“The Battle for Paradise”: Naomi Klein on Disaster Capitalism & the Fight for Puerto Rico’s Future

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Links to today’s show transcripts:

“The Battle for Paradise”: Naomi Klein on Disaster Capitalism & the Fight for Puerto Rico’s Future
Six months since Hurricane Maria battered the island of Puerto Rico, the island is the site of a pitched battle between wealthy investors—particularly from the technology industry—and everyday Puerto Ricans fighting for a place in their island’s future. The Puerto Rican government has pushed for a series of privatization schemes, including privatizing PREPA, one of the largest public power providers in the United States, and increasing the number of privately run charter schools and private school vouchers. Best-selling author and journalist Naomi Klein is author of “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.” Her latest piece for The Intercept, where she is a senior correspondent, is “The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Ricans and Ultrarich ‘Puertopians’ Are Locked in a Pitched Struggle over How to Remake the Island.”

Six Months After Maria, Residents Resist Efforts to Turn Island into Privatized Bitcoin Playground
On Monday, teachers across the island held a one-day strike to protest the plans to privatize the education system on Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Roselló is pushing for privately run charter schools and private school vouchers. Yarimar Bonilla is an associate professor of anthropology and Caribbean studies at Rutgers University and a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation. Her latest piece in The Nation is titled “6 Months After Maria, Puerto Ricans Face a New Threat—Education Reform.”

After Maria, Puerto Ricans Cultivate Food Sovereignty While FEMA Delivered Skittles & Cheez-Its
An upcoming video produced by The Intercept follows Naomi Klein on her recent trip to Puerto Rico. Some of the people she speaks with include two environmental activists, Jesús Vázquez and Katia Avilés, who talk about food security after Hurricane Maria.

jan12-2018

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One thought on ““The Battle for Paradise”: Naomi Klein on Disaster Capitalism & the Fight for Puerto Rico’s Future”

  1. Amanda Painter

    For anyone who is interested, I recently received this reply from a young woman who has been directly involved in bringing aid to people in Puerto Rico. Her work was brought to my attention through a “friend of a friend” connection via my friend Marcy Michaud Franck (I’d posted to PW in 2016 her blog posts about Marcy’s trip to assist Syrian refugees in Greece).

    You can see Rosana Guernica’s ongoing GoFundMe campaign here:
    https://www.youcaring.com/victimsofhurricanemariainpuertorico-964958

    Here is her email to me, in full, in which she describes current efforts with Warrior Angles Rescue:

    Hi Amanda,

    Thank you for reaching out and for keeping Puerto Rico and it’s people in your hearts. I was very angry as well, believe me. But I was able
    to use that anger to fuel the work my team and I were able to do. Hurricane Maria showed us the worst parts of our society and government, but it also showed us the best in people and their communities.

    Our last mission was in mid December. We chartered private planes because private aviation was the only way in and out of the island for months after Maria. Even when the commercial airport was operating again, there were many people who needed to leave who we’re too ill to travel commercially. Unfortunately by what became our last flight, there were many people who were in too delicate of a condition for us to fly out, even with attending paramedics and physicians. We helped everyone that we could.

    Since then we have been helping to island in other ways, from funding the installation of solar panels on top of hospitals to helping evacuees find the resources they need in the mainland.

    Currently, I am helping a family, who evacuated after the hurricane, get back home. They left because their two girls have microcephaly and other health complications, they were unable to receive the medical attention they needed on the island at that time. Now that their area has stabilized, they are trying to return to their home in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Due to the girls condition, their bodies are contorted and they are bed ridden. Therefor they are unable to fly commercially. They were evacuated by warrior angels rescue, who flew them out on a private charter similar to the ones my team and I used.

    I have been able to secure a jet to fly them from Orlando to Puerto Rico this Saturday. I am still missing $3,500 to pay off the plane (total cost is $17,500. These two girls, their family and I, would appreciate any donation you are able to make. It would mean a lot to me if you could also share their story with your network and encourage your friends and family to donate. Please let me know if you are able to help or have any questions. I’ve attached a one sheet with the girls story.

    Best
    Rosana

    ↓

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