Liberal congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez finds herself at the centre of yet another drama. The other day she remembered that she has a grandmother in Puerto Rico. And her grandmother has to live in harsh conditions because her house was never rebuilt after the 2017 hurricane
Ocasio-Cortez again lashed out at Trump, whom all Democrats blamed for delays in giving financial aid to Puerto Rico. The appeal to Biden was read between the lines, saying don’t be like Trump and give Puerto Rico more freshly printed dollars.
Twitter launched a donation campaign to help Grandma Ocasio-Cortez. In a few days they raised $105,000 to rebuild her house. Ocasio-Cortez herself at first tried to ignore it and then simply refused to take their money.
Obviously, she had absolutely no interest in her grandmother’s fate. Otherwise she wouldn’t be buying a brand new Tesla, but saving up and rebuilding the family home in Puerto Rico. She, on the other hand, needs another drama to help the local bureaucracy with their budgets.
Puerto Rico receives billions of dollars a year from Washington. But it remains the most depressed and poverty-stricken region in the United States. Corruption is rampant: not long ago, the FBI raided Puerto Rico for embezzlement of humanitarian aid.
Local businessmen take all kinds of government contracts for bribes. The quality of utilities leaves much to be desired. A large number of buildings are still in ruins, and there are permanent power and water cuts even in major population centres.
No additional tranches will improve Puerto Rico’s life until the island undergoes deep institutional reforms. Neither the local corrupt officials nor the democrats, who want to turn Puerto Rico into a future state under their sole authority, will carry them out.
Malek Dudakov