A Reality Check In Puerto Rico

Published March 12, 2018 at 11:00 AM EDT

In this Jan. 31, 2018 photo, Public Works Sub-Director Ramon Mendez, wearing a hard hat at left, works with locals who are municipal workers, from right, Eliezer Nazario, Tomas Martinez and Angel Diaz as they install a new post to return electricity to Felipe Rodriguez's home, four months after Hurricane Maria hit the El Ortiz sector of Coamo, Puerto Rico. Coamo's city government relies on residents to tell it where damaged cables and posts are located, and uses hand-drawn maps to show homes that have power or need it, and the city updates the power company. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

Six months after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico struggles on. What’s it going to take to fix it? Who will do it?

This show airs Monday at 11 a.m. EST.

Guests:

Bianca Padró Ocasio, breaking news reporter for the Orlando Sentinel. (@BiancaJoanie)

Omaya Sosa Pascual, journalist and founder of Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism. (@omayasosa)

Justin Vélez-Hagan, founder of the National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce. (@JVelezHagan)

From The Reading List:

Centro de Periodismo Investigativo: The Fantasy Of The Fiscal Plan For Puerto Rico — “The most recent version of Puerto Rico’s fiscal plan for its central government would chart the future of the country, giving some degree of certainty to citizens, businesses and investors to bet on the island’s dismal economy. Yet it is built on economic projections totally incompatible with the historical experience of places that have been destroyed by hurricanes the world over.”

Just this month, a major power failure put almost a million people in and around San Juan, Puerto Rico back in the dark. It’s been almost six months since Hurricane Maria slammed into the island, and 10 percent of Puerto Ricans still do not have electricity. So some people are leaving, for good. An exodus of more than five percent of the population by the end this year. That will only further hobble Puerto Rico’s economic future. So why has the island’s government put out what some analysts see as a strangely rosy economic forecast?

This hour, On Point: A reality check in Puerto Rico.

—Meghna Chakrabarti