This year on the 20th of September, Hurricane Maria hit the island, Puerto Rico. Now almost a month later, the island is still almost entirely without power, gas, medicine, and clean water. If you know nothing about Puerto Rico besides coquis, pina coladas, Despacito, and the fact that yes, it is an island, allow me to give you a quick history lesson:
Puerto Rico originally invaded by Christopher Columbus when he first sailed the ocean blue in 1492 became a Spanish colony. It stayed that way until the year 1897 when Spain allowed the island autonomy, which basically means we got our constitution and could self-govern. Not even a year later, the United States invaded during the Spanish-American War and took possession of Puerto Rico. In 1917, American citizenship was imposed on Puerto Ricans, but don’t be confused. This grants all Puerto Ricans the right to be called Americans and fight in wars, but not vote in federal elections. Really convenient, too because Puerto Ricans did fight in WWI. After this war, in 1920, the Jones Act was passed, requiring all trade between US ports be done with US ships and sailors.
Summed up, the island has been through a lot, and a lot of what has happened has resulted in the ridiculous amount of debt Puerto Rico is in. Hurricane Maria did nothing to ease up on the island’s misfortunes. Buildings have been leveled to the ground, possessions have been lost, hospitals are running on the last of their emergency electricity and medical resources, schools are not in session, vegetation and livestock on the island has been wiped out, limiting the amount of natural resources the people have access to, and people are dying of thirst, starvation, and, most recently, leptospirosis, a bacterial disease spread through infected animal’s’ urine.
The circumstances are dire, and more than 3.4 million American citizens’ lives (a little bit less than the population of Los Angeles) are on the line. The prices of basic necessities, like food and bottled water, on the island have skyrocketed because of their limited supply in the most disgusting form of price gauging. Bags of ice that were originally about $2 have been increased to $8. Airlines fares are no different, one-way tickets going from $97 to up to $685, most already sold, so that hundreds are waiting for available flights. It is nearly impossible to get away from this disaster. Companies are taking advantage of the situation to fuel their greed and extort desperate people.
Being of Puerto Rican descent, apart of only the second generation of my family to live in America, and still have relatives living on the island, this catastrophe is close to my heart. The most stressful part of being in this situation is the lack of communication and information. Cell towers are down, power is scarce, and the media would rather focus its attention on tabloids than how to fix this crisis. It took about two weeks to hear from family members in Puerto Rico, and there are still some that we have not heard from. My family in Chicago is flying out one of my cousins at the end of October to both get her away from the disaster and make sure she keeps up with her high school education.
When asked about the status of the relief, the government only answers in positivity, raving about the great work first responders and FEMA is doing in Puerto Rico. If a news team or official from Puerto Rico speaks against this, it’s labeled as “fake news.” Donald Trump’s twitter rants and criticisms of Puerto Rico’s elected officials are all the evidence you need of this:
“Despite the Fake News Media in conjunction with the Dems, an amazing job is being done Puerto Rico. Great people!”
“The Fake News Networks are working overtime in Puerto Rico doing their best to take the spirit away from our soldiers and first R’s. Shame!” (both tweeted on September 30th)
Let me be the first to assure you, things are not going well. Yes, the Jones Act was temporarily suspended to allow ships from anywhere to help out, but that has since been reinstated. There have also been tons of donations and resources sent to the island, but there are blocked roads that prohibit transportation and very little workers to drive trucks available to distribute the much needed aid.
The president has even tweeted threats to pull the government aid from Puerto Rico because of the costs:
“… We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!” (tweeted on October 12th)
This being a complete change from the attitude he took on during Texas’s natural disaster:
“TEXAS: We are with you today, we are with you tomorrow, and we will be with you EVERY SINGLE DAY AFTER, to restore, recover, and REBUILD!” (tweeted on September 2nd)
With the threat of removing this government assistance, Puerto Ricans now become completely reliant on the help and kindness of others. Most of this in the form of aid from private business owners, citizens, volunteers, and donations. There are tons of different ways for people to help out, even you:
Donating: https://hispanicfederation.org/unidos/#content
Buying & Listening to Lin Manuel Miranda’s song, “Almost Like Praying,” featuring other Puerto Rican artists, Camila Cabello, Ana Villafañe, Tommy Torres, PJ Sin Suela, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Gina Rodriguez, Anthony Ramos, Joell Ortiz, Ednita Nazario, Rita Moreno, Jennifer Lopez, John Leguizamo, Alex Lacamoire, Luis Fonsi, Fat Joe, Gloria Estefan, Dessa, Pedro Capo, Ruben Blades, and Marc Anthony: https://youtu.be/D1IBXE2G6zw
There are also mason jars all over campus where you can make all kinds of cash contributions, and if you are not in a financially stable position to donate, speak up. Get informed, share the information you find with others, and let Congress know that by not helping the American citizens of Puerto Rico they are not doing their job. Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez said it best, “In 1898, American troops invaded Puerto Rico. American troops took over Puerto Rico. So Puerto Ricans didn’t invite the United States armed forces. It was invaded. So with that invasion comes responsibility.”
There is a Spanish song in Puerto Rico by the name Preciosa. The lyrics sing of the beauty, history, and love of the island from the point of view of every puertorriqueno. It is through this song that I have found a war cry in this post-hurricane Maria time. Right now, Puerto Rico is heartbroken and devastated, but not beaten. The inhabitants of the island are surrounded by death, but still they live, weak but not broken. Like Maya Angelou’s poem says, “Just like moons and like suns, / With the certainty of tides, / Just like hopes springing high,” we will rise again.