On Friday afternoon, an emotional Carmen Yulín Cruz, mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, gave a passionate press conference in which she ripped the federal U.S. response to Hurricane Maria and made a plea for help.
SEE ALSO: Hurricane Maria plunged Puerto Rico into a humanitarian crisis, and help has barely arrivedAddressing members of the media, Cruz slammed FEMA's response, saying, "If anybody out there is listening to us, we are dying. And you are killing us with the inefficiency and the bureaucracy."
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She added, "I am done being polite, I'm done being politically correct, I'm mad as hell because my peoples' lives are at stake... I'm asking members of the press to send a mayday call all over the world. We are dying here."
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"If we don't get the food and the water into people's hands, what we are going to see is something close to a genocide," she continued.
Directly addressing President Trump, who has boastfully defended the federal government's response, Cruz said, "So Mr. Trump, I beg you, take charge and save us."
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"The world will see we are treated not as second-class citizens, but as animals that can be disposed of," Cruz said of the treatment she felt Puerto Rico had received. "Enough is enough."
As for FEMA's presence, Cruz said members of the agency were on the island. "They have their stuff here but they continue to ask for memos. They continue to reassess priorities. Well, I'm sorry I don't have time for that."
Cruz's remarks followed an appearance on CNN on Friday morning during which she criticized comments made by Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke, who described Puerto Rico's recovery as "a good news story."
Cruz revisited that moment on Friday afternoon, calling it "appalling, an insult. And, frankly, it shows that she doesn't watch the news."
Conditions in Puerto Rico have continued to deteriorate since Maria struck the island as a category 4 storm on September 20, cutting most communications and leaving, for a while, the entire island without power due to its crumbling infrastructure.
