Violence in Puerto Rico
The New York Times just published Murder Rate and Fear Rise in Puerto Rico, a brief and grim piece covering the latest rash of murders to sweep across the island of Puerto Rico, just off the US coast. With 525 murders in the half year, more than NYC’s 199, Puerto Rico is on track to see the violence broach more than 1,000 deaths in a population half the size, and far more spread out:
“Enough is enough,” said Mr. Clemente, 59, who works for the town doing cleanup duties, as he motioned toward the liquor store. “We live unsafely in our homes. The cops know who did what, but there are no witnesses. Even if you see who did it, you stay quiet.”
When I visited Puerto Rico earlier this year, I didn’t feel like it was a dangerous country. Admittedly, I was staying as a tourist in the Condado area, which is relatively safe and isolated from the rest of San Juan. However, I did come across some interesting anti-violence posters. The propaganda, which lacks any indication if it is government-sponsored, or independently produced, is below:
“Suicide, Desperation, Drug Trafficking, Adversity, Irresponsibility, Drugs, Corruption: Such is Life”
“Violence: Now on a corner near YOU!”
“It weighs more than truth,” referring to the money unbalancing Lady Justice’s scales.
| This entry was posted on Saturday, June 4th, 2011 at 6:25 pm and is tagged with fear rise, life violence, island of puerto rico, condado area, liquor store, drug trafficking, lady justice, murder rate, irresponsibility, new york times, half year, desperation, murders, adversity, rash, cleanup, san juan, corruption, propaganda, cops. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback. |
True. why fear death? enjoy puerto rico, just be careful when traveling.if you always think negatively, what’s left to enjoy…