Fatigued Puerto Rico Awaits Referendum

Date: 04 November 2020 - 22:03

News ID: ۸۴۴۷۴

SAN JUAN (Dispatches) -- Puerto Ricans forced voting centers to remain open past  official closing times Tuesday as they stood in long lines to choose new leaders they hope can help heal a U.S. territory wracked by corruption, hurricanes, earthquakes and the coronavirus pandemic.
Armed with water, snacks and folding chairs, voters across the island fanned themselves as they waited under a harsh sun to participate in an election featuring six gubernatorial candidates. Some arrived around dawn and waited up to three hours for centers to open.
Also on the ballot was the island’s sixth referendum on whether to change its current territorial status. It asked one question: "Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the union as a state?” The vote is advisory as Congress would have to approve that happening.
In the race to become the mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital, three candidates are vying to replace San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, known for sparring with U.S. President Donald Trump after Hurricane Maria hit the island in September 2017, causing damages estimated at more than $100 billion and killing an estimated 2,975 people in its aftermath.
Less than two years after the storm, hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans took to the streets to demand the resignation of Rosselló in an event known as the "Summer of 2019,” a movement sparked by a leaked chat in which the then governor and other officials made fun of hurricane victims, among other things, and made comments that led to an investigation into possible corruption.
The new candidates are promising to fight corruption and turn the island around at a time of economic crisis and efforts to restructure a portion of Puerto Rico’s more than $70 billion public debt, which officials declared unpayable in 2015.
Political analyst Mario Negrón said he wasn’t surprised by the protests or the demand for new parties and faces as the island’s infrastructure deteriorates, administrations of the two main parties keep losing credibility and an exodus to the U.S. mainland continues.