President Donald Trump introduced the discharge Friday of $13 billion in help to restore years-old hurricane harm in Puerto Rico and pledged to revive its economic system, setting apart his previous bitter remedy of the island and its leaders as he courts Puerto Rican voters within the U.S., notably within the essential swing state of Florida.
Trump has spent a lot of his administration blasting Puerto Rican officers as corrupt and inept, and he has opposed spending to rebuild an influence grid and different infrastructure that was worn out by the Hurricane Maria in September 2017. He’s now portraying himself because the territory’s greatest good friend.
“I’m the perfect factor that ever occurred to Puerto Rico,” he mentioned at a White Home press convention, “nobody even shut.”
Residents of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory of greater than Three million folks, can not vote within the basic election. However there are extra folks of Puerto Rican descent on the mainland than on the island, they usually may play a key position within the Nov. Three vote.
Former Vice-President Joe Biden has additionally sought help from Puerto Ricans, lately releasing a restoration plan for the territory and visiting central Florida. The area has one of many largest concentrations of individuals from the island on the U.S. mainland, together with many who fled the devastation of Hurricane Maria.
The hurricane slammed into the island with winds of 155 mph, inflicting an estimated $100 billion in harm and killing almost 3,000 folks, based on an official dying toll that Trump has mentioned was exaggerated to make him look dangerous.
The grant introduced Friday consists of almost $10 billion to rebuild {an electrical} grid that was worn out by the storm and resulted within the longest blackout in U.S. historical past.
Requested why the help was coming now, lower than 50 days earlier than the election, Trump insisted his administration had been engaged on getting it achieved nevertheless it was held up by Democrats in Congress. The truth is, they accredited the funding and pushed for its launch.
Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez, a New York Democrat, took word of the timing of Trump’s help so near the election.
“The Trump Administration delayed, dragged its toes and resisted allocating these badly wanted funds,” mentioned Velazquez, who was born in Puerto Rico. “Now, forty-six days earlier than the election, the administration has lastly seen match to launch these funds.”
Trump prior to now has opposed offering extra assist to Puerto Rico, arguing it had obtained an excessive amount of already and expressing concern that the cash can be wasted or misspent.
Within the aftermath of the storm, he publicly feuded with the mayor of San Juan over her criticism of his administration’s response. And he irritated many by tossing rolls of paper towels right into a crowd throughout a go to to an island church. Democrats earlier this 12 months posted a picture of the scene on a billboard in Kissimmee, a closely Puerto Rican metropolis in central Florida.
Trump dismissed that historical past as he mentioned the help disbursement and pledged to revitalize Puerto Rico’s pharmaceutical and medical tools manufacturing trade, which has been in decline partially because of the 1996 repeal of tax incentives.
“I believe you’re going to see a rebuilding of Puerto Rico,” he mentioned.
Even now, three years after the storm, hundreds of houses are nonetheless broken. The island has additionally been hit by a sequence of damaging earthquakes and stays mired in a deep financial disaster, made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic chief, mentioned the Trump administration “dithered and delayed” and misplaced time that might have been used to assist Puerto Rico emerge stronger from the storm.
“After the storms completely destroyed the grid, it created a possibility to rebuild a cleaner, cheaper and extra resilient power system, however the Trump administration dithered and delayed and refused to ship well timed catastrophe assist for the folks of Puerto Rico,” Schumer mentioned.
The White Home mentioned $9.6 billion of the brand new funding is meant to assist the Puerto Rico Electrical Energy Authority restore and substitute hundreds of miles of transmission and distribution traces, electrical substations, energy era programs, workplace buildings, and make different grid enhancements.
It mentioned $2 billion can be for the Puerto Rico Division of Schooling to restore faculties throughout the island.
With this newest grant, the White Home mentioned the federal government has allotted about $26 billion for the island’s restoration from Hurricane Maria. Congress has accredited about $43 billion.
In October, the island’s authorities introduced a 10-year plan to modernize and strengthen the ability grid at a projected price of round $20 billion.
© 2020 The Canadian Press
