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The 'Lion Man' Who Took On Puerto Rico's Government and Won

Jun 08, 2021
you can call me the

lion

man lorenzo elgato is like a cross between a citizen investigator, a social media influencer and a professional

government

troll when he goes live on facebook, you really don't know what you're going to get, sometimes he's just driving in his car, sometimes he's sitting at home in his study, venting about the latest political scandal and sometimes he's about to make headlines, a surprising discovery in earthquake-ravaged Puerto Rico, life-saving supplies simply kept in a warehouse in the southern city of Bonset, the aid is believed to have come from Hurricane Maria, meaning it has been stored for more than two years.
the lion man who took on puerto rico s government and won
Remember that warehouse that was discovered in Puerto Rico in early 2020, the one that was full of old, undistributed emergency supplies from Hurricane Maria. To him, a warehouse full of mil

lion

s of dollars in crucial undistributed aid would have been a big story anywhere, but in Puerto Rico people were still recovering from the worst hurricane in its history, Hurricane Maria, which hit the island and an official said the island was destroyed and first. major earthquakes in over a century the island swayed at one point the entire island lost power and it was an election year the governor immediately launched a criminal investigation and held a press conference to try to calm down all the local politicians released videos promising that That's how it was.
the lion man who took on puerto rico s government and won

More Interesting Facts About,

the lion man who took on puerto rico s government and won...

It was his fault that he was eager to talk to everyone. The first time I met Lorenzo it was only a couple of weeks after his big discovery, so he had already built up a loyal following, but this was different, he had hundreds of thousands of followers and, what which is even more important, credibility. People now seem to think that he had the potential to change the future of Puerto Rico when you're walking around. How often do people recognize you or say hello to you all the time? You honk all the time. Everywhere I go in Puerto Rico, I spend a few minutes. with them I say hello, whatever I hear them, they need someone to free them from their problems, to be honest, I feel like this is like a volcano, but it's there, it's hot, something happened and I think they see that someone really he stands up. and I say no, this is wrong when people here talk about corruption, which they do all the time, they mean textbook type public officials who pocket money, give contracts to their friends and abuse their power, but they are also talking about the more subtle and pervasive things that affect everyday life. life shitty roads spotty electricity extremely poor

