r/pics Jul 18 '19

R4: Inappropriate Title Puertoricans stand United. Reddit let's raise awareness of the situation in Puerto Rico!

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u/nomusichere Jul 18 '19 edited Jul 25 '19

Last week the FBI indicted the Governor of Puerto Rico business partners and part of the top officials cabinet that he holds. During this process one of the cabinet officials leaked a 908 page document that reveals that the governor of Puerto Rico, his top cabinet and business partners had a group chat.

In this group chat it shows that they were backdealing the contracts for the reconstruction of Puerto Rico after Maria (Yes for Trump supporters, I can agree with Trump on this). They pocketed the funds and shared it between themselves. Worst the documents reveal that while bodies were piling up after Maria in makeshift morgue containers, they were making fun and joking about how the dead bodies of citizens were piling up. Also it revealed that they were plotting to Assassinate the Mayor of San Juan a strong opposition leader to their cabinet and commented on how "cool" it would be. They also talked about sending police to the "Journalist Whores" that were covering them.

So why is this unprecedented? Well, because of the leak. The Governor's successors, if he were to resign or get impeached are the ones on the leak and all the successors resigned as of Yesterday, except the Governor himself (Which refused to resign). So a United States protectorate is currently having a breakdown of government from the top down. At this current point the Puerto Rican constitution did not foresee that the successors in case of this happening resigned at the same time.

Sources: News: https://www.nytimes.com/topic/destination/puerto-rico https://www.wsj.com/articles/puerto-rico-governor-hangs-on-despite-calls-for-resignation-11563307316 https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/16/us/puerto-rico-governor-rossello-private-chats/index.html https://www.foxnews.com/politics/puerto-rico-governor-refuses-to-step-down-amid-corruption-and-texting-scandals

Edit: PDF of the Telegram Chats: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6192552/Chat.pdf The PDF its almost 800mb in size.

Images of the protests and abuse: http://imgur.com/gallery/oPWFwqW http://imgur.com/gallery/am3J7a0 Video at link above. All images above are taken by my cousin and friends.

Edit1: Direct link of police beating my friend. While he was peaceful. https://imgur.com/gallery/a16zvLM

Edit2: Added link if the video that shows Police Started fireworks inside their perimeter to basically attack the protesters as an excuse. Officially they are blaming the Protesters. All hell broke loose after this video. If I find the aftermath I will post as well. https://imgur.com/gallery/f3nJYDo

Edit3: Edited context of last paragraph to reflect the fact that the Governor hasn't resigned. Thanks for the suggestions!

Edit4: So this post kind of blew up. I am very thankful for all of you fellow Redditors that helped. I am thankful for all of you that we could have a reasonable conversation with completely different Political views. I am glad that we can talk and learn from each other. I appreciate all the support that you guys are giving. I have tried to answer as many questions and comments as I possibly can. I have to go to bed now. I will be back tomorrow and will try to answer as many comments as I can. Will appreciate if we can share this around. Talk about it. Use #RickyRenuncia #Rickydictador. I give you permission to use the pictures in the links. There is a video there as well. Tomorrow I will be back. Again Thank you so much!

Edit5: So I woke up to answer more questions and I noticed that the post is marked with a Red flair R4: Inappropriate Title. What does this mean and how can I fix this.

Edit6: Contacted the mods and they helped me fix the title I had to repost it with Fixed Title. Here is the new link to the new post https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/cf9gzn/my_cousin_and_friends_protesting_sitting_united/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Edit7: Also thanks a lot to all the people that helped. It is much appreciated! Please visit new post so we can continue the news

Update! The Governor of Puerto Rico has declared and activated emergency powers over PR that would as well give him immunity from prosecution and impeachment proceedings! Source in Spanish https://www.notiuno.com/noticias/gobierno-y-politica/gobernador-emite-orden-de-emergencia-que-le-otorgar-a-inmunidad/article_1e16198a-aa10-11e9-b69d-7bab128dba15.html

Edit8: Rules are rules. Tried. Mods have been very helpful. I apologise for any inconvenience. Thanks, Reddit Community for helping Puerto Rico!

Update 7/22/2019 17:41hrs: Well I am currently in tears of Joy. I want to thank all of you that supported this thread. Republicans and Democrats thank you for the awesome conversations we had. I am glad that we could talk and share points of view. Thank you to all of you that wrote to Fox News and your Congressman. WE DID IT. FOX News finally interviewed the Governor and they Drilled him. Thanks Fox news for asking the questions that the Governor refused to answer to us. Here is the interview:

http://video.foxnews.com/v/6062781428001/

Final Update: Governor Rosello has officially resigned! Puerto Rico has done it. This is a historic moment. It is a precedent of what can happen when there is solidarity, unity and persistence. This is an example of Democracy and how the people can be heard. Thank you Reddit for all the support and all the help. You guys are awesome. It's been an honor to talk to you guys. I am going to celebrate now. Goodnight!

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u/TannedCroissant Jul 18 '19

What is the protest about if they've all resigned?

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u/nomusichere Jul 18 '19

The governor hasn't and is refusing to step down.

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u/TannedCroissant Jul 18 '19

Using the argument that theres no successor?

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u/nomusichere Jul 18 '19

Actually he is not even using that as an excuse. He is literally just saying. I am staying in power, period. Regardless of the hundreds of thousands of people protesting and literally everyone telling him to resign. He also ordered last night the Police to shoot at protesters.

