~5l' if),tJ0 . ?nrr· C.t*.'0'~

ALSO BY HIMILCE NOVAS

Everything liJU Need to Know About HIMILCE NOVAS Asian-American History (with Lan Cao and Rosemary Silva) Princess Papaya, a novel about Santeria and a Jewish Cuban American family. Arte Publico Press, EVERYTHING University ofHouston, December 2004. 'Mangos, Bananas and Coconuts: A CubanLove Story. YOU NEED TO University of Houston, Arte PUblico Press, 1996;. Riverhead Books/Putnam, 1997. Excerpts of this novel have been reprinted in many prestigious KNOW ABOUT publications, including The Prentice Hall Anthology of Latino Literature. Latin American Cooking Across the U.SA. (Knopf Cooks American) coauthored with Rosemary Silva (Knopf, 1997). LATINO .The Hispanic 100: A Ranking ofthe Latino Men and ~ Women Who Have MostInfluencedAmerican Thought and Culture. Citadel Press, 1995. HISTORY Remembering Selena: A Tribute in Pictures and WordslRecordando a Selena: Un trihuto en palabras y fotos, an illustrated, four-color, bilingual biography of the queen ofTejano music. St. Martin's Press, 1995. 2008 Edition Among others. Author's Web site: . http://www.supernovas.org Seminario Multidisciplinario ")06£ E-milio GonzAlcz 5MJLG 'rJ

f"cult"d de Hum a nid",des I'J } UfR-Rf

l"'--,. ~,~ @ .A PLUME BOOK CUATRO

Puerto "Ricans

"Wbat is Puerto Rico? uick, name a place that's erroneously. called a country; whose esidents are American citizens but are barred from voting in U.S. 'residential elections, do not pay federal income tax, and ytft can e drafted by the U.S, military; whose capital city is nearly ahun­ red years older than Jamestown; whose currency is the U.S. dol­ ar; and whose people are totally fluent in Spanish-s-and in many, nany cases, in English-and are fiercely proud of their land and eir rich African, native, and Spanish heritage. . Ifyou answered, "Puerto Rico," you're familiar with some of the numerous contradictions that characterize the history and po­ Iitical status of this earthly paradise, an unincorporated, orga­ nized U.S. territory known officially as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, which lies approximately one thousand miles south­ east of Miami and is comprised of the'island of Puerto Rico, mea­ s"\Jring about one hundred miles long and thirty-five miles wide, and the offshore islets ofVieques, Mona, and Culebra. P. ., '.,.'

129 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LATINO HISTORy Puerto Rica,ns

EARLY HISTORY fry in Mexico and Peru. As for Columbus, he was more interested · in Hispaniola and did not settle Puerto Rico. Why do Puerto Ricans call their island Borinquen? .it That job was left to the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de , t, LeOn, who, in 1508, was dispatched with a crew of fifty to explore Borinquen, which means "the land of the brave lord," is the name '~: · the island and determine whether it harbored any gold. There given Puerto Rico by its indigenous inhabitants, the Taino, who" was very little of the precious metal to speak of, as the Spanish were a subgroup of the Arawak, the collective name of the 11, ·discovered later, but the minute Ponce de Leon glimpsed the bay Amerindians inhabiting the West Indies (the islands in the,~ at Sanjuan, he exclaimed,' "lAy, que puerto rico!" ("Oh, what a rich Caribbean Sea, which are divided into the Lesser Antilles, Great;~ port!"). From that moment on, the island was known as Puerto Antilles, and the Bahamas). The Taino, a seafaring people, inhab~t Rico, and the port where Ponce de Leon anchored, as San Juan ited not just Puerto Rico, but the other islands of the Greater An- l' ·(short for San Juan Bautista). San Juan, of course, was designated 'rilles (Cuba, Jamaica, and Hispaniola), as well as the Bahamas f the capital of Puerto Rico and remains so to this day. The and some of the islands of the Lesser Antilles (an island group to Spaniards quickly gained control of the island, and in 1509 Ponce 'the east and south of Puerto Rico.) In actuality, the native peoplesi de Leon was appointed the first governor of Puerto Rico, serving of Puerto Rico did not call themselves Taino before the Spanish! at that post until 1512. The island's second largest city and the conquest of the Americas. Christopher Columbus christened ] hometown of thousands of mainland Puerto Ricans still bears his this subgroup of Arawak Indians Taino, meaning "peace," be­ name-Ponce. »: cause it was the first word they uttered when they laid eyes on the 'L conquistador. .if Why did Ponce de Leon bring African slaves The Taino were peaceful people, indeed. They fished, hunted, and gathered pineapples and other fruits in their land of to Puerto Rico? plenty. They slept in hamacas, a word that entered the English lan­ . The Taino welcomed the Spanish conquistadores with open arms, guage as "hammock." Another word with Taino roots is "hurri-, ·believing them to be gods. However, they soon regretted having cane," from huracan, the god of ferocious winds, whom the Taino rolled out the welcome mat. The Spanish began their quest for understood no one would ever tame. gold by enslaving the native people, confiscating their lands, and Incidentally, in addition to "Puerto Rican" and puertor­appropriating them as a workforce. In exchange for mining the riqueiio, Puerto Ricans call themselves boricua (from Borinquen), small deposits of placer gold found on the island and tending the especially on the U,s. mainland, to reinforce cultural ties and fields to feed the conquistadores, the Taino were given lessons in reaffirm ancient roots, Catholicism and Spanish' history and culture. Under these op­ pressive conditions, hundreds of Taino died ofexhaustion, mal­ How did San Juan come to be called nutrition, and maltreatment. Others perished because they had Puerto Rico. and Puerto Ric;;'. San Juan? no defenses against the European diseases that the Spanish sol­ diers brought with them. In desperation the Taino rebelled in It all began on November 19, 1493, when Christopher Colum­ 1511, after their pleas for better working conditions went unan­ bus, back in the New World on his second voyage, made landfall swered. Ponce de Leon responded by having six thousand Taino on Puerto Rico. Columbus was impressed with the wealth of Bor­ shot on the spot. Those who survived the slaughter took to the ,inque~, with its lush vegetation and more than two hundred mountains or rowed away to other islands. species of birds. He immediately took possession of the island in With the Taino labor pool swiftly dwindling, Ponce de Leon the name of Isabella I and Ferdinand II of Spain, calling it San . asked Spain's Ferdinand II for permission to bring slaves from Juan Bautista, after John the Baptist, and Isabella I and Ferdi- ':: Africa to the island to work in agriculture and thus keep Puerto nand II's son, Juan. At first the island of Sanjuan Bautista was ig; '. Rico's plantation economy afloat. 'The Spanish were not the first , nored, for the most part, by the Spanish, who had bigger fish to, to engage in the transatlantic African slave trade. To cope with a

