Puerto Rico Archives - Page 2 of 3

12Sep

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Puerto Rico, USA

'Shame on You!' Outrage After Trump Falsely Claims That '3,000 People Did Not Die' in Puerto Rico From Hurricane

NOVANEWS "You can try and bully us with your tweets but we know our lives matter," responded San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz. "You will never take away our self respect." by: Jake Johnson Mourners carry the casket of Wilfredo Torres Rivera, 58, who died October 13, three weeks after Hurricane Maria, on October 19, 2017 in Utuado, Puerto Rico. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images) President Donald Trump has been "lying about Puerto Rico from the start to make himself look better," and on Thursday morning Trump lied once more by falsely claiming that a widely accepted academic study showing that nearly 3,000 Puerto Ricans died as a result of Hurricane Maria was "done by the Democrats" in an attempt to make him "look as bad as possible." "Only Donald Trump could see th...

1Sep

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Puerto Rico, USA

If 9/11 Attacks Can Spark Trillions in War Spending

NOVANEWS If 9/11 Attacks Can Spark Trillions in War Spending, Asks Ocasio-Cortez, Why Can't US Find Funding for Puerto Rico 'Marshall Plan'? "The U.S. treats Puerto Ricans as second class citizens," notes the ACLU. "Thousands of lives were lost because of it." by: Jessica Corbett, staff writer A government-commissioned study out Tuesday estimates that nearly 3,000 people died in Puerto Rica after Hurricane Maria, bolstering calls for greater relief efforts. (Photo: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images) A study commissioned by the Puerto Rican government has found that an estimated 2,975 people died after Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory last year, corroborating previous analyses that have long challenged the official death toll of 64 and bolstering calls that the Am...

30Aug

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Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico Raises Hurricane Maria Death Toll From 64 to 2,975

NOVANEWS By Bill Van Auken World Socialist Web Site Note to readers: please click the share buttons above The government of Puerto Rico Tuesday raised its estimate of the number of Puerto Ricans who lost their lives to 2017’s Hurricane Maria from 64 to 2,975. This figure makes Maria the worst natural catastrophe on territory claimed by the US since the Galveston, Texas flood of 1900. The near 50-fold increase in the death toll exposed what millions on the island already knew: that the authorities had long deliberately concealed the real human cost of the storm. It is also a searing indictment of the criminal negligence and indifference of both the US ruling establishment and its two major parties, as well as that of the territory’s own governmental authorities. Governor Ric...

14Aug

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Puerto Rico

'Disaster Capitalism Strikes Again!': Puerto Rico's High Court Gives Green Light to Charter Schools, Vouchers

NOVANEWS New ruling overturns finding by lower court that charters and vouchers—part of the island's education overhaul post-hurricane—were unconstitutional. by: Andrea Germanos Education historian Diane Ravtich called the new ruling from Puerto Rico's high court a "victory for rapacious billionaires" and charter proponents like Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. (Photo: Lorie Shaull/flickr/cc) Puerto Rico's controversial plan to overhaul the island's education system moved forward after its high court issued a ruling this week overturning a lower court's finding that charter schools and vouchers were unconstitutional. "Disaster capitalism strikes again!" commented education historian Diane Ravitch, who also called it a "victory for rapacious billionaires, [Educat...

21Jul

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Puerto Rico

THE NEWS FROM PUERTO RICO THE BATTLE FOR PARADISE 'Video'

A CORPORATE-GOVERNMENT PROGRAM TO UNDERMINE CIVIL SOCIETY A video version of Naomi Klein’s new book “The Battle for Paradise.” The situation in a nutshell: Grassroots efforts are thriving in the face of extraordinary challenges. Official efforts are failing – deliberately. Why? One reliable place to send help: http://hispanicfederation.org

2Jul

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Puerto Rico

Puerto Ricans Battle Disaster Capitalism to Achieve Self-Determination

NOVANEWS Mother Isamar holds her baby Saniel, 9 months, as husband Samuel mixes cement at their makeshift home, under reconstruction, after being mostly destroyed by Hurricane Maria, on December 23, 2017, in San Isidro, Puerto Rico.MARIO TAMA / GETTY IMAGES BY: Mark Karlin Truthout Progressive Picks In 2007, Naomi Klein challenged the neoliberal notion of competitive economic growth in her book Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. In that book, she documents the economic forces that take advantage of catastrophes to institute corporate economies with the most minimal of regulations. “Disaster capitalism” is premised on radical laissez-faire goals that are essentially two-fold: 1) to achieve corporate privatization and windfall profits; and 2) to diminish the ...

21Jun

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Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican anger builds as study reveals 4,654 hurricane deaths

NOVANEWS By Graciela Pichardo Translation of the sign: The lack of a prompt response by the government caused the death of thousands, while thousand remain without lights. Photo: Lela Santiago-twitter.com Hundreds of Puerto Ricans placed the shoes of their dead loved ones on the marble plaza of San Juan’s Capitol building on June 1, in remembrance of the thousands that died due to Hurricane Maria and its aftermath. This was the people’s response to a study released two days earlier revealing the death toll from the hurricane to be 70 times the government’s estimate. The action was a moving tribute to the 4,654 who lost their lives. It was also an angry protest against the Puerto Rican government of Governor Ricardo Rosselló for denying the magnitude of the deaths, and against La Junta...

31May

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Puerto Rico, USA

Deadlier Than Katrina and 9/11: Hurricane Maria Killed 4,645 in Puerto Rico, 70 Times Official Toll

NOVANEWS By Amy Goodman and Juan González, Democracy Now! A stunning new study by researchers at Harvard has revealed the death toll in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria may be 70 times higher than the official count of 64. The new research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, says the death toll is at least 4,645 -- and perhaps as many as 5,740. President Trump has so far not responded to the new study. But in October, during a visit to Puerto Rico, Trump boasted about the low official death count. With a death toll of at least 4,645, Hurricane Maria would become the second-deadliest hurricane in US history -- behind only the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 which killed as many as 12,000 people in Texas. The Harvard study found that "interruption of medical care was the...

25Mar

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Puerto Rico, USA

Toxic Coal Ash Is Being Dumped in Puerto Rico, Which Already Suffers Worst Drinking Water in the Nation

NOVANEWS By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! Even before Hurricane Maria struck the island nearly six months ago, the majority of Puerto Rico's residents lived with water that violated health standards set by the US law. Since the storm, residents say the situation has only gotten worse. Among the sources of potential water contamination are mountains of coal ash generated by a coal-fired power plant owned by a private company called AES. For years, residents have demanded the company stop dumping toxic coal ash into their community, saying the waste is poisonous to their health and the environment. We speak with Mekela Panditharatne, a lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council who just returned from the island and wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post headlined "FEMA says m...

22Feb

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Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico still in crisis, yet FEMA is ending food and water aid

NOVANEWS By Monica Cruz Photo credit: Joe Plette On Jan. 30, the US Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that it would end food and water aid to Puerto Rico. Over four months after Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, the island nation is still facing a massive humanitarian crisis. In another inhumane display of callousness, FEMA announced on Jan. 24 that it was cutting off housing funds for dozens of Boricua families from the island now living in Connecticut hotels. This reversed a announcement just days before that FEMA would extend the program. Families are scrambling to find a place to stay or face homelessness in the middle of one of the coldest Northeast winters. Back in October, Congress passed a disaster relief bill that gave Puerto Rico a $4.9 billion dollar ...