- Originally published in the Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Florida) September 25, 2004
Copyright 2004 Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
By Ray Quintanilla
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico _ For decades, only one force has been strong enough to drive this island's political agenda.
But that era ended on Aug. 15 when Tropical Storm Jeanne crept ashore.
Jeanne
not only turned Puerto Rico into a federal disaster area, it also
jolted the political landscape, blew the "popular" out of the Popular
Democratic Party, and created a powerful new issue that is uniting all Puerto Ricans as the fall elections approach.
The
burning political question no longer centers on whether Puerto Rico
should become a state, a sovereign country, or remain a commonwealth.
Today, voters are asking a much more practical question: Who will keep
the lights on during the next major storm?
Many
of them are fed up, frustrated and mobilized by Gov. Sila Calderon's
decision to shut off the entire electrical grid serving the island's 4
million residents.
After Calderon's
controversial decision, thousands continue to struggle without power
and water, creating a political nightmare for the governor and her
pro-Commonwealth Popular Democratic Party.
"This
is what happens when people are without electricity for days and the
person who turned off the power happens to be the governor," said
Anibel Aponte, a professor of social sciences at the University of
Puerto Rico in Mayaguez.
"People don't
just forget they've suffered through a terrible time and the actions of
their government might have actually made their lives worse rather than
better," added Aponte, who explained he can't recall a time when such a
controversy has surfaced so close to election day.
That's
bad news for the island's Resident Commissioner Anibel Acevedo Vila,
the pro-Commonwealth party's choice to replace Calderon, who last year
announced she would not seek a second term.
Within
hours, politicians were calling for an investigation into the island's
first major blackout. The University of Puerto Rico agreed to launch an
independent investigation into whether the blackout, which affected
nearly 4 million people on the island, was warranted.
Since
the storm, phone lines into talk radio shows have been buzzing with
angry residents trying to cope without power and water.
Smelling
weakness, pro-statehood candidate Pedro Rossello almost immediately
raised questions about Calderon's decision, calling it foolhardy.
Turning off the power might have caused more damage to the grid than
the storm would have, he added.
"You don't unplug the Christmas tree when you were looking for burned out bulbs," explained Rossello.
But
Calderon is not backing down. She continues to defend the decision,
which she made as a safety precaution, and pledges to "cooperate with
those wanting to examine why it was done."
Her
confidence has done little to thwart the widespread anger, even though
the governor says electricity has been restored to 97 percent of the
population and 95 percent now have running water again.
In
remarks this past week, Calderon said she considered the "issue of
power and water to be over with" since so many residents have had their
services restored.
Now, she added, she's focused on getting the rest of the island back to normal.
During
the storm, thousands had their homes flooded or damaged by high winds.
Nearly 400 remain in shelters around the island because they have no
water or power.
The storm was responsible
for nine deaths, including two people who died from inhaling toxic
fumes when they brought a generator indoors for power, government
officials said.
In Carolina, where
electricity and water were out for almost four days, Regina Cruz had to
throw out hundreds of dollars of spoiled food. Pouring water into her
toilet tank for flushing has been no fun either, she added.
"The
election might just be a way for people who suffered the most to tell
the politicians they made some big mistakes," said Cruz, 30, while
reflecting on the hardships of the past week.
"Ask
anyone on my block about the election, and you won't find talk about
statehood or independence or anything else. They're mad like me, and
talking about making changes on the island."
Before
the storm, the hot campaign issue was whether Rossello could keep his
temper in check to be an effective leader. For Acevedo Vila, it was
whether he had made the right decision when he announced plans to stay
on the island for the remainder of the campaign, rather than returning
to Washington to carry out his official duties.
Acevedo
Vila, who has often appeared with Calderon at campaign events, has
sought to distance himself from her since the storm, political expert
say. In fact, he's keeping an uncharacteristically low profile in the
wake of what some are calling Calderon's callous decision-making under
pressure.
Even before the storm, a public
opinion survey by the newspaper El Nuevo Dia found Acevedo Vila's
campaign trailing Rossello by nine percentage points. But few doubt
that Calderon's decision widened that gap considerably, taking a race
that was arguably still competitive and turning it into a fait accompli.
Though
it's commonly believed that the island has about 150,000 voters who
don't belong to any of the three major parties, it's difficult to find
anyone on the streets today who hasn't already taken sides. Especially
if that person were among those who went more than a day without water
and power.
"The storm changed my life,"
explained Nelsa Carrion, a San Juan resident. "Four days without
electricity and water does that. You don't forget about the hard times,
like having to sit in the dark with no fan, and worry about getting
water."
Carrion said the island's political status has taken a backseat to how the government dealt with the storm.
"It's
always a hot topic, and nothing much happens," she said. "But the storm
is something completely different, and our leaders need to know they
messed up and we don't want this to happen again."