130 131 EVERYTH~NG YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LATINO Puerto Ricans

labor shortage in Brazil, in 1502 the Portuguese brought the firs(, Wbat do Puerto Ricans mean African slaves to the Americas. In 1513 the first shipload of1 wben tbeysaynegro? African slaves arrived in Puerto Rico. With them also came smallf ! .' pox, which took thousands of Taino lives. By 1515 fewer thari~ ~'1ne word negro is Spanish for "black." Black color. Black race. four thousand Taino remained in Puerto Rico, just a fraction of '~:Black sky. Puerto Ricans, whose complexions range from black to the population Columbus had ellcountered.< '* fair, have a variety of words to describe skin color. But negro is Having given up on gold, Ponce de Leon turned his hand to", ;~really not one of them. Negro and negrito are strictly terms of en­ transforming the island into an agricultural paradise. In 1515 he'l , dearment and are used when addressing anyone, even those with introduced sugarcane, and the Spanish government funded th~' :flaxen hair and blue eyes. construction of sugar mills by the dozens. The African slaves and] r A dark-skinned or black Puerto Rican is usually referred to , the few remaining Taino were put to work cultivating and harvest~;1 :'as de color, meaning "of color." However, an African American in ing the crop by hand from dawn till dusk under the scorching! i;"the United States with identical skin color is called moreno, or tropical sun. The Africans proved sturdiest of all, and their popti~~ ;":brown:" A person with light brown skin is called trigueiio, mean­ lation increased, while the Spanish and native populations dwin~,~! Ii ing "brunette" or "swarthy." Blanco (white) is used for light­ dIed. By 1531 the Spanish in Puerto Rico numbered 426, and the; tskinned persons, and Indio refers to a person With native features. Africans, 2,264. Before long, land was parceled out to Spaniardsj desiring to settle in Puerto Rico. Each settler who agreed to farni1, How did Sir Francis Drake get bis the land (or, more accurately put, to oversee the slaves who] comeuppance in Puerto Rico? farmed the land) and to remain for more than five years was;l granted between 200 and 1,400 acres. Soon coffee and spices'[ .In 1588, the year England defeated the Spanish Armada, owing were ~ltivated in addition ~o sugarcane, as these luxury item~'l 'to the maritime skills of English mariner Sir Francis Drake, the were m great demand back m Europe. By the seventeenth cen~l Spanish colonies in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico included, were tury, tobacco and ginger emerged as the principal crops. With the' under assault by the English. It seems that Puerto Rico had wealth amassed on the backs of the Taino and African slaves, ,yielded little gold,but that Sanjuan had proven quite valuable to Puerto Rico thrived. Spain looked anew at its colony in the'~~ the Spanish as a stopqver for galleons laden with treasure that Caribbean and decided that, indeed, it was a "rich port," a good~ .were heading from Mexico and Peru to Spain. However, the place to settle, farm, and grow wealthy.J .galleons anchored in SanJuan Bay were sitting ducks for raiders, African slavery persisted in Puerto Rico until Amadeo I, the.~~ pirates, and privateers after treasure. Sir Francis Drake, a state­ king ofSpain, abolished the institution there in 1873. By then the;:: '. sanctioned part-time privateer, was a pro at raiding Spanish Africans, who believed that their ancient Yoruban deities had fol-:~ caches in 'the New World. (Cash-strapped Elizabethan England lowed them to Puerto Rico, had grown deep roots in the fertile,,:~ could not afford a naval reserve, and it was too weak and vulnera­ tropical ~oil. of the ~sland a~d felt. qui.te at home ~ere. By. then;~ , ble to engage in open aggression against the Spanish. Hence it also, racial mtegranon, an mtermmghng of the Taino, Africans,,~ looked to privateers to act as a naval reserve and engage in pri­ and Spanish of Puerto Rico, had taken root, giving rise eventuallyf vate wars and raids on enemy caches, with the state getting a to a largely mestizo population. Recent genetic research has un-)~ share of the plunder.) covered matrilineal indigenous ancestry in 61 percent of Puerto .. In the last of his marauding expeditions, Drake set sail for Ricans and patrilineal European ancestry in 75 percent, which' Puerto Rico in 1595 with twenty-seven ships and 4,500 troops. By means that the majority of Puerto Ricans are mestizos, overturn- , then the Spanish had cottoned on to Drake's antics, and by the ing the prevailingjudgment that Puerto Rico's population is coin- ' time his fleet sighted Puerto Rico, 1,500 Spanish sailors had prised of a white majority, smaller mestizo and African segments, ,! joined the 300 stationed on the island. The Spanish purposely an Asian minority, and no Taino. sank two of their own ships to block Drake's entrance into San Juan Bay. When Sir Francis Drake and his men finally reached

132 133 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LATINO Puerto Ricans Sanjuan on November 22, 1595, they were met by an unceasing blast of artillery from the Spanish. The English fleet swiftly with­ April 1999 Angry .protests. erupt on the island of drew out to sea and then circled the island, searching for a point Vieques after a Puerto Rican security of entry. But the Spanish were too well fortified to be penetrated. guard is killed by errant bombs during After another unsuccessful sea assault on Puerto Rico in 1596, Sir U.S. Navybombing practice there. Francis Drake finally admitted defeat and, as fate would have January 3, 2001 Sila Maria Calder6n is sworn in as gover­ shortly thereafter died of dysentery and was buried at sea. nor of Puerto Rico. She is the first woman However, another Englishman, George Clifford, third Earl ever elected to that post. of Cumberland, and a naval commander and courtier to Queen May 2003 The U.S. Navy halts all training opera­ ElizabethI I, managed to capture La Fortaleza, the first fortress tions on the island ofVieques. built to protect San Juan, and to wrest control of San Juan from the Spanish for five months in 1598. It seems a smallpox epi­ demic had stricken the Spanish soldiers on the island, and they . did not have the strength to keep the English at bay. The peoples ,t, Wbo was Field Marsbal Alejandro O'Reilly? of Puerto Rico did their best to make life miserable for the En­ By the mid-eighteenth century, illegal commerce was thriving in glish conquerors, who, succumbing to smallpox, fled. The Dutch Puerto Rico as Puerto Ricans traded with European buccaneers invaded in 1625 and even burned San Juan, but the Spanish . and privateers behind Spain's back. What's more, the islanders fended off these attackers, too. were farming only 5 percent of the land. As a result, trade be­ tween Spain and Puerto Rico came to a virtual standstill..Spain was vexed because Spanish taxes were supporting the island, and IMPORTANT DATES yet the Spanish were getting little in return. In 1765 the Spanish king sent Field Marshal Alejandro O'Reilly, a brilliant soldier November 22, 1595 Sir Francis Drake, the English mariner, and civic planner, to Puerto Rico to overhaul the system of gov­ explorer, and privateer, sails into San ernment, enhance profitability, and bolster the colony's defenses Juan Bay. by establishing an organized militia. . December 10, 1898 By the Treaty of Paris ending the Spanish­ Alejandro O'Reilly formulated a plan known as the O'Reilly American War, Puerto Rico is ceded to Report, which is considered 'one of the most important docu­ the United States. April 12, 1900 ments Spain issued to its colonies, because for the first time, the The United States declares Puerto Rico colonists' needs, not just the Spanish crown's interests; were rec­ an unconsolidated U.S. territory under the Foraker Act. ognized. O'Reilly devised a way of legalizing trade between the March 2, 1917 President Woodrow Wilson signs the Spanish colonies and other European nations that was beneficial Jones Act, granting all Puerto Ricans U.S. to Spain. He also laid the groundwork for a system of land distri­ citizenship. . bution in Puerto Rico, whereby new Spanish settlers were given July 25, 1952 The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is . agricultural acres for free if they were willing to farm them. proclaimed. Through O'Reilly's efforts, new schools were opened and new November 14,1993 In a nonbinding referendum, the people towns were constructed in Puerto Rico. Houses built in the Span­ of Puerto Rico vote in favor of preserving ish style, with thick stone walls that kept the interiors cool, sprang commonwealth status. up from coast to coast. Spain's revived interest in Puerto Rico also December 13, 1998 In another referendum on the island's served to enrich the island's cultural life. Puerto Rico's first status, the people of Puerto Rico again painter, and one of its most distinguished, Jose Campeche-who elect to remain a commonwealth. , was born in San Juan on January 6, 1751, to an African freed slave from Puerto Rico and a Canary Islander, and who received