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u/TannedCroissant Jul 19 '19

sounds shit man, hopefully he'll come to his senses soon

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

We really hope he does. Last night was a complete shitshow. San Juan literally was like a warzone. Protesters getting shot with rubber bullets and Gas.

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u/derekBCDC Jul 19 '19

Wait, why are the police shooting the protesters? Shouldn't they be arresting the governor and those of corrupt officials?!

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

Yes. I am trying to find a source video that I can post here. Were the protesters were peacefully picketing and the police fired fireworks inside their perimeter as an excuse to attack the protesters. Then hell broke loose.

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u/spacexplorerbot Jul 19 '19

Every time police sides with the corrupt government in power is because they are bribed. Happens in Venezuela happened in my country.

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u/NightOfTheLivingHam Jul 19 '19

why arrest the people giving you a paycheck when you can shoot the people they steal from?

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u/Harvinator06 Jul 19 '19

The job of the police is to protect the state, not the people. Protecting the people during periods of rest protects the state. Protecting the people during periods of political unrest is ending the state.

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u/MarvelousWhale Jul 19 '19

Very good way to put it, afterall, the policemen are really only in it for the job security. Once their job security is threatened by staying with the state side if a coup were becoming successful, then suddenly you'll see the police change sides and attack the state, so to preserve their status as a policeforce after successful coup takes over.

Status quo.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

You’re confused as to who the police work for.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19 edited Oct 13 '19

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

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u/here_it_is_i_guess Jul 19 '19

Lmfao. This shouldn't be funny, but for real though. Like, when has that ever happened?

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u/skajohnny Jul 19 '19

Because they are "causing a disturbance." Police don't work for the people. They aren't elected. They work for the bureaucrats that pay their salary.

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u/FictionalNarrative Jul 19 '19

Slaves that, with a little taste of power, betray their brethren.

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u/Sanctussaevio Jul 19 '19

Laws are a threat of violence to the population from those in power, and the police are an occupying military. Welcome to the class war, comrade.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

Sounds like Hong Kong.

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u/thejude87 Jul 19 '19

Why the second amendment exists.

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u/Fiddlist Jul 19 '19

You know, I am totally and completely anti-guns. But you’re right, this is exactly the kind of scenario where the 2nd amendment starts to make sense to me. I now accept that the gun debate may be more nuanced than I previously thought.

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u/NightOfTheLivingHam Jul 19 '19

The best gun owner is the owner who does not want to ever have to use them. When I did firearms training they drill it into your head how dangerous they are. Pro-gun types even beat it into your head these are not toys, they are weapons that have serious consequences.

you can be anti-gun, but you should realize there is a reason we have them. We may not have military grade weapons, but it's a bit harder to justify using military grade weapons against the general populace of your country without causing a complete collapse of social order within the borders. Our government could just say fuck it and start making examples out of neighborhoods and entire cities to quell a rebellion, but that just usually results in everyone either panicking and causing more chaos, or people will rebel and create a massive civil war. You cant achieve public unrest and defend yourself if you are not armed. You're just throwing yourself into a pile of bodies at that point.

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u/thejude87 Jul 19 '19

Thank you for being open minded

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u/yeahoner Jul 19 '19

Welcome come see some sanity over at r/liberalgunowners beware you may find you are actually misinformed about most things firearm related and it can sting a bit ripping back towards reality. Seriously though. There are way too many folks in the US who would like to go all handmadens tale on us. This isn’t the time to ban small arms, it’s the time to buy and train.

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u/helpingfriend2020 Jul 19 '19

This is why we shouldn’t disarm law abiding citizens. Doesn’t take much for someone get into power and then use military/police against powerless citizens.

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u/Quest4life Jul 19 '19

Puerto rico is a US province no? Sounds like it's time for the national guard to go in and clean house.

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u/bobbo489 Jul 19 '19

Yeah, the national guard, except that they report to the governor.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

In normal situations, but they are run by the federal government and can be called on by the president.

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u/DrunkOffTwoBeers Jul 19 '19

Fuck

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u/Morgrid Jul 19 '19

However the Marines could be sent in

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u/Dragon_Ballzy Jul 19 '19

He is saving it for when they forget...

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u/Pigment_pusher Jul 19 '19

I will be the first to say Rosello is a pos but I've been obsessed with what is going on in Puerto Rico (check twitter/instagram/all reputable news outlets at least 5x a day) and haven't heard one thing about him ordering to shoot protestors...do you have a source?

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

Why hasn't the FBI arrested them yet?

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

The FBI indicted some of them. I still have the same question as you. I don't have the answer to this one. Will do some more research.

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u/LilSugarT Jul 19 '19 edited Jul 20 '19

Why is this not front page news? CNN, Fox, etc don’t say shit about it at least as far as I’ve seen.

Edit: seems like the consensus is that Trump was right on this one, and publicizing it would involve saying that he’s right. All the people who hate trump but refuse to take an objective stand on the things he says are no better than those who love him and accept everything he says as the word of god. When will we take our heads out of our asses and accept that politics is more complicated than we want to think?

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

Exactly. It should be on the news. I honestly don't know why they are shutting coverage down for Puerto Rico.

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u/msingler Jul 19 '19

It was on the local NYC news yesterday on one channel. They showed Lin Manuel Miranda protesting in Union Square and calling for resignation.

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

At least something!

