Puerto Ricanstruction: Chicago and Puerto Rico Mayor Meet To Discuss Hurricane Relief
By Steve Bynum, Julian HaydaPuerto Ricanstruction: Chicago and Puerto Rico Mayor Meet To Discuss Hurricane Relief
By Steve Bynum, Julian HaydaIt’s been nine months since Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico. The Atlantic Ocean is almost three weeks into the 2018 hurricane season. Each Monday through hurricane season, Worldview presents a series called “Puerto Ricanstruction.” We’ll discuss life in Puerto Rico, post-Maria, and the issues important to the people there, and to Chicago’s Puerto Rican Diaspora. This week, we’re joined by Josian Santiago, mayor of Comerío, a mountainous municipality in central Puerto Rico. He was in Chicago to meet Mayor Rahm Emanuel through a Puerto Rican mayors exchange program organized by the Open Society Foundation. Regions like Comerío were most affected and last to be rehabilitated after the hurricane. The Chicago-based not-for-profit, Puerto Rican Agenda, gave mayor Santiago $40,000 to retrofit a community center to be self-sustaining and stormproof. Joining Santiago is Carmen Hernandez, a Chicago-based attorney. Originally from Comerío, she works with the Puerto Rican Agenda. Hernandez also translated the Mayor Santiago’s remarks for Worldview.