‘We Are Dying and You Are Killing Us With the Inefficiency’: San Juan Mayor Says ‘I’m Begging’ for Federal Help
‘I Am Begging, Begging Anyone Who Can Hear Us to Save Us From Dying’ Says Mayor YulÃn Cruz
San Juan Mayor Carmen YulÃn Cruz held a news conference late Friday afternoon and accused the federal government of “killing” Puerto Rico residents with inefficiency.Â
“I have been patient,” she said Friday afternoon (video below). “But we have no time for patience anymore.”
“So I am asking the President of the United States to make sure somebody is in charge that is up to the task of saving lives,” she pleads.
“We are dying and you are killing us with the inefficiency.”
“I am going to do what I never thought I would do. I am begging, begging anyone that can hear us to save us from dying.”
“We are not animals that can be disposed of,” she also noted – a far different tone than she had even Friday morning, when she responded to a Trump official calling the White House’s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico a “good news story.”
The mayor has been critical of the lack of “marching orders” coming from the White House, complaining that there was little logistical understanding from the federal government. She also has criticized FEMA for spending too much time assessing and too little time actually “doing.”Â
The San Juan mayor has been the loudest voice speaking out as respectfully as possible against the Trump administration’s red tape and lack of action, while Puerto Rico’s governor has been praising President Trump every chance he gets.
Watch:
“We are dying & you are killing us with the inefficiency” San Juan Mayor to Trump & Admin#PuertoRicoRelief #AMJoy
https://t.co/64ueuRUb08— Scott Dworkin (@funder) September 29, 2017
UPDATE:
More incredible video:
San Juan mayor: “I cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out the logistics for a small island…” pic.twitter.com/R1N0xDT0fz
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 29, 2017
San Juan mayor: “I am asking the President of the United States to make sure somebody is in charge that is up to the task of saving lives” pic.twitter.com/nOX5RNGmyp
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 29, 2017
San Juan mayor: “If we don’t get the food and the water into people’s hands, we are going to see something close to a genocide” pic.twitter.com/DwEMAX3331
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 29, 2017
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Trump Says He Will Have to Weigh ‘Big Decisions’ on Cost of Rebuilding Puerto Rico
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