Section 6
Resistance and New Imaginaries
The varied ways in which Puerto Ricans—on the island and abroad—have challenged the Fiscal Oversight Board and policies of austerity.
Citizens have organized themselves,
for example, to protest the first scheduled conference of the Board for the Puerto Rico Oversight Management and Economic Stability Act. However, there are also various newly-formed activist groups, such as Campamento Contra la Junta, #SeAcabaronLasPromesas, and Frente Ciudadano por la Auditroía de la Deuda. One unit refers to this last group’s dedication to accomplishing a citizen-led debt audit, their protests, and their confrontations with the police.
The University of Puerto Rico, a historically powerful source of protest, is particularly vulnerable to austerity measures since most of its funding comes from the government. The Fiscal Oversight Board’s threats of drastically reducing the university’s budget propelled the students into a two-month strike. Another unit surveys the students’ demands and negotiations, their role in the general political struggle on the Island, and the way in which their tactics provoked criticism from other students and from different sectors of society.
Outside the Island, The Puerto Rico Diaspora Summit, which has its own unit, brought academics, politicians, and activists together to organize the Diaspora and find solutions to the Island’s economic struggles. Although artists are involved in many of these groups, one unit focuses specifically on how they have used their craft to underscore the experiences and crises Puerto Ricans endure and to challenge the colonial relationship between the Island and the US.
Disaster Literature

Archives of Indebtedness
Marta Aponte Alsina, PR 3 Aguirre. Sopa de Letras, 2018.
Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro, Las Negras, Editora Educación Emergente, 2016.
Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa, A Woman of Endurance, Harper Collins, 2022.
Carlos Manuel Rivera-Rosado, Cocobalé Danza de Guerra: Relatos Cimarrones del Caribe y América, Auto-publicado, 2019.
Mayra Santos-Febres, Boat People, Callejón, 2005. Translation by Vanessa Pérez-Rosario.
Marisel Vera, The Taste of Sugar: A Novel, Liveright, 2020.
Dystopian/ Utopian Realities
Edgardo Miranda-Rodríguez, et al., Ricanstruction: Reminiscing and Rebuilding Puerto Rico. Somos Arte, 2018.
Juan Carlos Quiñones, “Bar Schopenhauer.” Ediciones Une, 2015.
Juan López Bauzá, Barataria. Libros AC, 2012.
Juan Lopez Bauzá, El resplandor de Luzbella. Planeta, 2018.
Pedro Cabiya, Tercer Mundo. Zemí, 2019.
Luis Negrón, Mundo Cruel. Libros AC, 2010.
Luis Othoniel Rosa, Caja de Fractales.Entropia, 2013.
Marta Aponte Alsina, Somos Islas: ensayos de camino. Educación Emergente, 2015.
The Colonial Quotidian
Bonafide Rojas, Notes on the Return to the Island. Grand Concourse Press, 2017.
Carla Rodríguez and Rosa Colón Guerra “Goodbye, For Now.” Soda Pop Comics, 2016.
Cezanne Cardona Morales, Levittown mon amour. Ediciones Callejón, 2018.
Christian Ibarra, “La Ola.” 80 grados, July 1, 2016.
Christian Ibarra, Ventanas. Libros AC, 2017.
Elidio La Torre, “natural disaster #2: wooden fish ears.” The American Poetry Journal, Issue 15, December 2017.
Francisco Félix, Esta Isla. Alayubia, 2019.
Juan Lopez Bauza, El mar de Azov. Libros AC, 2016.
Loretta Collins Klobah, Ricantations. Peepal Tree Press, 2018.
Mara Pastor, Poemas para fomentar el turismo. La Secta de los Perros, 2012.
Martín Espada, “Mad Love,” Vivas to Those Who Have Failed: Poems, W. W. Norton & Company, 2017.
Vita Ayala, Puerto Rico Strong: A Comics Anthology Supporting Puerto Rico Disaster.
Diamond, 2018.
Mayra Santos-Febres, editor, San Juan Noir. Akashic Books, 2016.
Sergio Gutiérrez Negrón, Dicen que los dormidos. 3rd edition, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, 2017.
