4645 Deaths In Puerto Rico And Counting

On June 2nd a group of Faith Leaders, organized by Collective Action for Puerto Rico, gathered by the United Nations asking for an audit of the 4645 deaths that have occurred on Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. The disclosure of this death count came from a Harvard study that was released on May 30th, stating these were a result of the loss of adequate medical treatment since the storm. (1)

One of the speakers Rev. Damaris Whitaker of Ft. Washington Collegiate, described the treatment of the Puerto Rican people by the U.S. government in the face of this humanitarian crisis as a crucifixion by an empire, in the same way that Jesus was crucified. The organizers symbolized their point with a standing cross, draped in a blue tarp, the very same type of blue tarp that the people of Puerto Rico have been given to replace their lost roofs. The attendees were also asked to remove their shoes to represent the dead that were not present, and could not speak on their own behalf.

Various speakers at the United Nations action supplied information as to why these deaths have occurred, and are still occurring. To summarize: To date there are still areas of Puerto Rico that now, 8 months later still do not have electricity, and consequently hospitals in those areas cannot provide adequate medical care, which in turn is causing people to die from illnesses and injuries that would normally and easily have been treated (2). There is no refrigeration for insulin resulting in people dying that should not have died. The dead are being buried in their backyards, because without electricity there is no refrigeration in the morgues. The people are doing what is expedient and necessary, but nonetheless are being further impacted by the emotional trauma of not being able to have a proper burial for loved ones. This is what happens during war, why is it happening in a segment of the United States during peacetime. The people still don’t have potable water (water that they can drink) or enough food to eat in the remoter areas of the island.

Only days ago, I was told at a church function that someone providing food and water relief in Puerto Rico, was met by a man that had told him that if he had come one day earlier his wife would not have committed suicide. Apparently, she killed herself because she wanted to leave what food and water was left for her family, and she simply lost hope (Suicides among the people of Puerto Rico have risen exponentially) (3). The man then requested if he could help him cut his wife down, because she was still hanging from the tree. These are the horror stories that need to be told, which can only and should only bring total outrage and condemnation for the suffering that the people of Puerto Rico are experiencing.

To add to this already horrific situation the Fiscal Review Board, an entity that resides on Wall Street, that the United States has put in charge of managing Puerto Rico’s debt is systemically closing down hospitals as an austerity measure, further crippling and exacerbating the suffering, which has and will continue to intensify the number of deaths that are still occurring, even as I write this.

The Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos also has been closing down schools without any apparent reason, except perhaps to say the school system is not providing an adequate education, thereby providing an excuse to privatize the schools in Puerto Rico with U.S. companies swooping down to reap a profit off of a vulnerable and devastated people. Not only, is it a crime to not educate these children, but many of the children are going hungry because they rely on the school lunches as one of their meals of the day, if not “the” main meal of the day.

First and foremost the people of Puerto Rico need electricity to put an end to these senseless deaths and for Puerto Rico to normalize it’s existence. They need smaller, newer power stations in places near where they serve. They need to have their power converted to solar. They need to have the debt forgiven. They need to have the Jones Act repealed, which causes all their goods to cost 1/3 more than on the mainland.

But if all this were done, there are still those that are responsible in the government for the deaths of this people, this genocide, who have enacted crimes against humanity, and should be treated severely under the law like other mass murderers. If this government can drop a bomb in a rabbit hole, it is fully aware of what is happening, and what the consequences are of holding back the resources needed to establish a safe and decent environment to live in. Those that are responsible need to be brought to trial, and to be publicly condemned for their crimes. And we cannot deny that the commander and chief of the United States is the chief orchestrator in the perpetuation of these atrocities.

(Photo: 6/2/18, United Nations: Faith leaders ask for an audit of these deaths. The blue tarp like the one people in Puerto Rico have been given to cover their roofs with the 4645 (the number of deaths in Puerto Rico connected to Hurricane Maria as determined by a Harvard study) copyright: NewYorkClics.com.)

• (1)https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/harvard-study-estimates-thousands-died-in-puerto-rico-due-to-hurricane-maria/2018/05/29/1a82503a-6070-11e8-a4a4-c070ef53f315_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a6c3ce531851
• (2)https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/geist-our-brothers-and-sisters-are-dying-in-puerto-rico-1248528451999?playlist=associated&v=a https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/puerto-rico-crisis/suicide-rates-spike-puerto-rico-five-months-after-maria-n849666
• (3)https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/puerto-rico-crisis/suicide-rates-spike-puerto-rico-five-months-after-maria-n849666