Who Is Carmen Yulín Cruz, the Puerto Rican Mayor Feuding With Trump?
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| Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz of San Juan. Her outspoken criticism of the Trump administration’s disaster response on Puerto Rico has made national headlines, but comes as little surprise on the island. |
SAN JUAN, P.R. — When Carmen Yulín Cruz was a long-shot candidate for mayor here in 2012, she cast herself as a “pitirre,” a small bird known for fearlessly attacking larger ones.
Now in her second term as mayor of San Juan, the capital of this storm-ravaged island, Ms. Cruz, 54, finds herself in a high-profile altercation, having publicly criticized the Trump administration for its response to the damage wrought by Hurricane Maria and getting plenty of reproach from Mr. Trump on Saturday in return.
In Puerto Rico, her outspokenness has come as little surprise. Before
the hurricane Ms. Cruz was known for a left-leaning populist streak and a tendency to speak in blunt and emotional terms.
“We are dying here,” she said in a news conference Friday, her eyes filling with tears, as she issued a verbal distress signal. “Mayday.”
Ms. Cruz even went to evacuate residents of an assisted living facility after a fire broke out there. Asked why she did so herself, when it could come across as showboating, she was quick with her response.
The New York Times.
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