Sofia Irene Cardona, Mari Mari Narvaez, Ana Teresa Perez Leroux, Vanessa Vilches Norat, Del desorden habitual de las cosas. Capicúa, 2015.
This text compiles writings that these four authors published in the newspaper Claridad. These texts invite readers to find new solutions for quotidian problems and, therefore, imagine new futures for Puerto Rico. Some topics include the power of literature, the crucial role of young people, and resistance at the individual and collective level.Xavier Valcarcel, Restos de lumbre y despedida. Erizo Editorial, 2012.
The Hurricane Doesn’t Roar in Pentameter
Ana Portnoy, “Minister Puerto Rico Preaches to Caribbean After Hurricane Irma.” Kweli, December 1, 2017.
Ana Portnoy, “To Julia Keleher, Puerto Rico’s Secretary of Education, who was on the same American Airlines flight as me four months after Hurricane María.” Voces desde Puerto Rico/Voices from Puerto Rico, Red Sugarcane Press, 2019.
Ángeles Molina Iturrondo, “Contar los muertos.” 80 grados, June 22, 2018.
Beatriz Llenín-Figueroa, “Quiso ser un diario de huracán, pero no pudo.” Ahora la turba, October 25, 2017.
COMIC BOOK: Rangely J. Garcia Colón, “Ave María A comic Diary of Category 5 Catastrophe”
Denice Frohman, “& mommy says throw me in the river when I’m dead.” The Acentos Review, February 2018.
E. S. Ortiz González. Estrategias de combate. Instituto de Cultura, 2017.
Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá, “Simplemente María.” El Nuevo Día, October 7, 2017.
Elidio La Torre, “natural disaster #2: wooden fish ears.” The American Poetry Journal, Issue 15, December 2017.
Gemma Sou, After Maria: Everyday Recovery from Disaster.
Guillermo Rebollo Gil, “Cosas que aprendí después del huracán.” Ahora la turba, October 11, 2017.
Mayra Santos-Febres, Huracanada. Trabalis, 2018.
Mayra Santos-Febres, editor, Cuentos de Huracán. Festival de la Palabra, 2018. (forthcoming)
Lucia Orsanic and Jorge Fusaro Martinez, Pa’ la posteridá: Antología sobre el paso del huracán María por Puerto Rico. Ediciones Flamboyán, 2018.
Raquel Salas Rivera, Erica Mena, Ricardo Alberto Maldonado, and Carina del Valle, editors, Puerto Rico en mi corazón. Anomalous Press.
Rima Brusi, “Lo que no contamos.“ 80 grados, December 15, 2017.
Rosa Colón, “Hurricane Maria’s Real Toll: Nobody knows exactly how many people were killed, but it’s more than the government says.” The Nib, 5 June 2018.
Rosaura Rodríguez, Temporada. 2018. Extreme Graphics. Naguabo, Puerto Rico, 2022.
Sofía Irene Cardona, “Volver a casa.” 80 grados, August 24, 2018.
Xavier Valcárcel, Aterrizar no es regreso. Ediciones Alayubia, 2019.
Fictional Debt
Ariadna Godreau Aubert, Las Propias: Apuntes para una pedagogía de las endeudadas. Educación Emergente, 2018.
Christian Ibarra, “Apagar con gasolina un fuego.” 80 grados, April 4, 2014.
Francisco Font Acevedo, La troupe Samsonite. Folium, 2016.
Gegman Lee and Félix Meléndez, editors. Libro de la promesa. Ediciones Alayubia, 2016.
Guillermo Rebollo Gil, Amigos en todas partes: En defensa de los agitadores. Educación Emergente, 2016.
Guillermo Rebollo Gil, Writing Puerto Rico: Our Decolonial Moment. Palgrave Pivot, 2018.
Julio César Pol, “A la mitad.“ 80 grados, April 22, 2018.
Omar Banuchi and Ed Morales, “A Cartoon History of Colonialism in Puerto Rico,” The Village Voice, March 19, 2018.
Raquel Salas-Rivera, Lo terciario/The Tertiary. Timeless Infinite Light, 2018.
