Carlos Edill Berríos Polanco

On Wednesday, Puerto Rico’s Department of Natural and Environmental Resources ordered a developer that built illegally built on top of Cueva Las Golondrinas in Aguadilla must restore the area impacted by the construction.

In Puerto Rico, March 2 marks the anniversary of when, in 1917, the U.S. Congress granted U.S. citizenship to anyone born in the islands. But for some Puerto Ricans, American Citizenship Day is a grim reminder of their unequal citizenship rights.

With miles of beaches and lush rainforest, Puerto Rico is often touted as a paradise for vacationers. But for the people who live there, rampant development and the worsening effects of climate change have bred a sense of ecological anxiety that drives many to fight for the environment.

A new report from progressive organizations reveals the web of lawyers, lobbyists, trade groups, and cultural institutions that vulture funds use to prey on debt-addled countries like Puerto Rico.

After a short five-day strike that closed access to most campuses, the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) Workers’ Union reached an agreement with the administration that should see workers’ salaries match the archipelago’s minimum wage of $8.50 per hour, rising to $9.50 on July 1.

A judge in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico has ordered the demolition of two illegal structures built on top of Cueva Las Golondrinas after ruling that the lawsuit filed by the municipality against Aguadilla Pier Corporation has merit.

Puerto Rico could experience a spike in its electricity bills for the next 35 years if a debt restructuring proposal is accepted by a federal bankruptcy judge in New York.

Human rights groups and activists are demanding that Puerto Rican and U.S. authorities launch an investigation into the shooting of an environmental activist by private security personnel in the coastal town of Aguadilla on Sunday.

As Puerto Rico moves toward its stated goal of 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, there are still gigantic leaps that need to be taken if it plans to reach that target date, though it is becoming increasingly unlikely that such monumental steps will be taken.

On Wednesday Gov. Pedro Pierluisi announced that Genera PR will officially take over the remains of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and finish privatizing electrical generation on the archipelago.

Fed up with the slow government response, Puerto Ricans in beach towns along the western coast have set up encampments to demand action be taken to stop illegal construction from further destroying the environment.

As a colony of the United States, Puerto Rico has inherited a lot of cultural artifacts from the American nation, such as fast food, car-centric city design, and Santa Claus. But the latest import is far darker than the others: the threat of school shootings.

On Thursday the House passed the Puerto Rico Status Act, which received a floor vote after its approval by a House committee on Wednesday. Now, the race is on to get approval from the Senate before a new Republican-controlled House is sworn in on January 3.

Hurricane María, a Category 4 storm that swept through Puerto Rico in September 2017, left the island with a “new coast,” according to a new study by the Institute of Investigation and Coastal Planification of Puerto Rico.

Debt restructuring efforts for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s $9 billion debt have come to a new standstill after almost six years of negotiation. Multiple failed attempts to exit bankruptcy have led nowhere.

On the same day it was set to expire, the Puerto Rico Public-Private Alliances granted LUMA Energy an extension of its provisional contract that will only end once the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s debt restructuring is completed.

Puerto Ricans will likely spend this Christmas without their time-honored tradition of eating plantains with dinner, after Hurricane Fiona destroyed 80 percent of the island’s plantain and banana crops in September.

Three days before LUMA Energy’s contract is set to expire, the Public-Private Partnerships Authority requested authorization to extend LUMA’s provisional contract until the debt restructuring process for the publicly owned Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority is finalized.

Teachers and electrical workers in Puerto Rico are calling for protests outside schools on November 30, the day that LUMA Energy’s contract is set to expire, in hopes that the government cancels the company’s impending 15-year contract.

Videos have flooded out of the Dominican Republic in recent days showing security forces corralling Black people outside their homes and loading them into cages on migrant control trucks to be carted off and, presumably, placed in detention centers or deported.

Following the U.S. National Parks Service’s announcement that it plans to deal with the “cat problem” in Old San Juan, local residents and activists say they oppose any attempt to get rid of their feline friends.