“The United Nations says that when people are denied the access to basic human services—like electric power, like water, like food, like appropriate medical care—it is like a violation of human rights.”
Rally for Puerto Rico hurricane relief at the Capitol. Screenshot: YouTube
By Andrea Germanos, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 6-4-2018
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz tore into the Trump administration’s response to the ongoing catastrophe on Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria and denounced the president’s “total neglect.”
Her comments to MSNBC on Sunday follow a Harvard study estimating that the death toll as a result of the storm was in the range of 793 to 8,498 and deeming the original official estimate of 64 excess deaths “a substantial underestimate.”
“What is staggering is that the Trump administration has completely looked away when this death toll is announced. What is for real—we may not ever know many people died…and the government of Puerto Rico remains silent and idle while the federal government under the Trump administration was looking and continues to look the other direction.”
“President Trump tweets about the crack of dawn and he hasn’t even tweeted one time to say, ‘Look, I mourn with the people of Puerto Rico,'” Yulin Cruz said.
She said that “this total neglect has to be called [out]. The United Nations says that when people are denied the access to basic human services—like electric power, like water, like food, like appropriate medical care—it is like a violation of human rights.”
A new Atlantic hurricane season has begun, but Yulin Cruz said that Puerto Rico is not at all prepared and warned that even a hit by a Category 1 hurricane would mean disaster.
Watch parts of her interview in the tweets from the show, “Kasie DC,” below:
The mayor of San Juan, @CarmenYulinCruz, with an update on Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria:
-New death toll numbers are 20 times higher than initial government estimates
-Many towns are still without electricity today pic.twitter.com/SqYk606H1l— Kasie DC (@KasieDC) June 4, 2018
“President Trump tweets about the crack of dawn. And he hasn’t even tweeted one time to say ‘Look, I mourn with the people of Puerto Rico.'” @CarmenYulinCruz pic.twitter.com/r8qSLoOThG
— Kasie DC (@KasieDC) June 4, 2018
“President Trump tweets about the crack of dawn. And he hasn’t even tweeted one time to say ‘Look, I mourn with the people of Puerto Rico.'” @CarmenYulinCruz pic.twitter.com/r8qSLoOThG
— Kasie DC (@KasieDC) June 4, 2018
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