Transcripts For BBCNEWS Our World 20171112

Will bring you more at the top of the tower. Trend i kwang. Now on bbc news, our world. The hurricane that destroyed puerto rico. Two months after maria, this us territory and its american citizens are still suffering. How do you now see life without your son . It may belong to the most powerful country in the world, but this is now an island in crisis. Even though we are citizens of the United States, perhaps we are perceived to be second class citizens. Who will fix it, and at what cost . I am in marikau, south west puerto rico. Jennifer, which is your casa . This one . I am here to meetjennifer rodriguez, who lives on a small bit of land with her husband and four children. This area has been cut off from the outside world for weeks. This is quite extraordinary. This could actually collapse. It is all wooden planks, but it is damp. You can see the holes everywhere. Jennifer says that even before maria this house was old and weak. The family were building a new more sturdy one next door, and the hurricane has forced them to move in early. So, the second house that she is living in, the municipality has told her this is not secure, that the house is not complete. You can see this is still being built. The roof is leaking, there are no drains, doors, or a bathroom. This area was well known for coffee plantations. Now, completely destroyed, it could take up to five years for them to recover. With no work and relying on handouts, jennifer feels helpless. Her priority is providing for her children. Jennifer took her children to her in laws home to be safe during the hurricane. When maria came, what happened . How did you feel . When Hurricane Maria hit, much of the islands infrastructure was demolished. The electricity grid collapsed and the islands 3. 5 million residents were plunged into darkness. Two months later, this remains americas longest blackout. What is this . That is your casa . And this, what is this . What has happened to the tree . Maria. For more than 100 years, puerto rico has been a territory of the United States. This means its people can live, travel, and work freely in america. And when it comes to a catastrophe like this one, the us has a legal obligation to help. We have just come to a small medical facility deep in this mountainous area where a group of doctors, specialists, and surgeons, are here to come and meet some of the locals who have been badly affected by this hurricane. An hour away from the capital city of sanjuan is toa alta, at the centre of the path of the hurricane. When we get our patients in the clinic, we gave him a bottle of water, and it was like giving them a bar of gold. Gloria runs a large hospital nearby. Today, with the help of by the donors and charities, today, with the help of private donors and charities, she set up a temporary clinic. We are providing support and help to these communities in particular because they asked us to bring some help, because no other agency has come to help them. There is the baby. They are from the community. They left their house. They lost their house. Jocelyn is just two months old. Her father tells me they lost everything they own. What sort of water is the baby drinking . Distilled water. 0k. They need water. It does not seem a lot to ask far from one of the richest countries it does not seem a lot to ask for from one of the richest but Puerto Ricans have felt neglected by the United States for decades. And now, the island is in deep financial crisis. Mass unemployment mixed with decades of excessive borrowing by the local government meant puerto rico was facing bankruptcy even before maria hit. Nothing. Nada. You have no electricity. No. You see . We drink waterfrom. We buy filtered water. We have some water today that is great. After finishing at the clinic, gloria invites us back to her place. We still have some of the windows. Oh, yeah, from the hurricane. It looks like a middle class american home, but by puerto rican standards, this is luxury. But like most people here, she still does not have electricity. So, we have flashlights like everybody else. We put lights all over. Puerto rico owes over 70 billion to the us. Because of the debt, the islands electricity grid was badly maintained, even before maria. Now, completely broken, it could take up to a year for power to fully return. And many people are tired of waiting. My husband always asks me, why dont we leave . Why dont we buy a house outside . What about showing my employees it is better to leave . Is it better to stay . It is like a dilemma, but in my heart, i prefer to stay. Since the hurricane, tens of thousands of people have left for america. Locals on the island can only vote for their government, but once on the mainland, they can vote for national elections. This could change the Political Landscape in the us. President trump visited the island two weeks after the hurricane. There is a lot of love in this room. A lot of love in this room. But it wasnt coming from the mayor of sanjuan whom he criticised for asking for help. I will do what i never thought i would do, i am begging anyone who can hear us to save us from dying. The