All language subtitles for Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown S10E06 Puerto Rico (1080p x265 10bit Joy)

In September, 2017,
Hurricane Maria devastated

the American island
of Puerto Rico.

At the time of this writing
12 days after the hurricane,

almost 95% of the island's
residents

are still without power,

and close to half don't have
clean water.

Just months prior, we shot an
episode there

hoping to capture the
staggering economic crisis

that Puerto Ricans were
already dealing with.

So now we have to ask ourselves,

can the island ever rebuild,

and what is our responsibility
as Americans

in making that a reality?

♪ I took a walk

♪ Through this beautiful world ♪

♪ Felt the cool rain
on my shoulder ♪

♪ Found something good
in this beautiful world ♪

♪ I felt the rain
getting colder ♪

♪

♪ Sha la la la

♪ Sha la la la la la

♪ Sha la la la la

♪ Sha la la la la la la

It's the American dream, right?

What so many of us work for,

sell our labor
or pieces of our souls for:

an island in the sun...

Preferably one
where they speak English

and the dollar is accepted
everywhere.

Puerto Rico:
it's America, right?

It's ours,
and we've held on to it,

fiercely at times, since 1898

after taking it by force

during the Spanish-American War.

♪

♪

I want to take you

to one of worst-performing
economies

in the developed world.

$73 billion debt...

The employment rate is only 35%.

Highest sales tax of any
United States jurisdiction,

11.5%.

45% live in poverty.

Biggest municipal bankruptcy
in U.S. history.

Over the last ten years,
more than

5% of the population has fled.

But what's it like
for Puerto Ricans,

for the people who live here,

whose families have lived here
for generations?

Many have left for
an easier life in the States.

More keep leaving...
but not all.

What do you write about
most of the time?

What do you cover?

Right now, I'm covering
a lot of politics.

Journalist Hermes Ayala
is one of those diehards

who's sticking it out.

The more I've done

investigative and political
journalism in Puerto Rico,

the more I feel
a responsibility to stay here

and help out my nation.

♪

So this is Santurce.

Somebody called it
on the way over

the art district?

This is sort of an art district,

but this was a barrio
that was founded

by freed black slaves, right?

♪

Going through tons
of transformations,

like every working-class
neighborhood.

Some people think
that Puerto Rico

takes advantage of the States,

but it's a two-way street.

- Right?
- You know?

Right there.

This is my friend Laura
right here.

- Hi, Laura.
- Hi.

- How are you?
- Nice to meet you.

Like everyone here, Hermes

and fellow journalist
Laura Moscoso

are trying to make sense
of a situation

that seems Kafka-esque at best.

So dumb question.
What is Puerto Rico?

It's not a state.

It's kind of like a colony,
but it's not.

It's not kind.
It is.

It is a colony.

It's an unincorporated
territory.

"Unincorporated territory."

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

So, you know, what's that?
What is that?

We're still trying to
figure out sometimes, you know?

Would you say the majority
of Puerto Ricans

consider themselves Americans?

Or do they consider themselves
Puerto Ricans or both?

I think that they
consider theirself Puerto Ricans

with the privilege of having
the United States citizenship.

Yeah, but it's kind of
a half-ass citizenship.

Can't vote for president.

Nor Congress.

- Or Congress.
- Anything.

You don't really have much voice

in your own destiny.

Exactly.
You can only go to war.

That's the only thing
that you can do with right.

Right. But Puerto Rico owes,
what, $75 billion right now?

- 72, yeah.
- 72.

I don't see statehood.

I don't see Congress or Senate
ever...

Me neither.

Ever taking on
a $72 billion debt load,

especially for a lot of people
who speak Spanish.

Exactly.

What's the way out of this?

Oh, my God.

What about tourism?

It's an industry of services

to service the wealthy.

And then at the same time,
you take $450 million

out of the university,
for example,

so you're gonna have
less educated people

willing to do any type
of work...

To survive.

You are not really
producing an economy

that a person can survive in,
you know?

This is a country
where people live,

where we do things.

And we have culture
and literature and music

and produce intellectual,
important work.

They are selling us
as only a good resort

to have a piña colada
in the beach and that's it.

