With Puerto Rico’s drought, activists urge Somos to reconsider

Early bird registration has already opened for the annual Somos political conference scheduled for Nov. 4-7 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. But UPROSE, Brooklyn’s oldest Puerto Rican community group, wants New York politicos to skip the conference this year.

“Puerto Rico cannot continue to be treated as a backdrop for political networking, receptions, and institutional convenings while Puerto Ricans are asked to go without basic necessities,” UPROSE Executive Director Elizabeth Yeampierre wrote in an Aug. 12 open letter to Somos Inc. Executive Director Rosa Pelton Alcántara. 

Puerto Rico is experiencing a severe drought and water shortages, and the island has rationed water in certain cities including San Juan, cutting off the taps for half the population at a time every 48 hours. The U.S. government declared a drought disaster Wednesday for parts of Puerto Rico. 

UPROSE said that the four-plus-day event at the El Caribe hotel will further stress San Juan’s water system – and highlight the stark divide between the treatment of privileged tourists and local residents. 

“For too long, Puerto Rico has been treated as a destination rather than a community: a place where institutions from the mainland arrive, convene, spend, network and leave while the people who live there continue to confront austerity, neglect, deteriorating infrastructure, displacement, climate disasters, and chronic misplaced investments,” Yeampierre wrote in the letter, first reported by El Diario.

UPROSE wants Somos to meet with Puerto Rican environmental justice groups and consider scrapping this year’s conference.

But a spokesperson for Somos defended the conference’s relationship to the island, and confirmed plans to carry on as usual. 

“From providing hurricane relief and combating the effects of devastating climate change to directly supporting small businesses and community organizations on the island, we've been there and will continue to be,” Somos said in a statement to City & State. “Our upcoming annual conference in Puerto Rico includes New York's top decision-makers and legislative workshops focused specifically on sustainability, where panelists discuss innovative, actionable solutions to the challenges these communities face. The most effective way to understand and amplify a community's needs is to go directly to them.”