Dominicans flee Puerto Rico’s stunning crisis: Report

Santo Domingo.- PuertoRico’s stunning economic crisis has virtually bankrupt the island, forcing thousandsof Dominicans from all walks of life to return home, leaving behind shippingcompanies, restaurants, cafes, bakeries, beauty salons, barber shops and otherbusinesses in Rio Piedras, Ponce, Santurce, Barrio Obrero and other areas.

Outlet elnacional.com.do reports that aside from numerous ownersof shuttered businesses returning from Puerto Rico, also doctors, engineers,nurses and many others who had spent many years on the island.

As an example, the outlet says of the more than 300 Dominicanbusinesses that sold food, drinks and other items in Rio Piedras, only 26 arestill open.

Dominicans returning through Las Americas Airport say thebusinesses still operating in Puerto Rico cannot even make enough to pay the taxes.

They said the businesses that still survive won’t do so forvery long, because sales have plunged more than 80 percent.

"There are many compatriots, mostly living withoutpapers, that in order to return home, even had to go to the Dominican consulatein Puerto Rico for help," said the returnee Petronilla de los Santos.