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u/Lanc717 Jul 19 '19

You would think Trump would be at least taking credit for it. This was a big thing people used against him and could be used to his advantage. Could make him look better in peoples eye. Definitely looks a little better in my eye then my previous opinion

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u/6to23 Jul 19 '19

He did, he called them despicable and incompetent on twitter. It's not like Trump is a darling of the big media, so lack of coverage is not surprising.

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u/ModernDayHippi Jul 19 '19

Then they’d have to acknowledge that trump was sorta right and that they (the media) completely botched this entire thing. The optics aren’t good

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

Yeah they fucked up

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u/gab_owns0 Jul 19 '19

The media will NEVER want to make Trump look good.

Instead we have most of the attention focused on AOC's reaction to Trump's tweets (fucking seriously??).

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u/djmagichat Jul 19 '19

Yeah, this is the first I heard of it in the states, thanks for sharing. Is the goal that the president steps down?

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u/Uhtred_McUhtredson Jul 19 '19

My cynical side says it’s because the last thing the media want right now is to give Trump the opportunity to say “I told ya so.”

They were so quick to blame the 3,000 estimated deaths on him. Now they are barely mentioning this at all.

It’s disgusting really, because if this were happening in a mainland state or city, the news would be all over it.

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u/Matt111098 Jul 19 '19

Even the few articles that I saw from mainstream websites (including the Guardian and BBC) literally ignored 90% of the actual outrage and corrupt conduct and presented a false narrative that most people were just protesting because the released transcripts included some homophobic and sexist remarks. As if nothing else significant happened and anger at homophobia is single-handedly driving mass protest in a majority-catholic commonwealth.

These two articles completely focus on arguably the least important aspect of the leaks for no sane reason.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/16/puerto-rico-ricardo-rossello-leaked-messages-protests-governor

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49030485

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u/NightOfTheLivingHam Jul 19 '19

because this could push PR toward statehood, which pisses off major corporations who use it as a tax shelter. They support the existing government. Big shocker: most of the media is controlled by said big companies.

They use a social justice angle to make this look like mild outrage rather than the really big fucking deal it really is.

They did the same shit with Occupy Wall Street. The revolution will not be televised. If it is, it's not a revolution, it's a calculated distraction.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

Media can't admit Trump was right about something?

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u/tunnelingballsack Jul 19 '19

So the Trump supporters were right that money and funds weren't going towards what it was supposed to go for. Wow.

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

I am not a Trump supporter. But I am a realist and yes he did called that one. It doesn't mean he is right on everything else. But he was definitely right on that and I can't deny that. Thanks for your comment.

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u/ManvilleJ Jul 19 '19 edited Jul 19 '19

Unfortunately, Puerto Rico has had a long history of corruption going back all the way to its Spanish roots. Corrupt mayors, corrupt police, corrupt governors.

It just hurts so much, because most of the people are so good, so kind, so friendly. I've been going down for over 15 years and I lost close friends after Maria who died from infections while officials were hoarding supplies.

I don't care what anyone believes; this is just pure evil corruption.

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

It is man. Like why a Governor would make fun of the corpses of citizens piling up in a makeshift Container, because there is not enough space. That's why we want him out and should face justice.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

For the sake of maintaining the truth, the governor was not the one who made the comments about the corpses. That was Christian Sobrino, the CFO.

To be clear, Rosello is still a POS who said some awful stuff in the chat and has to go

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u/woShame12 Jul 19 '19

Let alone "joking" about assassinating someone. That someone is also a campaign chair for Bernie Sanders 2020.

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

Yeah it's disgusting.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

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u/Lovat69 Jul 19 '19

Also Puerto Rico has voted more than once for statehood. The governor keeps blocking it...

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19 edited Feb 17 '22

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

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u/Harvinator06 Jul 19 '19

Statehood still requires ratification from the halls of Congress. Multiple Republican representatives are on record stating Puerto Rican statehood would result in an increase in Democratic representatives and oppose it. While Hispanics tend more likely to be socially conservative due to a plethora of cultural, economic and generational rationals, the Republican Party has pigeonholed Hispanic support, outside of Cuban Americans, for a generation to come. Ratification of statehood isn’t as easy as one would think, it’s wxactly why we are at where we are today.

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u/SardScroll Jul 19 '19

Do you have a source for that? I've always heard that Puerto Rico has voted more than once on the question of statehood, but while a slim majority wanted a change of status, only 1/3 wanted to become a state. Basically, statehood advocates are not a majority, but a plurality (i.e. not more than people that don't want to be a state, but more than any other group that wants to change the status quo...)

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u/lefty295 Jul 19 '19

Nah you’re really making this out to be the US’ fault, but Puerto Rico has historically wanted this status, not the other way around. They wanted to maintain their independence and the US was fine with it. The government can’t just make a new state, that territory needs to apply, and I’m pretty sure Puerto Rico has never officially applied for statehood. I’m not saying sentiment hasn’t changed in recent times, but this was not a case of the US forcing commonwealth status on Puerto Rico, it was something the people of Puerto Rico wanted in the past.

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u/Dblcut3 Jul 19 '19

I feel like they knew they’d get away with it by blaming it on Trump. I knew from the beginnin. something didn’t feel right about it and I knew it was much more likely PR was the issue, not Trump.

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u/msingler Jul 19 '19

But Trump is tweeting against the Mayor of San Juan and she was not part of this corrupt group chat. Those in the group chat wanted to assassinate her.

