Para la versión en español: https://carlitoboricua.blog/?p=6986&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=6990

By Carlos “Carlito” Rovira

On December 22, 1895, Puerto Ricans affiliated with the Cuban Revolutionary Party, approved a proposed design of the Puerto Rican Flag at a secret meeting held at the Chimney Corner Hall in New York City. At the helm of this effort were the prominent Manuel Besosa, Antonio Velez Alvarado and Juan de Mata Terreforte, an exiled veteran of the 1868 Grito De Lares uprising. Among the other 59 attendees was also the renown literary and archivist of Black history Arturo Schomburg.

From the early 1800’s, New York City served as a safe haven for both Cuban and Puerto Rican revolutionaries seeking refuge from Spain’s repressive agencies. Cuba and Puerto Rico were Spain’s remaining colonies, after a series of successful revolutions in Latin America. Madrid wanted to preserve its colonizer status for as long as possible. Its no wonder why New York became the birthplace for both the Cuban and Puerto Rican flags.

The Puerto Rican patriots chose to invert the colors of the Cuban Flag, following the traditions of the “Two Wings of the Same Bird” – which originated from a poetic metaphor written by the legendary female literary Lola Rodriguez De Tio. This metaphorical expression was later used in musical rendition by Cuban revolutionary leader, Jose Marti. Freedom fighters from both countries collaborated for centuries in a mutual struggle against Spanish tyranny.

It is believed by many that the idea of inverting the colors of the Cuban flag originated from Lola Rodriguez De Tio. And understandably so, Lola collaborated closely with Cuban revolutionaries in exile when she lived in New York City.

To Puerto Ricans, like all oppressed people striving to build nationhood, the flag represents many things. It is the one representation that compels us to express our aspirations and deepest sentiments connected to history, culture and heritage.

Twenty-seven years prior to the Chimney Corner Hall meeting, Dr. Ramon Emeterio Betances and other revolutionary leaders of the 1868 El Grito De Lares uprising saw the necessity of creating such a symbol for the newly established nation in struggle. The leadership of that movement understood quite well the role spirituality plays in a fierce battle for liberation.

In collaboration with Betances, Mariana Bracetti Cuevas, who was also a professional stitcher, created the first Puerto Rican flag. She put together a banner comprising of two red and two turquoise blue boxes, divided by a white cross (similar to the Dominican flag) with a white star on the upper left. The design was partly a tribute to the Dominican people for allowing Boricua revolutionaries to have a base of operations in their country, and because Betances’ father was also Dominican.

In the years following the courageous attempt by Lares insurrectionists, the independence movement continued to exist clandestinely, due to unfavorable circumstances. The Lares martyrs and their supporters were systematically imprisoned, tortured and brutally killed by the Spanish authorities. Puerto Rico was under the most repressive situation, compelling the movement to retreat.

Many who survived the onslaught fled to New York while others went to Cuba joining their comrades fighting to liberate the Cuban homeland. Among these brave Puerto Rican patriots was Juan Ruiz Rivera, who would earn the rank of general in the Cuban Liberation Army.

Despite the difficult conditions, the anti-colonial movement in Puerto Rico gradually regained momentum. Moreover, it was these harsh circumstances that motivated the meeting at Chimney Corner Hall and the creation of the current Puerto Rican flag.

On March 24, 1897, the present-day flag of Puerto Rico was flown for the first time at the municipality of Yauco, in an uprising known as “Intentona de Yauco” (Attempt of Yauco). It was the last act of resistance against Spanish colonialism.

Since the Intentona de Yauco, the Puerto Rican Flag has served to inspire the anti-colonial movement in Puerto Rico as well as in the diaspora. It has been tradition for the flag to be an inspiration in the battle for freedom and justice, such as during the rise of the Young Lords.

In two dramatic events, Puerto Ricans took center stage in world news with the national flag highlighted in occupations of the Statue of Liberty. In 1977 they occupied the monument to demand the release of political prisoners Lolita Lebron, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irvin Flores, Andres Figueroa Cordero and Oscar Collazo. And again, in the year 2000 to demand an end to the U.S. Navy’s bombing practice on the Puerto Rican Island of Vieques.

The devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017 coupled with the continued enforcement of U.S. colonial policy, made the flag a symbol of hope. Nationalism became a critical force that provided moral strength in the ongoing resistance.

In fact, Mother Nature’s destructive forces can never compare with the attitudes and corruption of U.S. government officials. With their policy of neglect U.S. officials contributed to the loss of 4,645 Puerto Rican lives — death tolls the Trump administration blatantly disputed and trivialized. The criminality of the Jones Act combined with the dangerously ineffective FEMA administrators, showed us (and the World) the genocidal policies of both past and present U.S. Presidents — regardless of political party affiliation.

Criminalization of the Puerto Rican Flag

Adding insult to injury, after the U.S. militarily invaded and colonized Puerto Rico in 1898, use of the flag was discouraged and stigmatized as something evil by U.S. officials. But it was during the imposition of Law 53 of 1948, better known as the Gag Law, (in Spanish: Ley de La Mordaza), anyone caught displaying or possessing the Puerto Rican flag was immediately arrested by the colonial authorities. The infraction was punishable by up to 10 years in prison. This vicious law aimed to quell mass support for independence but was also used to persecute Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos and the Nationalist Party.

Without warrants, homes, schools, businesses and houses of worship were randomly searched by colonial police looking for the “contraband flag”. Thanks to the nationalist fighting spirit of the Puerto Rican masses the U.S. rulers were compelled to eliminate this law.

In 1957, Law 53 of 1948, was removed as well as the ban on the Puerto Rican flag. A development that came about as a result of the people’s struggle. However, the original turquoise blue on the flag was replaced by the same dark blue as in the U.S. Flag. This was an attempt by the U.S. colonizers to psychologically cause a false sense of assimilation between Puerto Ricans and the foreign oppressors.

When we wave the Puerto Rican Flag in annual events, let’s not do it in vain and end up taking this honor for granted. Those who continue to colonize us want to ensure our national symbols be no more than a passing fad. The Puerto Rican Flag came about with sacrifices made by those who fought and died for the freedom of our people.

That is why we celebrate the Puerto Rican Flag and salute the memory of our ancestors who fought gallantly for a noble cause. Despite everything the U.S. has done to us through racism and attempts to destroy our identity as a people, Boricuas continue to say with pride QUE BONITA BANDERA!

QUE VIVA PUERTO RICO LIBRE!

By Carlos “Carlito” Rovira

In the days following the massive devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017, news reports emphasized the “American citizenship” of Puerto Ricans. But why were Puerto Ricans suddenly projected as American citizens when, traditionally, this was not the case?

The same media outlets discovered that most people in the U.S. did not know that Puerto Ricans hold U.S. citizenship. For many North Americans—who often suspect that people who speak Spanish and come from a territory in Latin America are “illegal”—the concept of Puerto Ricans as “citizens” must be baffling indeed. The contradictions of that relationship have been vividly captured in the savagely unequal deployment of relief to other hurricane devastated areas and Puerto Rico.

We now see a return of this “cultural shock” when it was announced that Puerto Rican/Latino music superstar Bad Bunny would be the highlight at the 2026 Super Bowl halftime. It became even more of a surprise when it was made clear that the Boricua mega entertainer would sing his tunes exclusively in Spanish.

Far-right, MAGA racists went into a feverish mode of racist hatred which caused them to launch a campaign to condemn the National Football League’s decision to have the world-famous singer take the stage in the traditional entertainment show. The far-right pursues arguing Bad Bunny not being an “all American,” etc.

What is needed to clear up the confusion is a discussion of the origins of Puerto Rico’s relationship with the United States and the peculiarities of Puerto Rican “citizenship.” Unfortunately, the underlying reason for the different responses—the colonial relationship between the U.S. and Puerto Rico—has not been clearly understood.

Puerto Rico was one of four countries colonized by the U.S. in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War of 1898. In 1917, then U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones–Shafroth Act. Commonly known today as the “Jones Act” it imposed a second-class version of citizenship on Puerto Ricans living in Puerto Rico.

