Mexico Steps Up For Puerto Rico After Hurricane Harvey Aid Was Denied

Mexico announced on Wednesday that they are going to aid the U.S. territory, despite having two major earthquakes of their own to deal with.

Mexico and Puerto Rico share more than just a language, they share the same eyes, both cultures feed off from each other and complement each other. After Donald Trump’s visit to the island, last Tuesday, Mexico was not going to sit by watching their Latino brothers suffer any longer.

The president’s response to the tragedy, sets a precedent for low standards, that the American public will now have to endure. This wasn’t repaired with his visit to the island, matter of fact, it only made things worse, with Trump berating its citizens for the economic cost of the hurricane, and claiming it wasn’t “a real catastrophe like Katrina”, because not that many people died, but since his toxic visit, the death toll of the island doubled, an unnecessary tragedy that could have been prevented with real leadership behind the oval office.

To add insult to injury, in a publicity stunt that centered around the President delivering humanitarian aid to the people, he started throwing paper towels mockingly at the crowd, like if he were playing half court hoops at Chuck E. Cheese’s, and after the families tried to show him all the damage the hurricane had caused, the president said “have a good time” as he was saying goodbye.

“[Trump] was insulting to the people of Puerto Rico,” San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz said Tuesday night. “This was a PR, 17-minute meeting. There was no exchange with anybody, with none of the mayors. And in fact, this terrible and abominable view of him throwing paper towels and throwing provisions at people, it really — it does not embody the spirit of the American nation, you know?”

“He kind of minimized our suffering here by saying that Katrina was a real disaster, sort of implying that this was not a real disaster because not many people have died here,” Cruz continued. “Well, you know what? They’re dying. They don’t have the medical resources.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, has now confronted Trump’s ineptitude on the subject. “Mr. President, enough. Stop blaming Puerto Rico for the storm that devastated their shores, and roll up your sleeves and get the recovery on track. That’s your job as president,” said Mr. Schumer.

For the moment, Mexico’s grand gesture to our country will be greatly valued, 30 tons of bottled water, mosquito repellent and specialists in power generation, transmission and distribution from the state power utility, is a lot more than we could ask from the country that Donald Trump has constantly insulted by calling them drug dealers and rapists. We really don’t deserve Mexico’s kindness.