Issues on the Island

 Land Grab in Cabo Rojo : The Esencia Project   

Development firms Reuben Brothers and Three Rules Capital unveiled their plans for a $2 billion community for the ultra-wealthy in Boquerón Bay in the southwestern town of Cabo Rojo, named Esencia. The developers have filed their proposed plan for Esencia with the Puerto Rico Permit Management Office (OGPe, in Spanish). The project will span 2,000 acres of privately owned land spanning 3 miles of beaches, roughly 5x the size of the San Juan Metro Area.  The proposed community is being funded by three core corporate hotel conglomerates— Aman Group, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, and Rosewood Hotels & Resorts — to operate the hotels and residences. In all, there are plans for five hotels with a combined 500 keys and about 1,000 total branded residential units. 

Because Cabo Rojo has historically been considered one of Puerto Rico’s most environmentally lush towns, the developers stressed that the plan incorporates beach access and amenities for residents, hotel guests, and the wider public and community. The group has also vowed to cause the least amount of environmental disruption to the property and its surroundings. The plan for Esencia also calls for building two golf courses, hiking and biking trails, a spa and wellness, sports and racket clubs, an equestrian center, a bilingual K-12 school, a health and emergency care facility, a town center, as well as two places of worship that will be open to community residents and the public. The planned community proposes limiting built structures in Esencia to 25% of the land or less. The remaining 75% or more will be maintained as open space for conservation, active and passive recreation, and public use.                                                                                                                                                       

But for all their promises, we know from experience that the local community will be locked out of all of this. It is happening right now. The land that has already been acquired has already been closed off, and anyone approaching the public beaches and land is run off by private security forces. Esencia will not benefit residents in any way: it seeks to create a private city within Cabo Rojo, built to segregate its wealthy foreigners from Puerto Ricans and protect them from the reality that Puerto Ricans face outside its walls: a crumbling infrastructure, food insecurity, and frequent power outages. What’s more is that this project’s footprint is so large that it not only drains local resources,it proposes stealing water from the neighboring community La Parguera. La Parguera is known for its bio luminescent bays, nature reserves and home to manatees. 

The Esencia project has a clear goal: to create a “paradise” in the Caribbean for foreigners while continuing to destroy the land and displace the native population of Puerto Rico. This project is designed to benefit the ultra rich and will control and limit the access of Puerto Ricans, who currently freely enjoy the lands, using them as recreational areas, coexisting respectfully alongside the plant and animal species that live there. The Potential Environmental Impact: The project would severely impact the delicate ecology of our land and waters. The area for the proposed project is home to several plants, including the endemic Eugenia woodburyana, cobana negra, and bariaco, that serve as a habitat for many animals. Some animal species that would see their habitats eradicated include: 1) The yellow shouldered blackbird and the Puerto Rican nightjar, both endangered birds,  whose habitat and breeding, nesting, and foraging areas would be affected by deforestation, 2) Antillean manatee, who can be found in the marine areas such as Caño Boquerón, 3) Sea turtles, who can be kept from nesting on the beach by artificial light and can become disoriented. 

These precious ecosystems sit on Specially Protected-Ecological Rustic Soil, with over 100 identified Taíno archaeological sites that have been preserved. Construction of this luxury project would also demolish and appropriate these historic sites. Esencia’s developers claim that the project will protect environmental conditions. One example of how these claims are unsubstantiated is that Esencia includes 2 golf courses in its calculation of green areas. Golf courses are not green areas, and they are not ecosystems – they are leveled and highly manicured areas that require large amounts of water. They do not provide shelter, nesting grounds, or food for the local species. They are a direct habitat disruption to countless fauna and flora. Cultural Appropriation: Esencia also states that it will support archeological digs and build a museum within the project’s borders. Cabo Rojo is the town with the highest documented density of archeological deposits on the island. Esencia’s plan to appropriate these historical materials is a rampant violation of Puerto Ricans’ right to their ancestral patrimony. The lands, beaches, and Taíno historical artifacts should be stewarded by the Puerto Rican people, not owned by multimillionaires.Economic Development Claims:Esencia will continue to create low income jobs that provide no upward mobility while extracting local resources and benefiting from tax exemptions an advantage that  local industries do not have. 

Instead of supporting local workers and businesses, this project will affect their livelihoods: for instance, many fishermen in the area will lose their access to the ocean. Furthermore, Esencia, like other resorts in Puerto Rico, takes away basic services from Puerto Ricans. When tourists and foreigners come to Puerto Rico, water, electricity, and other resources are strained and diverted to these areas, away from the native population. A clear example of this is the plan to take water away from La Parguera exclusively for Escenicia. Puerto Rico has historically had a severe water access problem, with households going days without water. Utilizing water tanks sparingly until the water supply can return. Locals, who already endure the crushing weight of high costs of living because of the colonial-capitalist system imposed on Puerto Rico, cannot afford for this project to come to fruition. The only people who will benefit from this project are the rich and powerful who profit from the exploitation of the land and nation. To make matters worse the government of Puerto Rico continues to deregulate environmental protection and development laws to fast-track projects like this. Now is the time to step up for Puerto Rico, or we will see further displacement of our people and our land. The community demands the end of this disastrous development.

Take a Tour of the Project:

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