By David Brooks and Jim Cason on September 8, 2025
José La Luz is an activist with the new party project called Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana (Citizen Victory Movement)
Following a severe crisis that continues to deepen, new generations of islanders are seeking to free themselves from US control, which requires the creation of a broad front that differs from the two existing political parties. For the veteran defender of workers, it is gratifying that young artists—such as singers Bad Bunny and Residente—are part of a new movement, although the challenge remains to educate those who work in that nation and suffer from the austerity measures imposed by the continental government through another Fiscal Control Board.
New York and Washington. In Puerto Rico, an anti-colonialist movement is being reborn with a new generation and a new rhythm that confronts policies of submission to vulture funds, dispossession, gentrification driven by land and housing speculators, and the continuation of nearly 130 years of U.S. colonization, says José La Luz Díaz in an interview with La Jornada.
The veteran trade unionist, political organizer, and popular educator with a long history of social and electoral struggles within the United States and his country, as a key figure in various solidarity movements on the American continent—always a realistic optimist—is enthusiastic about the immediate future of Puerto Rico, which has been in an increasingly severe crisis for years.
A new anti-colonialist movement is emerging, led by social, cultural, and political forces, including the Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana (Citizen Victory Movement), of which he is a member. “There are emerging forces, mostly young people, who are joining this movement. There is a need to build a broad front, known as the Alianza País (Country Alliance), similar to what was done in Colombia and Uruguay, among others.”
This is not a new invention: “Everything we have learned from the trials and tribulations of our American continent has been applied. There were dialogues with colleagues from Latin America, which refined the criteria for the need to build this broad alliance.”
And in this movement, he emphasizes, there is increasingly dynamic participation. “Since 1952, there had not been such a high level of participation by progressive forces on this Caribbean island” as was expressed in the 2024 elections and, since then, in the construction of an anti-colonial force.
The influence of music
One of the surprising factors in this new movement is the figure of Bad Bunny, who is now in the middle of a series of 30 mega-concerts on the island and is an international musical phenomenon. “This young man, who until recently was insulting half the world with his songs and music, has now become an important figure in sponsoring the growth of this movement, not only from his cultural and musical platform, but also with money to hire people to organize the movement. And the most recent addition is Residente, where I know for a fact that people of our generation are involved with their sons, daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters. And it’s a phenomenon that will give us much more strength.” He specifically mentions his song “Lo que le pasó a Hawái” (What Happened to Hawaii), which illustrates what is happening in Puerto Rico (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouuPSxE1hK4&list= RDouuPSxE1hK4&start_radio=1). He attributes part of Bad Bunny’s evolution of consciousness to Puerto Rican musician René Pérez, Residente.
Regarding the new movement, “the other element is this dynamic relationship with the Puerto Rican diaspora. There are only 3 or 3.4 million people left on the island, while in the United States there are more than 8 million. In other words, the vast majority of our people live here in the diaspora.” In this context, he highlights the importance of U.S. politicians of Puerto Rican origin, such as Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who are supporting this new movement.
La Luz reports that he was recently elected by Victoria Ciudadana as one of the representatives of that diaspora. “The challenge we face is how to educate our comrades that this—the work within the United States—has strategic importance, that it is not only useful for raising funds, which is how many of our parties in Latin America see us here. We have to organize in a binational, transnational, and cross-border way, if you will.” But unlike all the others, Puerto Rican immigrants arrive with something unique: the right to vote; and unlike their compatriots on the island, they can vote for president and federal legislators if they reside within the United States.
Bankruptcy management
Returning to Puerto Rico, La Luz reiterates that this new movement arises in part as “a response to this terrible austerity project that has been in place for almost two decades, the island’s government had declared bankruptcy, and a territorial bankruptcy law had been passed in Washington during Barack Obama’s administration, because as it is not a state of the Union, it does not have the power to file for bankruptcy, and that is why it is determined in Washington.”
That is why the U.S. government imposed the Fiscal Control Board, known as “La Junta,” which is in charge of managing the financial crisis “and effectively governs the island.”
For almost a decade, that board has imposed a policy of austerity and privatization of public services, including the electricity sector and the closure of schools. Critics point out that Puerto Rico’s economy is now at the service of so-called “vulture funds” that control its debt and investors who exploit the island’s resources.
In early August, President Donald Trump fired five of the seven heads of La Junta with the aim of selecting people loyal only to him. Analysts predict more of the same, but worse, in the management of the island.
For La Luz, above all else is “the importance of building a mass movement to be able to face an increasingly savage onslaught.” “Obviously, the two main colonial parties are the New Progressive Party, which is neither new nor progressive, and the Popular Democratic Party, which is neither popular nor democratic. It’s the combination of the two. It’s like the PRI and PRD parties in Mexico, right? And the PAN,” she said. In fact, the island’s governor is a co-founder of Latinas for Trump.
“But at this juncture, there is a resurgence, a rebirth, of progressive forces that are not exactly all in favor of sovereignty or independence, because many favor a project to decolonize the country… and many of those who were already participating in the construction of that movement are also building this new party, Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana.”
For those who consider themselves independence supporters, he added, “the problem is that in order to understand the need for sovereignty, you first have to understand that this is a colony and it must be decolonized. And decolonization means that people must rid themselves of the colonized way of seeing things.”
Furthermore, he adds, a movement cannot limit itself to opposing a project such as the one imposed on the island, but must propose an alternative. “And that is where the experience that can be learned from other movements in other countries will be fundamental” in confronting, among other things, so-called colonial gentrification, such as the dispossession of the wealth that remains on the island, especially that of the people.
La Luz led the struggle to found Puerto Rico’s most powerful union in the mid-1990s, bringing together 120,000 public employees. She has participated in multiple efforts in popular education, unionization, and promoting the election of progressive politicians in the United States, including a representative of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and, until recently, on the national committee of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Source: La Jornada translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English