#pedro pierluisi

[corrupcionenpr]

No es Cuba… No es Venezuela… Tampoco Nicaragua, son las escuelas de Puerto Rico

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

Por Berta Joubert-Ceci

El propósito de tener colonias es su explotación, y junto a eso, va la corrupción. Ya sea por el imperio invasor, como de los achichincles locales. Y aquí en Puerto Rico, los actos de corrupción en el gobierno van como en un tren desbocado. Alcaldes, políticos y sus financieros mafiosos van cayendo en un mar de arrestos, investigaciones y sospechas.

[supportingeducation]

Teachers in Puerto Rico Sweating

Teachers in Puerto Rico are seeking relief from the heat, teaching in record temperatures with no AC. A total of 47 nights with temperatures exceeding 80°F (26°C) were reported in Puerto Rico this summer, the hottest on record for the island. Schools without air conditioning or with inoperable cooling systems due to power outages caused by hurricane-damaged infrastructure are seeking immediate…

[el-faconator]

Por favor quítenme el lápiz 😭

[aci25]

¡Definitivamente el deporte nos une! El pueblo está claro.💪🇵🇷

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

The U.S. House passed a bill Thursday that would allow Puerto Rico to hold the first-ever binding referendum on whether to become a state or gain some sort of independence, in a last-ditch effort that stands little chance of passing the Senate.

The bill, which passed 233-191 with some Republican support, would offer voters in the U.S. territory three options: statehood, independence or independence with free association.

“It is crucial to me that any proposal in Congress to decolonize Puerto Rico be informed and led by Puerto Ricans,” said Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees affairs in U.S. territories.

The proposal would commit Congress to accept Puerto Rico into the United States as the 51st state if voters on the island approved it. Voters also could choose outright independence or independence with free association, whose terms would be defined following negotiations over foreign affairs, U.S. citizenship and use of the U.S. dollar.

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who has worked on the issue throughout his career, said it was “a long and torturous path” to get the proposal to the House floor.

“For far too long, the people of Puerto Rico have been excluded from the full promise of American democracy and self-determination that our nation has always championed,” the Maryland Democrat said.

After passing the Democrat-controlled House, the bill now goes to a split Senate where it faces a ticking clock before the end of the year and Republican lawmakers who have long opposed statehood.

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, traveled to Washington for the vote. “It’s going to be a historic day because it’s going to create a precedent that we hadn’t had until now,” he said.

Members of his party, including Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González, cheered the expected approval of the bill, although reaction in the U.S. territory was largely muted and tinged with frustration since it is expected to be voted down in the Senate.

The proposal of a binding referendum has exasperated many on an island that already has held seven nonbinding referendums on its political status, with no overwhelming majority emerging. The last referendum was held in November 2020, with 53% of votes for statehood and 47% against, with only a little more than half of registered voters participating.

The proposed binding referendum would be the first time that Puerto Rico’s current status as a U.S. commonwealth is not included as an option, a blow to the main opposition Popular Democratic Party, which upholds the status quo.

Pablo José Hernández Rivera, an attorney in Puerto Rico, said approval of the bill by the House would be “inconsequential” like the approval of previous bills in 1998 and 2010.

“We Puerto Ricans are tired of the fact that the New Progressive Party has spent 28 years in Washington spending resources on sterile and undemocratic status projects,” he said.

González, Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress, praised the bill and said it would provide the island with the self-determination it deserves.

“Many of us are not in agreement about how that future should be, but we all accept that the decision should belong to the people of Puerto Rico,” she said.

[parttimereporter]

100% of Puerto Rico is now without power due to Fiona!

Power has gone out across all of the US territory of Puerto Rico on Sunday, according to PowerOutage.us, as Hurricane Fiona bears down on the islands, which are already grappling with the threat of flooding and mudslides stemming from the Category 1 storm.

“Puerto Rico is 100% without power due to a transmission grid failure from Hurricane Fiona,” the website said.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi confirmed the outage in a tweet, noting the entire electric system was out of service and officials have activated the proper protocols to work to restore power.

