Debt and Social Crisis in a U.S. Colony

The Puerto Rican debt crisis long predates the disaster of Hurricane María. It began in 2006 with decisions by the U.S. Federal Government to change taxation laws affecting investment in Puerto Rico. These changes have produced massive disinvestment, flight of capital, soaring unemployment, out-migration, and the reduction of the capacity of the Island’s government to pay its debt. This study examines the developing resistance to the payment of the debt and to the attempts of the government to make working people pay for a crisis that was actually generated in Washington.

A summary of the activities that took place at Jornada Latinoamericana y Caribeña Contra las Deudas Ilégitimas on December 2-8, 2018 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, an international meeting of activists against illegitimate debts, can be found here.

Read >> El Despoblamiento de Puerto Rico (Published July 24, 2020)

Read >> Puerto Rico: Un Pueblo Diaspórico (Published July 10, 2020)

Read >> Made in the USA: The Crisis in Puerto Rico and the Resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló (Published August 6, 2019)

Watch >> The Fight for the Political Soul of Puerto Rico (Published August 2, 2019)

Read >> “Fabricada en EEUU”: La Crisis en Puerto Rico y la Renuncia del Gobernador Ricardo Roselló (Published August 1, 2019)

Read >> Behind Puerto Rico’s Debt, Corporations That Drain Profits from the Island (Published December 10, 2018)