Somos un solo pueblo y la construcción de la migración en el Banco Popular

This essay reflects on the increasing presence of corporate sponsorship in cultural production in Puerto Rico. It specifically studies the relationship between Banco Popular s video productions since 1993 and the bank s growth as a corporate power in Latino communities in the US. The essay suggests that this corporate/ community relationship is intertwined with the family metaphor that Banco Popular has used in its promotions since its origins. The analysis focuses on two videos in particular, Somos un solo pueblo (1995) and Raíces (2001) and shows how they present contrasting views of Puerto Rican identity in the United States and on the island. Whereas Somos un solo pueblo represents the Puerto Rican diaspora as an unwanted member of the Puerto Rican "family," Raíces goes beyond the bank s original promotional intent to present a more complex version of the history of the diaspora. Corporate involvement in cultural production is thus itself shown in the essay to be a complex phenomenon that has uncertain political and historical effects.