[zvaigzdelasas]

A ship carrying much-needed diesel fuel has been unable to dock in hard-hit southern Puerto Rico since Sunday while it awaits federal authorization because of the Jones Act, a century-old shipping law.

The delay comes at a time when about 40% of power customers still do not have electricity more than a week after Hurricane Fiona battered the island.

Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said on Twitter on Monday morning that he had asked the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, to personally intervene to allow the vessel loaded with diesel to dock "for the benefit of our people.”

The Jones Act, otherwise known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, requires that goods shipped between American ports be carried out exclusively by ships built primarily in the United States, and to have U.S. citizens as its owners and crews. That means that a foreign ship with goods for Puerto Rico would first have to disembark in the mainland U.S. and change crews.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to NBC News Monday afternoon, “The Department of Homeland Security will continue to examine individual requests for Jones Act waivers on a case-by-case basis and in consultation with the Maritime Administration, Departments of Defense, and Energy.”

DHS did not respond to specific questions about the ship and its waiver request.

26 Sep 22

[corrupcionenpr]

[bisexualvalve]

All of Puerto Rico is Without Power Right Now

Power has gone out across all of the US territory of Puerto Rico on Sunday, according to PowerOutage.us, as Hurricane Fiona bears down on the islands, which are already grappling with the threat of flooding and mudslides stemming from the Category 1 storm.

“Puerto Rico is 100% without power due to a transmission grid failure from Hurricane Fiona,” the website said.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi confirmed the outage in a tweet, noting the entire electric system was out of service and officials have activated the proper protocols to work to restore power.

The blackout – whichfollowed hours of progressively worsening power outages – comes five years after Puerto Rico’s power grid was devastated by Hurricane Maria in September 2017, leaving many residents without electricity for months.

Fiona has continued to strengthen Sunday and now packs sustained winds of 85 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center’s update at 2 p.m. ET, at which point the storm was about 25 miles southwest of Ponce.

The storm’s impacts have already been felt: At least one death has been reported in Basse-Terre in the French territory of Guadeloupe, according to the vice president of the territory’s environmental agency, who said the capital had been devastated by flooding. And in Puerto Rico, nearly 570,000 customers – or 40% of the island’s total – were without power as of 12:30 p.m. ET Sunday, according to PowerOutage.us. And the flash flooding has already begun.

Pierluisi warned the storm “will cover our entire island” in a news conference Sunday, noting winds and rain bands from the storm may extend outward up to 100 to 120 miles. “This is impacting us now,” Pierluisi said. “It’s south of Puerto Rico but very close to our coast.”

Evacuees are seen in a classroom of a public school being used as a shelter as Hurricane Fiona and its heavy rains approach in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, on Sunday.Ricardo Arduengo/Reuters

There is a possibility Fiona’s center might skirt Puerto Rico, precluding a traditional “landfall.” But regardless, the impacts of the storm remain the same.

“Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours while Fiona moves near Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and over the southwestern Atlantic,” the hurricane center said. “Hurricane conditions are expected on Puerto Rico today, and are expected in portions of the eastern Dominican Republic tonight and Monday.”

The National Weather Service on Sunday warned of life-threatening to catastrophic flooding, issuing flash flood warnings for south and east Puerto Rico, including Ponce and Yabucoa, through at least mid-afternoon. The service said flooding had started after an estimated 1 to 4 inches of rain had already fallen.

Fiona's current forecast storm track across the Atlantic.CNN Weather

The northern and eastern Dominican Republic, too, is forecast to see 4 to 8 inches of rain, with isolated totals up to 12 inches possible.

“These rains will produce life-threatening flash flooding and urban flooding across Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic, along with mudslides and landslides in areas of higher terrain,” the hurricane center said.

Already, authorities have responded to one such landslide: Emergency officials responded Saturday evening to a landslide around 8 p.m. ET at an apartment complex in Guaynabo, according to fire and public safety officials. There were no initial reports of injuries.

Puerto Rico officials continue to closely watch the island’s mountain regions, which have suffered landslides in the past and where the soil is saturated from the rain, Pierluisi said.

