The governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, today asked the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to meet after the decision of his Administration to withdraw 600 million dollars for the beneficiaries of the Nutritional Assistance Program (PAN).
Rosselló’s request, as reported by written statements, comes after the White House indicated on Thursday in a press release that said millionaire aid, which had previously been approved in the Federal Chamber, is “excessive and unnecessary.”
Rosselló, in turn, indicated that such aid to the beneficiaries of the PAN, which exceeds one million citizens, and that Trump alleges that they are to pay the public debt of Puerto Rico “is completely false.”
“In this way, I am making a public request, Mr. President, to meet and correct the incorrect information provided by your advisors and the perplexing notions you are receiving about Puerto Rico, particularly about the PAN program,” Rosselló said.
The governor explained that Puerto Rico has the highest poverty index, the lowest labor participation and the highest inequality index in any part of the United States.
This, Rosselló said, “is due to the perennial inequality of Puerto Rico as a colonial territory and the inconsolable comments about the withdrawal of funds from the vulnerable citizens of the United States still exists.”
In the press release, the Puerto Rican chief executive took the opportunity to remember that on September 20, 2017, the island suffered its worst natural catastrophe in the past century.
Since then, Rosselló affirmed that the island has been directed to its reconstruction and that the Government of Puerto Rico “has complied with all the requirements that have been imposed on us to receive these funds.”
In addition, Rosselló added that his Administration presented the Build Back Better plan, the Transformation Plan and a range of information “with our most basic needs” and, as a result of this, Congress approved the recovery funds for Puerto Rico.
However, Rosselló said, “despite everything that has happened subsequently, my Administration has been diligent and has not made a request that has not been verified, supported and justified by data.”
Similarly, Rossello said that his government has had to “overcome incorrect preconceived notions and comply with additional and burdensome requirements that were not required in any other jurisdiction of the United States.”
“There is a wrong pattern and a serious lack of knowledge about the unequal treatment of US citizens in Puerto Rico and the use of recovery funds in all the journalistic reports that have been attributed to their Administration,” Rosselló said.
“Mr. President, all these recent reports suggest that your administration is working to eliminate the recovery dollars for Puerto Rico, based solely on these completely false preconceived notions, Mr. President, according to this, you are receiving the wrong advice,” he abounded. (EFEUSA) .-
