A citizen who handed a napkin to Family Secretary Suzanne Roig Fuertes after a Senate hearing, suggesting she wipe away her 'crocodile tears’, claims it was a protest gesture. Denise Pilar Otero, a community leader and 20-year resident of San Juan’s Puerta de Tierra neighborhood, said she was expressing indignation at what she considers mockery, lies, and lack of sensitivity by Roig Fuertes.
Otero’s complaint goes beyond the Senate hearing, as she denounces that elderly people remain on waiting lists for services while vulnerable communities face obstacles to access aid and job opportunities. She also questions Roig Fuertes’ credibility and says she should resign. For Otero, the napkin was a symbolic gesture to send a message to those in power that the people are tired of promises, controversies, and lack of responses.
Roig Fuertes had faced questions about million-dollar contracts at her agency during the Senate hearing.