Puerto Rico declares emergency and activates National Guard over water outages
Nearly 180,000 customers were affected at the peak of the outage late last week. As of Wednesday, nearly 3,000 customers were still without water, including nearly a dozen hotels, according to Gov. Jenniffer González.
The problem has angered many on the island of 3.2 million people, especially because the state water and sewer authority has declined to name the company responsible for damaging a main water line while repairing a road last week.
Municipal officials have set up water distribution points and have gone home-to-home to distribute drinking water, with the National Guard now expected to help with those duties.
'As long as I have 11 hotels without water and residents without service, of course we have an emergency,' González said.
The governor also named a special coordinator charged with stabilizing the water system, investigating the water and sewer authority and determining how the incident occurred. He is expected to issue a report in the next 10 days.
González said that the water and sewer authority's executive director, who has come under fire, would remain in that position.
Before the widespread incident occurred, dozens of communities across Puerto Rico had long experienced issues with water supply.
____
Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Gavin Newsom is going low. Is this the future of Democratic campaigns?
Shallow, juvenile quips are not atypical for a platform that has devolved into a safe space for bullies and their simpering followers. But the account that produced them is not that of your usual troll. @GavinNewsom is the personal, and very active, X account of the governor of California, a presumptive Democratic presidential candidate in 2028. And it has become quite spicy of late. Advertisement For most of his six and a half years in office, Newsom's social media persona was what you might expect from any governor — serious, informative, self-promotional. But his public persona began to evolve earlier this year, in what many observers saw as an attempt to broaden his appeal nationally beyond the Democratic base. For example, in February he launched a podcast in which he held rap sessions with MAGA influencers — such as conservative activist But the common-ground approach took a back seat in June after President Trump federalized the National Guard and sent US Marines into Los Angeles to 'protect' immigration agents as they conducted aggressive immigration raids. The governor was understandably angered by the assault on his state and its people, and he was no longer willing to hide it. The gloves came off, replaced by a set of virtual brass knuckles. Among many other recent posts, Newsom has taunted Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as Advertisement Newsom has apparently decided that the way to beat the White House trolls is to out-troll them. 'I think it's smart,' said Mike Madrid, a California-based Republican political strategist and a cofounder of the Lincoln Project, a political action committee formed by moderate conservatives dedicated to opposing Trump (though he's not involved with it now). He noted that the gutter is the current arena of American politics, and if you want to be a player, you have to get a little dirty, like it or not. Besides, Democrats have been dying for a leader who will fight back effectively against the president's increasingly ugly rhetoric. So far, Newsom's snarkiness appears to be paying off. A Have other Democrats adopted the Newsom approach? 'Not yet,' Madrid said, 'but they will.' Oof. If this is the future of presidential campaigns, it's going to be a muddy few years. Advertisement Steve Maviglio, a Democratic political consultant in Sacramento, says he's not a fan of Newsom's strategy. 'To me, it's the little dog barking at the big dog trying to get his attention,' Maviglio told me. But what troubles both Maviglio and Madrid (and me) is that Newsom is considering going beyond warring with words and is flirting with the same sneaky tactics as his political opponents by subverting the mission of the state's independent redistricting process. In response to the Intentionally rigging districts, whether or not you convince voters to play along, is pretty stinky. Not only does this follow the same playbook Trump and his GOP allies have employed, but it could But who knows? Maybe the only way to win the White House in the near future is to be as tricksy as the other guy. So far, no Democrat has figured out another method to effectively compete with MAGA. Advertisement They go low, we go high? That's old school. They go low, we go lower? Perhaps. Heaven help us.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
US warns of corruption and reported bribery aimed at destabilizing Haiti as crisis deepens
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — U.S. officials announced Friday they are aware of 'reported bribery attempts' aimed at destabilizing Haiti, raising concerns that the troubled country could sink further into crisis. The announcements were made on X by the U.S. Embassy in Haiti and the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. Officials did not provide details except to say that they commended members of Haiti's transitional presidential council 'for their rejection of corruption' and for collaborating with the current prime minister to 'work together' to stabilize the country. 'We will hold accountable anyone who attempts to undermine this collaboration,' the embassy wrote on X. The announcement comes as infighting threatens the stability of the council while gangs that control up to 90% of Haiti's capital continue to seize more territory in Port-au-Prince and in Haiti's central region. The council's voting members did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Neither did the U.S. Department of State nor the office of Haiti's prime minister. Some people on social media mocked the announcement as they accused some council members of being corrupt. In October last year, Haiti's anti-corruption unit accused three council members of bribery and corruption involving the government-owned National Bank of Credit. No one has been charged, and the council members remain in their positions. Haiti's political stability has been fragile ever since a powerful gang federation known as 'Viv Ansanm' launched attacks early last year on critical government infrastructure including police stations and the country's main international airport, forcing it to close for nearly three months. The attacks prevented then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry from returning to Haiti. He eventually resigned, unable to enter his homeland following an official visit to Kenya to talk about a U.N.-backed mission that police from the eastern African country are currently leading to try and quash gang violence. The council is under pressure to hold general elections by February 2026, with the previous ones held nearly a decade ago. No date has been set yet. The council was created in April 2024 as the international community scrambled to meet with Haitian officials to rebuild the country's government after Henry resigned. Political stability remains fragile, with three prime ministers having been appointed in the past year. Meanwhile, gang violence continues to surge in the aftermath of the July 2021 killing of President Jovenel Moïse. In a report released Friday, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti noted that at least 1,520 people were killed and more than 600 injured from April to the end of June. Nearly 80% of those incidents happened in Port-au-Prince, with nearly 20% reported in Haiti's central region. More than 60% of the killings and injuries occurred during operations by security forces against gangs, with another 12% blamed on self-defense groups. The report noted that Johnson André, best known as 'Izo' and considered Haiti's most powerful gang leader, was injured in drone strikes earlier this year, as was gang leader Renel Destina, who goes by 'Ti Lapli' and leads the Grand Ravine gang. From April to June, more than 400 homes and other buildings including schools and health centers 'were ransacked, burned or destroyed by gangs,' the report stated. Gang violence also has displaced more than 1.3 million people in recent years. ___ Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti contributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Associated Press
18 hours ago
- Associated Press
Haitian police arrest a former senator accused of working with gangs to attack a peaceful community
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Police in Haiti have arrested a former senator who has been charged with conspiring against the state and financing criminal organizations. Nenel Cassy was arrested on Saturday while he was at a restaurant in Petionville, a wealthy district of the capital, Port-au Prince, Haiti's National Police said in a post published on Facebook. The police shared photos of the former senator in handcuffs, next to heavily armed officers wearing ski masks. Cassy, who was designated as a corrupt actor by the U.S. State Department in 2023, was accused by Haiti's police in February of backing gang members who launched attacks on Kenscoff, a wealthy neighborhood 10 kilometers (6 miles) outside Port-su-Prince, that had been largely untouched by Haiti's gang violence. Dozens of people were killed in the February attacks including farmers who worked in the nearby hills and a 2-month-old baby. Gangs control 90% of Haiti's capital, according to the United Nations, and in recent months they have been launching attacks on previously peaceful communities in order to seize more territory. More than 5,6000 people were reported killed in Haiti last year, with gang violence leaving more than one million people homeless in recent years, according to the U.N.