government

services and a total lack of accountability Almost four years ago, when Hurricane Maria devastated the island, it exposed all those persistent problems and the slow recovery that in many ways still continues has been like a twist The knife people know it's the U.S. government's fault, too, but in Puerto Rico, where decades of mismanagement and scandals have generated widespread distrust, few things unite people like their shared hatred of the government's people. island.
the lion man who took on puerto rico s government and won
Part of the reason Puerto Rico frustrates Lorenzo so much is that he knows it doesn't have to be that way. His family moved to Florida when he was a teenager and stayed there for decades. He graduated from high school. He got married. He had children. He moved to Puerto Rico until a few years ago when he returned to take care of his grandfather. That's when he realized how broken things were and how little responsibility there was on the part of local politicians. So he created a Facebook page and began documenting potholes with his phone today Lorenzo's page is his full-time job he has donors although he doesn't tell us who they are and he sponsors many of them, he makes enough money to live rent-free in his grandfather's house, eat, pay his bills and buy new equipment.
the lion man who took on puerto rico s government and won
The Blind Man still focuses on the same idea that Puerto Ricans deserve better, but now Lorenzo has better devices, more followers, and a wider variety of content that includes political commentary, philanthropy, and live public research. He also travels all over the island looking for places and politicians that people would not otherwise know about. We're somewhere in the mountains right now on our way to meet Lorenzo he just found some containers that have government documents inside you're going to go live I'm going to live I've got my camera I'm going to have my headlamp I'm in sight live and you have your shirt my shirt yeah So do you know what you found or do you sort of know what you found?
Not everything yet no, no, my goodness, in the parking lot of an abandoned and overgrown public baseball field, Lorenzo found several containers full of old, rotting historical documents from the city. the sort of thing that most functioning governments would preserve. It may not make national headlines, but it really was a big problem for the people of maricao and it was quite embarrassing for mayor milo 1883. What wow town municipality a a hi wow the guy who said he didn't know where the mayor was he's the one mayor, his friend in the truck behind him even gave him away when Lorenzo asked me foreigner foreigner my leaving here being here is dangerous right if I do a Facebook live I do it and I leave quickly I don't stay I start to discover many things about faggot you know I don't expect that town like this shopping center to be so corrupt that even the mayor takes me to court, politics is dangerous in this country and they do whatever they want, they disappear anyone if you are not on their side, you worry about your safety, I worry. for me yes every day I change cars all the time you know I have cameras with bulletproof vests everywhere you know I have to take care of myself because I know the risk I know that if something happened to me it's gone, that's all my mother will never know What happened to me It's hard to say to what extent Lorenzo's paranoia is rooted in reality.
We couldn't find any credible examples of threats to his life, but there's no doubt that he has made many enemies, most of them politicians. who are targeting have never experienced his kind of ruthless and direct tactics before many of them would not otherwise face this level of public scrutiny, only about 6,000 people live in maricao but more than half a million saw the Lorenzo's video on Facebook in Puerto Rico where there are 78 different municipalities each with its own mayor it is difficult to hold everyone responsible even for the government people think that corruption is the big names now corruption is the small names, the bases, the middle managers, that's where corruption is really big because the big names know that they are in everyone's eyes, everyone is looking at you, but the little ones are not, no one is looking at me, well, here in Puerto Rico, sometimes that means The mayors of the island's municipalities are autonomous and you can hide, so mayors are a big focus in any government agency that has to do with corruption.
I mean, there are cases here in Puerto Rico where people occupied the mayor's office for 20 years, yes, forever one of them. He is the mayor of Maricao I meet him so many times the last fine was 51,000 that is not easy he hates me because you know everything the office does is public and he hates me because it does have to be public that is transparency right? heard of lorenzo delgado or hi prosecutor oh yes I definitely think the government knew there was this warehouse it's amazing but they knew that even the governor knew that this was this warehouse the mayor possibly knew that this was this warehouse but everyone said they didn't know then they pointed the finger at each other afterwards, that's the bad part, you forgot that you have a warehouse there because you have warehouses all over the island, I can understand it, but the identified people said I didn't know, sorry, a lot of nonsense, as much as people like it People here, I have noticed that there is a counterbalance and that is that many people in the government do not like it if someone catches you.
Would you like it? No, I don't believe him, of course not, so a lot of people like him and a lot of people don't like him either. Another person with many reasons to dislike Lorenzo is María Meléndez, the former mayor of his hometown of Ponce. of the African case has been chasing Meléndez, who was first elected in 2008, for years and once again she managed to publicly ignore him until Lorenzo found that warehouse in her municipality and got her into an island-wide scandal that threatened her re-election. campaign, I didn't know there was a warehouse full of emergency supplies in ponzi, I don't mean, we didn't know, I have no idea, no mayor even knew there was a warehouse that belongs to that warehouse.
The central government, apart from these protests, there has been a kind of citizen journalist investigative movement and there is a kind of public battle with someone who lives here in Ponce, whose name is Lorenzo Delgado and Delgado, who calls himself the lion supervisor um. he's not a journalist, okay, he's not a generation that people pay to make news, you think he's getting money from people, where are they, how do they live?, and I know I've seen it, people see it. has seen with an openness on his part. from my political party, does that mean he is receiving money from them or that he supports their political views?
I'm not asking anyone to ask him, I'd better ask him. I have spoken with people who work for the government here in Puerto Rico, who work for his party, who said that they cannot say it in public but they support what he is doing. They like that someone is investigating corruption. Are you surprised that they believe that there is someone? In corruption, do you like that there is someone who is investigating corruption? here in Puerto Rico well maybe you can't stop corruption let me tell you this if the government of Puerto Rico did corruption it has to be proof I just want to ask about Leon Fisch you said I don't really know him because I haven't spoken to him, but yes , but you know who it is.
I mean, I've seen it on the street. I've seen him, but I haven't talked to him. It's very clear that they don't like each other. It's that fair, no. He doesn't like me because he is favoring open people who are in other political parties, so sometimes he says things that aren't true. In 2018, Lorenzo posted a video of him confronting a member of Melendez's security team who he claimed was following him. When I mentioned it, Meléndez first acted like he didn't know what he was talking about. He posted a video of him being followed by someone named Reynaldo Rodríguez, who I believe is part of the security here or part of his security. reynaldo rodriguez then said that she had nothing to do with it you know that you have spoken you have spoken publicly saying that you did not order anyone to follow him but it is not true that guy reynaldo is a member of me in my escort and he was free he was at the time of invitation then he said that it did not happen he was not following him that is not true he was in the same area in the same area that he was in his own car and you should talk to him he is there he is here and he will do it I explain to you that they did not find it in him They went to court and filed a case uh against this guy and he lost, he lost the truth is that no judge ruled on whether or not Lorenzo was being followed by a member of his security.
The only thing a court decided was to annul a restraining order that Lorenzo had requested so that you can see that this is a political issue and I am not here to talk about political issues. I'm only having time to work for my people, not for political articles about a guy I don't know, I don't know him, and he says bad things about me because people pay other people, that's why I tell you, I'm an honest woman, not corrupt, because I work and I love the passion serving the people thank you for sharing thank you thank you um I think she has a meeting together and the things that were in the warehouse check there check her shoulder check her character and you will find many of the things that were in the warehouse in the story no You say I said it people told me uh she defended herself obviously she said she didn't know anything about the warehouses when I asked her about you she first was like angry she said you know he's not a journalist but she also made some accusations, you know? which I feel like I need to know, do you know if they are true or not, since there are rumors, she hinted that you had taken some of the things from the warehouse, you told me to check your storage facilities, I never do.
I don't believe anything, he's the mayor, he's in front of the governor, if they think I have a bottle of water, why don't they chase me, you know why, because it just works, imagine I'm going to take something like from the store. This is the stupidest thing, you know, it even makes sense, say something else, what are you going to need? Spy water, baby food, you know, it was all inspired, what are you going to bring to my house? She said you've been taking money from politicians, from people who Do you know what I've already said many times?
Probably when I started this I started it because I was tired of corruption, so if I get a dollar from one politician and I correct two, then it won't work. She also said that she should talk to him. your ex wife who lives in bonsai said she accused you of taking things from her never my ex wife first she is not me you see how much she knows she doesn't know anything first she is not my ex wife she was my girlfriend and mySecond, we come from Orlando here and we have an excellent relationship. Have you ever been to prison?
Yes, I was in prison when Lorenzo was in his early 20s. He was arrested for trafficking cocaine in Florida. He spent most of the next decade in prison it was a long time like 84 months I think it was five years later parole what it was like to be in prison to be honest um and this is going to sound weird if you're born again and you give me the options no I change nothing in my life I know who I am now when I come out Years ago, almost 20 years ago, I came out as a completely different person.
You know, my father worked all his life. First he was a police officer for 20 or so years. He

