Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Well, we've made it two whole weeks without a new governor. The conspiracy between the presidents of the House and the Senate to oust Wanda Vasquez may be real, but so far has come to naught. Wanda is still there and shows every sign of staying.

I was all set to write that Wanda is doing some things and saying things that at least sound right. She said she will review all contracts Rossello signed in the last two weeks he was in office as well as some before that. She said she "may" declare a state of emergency to deal with domestic violence on the island. She expects and will demand transparency in all her administration's dealings.

Sounds good.

Then I came across this article on Buzz Flash, written by Nelson Denis, author of The War Against All Puerto Ricans. He, as might be expected, has a different take on Wanda's first two weeks as governor.

Basically Denis says that Wanda is blowing smoke. She cancelled a $450,000 dollar electric grid reconstruction contract between the Puerto Rico Electric Authority (PREPA) and a Canadian company, minuscule compared to the $1.8 billion contract with a company called Cobra Acquisitions which is a subsidiary of Mammoth Energy Services, both of which are under Federal investigation.

Did Wanda investigate the Cobra deal as Secretary of Justice? No. Is Wanda investigating the Cobra contract as Governor? No. She promised a "in-depth review" of all PREPA reconstruction contracts, none of which she investigated as Secretary of Justice.

Denis says the "state of emergency" on domestic violence is similarly made of smoke. It's an easy target but with no chance of new resources being allocated because of the Financial Control Board, the Federal oversight board appointed to regulate PR's finances in the face of $73 billion in public debt.

Denis concludes by writing, "The people of Puerto Rico are desperate for new solutions and a new destiny. But in the end, after weeks of demonstrations and millions of people marching, they ended up with the same old politics: a career hack with no intention of discussing, let alone challenging, the deeper economic and political issues that have plagued their island for over a century.

That would require a leader."

Stay tuned. The revolution ain't over and it will be televised.