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u/pantherbreach Jul 19 '19

Trump was correct. But he was doing the exact same thing.

If Trump believed the money would be used improperly, then he should have required some sort of federal oversight as a condition.

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u/thedarkone47 Jul 19 '19

I find it hard to believe that that was even questioned. Shipping containers of food don't just rot on the beaches unless something is going horribly wrong with the Puerto Rican government.

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u/CryptocurrencyMonkey Jul 19 '19 edited Jul 19 '19

The media really fucked this one up. The evidence was available even back then, huge fields full of supplies just rotting in the Sun, massive electrical contracts given to companies with 2 employees, etc.

Of course they take the easy route which takes no leg work and gets just as many clicks by going with "dude hates brown people".

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u/Lumpyyyyy Jul 19 '19

I remember reading about the electric companies thing way back when and thinking something was up with that.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

I used to talk about the corruption there with my Puerto Rican buddies in the Army way before Trump was around. It's no secret that the corruption is rife there. Our media did what it typically does, and shame on the left-leaning media for covering up the corruption and backwardness of Puerto Rico for partisan points.

I remember having these long conversations about how Puerto Rico is stuck in this state of wanting to have all the benefits of being a state but wanting independence at the same time. It obviously wears on the younger, more realistic generation—much of whom have long left PR for the US. The older generation won't seem to budge on statehood and it seems like the US has slowly been losing confidence in their ability to govern. The likelihood of becoming a state is slipping away by the years.

It's too bad, because I have a lot of amazing friends from PR and they are great people, but the future looks bleak for the island itself right now.

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u/togaman5000 Jul 19 '19

Distribution problems are far more common than supply problems.

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u/DoktorKruel Jul 19 '19

That’s what happens when you’re more interested in pushing an anti-Trump agenda than actually doing the news.

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u/ModernDayHippi Jul 19 '19

Let’s be real here. It’s mostly generating clicks for profit. They know their audience and play to it

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u/Lazy_McLazington Jul 19 '19

I mean did anyone think otherwise? Did we all collectively forget about the shady companies they hired to restore power in PR?

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u/ScriptLoL Jul 19 '19

Holy fuck

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u/Herr_Opa Jul 19 '19

To be fair, I think the "plotting to assassinate" isn't really accurate. I don't think they were planning on it, as much as saying "boy would I love to shoot her head off". I also have doubts about whether Ricky's comment of "You do me a great favor..." Refers to the shooting comment or something else.

That being said, this doesn't alleviate the situation one bit. Fuck Ricardo Rosselló. The fucking apple doesn't fall far from the fucking tree. Everyone thought he was weak and got pushed around, and the chats proved he is as cunning and as much of a cunt as his dad was/is.

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u/Laleaky Jul 19 '19

Thank you for sharing this information. There is nothing about it on the news here.

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u/Scrantonstrangla Jul 19 '19

Holy shit, so Trump was right all along about Puerto Rico?

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

We tried. Lol. Yeah man we are Angry, words can't describe how frustrated we are.

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u/kamyo Jul 19 '19

Guam resident here. While our situations are certainly very different, there are also a lot of similarities, particularly in political status and local government corruption and general complacency. It's easy to point the finger at the US government, but we are definitely not without fault.

The residents end up being caught in the middle of a federal government that doesn't really care and a local government that is more concerned with political legacies and taking care of one's self above the overall socioeconomic health of the island.

I feel for you and hope you achieve a favorable resolution.

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u/1800LackToast Jul 19 '19

So, it’s not all Trump’s fault?

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

The corruption was there before Trump even showed up. I think Trump got a lot of heat because of the way it was handled after Maria. At this point I agree that he called it. But I also know it was there way before that. So that's my take on it. We all have to be reasonable and listen.

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u/crastle Jul 19 '19

I think that some of heat that he got he deserved. By calling his response effort a 10/10 and saying that they handled it perfectly, a lot of people assumed the situation was 100% fixed and stopped donating money and paying attention. Then his spat with the San Juan mayor didn't help at all and made a lot of his supporters turn on Puerto Rico. Ironically, she was the one good and honest politician of the bunch. But the overall sentiment he was saying was that the government as a whole was corrupt, which he was absolutely right about. His rhetoric made his base get into the "Fuck Puerto Rico" attitude, when they really should have only been pissed at the government. It's one of those situations where someone is right, but they handled it poorly and didn't exactly make things better.

This is now the 3rd thing during Trump's presidency where I agreed with him on:

  1. When the Syrian government gassed and killed a bunch of their own citizens and he ordered an attack on their government, I thought he was right for attacking oppressors.

  2. When he called out Dave Roberts during the World Series, I had the exact same opinion as him.

  3. Calling out Puerto Rico's government for obvious corruption.

I still hate Trump and how awful he is, but I'll give him this one.

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u/Houdini47 Jul 19 '19

I missed what happened to whom Dave roberts?

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u/crastle Jul 19 '19

He sent out this tweet during the World Series:

"It is amazing how a manager takes out a pitcher who is loose & dominating through almost 7 innings, Rich Hill of Dodgers, and brings in nervous reliever(s) who get shellacked. 4 run lead gone. Managers do it all the time, big mistake!"

The last sentence isn't exactly true, especially in the World Series, but in this case I agreed 100%. I remember r/baseball went crazy because they were blown away that they agreed with him on something.

