Viewpoints, Hiost Members of the Genera Tion of Munoz Rivera Had Considered That There Were Two Or Three Accepta Ble Solutions to Puerto Rico's Political Situation
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Xerox University Microfilms 73-26,892 RAMIREZ-BARBOT,.Jaime, 1936- A HISTORY OF PUERTO RICAN RADICAL NATIONALISM, 1920-1965. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., : History, general University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. A HISTORY OF PUERTO RICAN R.^DICAL NATIONALISM, 1920-1965 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfilliaent of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Jaime Ramirez-Barbot The Ohio State University 1973 Reading Committee: Approved by Donald 3. Cooper Alfred E. Eckes Stephen Stoan Q ( } l U é jL & ■ Adviser Department of History ACKîîOTLSDGMaîTS ï wish to thank Dr, Donald 3* Cooper for his invaluable help and assistance in the preparation of this dissertation. Without his patience, understanding and cooperation, little would have been accomplished. This dissertation would not be a reality without the financial help so readily given by the Ford Foundation. For their disinterested help I am deeply grateful. My last words of appreciation and gratitude belong to my wife, \rtio comforted and gave me strength in my direst moments. To her, my undying love and appreciation. VITA October 8, 1936 B o m in M»yaguez, Puerto Rico 1964 ————————————— 3. A. Magna Cum Laude University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, Puerto Rico 1964-1966 --------------------------- N. D. E. A. Fellowship' The University of Iowa 1967-1969 —— ———————————— Instructor, University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, Puerto Rico 1969-1971 -- ----————————— Teaching Associate Department of History The Ohio State University 1970 — ——————————— Lazarus Summer Fellowship The Ohio State University 1971-1972 ——— ———————— ——— Ford Foundation Fellowship The Ohio State University FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field; History of Latin America Under the-Republics Studies in History of Latin America, Colonial Period. Professor Donald B. Cooper Studies in Twenty-Century Europe. Professor Sidney Fisher Studies in American Diplomatic History. Professor Marvin R. Zahniser TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS - .................................. n VITA — .............................. 111 Chapter I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ----------------------------- 1 II. NEW MASTERS AND OLD SERVANTS: THE SEARCH FOR AN INDENTITY 31 III. A TRADITION OF VIOLENCE AND TERROR--------- -----....... 71 IV. THE PUERTO RICAN NATIONALIST P A R T Y ---------------- 85 V. NATIONALISM AND TERROR------- ..... ------ ......... 108 VI. THE QUIET DECADE------------------ ...................... 143 VII. THE NATIONALIST REVOLT OF 1950 — ---------------------- 166 VIII. NATIONALISM AND THE UNRESOLVED QUESTION OF STATUS ----- 196 APPENDIX A......................... 219 221 226 D. ---------------------------------------- 226 E. — ------------------------- ........ -- 228 BIBLIOGRAPHY------------------------- ...... - . 2 3 0 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO this day the political history of Puerto Rico remains the story of a colonial entity governed from beyond the seas. Throughout its long history Puerto Rico has remained a colonial possession, first, of Spain and afterwards of the United States. Because of this the question has been repeatedly raised whether a genuine movement for independence has ever existed in the island. These doubts were strenghtened in the 1930*s by Antonio S. Pedreira, a Puerto Rican intellectual who wrote an interpretative essay on insular society. Throughout his work Pedreira characterizes Puerto Ricans as a docile people, who lacked the will, stamina and desire to do things on their own.^ Later on, the severe judgment and ideas espoused by Pedreira were developed further by Rene Marqués,^ another Puerto Rican intellec tual, who used such terms as peaceful, tolerant, fatalist, aplatanado^ and ftangotado^ to describe the seemingly inborn characteristics of the islanders in general. Influenced by his clear-cut republicanism. Marques vents his frustration at being a colonial on the people of Puerto Rico. In a scathing condemnation Marques declares that in Puerto Rico "violent acts...are not, in a final analysis, the result of a revolutionary doctrine, a heroic tradition or a clear concious rebelliousness...but rather the desperate acts of weaklings, forced into action so as to retain a sense of dignity and self-respect. If one is to believe Marques, the numerous and bloody Nationalist incidents in the twentieth century were acts b o m out of desperation, and the participants in those acts were not really seeking political freedom. This is indeed possible, but to reject Nationalist violence as farcical is a far easier task than to probe into the insular past, seeking a nexus, a precedent, a problem or a set of problems that may help to clarify events in the twentieth century. Thus, to better understand twentieth-century radical nationalism in Puerto Rico it is necessary to study briefly insular separatism and political aspirations in the preceding century. of a Puerto Rican identity began to emerge. hfore important, it was in the early years of this century that a Puerto Rican desire for greater independence and a more liberal self-government came to the fore.^ This desire for a greater voice in their own affairs created among many islanders a separatist feeling that led to attempts at insurrection against Spain. The first outward manifestation of Puerto Rican separatism fol lowed indirectly as a result of Napoleon's usurpation of power in Madrid in 1808. In an attempt to preserve the empire, the Central Council and later on the council of Regency invited the overseas provinces to send deputies to the Cortes that was to meet in 1810 in Isla de Leon, near Cadiz.In its instructions to the Puerto Rican recognized the sovereignty of Ferdinand VII but added the warning that "in the event that said sovereignty does not prevail, the island would regain possession of her natural rights to govern herself in the best possible way. although the island remained a colonial possession, the sepa ratist spirit of Venezuela strongly stirred Puerto Rican tendencies in the same direction.Out of this feeling grew the 1822 con spiracy led by Luis Guillermo L. Ducoudray Holstein, a French ad venturer approached by island separatists.^^ This French soldier of fortune— a somewhat similar though lesser version of Lord Thomas Cochrane--went to New York where he obtained some ships and recruited a group of foreigners to undertake the operation. His plans called for his ships and men to land at Ahasco, near the city of Mayaguez, and proclaim the “Republica de Boricua" with a provisional govern ment under his leadership.In Puerto Rico, Ducoudray Holstein*s agent was Pedro Dubois, a native of the island of Guadeloupe who resided in the to\m of Naguabo. In his endeavors to promote the re bellion, Dubois carelessly approached men who were not in accord with his ideas, some of whom denounced him to the authorities. Shortly after his arrest in September 13, 1822, Dubois was tried quickly and executed for conspiracy.The plot ended in utter failure when the ships of Ducoudray Holstein were detained and confiscated in Curacao. Nearly thirteen years elapsed before a new atteinpt at rebellion occurred. The new plot, a military uprising called the Sergeant's Revolt involved officers and sergeants from a bataillon of the Granada Regiment, which comprised the Danish garrison in Puerto Rico* A dismal failure from the very beginning, the uprising was quelled without gunfire or bloodshed. As a result of this abortive plot, six sergeants plus captain Pedro de Loizaga, the most prominent leader, were