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Careful though. Yesterday a man who was working in a restaurant in Guavate (famous for the lechoneras) was viciously killed by a assailant, even though he did not resist the assault. This scenario is becoming more common.
Careful though. Yesterday a man who was working in a restaurant in Guavate (famous for the lechoneras) was viciously killed by a assailant, even though he did not resist the assault. This scenario is becoming more common.
From El Vocero Online:
A man who owned the lechonera The Tasty Rinconcito Guavate sector in Cayey, was killed after an assault by unknown.
Police said Reinaldo Diaz Rodriguez was in place in the company of an employee, identified as Marisol Rivera Nunez, presented themselves when three masked men with guns announced the robbery. They said it throw them on the floor and then he shot in the back of the head to Diaz Rodriguez causing death on the spot.
The criminals manage to leave the place with a cash drawer containing an undisclosed amount of cash. In addition, unknown stole a 2002 Kia Rio vehicle owned by the employee but was recovered hours later in front of a hardware store in that town.
The case is being investigated by officers from the Homicide Section of the ICC Prosecutor Guayama while Radames Vega ordered the removal of the body and its transfer to the Institute of Forensic Sciences.
That's the result of PR restrictive gun laws, which insures that criminals won't face armed resistance from law abiding citizens. It is time to make PR a "shall issue" state.
Even though the situation is bad, if there had been more guns the News article might have read "Innocent customers killed/injured in Guavate" or something to that meaning.
And I know security is 90% appearance so knowing there could be a gun might be a good deterrent, it might also make it a shoot first situation. This can be argued either way... that is just my opinion.
Contrary to what's put out there by the anti-gun groups it's been demonstrated stateside that an armed citizen is a deterrent to crime. The decrease in gun related crime against Florida residents is one many examples. When only the bad guys have guns then we are just sheep. It's fact that gun control only prevents the law abiding from owning guns. Similar to California, Illinois, NY and Massachusetts, PR has some of the the most restrictive gun laws in the country and as we all know, an incredibly high rate of gun violence.
Even though the situation is bad, if there had been more guns the News article might have read "Innocent customers killed/injured in Guavate" or something to that meaning.
And I know security is 90% appearance so knowing there could be a gun might be a good deterrent, it might also make it a shoot first situation. This can be argued either way... that is just my opinion.
That hasn't been the experience in the 40 states that have passed "shall issue" concealed carry laws. In each one of those states, violent crime has decreased. If a criminal knows that someone is armed, he will move to an easier target. Most criminals in the CONUS, where 50% of households have guns in them, won't attempt to rob a house that's occupied. They wait until it's residents are on vacation, at work, etc....
In PR, they break into occupied homes, tie the residents, rape the wife, make the husband watch, and leave with the car.
And by the way, before anyone says that Puerto Ricans won't be able to control themselves, that they will be shootouts for a parking spot, that PR will become the wild west, well... all of that was also said of the 40 states that passed "shall issue" concealed carry laws and none of that happened. Another tidbit, over 95% of mass shootings in the USA have happened in "gun free" zones. PR is just a huge, 100x35 "gun free", criminal-friendly zone.
Puerto Rico is a beautiful island, which even though is small in area (Average 100 miles east west, 40 miles north south) has a lot to offer. Natural variety in Puerto Rico is one of its greatest pros. In less than 6 hours everything is basically of reach from every inhabitant and tourist in the naturally island of enchantment. But unfortunately, Puerto Rico also has some negatives that every person who considers going there for vacation and especially move, should be aware.
First I will go with the positive aspects:
1. As said, Puerto Rico offers a lot of natural features. Flatland, mountains, caves, desert-like environment (including desert characteristics like the presence of cacti), gorges, falls, caverns, long rivers as well as some artificial, navigable lakes, different types of beaches (pond-like, white sand, normal sand, blue, less blue), cliffs with excellent views of the ocean, scenic views of the sea and even a canyon are all in the reach of every Puerto Rican and foreigner that visits or lives in Puerto Rico. There is also the metro area that gives the island a bit of the urban lifestyle you may find in an average US city, Miami being the most similar city; simply put, it is extremely difficult to get bored in Puerto Rico if you are adventurer. By the time you visit 30% of all its features which will usually take a long time, you will want to repeat it.
2. Culture; Puerto Ricans like to party and share in family and with friends. Every now and then, there is some sort of activity going on in any area of the island, which includes typical latin music such as salsa and reggaeton (the last I personally despise) as well as festivals, carnivals and all sort of celebrations ocurring throughout the year. For example, when one town has a festival (like the Festival de las Chinas, or Festival de las Flores) once it ends another town has its, and because they are all national festivals, the people are able to go to different festival almost every month. And this does not count the "Fiestas Patronales" or Town Festivals that occur throughout the year. In Christmas and Summer, this attribute tends to get more intense.
