San Juan mayor hits back at Elaine Duke: ‘This is not a good-news story. This is a people-are-dying story.’

The mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, lashed out at acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke's comment that the Hurricane Maria relief efforts are a "good-news story," saying, that in reality, it's a "people-are-dying story."

Speaking outside the White House on Thursday, Duke said she is “very satisfied” with efforts to aid Puerto Rico in the wake of Maria, which devastated the island and has created a humanitarian crisis. Duke said, “It is really a good-news story,” an assessment that prompted San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz's strong rebuttal.


“Well, maybe from where she's standing, it's a good-news story. When you’re drinking from a creek, it's not a good-news story. When you don't have food for a baby, it's not a good-news story,” Cruz told CNN’s “New Day,” referring to the plight of Puerto Ricans, many of whom have received little or no aid thus far. “When you have to pull people down from their buildings — I'm sorry, but that really upsets me and frustrates me. You know, I would ask her to come down here and visit the towns, and then make a statement like that, which frankly, it is an irresponsible statement.

“Damn it, this is not a good-news story. This is a people-are-dying story. This is a life-or-death story. This is a 'there's-a-truck-load-of-stuff-that-cannot-be-taken-to-people story.' This is a story of a devastation that continues to worsen because people are not getting food and water,” she continued. “It is not a good-news story when people are dying, when they don't have dialysis, when their generators aren't working and their oxygen isn’t providing for them. Where is there good news here? ... I’m really sorry, but you know when you have people out there dying, literally, scraping for food, where is the good news?”

Duke, at a press conference Friday in San Juan, sought to clarify her Thursday remarks without directly addressing her "good news" assessment.

"I was asked if I was happy and satisfied with the recovery. I am proud of the work that's being done.I am proud of Americans helping Americans, friends and strangers alike," she said, acknowledging that the reality on the ground in Puerto Rico "is not satisfactory."

Cruz said earlier on Friday that the issue has not been a lack of supplies but an inability to deal with the logistics of distributing aid on an island that is still largely without power and supplying it to Puerto Rico’s more rural areas. The mayor said San Juan had received three pallets of water — slightly more than 4,000 bottles for a population of roughly 350,000 people — as well as four pallets of food and 12 pallets of baby food and supplies.

The situation in other parts of the island are even more dire, Cruz said, relaying her interaction with another Puerto Rican mayor, who said his residents had no food, no medicine, had not yet received any aid and were drinking from the same creek they were using to wash themselves and their clothes. Nursing homes must be a priority, she said, because they “are becoming just human cages for people that are sick and unable to fend for themselves.”

Cruz was clear that she remains appreciative of the federal government teams that have arrived on the island to help but that those teams have thus far been insufficient to overcome the logistical hurdles presented by the island.

Despite what Cruz relayed as the realities on the ground in Puerto Rico, President Donald Trump has praised the work of his administration in responding to the needs of the devastated island, writing on Twitter Friday morning that “Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello just stated: ‘The Administration and the President, every time we've spoken, they've delivered.’” Cruz, too, said she had been in contact with the White House, but made a personal appeal to Trump to do more.

“I know the FEMA people are working hard and they’re doing their best, so this is a message for President Trump, thank you for calling San Juan yesterday and listening for our mayday call,” the mayor said. “But sir, there’s 77 other towns that are waiting. They’re waiting anxiously and will be very grateful to you and to the American people if you continue to step up to the moral imperative that you’ve taken on all over the world to help those in need. So help us.”

“Again, Mr. Trump, we appreciate everything you are doing and we know it can be done faster,” she added just before her interview ended. “Help us save lives. We will be forever grateful.”

