The Battle For Paradise
In the rubble of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans and ultrarich “Puertopians” are locked in a pitched struggle over how to remake the island. The Battle For Paradise provides a vital and startling investigation that uncovers how the forces of shock politics and disaster capitalism seek to undermine the nation's radical, resilient vision for a just recovery.
Praise for The Battle For Paradise
“We are in a fight for our lives. Hurricanes Irma and María unmasked the colonialism we face in Puerto Rico, and the inequality it fosters, creating a fierce humanitarian crisis. Now we must find a path forward to equality and sustainability, a path driven by communities, not investors. And this book explains, with careful and unbiased reporting, only the efforts of our community activists can answer the paramount question: What type of society do we want to become and who is Puerto Rico for?”
— Carmen Yulín Cruz, Mayor of San Juan
“Naomi Klein concisely reveals to us what Puerto Rico has faced, shock after shock, before Hurricane Maria and after it and also the voices of people who believe and build a future for Puerto Rico from the strength of their communities."
— Ana Irma Rivera Lassén, feminist, human rights activist, former president of the Puerto Rico Bar Association
“What ‘shocks' in this work is the resilient spirit del pueblo boricuá. They become the metaphor, the meaning, and the maker of possibility. And one is left immeasurably hopeful.”
— Cherríe Moraga, Las Maestras Center for Chicana Indigenous Thought & Art Practice, UCSB
“A gripping and timely account of classic 'shock doctrine' being perpetrated in Puerto Rico. Naomi Klein chronicles the extraordinary grassroots resistance by the Puerto Rican people against neoliberal privatization and Wall Street greed in the aftermath of the island's financial meltdown, of hurricane devastation, and of Washington’s imposition of an outside control board over the most important U.S. colony."
— Juan González, co-host of Democracy Now! and author of Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America.