Puerto Rico has recently made headlines for stories that may seem unconnected; they are related, however. The common factor? Puerto Rico’s status as a colony—first under Spanish rule, and now as a “territory” of the United States.
King Felipe VI of Spain arrived in Puerto Rico on Monday to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the founding of San Juan. The anniversary was last year, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed Felipe’s trip. Just ahead of his arrival, a statue of Juan Ponce de León was toppled from its pedestal by a group known as the Borikén Libertarian Forces. (Borikén is the Indigenous Taino name for the islands.) The group was protesting the visit from Puerto Rico’s former colonizer.
And last week, the head of the unelected board that rules the Puerto Rican economy announced a major “debt deal,” much to the consternation of many islanders who view the board’s imposition upon Puerto Rico as open U.S. colonialism.
Yet another headline maker in the States is Bitcoin billionaire Brock Pierce. He just bought a 150-room oceanfront hotel for $18.3 million in Vieques—which still doesn’t have a hospital post-Hurricane Maria. Many activists on the island view Pierce and his fellow Bitcoin adherents as gentrifying interlopers and exploiters whose state-sponsored grift and invasion are viewed as settler colonialism by the Puerto Ricans engaged in grassroots anti-gentrification and sustainability organizing across the island.
Caribbean Matters is a weekly series from Daily Kos. If you are unfamiliar with the region, check out Caribbean Matters: Getting to know the countries of the Caribbean.
This was the news that many people woke up to on Monday.
The toppling was meant as a “clear message,” independent journalist Bianca Graulau explains.
Jasmine Liu writes this about the statue’s history:
I can’t help but relate the Ponce de León statue’s toppling to similar actions taken by activists both here and in Europe. Whether it’s pushback against monuments to Confederate generals or slave traders, or a doctor who experimented on Black women, challenges to systemic racism in education, or Native American-led protests against statues of Christopher Columbus, protests surrounding statues are about far more than sculpture.
As noted above by Graulau, part of the Puerto Rican protest centers around Act 22, described here by the National Law Review:
The Washington Post also recently covered the tax break law, noting that “a new wave of wealthy investors is moving to the island. Locals are greeting them with excitement—and suspicion.
In 2018, Rolling Stone profiled Brock Pierce—a child actor in such ’90s films like The Mighty Ducks and Little Big League—who pioneered the crypto corner of the Act 22 invasion.
I didn’t believe Pierce’s “Robin Hood” hype then and don’t now. Here’s more from Graulau on Pierce and his buddies’ greed:
Interestingly enough, Act 22 has even elicited comments from New York Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who publicly opposed it back in Feb. 2021.
Around the same time, in Feb. 2021, filmmaker and documentary journalist Andrew Padilla wrote about settler tax break history for The Daily Beast.
As my fellow Community Contributor SemDem wrote in December, Act 22/60 is not good for Puerto Ricans. Graulau covered the resulting displacement in this hard-hitting video report.
YouTube Video
Take gentrification and tax breaks for settlers, and add them to the already unstable economy of Puerto Rico, which was hindered by debt even before Hurricane Maria. Sprinkle in the fact that the territory is powerless over its own debt resolution, since, under Barack Obama, the island’s economic future was placed into the hands of the unelected Financial Oversight Board, dubbed la junta by islanders. What do you get? A toxic stew.
Julio Ricardo Varela, the founder of Latino Rebels, wrote about the latest “debt deal” on Monday for MSNBC.
The executive director of Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight Board, Natalie Jaresko, earns $625,000 a year. She also recently “celebrated” the settling of Puerto Rico’s debt deal.
It should be no surprise that there were many strong negative responses to Jaresko’s glee.
The Power 4 Puerto Rico Coalition has also denounced the debt deal.
Common Dreams notes that “the island’s ability to resume growth and avoid cuts in anti-poverty programs are both chief concerns.”
