Thinking Outside the Box: The Fallacies About  Zika, U.S. Imperialism and Stuff Like That

[Disclaimer: This opinion is not a defense of the use of the pesticide NALED or a denial of its toxicity. So chill.]

It is heartbreaking to see people you know posting sensationalist headlines from dubious (often discredited) outlets. And no, I’m not talking about our racist drunk uncle’s postings from Fox News and the Sarah Palins of the world- or in the case of Puerto Ricans, from La Comay and Nelson Denis.

No, this time I’m talking about highly educated folks who imagined themselves as the left and join every cause célèbre because it may fit their systemic world view. Sorry people, no space for nuances here.

Take for example the hysteria surrounding the Zika outbreak in Puerto Rico which is worrying the LOCAL authorities because of the possibility of an epidemic or even a pandemic. Besides El Nuevo Día, all other local major outlets have engaged in a sensationalist campaign which is design to prey on ignorance and fear. Fear and misinformation sell, period- ask Donald Trump or La Comay- Que Bochinche!

I get it when uneducated people without the time or the means to inform themselves become prey of politicians and irresponsible news outlets. But when people who should know better fall for it, then we are doomed- last one out turn off the lights.

Exhibit A:

El Vocero de Puerto Rico (never- ever- f-ing ever been known for accurate reporting) published.. well.. something, I don’t even know how to call it, but this is the title: “Denuncian el peligro de la fumigación aérea”

http://elvocero.com/denuncian-el-peligro-de-la-fumigacion-aerea/

I woke up to a Facebook page full of very educated and intelligent people passing along these “news”.  I read it and I thought “FFS! But you better ignore this because you have work to do- ok?” Ok.

But no, I could not ignore it. I hate when my friends behave like vaxxers or like if they should have their own show co-hosting with Glenn Beck or ND.

Apparently, the Zika virus is an American imperial creation to somehow gain more control of Puerto Rico (because the legal colonial structure that guarantees CONGRESS control over our archipelago is, apparently, not enough).

The plan?  experimenting on our helpless countrymen and in the process killing more than a few Boricuas (wepa!) to make space for American gazillionaires.

Somehow this is all tied to both PROMESA (which is another can of hookworms that I won’t  even touch- for now)  and the ghost of Nelson Miles (who apparently keeps haunting the island he vowed to liberate or some shite like that).

So what are people saying? Well they are saying that between the “fake” zika virus and PROMESA we have virtually being invaded by, wait for it.. yes, Hitler. Those who believe there is a virus just like those who are not on the streets opposing PROMESA are collaborators. I guess that the Hitler analogy makes us Jews so these next Christmas season may prove really interesting.

Just like the Nazis did (and every other country in the world did back then), the new Nazi regime imposed on the island will use this false flag (Zika epidemic) to experiment on Puerto Ricans.

Famous lines and memes?

“Hey CDC there is Zika in Florida test your poison there!”

Funny, not only is “poison” (otherwise known as NALED) used yearly in Florida but across the U.S. and the world.  Actually NALED is so old (designed in the 1950s) it has children and grandchildren! (in the form of pesticides derived from the original NALED). NALED is so old it does not know how to tweet. I could drop the mic here but let’s continue.

Also, it isn’t kind of morbid to ask the CDC to try it in Florida when there is a million Boricuas (and millions of other human beings) there too?

[Unrelated note: DELAN is a more appealing name than NALED- in case the Devil is looking for a historian who can brand and sell stuff.]

What about attacking the CDC? I see this as a move towards equality.  Seriously,  attacking the CDC and FEMA used to be a white supremacist’s prerogative. Well, move aside white supremacist fear mongers, the Boricua Squad has arrived and they have a lot of misinformation and fear to spread!

Apparently the CDC is in cahoots with some bank rollers and they are forcing the Puerto Rican government to use NALED to force us to accept PROMESA. Just like Mafia-style intimidation but with pesticides.

But guess what? Besides our colonial situation- which is real- the CDC can’t make this decision, the Departamento de Salud de Puerto Rico has to make the recommendation to the governor and assign funds- which they don’t have- for now.

Moreover, the Puerto Rican government has a series of steps to deal with the Zika virus and the last line of defense is aerial dispersion- the last one.

It has been recommended to reduce  the  Aedes aegypti population to control the spread of the virus. However, since Puerto Rican male mosquitoes are Macho and Catholic they won’t wear condoms so the only option left is to trap them, sterilize them and release them into the wild full or energy but shooting blanks. The female Aedes aegypti only copulates once so no need for a baby shower at the swamp.

In case you were wondering, yes, empires are good at controlling populations 😉  That one is for free.

But seriously. By now we know that NALED is not new, it is used widely throughout the world, it is expensive, very expensive, it is being considered as a last ditch option, and IT HAS BEEN USED BEFORE in Puerto Rico in the 1980s to stop the dengue (hemorrhagic fever) epidemic. Go kids, ask your elders if they remember that. I was there so I know they will have horrible stories.  Just like it is now, back then NALED was a last ditch defense.

Finally, (because this is getting long and who can read this much, right), this is all about political posturing and, I suspect, a lot of ignorance and a perennial colonial complex which has mutated into self-essentialism.

Let me explain, for some folks, everything that happens in Puerto Rio, from being the last colony in the world (we are not) and everything that happens from Hurricanes to JLo’s last album sucking so much is due to our colonial condition. So island-folks are ripe for  conspiracies better suited for a Trump rally.

How else do you explain the president of the Unión General de Trabajadores, Gerson Guzmán López, making these declarations:

 “Esta no es la primera ocasión en la que el gobierno norteamericano desarrolla este tipo de experimentos con la población boricua. Está documentada la utilización con fines represivos de la radiación para provocar cáncer y graves lesiones en la piel de ciudadanos que lucharon por la independencia del país”, sentenció Guzmán López.

“El Napalm, conocido como agente naranja y de uso intensivo contra el pueblo de Viet Nam, ha producido múltiples enfermedades en la población militar que estuvo expuesta al mismo. Este nocivo producto fue ensayado en El Yunque. Las pruebas que dieron lugar a la tableta anticonceptiva, con significativos efectos secundarios, también se llevaron a cabo en la región Este de Puerto Rico”, añadió.”

Gerson Guzmán López is pushing these “theories” and politicizing everything. Mr. Guzmán López, please read a book (hopefully not War Against All-you know who”). Napalm is a weapon used in Vietnam- a gelly-like substance that turns into fire and that it has nothing to do with the agent orange- the defoliant (not a pesticide) used during the Vietnam war and tried in P.R. among many other places in the U.S.

He even said that radiation and experimentation have been used to persecute independentistas. Nope, federal inmates were subjected to these criminal experiments; Black, Native Americans, Mexican-Americans, Whites and, yes, Puerto Ricans- of all political ideologies

So please, pretty please, stop politicizing this matter, too many of my Facebook friends are buying it and if I keep unfriending people I will have no news feed.

Now there is an idea.