We actually invented
piña coladas, so...

Even though we are, like,
getting over by...

- Vultures.
- Yeah, a lot of vultures.

The people of Puerto Rico
are good people,

and I think that we are gonna
get past this.

The situation here
is truly grave.

So how exactly did Puerto Rico
find itself

so deeply and seemingly
irrevocably screwed?

In the early '70s,

things were looking
pretty good for Puerto Rico.

A tax incentive was introduced,

which helped lure dozens of
major companies to the island,

employing significant numbers
of people.

But when that incentive
expired in 2006,

concurrent with a major
recession in the States,

those companies packed up
and left.

Thousands of Puerto Ricans
followed,

looking for jobs that no
longer existed on the island.

The tax base shrunk drastically,

creating a dire need for cash

to shore up basic needs
and services.

So along came
the municipal bond,

a big, fat IOU
that appeared to be salvation

for a near-broke government.

They're sexy for investors,
triple exempt from taxes,

and bond owners
buying Puerto Rican debt

would have to be paid back
before anyone.

That's anyone.

Hedge funds, or vulture funds,

as they are often referred to
in these cases,

had profited from
similarly desperate situations

in Greece, Argentina,
and Detroit.

As the situation worsened
for Puerto Rico,

you could buy up
more and more bonds

for pennies on the dollar.

This was a fire sale
too sweet to pass up.

And the resulting
insurmountable debt,

it means drastic
austerity measures

determined by an unelected board

who have near absolute power
to raise taxes;

empty teachers' pension plans;

close down schools, hospitals;

basically squeeze every dollar
out of Puerto Rico

to pay back the funds.

Every Puerto Rican is being
made to feel the pain.

I mean, I know
schools are closing, yes?

Last year, 240 schools closed.

- Last year alone.
- In the last two years.

This year, there's a list
of 300 schools

that are "in risk"
of shutting down.

Born in Puerto Rico?

I was born in Chicago, Illinois.

In Chicago.

My family came back

mostly because
our family was here.

Puerto Ricans want the family
to stick together.

If you can live
close to each other,

the better.

I decided to stay,

because I wanted my kids
to grow up here.

Better times.

Better times, of course.

What changed?

The government took
too much in loans

and couldn't pay them back.

So they kept putting taxes
on the people,

the working-class people
like me,

and we cannot pay them.

Like many professionals here,

Liza-Marie Cordova
would probably have

an easier time of it
in the States.

But she chooses to stay.

With the crisis
here in Puerto Rico,

mostly I think about my kids.

Will they have the options
to stay here

and work and have a family?

Okay, so where are we?

We are at Casa Vieja in Ciales.

This is a typical 1960, '50
grandmother's house.

And the food is grandma food?

It is grandma food, actually.

Those are corn fritters
with ham.

Typical Sunday
after Saturday party.

Hangover food.

Delicious.

Thank you.

So this is like a plantain soup.

Mmm.
Ooh, that's good.

The specialty here
is pastel al caldero,

pork marinated in bitter orange,

taro root, green plantains,
squash,

and garbanzo beans slow cooked.

And morcilla, blood sausage,

one of my favorite things.

Is good?

It's fantastic.

Teachers here are being asked
to pay into a pension system

that has been described
as a Ponzi scheme.

You pay 10% of your income
into your pension plan

out of every paycheck.

The money you're paying in now

is being used to pay...

The ones that are retired
right now.

The ones who are
retiring right now:

in a pyramid scheme,
the top of the pyramid.

But by the time
it gets down to you,

who've been paying in
for your entire life...

There's no money left.

I worry about my future.

I don't know
what I'm gonna live off.

I have two jobs
in order to pay my bills,

have my car, have my house,
pay for my kids' education.

Right.

There's no way,
with one job as a teacher,

I can do that.

So how do you continue?

I know I could get paid triple
in the States.

But I don't want
to give up my country.

My kids see
how their parents struggle.

Things can change
if only one stands up

and decides,
"I'm gonna do this."

Right.

But we have to empower
those children.

We have to make them believe
they can change it,

that there's a better life
for them.

