March 2, 2018

March 2 is now a holiday here in Puerto Rico. So while, as I write this, the Northeast is being pummeled by Winter Storm Riley, now undergoing ‘bombogenesis’, Puerto Ricans are experiencing great weather and a day off.

The holiday celebrates the anniversary of United States Citizenship for Puerto Ricans. The Jones-Shafroth Act was signed into law on March 2, 1917. One provision of the Act made Puerto Ricans United States citizens but did not rescind their Puerto Rican citizenship. The Puerto Rican statesman Luis Munoz Rivera participated in the drafting of the Jones-Shafroth Act and argued in favor of Puerto Rican citizenship. In a speech to the U. S. House of Representatives, he said “if the earth were to swallow the island, Puerto Ricans would prefer American citizenship to any citizenship in the world. But as long as the island existed, the residents preferred Puerto Rican citizenship.”

The fact of U.S. citizenship did come with caveats. Puerto Ricans cannot vote in the U.S. presidential elections, and have no representatives in Congress. The U. S. Supreme Court, in the 1922 case Balzac v. Porto Rico (as it was called then), ruled that the full protection and rights of the U. S. Constitution do not apply to Puerto Ricans unless and until they choose to reside in the U.S. proper. However, Puerto Ricans became eligible for the draft and 20,000 young men were drafted into service during World War One. Most ended up in infantry regiments guarding the Panama Canal. Puerto Rican representation in the U. S. armed services is certainly a story worth telling. Perhaps it will be the subject on my next post.

I wonder if, in view of the aftermath of Hurricane Irma and Maria, Puerto Ricans are having second thoughts about their relationship with the U.S. I doubt it. The people we talk to appreciate the fact we are here and are quick to distinguish between us and the government. I must say that Donald Trump is universally reviled here – in fact t-shirts with F**K DONALD TRUMP are a big seller.

A sunset from our balcony.

The slow pace of the recovery here has much to do with Mr. Trump’s poor standing. Every day the local newspapers have stories detailing some aspect of the recovery efforts. For example, on February 28, the San Juan Star’s lead story described how contractors involved in power restoration are beginning to leave. This is in spite of the fact that 20% of the customers are still without power.

The US Army Corps of Engineers is in charge of the federal effort for power restoration. They let large contracts with two companies – Fluor Corporation and PowerSecure. This was after the Whitefish Energy debacle, which ended with the USACE cancelling a $300 million contract without any work having been done.

About 1,000 workers have left the island in the last two weeks. Fluor has already billed the maximum amount it can, $750 million dollars, and has told its subcontractors to pack up. PowerSource’s contract ends on April 7 so it too is winding down.

Officials overseeing the contractors’ work expressed disappointment with the performance of the contractors. In particular, Fluor was cited for sluggish work and ending the contract with less accomplished than had been hoped. Justo Gonzalez, interim head of PREPA, the Puerto Rican utility, said of Fluor: “We compared, and saw better work from other companies.” Jorge Gonzalez, the mayor of Jayuya, a mountain community with about 50% power restoration, said: “I understand they [Fluor] were slow – super slow. Now we don’t have anyone, slow or at all. We have no one.”

Of course, all of this is happening in the context of the ongoing fiscal crisis. Judge Juan R. Torruella of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston has suggested that a federal grand jury be empaneled to, in his words, ‘. . . determine if there are criminal cases against individuals and organizations inside and outside of Puerto Rico in relation to the economic crisis facing the country.”

Torruella, a native San Juan, received a Bachelor of Science degree from the Wharton School (I wonder if Trump was there at the same time) and a law degree from Boston University. He was appointed by President Ford in 1974 to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, and then by President Reagan, in 1984, to his current position.

A rainbow over a cruise ship entering Old San Juan.

There are other stories. The storm death toll is still unknown and stateside epidemiologists are helping to establish a firm figure for that grim statistic. The US Treasury, for unknown reasons, cut a disaster relief loan request for Puerto Rico by 60%. The police are owed millions in unpaid overtime accrued during and after Hurricane Maria. And on and on.

By the way, the images in this post have nothing to do with the content. So please don’t waste your time looking for deep symbolism. Trust me, there is none.