The U.S. government expressed its imperial arrogance by ignoring the unanimous opposition to the law by the Legislative Assembly, a long-existing political body in Puerto Rico, including outspoken figures like Luis Muñoz Rivera and Jose De Diego. But because Puerto Ricans under U.S. military dictatorship decrees, U.S. citizenship was not up for negotiation but blatantly imposed.

The law identified the people of the island as “statutory citizens,” a new concept never before applied to anyone, anywhere, which means that certain rights and benefits of citizenship do not apply. Puerto Ricans residing on the island are denied the right to vote in Federal elections and the ability to declare bankruptcy, among other rights and benefits.

The double standard in the supposed “American citizenship” for Puerto Ricans was fueled by the same racist logic of the not-so-hidden second-class citizenship status this country maintains for Indigenous and African American people. Only in the case of Puerto Ricans the second-class status was actually spelled out in the Jones Act itself, instead of just existing de-facto.

The U.S. rulers concocted a way of disguising the fact that they had conquered and colonized a distinct nation, in a separate territory, with a separate economy and a distinct history, culture, language and national identity. In short, the Jones Act allowed U.S. rulers to disguise their colonizing intent and undermine the existence and identity of another people.

At first many Puerto Ricans believed that “U.S. citizenship” would benefit them. But they soon discovered the opposite.

Statutory Citizenship and World War I

On April 6, 1917, barely a month after the imposition of “U.S. citizenship” on Puerto Ricans, the U.S. declared war on Germany. This was a war like none that came before. It engulfed all the industrialized capitalist countries of the world. Their aim was the seizure of each other’s colonial possessions in order to obtain new commercial markets, new sources of raw materials and the labor of already conquered people which the victorious imperialist powers could then exploit for profits.

It was a struggle of global proportions facilitated by the most ruthless capitalists of the various imperialist countries. U.S. rulers did not want to be left out of the expected lucrative feeding frenzy, and so they sought ways to persuade the broader U.S. public to support corporate America’s desires to join one side in the conflict.

By November 1917, just 8 months after the imposition of citizenship, the military draft was applied to Puerto Rico. This came after government and military officials realized that Puerto Ricans were reluctant to voluntarily join the U.S. Armed Forces. About 20,000 young men were taken and sent to various U.S. military bases and installations around the world.

Many of these soldiers died or were maimed as a result of highly lethal chemical weapons used in this war. But the death toll among these soldiers is still unknown because U.S. military officials kept no records of Puerto Rican battle casualties. This was the case with the now dissolved 65th Infantry Division, also known as the Borinqueneers.

It was of no concern to the warmongers in Washington that these Puerto Rican men did not have the slightest clue what the war was about in the first place. If we consider the chronology of events, it becomes clear that the Jones–Schafroth Act, which imposed “U.S. citizenship,” was simply designed to use young Boricuas as cannon fodder.

2nd Class “Citizenship” and Life in Puerto Rico

Today it has become indisputably clear that all of the facets of the Jones Act, especially its economic component, are designed to destroy the Puerto Rican nation—as Puerto Rican Nationalist leader Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos predicted.

Giant U.S. corporations are now the sole beneficiaries of the imposed American “citizenship” in Puerto Rico. While it is true that Puerto Rico receives limited benefits from the colonial relationship it has also been historically subjected to a range of laws that benefit only the billionaires of Wall Street, and this is the primary effect.

Not only are these avaricious capitalist enterprises exempt from paying taxes to Puerto Rico, they also extract from the country an annual average of $30 billion in profits. For an island with a population less than 4 million this is one of the highest rates of colonial exploitation per capita in the world.

And President Barrack Obama’s austerity measure known as the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), which had aimed to forcibly collect an imposed $73 billion dollar hedge fund debt by shutting down public schools, libraries, hospitals, and other public services, as well as reducing the minimum wage, revealed what the aims of U.S. colonizers have always been, since the military invasion of 1898.

Such draconian measures, combined with the fact that Puerto Ricans residing in the United States constitute the second poorest nationality (Native Americans are the poorest), makes “American citizenship” for Puerto Ricans meaningless.

When Donald Trump came to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria it was not to assess the damage caused to property and human life. Despite his stupid behavior of throwing paper towels at a Puerto Rican audience and offending them with false claims of how much money Puerto Rico was “costing the federal treasury,” etc., he was consistent by expounding the traditional racist views of U.S. colonialism.

