Vice President Kamala Harris visited Puerto Rico back in March 2024 to “check” on the use of recovery funds and assure residents that, despite the slow pace of federal aid following the island’s devastation over six years ago, she and President Joe Biden remain dedicated to Puerto Rico’s “recovery and renewal.”
However, many Puerto Ricans living on the island, saw her visit as nothing more than political theater.
It was her first trip to Puerto Rico since becoming Vice President, though she last visited in 2017 as a senator. The visit coincided with March 22, a day that commemorates the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico, which added to the bad optics of the situation.
The Biden administration’s real focus, it seemed, was not to address the concerns of Puerto Ricans on the island, but to appeal to the 5.8 million Puerto Ricans living on the mainland. As MSNBC columnist Julio Ricardo Varela put it, Puerto Rican votes are crucial in key swing states like Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Florida in the upcoming election.
Democrats are working hard to secure the Latino vote in this election year, as 36.2 million Latinos are eligible to vote. Yet, a recent poll showed Democrats losing ground with this group, while Donald Trump’s popularity has been rising.
Biden’s campaign is trying to frame Trump as anti-Latino, and Harris’s visit to Puerto Rico may have been part of that effort. Trump has made negative remarks about the island in the past, calling it “dirty and poor” and even suggesting swapping it for Greenland.
After landing in San Juan, Harris was expected to promote Biden’s economic initiatives, including the American Recovery Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. However, she likely avoided addressing a major issue: only 8% of the $23 billion in recovery funds allocated to Puerto Rico has actually been used. At the same time, Washington has done little to address the issue of tax evasion and the influx of crypto investors on the island.
Former Puerto Rican Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá noted that Biden’s goal is to show that his administration cares about Puerto Rico, even if they haven’t been able to show concrete results yet.
Puerto Rico has suffered greatly since hurricanes Irma and María struck in 2017, followed by earthquakes in 2019 and 2020. The damage has been compounded by ongoing economic problems, gentrification, daily power outages, and the collapse of public services.
Many point to “disaster capitalism”—a term describing how places are exploited after crises—but local government has also played a role. Puerto Rico’s leadership has been criticized for mishandling the recovery, with Governor Pedro Pierluisi trying to paint an unrealistic picture of the island’s progress.
Harris’s visit did little to convince locals that help is on the way. Some residents were unaware of her visit, and many who did know simply didn’t care. One local summed up the general sentiment: “¿Pa’ qué?” or “What for?”
