Mutual Aid in Puerto Rico

“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 2017, after Hurricanes Irma and María, Puerto Rico’s mutual aid networks emerged as vital community lifelines in the face of deeply inadequate government response. A new report by One Project and AgitArte examines how Puerto Rico’s mutual aid networks are creating pathways to a regenerative democratic economy and a just future. In the report, “Solo el Pueblo Salva al Pueblo:” Mutual Aid in Puerto Rico and a Just Transition to a Post-Capitalist Economy, the authors interview ten key organizations in Puerto Rico’s mutual aid ecosystem, illustrating the distinct yet interconnected role each organization plays.

Maria Fund provides self-organized and democratically controlled financial infrastructure for social movements. Cultural and multimedia organizations like AgitArte and Étnica Magazine use art, culture, and storytelling to build collective power and envision a just future. The Teacher’s Federation of Puerto Rico fights public school privatization and champions public education. Other organizations address specific community needs: for instance, Taller Salud centers feminist approaches to community work, while El Hangar provides safe spaces for LGBTQ+ communities. Casa Tallaboeña leads environmental justice efforts in Peñuelas, and the Institute for Agroecological Research and Action helps farmers protect their land and ancestral knowledge. Ayuda Legal uses legal advocacy to advance access to affordable housing, while HASER provides operational support to many organizations and helps them navigate bureaucratic systems. Together, these organizations demonstrate how mutual aid networks can address immediate community needs while building infrastructure for long-term systems transformation.

The report offers practical recommendations to funders and policymakers. The authors call for us to dismantle colonial systems like the Financial Oversight Board, transfer land and buildings to community control, and move resources into community control through organizations such as Maria Fund and others. Additionally, the report contains an annotated bibliography on the rich history of mutual aid in Puerto Rico, as well as an executive summary in the form of a presentation deck.