134 135 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LATINO HISTORY Puerto Ricans

~ training from Luis Paret, a court painter banished from Spain-i­ l lances sought refuge in the Dominican Republic and in the did his work during this progressive era. l United States, where with other Puerto Rican freedom fighters, B~'among them Segundo Ruiz Belvis, he formed in January 1868 :~ the Comite Revolucionario de Puerto Rico (the Revolutionary Com­ AGROWING NATIONAL IDENTITY hnittee of Puerto Rico), which planned an armed revolt for Puerto ~~Rican independence. On September 23, 1868, thousands of Be­ How did Puerto Ricans feel about Spa.nisb rule? ~:tances supporters, heeding his call for independence, marched ~ into the small town of Lares, in western Puerto Rico, wielding By the advent of the nineteenth century, an appreciable propor­ ifirearms and machetes. They set up a provisional government tion of Puerto Rico's citizenry was convinced that it was time to ~ and declared the island the Republic of Puerto Rico. This-revolt, leave "home" (Spain) and start a household of their own (sover- ' ~which' the Spanish easily squelched, became known as El Grito de eignty). By then a cultural and national identity distinct from' VAres, (the Cry of Lares). Since 1969, September 23 has been a Spain had arisen in Puerto Rico. In striving for autonomy, Puerto hlational holiday commemorating El Grito de Lares, both on the is­ Ricans demanded educational reform; the formation of labor ,i~land and the mainland. unions; less taxation and more representation; and the appoint­ ment of Puerto Ricans, not Spaniards, to local government posts, which at the time were strictly off-limits to all criollos. Wbo was Luis Munoz Rivera. and wby Admiral Ramon Power was among the first Puerto Ricans to -:l is be called the George Waslungton ofPuerto Rico? "~ press for greater representation. In 1810 he was elected to repre- Un the aftermath of El Grito de Lares, Puerto Ricans demonstrated sent Puerto Rico at the Spanish parliament, or Cortes. Before the "j ~an unshakable resolve to achieve self-determination and move ;i~ Spanish Cortes, he argued that as part of the Spanish empire, "Puerto Rico forward. They gained some ground in 1887, when Puerto Rico should enjoy the same rights granted to Spain's\~~ ~Roman 'I~ Baldorioty de Castm, an advocate of Puerto Rican au­ provinces. Power succeeded in securing both a more liberal con- ttonomy, together with Jose de Diego, organized Puerto Rico's re­ stitution for Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans' right to Spanish citi-~~? the~, lform-minded liberals under the banner of a political party, the zenship. His provisions for greater self-rule, including "'Autonomist Party. After Baldorioty's death in 1889, Puerto Rican ::~~, ,distribution of land to natives and freedom from taxation for urnalisr Luis MQDoz Rivera took control ofthe Autonomist Party those willing to work the. land, were contained in the Ley Power'l~ by:~11l d proposed that it and other splinter parties form' a coalition (the Power Act) and later in the Real Cedula de Gracias, issued ith Spain's Partido Liberal-Fusionista (Fusionist Liberal Party), Ferdinand VII of Spain in 1815. Spanish leniency vis-a-vis Puerto,:;j hich he believed would cut a deal for Puerto Rican independence. Rico did. not last long. When prominent Puerto Rican leadersJ championed complete autonomy for Puerto Rico, Spain re~:m sponded by dispatching despotic military governors to the island.: Was Puerto Rico really free for only a week? who demanded greater allegiance to the mother country and rAS it turned out, Luis MUDoz Rivera was correct in his assump­ higher taxes from the Puerto Ricans. Ftom 1837 to 1864, the gOV7, [pon. In 1898 Praxedes Mateo Sagasta, of Spain's controlling Fu­ ernors denied islanders a voice in their own affairs and ,perse( Iii ~ionist Liberal Party, granted Puerto Ricans the same privileges [ cuted many Puerto Rican leaders, sending some into exile...} !'that all Spanish citizens e~oyed, as well as the right to elect a One such leader was physician and patriot Ramon Emeterio whic~,:. erto Rican governor general to head a provisional assembly in Betances, who called for an end to slavery in Puerto Rico, erto Rico that would have full control over local taxes, budgets, in spite of being officially abolished, was in full swing. He also de~;' peo~. ..id education, and would elect representatives to the Spanish par- ' , .manded freedom of speech and freedom of religion for the lament, or Cortes. Luis Munoz Rivera won the election for gover­ pIe of the island. In the late 1860s, Puerto Rico's governor ,jorgeneral, becoming the first Puerto Rican governor of Puerto expelled Betances from the island for his revolutionary ideas. Be ~co onJuly 24, 1898"":"a giant step toward full sovereignty for the II' iii' 136 137 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LATINO Puerto Ricans

island. A week earlier, on July 17, 1898, the autonomous parlia-l Doctrine actually paved the way for the free ride U.S. imperialism ment of Puerto Rico had assembled for the first time. But Puerto' was to take throughout the Western Hemisphere during many de­ Ricans would enjoy the first taste of freedom for only one week. cades to come. Puerto Rico was one of the stops along the way. On July 25, in the final phase of the Spanish-American War, U.S. military forces landed at the small port of Guanica, in southwest­ What w~s the Spanish-American War all about. ern Puerto Rico, and occupied the island, with minimal resistance. and why is it called the first media-staged war? According to the political rhetoric of the time, Americans fought Wha t was the Monroe Doctrine? in the Spanish-American War of 1898 to help liberate Cuba from When James Monroe was elected president of the United States'~ Spanish domination. Of course, no attention was paid to the fact in 1817, at the age of fifty-eight, he had a lengthy and distin, ;:,; that Cuban freedom fighters (libertadores) Jose Marti and Antonio guished political career behind him, which included service as .:j Maceo y Grajales, along with others, had already made great secretary of state, governor of Virginia, and, most notably, an en­ strides toward liberating their country on their own. (By then gineer of the Louisiana Purchase. With Monroe in the White' Cuba and Puerto Rico were the only Spanish colonies left in the House, U.S. industry prospered, and Manifest Destiny reared its Western Hemisphere.) The United States found the perfect ex­ head well beyond the nation's borders. . cuseto declare war when, on February 15, 1898, the American On December 2, 1823, President Monroe delivered his sev­ battleship USS Maine, which was sitting in Havana Harbor to enth annual message to Congress, in which he declared that the. keep an eye on the Spanish in case they went too far with the United States would not tolerate European intervention and ex­ Cubans, was blown up and sunk, with a loss of 266 seamen. The pansion in the Americas: "... the American continents, by the word was that the Spanish had blown the Maine to smithereens. free and independent condition which they have assumed and It has been widely speculated that American forces, in search maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for fu­ of a reason to go to war-not the Spanish-were the ones respon­ ture colonization by any European powers .. ." The issuance of sible for the demise of the Maine. The United States sought a this declaration, which became known as the Monroe Doctrine,': military conflict with Spain because a victory over that nation and' was motivated by concern that certain European nations were . "necessary" intervention in Cuba and Puerto Rico would ensure planning to use military force to restore to Spain the Spanish the expansion and protection of U.S. foreign markets in lush colonies that had recently gained their independence. There was lands rich in sugar, coffee, tobacco, and minerals. At first Presi­ also concern that England was flexing too much muscle in the . dent William McKinley was reluctant to wage war against Spain, hemisphere (having seized territory by nibbling off Belize and but the United States, by and large, had succumbed to over­ the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua), and that France, under whelming imperialistic sentiment. Riding that wave of pro-war Napoleon III, had designs on Mexico and intended to turn it sentiment were certain influential politicians and bigwigs in the into a client state by imposing a Hapsburg prince on a briefly re­ media. Henry Cabot Lodge, the powerful Republican senator stored Mexican throne. The Monroe Doctrine sent a clear mes­ from Massachusetts, and his close friend Theodore Roosevelt, sage to the empires of Europe to cease and desist. . who was then assistant secretary of the navy, both lobbied in­ However, the Monroe Doctrine did not contain any language tensely for U.S. military involvement in the Caribbean. In 1897 about the United States doing the same, that is, refraining from Roosevelt supposedly declared in correspondence to a friend, "Tn interfering in colonies and nations in the Americas that were not strict confidence ... I should welcome.almost any war, for I think its own. In fact, the Monroe Doctrine clearly implied that the this country needs one." United States had designated itself the protector of the Americas. Newspaper barons William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Thus, while it appeared, at first glance, to be a straightforward ,Pulitzer were both staunch supporters of a war. They had learned exercise in isolationism and a good-neighbor policy toward the from the American Civil War that wars sell papers and thus boost fledgling new republics to the south, such as Mexico, the Monroe profits. The Hearst and Pulitzer papers began running stories

