Maria wrecks Puerto Rico U.S. slack in delivering aid
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Soon after hurricane Irma devastated islands in the Caribbean and parts of Florida, Socialist Action report er Ernie Gotta interviewed Omar Pérez Figueroa about the effects of the storm on Puerto Rico. Gotta followed up with Perez after hurricane Maria decimated the is land.
Pérez, a native of Puerto Rico, is a member of the Ju ventud Hostosiana, the youth group of the Hostosian National Independence Movement. He is an investiga tive analyst on climate and water quality and a doctor al student at the University of California Irvine School of Social Ecology.
Socialist Action: Can you discuss the situation in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria?
Oliver Pérez: The situation is chaotic right now, there is no electricity, only 25% of people have water, and approximately 88% of the cellular towers are out of power. People are dying in the hospitals, treatment such as dialysis and oxygen therapy need electricity to be provided, and the gas that is used to run the power generator is scarce. The government is saying that they have supplies, but somehow people are not receiving them. As a result, people are camping, mak ing long lines just to get some gas.
Another issue that has gone unnoticed is the mixture between stagnant water from the floods and sewage water. In a normal rain event, manhole lids burst be cause of the water pressure. Now imagine how many manholes blew with the hurricane! This water mix poses a health risk to everyone that comes in contact with it; sewage water contains high levels of patho gens. Because roads are either blocked or flooded, people do not have another option than to get in con tact with this polluted water.
Also, there are areas in the interior of the island where aid has not arrived. We have people writing “S.O.S.” on their roofs, hoping that someone will send 12 SOCIALIST ACTION OCTOBER 2017 aid. There are people who lost everything, unlike high-income people from Guaynabo, where President Trump visited during his trip to the Island. This me dia circus portrayed Puerto Ricans as if they are doing just fine, rather than showing a humanitarian crisis.
SA: Can you talk about the U.S. relief response?
OP: FEMA is responding at snail’s pace. My sister told me yesterday that on the way to visit my grand mother’s house she saw houses without roofs and people sleeping out in the open. The process to obtain aid from FEMA has been exhausting. It is very com plicated; you need the internet to complete the for mularies. The people that I know that have been able to fill the application had done it through the phone.
How come the fastest way to apply for aid is via in ternet and phone, when most of the island is without power and cell phone signal? Supposedly, FEMA sent people on foot to complete these forms, but they are nowhere to be found.
The U.S government has had an Army colonel named Jeffrey Hughes to oversee the aid operations in the island. This has been seen by many people as a new military occupation of the island. Yes, we need aid, we need tools and structures that can allow us to bounce back from this crisis, but we don’t need to keep per petuating the same political system that has made us dependent on U.S. aid.
Furthermore, last week (Oct. 3) President Trump visited Puerto Rico to see first hand the consequences of Hurricane Maria. Rather than being supportive or expressing his concern for Puerto Ricans’ wellbeing, he stated that Puerto Ricans have thrown the U.S. bud get “out of whack.” He went on to say that Puerto Ri cans and Governor Ricardo Rosselló should be proud because only 17 people have perished in this event, which compared to Hurricane Katrina, in which the dead count went into the thousands, was “good.”
He mentioned how they have finally arrived to help Hector Retamal / Agence France-Presse / Getty Images us, as if Puerto Ricans have not done anything to pull themselves out of this crisis. That visit showed a lack of respect and understanding of the Puerto Rico situ ation. Losing 17 lives is more than enough.
SA: There was fear on Sunday (Oct. 1) that the Gua jataca Dam could burst open. What’s the dam’s sta tus now, and how would that impact those living near by? How has U.S. economic extraction of wealth from the island affected infrastructure in Puerto Rico and the ability to rebound from natural disasters?
OP: We are facing a major issue with the Guajataca Dam. It broke on one side, and it seems it can flood the area if completely broken. This dam provides water to many towns in the western part of the island. If it breaks, this would mean that 11 billion gallons of wa ter would be unleashed onto the communities nearby.
Puerto Rico has a serious problem with its water infrastructure, which is very old, and in some areas, it should have been repaired long time ago. Most of this infrastructure could have been repaired or even rebuilt, but the PROMESA law has limited the funds that can be invested in these efforts. As a result, most of Puerto Rico’s budget has being allocated to pay its debt, leaving essential services such as education, health and infrastructure adrift.
SA: What role does climate change have on the pow erful storms generated in the Atlantic?
OP: Scientific data from the IPCC (Intergovernmen tal Panel on Climate Change) suggests that climate change is increasing ocean temperatures. This change in temperature increases hurricane strength.
Nevertheless, the Puerto Rican government and so ciety have yet to recognize this relationship. It was not until 2016, and with the help of the Puerto Rico Climate Change Council (PRCCC), that the Puerto Rico Senate tried to pass a bill to establish Puerto Rico’s public pol (continued on page 11, in “Minneapolis Friday, Nov. 3, 7 p.m”)