Jobos Bay Residents in Puerto Rico Seek Support

We are Ruth Santiago, Catalina de Onís, Hilda Lloréns, and Carlos García-Quijano. As Puerto Rico-based and US diasporic members of the Iniciativa de Eco-desarrollo de Bahía de Jobos (IDEBAJO, Eco-development Initiative of Jobos Bay) and Comité Diálogo Ambiental, we are working in collaboration with residents in southeastern Puerto Rico to gather and distribute funds. People in the Salinas-Guayama region will directly benefit as they continue their mutual support efforts to care for themselves and their neighbors. Historical treatment and present conditions demonstrate that local community members cannot rely on territorial and federal officials for "help."

IDEBAJO and Comité Diálogo Ambiental, nonprofit organizations with a trajectory of working for the well-being of Salinas communities, will manage and distribute funds to community members affected by Hurricane Fiona.

Oct. 14, 2022 update: Thank you to all those who donated; we exceeded the $10,000 fundraising goal! PayPal provides an easier platform for withdrawing funds, so please make future donations using the QR code below or by visiting the PayPal donation page directly here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=FQD34273JF68N. We no longer are accepting funds on this page. Again, our thanks to all who contributed!

Oct. 1, 2022 update: We have been in contact with IDEBAJO financial coordinator Roberto José Thomas Ramírez. Given that the GoFundMe platform works well for some individuals but not for all, we also are sharing an IDEBAJO-provided QR code (below) for donations to support IDEBAJO via PayPal, should that platform work better for some individuals. Donations are appreciated for either option and will go toward mutual support efforts in the Salinas-Guayama region. Thank you!

For information about the structural and systemic inequities and injustices that contributed to the compounded crises aggravated by Hurricane Fiona, consider these publications and community projects, some of which include rooftop solar alternatives that are urgently needed, in contrast to the centralized imported fossil fuel system and its transmission and distribution system.

"Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico as a Category 1 storm. Flooding still wrought havoc": https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/23/hurricane-fiona-puerto-rico-floods/

"Another Hurricane Makes Clear the Urgent Need for Rooftop Solar in Puerto Rico": https://nacla.org/hurricane-fiona-rooftop-solar

"Women Lead Puerto Rico's Recovery": https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10714839.2018.1550985

"Powering Life in Puerto Rico": https://nacla.org/news/2020/08/05/powering-life-puerto-rico

"Hurricane LUMA": https://www.democracynow.org/2021/11/3/puerto_rice_power_grid_in_crisis

“‘Fuera LUMA’: Puerto Rico Confronts Neoliberal Electricity System Takeover amid Ongoing Struggles for Self-determination": https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2021/06/21/fuera-luma-puerto-rico-confronts-neoliberal-electricity-system-takeover-amid-ongoing-struggles-for-self-determination/

“‘El poder del Pueblo’: Puerto Rican Documentary on the Need for Environmental and Energy Justice" https://www.latinorebels.com/2021/11/04/poderdelpueblopr/

"El poder del pueblo" documentary: https://elpoderdelpueblo.com/

“The Devastating Costs of Puerto Rico’s Solar ‘Farms'": https://nacla.org/puerto-rico-solar-farms

"Toxic Racism in Puerto Rico's Sacrifice Zone": https://nacla.org/news/2021/07/28/environmental-racism-puerto-rico

"Puerto Rico's Seismic Shocks": https://nacla.org/news/2020/01/14/puerto-rico-earthquakes-renewable-energy