“Solo el Pueblo Salva al Pueblo”
(“Only the People Can Save the People”): Mutual Aid in Puerto Rico and a just transition to a post-capitalist economy
By Camile Roldán Soto, Jorge Díaz and Deymirie Hernández (for AgitArte), Berhan Taye,
N’Deye Diakhate, Sasha Costanza-Chock, Verónica Dávila De Jesús, and Annie Wu /
January 2025.
In the wake of Hurricanes Irma and María in 2017, Puerto Rico’s mutual aid networks became essential as government responses proved inadequate. This report, based on interviews with ten community-based organizations across the archipelago, explores how mutual aid plays a pivotal role in Puerto Rico, not only in addressing crises but also in envisioning a postcapitalist, decolonized future. It concludes with a set of recommendations focused on supporting decolonization of Puerto Rico, moving resources to the community controlled María Fund, and supporting infrastructure that helps move land and buildings out of the speculative market into community control.
This report was originally commissioned to produce a set of learnings for One Project’s internal strategy. Since then, One Project and AgitArte agreed to produce an external version to share insights that may be of use to fellow funders and the broader network of communities working on mutual aid in Puerto Rico.
