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<h1 class="reader-title">Anger mounts in Puerto Rico as workers
discover warehouse full of unused aid</h1>
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<h5> By Genevieve Leigh <br>
21 January 2020 </h5>
<p>In the aftermath of nearly a month of relentless
earthquakes and aftershocks, the island of Puerto Rico
continues to reel from the devastation. Thousands of
homes and buildings have been destroyed or severely
damaged.</p>
<p>Facing the threat of further quakes on top of
constant aftershocks, thousands of families have taken
to the streets, living in makeshift tents or in their
cars, out of fear that their houses will collapse on
top of them. At least 7,000 people are reported as
living in shelters throughout the island due to the
quakes and thousands more remain without power and
running water.</p>
<p>Amid these dire circumstances, there is a widespread
understanding among workers and youth that local
politicians and the US government will be of little to
no help. On Saturday, in Ponce, the second largest
city on the island which was near the epicenter of the
quakes, residents discovered a warehouse piled high
with water, cots, propane tanks, medical supplies,
baby food and other desperately needed unused
emergency supplies that the government had failed to
dispense to the community.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><b>The discovery of the supplies set off a social
media uproar after a video went viral of a group
of residents breaking into the warehouse to
retrieve the goods.</b></p>
</blockquote>
<p>As the discovery of the warehouse demonstrates, the
response from the local and federal government to the
catastrophe continues to be abysmal. Many residents
have expressed a horrifying sense of <em>déjà</em> vu
over the last month of earthquakes, which takes place
only three years after Hurricane María hit the island
in 2017. The negligent response from the government in
the aftermath of the hurricane led to the deaths of an
estimated 7,000 people, a fact that the government
sought to cover up and deny for more than a year.</p>
<p><span>Cots under a tent in a parking lot in Yauco
where a group of family members has been sleeping
after their house was destroyed</span></p>
<p>In fact, many reports are now suggesting that the
supplies found in the warehouse in Ponce on Saturday
have been stored away since Hurricane Maria in 2017.
It is unclear how or why the supplies never reached
those in need.</p>
<p>While the government response to the life-threatening
conditions has been slow, the response from Governor
Wanda Vázquez to the eruption of anger over the video
was remarkably prompt, though wildly insufficient.
Vázquez fired the director of the island's emergency
management agency, Carlos Acevedo, only hours after
the video was released on Saturday in an attempt to
quell the eruption of mass unrest. Two more officials
were fired on Sunday, Housing Secretary Fernando Gil
and Department of Family Secretary Glorimar Andújar.
Vázquez was installed last August after mass
demonstrations involving up to 1 million people forced
the resignation of two governors.</p>
<p>The governor nominated José Reyes, who oversees the
National Guard in Puerto Rico, to be the new
commissioner for the State Bureau for Emergency
Management and Disaster Management. Under the pretense
of “emergency relief,” Vázquez is laying the basis for
a police state in preparation for another wave of
massive social unrest. So far, 8,500 National Guard
troops have been deployed and all local police have
been called back to duty from vacations. Washington is
in the process of sending 300 security officials from
special task forces and Vázquez signed an executive
decree last week so that the latter are immediately
sworn in as “agents of peace,” with special
enforcement powers. The local legislature has also
requested the federal government deploy Special Forces
from the US military.</p>
<p>There is immense anger among the working class both
on and off the island toward local and federal
politicians alike. Over the last decade, and the past
three years since Hurricane María in particular, the
working class in Puerto Rico has passed through
incredible political experiences: the imposition of
the dictatorial Obama-era Financial Oversight
Management Board, which has imposed savage austerity
measures; the systematic destruction of public
education, including the closing of hundreds of
schools; the state-sponsored cover-up of the death
toll from Hurricane María; and, perhaps most
importantly, the overthrow of two governors as a
result of mass protests involving more than a third of
the island’s entire population. The grievances of the
Puerto Rican people are deeply rooted in these
experiences, along with over a century of
semi-colonial exploitation of the island by US
imperialism.</p>
<p>The level of trust in local and federal politicians
is undoubtedly at a record low. Among the hundreds of
comments posted on the viral warehouse video one read,
“I’m sure the governor of Puerto Rico knew about this.
I’m sure she’s using the director of the island’s
emergency management as a scapegoat. They were holding
aid for political reasons. People need to go to jail.
All these Democrats have no consequences for their
actions, so why stop breaking the law. So many corrupt
democrats.” Another wrote, “This happened last time as
well. Was there any investigation and consequences
then??”</p>
<p>Someone else ridiculed Vázquez’s firings as a stunt.
“That guy involved only got sacked. So easy, no
consequences. He should be charged and put behind bars
for a long time. What he did is tantamount to murder,
obstructing the survival of life’s needy victims.”</p>
<p>Another commenter asked why such tragedies are so
frequent. Answering her own question, she replied,
“Because the rich don’t care, that’s why. The poor
people suffer and it doesn’t matter what party is in
charge.”</p>
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<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
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415 863.9977
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