Trump was insidiously reminding Puerto Ricans, in his own crude and malicious style, how worthless “U.S. Citizenship” really is for Puerto Ricans. But in actuality Trump was honestly expressing the disposition of U.S. colonial policy in Puerto Rico, under every Democratic and Republican president.

Another blatant and well-hidden example of the hypocrisy in U.S. citizenship for Puerto Ricans was in an April 2022 Supreme Court decision. The high court ruled that people residing in Puerto Rico and other “territories” are not eligible for Supplemental Security Income, a program that provides desperately needed benefits for low-income residents who are older than 65, blind and disabled. Colonialism is blunt and will remind us of its inhumanity, among other things.

Citizenship, in the truest meaning of the word can only come about when the Puerto Rican people achieve freedom to exercise their human rights, that is, to exercise the right to independence and self-determination, and free from the domination of U.S. Colonialism. The U.S. rulers shall then be brought before justice and forced to provide Puerto Ricans with the Reparations due to them.

QUE VIVA PUERTO RICO LIBRE!

Continue reading “The Hypocrisy in “U.S. Citizenship” for Puerto Ricans” →

Para la versión en español: https://carlitoboricua.blog/p=6398&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=6414

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“Military intervention is the most brutal and abusive act that can be committed against a nation and a people. We demanded then, as we do today, the retreat of United States armed forces from Puerto Rico in order to embrace the liberty we held all too briefly in 1868.” –Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos

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By Carlos “Carlito” Rovira

On October 30, 1950, 75 years ago, an armed battle took place in the municipality of Jayuya which spread throughout Puerto Rico. It became known as the Jayuya Uprising. It is an event in Puerto Rico which bourgeois apologists for U.S. colonialism would prefer to dilute or completely erase from history.

Men and women determined to bring about an independent Puerto Rican republic carried out daring armed confrontations with U.S.-trained police and the National Guard. The fury that ensued was due to U.S. colonial policy, which began with the 1898 military invasion. Leading up to October 1950 the U.S. colonizers were putting in place a brutal plan to crush the independence movement and all expressions of anti-colonialism.

The colonization of Puerto Rico was motivated by capitalist economic interests of giant banks and corporations. Countries like Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Japan and the United States engaged in savage competition among themselves to obtain colonies. With the conquest of the Philippines, Guam, Cuba and Puerto Rico the U.S. became an imperialist power. U.S. rulers envisioned themselves controlling the world, especially Latin America where they had defined their intentions to make it their own in the 1823 Monroe Doctrine.

However, this historical trend did not go unchallenged. Millions of people resisted the savage onslaught by this system, especially after World War II and well into the 1960’s-70’s with the emergence of organized revolutionary nationalist movements in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

It was a momentous period in history with national liberation movements becoming an integral part of the global class struggle, which came to a head at the height of the so-called Cold War. At the political-military poles of this conflict were the United States on one side and the Soviet Union on the other.

Most notable in this historic turmoil were revolutions in Algeria (1954), Angola (1961), Bolivia (1952), Congo (1960), China (1949), Dominican Republic (1965), Egypt (1952), Iraq (1958), Vietnam (1945) and Cuba (1959), as well as the inspiring liberation movements of Palestine, South Africa and Northern Ireland. Imperialism did not foresee the resistance of its victims picking up arms in their quest for freedom. The Jayuya uprising occurred in the context of existing world circumstances.

The 1950 Nationalist Revolt

Under the leadership of Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos, the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico proclaimed the inalienable right of the Puerto Rican people to independence. These freedom fighters gained the respect of multiple sectors of the population.

The Nationalist Party also became known for advocating the right to use whatever means necessary to achieve liberation, including the use of armed force. This made them the primary target of colonialism’s repressive agencies that sought to destroy the independence movement.

When the political left in the United States was persecuted in the 1940-50’s, the result of an anti-communist witch-hunt spearheaded by the notorious Senator Joseph McCarthy, Puerto Ricans witnessed a harsher version of that despicable campaign. People in the U.S. hardly knew that Nationalists were systematically imprisoned and murdered.

