I wonder which Puerto Rican officials are responsible for this? (A tip o' the hat to reader Jason L. for sending me the link to the video.)
Probably some of the same officials responsible for this.
FBI agents in Puerto Rico have been receiving calls from "across the island" with residents complaining local officials are "withholding" or "mishandling" critical FEMA supplies -- with one island official even accused of stuffing his own car full of goods meant for the suffering populace.
The accusations come in the aftermath of deadly Hurricane Maria, which devastated the U.S. territory last month.
“The complaints we’re hearing is that mayors of local municipalities, or people associated with their offices, are giving their political supporters special treatment, goods they’re not giving to other people who need them,” FBI Special Agent Carlos Osorio told Fox News.
. . .
Some of the claims have come by phone and others have poured in over social media, but the allegations stretch across the island.
Osorio told of one allegation where a party official is accused of pulling his own car around the back of a government building and driving off after loading it full of FEMA supplies.
“We’re going out and investigating these claims,” Osorio said. “We don’t know yet if they’re accurate or not...but yes we have received many similar allegations from people in many different parts of the island.”
The allegations of misconduct come amid a pitched back-and-forth between island officials and President Trump over the federal response to Maria.
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, a frequent Trump foil, reportedly accused Trump on Thursday of “genocide” for not doing more to aid in the relief efforts.
There's more at the link.
Perhaps the best disaster relief for Puerto Rico might be to remove from office every state and local government official, and replace them with qualified, competent, honest people from the mainland - perhaps retired businessmen and administrators, who can teach and/or show them how it's done. Many of them need the jobs, and Puerto Rico needs better government, making it a win-win situation. What say you, readers?
Peter
14 comments:
"Perhaps the best disaster relief for Puerto Rico might be to remove from office every state and local government official, and replace them with qualified, competent, honest people from the mainland ...."
Only to put out the immediate fire; if law allows, permanently remove existing incompetent and corrupt office holders, replace them with competent and non-corrupt business types for a limited one-time period of 24 months at the conclusion of which each position will be filled through island-wide elections.
During that 24 months full and complete independence for Puerto Rico as a sovereign nation should be establshed, implemented by a second team of competent and non-corrupt business people.
That way, the next big financial hole Puerto Ricans dig will be all their own.
Not trying to be a wank, here - but a healthy dose of skepticism is needed when you see stuff like that.
Americans don't do anything small. When disaster strikes they are on the scene and in hours they'll have rudimentary services restored - - under impossible conditions. We've all seen 'em do it.
The reality of it is that while you yanks are prepared and have done this before - the victims may not. Put yourself in their shoes: facilities have been washed away or destroyed; the cops are everywhere and nowhere as they try to hold order; the fire, search and rescue guys are overwhelmed and struggling to get their poop in a group...
And the Americans show up with massive amounts of food and supplies. Where do you put it? When the warehouses have collapsed and fallen, stuff gets left in the rain. Stuff gets stacked on other stuff it shouldn't. Or left in places it shouldn't. Logistics become a nightmare. Combine that with the fact that often, the locals and victims are low IQ/low skill vibrants...? You are bound to get some spoilage.
Not saying you're wrong here, Pete, but if a pic is worth a thousand words... it can easily tell 100 lies.
Natural disasters bring out the best, and worst, in people. Although the incidents are not representative of most disaster relief, they happen; and judging from my personal observations after hurricanes, the most abuse is found where people are dependent on public money to survive. People develop different ethics, when they are not responsible for their own survival.
remove from office every state and local government official, and replace them with qualified, competent, honest people from the mainland
Thats called colonizing. Not a bad idea but currently unpopular and you can NEVER give it back. The Culture is incapable, no different than any other third-world s***hole. Listen folks; IT WONT CHANGE. Its thier culture, no different than hawaii, philipines, guam, stc. All the same, a welfare bottomless pit.
What you are seeing in the video is nothing new. The Politics of Starvation is a common thing in Third World countries.
What you are seeing is nothing more that preparation for the next elections. "The (Gringos, Republicans, Pro-Statehood) abandoned us and our people starved to death! Vote for Me!"
And they will be re-elected.... and the people deserve them.
"Perhaps the best disaster relief for Puerto Rico might be to remove from office every state and local government official, and replace them with qualified, competent, honest people from the mainland ...."
Or even golden retrievers. It isn't the corruption of people like this, or Ray Nagan that bothers me. It's the stupidity. If you read the history of machine politics, it comes up again and again. The Machine will be untouchable as long as it can be relied on to take care of the voters in emergencies. The moment it forgets that core function, it will fall.
As soon as the whole hurricane thing is resolved as it can ever be, the U.S. needs to throw a few billion at PR and fast track their independence. Call it reparations for colonialism, white privilege taxpayer bailout, apologize to Spain for the Spanish American War and as a token of goodwill give back PR. Whatever load of BS that we need to come up with is fine as long as it gets the U.S. shed of that place. That island has no strategic value in this day and age and it's caused far more grief to the rest of America than any value it has or ever had.
The manana culture pervades Puerto Rico as much as any other Caribbean island...changing the head of the snake will not alter the culture. I suppose in this setting, a paraphrase of Kim DuToit is appropriate...
"The Caribbean wins again."
You'd be wasting your time, and annoying the pig.
Sign a 99-year lease for a US Naval installation there, separate the islet of Vieques out and give it to the Pentagon, and once the agreement is signed, tell Puerto Rico that that next July 4th is their independence day, and they're on their own in perpetuity, with no further immigration to the U.S. effective immediately.
Otherwise those kids will never move out of their parents' basement.
We need to keep Elon Musk and Tesla away from Puerto Rico.
https://twitter.com/LeonGoudikian/status/920689211115823104/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwattsupwiththat.com%2F2017%2F10%2F18%2Fway-to-go-greenies%2F
I gave up on PR when I saw the videos of the young and strong camped out around cell towers waiting for the net to come back up instead of doing anything to help themselves or their fellows.
PR is just another lefty fecal pit. Dump it.
I have been there more than a few times over the past three decades. Although Puerto Rico is nominally part of the US, it is a third world shithole. We need to cut the place loose. It will NEVER be a net contributor to the US economy. All it is, is an island of corrupt freeloaders.
Give them their independence.
Here is the issue I see with this video. This is the bed of an Army trailer. This is not a dumpster. The food items he shows in the truck are almost all weatherproof packages. This is not stuff that is being thrown out, it is stuff that is being used at that site, but that has not been stored indoors. The MREs don't go bad because they are outside. The water bottles aren't bad because they are wet. This is a setup to show a point of view, not a clear depiction of abuse. There is certainly waste and abuse, but this does not appear to be it.
G
Been waiting for "Extrajudicial Remedies: The Self-Help Edition" to land in Puerto Rico for quite some time ...
Not holding my breath for that one.
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