1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:04,640 Speaker 1: Dear listener. This month, we're bringing you episodes of La Brega, 2 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:09,360 Speaker 1: a special seven part mini series presented by Futuro Studios 3 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: and w NYC Studios, all about the Puerto Rican experience. 4 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:19,640 Speaker 1: Today's episode the End of the Promises, and if you'd 5 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: like to hear any of the episodes in Espanol, visit 6 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: the La Brega feed wherever you listen to your podcasts. 7 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: And now I'm going to hand things over to w 8 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:34,200 Speaker 1: n y c's Alana Casanova Burgess, the host of La Brega. 9 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,480 Speaker 2: I've noticed that outside of Puerto Rico, many people seem 10 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 2: uncomfortable calling the island a US colony. In English, you'll 11 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 2: hear the word territory or commonwealth protectorate even and that 12 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 2: used to be the case in Puerto Rico too, but 13 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 2: not anymore. 14 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:59,959 Speaker 3: I mojo in Puerto Rico moto is. 15 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:07,959 Speaker 4: Puerto Rico Una colonia colonia. 16 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 2: People would twist themselves into pretzels to avoid the C word, 17 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 2: and there's a reason for that. 18 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 5: Puerto Ricans were promised that they were not a colony. 19 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 2: This is Yerdimad Bonilla. Yerimad is a political anthropologist. She 20 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 2: writes about places like Puerto Rico, Guadaloupe, and Carasau, which 21 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 2: are not independent states. 22 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:30,560 Speaker 6: She has a. 23 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,679 Speaker 2: Column in the Puerto Rican newspaper in Nuilo, Ria, and 24 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 2: she's also written for outlets like The Washington Post and 25 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 2: The Nation. Lately, she's been tracing the evolution of how 26 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 2: Puerto Ricans think about our relationship to the US and 27 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 2: how that has been transformed by the many challenges of 28 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 2: the last decade. A debt crisis, hurricanes, earthquakes, and now 29 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 2: a global pandemic. 30 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 5: What's crazy is that being a Puerto Ricanist now requires 31 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 5: you to also be like a disasterlogist, and I guess 32 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 5: now also an epidemiologist, and an economist and a historian. 33 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 2: All this crisis has led to a reckoning in Puerto Rico. 34 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 2: That promise that YERI might have mentioned about not being 35 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 2: a colony, it's pretty much been broken. In nineteen fifty two, 36 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 2: Puerto Rico had adopted this new political status called the 37 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 2: Ela the Estallo libre re sociallo or free associated state, 38 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 2: which doesn't really mean much in English. We call it 39 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 2: a commonwealth and what does that mean? Is it like 40 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 2: the Commonwealth of Massachusetts? 41 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:37,239 Speaker 7: No? 42 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 2: Is it like the Commonwealth of Canada. Also, no commonwealth 43 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 2: doesn't really mean anything concrete, but it's the kind of 44 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 2: word that made everyone feel better about the US having 45 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 2: a colony. The Estallo libresociao the ela promised self governance, 46 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 2: but not independence. It was a kind of compromise or 47 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:02,359 Speaker 2: a type of brega created by the island's first elected governor, 48 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 2: Luis Mugno. Marine, in order to massage the continued colonial 49 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 2: interests of the US and Puerto Rico and present a 50 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:12,920 Speaker 2: sovereign future to his residence. Marine came up with this 51 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 2: label that sounded like decolonization. 52 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 5: He thought that, like, since it had all this language 53 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 5: of decolonization, he thought that he could set legal precedents 54 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 5: to kind of if you build it, they will come, like, 55 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 5: if you build it, they will. 56 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 8: Decolonize, and kind of idea. 57 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 5: And then meanwhile the United States, they're like, well, we're 58 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 5: going to pretend that we're decolonizing, but we're not really 59 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 5: going to decolonize. So it's like both parts were kind 60 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 5: of calling each other on their bluff. It kind of 61 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 5: reminds me of this like Seinfeld episode that I love, 62 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 5: where like George Costanza meets up with the parents of 63 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 5: his deceased fiance, and he tells them he has a 64 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 5: house in the Hamptons, and they know it's not true. 65 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 9: Two hours drive once you get in that car, we 66 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 9: are going all the way. 67 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 10: Through the head. 68 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 5: And they all get into a car and start driving 69 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 5: to the Hamptons, and they also all know that the 70 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 5: others know that it's all a farce. 71 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 8: Almost that's the end of Long Island. 72 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:19,800 Speaker 10: Where's your house? 73 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,599 Speaker 8: We uh go on foot from here, all right? 74 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 5: So I basically like we've been in a car with 75 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,039 Speaker 5: the United States headed to the Hamptons when we all 76 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 5: know there's no house in the Hams. 77 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 2: There's some indication that Luis Mugne, Marine and the US 78 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 2: Congress both knew there was no house in the Hamptons. 79 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 2: In nineteen fifty, while testifying in a House committee hearing, 80 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 2: he said, quote, if the people of Puerto Rico should 81 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 2: go crazy, Congress can always get around and legislate again. 82 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 2: That's what he said in Washington, DC. But in Puerto Rico, 83 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:58,840 Speaker 2: he claimed this new status would be a definitive end 84 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 2: to quote every trace of colonialism. Part of the promise 85 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 2: of the era was that it was supposedly the best 86 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 2: of both worlds. Self governance with the protection of the 87 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 2: US military and the mobility of a US passport. It 88 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 2: was also imagined as a key to prosperity, having a 89 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 2: link to the wealthy US while also being able to 90 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,720 Speaker 2: manage our own affairs. But that was seventy years ago, 91 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 2: and recently this idea has been dealt some severe blows. 92 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 2: Fifteen years ago, a recession became a debt crisis, which 93 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 2: is now an austerity crisis. Then in twenty sixteen, during 94 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:39,599 Speaker 2: two Supreme Court hearings, the US government itself pushed the 95 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:43,159 Speaker 2: argument to Puerto Rico wasn't really sovereign after all. 96 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 5: And so now suddenly the US flips the coin and 97 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:48,799 Speaker 5: they're saying, no, you are a colony. 