And I'm getting emotional,

because sometimes I feel
that I've failed.

I cannot save all of them.

That's the truth.

But I can save a lot,

and that's my job.

So that's what I'm going to do.

I have hope.
I have faith.

I'm taking a jump of faith.

It's Semana Santa,
holy week before Easter,

clearly not
a casual affair here.

This is a predominantly
Catholic country still,

pounded in deep after 400 years

as part of the Spanish empire.

♪

Today the flag of the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

waves proudly beside Old Glory.

American citizens all.

Puerto Rico has come
into its own,

a real democracy.

♪

More than 100 years
under the wing of the U.S.

has left Puerto Rico without
any real economic engine

beyond tourism.

The old industries
are no longer wanted, needed,

or are no longer
economically viable.

Agriculture,

manufacturing,

trade

have all shrunk drastically,

and the island is dependent
on U.S. exports

for just about everything.

♪

So where are we?

We are in Loíza.

After the liberation
of the slaves in the island,

this is where all the Africans
and the slaves get together

and establish themself.

Despite or many because of
the economic turmoil,

Pedro Alvarez Cortez saw
an opportunity

to make something.

We keep working the formula

until my grandmother say,
"Whoa, this is very good.

Give me more."

Using the traditional work,

that what make us successful.

At a local beach in Loíza,

about 45 minute
outside San Juan,

a crab shack
that's one of his favorites.

Oh, my God, look at that.

- Outstanding.
- Excellent.

What do we got here, land crab?

- Land crab, yeah.
- And?

This is coconut arepa.

What do you think?

Bang them?

Yeah, just knock it
and open like a lobster...

There you go.
You see?

Oh, there we go.

They're very sweet, the meat.

They just leave it
for a few weeks in the cage.

- Yeah?
- Feed it with grains

to take away the flavor
of the mangrove.

Why did you think sausage?

I had the experience
as a child in Puerto Rico.

I knew the necessity...
Right.

There was in the restaurant
for good-quality sausages.

So I put my little kitchen
to make the experiment,

and I worked over that.

Where were they getting
their sausage before you?

Yeah, from the mountains.

From the mountains.
Oh, under the table.

Yeah, but under the table.

They were not inspectioned
by the USDA.

Can you use entirely
Puerto Rican products?

I'm in the process.

I use the pork shoulder,

and there is nobody
in Puerto Rico

that produce that.

Now, that's [...] up,
right?

I mean, correct me if I'm wrong.

I mean, the Spanish generally
brought pigs with them.

Yeah.

You can certainly
raise pigs here, no problem.

There's the land for it.

Why is no one raising pigs
in Puerto Rico?

90% of the pork meat
in Puerto Rico

is come from the States.

Our prices
is very hard to compete.

But that is changing.

We still have the resources
and the talent.

That is the most powerful tool
that we got,

the talent that... you know,
to see an opportunity

and working forward to that.

We have a great generation
of young agriculturists

that instead of going from
the countryside to the city

to work in a bank
or some big companies,

they're going back
to the countryside, you know?

They don't need nobody to tell,

"Hey, you can do it."

They just make the click.

So there's hope.

Yeah, humbly, I can say
me and my family are an example

of what you can do
with the tools you got.

- Well said, man.
- Yeah.

These are delicious.

- You can squeeze...
- Yeah.

A little like that.

Yeah, believe me.
That used to be my job.

I used to have to squeeze
all the lobster legs

with a rolling pin.

Oh!

Puerto Rico is still
unarguably rich in one thing:

natural splendor.

Beautiful views.

Unspoiled coastline.

But that, too, is in peril.

My name is Pocho.

I was born and raised
in Aguadilla.

This space is so special
to me personally,

because, yes, I'm a surfer,

and I've been surfing here
all my life.

I want my son to be able
to keep coming here.

It's so open,

so free
of all of these pollutions,

all this mayhem.

Pocho and his fellow activists

have occupied Playuela,

trying to serve as human shields

against the encroachment
of a planned development

that would transform this
place into a massive resort

named, appropriately
or inappropriately enough,

after Christopher Columbus.

This is a resistant town.

Just a hypothetical question.

