THE US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY TAKING A
PRIMARY ROLE IN REESTABLISHING THE POWER GRID IN PUERTO RICO IS
SAYING THAT THERE IS NOW SOME PROGRESS BECAUSE THEY ORDERED
CERTAIN PARTS THAT THEY NEEDED AND THEY SHOULD GET THOSE PARTS
IN THE COMING WEEKS AND MAYBE, IF WE ARE LUCKY, THEY WILL
CONSIST FINISH THE CONSTRUCTION BY LATE FEBRUARY, EARLY MARCH.
LET ME GIVE YOU THE DETAILS ON THAT.
THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS ARGUED THAT THIS IS AN OLD
POWER STRUCTURE.
IT'S MUCH OLDER THAN WHAT YOU WOULD EXPERIENCE IN THE MAINLAND
AND SO AS A RESULT, WE HAD TO GO THROUGH QUITE A BIT TO GET THE
PARTS THAT WE NEEDED:
THINK ABOUT HOW OUTRAGED AMERICANS WOULD BE IF THAT WERE
THE CASE IN FLORIDA OR TEXAS.
IF IT WAS A WEEK.
4 MONTHS IS PERMANENT BASICALLY.
THAT IS FOREVER.
IMAGINE BEING A CHILD AND IT IS FOUR MONTHS WITHOUT POWER.
POWER IS NOT A LUXURY.
IT IS ESSENTIAL FOR ALMOST EVERY AREA OF LIFE AT THIS POINT.
SO STUDENTS JUST WENT BACK TO SCHOOL IN PUERTO RICO AND A
LOT OF THESE SCHOOLS STILL DON'T HAVE POWER BUT THE
KIDS NEEDED TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL.
THEY'VE ALREADY MISSED OUT ON SO MUCH AND SO THEY ARE JUST
GOING TO HAVE TO MAKE DO WITH WHAT THEY HAVE.
THAT IS HOW DIRE THE SITUATION REALLY IS.
NOW LET'S GET TO THE MISSING PARTS THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO
BE COMING IN COMING WEEKS.
JUST TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF PUERTO RICO'S ENERGY
INFRASTRUCTURE AND HOW MUCH IT DIFFERS FROM THE REST OF THE
UNITED STATES:
WHICH WOULD HAVE MEANT NINE
MONTHS WITHOUT POWER IN
SOME AREAS.
IT IS A DEVASTATING SITUATION AND REMEMBER, IN THE BEGINNING
THERE WAS A VERY SHADY CONTRACT GIVEN TO A SMALL COMPANY THAT
ONLY HAD TWO EMPLOYEES, FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES AT LEAST GOT
IT WAS AN EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE CONTRACT SO THEY ENDED UP
TERMINATING IT AFTER IT GOT A LOT OF CRITICISM IN THE MEDIA
AND NOW, I DO NOT KNOW HOW MUCH OF WHAT THE ARMY CORPS OF
ENGINEERS IS SAYING IS TRUTHFUL.
I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF THEIR INTEGER ENERGY
INFRASTRUCTURE IS OLDER THAN THE UNITED STATES AND THEY NO
LONGER MAKE HER MANUFACTURE SOME OF THESE PARTS BUT STILL,
IT JUST SEEMS AS THOUGH THINGS ARE MOVING VERY SLOWLY FOR
THE PEOPLE OF PUERTO RICO AND I FEEL TERRIBLE FOR THEM.
THE NUMBER THAT STOOD OUT TO ME AS THEY'VE ORDERED 6000
TRANSFORMERS AND THEY ARE ESSENTIAL TO THIS WRITING ENERGY
BASICALLY AND OF THOSE, JUST OVER 400, I DON'T REMEMBER
THE EXACT NUMBER OF 6004 MONTHS HAVE ARRIVED ON THE ISLAND.
THEY'RE NOT TO BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING UNTIL THOSE
TRANSFORMERS ARE REALLY UP TO 6000 IF THAT IS WHAT THEY NEED.
IT IS UNBELIEVABLE SO IT IS NOT JUST WHAT IS GOING ON ON
THE GROUND.
I MUST FEEL FOR THE ARMY CORPS BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ONES
WHO GO IN AND DO THIS.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE EQUIPMENT, YOU CAN'T DO THE
WORK YOU ARE THEREFORE.
IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE POLLS, YOU CANNOT PUT THEM UP AND
START RUNNING THE WIRE.
IT IS SURRENDERED.
AND IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE POLITICAL BACKING TO MAKE IT
HAPPEN IN A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME, SO THEY ARE THERE, SOME
TRANSFORMERS HAVE BEEN ORDERED.
COULD THEY BE ORDERED IN A WAY THAT WOULD MAKE IT FASTER
BE PRIORITIZED?
IT ALMOST CERTAINLY COULD BUT IT IS NOT.
IF THE WHITE HOUSE WANTED, THEY WANT TO TALK ABOUT
INFRASTRUCTURE THIS YEAR.
IF THEY WANTED TO SHOW HOW GREAT THEY ARE BUILDING STUFF,
HERE IS AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY THAT YOU COULD WRITE A
TERRIBLE ENVIRONMENTAL WRONG WHILE MAKING THE LIVES OF A
LOT OF PEOPLE A LOT BETTER.
AMERICAN CITIZENS.
THEY COULD GO IN AND DO THIS.
THIS COULD BE OUR SHORT-TERM APOLLO PROJECT.
WE COULD HIT THIS THING AND FIX IT BUT INSTEAD, THIS IS AS
MANY PEOPLE HAVE POINTED OUT DONALD TRUMP'S KATRINA BUT
IT IS HIS KATRINA THAT NOBODY REALLY CARES ABOUT.
A FEW PEOPLE TALK ABOUT IT.
IT IS NOT BEING DISCUSSED IN GOVERNMENT AND IT IS
BELIEVED THAT OVER 1000 PEOPLE EITHER IMMEDIATELY OR AS A
RESULT OF THE FLOODING AND ALL OF THAT HAVE DIED.
AMERICAN CITIZENS AND IT IS JUST, SILENCE FOR MONTH
AFTER MONTH AFTER MONTH.
I THINK PART OF THE PROBLEM IS, I DON'T WANT TO SAY
MOST PEOPLE BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE NUMBERS ARE BUT
BASED ON WHAT I HAVE SEEN FROM OUR POLITICIANS, THERE DOESN'T
SEEM TO BE THIS NOTION THAT PUERTO RICANS ARE US CITIZENS.
THEY ARE NOT PERCEIVED AS US CITIZENS EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE
AND I THINK THAT MENTALITY IS WHAT IS CONTRIBUTING TO THE SLOW
DEVELOPMENTS IN PUERTO RICO RIGHT NOW BUT THERE'S ANOTHER
POLITICAL COMPONENT TO THIS THAT I REALLY WANT TO TOUCH ON
BECAUSE IT IS VERY IMPORTANT AND IT SHOWS YOU JUST HOW FAR
REPUBLICANS ARE WILLING TO GO TO EXPLOIT A TERRIBLE
SITUATION AND TRY TO GET AHEAD POLITICALLY.
IT IS CLEAR THAT THERE HAVE BEEN HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS IF NOT
MORE PUERTO RICANS WHO HAVE LEFT THE ISLAND AND THEY ARE NOW
SEEKING REFUGE IN US STATES, FLORIDA BEING THE FIRST
STATE THAT THEY GO TO FOR OBVIOUS REASONS.
THERE HAVE BEEN AS MANY AS 300,000 PUERTO RICANS WHO WENT
TO FLORIDA, MANY OF WHICH, MANY OF WHOM I SHOULD SAY, SETTLED IN
CENTRAL FLORIDA AND THERE IS AN ORGANIZATION THAT IS FUNDED BY
THE KOCH BROTHERS THAT IS OFFERING THEM SERVICES TO GET
BACK ON THEIR FEET, BUT EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE SAYING WE ARE A
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION AND WE ARE NOT TRYING TO DO ANYTHING
FOR POLITICAL REASONS, WHAT IS GOING ON BEHIND THE SCENES MAKES
IT APPEAR VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT THEY ARE ALLEGING.
IT
IS
KNOWN AS THE LIBRE INSTITUTE.
THEY ARE COMING TO FLORIDA,
REPUBLICAN POLITICIANS ARE
GETTING IN TOUCH WITH THEM AND LETTING THEM KNOW ABOUT THIS
PROGRAM.
I WANT TO BE CLEAR ABOUT
SOMETHING, THERE IS THE
LIBRA INSTITUTE AND THEN THE INITIATIVE.
