Puerto Ricans protest after days of power outages the government blames on seaweed
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO -- Hundreds of Puerto Ricans gathered outside of the governor’s mansion in San Juan on Friday afternoon to protest against LUMA Energy, the struggling energy grid’s private operator, following a wave of electrical blackouts that affected thousands of customers across the island this week.
The gathering took place on Calle Fortaleza, where protests against former Gov. Ricky Rosselló in 2019 led to his ousting and where Puerto Ricans often congregate to express grievances against the island’s government. The street is dubbed “Calle de la Resistencia” — the street of the resistance.
The island workers’ movement organized the protest, and members of environmental, feminist and LGBT organizations and electric workers and teachers’ unions attended. Protest leaders stood atop a pickup truck, singing slogans as others played tambourines and banged on pots and pans. Others held Puerto Rican flags — in the traditional red and blue as well as black, for resistance — while marching in a conga line.
Carmen Fuentes Padilla, 61, who uses a wheelchair, was among those who went to the San Juan protest.
She told the Miami Herald that her electric service has gotten worse since LUMA, the private operator that runs the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) transmission and distribution lines, began operations in June. Every time the power goes out, her husband has to manually adjust her bed, which is electric to help her get in and out.
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