If the beach is public,
what's the problem?

The project.

It's not a building;
it's a megaproject.

It's a five-star hotel,
120 villas, a mini mall.

"The biggest casino
in the Caribbean"...

That's how they sell it.

And two parking lots
four stories high.

We're talking, like,
poof, poof, poof,

poof, poof, poof, poof,
poof... you know?

It's not sustainable.

If they roll in
the bulldozers right now

with a whole bunch of police,
what do you do?

Civil disobedience.

We go stop
in front of the machines,

and we'll give them time
for the lawyers

to do their case in the court

and whatnot and whatnot.

Oh, you got some lawyers here.

Yeah, I got all the lawyers.

- Lawyers go to the beach?
- Yes, man, hey.

The chef is making sancocho,

the stew of beef, veal,
and sausages.

And there's
some fresh-caught grouper

and red snapper.

There aren't many places left
like this; that's the point.

That's worth something.
Yeah, exactly.

The tourism business
in the Caribbean

is going through
a lot of changes.

In the short term,
developers and construction

get paid a lot of money
for pouring concrete.

But everybody's gonna be going
to Cuba in a few years.

Why?
Because it's unspoiled.

They haven't [...] it up yet.

So that's why we have to start
talking the same language.

You said it, profit.

They talk profit, right?

Let's show them
that there is profit

is nature unspoiled.

That reef back there provides us

with millions of dollars' worth
of services:

fish, tourism, protection
from hurricanes annually.

That produces a service to us
as a community.

So if you all of a sudden
destroy it,

you start losing money.

Could you conceivably settle
for a revised project,

meaning, okay, no casino,
no giant hotel?

An eco lodge
for super-rich people.

In Nicaragua, they have
a lot of these things

that are developed
around communities.

Costa Rica, you know,
and places like that, you know,

the government is conscious
about the environment

and the amount of money

that that environment
and the ecosystem brings

to the economy.

Do you have any faith
in your government at all?

- No.
- No.

We are a colony.

We are an island
surrounded by water,

and we don't produce
almost, like, 90%

of the things we consume,

which makes us needy.

It makes us
a third-world country.

Third-world country
which belongs

to the most powerful nation.

There's a lot of motivation

in the people of Puerto Rico
right now.

It's not about independence
or not.

It's about what is right,
what the people needs.

It's coming out of
the comfort shell

and realizing that if you
don't do anything right now,

we're just gonna get run over.

Other Puerto Ricans who want
to quit, they can leave.

I won't quit.

♪

Puerto Rico is, of course,
easy to love.

♪

I sure do,

firstly because Puerto Rican
culture,

as a New Yorker since age 17,

was part of the cell tissue

of the city I've lived in
so long.

♪

There are many layers
to the culture here.

♪

First, of course,
were the Taino,

the indigenous peoples
of the islands,

then the Spanish,
followed by African slaves.

♪

This tradition probably goes
all the way back.

Oh, look at that.

As old-school and as awesome
as it gets.

A timeless classic,

something that's been good
forever.

The baby's in the house.

- Pretty.
- Beautiful, huh?

A great idea that will never be

anything less than great.

Put a pig on a stick,
and turn him slowly, slowly

over a low fire.

Want some of the skin?

Oh, hell, yeah.

- Cheers.
- Mm.

25 minutes up into the hills
from San Juan,

an institution
that celebrates pork,

the whole damn pig,

in ways that can only be
described as spiritual.

He's a Puerto Rican samurai.

He's incredible.

Lechonera El Rancho de Apa
is one of many such places.

But this one?

This one is special.

Apa Ramos has, for nearly
50 years of his life,

been perfecting the art

of the perfect slow-roasted
suckling pig.

He starts work at 4:00 a.m.

It takes six hours on the
slowly, slowly turning spit

to get it right.

Good knowledge, rotation,
fire, time,

mastering the heat,

because there is
no thermometer or anything.

And you can see, like,
it's really crispy

because still
really, really juicy.

Mmm.
Mmm.

It's incredible.

Well, what's that?
That looks...

- That's stew.
- Right.

And it use all the inner parts.

