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Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico Unions Close Ranks Against LUMA Energy

June 5, 2021 Wilmarilis Sánchez-Romeu and Edwin Ocasio Feliciano, Struggle La Lucha. , , ,
Union organizations today warned Gov. Pedro Pierluisi and the Financial Oversight and Management Board that they will paralyze the country if the LUMA Energy contract that increases rates, allows the consortium to leave Puerto Rico if a hurricane strikes, and displaces thousands of workers, is not canceled. “We are warning the attorney for the Financial Oversight and Management Board, Pedro Pierluisi, that there will be no peace in Puerto Rico if the contract is not repealed and they listen to the people who demand, not only a public and more efficient Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), but also one free of fossil fuels. “Right now there is a favorable atmosphere for paralyzing the country and if the governor continues to ignore the people, we will do so.

The End of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

May 22, 2021 Pedro Cabán, Dissent Magazine , , ,
U.S. representatives have introduced two bills that would finally end Puerto Rico’s subordinate Commonwealth status. But continued colonial rule may be the only option Congress seriously considers.

Puerto Rico 2021: A Shift In Perspective, A New Opposition

December 14, 2020 Luis Fernando Coss, NACLA. , , ,
One of the things often taken for granted by the independence and socialist movement is knowing when to claim a victory. As a consequence of suffering so many blows throughout its history, the movement has become reflexively cynical when having to assess some kind of partial victory or progress. Let’s recall, among other signature chapters, in 1976 the Puerto Rican Independence Party received 80,000 votes, which, when combined with those of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party, equaled nearly 100,000 votes. Or the founding and progress of the Workers United Movement (MOU), which managed to bring together the country’s top unions and mobilize a sizable radical movement.

Solidarity And The Absent State In Puerto Rico

June 17, 2020 Pedro Cabán, Dissent Magazine. , , ,
Puerto Rican artists, entertainers, and athletes have been conspicuous in calling for protests against the government, which the pro-statehood New Progressive Party (PNP) firmly controls. Indeed, January 2020 was uncannily similar to last July, when El Residente, Bad Bunny, Ilde, Daddy Yankee, Ricky Martin, and other artists roused scores of thousands of their fans to rise in opposition to Governor Ricardo Rosselló. Seven months later, as the government failed to take any decisive action toward a relief effort, anger was building against Rosselló’s hapless successor. Even more damaging for the practice of democracy is people’s awareness that Puerto Rico is ruled by an entrenched and hard-hearted political class that holds them in contempt. After a seemingly endless swarm of earthquakes battered the southwest coast, the colonial state was once again absent. The people were, as always, presente, caring for one another when the authorities failed to do so.

Philadelphia: Stop Denying Disaster Relief To Puerto Rico!

January 25, 2020 By Joe Piette, Workers.org , ,
Demonstrators gathered in Philadelphia on Jan. 15 in front of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Mid-Atlantic Region, with signs and Puerto Rican flags. Speaker after speaker criticized the Trump administration for refusing to allow $18 billion in post-hurricane aid to be sent to the U.S. island colony. Without citing a valid reason to deny the Congress-approved aid...

Puerto Rico: Three Years For History

January 12, 2020 By José E. Rivera Santana, Resumen. , , ,
As 2020 begins, it is worth taking a look back and commenting on the events that have taken place in Puerto Rico over the last year and identifying their links and possible consequences. The exercise leads us, inevitably, to situate ourselves in 2016 in order to trace the process that describes this last episode of our history. That year several events of great significance took place. Of particular note were the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court that ruled on the delegitimization of the “commonwealth”. Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress, almost simultaneously, approved the Promise Act imposing a Fiscal Control Board (FCB) on the Government of Puerto Rico. Against this backdrop, the 2016 general elections were held and later, in January 2017, the Ricardo Rosselló Nevárez administration began.

2019 Latin America In Review: Year Of The Revolt of the Dispossessed

December 15, 2019 Roger Harris, Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
A year ago, John Bolton, Trump’s short-lived national security advisor, invoked the 1823 Monroe Doctrine making explicit what has long been painfully implicit: the dominions south of the Rio Grande are the empire’s “backyard.” Yet 2019 was a year best characterized as the revolt of the dispossessed for a better world against the barbarism of neoliberalism. As Rafael Correa points out, Latin America today is in dispute. What follows is a briefing on this crossroads.

Protesters Call For Removal Of MoMA Trustee Linked To Puerto Rican Debt Crisis

October 18, 2019 Zachary Small, Theartnewspaper.com , , ,
The newly expanded Museum of Modern Art in New York has yet to officially reopen to the public—and already finds itself under siege. Dozens of protesters plan to crash its opening preview party on Friday 18 October, calling upon the museum to divest itself from private prisons by severing its ties with Bank of America and the investment management firm BlackRock, whose CEO Laurence Fink sits on the museum’s board. Fidelity Investments, which manages MoMA’s pension fund, is also a large owner of private prison stocks.

