The Story of Las Carpetas: History Of Puerto Rico

The Story of Las Carpetas exposes Puerto Rico's decades long surveillance program that secretly monitored thousands of citizens through detailed files called "carpetas."

For forty years, the program targeted anyone linked to Puerto Rican independence movements. These files documented mundane details, books borrowed, friends visited, transforming everyday life into intelligence data. The consequences were devastating: lost jobs, broken families, destroyed careers. Surveillance became a tool of social control that shaped Puerto Rican society for generations.

Through survivor interviews and extensive research, Alicea reveals how this systematic repression created lasting psychological trauma and societal divisions. The book draws urgent parallels to modern surveillance, making it essential reading beyond Puerto Rico's borders. It shows how state overreach crushes individual freedom and why vigilance against such powers remains crucial.

Alex Alicea's work demands action: transparency, accountability, and unwavering defense of civil liberties. The courage of those who endured this oppression, and ultimately exposed it, stands as both warning and inspiration. Their story reminds us that privacy rights require constant protection and that truth, however painful, must prevail over state secrecy.