98 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 8: What are you talking about. You were never decolonized, you 99 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 8: never had sovereignty. 100 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:55,560 Speaker 5: In this moment where suddenly we're like, wait, what what 101 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 5: is happening. Yeah, we've been saying that we were a colony, 102 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 5: but what does it mean when you say it. 103 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:03,720 Speaker 2: The next nail in the coffin came in twenty sixteen. 104 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:08,719 Speaker 2: It was a law named on ironically, Les Promesa or Promise. 105 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 2: That's the federal law that installed a fiscal Control board 106 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:16,160 Speaker 2: to manage the island's finances and implement austerity policies in 107 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:19,720 Speaker 2: order to service the debt. These series of events created 108 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:24,080 Speaker 2: an awakening. In response to the Promesa law, protesters declared 109 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 2: that the time of the Promises was over sea Las 110 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:42,679 Speaker 2: promesas the Ela had been a lie. Something between Puerto 111 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:44,760 Speaker 2: Rico and the US had been broken. 112 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 5: After all these revelations, people started talking about the death 113 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 5: of the Ela, the death of the Commonwealth, and I 114 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 5: became really fascinated by that idea, Like what does it 115 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 5: mean for a political project to die? 116 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:03,839 Speaker 2: You've described to me. For these funerals right with like coffins, 117 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 2: almost like performance art, I guess yeah. 118 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 5: People would be carrying an empty coffin inside of it 119 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 5: was supposed to be the. 120 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 8: Ella that they were going to bury. 121 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 5: And then sometimes they were funny, like some there would 122 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 5: be women in black with veils crying like they were 123 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:19,760 Speaker 5: mourning you know. 124 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 8: This body. 125 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 5: But there was another one that was held in front 126 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:28,040 Speaker 5: of the Capitolio where there were all these performance artists, 127 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:33,000 Speaker 5: and they decided to do velorio for that which never existed, 128 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:36,120 Speaker 5: so like a kind of wake, a funeral and awake 129 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 5: for something that never was, Like what died. Wasn't a thing, 130 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 5: It was a set of hopes. It was a set 131 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 5: of promises. 132 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:46,520 Speaker 2: This feeling of death was suddenly everywhere, in what some 133 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 2: called a sign of mourning, black and white Puerto Rican 134 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:52,360 Speaker 2: flags started popping up instead of the red, white and 135 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 2: blue one. There were murals denouncing colonialism too. And then 136 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 2: came the deaths from Maria. Not metaphorical, not performative, but 137 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 2: thousands of lives lost in the aftermath. And here, here 138 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,080 Speaker 2: is where maybe Puerto Rico could have used the benefits 139 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 2: of the island's murky relationship with the US to rebuild 140 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 2: from the hurricane. Instead, President Trump, through his infamous paper 141 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 2: towels and the White House, slow walked funds, leaving many 142 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 2: residents without electricity for nearly a year. Some people are 143 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:29,680 Speaker 2: still living under tarps three years later. So now that 144 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,960 Speaker 2: word colony is on everybody's lips, the veil has been lifted. 145 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:39,520 Speaker 2: What happens when the promises are broken? This isn't some 146 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 2: theoretical political crisis, It's really an existential one. With an 147 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 2: economic collapse and public sector pension slashed, We've seen a 148 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 2: mass exodus from the island, families looking for jobs elsewhere, 149 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:55,959 Speaker 2: better education for their kids. People are fed up, tired 150 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:58,439 Speaker 2: of putting up with it, tired of having to brigade, 151 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 2: of having to endure and you can feel it in 152 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:05,959 Speaker 2: the air. So, who in this dire time still believes 153 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 2: in Puerto Rico's current status? 154 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 5: Who feels decolonized in Puerto Rico? Who's like, We're good? 155 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 5: I want to start at the beginning. I want to 156 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 5: think about what was the ella promised to be and 157 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:21,839 Speaker 5: who believed in that promise? Who's who said we had 158 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 5: a house in the Hamptons. 159 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:26,680 Speaker 2: Yarimar decided to start right at home with her grandmother. 160 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 8: A ya ya ya. 161 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:41,640 Speaker 5: That voice you hear is my ninety three year old grandmother, 162 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 5: Maria Mona, better known as Moncy. She loves to sing. 163 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:50,319 Speaker 5: In fact, it's hard to get her to stop singing. 164 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 5: Like many Puerto Rico and I grew up very close 165 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 5: to my grandmother. She was always around, telling me to 166 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:07,840 Speaker 5: fix my hair, asking me if I was really gonna 167 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:11,440 Speaker 5: go out dressed like that, and basically helping raise me 168 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 5: along with my mother. Maybe because she was always around, 169 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:18,079 Speaker 5: it wasn't until the recent pandemic that I was able 170 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 5: to really spend long hours talking to her. 171 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 8: About her life, her political. 172 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:25,600 Speaker 5: Views, and the many changes she's witnessed in Puerto Rico 173 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:29,600 Speaker 5: during the pandemic. We spent lots of time joking around 174 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:33,200 Speaker 5: and filming funny videos for Instagram, where her handle is 175 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 5: bad Month. This is us with my mom singing bad Bunny. 176 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:47,839 Speaker 5: All right, no joke. My grandma really does love bad Bunny. 177 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:50,280 Speaker 5: She thinks he has a potty mouth, but a good heart. 178 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:54,599 Speaker 8: I haven't got that mourning, I even got that. 179 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:02,800 Speaker 5: Pandemic has also given me a chance to discover her 180 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:09,160 Speaker 5: surprising brushes with history. It turns out she had gone 181 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:12,880 Speaker 5: to a birthday party for none other than Govitnador Luis 182 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 5: Munos Marie. She was invited by a suitor who colely 183 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 5: asked if she liked to join him at a birthday function. 184 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:22,760 Speaker 5: When he explained who the party was born. 185 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:24,719 Speaker 8: She lost it. Okay, care. 186 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:29,720 Speaker 5: I asked her what she wore to this special occasion, 187 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:42,439 Speaker 5: and unsurprisingly, she dressed in red, the color of Munos's party. 