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The American people want and deserve answers about what is happening in Puerto Rico, and that’s exactly what they are demanding of both the federal and local government. Last week, a Harvard study was released estimating the death toll from Hurricane Maria to be well in the thousands. But there have long been questions about fatalities from the storm, since the island’s government continues to maintain that only 64 people died because of the hurricane. As a result, both CNN and Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism have sued to have access to death records which have not been available to the public. According to The Hill:
The lawsuit requests that the [Demographic Registry] department provide an updated database that includes the total number of 2017 deaths, death certificate information since late September, when the hurricane hit, and documents related to burial and cremation requests.
And today, finally, some good news about the lawsuit. A judge ruled that the death certificate information is not privileged and that the Center for Investigative Journalism can, in fact, have access to it.
This is one huge, amazing step toward accountability and transparency. According to the decision (mostly written in Spanish), previous court cases uphold that death certificate information can be made accessible for purposes of the public good and that this case specifically “falls under the constitutional right of access to information.”
And there’s more.
Citing concerns about the disparity between the Puerto Rican government’s official Hurricane Maria death count and the Harvard study, congressional Democrats are also calling for an investigation—and have sent a letter to the House Natural Resources Committee, which provides federal oversight of the island. As reported in Yahoo Finance:
Fourteen Democratic members of the House Committee on Natural Resources sent a letter to the committee’s chair, Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, asking for a “timely” hearing into the central claim of a new Harvard study that 4,645 people died last year in Puerto Rico as a direct or indirect result of the hurricane.
“This staggering loss of American life and the significant variance from officially reported figures points to the need for further oversight,” read the letter, which included ranking member Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., as one of its signees. “With hurricane season now upon us, time is of the essence. It is imperative that our country learn from this trying experience and gather any lessons for future planning. Further, it is our responsibility to be honest about the shortcomings of the Trump Administration’s response to this disaster, provide answers to the Puerto Rican people, and take immediate steps to correct any outstanding inadequacies.”
This isn't the first time that congressional Democrats have pressed the government for answers. Back in December, two of them (Rep. Nydia Velázquez of New York and Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi) sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office requesting an investigation into the death toll to make sure that the numbers hadn't been “artificially suppressed.”
Velázquez’s office told Yahoo News that it is continuing to have conversations with the GAO about the timetable for the report. The government of Puerto Rico has also commissioned a report from George Washington University that will provide another estimate of the death toll, and draft results are expected this summer.
How quickly these answers will be provided is a key question. It is vital to have this information for transparency, to understand the magnitude of the devastation of Maria, and to shed light on the negligence that took place in the weeks and months post-hurricane. But its also critically important to be able to learn from this information in order to plan better for the next storm.
Hurricane season began at the end of last week and the island has much to do in order to be prepared. Having access to answers and information is a necessary start to protecting the lives of Puerto Ricans, now and in the future.