Puerto Rico needs an ‘Operation Bootstrap’ for the 21st century

When I first arrived in Puerto Rico in the late 1960s, there had been a massive government push to transform a dirt poor island into a modern, industrialized society.

I was in the sixth grade when my father moved our family — my mom, my two younger sisters and I — from New York to the northern coastal town of Manati, where my grandparents lived. They had agreed to sell a couple of acres from their farm and build us a home, something my parents could not afford in New York.

Puerto Rico was still poor by American standards in 1968, the year we arrived. But Operation Bootstrap, a local government, U.S.-funded program, had created new opportunities for people like my dad, who was bilingual and college-educated thanks to the GI Bill.

My father had no trouble finding a good job and within a few years he was promoted to the job of comptroller for a U.S. food-distribution company. We moved up the social ladder.

Around me, others were advancing, as well. My father was active in our local church, where he mentored young people. I watched many mostly poor youngsters go to college, find careers and improve their lives.

Hurricane Maria has left me wondering how they are doing. Our town was in the eye wall’s exit path. And along with the power grid, most forms of communication were blown away. Every now and then, I get a brief message on Facebook. One childhood friend who was undergoing treatment for cervical cancer before the storm struck recently wrote: “No light, no water, hard to find basic goods … many beautiful moments, though; God has provided … neighbors have gotten closer.”

Puerto Rico seems to have returned to the place my grandparents used to talk about: people collecting water from streams, bathing in rivers, struggling to find the basics. I’ve shuddered at images of children drinking water from swimming pools and buckets. I fear the outbreak of disease and the breakdown of civil society.

President Trump briefly stepped into a world of suffering and uncertainty when he visited Puerto Rico last week. This isn’t a president known for empathy, and he was criticized for throwing rolls of paper towel at storm victims. His remarks comparing Hurricane Maria to Hurricane Katrina — 16 people died in Puerto Rico compared to 1800 in Louisiana — was the last thing that hungry and thirsty people wanted to hear.

It’s worth noting that a few hours after Trump left, Puerto Rico’s official stormrelated death toll rose to 34. Among the causes of death, local authorities cited mudslides, lack of access to oxygen and suicide.

The Trump administration mobilized to help Puerto Rico, as it should when U.S. citizens are in peril. But this hurricane created needs that vastly outnumbered resources. When it became clear Puerto Rico was on the verge of collapse, it was Trump’s job to set a tone of urgency and call attention to the crisis. I watched him waste the first weekend after the Sept. 20 storm on the NFL, tweeting 18 times about a controversy he had stirred up. I wondered if things would have been different if Trump’s base lived in Puerto Rico.

Tired of fuming, I turned to my sister, who owns a condo in San Juan, closer to goods and services. Still, I worry about her, my brother-in-law and nephew being without electricity and having only a few hours a day of running water. I wanted to know how they and their friends had reacted to the president’s visit.

“Trump is Trump,” my sister responded. She suggested no one paid much attention to what he said. But she and others seemed heartened by the team that accompanied him on this visit, including Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney. My sister and her neighbors were clinging to any news about high-level meetings between White House staffers and the governor of Puerto Rico and even with the mayor of San Juan, who had been feuding with Trump. They are looking for any signs that could signal a faster road to recovery, like the recent FCC approval of an air-balloon project to restore cellphone service from the sky.

So I can sit here in the comfort of my air-conditioned office and ruminate over every word that Trump utters. Or I can pay attention to what his administration will do to help 3.4 million U.S. citizens who live in Puerto Rico.

Shortly after his visit, Trump told Fox News that Puerto Rico’s more than $72 billion public debt “will need to be wiped away.” We still don’t know exactly what that means, but let’s see what happens.

Puerto Rico needs an Operation Bootstrap for the 21st century. It needs to modernize an inefficient government bureaucracy and change a culture of political patronage that stunts economic growth. Corporate America needs to step up to the plate. It benefits from Puerto Rico’s standing as the world’s fifth-largest market for U.S. goods.

And the U.S. government needs to create policies that focus on economic development and job-creation for its offshore territories. Puerto Rico, despite whatever it’s political future may hold, needs help to climb out of bankruptcy, save public workers’ pensions, develop a modern and efficient energy system, and spur businesses and jobs. If even a few of these things happen, as my wise sister says, “It will be worth all our suffering.”

And it will be worth all my anguish over my people.

I fear the outbreak of disease and the breakdown of civil society.