WE DEMAND

November 18, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

Hurricane Maria triggered a crisis in Puerto Rico. Public health crises are cascading; mass impoverishment and loss of jobs are driving millions to desperation; much of the island’s power grid, water purification and delivery system, hospitals, schools, housing, roads, bridges, and other elements of its infrastructure have been damaged or destroyed. All this has been heightened immeasurably by the willful, racist neglect inflicted by the Trump/Pence regime. An epic natural disaster has been deliberately transformed into a catastrophe with genocidal implications. Circulate and discuss these demands among people on Puerto Rico and the U.S. mainland; make them a focus of protest and struggle.

WE DEMAND

  1. The full resources of the U.S. government must be utilized immediately to provide and distribute, at government expense, all needed food and clothing to the people of the entire island. There must be continued and ongoing emergency and longer-term medical care, and measures provided to people to prevent massive epidemics and needless deaths as well as to treat post-traumatic stress disorders and other mental health problems. Special attention must be paid to ensure that aid is reaching the many remote areas of Puerto Rico.
  2. The U.S. government must immediately undertake a massive effort to restore reliable electrical power throughout Puerto Rico, without which the lives and well-being of millions are in daily jeopardy.
  3. Safe water must be available to everyone in ample quantities. There must be free communication for people to contact relatives, wherever they live. Under no circumstances must those who take resources necessary for survival be shot, arrested, or punished in any way. All basic needs must be provided FREE OF CHARGE.
  4. High priority must be given to providing everyone with safe and decent shelter—utilizing existing government and privately owned structures, or building new ones when necessary—until adequate housing for all can be built. Damaged homes must be rebuilt where possible. New housing in urban and rural areas must be constructed to maximize its ability to withstand future storms.
  5. The situation of the people and their views on the situation must be fully covered in the news, giving the people themselves access to the media and the chance to tell their own stories.
  6. People who want to leave Puerto Rico and go to the U.S. mainland must be provided with transportation costs by the U.S. government. Conversely, people on the mainland who want to go to the island to assist in its rebuilding or to assist their family members must be provided with transportation to Puerto Rico and housing while there.
  7.  There must be no profiteering and speculation off people’s misery by the sharks of energy companies, insurance companies, oil monopolies, real estate developers, etc.
  8. The Jones Act, a century-old law that requires U.S. ships to be used on all commercial shipments between U.S. ports and Puerto Rico and substantially raises the costs of virtually everything on the island, must be eliminated. Puerto Rico’s debt—the result of 120 years of ruthless exploitation of the people and enormous damage to the environment of this beautiful island by the United States—must be dismissed outright. The educational system, from elementary to university level, must be completely rebuilt. Decent jobs must be provided to all adults who want them.

These measures must be continued throughout the duration of this crisis.

 

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