138 139 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LATINO HISTORY Puerto Ricans

(many of them true) about the atrocities that the Spanish were' ; remaining colonies. You might say Spain was forced to throw in .committing against the Cubans and urging the president to inter- . everything but the kitchen sink, and the United States emerged a vene. William Randolph Hearst is said to have dispatched artist! .,g: ! world power witha lot ofland on itshands. correspondent Frederic Remington to Cuba in 1897 to send back . Puerto Rico, which had savored relative freedom for seven sketches of bloody atrocities. When Remington couldn't find any- . ~. days after Spain had voluntarily granted the island many au­ thing truly dreadful to paint, he sent a cable to Hearst in 1898, I': tonomous rights, suddenly found itselfa U.S. protectorate. At the asking for permission to return home. Hearst was furious. "Please f 'time, most Puerto Ricans believed that the U.S. presence in remain," he cabled back. "You furnish the pictures, and I'll fur- . t Puerto Rico would be transitory and was simplya formal way of nish the war!" ~, capping 405 years of Spanish domination. Little did they know }. that they were witnessing the beginning of a tumultuous mar­ Who were Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders. and riage-ealled by different names over the years-which prevails to this day. Elsewhere, Cuba remained a U.S. protectorate until how did they help him win the U.S. presidency? 1902, when it declared itself a free and independent nation; and On April 25, 1898, the United States declared war on Spain and the Philippines won independence in 1946. Guam and Wake Is­ soon after launched a naval and ground assault against Cuba,. land remain under direct U.S. control. with Lieutenant Colonel Teddy Roosevelt and his men of the Meanwhile, Teddy Roosevelt garnered great popularity from First United States Volunteer Cavalry, called the Rough Riders, in his daring feats in the Spanish-American War and was elected gov­ the vanguard. Roosevelt was declared a hero after he led a daring ernor of New York in 1898. Soon he was off to the White House: charge up Kettle Hill (incorrectly called San Juan Hill), near the' In 1900 President McKinley won reelection, with Roosevelt as his city of Santiago de Cuba, in eastern Cuba, onJuly 1,1898, a bat­ vice president. On September 6, 1901, before the regular session tle heavily publicized in the American press. While the United of the Senate had opened, McKinley was shot by an anarchist, States was conducting naval and ground operations in Cuba, it Leon Czolgosz, and died days later, on September 14. Teddy Roo­ was also targeting Puerto Rico. On May 12, 1898, U.S. ships bom­ sevelt succeeded him as president of the United States. Three barded San Juan; on June 25, the USS Yosemite, a merchant years later, he still enjoyed popularity and was elected to the presi­ steamer, blocked Sanjuan Harbor; and then, on July 25, the U.S. . dency in his own right by a resounding majority. general Nelson Appleton Miles led sixteen thousand American troops into the small port of Guanica. It was no contest. Spain-a What was the Roosevelt Corollary? dwindling empire on its last legs-soon surrendered. On October 18, 1898, the last Spanish troops retreated from Puerto Rico, the The ink had hardly dried on the Treaty of Paris ending the Spanish­ transfer .of the island's sovereignty to the United States was car­ American War when the issue of European intervention in the ried out, and the American flag was hoisted over public buildings.. Western Hemisphere again took center stage. As the twentieth All in all, the Spanish-American War, what Secretary of State century dawned, European governments began to exert pressure John 'Hay described as a "splendid little war," lasted only a few. on several Latin American countries to repay their debts. For in­ months, and most of it was actually fought at the bargaining ta­ stance, after the Venezuelan government, plagued by civil discord and gross mismanagement, defaulted on loans to foreign bond­ ble. Still, U.S. forces suffered over 5,000 casualties. Of these,only I: 379 were battle casualties; the rest were caused by yellow fever, holders in 1902, the British, Italians, and Germans dispatched a malaria, and other tropical diseases. Secretary of State Hay joint naval expedition to Venezuela, which blockaded and shelled helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris of 1898, which brought the . " the country's ports. Concerned that the blockading powers were brief conflict between Spain and-the United States to a formal ignoring the Monroe Doctrines message and were competing end. With the Treaty of Paris, signed on December 10, 1898, the with the United States for dominance in the Western Hemi­ United States found itself in possession of Cuba, Puerto Rico, sphere, and invariably emboldened by the recent American vic­ Wake Island, Guam, and the Philippines-in other words, Spain'~ tory against Spain and the acquisition of its remaining colonies,

140 141 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LATINO HISTORY Puerto Rica.ns