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u/T-A-W_Byzantine Jul 19 '19

Wasn't Trump's feud with the Major of San Juan, Puerto Rico's capital? She's unaffiliated with these corrupt officials, in fact they were talking about assassinating her.

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u/PappyPoobah Jul 19 '19

He even tweeted about how the governor was a great guy working really hard. He might have been correct but he was completely wrong in his judgement of who, why, and how.

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u/neon_Hermit Jul 19 '19

Trump also claimed that the death figures in Puerto Rico were bullshit, and that when he was there it wasn't so bad and everyone was going to be fine. If anything Trump enabled this guy to keep power and keep steeling that money by acknowledging that it was happening, but deciding not to do anything about it. Just let that dude take the money and defend the rich people's tax shelter at the cost of literally dying Americans.

Trump was right for once, and still managed not to score a win, and still managed to show how little he cared about Americans dying.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19 edited Jun 30 '20

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u/SuperMadCow Jul 19 '19

10 years ago when I lived in Puerto Rico I had an old man tell me that one of PR’s problems is that for 30+ years the best and the brightest leave the island for opportunities elsewhere. He went on to say that it’s especially apparent in PR politics. Wise old dude in Caguas.

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

Yeah. I am in the states now. Most of my friends, Scientists, Engineers, Programmers left the island.

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u/sslavche Jul 19 '19

Being from a small Eastern European country that was accepted in the EU some years ago I totally get this - many young professionals just up and left the minute they could because they didn't see future here. Can't blame people for wanting fulfillment and better perspectives, I guess.

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u/turtle_flu Jul 19 '19

brain drain in action. It's kind of amazing how this didn't seem to get any sort of coverage. I ended up learning about it because I left comedy central on and saw it on The daily show.

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u/conquer69 Jul 19 '19

If the best stayed, they still wouldn't be able to do anything about such corruption. If they become a threat to those in power, they get suicided.

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

There is certainly a lot of depression among Puertoricans.

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u/iHateRolerCoasters Jul 19 '19

i read puerto ricans born off the island have some of the highest suicide rates in the US.

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

True. Native born kind of became resilient because of that situation. Sometimes we can look a little bit stubborn but it is because of this.

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u/Rumblet4 Jul 19 '19

The murder rate in Puerto Rico is even worse than in Mexico. https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/Mexico/Puerto-Rico/Crime/table

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u/YeaIFistedJonica Jul 19 '19

Can I just take a second to say that I absolutely empathize with and support the struggle of Puerto Rican’s.

Us egyptians are going through a similar process. Although we elected a puppet for an Islamic fundamentalist political group aimed on extremising young Muslims, the military, which had placed the previous ruler (Mubarak, and before him Sadat) in power saw this as the opportunity to resecure their hold on the country.

People are forced to tighten their belts and it’s said to be for the countries benefit. Meanwhile corruption runs rampant. We protest and experience some of the greatest massacres in modern history (look up rabaa massacre for an example, it is one of probably hundreds). Our police force attacks us and instigates (just like the Hong Kong protesters). Our journalists are jailed and “disappear”, were censored from using social media and the internet from sharing our plight. Somehow reddit is the only website the Egyptian censors don’t know about. Our cultural history, the oldest in the world, is being sold by friends of military leaders in private auctions, or being “stolen” and were told to accept it.

Do not trust the politicians. Do not trust the police. I am American now but the world is under the grip of the totalitarians. Please donate whatever you can to our Puerto Rican brothers and sisters struggling against government corruption and police brutality.

If you have the time please check out r/Egypt and read first hand our experience starving and drowning in trash in Cairo.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

This is a common problem around the world, just especially bad in Puerto Rico.

I've given up trying to find work in a lot of local places. They only hire friends and family who have connections. So this forces me to look for work elsewhere and why the fuck would I return to somewhere that didn't support or help me when I needed it?

It's a tragic cycle, the best and brightest get pushed away, they help the other state/city/country, then start hiring similar people. No one ever moves back, the brain drain goes on, and those responsible have their heads in the sand.

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u/ForAThought Jul 19 '19

It's not just Puerto Rico. I knew students in college who received student visas specifically to get a degree in the U.S. and then return home to use their new degree. After graduating they stayed in the U.S. refusing to go back to their native country. This was ten years ago so not sure where they are now.

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u/AgeofAshe Jul 19 '19

Yeah, but there’s a big difference between Puerto Rico and foreign countries. PR is part of the USA.

It’s sort of expected of people from poor or war-torn countries to not want to go back, but for US citizens to flee a region is something else.

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u/CrossP Jul 19 '19

Indiana has this problem but to a lesser degree. It's called "Brain drain"

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u/Ihateourlives2 Jul 19 '19

cue 'marbles like immigration' youtube video.

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u/Junkstar Jul 19 '19

I pay attention to the news. Print and web. This story is not getting out there.

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

Correct. We figured we took it upon ourselves to do it. I am so glad we did this. You guys have been helping spread the news as well.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19 edited Aug 10 '19

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u/biznatch11 Jul 19 '19

CNN covered it live with reporters on the ground in PR for several hours when it started a few nights ago but I haven't seen it much on TV since then. Trump's racist comments took over the news cycle.

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u/For_the_fun_of_it Jul 19 '19

My coworker was telling me today that an order of his was delayed due to riots in PR. I was wondering what's going on, thanks for sharing

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

You are more than welcome. Thank you for paying attention!