188 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 5: She wore a bright red pant suit and a palla, 189 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:51,679 Speaker 5: the straw hat traditionally worn by Puerto Rican peasants. This 190 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:55,360 Speaker 5: was her homage to the color and symbol of Munos's Party, 191 00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:58,880 Speaker 5: the Popularis. She's bummed that there weren't cell phones back 192 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:01,240 Speaker 5: then so she could have a picture not just the 193 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,240 Speaker 5: her slam and outfit, but of this historic encounter. 194 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 8: You see. 195 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:08,520 Speaker 5: Part of why this event was so meaningful for her 196 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,679 Speaker 5: is because Munos's Party, the Popularies, was a big part 197 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 5: of her childhood. She loves to boast that her father, 198 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 5: my great grandfather, was one of the original Populares, one 199 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:23,560 Speaker 5: of the first to cast a vote for this new 200 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:39,040 Speaker 5: party that was full of promise. She has vivid memories 201 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 5: of accompanying him to political meetings as a teenager and 202 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 5: of seeing her town of Lattice covered in party flags. 203 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:49,640 Speaker 5: Which she remembers most fondly about those times is the 204 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:52,439 Speaker 5: conviction and commitment of the political. 205 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:53,119 Speaker 8: Leaders am. 206 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:03,439 Speaker 5: She fondly rem members Ernesto Ramos Antonini, the well known 207 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:06,400 Speaker 5: black socialist lawyer who was one of the founders of 208 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:10,640 Speaker 5: the party. But her favorite, of course was Luis Munos Marin. 209 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:16,080 Speaker 5: Just looking at him, she says inspired confidence. She loves 210 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:18,320 Speaker 5: to talk about how he would go to the Josephs 211 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:22,239 Speaker 5: of the Hibaos homes with dirt floors and few belongings 212 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:25,520 Speaker 5: and have coffee with the residents in the little cups 213 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:28,000 Speaker 5: they fashioned out of hollowed out coconuts. 214 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 3: Jelda Sabia Majaa. 215 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:39,360 Speaker 5: He swore the coconut cups made the coffee taste even better. 216 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 5: Every time she tells the story, something about that small 217 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:48,600 Speaker 5: gesture of grace really gets to her. She's convinced that 218 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:52,160 Speaker 5: he really did love Puerto Rico and just wanted the 219 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 5: best for it. 220 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 11: Kil Cynthia Marva Puerto Rico, Hello Mava, Hello Mava. 221 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:02,720 Speaker 5: This kind of critical nostalgia is a common staple among 222 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:04,559 Speaker 5: Puerto Rican awilitas. 223 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 8: But actually Luis Minos. 224 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 5: Marin did a lot to erase rural life through his 225 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:13,640 Speaker 5: emphasis on industrial development. But for my grandmother, it was 226 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 5: all about eradicating the poverty that she grew up with bread, 227 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 5: land and liberty. That was the promise, and my grandmother 228 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:25,480 Speaker 5: believed in it because she saw it with her own eyes. 229 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:29,880 Speaker 5: Lands were being massively redistributed. Even her uncle got a parcel. 230 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:34,960 Speaker 5: During this time, industry was also arriving. Homes and schools 231 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 5: were being built. 232 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:40,400 Speaker 8: You see yo Mahuran, you see Yomhaando. For my grandmother, 233 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 8: everything was getting better and better. 234 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:45,920 Speaker 5: The Ella really did seem like the best we could 235 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 5: hope for the best of all possible worlds. 236 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 4: The people of Puerto Rico felt, Hey. 237 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:02,040 Speaker 5: This is Deepak Lambarievis. He's a development planner at the 238 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:05,520 Speaker 5: Center for a New Economy and a good friend. Deepak 239 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:09,560 Speaker 5: argues that the ILA was never really about decolonizing Puerto Rico. 240 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:13,040 Speaker 5: It was about using Puerto Rico as an economic experiment 241 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 5: as a counterpoint to communism during the Cold War. 242 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:20,680 Speaker 4: So much so that people from different countries across the 243 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 4: world is to come to Puerto Rico to learn about 244 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 4: our model and try to implement it in their countries. 245 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 12: Building into the clean blue skies, the island is on 246 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:40,840 Speaker 12: the move. Apartment complexes, bilingual schools, modern hospitals, luxury hotels. 247 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:52,320 Speaker 12: Progress can be seen everywhere. This is Puerto Rico, Progress 248 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:57,960 Speaker 12: Island USA. 249 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:57,200 Speaker 8: To the outside. 250 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 5: The ELA was sold as an economic success, a global 251 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 5: ad for using tax incentives to lure for an investment. 252 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:08,760 Speaker 12: With the help of a generous tax incentive program, hundreds 253 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:12,600 Speaker 12: of businesses, both large and small, have grown and prospered here. 254 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:20,280 Speaker 5: But all that economic growth was built on unsustainable compromises. 255 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:23,880 Speaker 5: From the beginning, there was an over alliance on tax 256 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:28,320 Speaker 5: incentives which Washington could enact and take away as it pleased. 257 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:33,040 Speaker 5: Already by the nineteen seventies, CBS News called into question 258 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:38,000 Speaker 5: whether the Commonwealth system was really bringing prosperity. 259 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:38,040 Speaker 8: To the island. 260 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:41,280 Speaker 13: Sixty percent of Puerto Rican families are living on incomes 261 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:45,240 Speaker 13: below the federal government's poverty level. Sixty percent of Puerto 262 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 13: Rico's inhabitants need food stamp help. Whatever the past virtues 263 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 13: of the island's relations with the United States, today's troubles 264 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:55,960 Speaker 13: raised some basic questions about this system in the future, 265 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:58,680 Speaker 13: and some argue flatly it no longer works. 266 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 5: If it was airy' in the nineteen seventies that there 267 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:05,119 Speaker 5: were flaws with this project, it's even more obvious now 268 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:09,800 Speaker 5: because once the tax incentives were taken away, companies started 269 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,480 Speaker 5: fleeing Puerto Rico and the government took on massive debt 270 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:18,520 Speaker 5: to stay afloat. By twenty sixteen, it became clear that 271 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:22,800 Speaker 5: Puerto Rico was descending into what economists literally call a 272 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:27,440 Speaker 5: death spiral. Everyone began putting pressure on Washington to pass 273 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 5: some kind of debt relief. Among those making the rounds 274 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:32,680 Speaker 5: on Capitol Hill was Deepak. 