President Teddy Roosevelt unveiled, in his annual address to ~l'lYork City, where he published a prominent revolutionary news­ Congress in 1904, the Roosevelt Corollary, which served as an t~,paper, La America Ilustradq.. ~n 1875, after participatit,Ig in efforts amendment to the Monroe Doctrine and went one step further-c. ' ~~py Cubans to secure their mdependence from, Spain, Eugenio some say, one step too far. ' ~Marfa de Hostos went to the Dominican Republic, where he con­ While the Monroe Doctrine was meant to curb European in­ ftinued his fight for self-determination for the Spanish Caribbean tervention in the Western Hemisphere, the Roosevelt Corollary (colonies of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, pub­ outlined the active role that the United States-and no other na­ ~ lishing the newspaper Las 'Ires Antillas, which was devoted to the tion but the United States-was obliged to play in the region. In "I'l'issue ..Hostos favore~ an Antill~s confederacy, in which the three this document, President Roosevelt first dismissed any charge '-i~colomes would be umted as a kind of commonwealth. that the United States was suffering from "land hunger" or enter, , When the Spanish-American War erupted, Hostos returned taining "any projects as regards the other nations of the Western 'ii:,to Puerto Rico, where he organized the League of Puerto Rican Hemisphere save such as are for their welfare ..." The key phrase JPatriots and steered a commission that presented President here is "save such as are for their welfare," for Roosevelt then de­ ,~:William.McKinleywith a plan that would afford Puerto Ricans clares that the United States has every right to act as "an interna­ "~e right to decide, by mea~s ofa plebiscite! whether they wanted tional police power" wherever "chronic wrongdoing, or an ~r [ndependence or annexation by the Umted States. However, impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of when U.S. ambassadors met with Spanish delegates to negotiate civilized society ... ultimately require intervention by some civi­ the end of the Spanish-American War and the fate of Spain's lized nation ..." colonies, the few Puerto Rican officials whom Hostos had con­ In other words, the United States had the right to intervene vinced the United States to invite to the table were granted no say unilaterally in the affairs of any country in the hemisphere be­ in the final outcome. With the Treaty of Paris of 1898, ending the cause it, the United States, was "civilized" and the rest of the na­ Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico became a U.S. protectorate, tions in the,region were not. In the, century that lay ahead, this Iwith fewer rights to self-government than it had enjoyed in recent belief in American supremacy and exceptionalism would precipi­ years under Spain. His dream of independence dashed, in 1900 tate more U.S. intervention in Latin America, involving even the Hostos left Puerto Rico. overthrow of governments deemed harmful to American invest­ Aside from his political and journalistic career, Hostos dedi­ ments and the installation of puppet rulers who would follow the cated himself to pedagogical pursuits, believing that only through policies outlined by Washington. To many Latin Americans at the educational opportunity could an oppressed people rise and be turn of the century, the Roosevelt Corollary packed a wallop. U.S. liberated. In 1879 he founded the first normal school in the Do­ imperialism had reached its zenith and was quite a force to be, minican Republic, where he inherited the title El Maestro, "the reckoned with. Teacher" or "the Master." Later, after he migrated to Chile, he .was named president of the Chilean Athenaeum, headed two Wbo was Eugenio Marfa de Hostos. and wby is a schools, taught constitutional law at the Universidad de Chile in ,Santiago de Chile, and fought for women's right to equal access college in New York City named after bim? to that very same institution of higher learning. Eugenio Maria de Hostos was a Puerto Rican journalist, philoso­ A prolific writer, Hostos penned approximately fifty volumes pher, educator, writer, and freedom fighter. Born in Mayaguez, in the course of his lifetime, including the 1863 sociopolitical Puerto Rico, in 1839, he studied law and education in Spain, novel entitled La Peregrinaci6n de Bayotin (The Pilgrimage of Bay­ where he worked alongside other students for the cause of Puerto min) and the 1887 political treatise Lecciones de derecho constitu­ Rico's and Cuba's liberation from Spanish rule. In 1869, after " cumal (Lessons on Constitutional Rights). Eugenio Maria de Spain's Republicans were victorious over the monarchy but then Hostos died in the Dominican Republic in August 1903, one year refused to fulfill their promise of autonomy for Puerto Rico and. ' after Cuba gained its independence. He never saw his dreams for Cuba, Hostos left Spain and took up temporary residence in New an independent Puerto Rico realized. Eugenio Maria de Hostos

142 143 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LATINO Puerto Ricans

Community College in the Bronx, New York, which was formed;j sent the island in Congress from 1910 to 1916), wrote that the in 1968 at the urging of Puerto Rican and other Latino leaders, is",: Foraker. Act was "unworthy of the United States which imposes it named in Hostos's honor and holds fast to the philosophy ofl . and of Puerto Ricans who have to endure it." Disenchantment "progress through education," which he so vigorously espoused.. over the state of affairs on the island led to the formation of the Unionist Party of Puerto Rico. The party's platform repudiated U.S. domination and supported any of three options for Puerto How did Puerto Ricans react to Rico: statehood, nationhood, or semi-independence under becoming a U.S. protectorate? '1Il American protection. Puerto Rico's transition to a U.S. protectorate, on the heels of' Puerto Ricans remained noncitizens ofthe world, as dictated Spain's cession of the island to the United States at the end of the ~ by the Foraker Act, until the gathering threat ofWorld War I, as Spanish-American War, was rather difficult for most islanders. ;~' well as unremitting pressure from the islanders, promptedPresi­ Puerto Ricans did not believe in the Roosevelt Corollary; that is, '~ dent Woodrow Wilson to'sign the Jones Act on March 2, 1917. that itwas the duty ofthe United States to instruct them in how to ':l' With one sweep of the pen, the president granted U.S. citizenship conduct themselves like citizens of a progressive, civilized nation.;~ to all Puerto Ricans. Puerto Ricans had the right to refuse U.S. The language barrier, which necessitated the use of interpretersj citizenship, but few did so since refusing citizenship meant relin­ and translators so that Puerto Rican leaders and American mili-1 quishing many civil rights. (Only 288 individuals passed up the tary authorities could communicate, created tensions and misun- ':~ initial offer of citizenship; many .of these opted for citizenship derstanding. The cultural barrier, which caused Americans tOJ later on.)The Jones Act also stipulated that a non-Puerto Rican question even the most minute details of the Puerto Rican legal,' governor appointed by the U.S. president would continue to rule system and economic system, and of Puerto Rican public finance'j over the island's internal affairs and its new American citizens. As and public administration, was even harder to overcome. . ~ it turned out, Puerto Ricans did not inherit all of the fundamen­ On April 2, 1900, almost two years after officially assuming~ tal rights of U.S. citizenship (such as the right to vote in U.S. control of Puerto Rico, the United States passed the Foraker Act, :1 presidential elections), but they instantly acquired most of the which made the island an unincorporated territory of the United.~ obligations of U.S. citizenship (one exception was they were ex­ States. According to this piece of legislation, Puerto Ricans werd~ empted from filing federal income taxes), including serving in neither American citizens nor citizens of an independent nation. ;(~ the military if conscripted. (During World War T, about eight A civilian government replaced the transitional military govern~~~ thousand Puerto Ricans were drafted into the U.S. armed forces, ment and allowed for the popular election of Puerto Ricans to t andthe Puerto Rican people donated hundreds of thousands of both houses of the Puerto Rican legislature, where they could im- ji dollars ,to the war effort. In World War II, the number of Puerto plement laws related to internal affairs. However, the Unitedj Ricans who fought alongside their fellow Americans rose signifi­ States retained the authority to appoint a &"ove~nor, and that gQV~';\ cantly, to sixty-five thousand.) .ernor, who was empowered to veto any legislation and had the fi-~~' During the 1920s, Puerto Ricans continued to demand nal say, was to be an American, not a Puerto Rican ..The ~oraker }?! greater autonomy in local affairs. Their demands intensified Act also put an extra economic squeeze on Puerto RICO by impos7'~ when the Great Depression hit in 1929, sending the sugar ing a heavy tariff on the island's exports, the aim of which was

144 145 ,~ EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LATINO HISTORY;'I' Puerto Ricans -----:--,~ assumed the leadership of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party,: ,.,It' members of the Supreme Court. In 1948 Luis Muiioz Marin, the (PNP), which was formed in 1922, and transformed it into ajl &1 son of the early patriot Luis Munoz Rivera and leader of the ma­ dominant force in Puerto Rico's struggle for independence. Ref, ~,jority Popular Democratic Party (PDP), became the first native took up the cause at every turn, as in 1934, when nationalists'~ had~' ~. son elected governor of Puerto Rico by the Puerto Rican people. rushed to Support thousands ofjibaros, or farmworkers, who .~, Born on February 18, 1898, just as the winds of the Spanish­ walked off the sugarcane fields in a wildcat strike. Concerned thad local;~ fAmerican War were stirring, Munoz Marin was first exposed to a mass revolutionary movement was forming, Puerto Rican XAmerican politics while a teenager: His father's tenure as resident authorities lashed out at the nationalists, killing some members.. "~commi~sioner of. Puerto Rico in the U.S. House of Representa­ On March 5, 1936, Albizu Campos and other leading nationalists ntives from 1911 to 1916 took the family to Washington DC. There were officially charged with conspiring to overthrow the U.S. gov. :) t Munoz Marin attended Georgetown Preparatory School and ernmenr, At their trial, the jury, seven of whose twelve members" l· then, in 1915, entered Georgetown University's law school. With were Puerto Rican, refused to convict, so the authorities hand­ ~\;the death of his father in 1916, he returned to Puerto Rico, inter-