‘This is not Maria’

Around 120 shelters with 25,000 cots have been opened for those in need, the governor said. Classes Monday have been canceled and government workers – save emergency workers – should stay home, too.

Meantime, utilities authorities plan to repair and restore electricity with the help of local government agencies, according to Abner Gomez, a spokesperson for LUMA Energy, which operates Puerto Rico’s power grid.

Forecast rainfall accumulations due to Tropical Storm Fiona.CNN Weather

A hurricane warning – indicating hurricane conditions are expected – was issued for Puerto Rico, including the islands of Vieques and Culebra, and later expanded to include the eastern Dominican Republic from Cabo Caucedo to Cabo Frances Viejo. The Dominican Republic’s northern coast, from Cabo Frances Viejo west to Puerto Plata, are under a hurricane watch Sunday morning, meaning hurricane conditions are possible in the next 48 hours.

President Joe Biden on Sunday morning approved an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico, freeing up federal resources, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for emergency response and disaster relief efforts.

The threat won’t end once the storm passes between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Further strengthening is expected, and the official forecast track indicates Fiona could be a major hurricane by Wednesday as it tracks to the east of the Bahamas and toward Bermuda.

“It appears likely that Fiona will become the first major hurricane of this Atlantic season in a few days,” the hurricane center said.

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

Por Berta Joubert-Ceci

Recientemente el gobernador Pierluisi fue como de costumbre, a mendigar a Washington. Esta vez pidiendo que se restituyera el programa policial inútil “Operación Resistencia Caribeña” para disque combatir las drogas. Porque solo saben de represión y violencia contra la juventud.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Inside Climate News:

Most of Puerto Rico remained in the dark Tuesday morning as crews rushed to assess and repair the damage caused by Hurricane Fiona, which continues to gather strength on its northwest path toward the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The U.S. territory suffered “catastrophic damage” over the weekend and through Monday, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said, after the Category 1 storm unleashed violent winds and torrential rain, killing at least three people, forcing hundreds more to evacuate and knocking out power for more than a million homes and businesses.

As of Tuesday morning, less than 150,000 of Puerto Rico’s 1.4 million public utility customers had working electricity, despite tens of billions of dollars in federal aid and a massive five-year effort to overhaul and modernize the island’s poorly maintained and unsound powergrid. But a growing number of Puerto Ricans, who have privately installed solar systems on the roofs of their homes and businesses, say the island-wide blackout caused by Fiona could have been entirely avoided, pointing to themselves as proof of a better way.

“We’re fine,” Arturo Massol-Deyá, who uses solar panels and battery storage to power his house, his office and several other buildings in Adjuntas, a mountainside town in central Puerto Rico, told me in an interview Monday afternoon. “Basically, we’re waiting for the sun to shine again—we don’t have damage, all the infrastructure is in place and it’s running. It was running during the hurricane.”

Eddie Ramirez, owner of Casa Sol, a bed and breakfast located in the territory’s northern capital of San Juan, gave a similar response. “Personally, me and my family, we’re good,” Ramirez, who equipped his business with solar panels and battery storage back in 2013, told me over the phone. “Puerto Rico, I can say, is not.”

In the southeastern coastal city of Salinas, which was in the center of Fiona’s path and likely saw some of the storm’s worst damage, environmental attorney Ruth Santiago said her solar system also kept her lights on throughout the storm. “That’s why I’m charging my phone and making lunch and that kind of thing, but no one else has power,” she told me, apologizing as the beep of a timer chirped in the background.

[aci25]

👏🏽👏🏽✊🏽🇵🇷🙏🏼 Gracias Bianca. Envuelven y enajenan al pueblo en la burbuja de las fiestas con “baile, botella y baraja”mientras el gobierno, a puerta cerrada organiza y ejecuta la “horca económica, social y política de los puertorriqueños y puertorriqueñas que estamos intentando sobrevivir con la soga al cuello. Nos cansan, duermen y anestesian para que no protestemos y nos conformemos. Pero no nos callarán ni nos detendrán.