Puerto Rican independence movement
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The Puerto Rican Independence movement (Movimiento de la Independencia Puertorriqueña) started with the Taíno rebellion of 1511 led by Agüeybaná II. The political movement has existed since the mid-19th century and has advocated independence of the island of Puerto Rico from Spain (in the 19th century) and the United States (from 1898 to the present day).
Since the beginning of the 19th Century, the independence movement has used revolutionary violence. The list of actions is extensive, ranging from the conspiracy at San German in 1809[1] to the uprisings of Ciales, San German and Sabana Grande in 1898[2]. The Spanish occupation forces were the object of more than thirty conspiracies. Some, like the Lares uprising, the riots and sedition of 1897 and the Secret Societies at the end of the Century, became popular rebellions. Another important act of revolutionary violence was carried out by slaves (the first recorded revolt happened in 1527)[3]. By 1873, over twenty slave conspiracies had been carried out, including some of great political importance such as the Ponce and Vega Baja conspiracies[4].
In 1868, the Grito de Lares took place, in which revolutionaries took over the town of Lares and declared the Republic of Puerto Rico. Ramón Emeterio Betances was the leader of this revolt. The revolt was "squashed" by the forces loyal to Spain.
A number of other leaders, including José de Diego, a well-known intellectual and legislator had sought disconnection from the United States via political accommodation. Pedro Albizu Campos was an influential revolutionary leader in the early 20th century. He co-founded the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, a group that used violent means in an attempt to gain independence from the United States. In 1950, the Nationalists staged the Jayuya Uprising where Blanca Canales declared Puerto Rico a free republic. That same year a group of nationalist attempted to assassinate President Harry S. Truman at the Blair House. And in 1954, another group of nationalist led an attack in the U.S. Capitol building that wounded several legislators.
In 1952, Puerto Rico was allowed to have a constitution under the U.S. Territorial Clause[5], subject to U.S. laws and a U.S. Executive and Legislative Branch, which Puerto Rico residents did not participate in electing or creating. The government suppressed the Nationalist leaders and their activities and the influence of the Nationalist Party waned [6]. A spectrum of Nationalist sentiments and parties exists nowadays in Puerto Rico.
By the 1960s, a new phase of Puerto Rican resistance began. After the decimation of the Nationalist Party, several organizations began to use "clandestine armed struggle" against the U.S. government. Underground "peoples armies" such as El Movimiento Independentista Revolucionario en Armas (MIRA)[7], Los Comandos Armado de Liberacion (CAL)[8], Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN), la Organización de Voluntarios por la Revolución Puertorriqueña (OVRP)[9], El Ejercito Popular Boricua - Los Macheteros (EPB), and others began engaging in clandestine armed actions against the U.S. government and military to bring attention to the colonial condition of Puerto Rico.
A majority of independentistas today seek to achieve independence through either the electoral or the diplomatic process. Gilberto Concepción de Gracia founded the Puerto Rican Independence Party or PIP, the most influential organization participating in the electoral process. The party has successfully elected some legislative candidates, but has never won more than a few percentage points of the vote in gubernatorial elections (2.7% in 2004 and 10-15% of the island-wide legislative vote. [10]
[edit] See also
- Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2007
- Latin American and Caribbean Congress in Solidarity with Puerto Rico's Independence
- Political status of Puerto Rico
- Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (Puerto Rico)
[edit] References
- ^ Schwab, Gail M. The French Revolution of 1789 and Its Impact. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995. ISBN 0313293392. P.268.
- ^ Ayala, César J. Puerto Rico in the American Century: A History Since 1898. UNC Press, 2007. ISBN 0807831131. P.343
- ^ Thomas,Hugh. The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1440-1870. Simon and Schuster, 1999. ISBN 0684835657. P.104
- ^ http://www.proyectosalonhogar.com/Esclavitud/esclavitud.htm Esclavitud en Puerto Rico(Spanish) Retrieved on 2008-12-04
- ^ See Insular Cases
- ^ http://www.pr-secretfiles.net FBI Files on Puerto Ricans. Retrieved on 2008-12-04
- ^ http://www.pr-secretfiles.net/organizations_case.html?detail=23&file=22 Movimiento Independentista Revolucionario en Armas (MIRA) - Case # SJ-100-12315. Retrieved on 2008-12-04
- ^ http://www.start.umd.edu/data/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=3947 Terrorist Organization Profile: Armed Commandos of Liberation. Retrieved on 2008-12-04
- ^ Bosque Pérez, Ramón. Puerto Rico Under Colonial Rule: Political Persecution and the Quest for Human Rights. SUNY Press, 2006. ISBN 0791464172. P.8.
- ^ http://eleccionespr2004.ceepur.org/recuento/principal.aspx?Cargo=GOB&Nivel=ISLA 2004 Election Results (Spanish)
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