Puerto Rico Gov.: ‘Main Reason’ So Many Died in Maria Is Our ‘Undemocratic Form of Colonialism’

EXCERPT:

HARLOW: “You know, 'The Wall Street Journal' this morning, I'm sure you saw it, has done a really important deep dive on the numbers a year later, looking at the reality, facts that cannot be denied, right? And it includes, you know, of course we know Puerto Rico was essentially bankrupt, right? Had gone through bankruptcy ahead of Maria. Unemployment there over 9 percent now. The economy has contracted 7.6 percent in the last year, 8,000 small businesses have remained closed since Maria. The population is expected to decline 12 percent in the next five years. That’s going to hurt the tax base a lot. What is the number one thing Puerto Ricans need from the Trump administration right now given this stark reality?”
ROSSELLO: “I think a few things; number one, eliminate the excess bureaucracy. You know, FEMA has imposed certain processes in Puerto Rico that are not imposed in other states. And the main — you know, the reason why this happens is that Puerto Ricans are treated as second-class citizens. You know, we’re a territory of the United States, we’re not a full state. And it's about time that we have this discussion. If you are, you know, empathetic about the treatment that Puerto Ricans have received, that you know, U.S. citizens have received in Puerto Rico, then we need to deep dive into the main root cause of the problem, which is colonial territory in the 21st century."
HARLOW: "Wow."
SCIUTTO: "Yeah."
ROSSELLO: "So my petition to all decision makers is to have a firm position on this, to let everybody know if they stand with Puerto Ricans, to have equal rights to transition which is what the people have asked, or if they are going to support this undemocratic form of colonialism moving forward. I think it is important also to cover the progress. You mentioned 9 percent unemployment rate."