picked a new jury. Ten of the jurors on this new jury were Anglo I nIpting his studies. , . Americans, and, consequently, this new jury had no difficulty ',I Munoz Marin later returned to the United States, settling in reaching a guilty verdict. Albizu Campos and other nationalists ' · New York City, where he began a life as a writer, penning articles received prison sentences of six to ten years; Albizu Campos", about the American domination of Puerto Rico for the New Re­ served six years, from 1937 to 1943. . " public, the Nation, and the American Mercury. After returning to The nationalists would not be stopped in their campaign to '~ Puerto Rico in 1931, he worked onLa Demoeracia, the newspaper bring independence to Puerto Rico. In 1937 the PNP organized a .~.~ .his father had founded, joined the Liberal Party, and was elected march to commemorate the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico. It'fi · to the Puerto Rican Senate in 1932, the'same year Franklin De­ was to take place on Palm Sunday, March 21, 1937, in 'the city of lano Roosevelt assumed the U.S. presidency. Among Munoz Ponce. The local authorities granted permits for the event but .Marin's scores of friends and supporters was Eleanor Roosevelt. then revoked them. PNP members took to the streets of Ponce, After surveying the rural areas of Puerto Rico in 1933, the First anyway, and the police opened fire on them, killing twenty-two · Lady voiced grave' concern over the poor state of Puerto Rican and wounding over one hundred. In this atmosphere of "unan-, " farming and the island economy, and lobbied for change. At her ticipated" violence, two bills recommending independence for •bidding, President Roosevelt denounced the "hopeless drive to Puerto Rico were introduced in the U.S. Congress. Both bills sue­ . remodel Puerto Ricans so that they should become similar in lan­ cumbed to stiff opposition, with the opposers arguing that the is­ guage, habits, and thoughts to continental Americans." land's social and economic conditions had to improve before As senator, Munoz Marin drafted with Carlos Chardon, then independence could be seriously considered. the chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico, a long-term eco­ nomic plan known as the Chardon Plan, which became the scaf­ . folding for the Puerto Rican Reconstruction Administration, Who was the hrst elected Puerto Rican governor. launched in 1935. In 1938 Munoz Marin organized the PDp, and and what didhe do that was so important? in 1940 hewasreelected to the Senate, serving in that body until In 1946 the United States appointed Jesus T. Pinero, fresh from 1948, when he was democratically elected governor of Puerto his post as resident commissioner of Puerto Rico (a nonvoting Rico. After World War II ended, and with Harry S. Truman in the member of the U.S. House of Representatives), the first native White House, Munoz Marin would see to it that Washington sup­ Puerto Rican governor of the island. Then, one year later, Con­ ported him in his efforts to revitalize the Puerto Rican economy. gress passed the Elective Governor Act, according Puerto Ricans He adopted a program based on economic reform and expansion the right to choose their own governor and granting said gover­ that before long would bring industry to the island and raise the .nor full authority to appoint all officials, except the auditor and per capita income. Gradually, a new era was dawning for Puerto Rico. 146 147 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LATINO HISTORy Puerto Ricans

How did Puerto Rico become a commonwealth? t:july 25, 1952, the same day that Puerto Rico's own constitution twas enacted. It was exactly fifty-four years to the day that the And what's a commonwealth, anyway? 1':, United States seized control of Cuanica, Puerto Rico. (With the As the economic situation improved in Puerto Rico, Luis Muno i'passage of the Puerto Rican .Federal Relations Act o.f 1950, the i~- ' Marin, by then governor, turned his attention to questions of the 'Hand had been granted the right to draft and enact Its own consti­ island's status. Earlier in his career, he had rejected the notion of l'tution, whose provisions could not overstep the limitations placed establishing a "commonwealth state," known as the "Irish solJ= ton a U.S. territory. The constitution had been ratified on March tion," because it was patterned after Ireland's union with Grea' ~(3, 1952, and approved by.the U.S. Congress on July 3, 1952.) Britain (which ended when the Irish Free State was established in (\Luis Munoz Marin was elected governor of Puerto Rico three 1922). He argued that commonwealth status would amount t6' .more times and would probably have served more terms as gover­ nothing more than freedom "on a very long chain." But with. 'i~nor had he not elected to run successfully for the Puerto Rican Puerto Rico's economy then on the mend, severing ties with the Senate in 1964. He passed away in 1980. United States would mean relinquishing no-tariffstatus and other perquisites, which had created a building boom and a strong ,Why did Puerto Rican nationalists try tourist economy, and were keeping the island's industries perco.: to assassinate President Truman? lating. Statehood was another option, and although Muno2 Marin might have opposed itin principle, he was a very practical ~While commonwealth status afforded Puerto Rico the highest de­ person. He reasoned that it would take the United States too Ion /"gree of political autonomy it had ever known (or at least had to accept his Latin island as another state and declared, "If Wi r known since the days before the Spanish conquest), it also meant seek statehood, we die waiting for Congress." So his PDP decided 'f~at. the island was an unincorporated territ?ry under ~e juris­ to adopt what was termed the "intermediate solution/' na~el~ : dictIOn of the U.S. government (and remams so to this day). commonwealth status. },~ Members of Pedro Albizu Campos's Puerto Rican Nationalist Luis Munoz Marin was so popular in Washington that whei hParty, which called for nothing short of complete independence he spoke, politicians listened. In 1950 the U.S. Congress passec '(>from the United States, felt ignored by Luis Munoz Marin and Public Law 600, which called for an election in Puerto Rico'i t the commonwealth partisans, and disgruntled over common­ which the people would determine whether commonwealth sta wealth status. tus, what Munoz Marin called the "free associated state," estado li i, In an effort to attract attention to their grievances, members bre asociado, would be adopted. Munoz Marin had created th~ ':i of the party launched a terrorist attack on Blair House, the offi­ term "free associated state" to please adherents of all three domi­ 'idal state guesthouse of the president of the United States, on N0­ nant political philosophies. To those who sought independence] vember 1,1950, with the aim of assassinating President Harry the word "free" looked promising. To those in favor of some asso­ 'Truman. The president emerged unscathed from the incident, ciation or dependence, the word "associated" sounded encourag­ but one Secret Service agent lost his life, as did one of the as­ ing. And, finally, for those who advocated U.S. statehood, th~. . ,{ sailants. Then, on March 1, 1954, Puerto Rican nationalists An­ word "state" struck a chord. As far as Luis Munoz Marin was con-l Ill'::: dres Figueroa Cordero, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irving Flores cerned, commonwealth status granted Puerto Rico a significant I: KRodrigu~z, and their leader, Lolita Lebron, opened fire on legis­ degree of independence, and it ensured that the island would f(; lators from the visitors' gallery of the U.S. House of Representa­ continue to enjoy the economic and social privileges that ties witli ''';~ tives, wounding five congressmen. 'One of them, Congressman the United States provided. Legally, the arrangement was riddled ,( Alvin M. Bentley (R-Michigan), sustained near-fatalinjuries. The with holes, since it was a unilateral agreement that qongress' .1'...·..'.'... four coconspirators .were sent to prison" and until President could abrogate anytime it pleased. : '~ Carter pardoned all. but~dres Figueroa ~ordero in 1979, they The people of Puerto Rico followed their governor's lea I .• " worked for Puerto Rican mdependence behmd bars. ­ and voted for commonwealth status, which was proclaimed 01 'K Nowadays the Partido Independentista Puertorriqueiio (Puerto ,'" 148 149 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LATINO HISTORY Puerto Ricans assistance to sweeten the deal). The Clinton-Rosello plan was quite controversial, and protests continued at the Vieques naval base-at Ever since Puerto Rico was declared a U.S. protectorate, is­ least until May 4, 2000, when U.S. federal marshals removed the landers have been coming to the U.S. mainland. In the 1890s, they protesters peacefully. Four days later, the navy resumed its bomb­ settled in Florida and New York to labor in cigar-making shops. ing practice on the island, but with inert bombs in place of live Puerto Rican women in New York City joined their men in the ammunition. work force in sizable numbers in the 1930s, taking jobs in the gar­ Dissatisfaction with the Clinton-Rosello plan.invariably con­ ment and apparel industries. The first truly significant migration tributed to Governor Pedro Rosello's defeat in his bid for reelec­ of Puerto Ricans to the mainland United States took place only tion in 2000. The winner of that election was Sila Maria Calderon, in the aftermath ofWorld War II. The reasons were many, but they the former mayor of San Juan, who, incidentally, is a graduate of essentially boiled down to one issue: economics. During World Manhattanville College in Westchester County, New York. During War II, about one hundred thousand Puerto Ricans served in the the campaign for governor, she pledged to take immediate action U.S. armed forces. Military life exposed these islanders to the su­ to halt all war gaines on Vieques. After she was sworn into office in perior quality of life on the mainland, fueling their desire to move January 2001, Governor Calderon kept her promise and in April north. In addition, Puerto Rico's population doubled in size to two 200 I introduced a noise prohibition bill, signed into law that million during the first quarter of the century and continued to month, that was meant to challenge navy ship-to-shore shelling off grow at a rapid pace due to improvements in medical services. Vieques. On April 24, 2001, Puerto Rico filed a federal lawsuit With so many more people on the island, the standard of living did to end U.S. military training operations on Vieques, arguing that not rise substantially and the unemployment rate soared. By con­ such operations constituted a threat to public health and violated trast, jobs on the mainland were plentiful. the island's 2001 Noise Prohibition Act and the 1972 federal Noise From the immediate postwar period until the 1960s, Puerto Control Act, but a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, citing a lack Ricans in search ofjobs and better living conditions migrated to ofjurisdiction. the mainland in a steady stream. New York City was a major desti­ Then, in an act of reconciliation, the Bush administration, nation for Puerto Rican workers, who found low-paying, labor­ which had previously supported the Clinton-Rosello plan, announced intensive jobs in the manufacturing sector-which eagerly hired onJune 14,2001, that it had reached the decision to halt all rnili­ unskilled and semiskilled workers-making apparel, shoes, toys, tary training operations on Vieques by May 2003, superseding novelties, and electrical goods, and assembling furniture and mat­ President Clinton and Governor Rosello's agreement. The admin­ tresses. They also went to work in the food and hotel industries, istration also announced that in the interim it would reduce the the meat-packing and baking industries, laundry services, and dis­ number of days the navy could conduct exercises on the islet from tribution, and found jobs as domestics. About half of these workers 180 to ninety. In a meeting with Governor Calderon, President were women. Bush personally gave her his word that the navy would leave Beginning in the 1960s and to this day, Puerto Rican is" Vieques by May 2003, saying, "I want to do good for Vieques; I landers have settled on the mainland in spurts, depending on the want to do good for Puerto Rico." health of the U.S. economy and the job market. Those who ven­ tured to New York City in the 1960s generally wound up in manu­ Why isn't Puerto Rican migration considered facturing- even though this sector had already begun a gradual immigration. and how did it get started? decline as early as the 1950s. Then, in the 1970s, New York City was gripped by a major fiscal crisis as businesses packed up and Since all Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens-no matter if they dwell in headed south and overseas in search of low-wage, non-union labor. San Juan or San Francisco-and not foreigners, they can travel The shrinking of the manufacturing sector had a devastating effect freely back and forth between the island and the mainland United on New York City'S Puerto Ricans, who generally did not have the States. In other words, their movement constitutes migration, not formal education needed to fill the white collarjobs that were open­ immigration. ing in the city's growing service sector. 150 151 EVERYTHING YOU NEED to KNOW ABOUT LATINO HISTORY Puerto Ricans