It's one of my favorites.

Apa's sister, Rosa Maria,

begins her day making
gandinga, a traditional stew

made from pigs' heart, liver,
and kidneys.

That's really nice.

Now, how's business?

'Cause the economy
has been tough.

Do lechoneras feel it,

or people are always
gonna buy that?

Everybody has felt it:

the lechoneras, restaurants,
food trucks, everybody.

But whole hog is, like,
more a family gathering.

This is something so classic,

I think that they're the least
gonna feel it.

Chef Xavier Pacheco

favors Puerto Rican dishes
and ingredients

that have been largely
forgotten.

When you go to another place
and they tell you,

"Yeah, yeah,
I went to McDonald's

when I went to Puerto Rico,"
that sucks.

I hate that,

because we have a lot
of really good stuff here,

and it's our job
to keep it alive

and show it to the world
and say,

"Hey, we are more
than a fast food."

We got to go back to farming.

'Cause you don't want to be
buying everything from imports.

Of course.

In my restaurant,
I started six years ago

with just two farmers.

Now we have more than
15, 16 farmers.

It's like a chain.

You go to many farmers,
and you ask, like,

"This type
of root vegetable."

And they don't have it,

because people stopped buying
the local root vegetable,

because the imported one
is a whole lot cheaper,

and that's all they have
in their mind.

But if you go to a farmer
and you tell the farmer,

"I'm gonna buy your product,"

the farmer is gonna start
having the product.

"Pay more" is a hard argument
to make

when people are struggling.

But if we don't change
our mind, Tony,

I don't know what's gonna happen
with the island.

Do people listen if you say,

"Look, it's not
particularly patriotic;

"you're not helping your country

by eating at McDonald's
or shopping at Walmart"?

Uh, yes.

Yeah?

But like I tell you, Tony,

we have a lot of different types
of Puerto Ricans.

We have Puerto Rican that,
"Yes, I love my island,"

but they don't think more ahead.

They simply think,
"I'm happy with what I have."

The other type of Puerto Rican,

they know
that it's gonna be hard,

but they want to grow,
want to keep learning,

want to stay here,

want to develop what they have
in the island.

This is a good argument
for it, man.

This is incredible.

Yeah, yeah.

Could eat this all day.

In the "life doesn't suck"
department,

this is way up there,

a means of conveyance
I find quite comfortable.

Barefoot and a bit drunk,
pleasantly burned by the sun,

lunch approaches.

If you need any prep done,
any knife work,

just let me know.

Got to put some avocado
in there.

- Got to have it.
- Yeah.

First time using a knife?

Well, it's been a while.

You got talent.

Yeah, if this TV thing
falls through,

I can always work at Denny's.

Man, looking great.

All these dishes are
traditional Holy Friday food.

This one is salted cod
marinated in coconut milk.

And then we seared it
with some root vegetables.

And boiled eggs
from our farmers.

Here we have the...
Escabeche.

Escabeche, yeah.

So, like, five fish
marinated or pickled.

It's fried local mackerel,

and then I roast
all the vegetable

and cure it for at least a week.

Oh, the salt dish is good.

Coconut milk really takes
that salty...

Mm-hmm.

Damn, who made
that avocado salad?

It's awesome.
No, the chef is awesome.

Eh, I don't know.

Vieques is officially within

the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,

the main island
a mere eight miles away.

It is phenomenally peaceful
here,

but it hasn't always been
that way.

For over 60 years,

the island was used
as a bombing range

for the U.S. Navy
and for training exercises.

The soil is rich
with depleted uranium,

Agent Orange, and the kind of
good stuff left over

after 60 years of explosives
raining down on it.

Many see a clear connection
between that recent history

and a cancer rate
that is 30% higher

than the rest of Puerto Rico.

While the navy works
to clean up what it left,

Vieques tries to deal
with the financial crisis

in its own ways.

Chef Erica Boulogne grew up here

and has raised her family here.

♪

She invited me
to a meal in her home.

Joining us are her mother
and son, Carlitos,

her two nieces,
and her best friend, Elda.

Now, where was
the bombing range?

Pretty close here.

Two miles after this,
maybe less.