Laws were created to justify killing Nationalists in plain view. The cause for independence was criminalized outright. Such was the nature of Law 53 of 1948, better known as the Gag Law, (Spanish: Ley de La Mordaza); it banned the Nationalist Party, prohibited possession and display of the Puerto Rican flag, outlawed public gatherings, prohibited criticism of the U.S. presence and mention of independence in literature, musical renditions and in all mass media. This vicious law aimed to destroy the Puerto Rican people’s self-identity by instilling fear.

U.S. news media outlets only told the false narrative of Washington officials who projected the uprising as an “internal matter among Puerto Ricans.” But nothing can dismiss the cold facts pointing to the contrary: the supposed “Government of Puerto Rico” did not come into existence by the will of the people, it was installed by U.S. colonial decree. Federal law mandates the U.S. President to take direct charge of matters there in cases of emergency. In addition, the governor of Puerto Rico is required by law to report and take directions from the White House.

Early in October 1950, Nationalist Party intelligence operatives obtained information of a secret government plan to eliminate the independence movement. The tactics to be used in the planned onslaught involved attacking offices and homes of Nationalist Party members. With knowledge of the imminent attack Party leadership chose to uphold national dignity and their right to armed self-defense. They decided that it was best to take the initiative by landing the first blow.

THE JAYUYA UPRISING

On the morning of October 30, 1950, a young woman named Blanca Canales led an armed contingency of Nationalists towards Jayuya. Once they arrived in the city the patriots launched their attack on the police headquarters. The Nationalists then surrounded the despised facility and a gun battle ensued.

Civil and police officials were shocked by the unexpected tenacity of the freedom fighters. The police were ordered to surrender and come out of the building with their hands raised. As soon as the Nationalists gained control of the situation Blanca Canales proceeded to give the command to burn down the building.

Surrounded by a large gathering of residents, the brave patriots raised the outlawed Puerto Rican flag. With her weapon raised in the air Blanca Canales agitated the onlookers by shouting the historic solemn words of the Puerto Rican liberation struggle: “QUE VIVA PUERTO RICO LIBRE!” She defiantly declared the independence of Puerto Rico!

Violent clashes between police and nationalists also occurred in Utuado, Ponce, Mayagüez, Arecibo, Naranjito, Ciales, Peñuelas and other towns. In Arecibo a gun battle ensued at the site of the police station there in which several Nationalists were killed. Among the 12 patriots wounded was former political prisoner Carlos Feliciano.

In San Juan, colonial police and National Guard attacked the headquarters of the Nationalist Party. Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos, Isabel Rosado and others undertook defending their office with arms at hands until they were overwhelmed in the gun battle by tear gas.

Campos was then sentenced to life imprisonment. But U.S. puppet Governor Luis Muños Marin conveniently granted Campos a pardon a few months before his death in 1965. Many pro-independence activists, including medical experts, maintain that Campos’ physical deterioration was due to torture with secret radiation experiments.

Military airplanes were deployed to bomb Jayuya and Utuado. in Jayuya 70 percent of the municipality was destroyed. The National Guard immediately pushed to suppress the uprising and regain control of the region. New repressive measures were imposed throughout the country, including martial law.

A news blackout kept the events of the rebellion out of mainstream outlets in order to avoid the condemnation of colonialism in the court of public opinion. To guarantee silencing voices of the emerging struggle U.S. officials intensified their efforts to twist the facts. When the news media asked about the rebellion President Harry Truman falsely described the conflict as being among Puerto Ricans.

On November 1, 1950, Nationalist Party members Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola went to the Blair House in Washington, D.C. to assassinate President Harry Truman. Their intended purpose was to counter Washington’s lies about the conflict before the world. Torresola was killed and Collazo was critically wounded in a shootout with Capital Police and Truman’s Secret Service bodyguards. But the brave act of the two martyrs did bring about exposure to what was occurring in Puerto Rico.

The meaning of the Nationalist Revolt

As Puerto Ricans rebelled with guns in hand, anti-colonial struggles in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America waged on. The Jayuya Uprising in Puerto Rico was part of that global resistance of oppressed and exploited people.

