puerto Rico and threw paper towels at them.
Thousands of people died and he congratulated himself.
Shame on Drumpf
~~San Juan Mayor: People died from Neglect~~
~~Published on Aug 29, 2018~~
In an interview with CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, San Juan mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz blames the Trump administration’s neglect when asked who is responsible for the close to 3,000 death toll from Hurricane María reported.
Pedro Albizu Campos (September 12, 1891 – April 21, 1965) was a Puerto Rican attorney and politician, and the leading figure in the Puerto Rican independence movement. Gifted in languages, he spoke six. He graduated from Harvard Law School with the highest grade point average in his law class, an achievement that earned him the right to give the valedictorian speech at his graduation ceremony.
However, animus towards his mixed racial heritage would lead to his professors delaying two of his final exams in order to keep Albizu Campos from graduating on time. During his time at Harvard University he became involved in the Irish struggle for independence.
Albizu Campos was the president and spokesperson of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party from 1930 until his death in 1965. Because of his oratorical skill, he was hailed as ‘ElMaestro‘ (The Teacher).
He was imprisoned twenty-six years for attempting to overthrow the United States government in Puerto Rico.
Life throws plenty curve balls and both of us ended up living in Florida. We have made it an event and traveled to Puerto Rico at least once a year.
Last year’s trip was abruptly interrupted by Hurricane María. Almost 9 months went by before we were able to go back home.
Initially, we wanted to say away from the issues on the Island mostly to avoid interrupting rescue efforts. We didn’t want to be in the way of people’s needs, first responders, rescuers and workers.
There was no power (power hasn’t restored fully yet, as of this writing), the roads were impassable, communications were very limited. Rather than be in the way, we waited until some degree of normalcy had been attained in the Island.
We embarked on our trip on May 18 and returned May 29, 2018.
This is the longest we have been away from the home base in Florida.
~This trip had a two-fold Purpose~
We wanted to go back and see what Hurricane María had done to our piece of paradise.
My high school was celebrating our 50th graduation anniversary and we had never met before!!
Off we went.
I would like to share some photos with you. I will do so in parts … for ease of posting and to separate the areas that we visited. I hope you enjoy them!
Once we arrived at the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, we had another leg to go. I knew that we were getting on a smaller plane … I called it a ‘kite’, ‘puddle jumper’.
An airport employee called it a ‘mosquito’.
I wasn’t expecting such a small plane!
Yet, here we were. The plane holds only 9 passengers. All the weight it taken into account. That includes your bags and every person’s who is on board.
O-M-G!!
Then again, I realized I was concerned more than needed. The flight went surprisingly well in spite of the fact that there were plenty clouds and there was a rain spell locally.
Mayagüez
Located on the west coast of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez is home to historical sites, nature and wildlife preserves, and several colleges and universities.
Cape Air offers four flights from San Juan to Mayagüez daily.
Fly Cape Air San Juan to Mayagüez.
Enjoy daily year-round flights between Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan and Eugenio María de Hostos Airport in Mayagüez.
I returned on Tuesday, May 29, that was the day when I became aware of the results of this study.
I knew this was true even after the first few days after Hurricane María battered the Island.
I will never forget or forgive the current American administration or the current Puerto Rican administration for the totally inadequate response to this disaster.
The conditions back home aren’t adequate still.
Uncle Sam, there’s Puerto Rican blood on your hands.
The mighty, imperialistic US of A doesn’t care about it’s colony.
The Puerto Rican government is as corrupt as the American one.
4,645 Puerto Ricans, (so far), paid the ultimate price!
Born and raised by underpaid public school teachers in Sanford, Fla., Andy Marlette graduated from the University of Florida and became staff editorial cartoonist at the Pensacola News Journal in 2007.
Marlette received a priceless editorial cartoon education while living with his uncle and Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Doug Marlette in Hillsborough, N.C. Doug’s tragic death in July of 2007 made evermore poignant the elder Marlette’s fierce and faithful devotion to the art form of editorial cartooning as a cornerstone of American free speech.
With this in mind, Andy works daily to learn and uphold the disciplines and values passed on to him by his late uncle. Andy’s editorial cartoons have become both hated and adored by daily readers.
It Is What It Is 