This was part of the navy land.

When did the navy stop
using Vieques

as a bombing range?

- 2003.
- 2003.

Oh, that's not that long ago.

So you'd be eating lunch,
and you'd hear, "Boom, boom"?

- Basically.
- Yes.

Yeah, sometimes.

And still they detonate bombs.

This is leftover ordnance.

Yeah, this is, like,
the cleanup process.

They gather
the unexploded munitions,

and then they detonate them
all together.

And the house move
with the bombing.

It's like the middle of the war.

Adam, so you've lived here
for how long?

- All my life.
- Me too.

All my life in Vieques.

I've been drinking
a fair amount of this lately.

This one is flavored with...

- Acerola.
- Acerola.

All right, who's joining me?

Adults only.

- Salut.
- Salut.

Mmm, good.

I'm not driving after this.

Lobsters

with mashed yautia
and yuca from the garden,

conch salad, and coconut arepa.

It's really beautiful here.

This is not San Juan;
this is much more lush and...

- Light, no fast food.
- Born and raised in paradise.

Beautiful beaches,
awesome sunsets.

The whole world wants
what you have already.

How's the economy here?

Bankruptcy.

We are like the colony
of a colony.

Basically, the biggest employer
is the municipal government.

Wait a minute.

The number one employer
on Vieques

is the government.

Yes, the municipal government.

- The local government.
- Yeah.

We also have this dynamic

that people that study
and make a profession,

10% come back,
and that's a high number.

There's no jobs for them.

So our population
is getting older,

and it's formed
by retired people.

Right.
Where they going?

Main island or United States.

What's the plan
when you guys grow up?

What do you want to do?

I want to be a chef.

A chef?

Good for you.
That's hard.

Your dream restaurant,
where would it be?

- The main island.
- You see?

Yeah, so in 20 years...

It's scary.

Who's gonna live...

- Not our kids.
- Who will own Vieques?

I mean, who will be in charge?

Not locals.
Not people that studied here.

The land is too expensive
for the local people.

So this'll be vacation homes
for wealthy people

from other countries.

- Yeah, yeah.
- Basically.

- Yeah.
- Who will save Puerto Rico?

Who will save Vieques?

It ain't gonna be
Big Daddy America.

- It's ourselves.
- But how?

How?
I don't know.

I don't know how.

Life on Vieques offers
the kind of freedom,

the kind of beautiful views

that have largely disappeared
in the developed world.

But life can be difficult.

There is little agriculture
or economy

to sustain the people
who live here.

At one of the highest spots
in Vieques,

the sea visible in the distance,

is Finca Conciencia,
a small but sustainable farm

founded by Jorge Cora Peña,

intent on providing locals
and area restaurants

with fruits, vegetables,
honey, and medicinal herbs.

My name
is Ana Elisa Pérez Quintero.

I live and work
in La Finca Conciencia.

We run a productive
and educational

agricultural project.

We farm.

We have the land
and the resources

to produce food that is
economically viable,

that is self-sustaining
without a lot of investment.

It's liberating.

Jorge cooks lunch.

Mero, or grouper,

stuffed with lobster
and white eggplant...

Wrapped in banana leaves
and grilled over mesquite.

Mangu is mashed plantains
with sofrito.

All right.
That looks good.

And what's this here?
And that's pitorro.

Oh, I know what that is.
I'll have a shot of that.

Actually, we call it
"lágrima de monte,"

like, "teardrop
of the mountain."

Will I be crying afterwards?

Maybe.

It's very intense.

- Salut.
- Salut.

How long have you had this farm?

How long have you been
doing this?

Jorge started the farm
around ten years now,

but the farm was originally
part of the area

that the navy took.

Oh, yeah.

And so it's part
of the rescues that happened

throughout the '80s, '90s.

Farming is difficult work.

- Yeah.
- So why?

My mom would ask
the same question.

She was like,
"What are you doing?

Are you quitting your job
that"...

In Puerto Rico, it's really hard
to find a good job.

But I think that farming
is the most practical thing

that we can do
in the midst of a crisis.

It is something
that is gonna create work.

It's gonna help the economy.

