Boricua Bloodshed
Second-class citizens: Your report about the growing drug-related bloodshed in Puerto Rico paints a powerful picture ("Bloody Tide," Michael E. Miller, March 21), but what do you expect? This is an occupied territory where the fact that its people are called "American citizens" does not matter. It's just like police Chief Hector Pesquera said: "If this were anywhere else in the States, it would have created a national security crisis by now." But Puerto Ricans are not considered a "national security issue" because they are not part of the U.S. But the land is the property of the U.S., and its people are second-class citizens of the nation they purportedly belong to. As you state in this report, 80 percent of the crime in PR is drug-related. The U.S., through its colonial system and policies of democratic disenfranchisement and political apartheid, has controlled how Puerto Ricans live and die since 1898. Puerto Rico's borders are under the absolute control of the U.S., which controls everything that goes in and out. Under this strict control, the U.S. decides everything, from the toilet paper Puerto Ricans use to wipe their rears to the caskets they use to bury their dead. That's why the U.S. is the main party responsible for the drug and crime wave affecting the island. It's time the U.S. treated the people of PR as true American citizens. They've earned it. Citizen2017
Exaggerated facts: I don't understand why you've written this overly exaggerated showcasing of Puerto Rico's criminal situation. It is bad, true. It is really bad. However, I don't think it is any worse than any big city in the U.S. You can find similar stories in New York and L.A. I don't live on the island. I live in Florida and wouldn't go back because the situation is unsustainable and incompatible to the quality of life I want to have — the same way I wouldn't live in New York or Los Angeles or Miami. This isn't exclusive to Puerto Rico. The reporter writes as if this violence doesn't happen anywhere else. Well, let me tell you what you won't see in Puerto Rico: someone going to schools on a shooting spree. Someone going to a theater and opening fire just for shits and giggles — that doesn't happen on the island. Some ex-military guy with a sniper rifle taking pot shots at people — that doesn't happen in Puerto Rico. Domestic terrorism? Nope, not on the island. We are not perfect, and we are a far cry from being the "Island of Enchantment" we once were, but we are not any worse than any other state with high crime in the States. Also, the reporter must have a selective memory if he forgets that during Miami's heyday in the '80s — when the city was a major point of cocaine trafficking coming from Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru — criminal activity was through the roof, and PR had nothing to do with that. Don't act like this is the first time Miami has seen criminal activity and blame it all on Puerto Rico. Milkadr
Slow news week: What are you looking to accomplish by publishing this article? Leave my island alone. I go there twice a year because my family lives there. I used to live there and worked at a bank while I lived there. I am friends with these scumbags you are describing. We have problems like everyone else, and we just deal with it. I guess there was no content to write about this week. We are fine. You have enough to worry about in Dade County. Ariel Crespo
Anti-Christian Bias
Keep it off the train: As someone who has always supported Uncle Luke, I am withdrawing my support after his latest column defending the woman thrown off a Metrorail train for singing a gospel hymn ("Jesus Racism," Luther Campbell, March 21). As a transit rider, I am always getting bothered by these stupid people constantly talking about the return of Jesus. You have no idea how many new suits I have in my closet in anticipation of that day. Public transit is not a church or anyone's personal pulpit. It is a public place where everyone, including those atheists whom Luke hates so much, has a right to some mental privacy. What a hypocrite Luke must be. An ex-rapper who most likely was involved in fornicating, drinking, smoking, snorting, and all other sorts of vices now has the nerve to preach about ethics and morals. It's time to fire this bozo. Eric, North Miami
Major hypocrisy: Uncle Luke writes, "Hollywood is busy making TV shows and movies such as True Blood and Twilight that portray vampires, werewolves, and other ungodly creatures as sex symbols." This is coming from a guy who still glorifies "pussy popping" at LIV performances, in his Instagram pictures, and in Vice.com pieces. But that's all Jesus' work, right? I love you, Luke, but please quit the hypocrisy. Nizar Assad