Still reeling from Hurricane Fiona, Puerto Rico needs fast, generous and effective help from the federal government as well as from businesses and nonprofits, as “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and his father, Luis, argued in a recent Post op-ed. Yet necessary as it is, emergency relief is not sufficient for rendering the island less vulnerable to, and better able to cope with, such disasters over the long term. (Just five years ago, Hurricane Maria did even more damage than Fiona.) To get that bigger job done, the U.S. government is not just going to have to start providing more help to Puerto Rico; it’s also going to have to stop doing harm. And at the very least, that should mean an end to the policy under which the United States denies Puerto Rico the freedom to bring in vital imports on whatever ships it deems best.
Opinion | To help Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona, repeal the Jones Act