Rima Brusi, “Entre La Bicha y la pared,” 80 grados, April 20, 2018.
Sergio Gutierrez Negron, Los días hábiles, Planeta, 2020.
Vanessa Vilches Norat, Geografías de lo perdido. Ediciones Callejón, 2018.
Xavier Valcárcel, “América esto es apenas un poema.” 80 grados, June 3, 2016.
“Se acabaron las promesas:” Disrupting PROMESA
Ana Gabriela Calderón, “Puerto Ricans’ Struggle Against US-Imposed Austerity Heats Up,” Global Voices, September 11, 2016.
Jhoni Jackson, “Young Boricuas Have Been Camped Out For a Month Protesting PROMESA. Meet the Faces Behind the Movement,” Remezcla, July 27, 2016.
Mario Mercado Diaz, “Puerto Ricans’ Response to the Economic Crisis Rooted in Misinformation and Frustration,” CounterPunch, August 9, 2016.
Luna Olavarría Gallegos, “Puerto Rican Activists Shut Down the First Scheduled PROMESA Conference in San Juan,” Remezcla, August 31, 2016.
Gabriela Ortiz Díaz, “Las Victorias de la jornada: Se acabaron las Promesas,” Claridad, September 6, 2016.
Adriana De Jesús Salamán, “Mujeres lucharán en contra de la austeridad en Puerto Rico,” NotiCel, June 3, 2017
Eliván Martínez Mercado, “Tanto apretar hasta que explota el paro general,” Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, April 30, 2017.
Alejandra Rosa, “Las nubes del 1 de Mayo,” Diálogo, May 2, 2017.
Patricia Mazzei, “Protest in Puerto Rico Over Austerity Measures Ends in Tear Gas,” New York Times, May 1, 2018. Bárbara Figueroa Rosa, “La indignación del pueblo se dejó sentir en el paro nacional,” El Nuevo Día, May 1, 2018.This article covers the protest by the Puerto Rican people against the austerity measures taken by la Junta. The protest, which took place on International Workers Day, began early in the morning at the “Golden Mile”, nearby the offices of the board. The protest included children, adults and pensioners, all voicing their displeasure of the board and the complicit government which allows the board to enact their decisions on the island’s people.
Leysa Caro González, “Human Rights Organizations Question Police Action,” El Nuevo Día, May 3, 2018. Spanish version.
Gloria Ruiz Kuilan, Presentan un proyecto para que se consulte al pueblo la eliminación de la Junta,” El Nuevo Día, August 16, 2018.
Evelyn Dean-Olmsted and Isabel Rivera-Collazo, “From the Golden Mile to the Blacker Barrios: The Geography of Intimidation,” AAA Blog, May 16, 2018.
PRIMARY SOURCES AND MULTIMEDIA:
“Propuesta de la Colectiva Feminista en Construcción al pueblo de Puerto Rico,“ 80 Grados, May 5, 2017
Perla Rodriguez, “Las caras detrás del #CampamentoContraLaJunta,” Diálogo, July 23, 2016.
“Protests Erupt in San Juan as Obama Forms Unelected Control Board to Run Puerto Rico,” Democracy Now, September 1, 2016.
“The Puerto Rico Fiscal Board Meeting Video You Very Likely Haven’t Seen Yet” Latino Rebels October 01, 2016
Paro nacional en vídeos Primera Hora May 1, 2017
Diaspora Summit: United Against Austerity
Angelo Falcón, “The Puerto Rico Crisis: A Diasporic Update,” The NiLP Report, March 15, 2015.
Susanne Ramírez de Arellano, “Island, Mainland Puerto Ricans Gather to Draft Plan of Action,” NBC News, April 25, 2016.
Gabriela Sierra Alonso, “Puerto Rico Puerto Ricans: Diaspora Summit Unites Puerto Ricans to Face Crisis As One,” Centro Voces (2016).
José A. Delgado, “The diaspora advocates for debt relief,” El Nuevo Día, May 13, 2017.
