Demand for 'Just Recovery' Battles 'Shock Doctrine' in Puerto Rico

In a piece receiving applause from those demanding a "just recovery" for Puerto Rico, Elizabeth Yeampierre and Naomi Klein report that even as "shock doctrine" tactics are already being deployed on the storm-ravaged island there is also a localized resistance to such strategies and a vision among Puerto Ricans of the future they now want to realize.

"It's a vision for an island where people are not saved by benevolent outsiders, but are given the tools to become true partners and save themselves. An island where the people of Puerto Rico transition rapidly to renewable power -- and claim their full political power at the same time."

Despite the ongoing crisis and widely derided response of President Donald Trump, "there is some good news," write Klein, a journalist and activist, and Yeampierre, executive director of UPROSE and co-chair of the Climate Justice Alliance, for The Intercept on Friday.

And that good news, they write, is that "Puerto Ricans are wise to shock doctrine tactics. They know all too well that their island's debt crisis, fueled by Wall Street's hunger for tax-exempt bonds, was systematically exploited to extract brutal 'reforms' from workers and students who played no part in driving up the debt. They know that the debt crisis was used to strip Puerto Ricans of their most basic democratic rights, putting the island's finances in the hands of an unelected Financial Oversight and Management Board -- referred to locally as 'La Junta.'"

And the additional good news, they continue is that because of this awareness, there is a much more robust effort to fight back even as the "disaster capitalists" circle the islands looking for new prey.

"Under the banner of a 'just recovery' for Puerto Rico," they write, "thousands have come together to design a bold and holistic plan for the island to be rebuilt as a beacon for a safe, resilient, and thriving society in the era of accelerating climate chaos, spiraling economic inequality, and rising white nationalism."

From transforming the nation's energy system to overhauling its agriculture sector, the storm is acting as a catalyst for progressive change while community members erect barriers against further exploitation.

In turn--both in collective awareness and in action--the people of Puerto Rico, they conclude, are manifesting a "vision for an island where people are not saved by benevolent outsiders, but are given the tools to become true partners and save themselves. An island where the people of Puerto Rico transition rapidly to renewable power -- and claim their full political power at the same time."

For more, read the full article at The Intercept.