Puerto Rico Gov. Pierluisi seeks 'equality' in funding to tackle Covid, reconstruction

[DonViejo]

From multiple botched disaster responses to the territory's exclusion from antipoverty programs, there's a lot Congress and the administration can do.

Jan. 22, 2021, 6:35 AM EST / Updated Jan. 22, 2021, 8:12 AM EST

By Nicole Acevedo

Puerto Rico's new governor, Pedro Pierluisi, was on a mission on his trip to Washington, D.C. — to ensure that the U.S. territory of 3 million people is top of mind for Congress and the new administration.

"In Puerto Rico's case, I believe that it's very important to attract attention for positive reasons, not negative ones, so that they do not forget us and we are present in Washington's agenda," Pierluisi said, speaking in his native Spanish about his first trip to the nation's capital as governor to attend President Joe Biden's inauguration.

Pierluisi, a Democrat who is the head of Puerto Rico's pro-statehood party, stepped into office Jan. 2 after winning the first gubernatorial election on the island since Gov. Ricardo Rosselló resigned in 2019 after a political scandal that led to historic protests.

Pierluisi inherited an island still rebuilding after the destruction left by a string of strong earthquakes last year and Hurricane Maria in 2017 — the deadliest U.S.-based natural disaster in 100 years. The island has been grappling with the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/puerto-rico-gov-pierluisi-seeks-equality-funding-tackle-covid-reconstruction-n1255197