PRIMARY SOURCES AND MULTIMEDIA:
Diaspora Summit Website (view schedule and video of events)
“No es luto, es resistencia:” Artists Respond

Ivette Feliciano, “‘I will fight for my island’ — Puerto Rican artists on territory’s future,” PBS Newshour, March 18, 2017.
Odalis Garcia, Giovanni Cortez, and Eva Scazzero, “¿Y Ahora Que? — Artists respond to the economic crisis in Puerto Rico,” Medium, December 11, 2016.
Max Haiven, “Black Flags and Debt Resistance in America’s Oldest Colony,” Roar, August 2, 2016.
Jhnoni Jackson, “Powerful Photo Series ‘Puerto Ricans Underwater’ is a Biting Metaphor For an Island Drowning in Debt,” Remezcla, November 28, 2016.
Raquel Reichard, “How Puerto Rican Artist Lester Rey is Fighting PROMESA through Music,” Latina, November 28, 2016.
Andrew S. Vargas “All-Female Puerto Rican Art Collective Moriviví Recreated Controversial “Puerta de La Bandera” Protest Art in NYC” Remezcla, July 26, 2016.
Marlena Fitzpatrick “Miguel Luciano Cycles through Puerto Rico’s Colonial History in ‘Ride or Die‘” Mono Magazine March 2, 2017.
Jessica Ríos Viner, “La ‘Resistencia boricua’ llega al Desfile Puertorriqueño en Nueva York,” El Nuevo Día, June 8, 2017.
PRIMARY SOURCES AND MULTIMEDIA:
Joseph Rodriguez, “Turning Puerto Rico’s Lament into Hope,” New York Times, August 21, 2015.
Edwin J. Torres, “Portraits of Resilience: Puerto Rican millennials face economic meltdown with a spirit of pa’lante,” The Ground Truth Project, March 1, 2016.
Colectivo La Puerta, “Un llamado a la solidaridad” (artist’s statement) July 7, 2016.
Transferencias electrónicas (un Poemario gratuito a la medida de la crisis)
“La UPR no se vende, se defiende:” The Battle for the University of Puerto Rico
Frances Robles, “Puerto Rico’s University Is Paralyzed by Protests and Facing Huge Cuts,” New York Times, May 25, 2017.
Juan C. Dávila, “Students Of Puerto Rico Lead Resistance Against PROMESA,” Huffington Post, April 9, 2017.
José Laguarta, “Pensar la huelga,” 80 Grados, April 7, 2017.
José Caraballo Cueto “UPR: mitos y realidades,” 80 Grados, April 7, 2017.
Ed Morales “Students Are Now Leading the Resistance to Austerity in Puerto Rico” The Nation, April 27, 2017.
Francisco J. Fortuño Bernier, “Cerrar para abrir:” Puerto Rican Student Struggles and the Crisis of Colonial-Capitalism,” Viewpoint Magazine, April 27, 2017.
José Karlo Pagán Negrón, “Huelga 2017: 72 días en defensa de la UPR,” Diálogo UPR, June 8, 2017.
José Karlo Pagán Negrón, “Se acabó la huelga en la UPR de Río Piedras,” Diálogo UPR, June 5, 2017.
“Cara a cara estudiantes de UPR y Junta de Control Fiscal,” Diálogo, March 28, 2018.
Joanisabel González, “El dilema de endeudarse para aprender,” El Nuevo Día, August 12, 2018.
Héctor J. Huyke, “Golpe a una generación intelectual,” El Nuevo Día, August 7, 2018.
Luis A. López Díaz, “La universidad que nos dejará el plan fiscal de la UPR,” UPR Diálogo, March 27, 2018.
STATEMENTS OF SOLIDARITY AND SUPPORT:
“In Solidarity with the UPR Student Movement,” 80 Grados, April 6, 2017.
“Letter from Rutgers Faculty, Alumni, Staff, and Students in Solidarity of the UPR Student Movement” (2017).
PAReS, “PAReS en defensa de una universidad pública,” April 20, 2017.
Rita Perez-Padilla, Mobey Irizarry Lambright, and Andrés González “Oberlin Stands in Solidarity with University of Puerto Rico” Oberlin Review May 5, 2017.