275 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:36,920 Speaker 4: He thought, hey, there's another way of addressing the Puerto 276 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:42,919 Speaker 4: Rican dilemma with certainly the economic situation and ultimately also 277 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:44,280 Speaker 4: the debt issue. 278 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:47,320 Speaker 5: He was initially confident about the impact he could have. 279 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:51,400 Speaker 5: He assumed he would be taken seriously. After all, he's 280 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:53,800 Speaker 5: a smart guy who works at a fancy think tank 281 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:57,919 Speaker 5: where they had developed a solid, cost effective plan, but 282 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:01,800 Speaker 5: Washington politicians had no time for him. This makes him 283 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:03,439 Speaker 5: so upset he has to switch to. 284 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:15,240 Speaker 4: Spanish vasio men handout or unaplegaria no noid. 285 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:18,480 Speaker 5: Deepak says they made him feel like he was begging 286 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 5: for a handout or worse, praying for mercy. He returned 287 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:27,560 Speaker 5: from DC convinced that Puerto Rico was quite simply a colony, 288 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:31,000 Speaker 5: and he decided that the island just doesn't matter to 289 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:32,280 Speaker 5: the United States. 290 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:34,159 Speaker 4: No Soros. 291 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 1: Nolin port. 292 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:42,080 Speaker 8: During our conversation, I noted something. 293 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:45,520 Speaker 5: He was wearing a baseball cap with the new black 294 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:47,119 Speaker 5: and white Puerto Rican flag. 295 00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:51,240 Speaker 4: For me, the black and white flag represents a sense 296 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:56,119 Speaker 4: of mourning and also we need a symbol of resistance. 297 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:02,560 Speaker 4: Puerto Rico is going through some of its most ugly 298 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:06,760 Speaker 4: colonial periods. I didn't live through some of the historic 299 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:09,600 Speaker 4: ones which I've read about which were out and out 300 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 4: violent regimes. But this feels violent to me, and this 301 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,400 Speaker 4: is my way of saying, I fly this flag too, 302 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:23,119 Speaker 4: because I certainly feel it represents the current historical moment 303 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:25,680 Speaker 4: and how my country's doing. 304 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:31,480 Speaker 5: As far as Deepak's concerned, the ELA is done. It's over. 305 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:35,440 Speaker 4: Politicos. 306 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:39,879 Speaker 5: But even after everything, believe it or not, there are 307 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 5: some who still think the ELA is the best shot 308 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:45,640 Speaker 5: we have and who continue to cling to the idea 309 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:48,120 Speaker 5: that it is the best of both worlds. 310 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:52,399 Speaker 2: After the break, we'll meet some of those people. This 311 00:19:52,560 --> 00:20:06,439 Speaker 2: is La Brega. We're back. This is La Brega. Puerto 312 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:11,199 Speaker 2: Rico has been undergoing an existential crisis. There's a consensus building. 313 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 2: A lot of people see that the relationship with the 314 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:17,199 Speaker 2: US is broken. The commonwealth status known as the ELA 315 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:21,000 Speaker 2: is not working. But what makes some people want to 316 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:25,000 Speaker 2: keep holding on? YERIMR. Bonilla has been meeting them trying 317 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:26,400 Speaker 2: to find out why. 318 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:28,960 Speaker 5: One of the strange things about the current moment in 319 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:32,240 Speaker 5: Puerto Rico is that while huge numbers of locals are 320 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:36,520 Speaker 5: migrating out, many Americans from the Fifty States are increasingly 321 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:39,880 Speaker 5: moving to the island. There are some like hedge fund 322 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,600 Speaker 5: manager Peter Schiff, who routinely go on TV to talk 323 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,600 Speaker 5: about the virtues of moving your business to Puerto Rico. 324 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:49,440 Speaker 9: The government takes most of what I earn, but if 325 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:51,920 Speaker 9: I earn money in Puerto Rico, thanks to the fact 326 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:55,560 Speaker 9: that they finally reduce taxes there, I get to keep 327 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:56,760 Speaker 9: a lot more of what I earn. 328 00:20:56,960 --> 00:20:59,840 Speaker 5: Peter Schiff has been quite vocal about how he considers 329 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 5: that the Ella status is great because there are special 330 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 5: tax consumptions for entrepreneurs like him. 331 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:09,080 Speaker 8: His investment in the status quo is clear. 332 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:12,160 Speaker 5: So I decided to talk to someone who moved here 333 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:14,360 Speaker 5: for let's say, different. 334 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:16,560 Speaker 8: Reasons that. 335 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,440 Speaker 14: Get don't you're okay? 336 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:23,639 Speaker 8: That's Radio Gold. 337 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:30,080 Speaker 5: Cassie Kaufman runs the YouTube channel Life Transplanet, which is 338 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:33,600 Speaker 5: basically videos of her and her family living their best 339 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:34,760 Speaker 5: lives in Puerto Rico. 340 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,200 Speaker 8: That's a royal palm Turkey. I feel like he's wearing 341 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:39,320 Speaker 8: a taxio. 342 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:40,120 Speaker 14: Black and white. 343 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,639 Speaker 5: Cassie lives on the west side of the island in Drinkon, 344 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:48,440 Speaker 5: which she calls Grinkong. The nickname comes from the many 345 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 5: United Statesians who have migrated to the serf town over 346 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:56,280 Speaker 5: the last few decades. Cassie and her husband are originally 347 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:59,960 Speaker 5: from Colorado and moved here partly to escape the cold West. 348 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 5: I was attracted to Cassie's videos because of the way 349 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:04,960 Speaker 5: she gushed about living here. 350 00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:08,760 Speaker 15: So some people may question why we choose to live 351 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:13,440 Speaker 15: in Puerto Rico, especially with the earthquakes and the there's 352 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:18,880 Speaker 15: economic difficulties here on the island. But here's a few 353 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:21,680 Speaker 15: reasons why we love living in Puerto Rico, and we 354 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:23,920 Speaker 15: wouldn't choose anywhere else in the world to live. 355 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:31,040 Speaker 5: While others complain about everything that's wrong, from the power 356 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:34,679 Speaker 5: grid to the local bureaucracy, Cassie uses her channel to 357 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 5: rave about the wonders of the tropical lifestyle. She swears 358 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:42,240 Speaker 5: she is happier and healthier here. She even lost thirty pounds. 359 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:44,600 Speaker 5: She loves that she can grow her own food and 360 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:49,200 Speaker 5: be surrounded by palm trees, chickens, and especially those turkeys 361 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:53,159 Speaker 5: we heard. But Cassie's not just here because of the landscape. 