Three tourists were seriously stabbed on a popular island resort in Puerto Rico last Monday. The reason for the attack was a video taken by residents on their phones, CBS News reported.
The incident occurred in the famous seaside area of La Perla – the historic part of the capital of Puerto Rico, known as Old San Juan. The neighborhood became world-famous in 2017 after the release of the music video for the song Despacito, performed by Puerto Rican musicians Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee.
As the police explained, the conflict began when one of the tourists, a resident of South Carolina (USA), began to remove a mobile cart with hamburgers. Travelers with phones angered locals, who were told to stop filming and leave the area immediately. The visitors did not listen. The attack left two American travelers still in hospital, one of whom was stabbed six times. At the same time, the attackers remain free, the police do not touch them.
It will be recalled that two years earlier, a tourist from the state of Delaware (USA) was beaten, set on fire, and eventually killed in the same historical district. The man was forbidden to photograph the area and people who bought drugs. However, he did not obey. His friend was also beaten but survived.
Background: La Perla is considered a dangerous slum and the largest heroin distribution center on the island between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Crime has dropped since a raid by federal agents in 2011. Puerto Rico is officially a freely associated state, but it is an overseas territory of the United States. The inhabitants of the island have US citizenship, but some rights of Americans are not available to them, while they communicate with each other in Spanish. The place is famous among tourists for ultra-modern hotels, luxurious carnivals, as well as white beaches, clear water, beautiful reefs, and exotic fauna.