Puerto Rican Faculty in the Diaspora, “Open Letter In Solidarity with the University of Puerto Rico,” 80 Grados, April 30, 2017.
FURTHER READING:
María de Lourdes Vaello Calderón, “Una lucha por la Universidad y el País,” El Nuevo Día, April 1, 2017.
“Universidad de Puerto Rico es también un motor de la economía y el bienestar social” 80 grados, April 14, 2017
Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera, “Weaponizing Accreditation,” Jacobin, May 24, 2017.
Nydia Bauzá, ”Profesor Fernando Picó hace llamado a continuar el diálogo,” Primera Hora, May 8, 2017.
José Encarnación, “Huelga UPR: ¿por qué finalizó y hacia dónde va la lucha estudiantil?,” Diálogo UPR, June 11, 2017.
Benjamin Torres Gotay “La Universidad del Norte” El Nuevo Dia May 28, 2017.
(For comprehensive coverage of the 2017 UPR strike against austerity see Pulso Estudiantil, a student run news collective.)
#AuditoríaYa!: The Fight to Audit the Debt
Noticel. “Nace campaña educativa sobre la deuda caribeña,” NotiCel, September 20, 2019.
Kate Aronoff and Alleen Brown. “Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez Call for Reversal of Puerto Rico Austerity Measures.” The Intercept, September 23, 2019.
Camille Alexandra Padilla Dalmau. “Caribbean Activists Call for Regional Unity and Debt Reparations.” Latino Rebels, September 23, 2019.
Luis José Torres Asencio. “La Junta Nunca Auditó la Deuda.” El Nuevo Diá, September 25, 2019.
Carla M. Pérez Meléndez, “Encuesta revela apoyo a la auditoría de la deuda,” Diálogo, April 4, 2017.
“Inicia jornada de acciones ciudadanas por la auditoría de la deuda,” 80 Grados, April 17, 2017.
Leysa Caro González, “Aprueban a viva voz derogar comisión que examinaría la deuda pública,” El Nuevo Dia, April 18, 2017.
“La auditoría va, ¡pero ciudadana!” 80 Grados, April 20, 2017.
Carlos Esteban Cana, “Puerto Ricans Hold a ‘Vigil for Light and Truth’ to Demand an Audit of Public Debt,” Global Voices, April 20, 2017.
Sadot Santana Miranda, “Choque durante protesta en reclamo por auditoría de la deuda,” Diálogo, April 19, 2017.
José A. Delgado, “Calls to audit debt made,” El Nuevo Día, May 3, 2017.
Luis J. Valentín Ortiz, “Retrasada la auditoría de la Junta, mientras coge impulso la negociación de la deuda,” 80 grados, June 12, 2018.
Hedge Clippers, “The Golden Revolving Door,” HedgePapers No. 61, August 21, 2018.
Melissa Correa Velázquez, “Protesta en reclamo de la auditoría de la deuda pública,” El Vocero, July 25, 2018.
Luis José Torres Asencio, “La auditoría, el derecho a saber y las políticas del dolor,” 80 grados, July 13, 2018.
Joanisabel González, “Publican reporte sobre la investigación de la deuda,” El Nuevo Día, August 20, 2018.
Javier Colón Dávila, “Juez se reserva fallo en petición hecha para ver documentos de la deuda del país,” El Nuevo Día, August 24, 2018.
Video: Julio Rivera Saniel. “Realizan Asamblea para Retomar Agenda de la Auditoría de la Deuda.” September 2019.
FURTHER READING:
Comisión para la Auditoría Integral del Crédito Público, “Pre-Audit Survey Report” (2016).
Comisión para la Auditoría Integral del Crédito Público, “Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority: Power Revenue Bonds, Series 2013A” (2016)
Katefrans Flores Sanabria, “Razones por las que no se audita la deuda pública,” Índice, April 19, 2017.
Velázquez, Nydia M., “OPINION: Puerto Rico’s debt must be audited now,” The Hill, June 7, 2017.
VIDEO: “Puerto Rico: En Busca de la Verdad,” Frente Ciudadano por la Auditoría de la Deuda, March 7, 2017.
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