Councilmembers Say: A Year After Maria, Puerto Rico is Still in Pain. We Blame Trump

photo: Councilmember Diana Ayala, who is Puerto Rican

 

By Marcus Ayala and Ryan Thaxton

 

A year after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico is still feeling the effects and many are blaming the United States government and specifically President Trump. At a press conference, New York City Councilmembers called out Trump and demanded a federal investigation into the disaster.

Led by Corey Johnson, the councilmembers signed a letter criticizing the President for dismissing the official death toll of Hurricane Maria. He believes Trump has underestimated the impact of the storm and he agrees with the officially reported death toll of 3,000. “All those lives lost and nothing but disrespect and neglect from our president,” Johnson said.

Politico has reported that the number of deaths related to the hurricane is 4,645, while Harvard and other institutions have declared the number to be in the thousands. The death toll exceeds the 1,833 of Hurricane Katrina and is on par with 9/11. Trump continues to cite the several dozen deaths, a number that was reported in the days just after Maria struck the island.

The letter being sent to the Trump administration argues that Trump gave mainland states that were hit by hurricanes much more sympathy. Trump’s comments about Texas and Florida and the impact those states suffered were “much fuller and more effective than what we saw in Puerto Rico,” the letter says.

Johnson said, “We are calling on congress to pass a bill introduced by Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand that would establish an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate the government’s failure in Puerto Rico and we are sending a letter to President Trump himself demanding he do the right thing and back the formation of the commission. We need to understand why our government mounted such a horrible response to the worst storm that likely ever hit Puerto Rico.”

Four Councilmembers of Puerto Rican descent expressed deep disappointment with Trump and his treatment of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Those councilmembers were Diana Ayala, Carlina Rivera, Ydanis Rodriguez and Rafael Salamanca.

Ayala said, “The federal government has failed this community and must be held accountable of their actions.” Rivera said her family was directly affected by the hurricane. “We cannot trust the federal government,” Ayala said.

Salamanca declared, “Our fight is not over, Puerto Rico we stand with you.” Rodriguez said, “They treated Puerto Ricans worse than third class citizens.”