Donald Trump thinks that everything that has happened in Puerto Rico is the fault of the Puerto Rican people. And while he’s a pathological liar who can’t be believed most of the time, there is no doubt that he believes this after reading his Twitter feed. In the immediate days after Hurricane Maria hit the island, not only did Trump use his social media profile to attack San Juan mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, he also wrote a series of tweets about how the island’s residents “want everything done for them” and that the financial crisis was largely one of “their own making.” Not stopping there (which is hideous enough on its own), he also reminded us that FEMA and the federal government couldn’t provide aid to Puerto Rico “forever.”
Sadly, this is not a view solely held by Trump. Other Republicans are following suit in the blame game, heaping lots of shame and blame on Puerto Rico while also trying to promote big business in the post-hurricane recovery.
One of the appointed officials overseeing Puerto Rico’s government said last week that he hoped the island would finally accept a range of austerity measures after Hurricane Maria, likening the island to “the alcoholic who hits rock bottom and says, ‘OK, we’re bankrupt now, and we really got to change the way we’re doing things.'”
This gem of a comment comparing a disease (as classified by the American Medical Association) to a natural disaster came from Andrew Biggs, a Republican who is a member of PROMESA—the financial oversight and management board for Puerto Rico established in 2016 under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act. Apparently Biggs shares Trump’s views that everything that has happened in Puerto Rico is the fault of the people living there and not the fact that they are a colony of the United States. Biggs even suggests that Puerto Ricans are holding on to a political culture that they inherited from the Spanish.
At an event hosted by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) where Biggs is a resident scholar, he was full of this bigotry and conservative ideology masquerading as thoughtful analysis.
Biggs discussed what he described as the structural barriers for Puerto Rico’s recovery: minimum wage laws, labor rules requiring just-cause termination, paid sick days for employees, paternity leave, and overtime pay. Even a planned Christmas bonus for employees is problematic, he noted. The labor rules that govern Puerto Rico, Biggs said, are part of an “inherited political culture” from its time as a Spanish colony, which must be reshaped to ensure an economy recovery.
“The reality is, the government doesn’t want to do these things,” he said of labor changes. “If you let them not do them, they won’t do them.” The AEI scholar argued that any additional financial aid from Congress should be contingent on revamping and repealing the island’s welfare and labor regulations.
There is plenty to be said about financial, social and governmental structures in Puerto Rico. Even Puerto Ricans themselves will honestly tell you where they feel as if their local government is failing its people. But we can’t rewrite history. Puerto Rico’s debt and poor infrastructure did not come out of thin air. Policies like the Jones Act which require Puerto Ricans to buy goods from American-made ships with American crews have crippled local business and caused prices to rise.
But let’s also talk about how Puerto Rico wasn’t allowed to elect its own governor until 1947, experienced forced sterilization of women on the island, and how Congress has given tax breaks to companies operating in Puerto Rico and have allowed for predatory investors to buy up debt and live extremely well on the island while people (nearly 50 percent) remain living below the poverty line. As Belen Fernandez in Al Jazeera wrote in August, after these kinds of abuses by the US government dating back to 1898, “Now, we are told Puerto Rico is a "commonwealth"—which certainly sounds a lot more civilised than the other C-word.”
Instead of helping people who have lost everything, Republicans are talking about privatizing the island’s schools. And they want to push this as a good time for the island to use natural gas.
Two senior lawmakers viewed as close to the fracking industry, Reps. Glenn Thompson, R-Penn., and Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., used a hearing to call for the island to revamp its energy needs through natural gas. “We need to look at environmental regulation waivers” to implement energy policy on the island, Lamborn added.
Make no mistake—Republicans are incredibly greedy and inhumane. They will use this tragedy as an opportunity to squeeze every little drop from Puerto Rico and they will withhold vital support from the island until they get their way. None of this is about helping US citizens. It’s about punishing them and making a buck. And if that’s not full proof that Puerto Rico is a colony, nothing is.