president had tweeted that puerto rico was mismanaged. After his visit, he came under fire for his lack of empathy and for a slow emergency response. In one of his tweets, President Trump said that puerto rico is more or less broken, it has broken infrastructure, it is in trouble, it has debt. None of those things are factually correct. None of those things are factually incorrect. No, they are not. What is incorrect is for a president that is supposed to be the commander in chief to become the hater in chief, and to become the person who just tweets away his hate. That is what is incorrect. This is for one person. One meal a day. Mayor crus believes America Needs to forget about puerto ricos debt, to write off the billions of us dollars the island owes. We took, as a country, more money borrowed than we knew we could pay at some point. We knew we were taking debt for the next generation and the next generation. And it is time they accept they have lost, because who is going to pay the debt . That is a good question. No one should pay it. I said this to the president. You either count the debt or you count the dead. And the choice . It is very simple. I still remain baffled because there is no discussion about this debt going away this more than 70 billion. You talk about rebuilding and hope and change, but how, when the debt is not going anywhere and the poverty situation remains the same and now it is all being. . You know, the hurricane has added to your woes. This is why the International Community must take a step forward and stand with the people of puerto rico. Our relationship with the United States puts us at a disadvantage. Even though we are citizens of the United States, perhaps we are perceived to be second class citizens. This is the crux of the problem. Many Puerto Ricans feel they are stuck between a rock and a hard place, neither fully american nor independent, but trapped in limbo. Ola, jennifer its sunday and ive come back to the mountainous region of maricao to joinjennifer and her family for lunch. Youve had a haircut this is the room we were in. Shes been busy making her unfinished house more of a home. Youve spent the last few days just rearranging, cleaning. In the aftermath of maria, millions of people in puerto rico were left without running water. But i am struck by how well jennifer seems to be coping. Jennifer, is it difficult to cook without water and any electricity for so many people, all of yourfamily . Jennifer tells meet that even before maria, power cuts were common, and getting clean water has been a problem for over ten years. She says the local authorities never laid down water pipes. Why didnt you Say Something to someone . The mayor, the local authorities, why dont you ask for it to change . Jennifer is not the only one with these kinds of problems. Even before maria, puerto ricos Water Quality was worse than any other us territory or state. Nice to see that the family are trying to have some kind of normality back in their life and they are all together enjoying a meal and a sunday. And trying to forget all the daily hardships that they face. Back in toa alta, gloria, who set up the temporary clinic, is searching for the man with the tiny baby we saw a few days ago. Before maria struck, jose evacuated his family to a nearby village. This isjoses house. 0h, jose. Theres nothing left. The bathroom is the only thing left. What do you think when you see your babys cot there . Jose and his family now stay at his mothers house on the other side of the road. It is one of the only houses on this street still standing. Is it frustrating for you to wait with two small children . But its notjust buildings and infrastructure that have been destroyed. People have lost their lives. I just want to know a little more about what your son was like, what kind of person he was. 27 year old anthony bracero passed away 16 days after the hurricane. His family suspect he died of leptospirosis, an infection spread by rats. Anthonys family think he handled wood contaminated by rat urine in the aftermath of the hurricane, and that made him ill. He went to the hospital and two days later he died. How do you now see life without your son . Since the hurricane, there have been at least 76 cases of leptospirosis, thats a dramatic increase. Do you think your son and cases like your sons should be counted in the official death toll of the hurricane . The death of zulmas son was not because of the impact of the hurricane itself, it was the result of something that happened in the aftermath of the hurricane. And it is something that zulma will have to live with for the rest of her life. Could his death have been avoided and could more have been done . The official hurricane death toll is 55. But thats just the people whose death has been verified by autopsy to have been directly caused by the hurricane. The real figure could be over 500 people. We may never know the truth. The organisation with ultimate responsibility of the United States relief effort is the federal Emergency Management agency, or fema. This is the largest fema response in the caribbean, it has been the most catastrophic event in puerto rico