Ravaged by a capitalist-imposed debt crisis, U.S. colonial domination, and now a Category 5 hurricane, Puerto Rico is on the very front lines in the international crisis created by capitalism.

Right now, the entire island is without electricity, and it will take up to 4-6 months to restore power in many areas. Cell phones are useless, most of the water is undrinkable, and roads are blocked with debris.

Last year, the U.S. Congress passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act. This thinly veiled act of old school colonial rule created a fiscal control board to manage Puerto Rico’s budget, laws, and finances without being accountable to the island’s government. This board imposed on Puerto Rico is managing payment of the $72 billion debt. 

Come and hear from a local Puerto Rican activist Cassandra Lopez Fradera on the ongoing crisis in Puerto Rico as well as her experience being displaced and being a child of the diaspora.

100 years ago, the victory of the Bolsheviks marked the first time in human history where workers and peasants took and held power in society. This was the first time where a country was not governed to protect a tiny elite of oppressors, but instead, the broad masses of people. 

There are many lessons to be learned from the Russian Revolution if 1917 and the society that these revolutionaries created. 

How did the people of Russia achieve such victory, given the conditions they were faced with? How did the Bolsheviks win broad support, and what we’re the successes and failures endured along the way? How did they handle key questions of society after taking power such as nationalities, gender, war, etc? And most importantly, what can we learn from the last 100 years as we continue the fight for liberation here in the United States? 

Join the Party for Socialism and Liberation for a Liberation Forum on the Russian Revolution Friday October 20th!

Bathrooms at encuentro5 are gender neutral.

Encuentro5 is not wheelchair accessible.

If you need childcare please let us know ahead of time.