Trump and Rosselló deflated official count to cover up scale of human disaster

The impossibly low official death count of just 64 people killed from Hurricane Maria’s devastation of Puerto Rico last September has now been shown to be a politically manipulated fabrication. Fight Back! challenged this official count in an article last October, a month after the hurricane, as did many other media at the time. But in the absence of a thorough and scientifically-sound review of post-hurricane deaths in Puerto Rico there was no other count to rival the government’s lowball number.

San Juan, Puerto Rico – In an escalation in their fight to stop the government from closing or privatizing public schools in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the Puerto Rican Teachers Federation occupied Education Secretary Julia Keleher’s office Nov. 7 in an act of civil disobedience. 21 teachers were arrested standing up in defense of public education in Puerto Rico.

As of Oct. 25, the Puerto Rican government’s official death count from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico still stands at 51. Many people have been puzzled by this impossibly low, reality-defying number since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico over a month ago, on Sept. 20. The official count of 51 deaths from Hurricane Maria is now starting to unravel.

Interview with Noelanie Fuentes, vice-president of the FMPR local in Rio Grande

This is an interview done on Oct. 22 with Noelanie Fuentes, vice president of the Rio Grande Local of the Puerto Rican Teachers Federation and a social studies teacher at Liberata Iraldo Middle School. Her school is one of many across Puerto Rico that is still being used as a shelter for people whose homes were destroyed in the hurricane. Here she discusses the work teachers have been doing to support families living in their school, and her perspective on reopening schools while many in Puerto Rico are still living in shelters, including shelters at schools, or have no electricity or water. Interview and translation from Spanish by Brad Sigal. Fight Back!: Let's start with who you are and what you do here.

Freedom Road Socialist Organization condemns Trump’s criminal response towards a struggling Puerto Rico, which was ravaged over two weeks ago by Hurricane Maria. The electric grid is out. Drinkable water is in short supply. People are dying due to the administration’s depraved indifference.

Minneapolis, MN – Puerto Ricans in Minnesota whose families are suffering on the island after Hurricane Maria organized rally on Oct. 4 to demand immediate and sufficient aid to relieve and rebuild Puerto Rico. The 50 person rally was part of a day of action in several cities across the country to highlight the plight of 3.4 million U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico who have no electricity or drinking water, face shortages in fuel and food, and who are dealing with severely destroyed telecommunications.