took

us to Florida at 94 and my father said: You know what I want. You have to have a better life and you know what happened a drunk guy killed my father driving and I didn't understand when that happened brother, you know, so I can swear that I always have that in mind that I have to pay that debt to my people and I'm doing it right now, I'm paying the debt, doing the right thing and show them you know my job, it's worth it, but man, do you think about the fact that it was like you were sitting in a jail cell 20 years ago?
You were in a cell for 10 years and now you are walking the streets of Puerto Rico. People cheer her on. You have people following you. Do you think how crazy that is? Yes all the time. What is your side that? the public doesn't see it's not this super guy final teams a super guy who defends society this guy who overcomes corruption who fights against corruption no matter what he doesn't care that he's not afraid but I'm not a superhero that's scary I am I just like to go out to eat alone I just want to think and eat and think if you really ask me I don't have a life anymore everything is gone health yes a is a no it's just so many longs - When the mayors lost their candidacies for re-election, Many of them weren't even close, the now former governor Juan didn't even make it past his primaries, it's impossible to know exactly how much was due to Lorenzo, but to him it was an obvious sign that he was doing something right the last time I saw Lorenzo it was almost a year ago it was before before the coveted thing happened before the pandemic Lorenzo oh I see that you have the merchandise you have the mask enso the pandemic more or less I I don't know, everything changed, the pandemic changed everything, uh, because we can't go to nowhere, all the news was about a pandemic.
I'm just trying to show the people of Puerto Rico how the government works every day and they are learning that the elections were in a few days. ago and the election result shows that the work we are doing is working why do you say what do you mean? This election is very balanced It's great for Puerto Rico It's bad for them but it's good for us because now when they want to do something, they have to talk to everyone and that's how it's supposed to be, there has to be a consensus, you know, So I don't know if it was because of him, but he's done a good job of ousting mayors from office, right? desperation, things are getting better and things will get better because people are finding out they lose office like some of the top guys get ousted during this election, any of them, so that's a way of telling you, listen, I'm sick and tired of what I've been doing if you keep doing the same thing over and over again don't expect better results why do you think you've been able to build such a large audience why it's like it resonates with so many people is the new thing someone who gets into social media like you've done with things that are explosive, like things that you know, have aired, of course it's going to get a lot of exposure, so what's next?
Well, I went to create a complete chain in Puerto Rico of Leones. I have like 16 people. You've already signed up, are you ready to start at any time? Do you plan to have a meeting with them? Yeah, when I start doing this, I don't even know how to turn on a camera. No one helped me, so I learned little by little later. So now those people who want to do the same thing I'm doing don't have to go through what I went through. How do I laugh at your pens? You make mistakes, but if you are alive you can correct it.
I want people who know that I try and try to be an example for all of Iceland. You know we are good people. We just need to help each other. I hope that one day we can have a better Puerto Rico.

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