Thomas Bach is mute about Puerto Rico.
The International Olympic Committee prides itself on being a player on the world stage and in fact in November the group plans to introduce some suggestion before the UN General Assembly that it endorses an Olympic Truce featuring the hosts of the 2018 Winter Games, South Korea, the 2020 Summer Games, Japan, and the 2022 Winter Games China, to quell rising tensions in that part of the world. But strangely quiet in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico is the President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach who has not said a word about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the United States Commonwealth. Bach is probably right not to wade into the US waters but Puerto Rico, according to the Olympics, is a separate nation and competes in the Summer Olympics as a standalone country.
Bach does not ever criticize any countries that have the money to host an Olympics event. The United States will be supplying billions for Olympics security and defense in South Korea starting with the American military presence on the Korean peninsula that is there anyway. The United States will be heavily involved in securing and defending the 2020 Tokyo Games and, of course, the underwriting of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics from the city of Los Angeles putting up a quarter of a billion dollars even though not all the events will take place in Los Angeles, with California putting up another quarter of a billion dollars and the federal government having to provide security and defense and probably build some needed infrastructure in Southern California. Don’t look for Bach or any International Olympic Committee delegate to get involved in United States politics and criticizing relief efforts in Puerto Rico. The Olympic movement looked the other way in allowing China and Russia to hold IOC events despite human rights abuse questions. All that peace on earth stuff is forgotten as money talks.
Puerto Rico is a stand alone member of the International Olympic Committee.
