Post by Logan on Jan 25, 2016 13:22:18 GMT -6
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) -- Carlos Gonzalez already had noticed the growing number of empty chairs and increasingly quiet slot machines at the Puerto Rico casino where he worked as he mulled a job offer in the Dominican Republic.
It was 2013, and Puerto Rico's economy had been in a downward slide for nearly a decade. Gonzalez didn't know it at the time, but the once-popular casino where he worked as a marketing manager would soon close.
He thought of his family and friends and the reasons he moved back to Puerto Rico in the first place after spending more than 20 years in New Jersey. It took him several months to make a decision - "It's not easy to leave your land," the Puerto Rico native said - but he finally did.
"I never imagined it. Never!" Gonzalez said with a laugh. "I even asked myself 2,000 times whether I really was moving to the Dominican Republic. I told myself it was crazy."
Continued at hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CB_FLEEING_PUERTO_RICO?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-01-25-10-13-25 .
It was 2013, and Puerto Rico's economy had been in a downward slide for nearly a decade. Gonzalez didn't know it at the time, but the once-popular casino where he worked as a marketing manager would soon close.
He thought of his family and friends and the reasons he moved back to Puerto Rico in the first place after spending more than 20 years in New Jersey. It took him several months to make a decision - "It's not easy to leave your land," the Puerto Rico native said - but he finally did.
"I never imagined it. Never!" Gonzalez said with a laugh. "I even asked myself 2,000 times whether I really was moving to the Dominican Republic. I told myself it was crazy."
Continued at hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CB_FLEEING_PUERTO_RICO?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-01-25-10-13-25 .