362 00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:56,359 Speaker 5: She also loves the people, and she's aware of the 363 00:22:56,400 --> 00:23:00,359 Speaker 5: resentment generated by fellow United Statesians who come to the 364 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:03,160 Speaker 5: island to simply bask in tax incentives. 365 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:06,440 Speaker 14: I see, you're just coming here to benefit from Puerto Rico, 366 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 14: but not really contribute. And so that's why I try 367 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:11,640 Speaker 14: to be clear, like we're here to start our family, 368 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 14: to live in the community, to be part of this. 369 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:17,400 Speaker 5: For Cassie, Puerto Rico's a place that brings out her 370 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:18,880 Speaker 5: adventurous side. 371 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:19,600 Speaker 8: In some ways. 372 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:21,920 Speaker 14: Like I think that's what's so cool to me about 373 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:24,639 Speaker 14: Puerto Rico is that it's this transition land. 374 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:31,240 Speaker 5: That phrase transition land stood out to me. A transition 375 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:36,720 Speaker 5: to or from where is transition land just a different 376 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:38,680 Speaker 5: way of describing purgatory. 377 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:42,360 Speaker 8: What feels like exclusion. 378 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:45,240 Speaker 5: And second class status for Puerto Ricans to Cassie means 379 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:46,040 Speaker 5: greater freedom. 380 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:48,880 Speaker 8: Do you feel like you live in a foreign country. 381 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,160 Speaker 14: In some ways, if Puerto Rico were just another state, 382 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:55,560 Speaker 14: that would for me it would have very little appeal. 383 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 14: We could go to Florida and you know, go to 384 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:00,840 Speaker 14: the beach and have a tropical vperience. But to me, 385 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,399 Speaker 14: what attracted me it was that it was different. It 386 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:06,480 Speaker 14: was just enough us that it would be more comfortable 387 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:07,120 Speaker 14: to move here. 388 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:11,080 Speaker 5: For Cassie, that means using the same currency and banks 389 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:14,920 Speaker 5: and not having to worry about visa issues while enjoying 390 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,960 Speaker 5: the perks of living somewhere where she could speak Spanish 391 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 5: and bask in a different culture. To her, it really 392 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:24,399 Speaker 5: is the best of both worlds. Do you feel like 393 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:26,240 Speaker 5: you live in a colony? 394 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:28,240 Speaker 14: I wouldn't know what it feels like to live in 395 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:31,240 Speaker 14: a colony. It's probably in the sense of the military 396 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:35,400 Speaker 14: kind of control, or that it's a military outpost. Basically, 397 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:39,480 Speaker 14: still that kind of has that old colony feel, in 398 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:41,200 Speaker 14: the sense that we don't have the right to. 399 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:44,480 Speaker 5: Vote for you personally, you were willing to give up 400 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 5: that right. 401 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:48,199 Speaker 14: I guess that would be kind of a part of 402 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,680 Speaker 14: the definition of living under a colony right. 403 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 5: When I asked for thoughts on status, she was more ambiguous. 404 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:57,359 Speaker 5: How do you feel about statehood? 405 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:01,320 Speaker 14: I don't have a horse in game. I don't feel 406 00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:04,280 Speaker 14: like that's my call. If it were a state, I 407 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:06,440 Speaker 14: would have still probably loved Puerto Rico. 408 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:09,879 Speaker 5: In some ways. That's the only thing she could say. 409 00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:12,480 Speaker 5: I would have been shocked if she said she wanted 410 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:15,800 Speaker 5: it to be a state or an independent country rather 411 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:19,880 Speaker 5: than this transition land, because the fact is she loves 412 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:20,720 Speaker 5: it the way it is. 413 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:22,000 Speaker 8: It works for her. 414 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:26,679 Speaker 14: I wouldn't want Puerto Rico to lose her identity as 415 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:29,359 Speaker 14: a as a place. I think that's probably the fear 416 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:32,840 Speaker 14: of becoming a state. I'm also the opinion, as you know, 417 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:37,920 Speaker 14: to keep the culture and to keep de la isla. 418 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,320 Speaker 5: This echo's fear is long expressed in many corners about 419 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:45,560 Speaker 5: losing our Puerto ricanness. Over and over again, people express 420 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:49,000 Speaker 5: worries about losing things like our Olympics team, or beauty 421 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:52,879 Speaker 5: pageant contestants, and even our language and say that this 422 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:54,880 Speaker 5: holds them back from calling for state. 423 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:56,840 Speaker 14: But on the other hand, I don't think that there 424 00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:00,560 Speaker 14: could ever be pull ourselves away from the US either, 425 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:02,199 Speaker 14: And I think that's where we kind of get in 426 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:04,359 Speaker 14: that place of let's just stay where we're at. 427 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:06,760 Speaker 8: You know, Cassie is not the only one. 428 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:09,879 Speaker 5: There are plenty of locals who also say let's just 429 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:14,040 Speaker 5: stay where we're at. And the Populares, the political party 430 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:16,800 Speaker 5: that brought us the Commonwealth to begin with, are still 431 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:43,360 Speaker 5: an important political force. Into jingle's been Ferri. 432 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:45,760 Speaker 8: This is Swanny. 433 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:49,680 Speaker 5: She's a twenty something college student at the Universia inter 434 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:54,719 Speaker 5: Americana known locally as Lainter, and her favorite political jingle 435 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 5: is called creo, which. 436 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:58,000 Speaker 8: Means I believe. 437 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:04,920 Speaker 10: The hand. 438 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:31,760 Speaker 5: Swanny is all in when it comes to the Gota song, 439 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:42,480 Speaker 5: where in many ways Swanny reminds me of my grandmother, 440 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:48,360 Speaker 5: that young, politically engaged energy, attending political rallies with her family, 441 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:51,080 Speaker 5: with memories of hanging out the car window and the 442 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:52,560 Speaker 5: caravans singing. 443 00:27:52,359 --> 00:28:01,600 Speaker 3: Jingles them in Munaana. 444 00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:05,960 Speaker 5: And today Swani is the VP of the Young Popolares, 445 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:09,240 Speaker 5: which means her mission is to attract more young people 446 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:11,920 Speaker 5: to the party, a hard task in a moment when 447 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:18,520 Speaker 5: many are frustrated with Via. Her way of recruiting is 448 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:22,760 Speaker 5: to focus on past achievements, particularly the economic development that 449 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:26,240 Speaker 5: the ELA represented in its heyday, in the hopes of 450 00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:29,919 Speaker 5: convincing young voters that the Popolares are still our best. 451 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:36,040 Speaker 10: Bet E Partillo. 