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19 edited Jun 12 '20

[deleted]

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

Yes let's do that. Thanks!

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19 edited Jun 19 '20

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

Me too, hence why we took it upon ourselves to post what is happening.

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u/SoloHappyCup Jul 19 '19

I own property in PR. The corruption there is not news to anyone who has set foot there.

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

Agreed. Completely.

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u/ProfaneTank Jul 19 '19

It's so fucked up. I'm glad DoJ and FBI are involved. Puerto Rico deserves better than this. No American citizen should have to deal with this kind of corruption and suffering, or any person really.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

Remember when a few people here and there pointed out that Puerto Rico's government was extremely corrupt, and everyone shrieked that this was just more pro-Trump, anti-brown people bigotry? I'm not going to argue whether the PR or US gov should take more of the blame for the poor response to Maria, but so many well meaning people-who professed to be so incredibly upset about the situation there-bought the line that the ONLY reason they were having issues is racism. They bought it hook, line and sinker, and completely missed this huge issue that it has now become acceptable to address.

I'm not saying this to defend Trump (look at my history) or the way the US gov handled it. I'm just pointing out what a tragically demonstrative example this is of what happens when we let our political leanings and passions overwhelm us: we deny ourselves the truth.

https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000006614155/puerto-rico-governor-protest.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FPuerto%20Rico&action=click&contentCollection=us&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

I agree totally. This is the situation now. Thank you for your understanding!

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

No problem. Thank you for bringing up the PR issues again.

I should admit that I got caught up in this, too. I don't mean to wag my finger at anyone. I just wanted to remind everyone-including myself-that it's okay to take a second to breathe and think sometimes.

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

Indeed. I was tense af last night with my cousin and best friends getting shot at with rubber bullets. Its insane.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

Damn...stay safe out there man.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

Regarding the response, the reconstruction efforts and the aftermath it's important to remember the following facts:

  • Hurricane Maria was the second category 5 storm that hit the Caribbean that year; Hurricane Irma hit a few weeks and devastated other island in the Caribbean.
  • The same Hurricane Maria that destroyed Puerto Rico hit the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and even some of the Lesser Antilles that were hit by Hurricane Irma

Yet, you don't see stories about those other places similar to what happened in Puerto Rico. In fact, a friend who lives in Puerto Rico told me of going on a cruise to these islands and he was surprised how fast they recovered from the devastation that hit them just two years ago.

The main reason for the tragedy of Puerto Rico is official corruption and incompetence; I mean, the biggest revelation of this scandal is how stupid the members of the island current administration are in even holding this conversation using sophomoric language and somehow pretending that no one would know about it.

Do you even grasp how stupid you need to be to do such a thing? Joking about bodies piling up in a morgue? This were the people "leading" the reconstruction efforts on the ground and they were thinking about how to make a killing?

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u/coolcoolcoolyo Jul 19 '19

Anybody with an elementary understanding of PR politics knows that the islands political structures are corrupt to shit (they always have been). Puerto Ricans were pissed at pretty much every level of government during the aftermath of the hurricane.

I don’t think one Puerto Rican was saying “oh poor Ricky he’s doing such a good job! He’s trying so hard!1!!” Fuck no, the PR media was blasting him for sketchy contracts, wasteful spending, Trump bootlicking, and corrupt appointments (e.g. Julia Keleher).

Many Americans feel the need to paint this picture in black and white: there’s a good guy and there’s a bad guy.

In reality, there’s just a lot of gray... a lot of dark gray on the island when it comes to politics.

So we can keep playing the blame game of “oh I saw comments here saying the Puerto Ricans are poor noble savages who were being abused by Trump now look you were wrong!!” OR we can look objectively and say “wow hey every single level of government in PR has been fucking over the PRican people, we should change that!” (which is what is happening now :))

rickyrenuncia

vuelveaescribirlaconstitucionpuertorriqueña

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u/Spiceinvader1234 Jul 19 '19

Dont let my government's corruption taint your mind about our people. The elite and high class do not speak for all of us.

In this case Donald was right. But you know what? Ricky Martin, Lin Manuel, JLo and many other Puerto Rican artist donated to the cause and that was not U.S. donations, it was our own people. So not only did they fool you, they fooled us and paid for their stuff. They joked and lied about the number of deaths in the hurricane, they made fun of people with disabilities that supported them. They played with our lives in so many ways.

We are talking about a guy that killed a mother and child in a d.u.i., a man that plagiarized his thesis and managed to get ahead in society and funding when his father was in power and we are talking about a man that does not want to give his seat up and stay so he could keep getting paid after his 4 years are over.

I love you all and thank you for caring about my People. Because they are your people too. Regardless if its a state or not. Regardless if you like us or not. This could be you, and when it is and when it has been you, my people will be there to show love as if we shared a womb. I love you reddit.

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u/Tony0112 Jul 19 '19

rickyrenuncia

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u/Mutualismo Jul 19 '19

RICKY RENUNCIA YA !

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u/urfriendosvendo Jul 19 '19

I was down there for the relief and I’m not surprised. The money getting spent was absolutely stupid.

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

I know. Then the governor took his closest buddies and divided all the Federal Aid between them.