Although the Nationalist Party did not succeed to expel colonialism, a political victory was won, nevertheless. This chapter in Puerto Rican history proved that the colonizers would compel the people to rebel. It does not matter how great the repressive reach is it can never erase an oppressed people’s identity and revolutionary traditions.

The Jayuya Uprising did force U.S. rulers to change their administering form of domination. In 1952 the Governor of Puerto Rico was no longer a military high ranking official appointed by the U.S. President. Elections were introduced for the office of Governor, but only to disguise the colonizing nature of the U.S. presence. By 1957 Law 53 of 1948, (the Gag Law) was lifted. The removal of this notorious law also meant lifting a ban of the Puerto Rican flag.

If one were to examine the chronology of the atrocities committed by the U.S. in Puerto Rico, like the secret sterilization of women, the cancer epidemic caused by the U.S. Navy bombing destruction of Vieques, the thousands of deaths caused by neglect in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, and other deliberate policies of genocide, points to why the 1950 revolt was justified.

For their own reasoning U.S. colonizers will also remember this event, as they recognize the potential threat Puerto Ricans pose once they rise up. And in that inevitable future moment the lessons gained from this experience shall prove decisive in fight for a free Puerto Rican republic.

QUE VIVA PUERTO RICO LIBRE!

By Carlos “Carlito” Rovira

On September 23, 1868, in the city of Lares, Puerto Rico, was the historic site of an uprising against African chattel slavery under Spanish colonial domination. The event is known as “El Grito de Lares”—the outcry of Lares—which affirmed the existence of the Puerto Rican nation and its struggle for national liberation, first against Spanish and then U.S. colonialism. It is a struggle that continues to this day.

El Grito de Lares took place in a world context of bourgeois democratic revolutions against the remnants of feudalism in the dominant European powers. Feudal states like Spain, basing themselves on the wealth generated by large land holdings and colonial exploitation, were forcefully compelled to give way to the growing power of world capitalism.

The Haitian Revolution of 1802-04, coming in the wake of the French Revolution that began in 1789, marked the first Black republic in history. The victory of African slaves who rebelled and broke away from French colonial domination inspired millions throughout Latin America, the Caribbean and the world. Slave owners everywhere became apprehensive about this event, especially in the United States.

In 1810, Indigenous people in Mexico under the leadership of Miguel Hidalgo launched a drive to force the Spanish out of that country. Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1824.

Throughout the 1810s and 1820s, Simón Bolívar led an army of Indigenous people and former African slaves in an effort to win the independence of South American colonies from Spain. These successful military campaigns shattered the prestige of the Spanish Army. Puerto Rico and Cuba were Spain’s only remaining colonies in Latin America.

In the 1848 revolutionary wars that took place in France, Germany and Italy, workers took to the streets against the feudal monarchies. Despite the monarchies’ desperate efforts to hold on to political power, the development of capitalism and the rising of the working classes meant the end of the centuries-long rule of feudal states.

In the United States, the Civil War of 1861-65 led to the overthrow of the slave-owning class in the South. And because slavery in the U.S. was the most lucrative and brutal of all it’s defeat served as a death blow to that system everywhere. Due to the vigorous efforts by the African American masses, especially when they fought in organized, armed detachments of the Union Army, the final destruction of the slave system was certain.

In all these struggles, the political demands of freedom and independence were meant to benefit the growing capitalist class, although it was the most oppressed social layers in society that fought the battles to destroy feudalism and chattel slavery.

The Puerto Rican nation

Under Spanish colonialism, the people of Puerto Rico—like the people in the rest of the Caribbean and Latin America—also evolved with characteristics of self-identity typical of nationhood. The development of nations in the Americas inspired many to seek their freedom. Colonialism defined the class relationships that the newly formed nations would have to Spanish imperial power.

By 1867, there were close to 650,000 people in Puerto Rico. Half were of white Spanish background; the others were Black slaves, Tainos, mulattos and mixed-race mestizos. The economy was largely centered on sugar production and the sugar trade, with a capitalist mode of production that gave rise to the Puerto Rican working class.

