Puerto Rico’s August 15-19 political week in tweets

by Aug 24, 2016News Week in Tweets0 comments

US Justice Department to end use of private prisons

Citing concerns regarding security, safety, and cost efficiency, The US Department of Justice has decided to end the use of private prisons, effective immediately.  The decision only affects 195,000 inmates out of America’s 2.2 million adult prisoners, as only federal prisoners held in private prisons will be affected. Most inmates are held in state and local facilities though and are not covered by the DOJ’s announcement, though critics of privately owned prisons see this as a crucial first step to ending the use of private prisons completely.

 

Puerto Rico reports first death from Zika-related paralysis

The first death attributed to Zika-related paralysis has been confirmed after a man from Guillain-Barré passed away last month. There are a total of 13,186 confirmed cases of Zika in Puerto Rico but the number is believed to be much higher as 8 out of every 10 person infected show no symptoms or never see a doctor. Over 1,000 of those confirmed cases are pregnant women, raising concerns of Zika-related birth defects which include microcephaly, hearing loss, eye abnormalities, and inflexible joints.

 

Donald Trump Appoints Media Firebrand to Run Campaign

Donald Trump has tapped Stephen Bannon, the chairman of the far-right media organization, Breitbart News, to become his campaign’s chief executive. The decision further fuels the woes establishment republicans as the Trump campaign becomes further entwined in the populist message that Breitbart advocates. Presidential candidates will often attempt to expand their message in order to draw more voters toward them as election day draws near, but Trump has decided to the do the opposite in what Mitt Romney’s former policy director, Lanhee Chen, calls a “base reinforcement strategy.”

 

Uber arrives in Puerto Rico, amid chaos

The ridesharing service, Uber, has run into the all-too-familiar problem it faces when beginning it’s service in a new location. Uber has found itself snarled in a bureaucratic web between the Public Service Commission and the Department of Transportation and Public Works on the island of Puerto Rico. The Court of Appeals of Puerto Rico has overturned a lower court’s ruling that would have prevented Uber from operating in Puerto Rico, allowing Uber to continue service that began on July 11th. The decision comes among outcry of local taxi drivers that feel threatened by the ridesharing company, further fueling the economic hardship gripping Puerto Rico.

 

FBI delivers documents on Clinton email probe to US Congress

The FBI has turned over a series of documents related to the it’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server to the US Congress. The FBI turned the documents over to congressional committees, including the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee, after they were requested following end of the FBI’s investigation. The Hillary campaign has criticized the action, believing it to be another attempt to politicize an issue that has already been laid to rest, following testimony from the Director of the FBI, James Comey.