4. Vieques and the Promise To Build Back Better

La Brega

WNYC Studios and Futuro Studios

De, San, Noticias, Rico, Juan, Historia, Vieques, Podcast, Levittown, La, Society & Culture, Brega, Puerto

4.9 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 February 2021

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Weeks after Hurricane Maria, the Government of Puerto Rico accepted an emphatic suggestion from officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), put it in writing as if it were its own decision, and celebrated it would be used to rebuild in a “resilient” way. On the island of Vieques — which has a very high rate of cancer — they were supposed to rebuild its only hospital, destroyed by the hurricane in 2017. Now, a young girl has died from lack of care, and a neglected community fights for their basic human right: access to quality medical services. Reporter Cristina del Mar Quiles from El Centro de Periodismo Investigativo explains how federal red tape has hindered hurricane recovery. A guide to understanding the bureaucracy around "recovery" in Puerto Rico, including Section 428, is here. You can read more about the lawsuit brought by the family of Jaideliz Moreno Ventura against the government of Puerto Rico here.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Listen to Support it, W NYC Studios.
0:07.0	Hey, quick note, there are English and Spanish episodes of La Brega.
0:13.2	This is the English one.
0:14.7	If you're excused in the Spaniel,
0:16.6	wolver feed, and selection on the version with the title in
0:19.9	in Espaio. Spaniel. 13 days after Maria, a group of people affected by the hurricane met at the Calvary Chapel.
0:45.3	That's a church in Guinawa, Puerto Rico.
0:47.7	There's a lot of love in this room.
0:50.3	A lot of love in this room.
0:52.4	President Trump was there, visiting the island
0:55.0	to assess the hurricane damage.
0:57.0	He stopped at the church, and it was in that visit
0:59.8	that he did something a lot of Puerto Ricans
1:02.4	will never forget.
1:05.1	He started throwing rolls of paper towels
1:08.2	towards the hurricane victims.
1:10.4	Great people.
1:17.0	It was, let's say, a controversial act. Throwing paper towels at the victims of the hurricane like it was a game.
1:25.0	I've never seen anything like that before.
1:29.0	You're supposed to be helping victims of a hurricane.
1:32.0	So he's like, there's a lot of love for me here right
1:34.5	I threw paper tells and people people loved it to kick fellow citizens when they
	...

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