It's a blunt question,

but can you make money farming?

In Puerto Rico,
it's still a challenge,

because, obviously,
we get a lot of food

that's super subsidized
from the U.S.

But there are people
who are our neighbors

are like, "I'll pay more."

Like, how much is it worth,
you know?

People really value the work

when they see
that we're working for it.

It's part of a statement.

It's part of educating people.

Since our generation,
supermarket, supermarket.

We were consciously stripped
away from farming.

People were forced
out of the country

to be able to work

in all of these maquiladoras
and everything.

Kids here were
completely disconnected from...

And my generation...
From where things grow.

Like, we do an exercise
with local schools,

and kids here draw a plantain
growing like a lettuce.

I mean, the last thing
in the world the States wants

is for Puerto Rico to become
sustainable,

because it means you're gonna
buy less stuff.

Less snacks, less Pepsi,

less American products.

We don't like that.

If we don't have
our own food supply,

we can't even think about
really being able

to govern ourselves.

Really, if we can
feed ourselves,

we can free ourselves.

He says that the message
in itself is you, no?

Like, to start with you,

to teach by doing,
by the work, no?

♪

Hello.
Hello, hi.

- Hola.
- My friends.

- Hola, hi.
- Nice to meet you.

- Hi.
- Hello.

- Want some beer?
- Yeah, sure.

It's so beautiful here.

- Salut.
- Salut.

Tito Alver is a beloved
singer-songwriter.

Picture with you.

Cristina Rivera Miro
is his fiancée.

He lives on the outskirts
of Vega Alta,

where he grew up.

I've been playing
for 20 years now.

I write very specific songs

about my town, my country.

I'm not trying to sell
any dreams,

but I tell everybody
that we have it inside of us

to make it to the other side.

You want to come inside
and meet the chefs,

if you want to?

In the kitchen,

they're putting together
quite the feast.

How are you, man?
My bass player and chef.

You've got someone in the band
who can cook?

I know, right?
On the road, it's not so bad.

Essential.

♪

Salut.

♪

Mollejas con guineitos,

sautéed chicken gizzards
and green bananas.

All right, that's good.

Cod fish fritters.

- Incredible.
- Amazing.

Carne guisada, a beef stew
cooking since morning.

♪

Traditional mofongo.

♪

This is like a blue-collar
food, you know?

And these guys do
a nice twist to it.

And you make a living
as a working musician?

- I do.
- Just on the island?

But I'm lucky.

I'm one of the few ones.

You can play around the island,

but it's really hard
to get heard.

Everything comes
from the outside.

The radio stations
don't support local music.

Do you have any faith
in your political leadership?

- No.
- No.

Every... every time
I ask this question,

nobody pauses.

- We don't think about it.
- They go, "No."

It's no hesitation.
"No."

You know why, Tony?

What happened with us

is that you don't know
where the blame is.

You don't know if you want
to blame Washington for this.

You don't know if you have
to blame our leaders for that.

Why would a bank front
$70-plus billion

into an economy
that had been in decline

for quite some time?

Did they ever really have
any reasonable expectation

of getting their money back?

Or was this a cheap way
of buying a country?

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

Thank you.

Ding, ding, ding, ding,
ding, ding, ding, ding!

We need the money,
so develop whatever.

We're giving it all away.

It feels like they're
selling out the country

and they're pushing us out.

That's what it feels like.

What about move on,
you know, go to Florida?

I still want to live here.

I still want to have that view.

I still want to...

Breathe this air.

We should get the chance
to just be ourselves, you know?

I'd rather have us
dealing with it

than being in no control at all
of anything,

like we are right now.

We need to change
the way we think.

We have been taught
that we can't do it.

We are preconditioned to think

that we need that support
of the U.S.

If we decide to be
an independent country,

we have to go through a process
of being on our own,

and we have never done that.

We have to start from scratch.

We don't have agriculture.

We don't have any economic...
Production.

Production, anything.

It's gonna be tough,

and I hope that we can fight
for ourselves

to inspire people,
to give them strength to resist.

Obviously, music is good
for that.

♪

Un, dos, tres.
Ya!

♪