SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico In the depths of the largest public housing project in the Caribbean, activist Antonio Ltimer (aka Puruco) doesnt know what more he can do.

Were running out of potable water. Out of food. Weve got a lot of people sick with diarrhea. Theres conjunctivitis sprouts all over and no medicines. No one from the government has come to see us. Theyve left us alone, Puruco, a former basketball star and now a community leader at the Luis Llorens Torres public housing complex in San Juan, said Thursday.

Despite his difficult situation, the ex-forward of Puerto Ricos beloved national basketball team is lucky in some ways. He and his family live in the Puerto Rican capital. He has enough cellular signal to get his messages through. Outside of the metropolitan area, life is much harder.