452 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:39,120 Speaker 5: When I asked Twani if she felt like she lived 453 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:46,480 Speaker 5: in a colony it her answer, like Cassie's, was ambiguous. 454 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:48,360 Speaker 10: Is a casi is. 455 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:56,280 Speaker 8: Sometimes, she says, other times not so much. 456 00:28:56,640 --> 00:28:58,760 Speaker 5: And so I asked her if she thinks, like my 457 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:02,240 Speaker 5: friend d Bag, that the Ela is dead, and she 458 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:04,719 Speaker 5: said no, she thinks that Ella is still alive. 459 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:14,920 Speaker 10: Gussie Fero. 460 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:18,640 Speaker 5: She recognizes that it's taken a beating, but says it 461 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:22,520 Speaker 5: still holds promise. I have to admit it surprised me 462 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:26,000 Speaker 5: to hear a young person defend the status quo so passionately. 463 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:31,040 Speaker 5: But here's the thing, possibly the most important thing to 464 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:40,520 Speaker 5: know about Swani. She is from Barcelonetta, Soto Rico. Barceloneta 465 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:43,400 Speaker 5: is a small town on the northern coast of Puerto 466 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,080 Speaker 5: Rico which was once home to one of the largest 467 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:55,680 Speaker 5: pharmaceutical complexes in the world. It was literally known as 468 00:29:55,720 --> 00:30:00,239 Speaker 5: the industrial city Las you Dad Industria. Over four teen 469 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:04,160 Speaker 5: pharmaceutical plants were established here, partly because of the purity 470 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:08,680 Speaker 5: and abundancy of its water reserves, but many of these 471 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:13,080 Speaker 5: pharmaceutical plants left Barceloneta after the federal government put an 472 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:16,920 Speaker 5: end to the tax incentives that had brought them there. Today, 473 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:21,240 Speaker 5: the groundwater is contaminated and the factories. 474 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:24,400 Speaker 10: Are empty to Barcelona. 475 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:32,920 Speaker 5: The When the companies left Barceloneta, many people lost their jobs, 476 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 5: jobs that Swani thinks were only possible because of the Illa. 477 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:48,840 Speaker 3: Statusca and Mibuelo from processor Inforted. 478 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:53,560 Speaker 5: For Swani, this was painful to watch. Barcelonea took a 479 00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:56,920 Speaker 5: hard hit after the factories left, and many of those 480 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:03,760 Speaker 5: who lost their jobs eventually left for the States. Perhaps 481 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:07,440 Speaker 5: this is why Swanny refuses to give up on the Ela. 482 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:10,560 Speaker 5: Accepting its death would be like accepting the death of 483 00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:15,880 Speaker 5: the hometown she knew and loved. When I talked to Swanni, 484 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 5: she cited all the classic catchphrases of the populares, like 485 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:23,040 Speaker 5: Puerto Rico as the bridge between the US and Latin 486 00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:26,760 Speaker 5: America and the importance of the US government providing protection 487 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:30,480 Speaker 5: in the case of natural disasters. She seemed earnest and 488 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:39,160 Speaker 5: sincere in these beliefs. But when she says that famous slogan, 489 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:42,680 Speaker 5: she says it with a laugh because she knows it's 490 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 5: a cliche and perhaps one that's harder and harder to 491 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:51,760 Speaker 5: believe in. And yet the alternatives independence or statehood are 492 00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:55,920 Speaker 5: unconvincing to her. For now, she prefers sticking with the 493 00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:59,920 Speaker 5: devil she knows, because she's unconvinced that new is no 494 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:01,040 Speaker 5: necessarily better. 495 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:09,000 Speaker 3: Kith alone Findelia on casanadani yoga. 496 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:09,440 Speaker 6: Come. 497 00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:16,520 Speaker 5: If Swanny's Barcelonetta is the symbol of abandoned industry, another town, 498 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:22,480 Speaker 5: Rio Pieiras, is the symbol of abandoned commerce. If you 499 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:25,560 Speaker 5: read a new story about Puerto Rico's debt crisis. You 500 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:28,200 Speaker 5: will most likely see it accompanied by a picture of 501 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:33,480 Speaker 5: Rio Piedra's desolate Baseo de Diego. This pedestrian mall used 502 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:37,600 Speaker 5: to be a bustling commercial district. Visitors from surrounding parts 503 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:40,520 Speaker 5: of the Caribbean would come and load upon goods to 504 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:44,959 Speaker 5: sell back home. My mom was a master seamstress and 505 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,960 Speaker 5: this was a primary destination for us when I was young. 506 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:51,240 Speaker 5: Every year we would do our back to school shopping, 507 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:54,680 Speaker 5: happily coming through the big boats of fabric at stores 508 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:58,600 Speaker 5: like Larivieira, where we would purchase fabric for a wholesomemester's 509 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:03,960 Speaker 5: worth of new handmade dresses. Now that's a long lost memory. 510 00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:07,560 Speaker 5: Most of those stores are shuttered and the few that 511 00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:13,800 Speaker 5: remain are struggling to survive. Alana and I were recently 512 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:16,360 Speaker 5: in Trea Peires at a time when it felt much 513 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:20,520 Speaker 5: more active. There was a caravana, a political rally where 514 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:23,280 Speaker 5: people get in their cars and drive around following a 515 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:27,600 Speaker 5: candidate during election season. We were asking folks there if 516 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:31,200 Speaker 5: the Ila had died, and one guy was quick to answer, 517 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:38,040 Speaker 5: he it never died, he said, because it was never born. 518 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:42,000 Speaker 5: He was there supporting a new movement in Puerto Rico 519 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:45,800 Speaker 5: that wants to stop talking about status and focus on 520 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:51,080 Speaker 5: other fundamental issues like government corruption, gender violence, and the 521 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:54,480 Speaker 5: need to audit the debt. The caravana was for the 522 00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:59,440 Speaker 5: campaign of a young politician named Manuel Natad. He narrowly 523 00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:02,120 Speaker 5: lost the used to be San Juan's mayor, and I 524 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:03,240 Speaker 5: mean narrowly. 525 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:04,760 Speaker 8: It wasn't just. 526 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:08,040 Speaker 5: A matter of a close margin. There's evidence that election 527 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:12,040 Speaker 5: officials botched the count. But even this near victory was 528 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:16,360 Speaker 5: astonishing given that Natal is from a brand new political party. 529 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:19,880 Speaker 5: So how would you define the elas. 530 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:24,560 Speaker 6: It was el makiyahe la colonia. It was a way 531 00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:29,480 Speaker 6: of putting a little bit of makeup on our colonial 532 00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:30,920 Speaker 6: relationship with the United. 