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Puerto Rico: FEMA Chief Dismisses San Juan Mayor’s Criticism as “Political Noise”

HeadlineOct 10, 2017

In Puerto Rico, the Trump administration has allowed a 10-day waiver of the Jones Act to lapse, restricting shipments of food, fuel and medicine from foreign-flagged ships as nearly half of the island still lacks clean water and nearly 90 percent lacks electricity more than two weeks after Hurricane Maria struck. The expiration of the Jones Act waiver came over the fierce opposition of San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, who on Sunday blasted the Trump administration’s slow response to the hurricane, tweeting, “Power collapses in San Juan hospital with 4 patients now being transferred out. Have requested support from FEMA. NOTHING.” Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Brock Long on Monday dismissed Mayor Cruz’s comments, telling reporters, “We don’t have time for the political noise.”

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