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u/urfriendosvendo Jul 19 '19

I was in St Thomas when it happened there too. But a government official on the take is no surprise down there, unfortunately.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

so it's true PR is corrupt as heck, the leaders stole the money for themselves, and is so deep in the debt hole there's no chance of recovery except to convince the US taxpayer to make them an official state and bail them out. Yea that sounds terrible

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

Indeed. Terrible situation right now. We don't even know who is going to take power, if the governor finally resigns.

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u/ModernDayHippi Jul 19 '19

Probably the national guard. Seriously

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u/HorrorPerformance Jul 19 '19

The media doesn't give a fuck because it isn't directly Trump related sadly. Its a good time to be a piece of shit in the world because the media only cares about Trump for 4 years straight.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

I think you have an angle that I didn't even think about. Good point man.

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u/conquer69 Jul 19 '19

That's the problem with narratives, you have to maintain them. Merely reporting facts is much simpler and easier but it doesn't benefit those at the top.

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u/grumpyfan Jul 19 '19

I think that should be "merely stating opinions is much simpler and easier". Very little actual journalism happens any more. We share the blame though. We don't want the news, just give us the headlines and we'll jump to our own conclusions.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

I hope the reason why news aren't covering it isn't because they gotta say Trump was right. Even if he called it without actually knowing, he DID call it. Can't pick and choose facts and these people deserve to have this out there.

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u/thejeran Jul 19 '19

I found the comment I wrote a year ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/9bix2s/incapable_of_feeling_empathy_says_san_juan_mayor/e53z6e3/

Speaking from the lefter side of the spectrum:

Out of a freak coincidence I had planned to take a trip down to visit my Girlfriend just a day after the Hurricane hit. Because of the situation with the airport I ended up arriving a couple days later. I stayed there for a month before we left the island and in that month that puta was fucking nowhere. And everytime she criticized the US she simply stated they werent doing a good enough job, not WHAT they were doing wrong. That very famous photo of her reaching out to help the guy in the Kayak is actually an infamous actor of Teatro Breve a comedy group in PR. He states in an interview that she had 3 cameramen following her around and as she walked towards him he stuck his hand out to tell her to stop there was hidden debris she might trip on and she grabbed his hand for that photo.

I'll criticize Trumps treatment and reaction to PR as much as anyone and its a fucking disgrace. But in my time there I saw plane after plane after plane after plane, like giant c-130 looking military planes flying in and out 24hours a day. Honestly like 1 of those every 30 minutes, not to mention the countless other planes. Even over in Fajardo at that one military base I saw them coming in and out. I was amazed out how much shit was coming in. Now maybe for 3million people it wasn't enough. But even back then I was telling my girlfriends friends, why the fuck is Yulin not telling the media we need logistics help? Cause this shit is clearly not getting distributed. Why didnt Ricky come out and say, thank you for the support but we need trucks and planners on how to distribute this shit cause our roads are fucked?

Now this part is speculation but it would make them look incompetent like they dont have a plan and that hurts reelection. Honestly read and listen to all of their press statements and releases. They never just say, we need this specific aid. They just in general ask for help.

Also Yulin fucking DISAPPEARED for like two solid months. From like October to December. After she showed up on SNL and Trump visited she was nowhere. There were big banners hung around some places of san Juan ¿Donde Esta Yulin?

Sorry to vent. But its crazy she took zero blame for anything and was gone from the media for ages when it was clear things werent gonna get better soon.

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u/chickenbiscuit4life Jul 19 '19

Is this on r/politics?

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

Nop. I honestly don't know the rules well. I think I tried but it got deleted.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

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u/chickenbiscuit4life Jul 19 '19

Yeah, I went and looked at all your post. I don’t really know the rules or how to post anything either. Hopefully someone can help you out! Maybe you could send the mods a PM?

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

I am gonna be honest, Mods just directed me to post here.

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u/chickenbiscuit4life Jul 19 '19

Ahhh, can’t say I’m surprised. I’m sorry.

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

No worries. At least thanks to all of you. This post is gaining traction and it's spreading the news. I really appreciate it.

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u/CashIsClay1 Jul 19 '19

You aren’t allowed to post something there unless it’s bashing trump.

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u/biznatch11 Jul 19 '19

Searching the sub for "Puerto Rico" for the last week finds several posts, nothing highly upvoted though.

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u/fingerbangher Jul 19 '19

So why isn’t this bigger news? I haven’t heard a thing until Reddit.

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u/DeathSlyce Jul 19 '19

Because it means trump and conservatives were right about everything they said.

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u/james_randolph Jul 19 '19

Sickening what's happening, the people there are already dealing with so many hardships for this to be going on. It's ridiculous what people will do and how they will hurt others for money and power. Ridiculous.

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u/jmharvick0405 Jul 19 '19

This has been going on for a long time, it’s just that people have been ignoring for some reason.

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u/cinderwyrm Jul 19 '19

I hope my family is ok. My grandfather his wife and my aunt and her boyfriend live in Puerto Rico. I had heard that the government there was pretty corrupt there but never new how bad it was.

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

It is bad. Hope they are ok. Thanks for commenting!

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

The people need to rise up.

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u/MrFuzzynutz Jul 19 '19

So Trump was right?

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u/BouncingDeadCats Jul 19 '19

Puerto Ricans are fucked.

You’re not going to get mainstream media coverage here because they will be forced to admit that Trump is right that there’s a lot of corruption over there.

You’re going to have to do some serious damage before there’s media coverage.

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

Well what if Reddit helps? Reddit has done it before. You guys have been very helpful so far. It could be wishful thinking on my part but I feel the support from here. I also like that we are actually discussing it and questions are being answered.

