Presentation by Arturo Massol Deyá/Article by Zulema Luz Herrera
On Friday November 7th, a joint fundraiser and presentation at ¡Wepa! Mercado del Pueblo was held in support of Casa Pueblo de
Adjuntas, the award-winning organization from Puerto Rico committed to valuing and protecting natural, cultural, and human resources.
Arturo Massol Deyá serves as the executive director of the community-based organization, sharing with the audience their work and research. José E. López, Director of The Puerto Rican Cultural Center, says Paseo Boricua has a longstanding relationship with Casa
Pueblo dating back since before and during its early stages in its formation, around the 1970s. Additionally, University of Illinois at Chicago study abroad groups have traveled to visit Casa Pueblo and hear Deyá speak about solarizing Puerto Rico. “We have been told forever that we are on a small island, and because we lack natural resources, we need to be dependent upon the US. That is the narrative,” says Deyá “And what I’m going to show you today is how Puerto Ricans have been protecting their land, their culture. But also building energy independence as a way to self decolonize and create the conditions for Puerto Rico to exercise the right for self determination.”
The origins of Casa Pueblo are tied with Deyá’s roots and familial legacy. In 1980, the government of Puerto Rico decided to conduct open-pit mining to extract copper, gold, and silver along central sections of the island. It was to be done on a large-scale setting in 17 different deposits which would have destroyed 36,000 acres of forest, culture, and biodiversity within the municipalities Adjuntas, Utuado, Lares, and Jayuya.
His parents,Tinti Deyá Díaz and Alexis Massol González, along with their fellow founding members and a group of volunteers, began the critical struggle to resist these projects. “Our stand was no mining, no matter what,” says Deyá, “The integrity of the land, water security, and the right for that bio diversity to exist in that region is more important than the copper, gold, and silver that is underneath.” Their efforts prevailed in preventing the destruction that would have been an ecological catastrophe and, from there, alternatives were proposed to sustain the community and the integrity of the landscape. In 1996, Casa Pueblo launched a campaign that transformed the area that was rescued from the open-pit mining into El Bosque del Pueblo. This would become the first forest in Puerto Rico to be overseen by a community management agreement. Casa Pueblo runs on solar energy and is located in the mountains of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, in an old mansion they acquired in 1985.
This home became their headquarters as well as an independent community and cultural center. In addition to El Bosque del Pueblo,
they have a school Bosque Escuela, a solar cinema, a butterfly garden, and a radio station among other projects that function daily. For example, Casa Pueblo’s Café Madre Isla is a high-quality artisanal coffee made exclusively with Arabica beans. According to their website, this project was founded in 1989 to break economic dependence and create jobs “that would allow them, along with a volunteer corps, to march and speak with their own voice.”
In January, President Donald Trump, for the second time, withdrew from the Paris agreement, an international climate accord to assist nations in combating climate change. WIth this withdrawal Puerto Rico is not represented in these talks of mitigation strategies. However, Deyá says that Casa Pueblo was invited to Mexico, self-representing Puerto Rico in conversations with ministers of natural resources from about 22 Latin American countries.
Casa Pueblo is pushing for not just a technological switch from fossil fuel to clean energy but promoting a transition to eco-social, a transition where the sun is a primary source of energy; moving energy closer to the point of consumption, thus creating a democratizing power generation in Puerto Rico. Their 50% Con Sol initiative urges the government of Puerto Rico and investors to achieve the goal of half the energy produced in Puerto Rico to sourced by the sun.
To learn more and/or donate to Casa Pueblo, visit their website at: casapueblo.org or on social media @casapuebloorg
