2019: A Reporter's Notebook of the Year Gone By

This past year was quite an eventful one, marked by the publication of my fifth book, a move to Puerto Rico and the honor of witnessing the verano boricua here in San Juan this past summer. Below are the articles that came out of this very fruitful time.

Some exciting things are afoot for the new year. As always in my work, I will try to help bring the voices of those on the downside of advantage, too long ignored, to a wider audience and empower the forces of basic human decency & compassion against what kind seem like a grim world and the remorseless, pitiless machines of its malefactors.

To all near and far who I have been lucky enough to cross paths with, I ask you to never, despite everything, lose your capacity to marvel at the beauty of the world and the belief that, in the words of Carlos Fuentes, there must be something beyond slaughter and barbarism to support the existence of mankind and we must all help search for it.

xxx

M  

Haiti’s President Vows to Defy Protests and Free ‘Captured’ State for Bloomberg (19 November 2019)

Puerto Rico Senator Among Eight Arrested in Raids by FBI for Bloomberg (6 November 2019)

San Juan Mayor Race Becomes Test of Puerto Rico’s New Politics for Bloomberg (6 November 2019)

Jacmel in all my dreams in Michael Deibert's Blog (28 October 2019)

Puerto Rico Official Says FBI Visited, Requested Information for Bloomberg (28 October 2019)

Puerto Rico Floats $20 Billion Overhaul for Battered Power Grid for Bloomberg (24 October 2019)

Puerto Rico Senator Pushes Anticorruption Bill After Arrests for Bloomberg (16 October 2019)

Gun Battle in Puerto Rico Housing Project Leaves Six Dead for Bloomberg (15 October 2019)

Voter Anger Spreads in Dominican Republic’s Miracle Economy for Bloomberg (9 October 2019)

Puerto Rico Board’s Proposed Pension Cuts Spark Anger for Bloomberg (7 October 2019)

Grijalva to Propose Changes to Puerto Rico Promesa Law for Bloomberg (15 September 2019)

FEMA Officials Charged With Puerto Rico Hurricane Aid Fraud for Bloomberg (10 September 2019)

Puerto Rico Had Three Governors in a Week. No. 4 Is on Deck for Bloomberg (4 August 2019)

Third Puerto Rico Governor Since Friday Steps Up Reluctantly for Bloomberg (7 August 2019)

Battle for Power in Puerto Rico Heads to Island’s Supreme Court for Bloomberg (6 August 2019)

Puerto Rico’s Succession Drama Shifts to Island’s High Court for Bloomberg (5 August  2019)

Puerto Rico Governor’s Office is Occupied, Maybe by a Governor for Bloomberg (2 August  2019)

Puerto Rico Succession Crisis Escalates After Vote Delayed for Bloomberg (1 August 2019)

Puerto Rico Governor Is Running Out of Time to Name Successor for Bloomberg (20 July 2019)

Puerto Rico’s Crisis Could Break Its Two-Party System for Bloomberg (29 July 2019)

Puerto Rican Succession Crisis Escalates as Governor Set to Exit for Bloomberg (29 July 2019)

Wanda Vazquez Says She Doesn’t Want Puerto Rico Governor for Bloomberg (28 July 2019)

Puerto Rico Governor’s Resignation Shakes Bankrupt Island for Bloomberg (25 July 2019)

Puerto Rico Governor Set to Quit After Protests for Bloomberg (23 July 2019)

Rossello Clings to Office as Puerto Ricans Debate Impeachment for Bloomberg (23 July 2019)

Puerto Rico Governor Won’t Run Again, But Many Want Him Out for Bloomberg (22 July  2019)

Thousands Protest Against Puerto Rico Governor After Profane Chats Leaked for Bloomberg (15 July 2019)

Puerto Rico Governor Urged to Resign After Profanity-Laced Chats for Bloomberg (14 July 2019)

Profanity-Laced Texts Ensnare Puerto Rico Governor in Furor for Bloomberg (11 July 2019)

Ex-Puerto Rico Officials Charged in Corruption Probe for Bloomberg (10 July  2019)

Puerto Rico Fiscal Oversight Board Sues Fuel Suppliers for Bloomberg (30 June 2019)

Vitriol Flies in Puerto Rico as FBI Is Said to Probe Treasury for Bloomberg (25 June 2019)

Puerto Rico Governor Ousts Treasurer Amid Reported FBI Probe for Bloomberg (24 June 2019)

Armed Bandits Take Over Valley That Was Long Haiti's Breadbasket for Bloomberg (11 June 2019)

Puerto Rico May Shift Some Aid to Opportunity Zone Projects for Bloomberg (14 May 2019)

FDI resurgence helps Philadelphia to bounce back for fDi Magazine (13 June 2019)

Overseas investors help Évora's elevation for fDi Magazine (13 June 2019)

Mexico president orders IPA shutdown for fDi Magazine ( 24 April 2019)

How will border unrest affect a reborn Tijuana? for fDi Magazine (14 February 2019)

Articles about my work and interviews

Cité Soleil : la paix à l’épreuve des jeux de pouvoir in Le Nouvelliste (2 December 2019)

“Es claro que tenemos a un presidente que ve de forma diferente a las personas que no son blancas," in El Nuevo Día (28 September 2019)

When the Sky Fell Gives Voice to Puerto Ricans Two Years After Hurricane Maria in the Miami New Times (24 September 2019)

When the Sky Fell: Hurricane Maria and the United States in Puerto Rico in Shelf Awareness (18 September 2019)

When the Sky Fell: Hurricane Maria and the United States in Puerto Rico in  Library Journal (6 September 2019)

Michael Deibert, le régime de Michel Martelly et la voyoutocratie de Jovenel Moïse in Le Nation (13 August 2019)

A Leadership Crisis in Puerto Rico on The Takeaway (18 August 2019)

The Political Future of Puerto Rico on The Takeaway (5  August 2019)

How Puerto Rico's Colonial Roots is Influencing the Political Unrest on The Takeaway (22 July  2019)

Political Scandals are Shaking Up Puerto Rico. What Exactly is Happening? on The Takeaway (15 July 2019)

When the Sky Fell: Hurricane Maria and the United States in Puerto Rico in Publishers Weekly (11 July 2019)