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Article snippet: SAN JUAN, P.R. — When Carmen Yulín Cruz was a long-shot candidate for mayor here in 2012, she cast herself as a “pitirre,” a small bird known for fearlessly attacking larger ones. Now in her second term as mayor of San Juan, the capital of this storm-ravaged island, Ms. Cruz, 54, finds herself in a high-profile altercation, having publicly criticized the Trump administration for its response to the damage wrought by Hurricane Maria and getting plenty of reproach from Mr. Trump on Saturday in return. In Puerto Rico, her outspokenness has come as little surprise. Before the hurricane Ms. Cruz was known for a left-leaning populist streak and a tendency to speak in blunt and emotional terms. “We are dying here,” she said in a news conference Friday, her eyes filling with tears, as she issued a verbal distress signal. “Mayday.” Ms. Cruz even went to evacuate residents of an assisted living facility after a fire broke out there. Asked why she did so herself, when it could come across as showboating, she was quick with her response. “That is my job,” she said Saturday in an hourlong interview at her command center, after answering, in strong language, that she did not care how her efforts were perceived. “My job is to make life better for people, and you cannot make life better if you are in a helicopter. You can’t make life better for them if you can’t touch them.” Ms. Cruz said she had no time for petty politics when there were lives to save. “Sometimes you have to sh... Link to the full article to read more