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She went to college on the mainland
Called "fierce advocate" for workers
(CNN) —
Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto, the mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital San Juan, has been a prominent champion of her city and island since Hurricane Maria came ashore last week and battered the US territory.
She asked US President Donald Trump to act quickly on hurricane relief and urged him to deal with the island’s debt crisis.
Yulín Cruz appeared on national TV and called the devastation on Puerto Rico a “humanitarian crisis.”
She upbraided acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke, who described the federal response as “a good news story.”
“Dammit, this is not a good news story. This is a ‘people are dying’ story. It’s a life or death story,” Yulín Cruz told CNN.
Trump Saturday criticized Yulín Cruz on Twitter for her “poor leadership ability,” saying that the mayor and others in Puerto Rico had been unable to get their workers to help. “They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort,” the President said.
04:13 - Source: CNN
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SAN ISIDRO, PUERTO RICO - OCTOBER 15: Uncollected debris stand near damaged homes in an area without electricity on October 15, 2017 in San Isidro, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is suffering shortages of food and water in many areas and only 15 percent of grid electricity has been restored. Puerto Rico experienced widespread damage including most of the electrical, gas and water grid as well as agriculture after Hurricane Maria, a category 4 hurricane, swept through. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Yulín Cruz told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that Trump’s comments – which she heard about late because of the poor Internet coverage in Puerto Rico – had made her smile, given what Puerto Ricans were dealing with.