3. Transportation: there are some negatives I will state later but overall, in terms of distance traveling in the island, transportation is relatively excellent. From San Juan there are limited access expressways (unfortunately all have tolls) that take you everywhere- west, south, east. PR-22 (unsigned Interstate PR-2) takes you 56 miles west to different towns along the north coast, while PR-52 (unsigned Interstate PR-1) gets you to the south towards the mountains and the southern coast. There is a new, expensive tollway going towards the east suburbs, but it serves only a couple of towns, some areas in the east part of PR can be better accessed going south to Caguas and then take PR-30 east, the latter is one of the only two freeways in Puerto Rico (the other is PR-2 from Ponce to Mayaguez in the southwest). The tollways connect almost all coastal municipalities with the exceptions of the group of the coastal municipalities from Mayaguez to Hatillo in the west and northwest and some municipalities not accessed by the tollways like Loiza, Cabo Rojo and Lajas. But still these municipalities have good access through main highways. Some central, mountanious areas that are not accessed by the tollways have good access and can be reached in a comfortable way from the tollways; examples of this municipalities are Lares, Ciales, Villalba, Morovis, Coamo, San Lorenzo, San Sebastian and Moca.
4. Hospitality: Some may disagree with this point depending on the experience, and I have to admit it is decaying, but still today there is a lot of hospitality in Puerto Rico. If your tire gets screwed up and you need road assistance, someone will likely stop by and help you. Neighbors tend to be more united than here in the U.S. (in general, urban areas) and in most places you go for a service, treatment will be one of frienship. Unfortunately, due to possible stress and the overall fall of life quality life in the island, this pro is going down... Sad to say.
5. Outdoors activities. I mentioned some aspects on the culture part but now I refer to overall activities like concerts, theater plays, picnics in the mountains, and so forth. Not only are there cultural and natural excellent traits but also there is always something going on to share with friends and family.
Now, I will go with the negatives, since they are very important especially in terms of life quality:
1. Huge crime. In 2011, Puerto Rico has more homicides per capita (100 inhabitants) than the entire country of Mexico. Although certainly several border regions in Mexico such as Juarez and Tamaulipas have more crime, when the entire nation of Mexico is accounted for, the murder rate of Puerto Rico almost doubles it. The metropolitan area of San Juan is second to New Orleans in murders and the overall crime in the island is rampant. Most of it still confines to the underworld (drug smuggling) and passional issues (man kills unfaithful woman, woman kills unfaithful man, etc.) but recently a starling and scary number of innocent people killed amid carjackings, home burglary and assaults is on the rise. Senicides (killing of elders) have escalated, many who have been victims of their own family, generally for money either for drug consumption or debt owing. One of mu mother's friends had her nephew killed in the middle of an assault when he was pouring gas to his car; a man in Caguas who was coming from his job in San Juan stopped by a gas station and three assailants came and announced their assault, abducted him to his home and there they asked him for gold and jewelry he could not provide, in front of his family. He was shot in the head and died instantly. A young man, 17 years old, coming from a family activity was raided while driving in the town of Dorado and was announced an assault. As he first did not stop, the assailant crashed him forcing him to stop and shot him twice in the head, and the boy died in the hospital. The crime scenario in Puerto Rico is turning more used to this kind of horror, which is certainly found in the U.S (Virginia Tech massacre, Aurora massacre, DC sniper attacks in 2002) but the problem is that it is becoming more common. Minor crimes which generally do not involve death but still can be shocking is even more.
2. Extreme corruption in the local government. We all know generally governments, all of them, contain corruption and illegal activities, but in Puerto Rico we are talking about a kind of corruption that far exceeds the "usual". Departments of Education, Health, and Justice are plagued with corruption, funds provided for the good education for kids (books, etc.) as well as good school maintanance are ravagely stolen and today most public schools are in bad conditions; lack of power, cracked walls, unpainted, bad looking buildings abound especially in urban areas. An incident in which a nine year old child was viciously killed in a home during a party his mother and three friends had 2.5 years ago has not been solved and all suspicious are all free including his mother who now lives here in Florida, considering that the boy has relatives who are related to the current resident commissioner as well as his grandmother being part of the current party in control of the government we must think what has happened here. Parties constantly attack each other with no serious commitment to the people, and they keep the population under control by giving stamps, doing something here and there although in an extremely lousy and mediocre manner but that would "please" them, and the political panorama is extremely bleak.
3. Unemployment. There are almost no good paying jobs in Puerto Rico, and the few that are there are taken by means of networking, especially if there is a friend or family working there, as well as political favors. Salaries are lesser than Florida and the cost of living is as high as the DC area, so the combination of these two makes it impossible to have a decent living in the island unless of course, you live in a cheap apartment which generally is very prone to burglary. Power is the second most expensive, with normal bills in the order of $150-$300 per month. Food is also more expensive than here, and car payments are more expensive depending on the car you drive. Real unemployment is in the order of 15-40% depending on areas.
4. Bad infrastructure. The physical conditions of the roads is pitiful. Potholes, cracked cement roads, bridges in bad conditions and overall mediocre road treatment (mostly patching that lasts only a couple of months) abound. There is some work being done to fix it but it is so slow that you never see then end of the maintenance.
5. Mediocrity and lack of services. There are sectors in Puerto Rico that can be without power and water for days. All good medical stuff rest mainly in the San Juan metro area. Everything good in terms of service is focused on San Juan and suburbs. The central, mountainous area is the less privileged in terms of services.
Basically this is the summary of things you, foreigner that may want to visit or live in the island must be aware of.
I enjoyed your informative post. 1 bone to pick. High Social security disability problem down there? I was just there and heard that from old timers. Too many young people in their 30's or early 40's looking to be on the dole. This was in regards to you saying high unemployment.
Always thought Puerto Rico looked like the Bronx with palm trees...not a big fan of the caribean in general...bothers me that while the resort areas are beautiful...the locals live in poverty...doesn't seem right...
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