Congressman Erupts Against Donald Trump

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Tweets sent by US President Donald Trump threatening to withdraw federal aid to victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico outraged New York Congresswoman Nydia Velásquez, who recommended at a hearing at the Washington Capitol on Thursday President to take history classes.

The intervention of the legislator of Puerto Rican origin, which has gone viral, occurred in an appearance in a committee of the House of Representatives of the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, to explain the relief work that is being carried out his department in favor of the thousands of victims who have become homeless on the Isla del Eancante.

"I would like to suggest that the president take some history lessons regarding relations between Puerto Ricans and the United States. In 1898 US troops invaded Puerto Rico, US troops occupied Puerto Rico, "said Velásquez, who emphasized that these troops arrived without invitation to invade the then Spanish colony. "With that invasion came responsibilities."

He recalled that in 1917 Puerto Ricans were granted US citizenship so that they could fight in World War I, the first of many conflicts in which Puerto Rican blood had been spilled under the banner of the bar and the stars.

"So those tweets are anti-presidential. The most basic and elemental responsibility of the President of the United States, of the President of the most powerful nation in the world, is to make an appearance and provide assistance and help to the American citizens who need it, "he stressed.

He also wondered what these kinds of "insults" were about and revealed that his uncle had fought in the Korean War. "We shed blood to defend the freedoms that every American enjoys in this country," he recalled, while describing as "shameful" the "kicking compatriots" who are in dire need.

Amid criticism of the apparently slow and insufficient federal response to the serious crisis on the island, Trump warned in a series of tweets on Wednesday that federal aid has an expiration date.

"We cannot keep FEMA, the Military and First Responders, who have been incredible (in the most difficult circumstances) in PR forever!" Said the president, who again stressed that the island's infrastructure was already a " disaster”before the cyclone hit.

Critics of the president point to the contrast of this type of statements with those made by Trump after the hurricanes that hit Texas and Florida, two states that voted in his favor last year. Puerto Rico, as a territory, does not have a vote in the federal elections.