About two dozen people gathered in downtown Bridgeport on Wednesday to mark three months since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. They held a rally to protest a lack of federal funding for recovery on the island and to call out one of the world’s largest equity firms for foreclosing on struggling families there.
Jason Ortiz, president of Connecticut Puerto Rican Agenda, a non-profit founded to address issues facing the Puerto Rican community on the island and throughout the U.S., says the main point of the protest was to bring awareness to the issues affecting the island after Hurricane Maria.
“We’re trying to make sure folks realize that there’s people that are being forced off the island both because of the hurricane but also because of the policy choices the federal government is making.”
Advocates for the Puerto Rican community, including Make the Road Connecticut, say that Puerto Rico would need $90 billion in aid to get back on its feet. They say that aid has not yet been given, and on top of that, many struggling families are having their homes foreclosed on by private equity firms, including TPG Capital.
TPG is one of the largest investment firms in the country and the third-largest repossessor of homes in Puerto Rico. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