Spanish colonial rule in Puerto Rico was harsh and allowed for little political participation by the local elites. All policies relating to politics and economy were dictated by the Spanish monarchy. Taxes were heavy. Any expressions for more autonomy—not to mention independence—were brutally put down.

El Grito de Lares took place in the context of increasing resistance to foreign oppression and the socioeconomic developments in the Western Hemisphere.

The Revolutionary Committees

A central figure in El Grito de Lares uprising was Ramón Emeterio Betances. The son of an African mother and a white father, Betances was reared in a relatively wealthy and privileged family. However, Betances began to question the causes for the inequalities that existed under a slave-owning colonial system. He was active in the clandestine movement for independence and to abolish slavery. Today, Betances is considered the “father of the Puerto Rican nation”.

Betances and Segundo Ruiz Belvis founded the Revolutionary Committees of Puerto Rico on Jan. 6, 1868, while they were in exile in the Dominican Republic. Soon, Revolutionary Committees were formed throughout Puerto Rico to organize for an eventual revolt among all sectors of the population. Under the most secretive measures, organizers reached out to Africans slaves toiling the land. The punishment for slaves caught in seditious activity was harsh.

A significant portion of the Puerto Rican combatants galvanized by the Revolutionary Committees were escaped African slaves living in hiding. In some cases slaves were granted freedom in exchange for partaking in the planned war; Some slave owners also desired to break away with Spain. But the class interest of this privileged sector was different from most people in Puerto Rico, their class aspirations were to develop capitalism free of hindrance by a  foreign power.

Other freedom fighters were Tainos, the original Indigenous people of Puerto Rico who were living in the mountains and working as day laborers in the towns. Haitians, Dominicans and Jamaicans were also among the insurgents who fought in Lares.

Women also played an important role in the leadership of this revolutionary movement, such as Mariana Bracetti Cuevas and Lola Rodriguez De Tio. Both of these women partook in organizing the clandestine Revolutionary Committees. Mariana Bracetti Cuevas created what the revolutionaries hoped would become the flag of an independent Puerto Rican republic. Lola Rodriguez De Tio was the author of the Puerto Rican National Anthem — not the revised, non-revolutionary version approved by the U.S. colonizers.

Betances sailed on a ship with a cargo of rifles, cannons and other weapons from the island of Española (Haiti & Dominican Republic). These were weapons obtained during the Haitian Revolution’s defeat of French colonialism on January 1, 1804. Haiti had such an abundance of captured weapons that much of it was provided to other liberation struggles in the Western Hemisphere, especially to Simon Bolivar’s military campaign to expel Spanish colonialism.

But the Spanish colonial authorities discovered the plans. On his return from the neighboring island as he entered the harbor of Arecibo, the Spanish Navy surrounded the rebel ship, capturing the cargo and arresting the crew.

News of the ship’s capture reached the revolutionaries in the mountains who were preparing for the rebellion. With Betances in Spanish custody, the leading organizers of the movement decided to call for the rebellion ahead of schedule.

The Uprising Begins

At about 2 AM on September 23, 1868, 900 hundred insurgents on foot and horseback stormed the city of Lares. The army of freedom fighters entered the city, and as the sounds of shouts and gunfire were heard, the city awakened, crowds of people poured onto the streets, and the African slaves staged a revolt. The people were emboldened to fight which weakened the ability of the Spanish military forces to maintain control.

The principal demands of the revolutionaries were the abolition of chattel slavery, an end to the “libreta” (notebook) system and the independence of Puerto Rico. They called for the right to bear arms, the right to determine taxes and freedom of speech and of the press.

After an hour of gun battle, the Spanish authority was overwhelmed. Government and military officials were forced by the fury of the people to lay down their weapons and surrender. The rebels then declared the Republic of Puerto Rico.

The Spanish prisoners were then paraded and displayed for all to view as trophies of war. Colonial officials guilty of heinous crimes against the people were dealt with accordingly. What was unimaginable at one time—defeating by force an oppressor that projected itself as invincible—was now a reality.

The people rejoiced at the power they now had over their oppressors. With jubilant emotions the revolutionaries held their weapons in the air as crowds gathered at the town plaza in the center of the city. The Spanish flag, the despised symbol of tyranny, was lowered, stepped on and burned. In its place, the flag of the newly proclaimed Puerto Rican republic (shown below) was raised on a pole at the municipal building.