Puerto Rico’s “Redevelopment” Plan Is Displacing Low-Income Residents

October 16, 2019 By Erin Sheridan, Truthout.org , ,
We would need three years to tell the story, being optimistic,” says Mirta Colón Pellecier, sitting in the doorway of her Section 8 apartment on a hot afternoon in March. A light breeze flows through the open door and is caught by a fan, blowing the fresh air into the living room. A framed photograph of Colón and her six adult children stands on a table to her right. To her left, Colón’s youngest son sits in the kitchen with his girlfriend, preparing to leave for work at his second job. “He was nine years old when I moved to Gladiolas. My daughter was 13”.

Pink Tide Against US Domination Rising Again In Latin America

October 14, 2019 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, Popular Resistance , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Once again, the left is rising in Latin America as people revolt against authoritarian regimes, many of whom were put in place by US-supported coups. These regimes have taken International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans and are under the thumb of international finance, which is against the interests of people. After the embattled President of Ecuador claimed that President Nicolas Maduro was the cause of the massive protests against him, Maduro made clear what was occurring in Latin America, saying: “We have two models: the IMF model which privatizes everything and takes away the people’s rights to health, education and work; and the humanist-progressive model which is emerging in Latin America and has the Bolivarian Revolution at the forefront.”

Puerto Rican People’s Assemblies Shift From Protest To Proposal

August 25, 2019 Jacqueline Villarrubia-Mendoza and Roberto Vélez-Vélez, NACLA ,
Puerto Ricans now explore the breadth of these challenges with the formation of people’s assemblies. Assemblies began in August in different parts of the island, from Ponce, Mayaguez, Lares, and Utuado to Caguas, Gurabo, San Juan, and Carolina, as word spread with the help of hashtags such as #asambleadepueblo on social media. Different sectors of civil society have convened these assemblies with the mission of reflecting on how to provide continuity to the mobilized citizenry and entering into deep conversations about governance. The goal of this assembly format is to allow everyone an opportunity to voice their grievances and ideas—especially those who might be new to political activism. 

Puerto Rico’s Crisis Is Not Only Puerto Rican

August 19, 2019 Jesus Arboleya Cervera, Progreso Weekly , ,
In the rush to replace disgraced and discredited Governor Ricardo Rossello a  astruggle broke out questioning the appointment of Pedro Pierluisi as his replacement and on August 7 the Puerto Rico Supreme Court ruled Pierluisi was unconstitutionally appointed  and he was replaced by the Secretary of Justice, Wanda Vazquez making her the Puerto Rico’s third governor in five days. But this is not the most important aspect of such events. With a governor or without him, the whole world knows the United States is who really rules in Puerto Rico, that power which is now shaking as a result of its own contradictions.

A Former Coal Lobbyist Is Puerto Rico’s New Governor…For Now

August 7, 2019 By Paola Rosa-Aquino, Grist.org , ,
Puerto Rico has a new governor, former coal lobbyist Pedro Pierluisi — and he didn’t even make it through the weekend before facing the first legal challenge to his leadership. On Sunday, the U.S. territory’s Senate filed a lawsuit claiming his ascent to the office was unconstitutional and seeking an order for him to cease his function in the role immediately. Pierluisi was sworn in during a private ceremony seconds after embattled Governor Ricardo Rosselló’s resignation became effective this past Friday at 5 p.m. Roselló’s reluctant exit came after weeks of widespread protests...

Teachers’ Role In The Puerto Rico Uprising

August 4, 2019 Jeff Bryant, Independent Media Institute. , , ,
As Americans lament the current sorry state of democracy in Washington, D.C., government by the will of the people was very much alive recently in Puerto Rico, where a prolonged general strike that virtually shut down the island forced Governor Ricardo Rosselló to announce his resignation. During the strike, huge crowds mobbed the governor’s mansion around the clock, closed highways in the capital of San Juan, and persuaded some presidential candidates in the Democratic Party to join in calling for the governor to resign. Protesters had multiple grievances, but a “final straw” seems to have been a series of text messages leaked to an independent news organization in which the governor and his closest associates insulted political opponents and allies, members of the news media, and the LGBTQ community.

The CEOs Destroying The Planet + Puerto Rico Protests Just Getting Started

August 1, 2019 Eleanor Goldfield, Occupy.com , ,
The destruction of our planet for profit is deeply personal – so why shouldn't we treat it that way when it comes to the people perpetuating that destruction? Next up, from the streets of Puerto Rico, a look at what happened, how, why, what's next and what we can learn from this powerful push for change.
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