San Juan, July 14 (RHC)-- Outrage is sweeping Puerto Rico with revelations that U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he would try to sell the island to the highest bidder.
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz asked for respect for Puerto Rico after former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke revealed that Trump asked in 2017 if the island could be sold.
"Many times I'm asked if I don't worry about Trump being president and me being governor because they say 'you guys don't have a good relationship. Say respect to Puerto Rico and I will always respect it in front of anyone, here or there," Cruz said through her Twitter account.
"But the question should be how Wanda Vazquez -- Puerto Rico's governor -- and Jennifer Gonzalez -- the island's representative to Congress in Washington -- continue to support him Trump after so much disrespect. To give respect to our people is not a matter of ideology, it is a matter of self-respect," Cruz said.
The mayor is one of three candidates for the gubernatorial candidacy of the opposition Popular Democratic Party (PDP) in the island's general elections to be held next November.
Former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke revealed that U.S. President Donald Trump saw Puerto Rico as an asset and considered selling it after it was hit by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
In an interview with The New York Times newspaper, Duke said that Trump's "initial ideas" were "more those of a businessman." So when the disaster occurred in Puerto Rico, the first thing the U.S. president asked was: "Can the island be sold?
"Can we outsource the electricity? Can we sell the island? You know, or get rid of that asset," Trump allegedly said, according to the newspaper's published interview. However, Duke noted that these actions were never seriously considered by authorities who were debating the situation in Puerto Rico.
Former Gov. Acevedo Vila denounced Saturday that Trump inquired about the possibility of selling Puerto Rico as if it were an asset of one of his "shady businesses."
For that reason, he demanded that Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon, president of the U.S. Republican Party in Puerto Rico, immediately withdraw her support for Trump. "All of Puerto Rico has seen with great indignation the way in which the current Republican president refers to Puerto Rico, and the commissioner seems to have no capacity to be indignant in the face of so many insults," she said.
Hurricane Maria, registered in 2017, left 2,982 dead and structural damage in the amount of $90 billion. Similarly, the natural disaster left the entire island without electricity service, as the power grid was 100% destroyed.