and probably will be in the entire United States. Theres piles and piles of rubbish, do you think it is a Public Health crisis . Thats another example of the catastrophic nature of the event, it created so much debris. We are taking that very seriously. I know its an example of how catastrophic things are, but its also an example of how slow things have been we are doing what we have with the equipment that we have, and youre bringing a great example. Compared to florida or to texas, we are an island, theres not enough. Im not making a comparison. I am making it, we are an island. So there was not enough trucks, there was not enough equipment in puerto rico, and everything has to be brought by air or sea. Indeed, but what would you say to the people who are incredibly frustrated, who say that fema is not doing anything . I understand their frustration, i dont have water in my house, i dont have power at my house. We understand there is a lot more that we need to do, and we will continue working. Fema say they are doing what they can. But with the territory in financial chaos before maria, the task of rebuilding puerto rico is daunting. With the islands complicated relationship with america, its unclear who is going to fix things. In the meantime, people are relying on the kindness of strangers. A charity made up of University Students has arrived here tojennifers home and theyre basically visiting the families who have children to give them toys and food and help out in whatever way they can. Jennifer, have you been getting help like this . Why are you emotional . Does it give you hope . Today has been one of the better days forjennifer. But her fight to provide for her children is farfrom over. Aid can only be a short term solution. The apocalyptic destruction brought on by Hurricane Maria has lifted the veil and showed the world puerto ricos broken economy and rampant poverty. With no money and its peoples lives still in shreds, an even bigger storm is gathering. This is how we start remembrance sunday, cloudy with some outbreaks of rain down to the south. Not quite as cold here but clearer skies and a few wintry showers to the far north, with temperatures just a couple of degrees above freezing. Now, that cold air is going to continue to push its way steadily south across the whole of england and wales as we go through remembrance sunday. So its worth bearing in mind, if youre up and off early, we could see a scattering of showers, some of those running down through the cheshire gap to the midlands and maybe into the south east but hopefully they will ease away in time for Remembrance Sunday Services at the cenotaph. But its worth bearing in mind there could be an isolated rogue shower still floating around. Elsewhere, if you are heading for Remembrance Sunday Services, most likely chance of seeing some showers at 11 oclock in the morning is through wales and maybe one or two into South West England, and elsewhere should be dry. Cold, yes, you will need to wrap up warm. Nevertheless there should be good spells of sunshine. A few isolated showers across the east coast of northern ireland. And one or two filtering in through the Northern Isles and the far north of scotland. Some of these will still have a wintry flavour mixed in there. And it is going be accompanied by a brisk north north westerly wind, driving in the potential of a few showers along the north sea coast and one or two continuing in wales and South West England through the day. Sandwiched in between the two, its dry, its settled, its sunny but its crisp. Top temperatures of around 6 10 degrees. As we move out of remembrance sunday into monday, its going to turn colder still with winds falling light and High Pressure just quietening things down and killing off the showers. So were going to see another frost another hard frost yet again, for monday morning with temperatures in rural parts of scotland down to lows of minus five. That is important because we are expecting more cloud and rain to push in to the north western. 0n the leading edge of it, we could see some snow, maybe some significant snow for a time. We need to keep an eye on that. Things a little more straightforward further south. Its going to cloud over a little, its going to be largely dry but not particularly warm, with highs of 5 10 degrees. That weather front continues to push its way south and east, out of monday, into tuesday. Introducing milder weather but also the potentialfor a little bit of light rain. So we start our new week cold and frosty, but it will turn milder with some more rain to come. Take care. Welcome to bbc news. President trump is meeting his vietnamese counterpart tran dai quang, on the latest leg of his asian tour. He was greeted with an elaborate ceremony at the president ial palace in hanoi. Mr trump praised vietnams Economic Reforms and welcomed its commitment to reducing trade barriers to us agricultural products. Meanwhile, President Trumps war of words with north korea has continued with a tweet in which the american president wonders why the north Korean Leader would insult him by calling him old. In his tweet, mr trump said he would never call kim jong un