San Juan, Puerto Rico – Protesters are calling for Gov. Wanda Vazquez to resign Monday, after emergency supplies were found unused in a locked warehouse over the weekend as the island struggles to assist many left homeless from several devastating earthquakes. Gov. Vazquez fired the director of emergency management, Carlos Acevedo, but is now haunted by reminders via social media that she had refused to investigate the previous governor for alleged mismanagement of emergency supplies meant for Hurricane Maria victims while she was Secretary of Justice.
Gov. Vazquez fire two additional officials who she claims may have intentionally provided misinformation, which led to additional deterioration and distrust between the federal and local governments. During a press conference Monday evening, she requested the resignation of the secretary of housing, Fernando Gil-Enseñat, and the secretary of family services Glomrimar Andújar.
“Under my administration nobody can come with lies. I have a commitment with the people of Puerto Rico. Public officials serving with me have the same commitment, ” said Gov. Vazquez.
RUMORS – According to political analyst Jay Fonseca, some of the officials providing misinformation to Governor Wanda Vazquez were supporters of Pedro Pierluisi for his campaign for governor. Particularly, Fernando Gil Ensañat and Carlos Acevedo provided one of the warehouse contracts to Walter Pierluisi, who is the cousin of Pedro Pierluisi. Mr. Ensañat is publicly denouncing that the governor indeed new of the warehouses, but is targeting him for his support of Pedro Pierluisi.
According to a streamed interview via social media between General Jose Reyes, of the National Guard and reporter David Begnaud, there were two state own warehouses that stored emergency supplies that appear to be left overs from hurricane Maria relief efforts. While the General claimed he didn’t have full clarity on the warehouse rental agreements nor knowledge of their existence, he was able to disclose much of the information as it appeared in the actual rental documents. More recent information indicates that General Reyes may have in fact be aware of the warehouses.
According to General Reyes who appeared to be new to the information, one warehouse was contracted on June 21st, 2018 of 41,000 square feet located in Ponce for the amount of $622,000, and another warehouse was contracted in April 4th, 2019, of 29,000 square feet located in Guaynabo for the amount of $268,000. Both contracts were for a term of 3 years, of which the General assumes the amounts were for the total of the 3 year term, which combined are a total of $890,000. Puerto Rico’s recently fired director of Emergency Management Carlos Acevedo and Carlos Mercado of the Department Commerce and Exports (as translated by Reyes) signed both rental contracts.
“Government, Absent, Criminal, Negligent”, is the cry of many protesters who gathered near the Fortaleza in San Juan.
“I have never come out to protest but this caused me so much anger and indignation,” protester Rubi Oliveras told sources. “How is it possible that you say you care about the country and yet you let so many people die while hiding these supplies?”
News of the unused emergency supplies spread on social media Saturday when a local blogger posted a Facebook video of angry residents storming the facility, which housed water, cots and other relief supplies dating back to Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Ponce Mayor Maria Melendez said she was outraged by the discovery.
“I spent several days requesting cots and water,” said Melendez. “They sent me to Cabo Rojo for the cots and to San Juan for the water. If I had known that those supplies were there I would have demanded that they be taken out immediately.” While on the other, the mayor of San Sebastian, Javier Jimenez said that the existence of these warehouses is common knowledge and was previously shared to the local directors of emergency management for each municipality. He added, perhaps the specific content in the warehouses may have not been known, but the existence was. He said he had requested water and it was supplied from the warehouse located in Ponce.
Resident Lopez Rivera told sourcces that “the government has never been prepared for any crisis.”
“The same with Maria, the same with the earthquake,” Rivera said. “They are always looking out for themselves. I doubt that the governor is ready to manage a crisis like this one.”
Last week’s 6.4-magnitude earthquake killed at least one person and caused an estimated $200 million in damage, sending more than 7,000 people to emergency shelters.
The island is also still not fully recovered from Maria, a Category 5 hurricane that hit the island in September 2017, killing thousands that are memorialize as 4,546 people and leaving much of the island in ruins.
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