Puerto Rico’s Suffering with Roving Gangs, Truckers Who Won’t Drive

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The President has been forced to defend himself as the media and some leftists in Puerto Rico like the San Juan mayor attempt to cast blame on FEMA and the President for allegedly not helping Puerto Rico. None of this is his responsibility.

There is no question the supplies are on the island but the conditions on the island are dismal. There are two significant factors our media won’t report. In fact, they are lying about them — the roving gangs and the demands of at least one private union.

Problems on the island are devastating. The loss of power, shortage of diesel fuel, the collapsed infrastructure, and lack of cell phone service, are monumental, but, on top of that, union drivers are being told by leadership not to drive and there are roving gangs robbing the trucks.

Our media reports that the drivers aren’t driving because they are helping their families. .

The infamous mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, has let the desperately needed supplies sit in containers in the port while bashing Donald Trump.

The San Juan mayor is said to be Puerto Rico’s Maxine Waters and has been lashing out at President Trump who is giving it back to her in spades.

Sam Juan Mayor Cruz praised convicted FALN terrorist. Like our New York City council president and Marxist, Melissa Mark-Viverito, she has praised Oscar Lopez-Rivera. That suggests she’s hard-left.

She is currently being accused of not going to any meetings on the relief efforts. President Trump calls her ineffective and the media blasts him for it, but should he let her slide as she shifts blame from where it belongs?

Currently there are 10,000 containers of food, water, medicine and other critical supplies stuck in the port of San Juan with no drivers to transport them.

Shipping terminals appear to be full of containers, but the truck drivers are not coming for the cargo. So what’s going on?

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Colonel Michael A. Valle, Commander of the 101st Air and Space Operations Group, and Director of the Joint Air Component Coordination Element, 1st Air Force, responsible for Hurricane Maria relief efforts, gave the following statement about the state of supplies on the island:

“The aid is getting to Puerto Rico. The problem is distribution. The federal government has sent us a lot of help… Moving those supplies — in particular, fuel — is the issue right now.

They have the generators, water, food, medicine, and fuel on the ground, yet the supplies are not moving across the island as quickly as they’re needed.

It’s a lack of drivers for the transport trucks, the 18 wheelers. Supplies we have. Trucks we have. There are ships full of supplies, backed up in the ports, waiting to have a vehicle to unload into. However, only 20% of the truck drivers show up to work. These are private citizens in Puerto Rico, paid by companies that are contracted by the government.”

Originally, only 10% of the union drivers were showing up to drive the supplies to their destinations. CNN and other news services are reporting that 20% are now coming in.

One problem appears to be the roving gangs.

[UPDATE] The Teamsters have said that they are driving and that rumor is not accurate. A private company hired to transport is responsible for some of the transportation problems. However, sources I have in Puerto Rico say it’s not simply the private drivers, some teamsters are also slowing down the deliveries for various reasons.

This Driver Won’t Drive

The President of one union is Frente Amplio de Camioneros, whose leader is Víctor Rodríguez. As a result of his rants on social media, he has been dubbed in Spanish, the “old man” and in English by the more derogatory, the “toothless” guy.

Two days ago Mr. Rodriguez was interviewed (see Facebook post below) and claimed FEMA won’t release the supplies. The reporter didn’t accept Mr. Rodriguez’s version, but the San Juan mayor has been echoing the union leader’s sentiment, claiming the US bureaucracy and regulations are causing the problems.

The union president not only won’t let his drivers drive but he scoffed at the “gringitos” being able to come in and take over their jobs in their territory. This is during an abject emergency.

While there is no formal strike, Mr. Rodriguez appears to be exploiting the tragedy to gain ground in contract negotiations. A law passed in August by the governor has them particularly upset and the unionists say it accommodates Uber and Lyft to their union’s detriment.

That legislative measure is known in Spanish as “el proyecto del Senado 525 que da paso a la Ley de Transformación Administrativa de la Comisión de Servicio Público” or simply “el Proyecto del Senado 525.”

In this next video, Rodriguez is angrily blaming the governor for the impasse. The reporter is trying to reason with him and drum in the point that this is an emergency.

The Puerto Rican people are generally not supporting the unionist and are humiliated by his behavior., calling him a “disgrace”.

Rodriguez is said to be demanding $50 an hour to deliver the supplies but we can’t verify that except from posts on social media. The private union president is strongly dissuading scabs while not allowing his drivers to work for their agreed-upon salary.

President Trump is trying to get the word out

The President and his spokesperson are attempting to get the truth out despite an uncooperative, untruthful, left-wing media.

Another man explains the situation on October 1st.

 


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sarcasticelastic
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sarcasticelastic
6 years ago

One of the missions of the military and National Guard is suppose to be maintaining law and order during a crisis situation. It seems this article is implying that mission is not being accomplished. As commander in chief that ultimately is Trump’s responsibility. As for the mayor-she claims she was excluded from meetings, a fact the governor seems to have confirmed and this article conveniently danced around. Fake news indeed.

V.Lombardi
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V.Lombardi
6 years ago

The aid is there. It’s in photos. The teamster leaders said do not distribute. There is a recording. There’s no evidence the mayor attended any meetings. The mayor of the largest city surely has been invited. Otherwise why would she praise the effort 4 days ago if she was excluded. Trump is not responsible for everything. PR has law enforcement. PR has drivers. People are responsible for individual action. You may wish to chase down Darth Vader forever.