'-i.: Commonwealth vs. statehood: What's the big deal? hand since the 1950s, perhaps causing the island's economy to go [from bad to worse. The question of commonwealth status versus statehood is a very big deal. First ofall, as a commonwealth, Puerto Rico is under the control of Congress, which has the discretion to curtail the high What happened on Vieques islandin 1999 degree of local autonomy the island currently enjoys and to re-v that really got Puerto Ricans' goat? place Puerto Rico's elected governor and legislature with another. JThe Puerto Rican island of Vieques, which is really only an islet, kind of government. If Puerto Rico was granted statehood, Con­ ~lies just six miles off the southeast coast of mainland Puerto Rico gress would no longer retain ultimate .authority, and the island, tand is home to fewer than ten thousand residents. Between 1941 would possess permanent status, Secondly, with commonwealth . ~and 1950, the U.S. Department of the Navy purchased a total of status, Puerto Rico elects only a nonvoting resident commissioner, . 'twenty-two thousand acres on the western and eastern ends of the to the U.S. House of Representatives: the island has no voting !island, and-in the 1940s U.S. naval and other military forces be­ representation in Congress, a privilege afforded only to states. If (gan to use the eastern tip for training operations, involving Puerto Rico ever does become a state, it would send two senators ~bombing by naval aircraft, ship-to-shore gunnery practice, and to the Senate and seven or eight members to the House of Repre.": 'iiriarine amphibious landings. When the U.S. Navy halted its mili­ , sentatives, and it would have nine electoral votes, which could ~tary activities on Culebra, another of the three islets belonging to certainly impact the Democrat-Republican balance of power on' , l,:ruerto Rico, in 1975 in response to local opposition, dissatisfac­ Capitol Hill. Thirdly, the citizens ofthe Commonwealth of Puerto . 'don oyer military training operations on Vieques grew. Puerto Ri­ Rico are allowed to vote in presidential primaries, but they do not': ~ans and critics of the navy's activities voiced concern over safety have the constitutional right to vote for president. (Puerto Ricans" lissues; over toxic materials from the navy's operations, which they who move to the U.S. mainland gain this right; mainlanders who [claimed were detrimental to the health of Viequenses and dam­ move to the island relinquish it.) If Puerto Rico was a state, is­ aged the environment and archeological/historic sites; over noise, landers would gain the presidential vote and, consequently, would :, iespecially from ship-to-shore gunfire; and over the economic toll emerge as a powerful Latino political voice in the nation. And(~ thf an absence of tourism and fishing on Vieques. The navy coun­ Puerto Rico would be the only state in which the ovelWhelming,(~ ~~ered that its activities posed no danger and that Vieques was es­ majority of residents speak only Spanish (one reason why someJ~ rsential to national security as the only site where air, land, and sea Spanish-,,~ Americans oppose statehood for Puerto Rico). With a t~ercises could be conducted simultaneously.. speaking state, America would become an officially bilingual na.',&" h' Anger over the navy's use of Vieques boiled over in April tion, in the way of Canada, and would move one step closer t?,.:~;~" 31999, when a Puerto Rican civilian employed as a security guard hermandad-brotherhood and sisterhood-with all the Spanish~'2~ ton the island was killed by a pair of off-target five-hundred-pound speaking countries in the hemisphere. -. ")~l.' libombs. Very soon after, dozens of protesters swarmed the U.S. ":\·1 However, as a state, Puerto Rico would lose many of the ad~rl ~!:naval training range on Vieques, forcing a stoppage of live-fire vantages of commonwealth status. For one, Puerto Ricans' sense.'i:;, [~raining. On January 31, 2000, with the protests still raging, of national identity, some argue, would be eroded by the nation's,"'J rPresident Bill Clinton announced that he and then-governor of English-speaking majority if Puerto Rico was the. fifty-first state.. ,;", ~:Puerto Rico Pedro Rose1l6 had agreed to a plan to resolve the And with statehood, the island would have to forfeit its Olympic .. 1;dispute over Vieques. The plan called for a referendum of team, a potent symbol of Puerto Rican national pride. If they, iVieques voters, which was scheduled forNovember 6, 2001, and were residents of a state, Puerto Ricans would have to pay federal) .f'then rescheduled for January 2002. Voters would be given the income tax, from which they are currently exempt. And withouti [choice of either ending the military's use of Vieques no later than commonwealth status, Puerto Rico could lose the tax incentives:' ~,May 2003 or allowing the military to continue its operations indef­ that have encouraged U.S. companies to invest heavily in theis-; ,:pnitely beyond that date (with an extra $50 million in economic