533 00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:32,120 Speaker 8: States on the pig. 534 00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:35,799 Speaker 6: Yeah, the pig is the colony, not the people of what. 535 00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:40,600 Speaker 5: That that actually used to really believe in the elas 536 00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:44,480 Speaker 5: Like Swani, he comes from a family of popularis and 537 00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:47,600 Speaker 5: was once a rising star in the party, but a 538 00:34:47,640 --> 00:34:50,520 Speaker 5: few years ago he made a radical decision and became 539 00:34:50,640 --> 00:34:55,520 Speaker 5: an independent, citing corruption among his colleagues. Then, along with 540 00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:59,280 Speaker 5: other progressive leaders, he helped found a new political party 541 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:05,200 Speaker 5: called Vimiento Victoria Silana. Its members have different visions Many 542 00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:09,080 Speaker 5: are pro Independents, but some are pro Stahood and others 543 00:35:09,239 --> 00:35:14,000 Speaker 5: like natal Arsovianistas, meaning they want more local sovereignty while 544 00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:17,480 Speaker 5: still retaining their ties to the US. But they all 545 00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:21,640 Speaker 5: agree on one thing. The colonization is necessary, and we 546 00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:24,800 Speaker 5: need a new process for deciding which status we want. 547 00:35:26,239 --> 00:35:29,399 Speaker 5: For decades, the political parties in Puerto Rico have been 548 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:33,520 Speaker 5: organized around status options, and every couple of years we 549 00:35:33,719 --> 00:35:38,680 Speaker 5: undergo these performative votes that are described as plebiscites or referendums. 550 00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:42,200 Speaker 9: A majority of Puerto Rico's two and one half million 551 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:45,080 Speaker 9: people still live in the country, in the mountains and 552 00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:48,560 Speaker 9: in small rural towns like this. Now, for the first 553 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:51,120 Speaker 9: time in history, they have the opportunity to vote on 554 00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:52,040 Speaker 9: their own future. 555 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:55,520 Speaker 5: Back in the late sixties, when NBC was reporting on 556 00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:58,839 Speaker 5: the first plebiscite vote, they called out right away the 557 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:00,000 Speaker 5: irony of the spectam. 558 00:36:01,719 --> 00:36:04,920 Speaker 9: Most Puerto Ricans, even those who favor are Commonwealth, agree 559 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:08,480 Speaker 9: on one thing. This plebiscite is, at best only a 560 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:12,120 Speaker 9: temporary solution. The United States is not legally bound by 561 00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:14,359 Speaker 9: its results, and neither is Puerto Rico. 562 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:18,560 Speaker 5: At best, these are little more than opinion polls in 563 00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:21,800 Speaker 5: the most recent one last November. The state had optioned 564 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:25,200 Speaker 5: won by a slim margin, receiving fifty two percent of 565 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:29,399 Speaker 5: the vote's cast. But these plebiscites are non binding, they're 566 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:33,160 Speaker 5: not tied to any legislation, and have no support in Washington. 567 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:38,160 Speaker 5: They're basically another bluff. It's like, once again, we're getting 568 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:41,120 Speaker 5: in a car heading for the Hamptons, even though we 569 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:43,920 Speaker 5: all know there's no house at the end of the road. 570 00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:50,000 Speaker 6: Supposedly, Einstein define locura traciness as trying to do the 571 00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:54,080 Speaker 6: same thing over and over again and expecting different results. 572 00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:56,719 Speaker 6: And what we have tried in Puerto Rico, we have 573 00:36:56,840 --> 00:37:00,840 Speaker 6: tried the plebisites in which the political parties are the 574 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:04,000 Speaker 6: ones that lead the process on at the end of 575 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:08,160 Speaker 6: the day, nothing has happened. So what are our other alternatives. 576 00:37:08,719 --> 00:37:12,840 Speaker 5: Nata's party proposes one such alternative, what they call a 577 00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:17,719 Speaker 5: constitutional assembly, in which representatives of each political option could 578 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:21,600 Speaker 5: negotiate directly with Washington the terms of each status choice 579 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:25,960 Speaker 5: and what would this do? Ideally, it would bring concrete 580 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:30,799 Speaker 5: answers to enduring questions like would we have dual citizenship 581 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:35,400 Speaker 5: if we were independent? Would sounds like Barceloneta get tax 582 00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:39,560 Speaker 5: incentives for manufacturing under statehood, would we have access to 583 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:45,040 Speaker 5: federal programs like pelgrams as an associated republic? And maybe 584 00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:48,680 Speaker 5: the most delicate question, but also the most important one, 585 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:53,000 Speaker 5: would any of these options be tied to reparations for 586 00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:57,360 Speaker 5: over one hundred and twenty years of colonial rule. What 587 00:37:57,520 --> 00:38:01,040 Speaker 5: Nadal and others suggest is that the debates over status 588 00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:05,239 Speaker 5: have kept us from dealing with other fundamental questions in. 589 00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:07,320 Speaker 6: The country that we want to live, whether it's a state, 590 00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:10,840 Speaker 6: whether it is a free country, whether it's in association 591 00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:14,160 Speaker 6: with the United States. What's that society right? What does 592 00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:18,480 Speaker 6: it look like? It's said poverty and inequality that currently 593 00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:22,520 Speaker 6: represents most of our island. Is it a society in 594 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:27,120 Speaker 6: which there's prosperity and social equality? And that's I think 595 00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:30,520 Speaker 6: the discussion that more and more people are interested. 596 00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:33,960 Speaker 5: In having this idea is appealing to the many young 597 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:37,320 Speaker 5: people that have grown frustrated with the long standing impacts 598 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,960 Speaker 5: in Puerto Rican politics. These are the ones that marched 599 00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:43,280 Speaker 5: in the streets to house the governor in the summer 600 00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:47,160 Speaker 5: of twenty nineteen, and in this past election, they started 601 00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:51,520 Speaker 5: a viral voter registration campaign on social media. Among them 602 00:38:51,719 --> 00:38:55,560 Speaker 5: was my grandmother's favorite trap artist Bad Bunny, who officially 603 00:38:55,640 --> 00:39:00,359 Speaker 5: endorsed Natal. I started the pandemic, posting videos her on 604 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:04,640 Speaker 5: social media, joking that she was my influencer, but by 605 00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:07,640 Speaker 5: the time the political campaigns were in full swing, she 606 00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:10,799 Speaker 5: had become a bonafide social media sensation. 607 00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:15,440 Speaker 11: Ymea for Gambia. 608 00:39:19,239 --> 00:39:21,520 Speaker 5: I posted a video of her in a rocking chair 609 00:39:21,760 --> 00:39:23,879 Speaker 5: where I asked her how she was going to vote 610 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:27,200 Speaker 5: this time around. She surprised us all by saying that 611 00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:31,640 Speaker 5: she supported the pro independence candidate Juan dal Mao. The 612 00:39:31,719 --> 00:39:35,000 Speaker 5: conventional wisdom was that only young voters were supporting the 613 00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:38,920 Speaker 5: alternative candidates like Nadal and dal Mao, and that older 614 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:41,080 Speaker 5: voters were afraid of change. 615 00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:46,920 Speaker 8: To which she said bora. 616 00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:50,200 Speaker 5: Her video went viral, dal Mao even used it for 617 00:39:50,280 --> 00:39:53,480 Speaker 5: one of his TV spots, and then the morning shows 618 00:39:53,520 --> 00:40:02,240 Speaker 5: came calling. She then wrote and sang a political song 619 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:03,479 Speaker 5: that also took off. 620 00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:10,640 Speaker 3: Yes Yes So lesnik Cololo Jo Piero la patrian. 