While the last week has been a busy one, these are just some of the issues currently facing Puerto Rico. Join me in the comments for more on Puerto Rico and the weekly Caribbean News Roundup.
King Felipe VI of Spain arrived in Puerto Rico on Monday to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the founding of San Juan. The anniversary was last year, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed Felipe’s trip. Just ahead of his arrival, a statue of Juan Ponce de León was toppled from its pedestal by a group known as the Borikén Libertarian Forces. (Borikén is the Indigenous Taino name for the islands.) The group was protesting the visit from Puerto Rico’s former colonizer.
And last week, the head of the unelected board that rules the Puerto Rican economy announced a major “debt deal,” much to the consternation of many islanders who view the board’s imposition upon Puerto Rico as open U.S. colonialism.
Yet another headline maker in the States is Bitcoin billionaire Brock Pierce. He just bought a 150-room oceanfront hotel for $18.3 million in Vieques—which still doesn’t have a hospital post-Hurricane Maria. Many activists on the island view Pierce and his fellow Bitcoin adherents as gentrifying interlopers and exploiters whose state-sponsored grift and invasion are viewed as settler colonialism by the Puerto Ricans engaged in grassroots anti-gentrification and sustainability organizing across the island.
Caribbean Matters is a weekly series from Daily Kos. If you are unfamiliar with the region, check out Caribbean Matters: Getting to know the countries of the Caribbean.
This was the news that many people woke up to on Monday.
The toppling was meant as a “clear message,” independent journalist Bianca Graulau explains.
Jasmine Liu writes this about the statue’s history:
I can’t help but relate the Ponce de León statue’s toppling to similar actions taken by activists both here and in Europe. Whether it’s pushback against monuments to Confederate generals or slave traders, or a doctor who experimented on Black women, challenges to systemic racism in education, or Native American-led protests against statues of Christopher Columbus, protests surrounding statues are about far more than sculpture.
As noted above by Graulau, part of the Puerto Rican protest centers around Act 22, described here by the National Law Review:
The Washington Post also recently covered the tax break law, noting that “a new wave of wealthy investors is moving to the island. Locals are greeting them with excitement—and suspicion.
In 2018, Rolling Stone profiled Brock Pierce—a child actor in such ’90s films like The Mighty Ducks and Little Big League—who pioneered the crypto corner of the Act 22 invasion.
I didn’t believe Pierce’s “Robin Hood” hype then and don’t now. Here’s more from Graulau on Pierce and his buddies’ greed:
Interestingly enough, Act 22 has even elicited comments from New York Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who publicly opposed it back in Feb. 2021.
Around the same time, in Feb. 2021, filmmaker and documentary journalist Andrew Padilla wrote about settler tax break history for The Daily Beast.
As my fellow Community Contributor SemDem wrote in December, Act 22/60 is not good for Puerto Ricans. Graulau covered the resulting displacement in this hard-hitting video report.
YouTube Video
Take gentrification and tax breaks for settlers, and add them to the already unstable economy of Puerto Rico, which was hindered by debt even before Hurricane Maria. Sprinkle in the fact that the territory is powerless over its own debt resolution, since, under Barack Obama, the island’s economic future was placed into the hands of the unelected Financial Oversight Board, dubbed la junta by islanders. What do you get? A toxic stew.
Julio Ricardo Varela, the founder of Latino Rebels, wrote about the latest “debt deal” on Monday for MSNBC.
The executive director of Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight Board, Natalie Jaresko, earns $625,000 a year. She also recently “celebrated” the settling of Puerto Rico’s debt deal.
It should be no surprise that there were many strong negative responses to Jaresko’s glee.
The Power 4 Puerto Rico Coalition has also denounced the debt deal.
Common Dreams notes that “the island’s ability to resume growth and avoid cuts in anti-poverty programs are both chief concerns.”
While the last week has been a busy one, these are just some of the issues currently facing Puerto Rico. Join me in the comments for more on Puerto Rico and the weekly Caribbean News Roundup.