SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - The disaster wrought by Hurricane Maria has set off an anguished debate across Puerto Rico, where friends, family and co-workers are arguing over the morality of leaving for the U.S. mainland versus fulfilling a patriotic duty to rebuild.
More than 140,000 Puerto Ricans have left since the storm hit Sept. 20 and some experts estimate more than 300,000 more could leave in the next two years. That’s on top of a similar exodus over the last decade of economic crisis, creating a massive population loss for the U.S. territory of 3.4 million.
The drive to stay in Puerto Rico and help rebuild has become a sociocultural movement with its own slogan: “Yo no me quito,” or “I’m not giving up.”
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