Puerto Rico, part of the United States, needs help

By Austin Cohea | Assistant Editor |

It’s no wonder that many United States citizens are unfamiliar with the fact that Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, given the communication they receive from the country’s leadership.

President Donald Trump has neglected to talk about Puerto Rico being absolutely decimated by Hurricane Maria.

Instead, he has explicitly tweeted about how the NFL needs to fire players who don’t “respect” the pledge.

When he has tweeted about the hurricane that hit this U.S. Territory, he tweeted things that people know already such as “Puerto Rico is devastated. Phone system, electric grid many roads, gone. FEMA and First Responders are amazing. Governor said ‘great job!’ ” GREAT grammar Mr.President.

What’s interesting is that in that tweet, he really seems to be getting along with the governor of PR, but in later tweets he accuses the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz of having “poor leadership ability.”

According to CNN President Trump is going to visit Puerto Rico this Tuesday, “Puerto Rico is very important to me” Trump said in an interview Tuesday, “The people in Puerto Rico are fantastic people…”

“…The fact is that Puerto Rico has been destroyed by two hurricanes. Big decisions will have to be made as to the cost of its rebuilding!” Trump tweeted Friday, Sept. 29.

When Trump visited Puerto Rico on Tuesday, he understated the effects the storms that have hit PR recently, saying that they were not a real catastrophe because only 16 people died (that has later been upgraded to 34, now 36). However, the citizens of Puerto Rico are drinking contaminated river water, because the only other option is dying of dehydration.

Trump proceeded to hand out rice for the victims to make with no water, and then throw paper towels at them. The inhabitants remain without power or water, but I bet they’re good on paper towels!

In all seriousness, we, as a country, have an opportunity to be better than our leadership. The people of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands need help. You can donate to any charity you want, but we need to help them, they are part of our country.

Unicef USA Puerto Rico Relief – Children Are Counting on Us‎

The Highlighted portion of this map is San Juan, Rico.