It was on this occasion that the people heard for the first time the solemn words of the Puerto Rican liberation struggle: “¡QUE VIVA PUERTO RICO LIBRE!”—long live a free Puerto Rico!

The revolutionaries’ plans were to capture Lares, then attack the surrounding cities where other groups of revolutionaries awaited instructions. Lares was chosen for the initial attack because of what was believed to be a strategically advantageous location for a starting point, in the mountainous region.

But because the Spaniards were better equipped and more experienced in the techniques of war, the victory at Lares was short-lived. What followed was the suppression of the independence and abolitionist movement throughout Puerto Rico. Many were imprisoned, tortured and murdered. Madrid issued new decrees and sent troop reinforcements to secure its domination over the Puerto Rican people.

But the uprising did lead to some concessions. For example, amid continued turmoil over the question of slavery — something which politically troubled Madrid did not want — the Spanish National Assembly abolished the hated system on March 22, 1873. In addition, the Spanish government granted a limited form of home rule to Puerto Rico in 1897. But one year later, in the course of the Spanish-American war, U.S. troops invaded Puerto Rico which remains a U.S. colony to this day.

Before his death on September 16, 1898—a few months after the U.S. invasion—Betances stated, “I do not want to see Puerto Rico under the colonial domination of Spain nor the United States.”

A Symbol of Struggle

El Grito de Lares is today a celebrated and respected holiday in the U.S.-colonized Caribbean Island. Even the U.S.-installed colonial government recognizes El Grito de Lares as an official holiday, closing schools and government offices — while trying to strip the holiday of its revolutionary content.

Although the martyrs of Lares did not achieve their quest, they provided the movement today with a sense of the necessity to build a people’s movement that can defeat U.S. colonialism. Their fierce attempt to end slavery is a continuing model for anti-racist struggle as well.

Betances and his fellow revolutionaries also provided a living example of the internationalism of oppressed peoples against colonialism. The “Society for the Independence of Cuba & Puerto Rico,” founded in the 1860s by exiled revolutionaries living in New York City is such an example.

Many of the Lares combatants that managed to survive the Spanish onslaught chose to continue their efforts by retreating to join the struggle in Cuba. About 2000 Puerto Ricans seized Spanish vessels in order to set sail to join their Cuban comrades in “El Grito de Yara” uprising, three weeks after El Grito de Lares. Among the Puerto Ricans to join this venture was Juan Rius Rivera, who became a commander in the Cuban rebel army.

It was this act of solidarity that solidified the centuries-long relationship between Cuban and Puerto Rican revolutionaries. This special collaboration became tradition. It is what motivated Lola Rodriguez De Tio’s famous poetic expression “Two Wings of the Same Bird“.

For many Puerto Ricans, the experience of Lares emphasis that the national salvation and liberation of the people can only be achieved with total independence and absolute freedom from foreign interference.

Added Meaning of El Grito De Lares

On September 23, 2005, Filiberto Ojeda Rios was killed in a gun battle with Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents. Filiberto was leader of the clandestine armed group Los Macheteros. The FBI chose the date to launch this vicious attack on the revered leader as an attempt to shatter the fighting spirit of the independence movement.

But U.S. colonialism’s efforts of psychological warfare came short of it’s goal. All that Washington officials managed to do was to give the annual El Grito De Lares commemorations an added meaning. Boricuas continue to wage the liberation struggle.

Today, Puerto Rico’s hard social reality has defined many new forms of struggle but with its long fighting traditions kept well intact. Regardless of what Washington officials throw against the Puerto Rican people, the historic instinct to rebel cannot be destroyed. The passion that existed during El Grito De Lares continues to live on.

The continued struggle for an independent state is the only suitable direction. Having a free and self-determining republic is the only guarantee for freedom from colonial rule. The sacrifices and lessons made by the martyrs of El Grito De Lares shall one day prove to inspire a decisive battle that will bring about the defeat of U.S. colonialism in Puerto Rico.

¡QUE VIVA PUERTO RICO LIBRE!