THE INITIATIVE IS NOT A NONPROFIT IN THEIR VERY
OBVIOUS AND CLEAR ABOUT THEIR POLITICAL AGENDA.
THE LIBRA INSTITUTE IS THERE NONPROFIT ON AND THEY DON'T
TRY TO POLITICIZE ANYTHING BUT FROM WHAT I HAVE READ, THEY
EMPHASIZE THINGS LIKE THE FREE MARKET AND THIS AND THAT SO
THEY ARE TRYING TO SET THESE ESSENTIALLY PUERTO RICAN
REFUGEES UP TO SUPPORT THEIR PARTY.
I WENT IN THE 26 PRIMARIES I WENT TO TWO OF THEIR WORKSHOPS,
ONE IN NEVADA AND ONE IN FLORIDA AND I DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THE
INSTITUTE AND MAYBE SOME OF THESE WORKSHOPS WERE SET UP
BY THE INSTITUTE.
I DO NOT REMEMBER THAT BUT IT WAS ALL PART OF THE LIBRA
INITIATIVE.
THEY HAD THE CONVENTION THAT I WAS NOT ABLE TO GO TO NEW MEXICO
THAN WHAT THEY DO IS THEY INVITE NEW AMERICANS AND, QUOTE UNQUOTE
NEW AMERICANS THAT THEY WISH WERE NOT HERE AND THEY GIVE
THEM, BECAUSE THEY ARE VERY SCARED ABOUT THE GROWING LATINO
INFLUENCE IN POLITICS AND POPULATION AND SO WHAT THEY WANT
TO DO IS BECAUSE THERE POLITICS SO ADVERSELY AFFECT THESE
INCOMING IMMIGRANTS, SO MUCH SO THAT THEIR FATHER ONCE AT LEAST
MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE WELCOMING ON THE GROUND SO IT IS
LIKE A WELCOME WAGON WHERE THEY HELP THEM WITH VOTER
REGISTRATION, THEY HELP THEM WITH DRIVERS, LICENSE
REGISTRATION.
THEY HELP THEM FILL OUT FORMS TO APPLY FOR APARTMENTS AND
BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR SWELLING AND IT WAS A FASCINATING
THING TO SEE AND THEN THEY DO TALK ABOUT AMERICA AND THEY
TALK ABOUT WHERE YOU CAN GET INFORMATION IN AMERICA AND
THINGS LIKE THAT.
THEY'RE CLEARLY TRYING TO SAY THAT WE ARE THIS GROUP AND WE
ARE
THIS GROUP THAT IS ASSOCIATED NOT DIRECTLY WITH POLITICS
BUT WITH THE POLITICS OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY BUT THEN
WE CAN GUIDE YOU IN THAT DIRECTION.
AND THEY HAVE BEEN CRITICIZED IN THE PAST FOR PASSING OUT
POLITICAL LITERATURE THAT THEY ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE
PASSING OUT.
THEY DIDN'T DO IT WHEN I WAS THERE BUT I KNEW THEY DID
IT EVERY OTHER TIME.
THE KOCH BROTHERS ARE NOT FUNDING THIS OUT OF THE
GOODNESS OF THEIR HEARTS BECAUSE THEY WANT TO HELP REFUGEES
FROM OTHER COUNTRIES.
THERE IS A POLITICAL AGENDA THERE.
IT IS CLEAR AS DAY AND IT IS INTERESTING TO SEE HOW IT
IS GOING TO PLAY OUT BECAUSE FROM WHAT I KNOW OF, PUERTO
RICANS, THEY DON'T NORMALLY LEAN RIGHT WING LIKE CUBANS DO.
AND CUBANS DON'T REALLY ANYMORE EITHER.
THE YOUNGER ONES DON'T.
THE OLDER ONES DO.
OBAMA IN 2012 WON THE CUBAN VOTE AND THAT WAS ONLY FIVE OR
SIX YEARS AGO NOW.
IN 2012?
YEAH.
THE CUBAN VOTE IN FLORIDA.
FASCINATING.
I DID NOT KNOW THAT.
IT IS A VERY CHANGING DEMOGRAPHIC AND AS HE SAID,
THOUGH PUERTO RICAN VOTE GENERALLY IS ALREADY THERE
AND IT IS BIG IN FLORIDA NEW JERSEY.