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An opinion piece in the Guardian had this to say of Trump’s visit to Puerto Rico on Tuesday, October 3rd: “Trump came to Puerto Rico like an emperor: with pomp and little sympathy.” Trump inexplicably left the U.S. territory one hour early, after spending his time extracting praise for his administration’s handling of what is a growing humanitarian disaster.
Trump’s visit came more than two weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. More than half of the island still has no running water, and only five percent of the electrical grid has thus far been repaired.
During his visit, Trump shockingly threw paper towels to residents of Puerto Rico. Trump chose a relatively wealthy and white enclave to visit to survey the impact of the hurricane. One has to wonder: if he and is team went to areas more truly representative of the people of Puerto Rico, would he have been met with righteous fury instead of praise?
Today, we focus on the humanitarian disaster in Puerto Rico and what can be done. Our guests are Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, and Bonafide Rojas, Puerto Rican poet and community campaigner.