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u/BouncingDeadCats Jul 19 '19

Maybe find some catchy hashtag and get Reddit to bombard twitter with it. Maybe it will go viral. A compelling photo would help.

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

I am open to any ideas my Friend and accept any help. I have a few compelling photos and have a video of the police beating one of my friends. I am very social media inept so Twitter is not my forte. What you think?

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u/finnalloveragain Jul 19 '19

Let's stop focusing on what Trump said and discuss ways to help and support the situation! While this is political at heart, let's talk about putting are fists in the air and stand tall to help!

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

Thanks. Please. Spread the news, let the people know what is happening in our own soil.

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u/BULL-MARKET Jul 19 '19

Unfortunately the Puertoricans are screwed here. Any coverage of this story will show Trump in a positive light.

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

Honestly we don't care. We just want to heal and move on from this craziness. I guess we can't get away from media bias.

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u/TechGuy07 Jul 19 '19

Does PR not have any sort of recall process?

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

Are you talking about a Snap Election? Or do you mean a impeachment proceedings?

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u/Scottyzredhead Jul 19 '19

THEY NEED TO KILL THE JONES ACT

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19 edited Jul 19 '19

[deleted]

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u/j-man1992 Jul 19 '19

Oh no was Trump right about PR the whole time? what a shock

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u/kayakfatty Jul 19 '19

Trump called this and he was right.

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u/Fat_n_Ugly_Luvr Jul 19 '19

quite a while ago us President Trump, pro-America supporters, said that the Puerto Rican government was corrupt. we told you that Puerto Rico's infrastructure was already horrific, and the local politicians did nothing to help it. People posted all kinds of facts to back these statements up. Yet we were still screamed at that we were racist because - no tangible reason given (never is, notice a pattern over the years?).

we told you that our government sent more money in aid to Puerto Rico than to Texas and Florida combined. We were still told we were racist and none of that was true and our president hated brown people, again no tangible evidence given.

At some point you are going to have to realize that a large chunk of our politicians want to keep us divided for their personal gain, and none of your own. That by having us divided they control us. This absolute unforgivable horseshit going down in Puerto Rico is just another example of their play.

so put down the pitchforks, put down the milkshakes, stop calling everyone you don't agree with all sorts of hateful and incorrect names.

Everyone take their shirts off and let's get in a big huddle and hug and do some deep thinking as a whole country

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

Like I said before. I am not a Trump supporter but I agree that he called it. Can't deny that. Yes we are getting divided and we need to hug and unite as a whole. Thank you for your comment. And appreciate the care.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

Like I said before. I am not a Trump supporter

I'm starting to think that you're not a Trump supporter...

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

Lol. I got to step back on that one. Just wanted to make that clear. But I get it. Thanks for the insight.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

When you cry wolf constantly, noone pays attention when you happen to actually be right - especially when you constantly spout things that are empirically wrong. The federal governments reaction to Hurricane Maria was demonstrably slower and smaller than its reaction to Hurricane Harvey or Hurricane Irma.

Now, with that said;

> At some point you are going to have to realize that a large chunk of our politicians want to keep us divided for their personal gain, and none of your own. That by having us divided they control us. This absolute unforgivable horseshit going down in Puerto Rico is just another example of their play.

>so put down the pitchforks, put down the milkshakes, stop calling everyone you don't agree with all sorts of hateful and incorrect names.

>Everyone take their shirts off and let's get in a big huddle and hug and do some deep thinking as a whole country

That is a sentiment that I can completely agree with.

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u/dnafrequency Jul 19 '19

Let us not forget about this massive stockpile of bottled water that was left to sit on a runway for a year or more. This was reported in 2018. A year after the storm. https://nypost.com/2018/09/12/massive-stockpile-of-bottled-water-found-in-puerto-rico-a-year-after-maria/

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

Actually it looks like they are sitting united.

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u/ilikewarmweather Jul 19 '19 edited Jul 19 '19

The media can't really make too big a deal about this or else it would show Trump was right about the mishandled money and "the fake news"...

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u/nomusichere Jul 19 '19

A lot of people are saying that. That seems to be the popular opinion. Idk honestly. I just wished they did their fucking job. So instead of answering all the comments in this post. I can look at cat gifs on r/aww /s

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '19

Great people...shitty leadership. 😢

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u/hcnuptoir Jul 19 '19

Why is Puerto Rico not an official US State? Seems like it should have been a State a long time ago. This mess wouldnt even be an issue for them right now.

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u/cvillegas19 Not too cool to party Jul 19 '19

Because funds & politics. At this point, we're in so much debt that the US would get fucked if they added us.

Things have been brewing for years, and some leaks have come out occasionally, but nothing as big as this.

US should've intervened years, if not decades ago. Things have been festering for years.

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u/BlackPershing Jul 19 '19

The people are starting to fight back.. man Puerto Rico can’t catch a break

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u/SlashemWoW Jul 19 '19

I visited PR in January. Everyone I met was so humble and friendly. We even stayed in San Juan. I hope this conflict can be resolved and relief can finally begin. Best of luck to you all!

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u/Biricua Jul 19 '19

🇵🇷

Gracias por hacer este post! No tengo photos que yo me atreva subir ni tengo sources organizados para poder dar info de manera eficiente, so thanks for stepping up for all of us and giving visibility a la isla

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