621 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:18,520 Speaker 5: Nueva, and the weekend before the election, dan Mao himself 622 00:40:18,640 --> 00:40:21,920 Speaker 5: actually came to visit her and brought her flowers, which 623 00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:30,240 Speaker 5: put her over the moon. After a lifetime of voting 624 00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:34,120 Speaker 5: for the Populares and of supporting the Ela. Her public 625 00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:38,720 Speaker 5: support of an independent Lista was surprising, but it doesn't 626 00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:40,840 Speaker 5: mean that she wants independence itself. 627 00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:44,200 Speaker 8: She told me she. 628 00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:46,960 Speaker 5: Voted for del Mao simply because she thought he would 629 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:50,680 Speaker 5: make a good governor. This might not sound revolutionary, but 630 00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:54,799 Speaker 5: in Puerto Rico it is as far as the status 631 00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:58,120 Speaker 5: She felt like that could be dealt with later into 632 00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:08,160 Speaker 5: So maybe her transformation isn't that radical. Like a good 633 00:41:08,239 --> 00:41:11,399 Speaker 5: popular she thinks we should just kick the status can 634 00:41:11,520 --> 00:41:15,239 Speaker 5: down the road, But a guy with that later. But 635 00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:18,160 Speaker 5: you know who is really kicking that status can down. 636 00:41:17,920 --> 00:41:19,600 Speaker 8: The road really hard? 637 00:41:19,960 --> 00:41:24,480 Speaker 5: All the time the US Congress, they refuse to commit 638 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:27,680 Speaker 5: to anything or to even speak clearly about why. It 639 00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:31,360 Speaker 5: insists on keeping Puerto Rico as an ambiguous transition land. 640 00:41:32,680 --> 00:41:33,880 Speaker 5: So where does that leave us? 641 00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:37,080 Speaker 8: Honestly, I don't. 642 00:41:36,840 --> 00:41:40,680 Speaker 5: Know, but I'm skeptical of all the options currently on 643 00:41:40,719 --> 00:41:45,200 Speaker 5: the table. For example, when I consider independence, I get 644 00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:49,040 Speaker 5: excited about the possibility of being our own country, but 645 00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:51,840 Speaker 5: then I look around at our neighbors in the Caribbean 646 00:41:52,360 --> 00:41:55,160 Speaker 5: and see that many have the same challenges. 647 00:41:54,600 --> 00:41:55,799 Speaker 8: As Puerto Rico. 648 00:41:56,160 --> 00:42:03,880 Speaker 5: Indebted economies, austerity, regimes, huge diasporas, the challenges of disaster recovery, 649 00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:09,440 Speaker 5: and battles over corruption. Independence is clearly not a silver bullet. 650 00:42:09,960 --> 00:42:15,040 Speaker 5: It doesn't guarantee sovereignty. Instead of battling the Fiscal Control Board, 651 00:42:15,239 --> 00:42:18,000 Speaker 5: we might end up battling the World Bank or the IMF. 652 00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:22,359 Speaker 8: But when I consider statehood, I think of. 653 00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:25,919 Speaker 5: Hawaii and how the native population there was shut out 654 00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:29,919 Speaker 5: of much of the prosperity and development that statehood supposedly 655 00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:33,360 Speaker 5: ushered in. Or I look at the movement for black 656 00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:37,120 Speaker 5: lives in the US and the discrimination suffered by people 657 00:42:37,160 --> 00:42:40,440 Speaker 5: of color in the States, and it makes me wonder 658 00:42:40,480 --> 00:42:44,319 Speaker 5: if anything other than second class citizenship will ever be 659 00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:45,319 Speaker 5: available to us. 660 00:42:46,360 --> 00:42:48,040 Speaker 8: So I end up back where we've. 661 00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:52,880 Speaker 5: Been for all these years, at an impasse. Yet something 662 00:42:52,960 --> 00:42:57,240 Speaker 5: feels different about the current moment. The science of change 663 00:42:57,360 --> 00:43:01,640 Speaker 5: might be subtle, but they're there in the ubiquity of 664 00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:05,400 Speaker 5: the black and white protest flags, in the dark lyrics 665 00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:09,080 Speaker 5: of a bad Bunny song, and in the transformations at 666 00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:14,640 Speaker 5: the ballot box as thousands moved towards alternative candidates. In 667 00:43:14,680 --> 00:43:17,480 Speaker 5: the end, I think the closest thing I've found to 668 00:43:17,520 --> 00:43:20,480 Speaker 5: an answer of what I want for us is something 669 00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:22,880 Speaker 5: my mom said one night, and she jumped into the 670 00:43:22,920 --> 00:43:27,080 Speaker 5: conversations with my grandmother, I'll. 671 00:43:26,880 --> 00:43:33,080 Speaker 11: Go different, okay, yesta, okay, yes, tafusion and un tiempo 672 00:43:33,440 --> 00:43:37,200 Speaker 11: pero jianciana, jano fuciana. 673 00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:41,960 Speaker 5: She said, something has to change because what we have 674 00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:45,400 Speaker 5: might have worked at one point, but it just doesn't 675 00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:46,160 Speaker 5: work anymore. 676 00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:54,600 Speaker 3: P the prio. 677 00:43:56,640 --> 00:44:00,400 Speaker 5: She wants something that doesn't yet exist, something with still 678 00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:04,200 Speaker 5: in the process of inventing, something we haven't thought of yet. 679 00:44:05,080 --> 00:44:06,320 Speaker 8: But this is the problem. 680 00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:10,200 Speaker 5: Among the many crises in Puerto Rico, there's also a 681 00:44:10,239 --> 00:44:14,000 Speaker 5: crisis of the imagination. We know that what we have 682 00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:19,040 Speaker 5: is not working, but we've been gasolt into fearing change, 683 00:44:19,320 --> 00:44:22,440 Speaker 5: and so I can only hope that this moment of 684 00:44:22,520 --> 00:44:29,080 Speaker 5: crisis can also be one of transformation. We saw it 685 00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:33,239 Speaker 5: during those massive protests in twenty nineteen, when thousands came 686 00:44:33,280 --> 00:44:38,280 Speaker 5: together shouting solmos mass in, no nemos milo, we're more 687 00:44:38,440 --> 00:44:43,160 Speaker 5: and we're not afraid. It's unclear what it means to 688 00:44:43,239 --> 00:44:46,840 Speaker 5: assert were more, but I'd like to think it means 689 00:44:46,920 --> 00:44:49,200 Speaker 5: that we're more than just the sum of our parts, 690 00:44:49,719 --> 00:44:52,800 Speaker 5: and that we can be more more than a transition 691 00:44:52,960 --> 00:44:58,000 Speaker 5: land or a disappointing compromise. So perhaps if the death 692 00:44:58,000 --> 00:45:01,480 Speaker 5: of the Ela and the end of the promises means anything, 693 00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:05,680 Speaker 5: it's the realization that the world we deserve is not 694 00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:10,960 Speaker 5: something that can be promised, conceded, or guaranteed, but it's 695 00:45:11,040 --> 00:45:14,319 Speaker 5: also not something that we can keep waiting for. 696 00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:38,640 Speaker 2: Yeri mad Bonilla is an anthropologist and professor at Hunter 697 00:45:38,760 --> 00:45:42,200 Speaker 2: College and at the City University of New York. She's 698 00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:46,080 Speaker 2: also co editor of Aftershocks of Disaster, Puerto Rico Before 699 00:45:46,120 --> 00:45:48,920 Speaker 2: and After the Storm, and a founder of the website 700 00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:52,600 Speaker 2: Puerto Rico Syllabus. La Brega is a co production of 701 00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:57,560 Speaker 2: WNYC Studios and Fuburo Studios. This episode was produced by 702 00:45:57,600 --> 00:46:02,240 Speaker 2: Mark baganro Riga Sandino and by Me. It was edited 703 00:46:02,320 --> 00:46:06,800 Speaker 2: by Me, Mark Bagan and Marlon Bishop. Engineering by Stephanie 704 00:46:06,840 --> 00:46:11,040 Speaker 2: lobau leah Sha Damren, Alisha ba Etube, Gabriel Lavayez and 705 00:46:11,160 --> 00:46:15,960 Speaker 2: Rosanna Kawan. Fact checking by Maria Solerad and Victor Ramos. 706 00:46:16,320 --> 00:46:19,640 Speaker 2: Original music for Labrega was composed by Balloon and our 707 00:46:19,680 --> 00:46:23,160 Speaker 2: theme song is by Ife. We had additional music from 708 00:46:23,200 --> 00:46:25,919 Speaker 2: Franki ra Yes and art for this piece was done 709 00:46:25,920 --> 00:46:30,279 Speaker 2: by Rossera Rodriguez. Leadership support for Labrega is provided by 710 00:46:30,320 --> 00:46:33,400 Speaker 2: the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation and the john S and 711 00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:37,880 Speaker 2: James all Knight Foundation, with additional support provided by Amy Liss. 712 00:46:38,880 --> 00:46:44,000 Speaker 2: Thanks also to Rafael Cox, Alomar Benhamindo, Recodai, Adrian Florrido 713 00:46:44,320 --> 00:46:49,160 Speaker 2: and Sophia Gayisa Moriente. Thank you for listening and Asta. 714 00:46:48,920 --> 00:46:56,279 Speaker 7: Labrosima Latino USA is made possible in part by the 715 00:46:56,360 --> 00:47:02,439 Speaker 7: Heising Simons Foundation. Unlocking knowledge, opportunit tunity and possibilities more 716 00:47:02,600 --> 00:47:07,040 Speaker 7: at hsfoundation dot org, the John D. And Catherine T. 717 00:47:07,200 --> 00:47:13,440 Speaker 7: MacArthur Foundation, and the Ford Foundation, working with visionaries on 718 00:47:13,480 --> 00:47:15,799 Speaker 7: the front lines of social change worldwide.