Puerto Rico’s January 8-14, 2018 political week in tweets

by Jan 16, 2018News Week in Tweets0 comments

THE OLD DEMANDS OF PUERTO RICO STATEHOOD STATUS WITH A NEW APPROACH

Last week Puerto Rico announced a new wave of campaign for the statehood status, however, this time, the approach will take a slightly different path. Puerto Rico’s approach has changed in mid-2017 to embrace the same strategy that Tennessee used in 1796 to gain the status of a state, when it sent a shadow congressional delegate to lobby lawmakers in Washington. The members of the Puerto Rican delegation were appointed in July 2017 by Ricardo Rosselló and include both senators and the House members. “That delegation will demand that the United States recognize the will of Puerto Rico to become a state”, Jenniffer González-Colón pointed out at the House floor on Wednesday.

PUERTO RICO UNDER TSUNAMI WARNING AFTER AN EARTHQUAKE NEAR HONDURAS

Last week after a powerful earthquake off the coast of Honduras, Puerto Rico found itself once again in a situation of a possible danger. FEMA sent tsunami alert warnings as tsunami waves could reach the islands together with some other countries of the Caribbean. Fortunately, the warnings were later cancelled as there was no damage recorded.

ANOTHER WARNING CAME TO HAWAII LAST WEEK, THOUGH THIS ONE TURNED OUT TO BE A DANGEROUS MISTAKE

The weekend did not have a very promising start for the people of Hawaii when they received missile warning messages on their phones on Saturday. After more than half an hour of people panicking and seeking shelter, the messages were officially cancelled. It was confirmed that the messages were a local mistake. However, the incident raised dozens of questions of the reliability of the US early warning system as well as the dangers of an accidental nuclear war and a need for the de-escalation of the DPRK crisis.

SHOULD PUERTO RICO BLAME ITS DOMESTIC AUTHORITY FOR RELIEF AID DELAY? THE NEW INVESTIGATION IS TO FIND OUT

Last Thursday, Governor Rosselló asked the islands’ Department of Justice to initiate a legal investigation of Puerto Rico’s power authority to find out whether its officials improperly concealed materials sent to the islands, which could have delayed repair efforts. The measure was taken after the Intercept published a report on Wednesday stating that officials from FEMA and the US Army Corps of Engineers were involved  in a “tense standoff” with local electric authority workers at a facility with a “massive store of rebuilding materials”. The issue has already created substantial controversy due to the different interpretations given by both sides.

RICARDO ROSSELLÓ CALLS UPON PUERTO RICANS TO RAISE THEIR VOICES OF ANGER AND FRUSTRATION

Following his harsh and criticising rhetoric on the federal response to Hurricane Maria,  Governor Ricardo Rosselló called on displaced islanders to mobilize themselves and take their frustration and anger to the polls in November. The governor heavily criticised the federal response to the disaster during a town hall meeting in Kissimmee. “Rosselló described the islanders as “second-class citizens” in the US during an impassioned speech that garnered cheers and whistles.”

JENNIFER LOPEZ’ VISIT TO PUERTO RICO

Last Sunday, Jennifer Lopez was not present at the Golden Globe ceremony for a very important reason, as she had another meeting to attend. She was visiting Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria together with Alex Rodriguez to support relief works. During her meeting with Puerto Ricans, Jennifer Lopez called for stronger support for the islands and for the equal treatment of the people of Puerto Rico.

WHILE OFFICIALS AND PUBLIC FIGURES CALL FOR MORE FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR PUERTO RICO, SOME OPPOSITE CALLS COME FROM OTHERS

Oscar Lopez Rivera, a former member of the Puerto Rican terrorist group FALN, demanded that the US mainland aid workers should return to their homes and leave Puerto Rico alone. “They should go. Just go. Just go,” he said. “We don’t need anything from them.” These words received a wave of criticism and disapproval from Puerto Ricans as they believe that such statements do not benefit the islands in any way at the current moment.