152 153 Puerto Ricans

United States without passports or visas. In other words, their movement constitutes the internal migration of Americans, not immigration. Confusion abounds in mainstream society about Puerto Ricans' citizenship status. Most Puerto Rican mainlanders have a story or two to tell about the time they were asked about their green card or Puerto Rico's currency or Puerto Rico's presi­ dent, and more than one media pundit has pontificated on na­ ,tional television about the issue of illegal Puerto Rican 1immigrants in America! ~' Puerto Ricans first came to the United States in the 1860s. or: After Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States at the end of the t Spanish-American War, more Puerto Ricans began making their ~ way to the United States-and after 1917, when they were given 1; U.S. citizenship, to the U.S. mainland-to settle or to sojourn, an ,experience fraught with risks, uncertainty, and obstacles, includ­ f ing a language barrier, poverty, social isolation, and overt dis­ \' crimination. In the early days, the majority went to Florida and I:, New York to labor in cigar-making shops. Forty percent of those ~who arrived between 1890 and 1910 eventually returned to ~' Puerto Rico. The first great wave of migration from Puerto Rico to the mainland United States took place only in the aftermath of World War II and lasted until 1967. The reasons were many, but they es­ sentially boiled down to one issue: economics. During World War II, about one hundred thousand Puerto Ricans served in the U.S. armed forces. Military life exposed these islanders to the superior quality of life on the mainland, fueling their desire to move north. In addition, Puerto Rico's population doubled in size to " two million during the first quarter of the twentieth century and t continued to grow at a rapid pace due to improvements in medi­ :r cal services. With so many more people on the island, .the stan­ l~ dard of living did not rise substantially, and the unemployment , rate soared. By contrast, jobs on the mainland were plentiful. New York City was a major destination for these Puerto Rican workers, who found low-paying, labor-intensive jobs in the manu­ ;.' facturing'sector-which eagerly hired .unskilled and semiskilled workers-tnaking apparel, shoes, toys, novelties, and electrical goods, and assembling furniture and mattresses. They also went to work in the food and hotel industries, the meatpacking and baking industries, distribution, laundry service, and domestic ser­ vice. About half of all these workers were women.

154 155 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LATINO HISTORY- Puerto Ricans Since 1967 Puerto Rican islanders have settled on the main. New York City include a shrinking birth rate, the aging of the land in spurts, depending on the health of the U.S. economy and population, and return migration to the island of Puerto Rico by the mainland job market. Those who went to New York City in, retired Puerto Rican New Yorkers. Another factor at play is the 1960s generally wound up in manufacturing, even though Puerto Ricans' migration out of the city, owing largely to its out­ this sector had already begun a gradual decline as early as the of-reach housing prices, to destinations in New York State; to 1950s. Then in the 1970s, New York City was gripped by a major: nearby states, such as New Jersey and Pennsylvania; and south to fiscal crisis as businesses packed up and headed south and Florida, the state with the second-largest Puerto Rican population seas in search of low-wage, nonunion labor. This shrinking of the .,(482,027 in the year 2000). The states with the third- and fourth­ manufacturing sector had a devastating effect on New York City's ~'largest Puerto Rican populations are, not surprisingly, NewJersey Puerto Ricans, who generally did not have the formal education ;and Pennsylvania, respectively. New Jersey saw its Puerto Rican needed to fill the white-collar jobs that were opening in the "population jump by 15 percent between 1990 and 2000, from growing service sector. : 320,133 to 366,788, while Pennsylvania witnessed a 53 percent in­ It should be added that for many decades Puerto Rican mi­ crease in that time period and counted 228,557 PuertoRicans in grant workers, about whom most Americans are not even aware; '.2000. Census 2000 also tallied a significant number of'Puerto Ri­ have worked on a seasonal basis harvesting potatoes on Long Is­ cans in Massachusetts (199,207), Connecticut (194,443), and Illi­ land, fruits and vegetables in New Jersey and New York State, to­ nois (157,851) in 2000. bacco in Connecticut, and sugar beets in Michigan. How are mainland Puerto Ricans doing? ; How many Puerto Ricans are there. Puerto Rican~ have historically been the most socially a~d eco­ and where do they liv~? , nomically disadvantaged of all Latinos. In 1998, for instance, a Puerto Ricans numbered 3,794,776 on the U.S. mainland in full 30.9 percent of mainland Puerto Ricans lived in poverty, and 2005, almost as many as lived on the island that year, according' . 43.5 percent of Puerto Rican' children were below the poverty to the Pew Hispanic Center tabulations of the Census Bureau's line, and in 2000 approximately 40 percent of New York City's 2005 American Community Survey. Census 2000 tallied Puerto Ricans had slipped to or below the poverty line. The de­ 3,406,178 mainland Puerto Ricans, which represents an increase pressed economic status of mainland Puerto Ricans has been at­ of 28 percent over the 2,651,815 counted in 1990. In the year tributed to a number ofphenomena, such as the disproportionate 2000, New York was the state with the largest Puerto Rican popu­ number of poor Puerto Rican migrants settling stateside as com­ lation, with 1,050,293 counted. While New York City's Puerto Ri­ pared to immigrant groups, owing to the fact that Puerto Ricans' can population fell from 896,763 in 1990 to 789,172 in 2000, its. U.S. citizenship removes all obstacles to entering the mainland first decline in sixty years, the city has remained the hub of United States. Low levels of educational attainment, limited job Puerto Rican culture in the continental United States. Puerto Ri­ skills, disease disparities (including a high incidence of diabetes, can New Yorkers, who' call themselves Nuyoricans, are concen­ high blood pressure, and depression in the Puerto Rican commu­ tratedin the South Bronx, East Harlem, the Lower East Side, and nity), and drug abuse have also been frequently cited as reasons Sunset Park, with Spanish Harlem, which Nuyoricans call El Bar~ , for the economically underprivileged class of Puerto Ricans on rio, at the very core, as it has been for decades. Puerto Ricans re- . the mainland. Some social observers have suggested that the cul­ main the largest Latino group in New York City, but they are no prits underlying all these social circumstances are rampant ethnic longer the majority that they once were. According to Census" and racial discrimination; the language barrier; and the process 2000 figures, Nuyoricans comprise about a third ofthe city's total of transculturation, of straddling two cultures and two languages, Latino population. which is commonly accompanied by a disorienting sense of being The reasons behind this decline in Puerto Rican numbers in . neither here nor there. .,

156 157 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LATINO HISTOR Puerto Ricans In explaining Puerto Ricans' socioeconomic plight, others;~ NeW~ such as Linda Chavez, author of Out of the Barrio: TOward a i What's a botanical Politics ofHispanic Assimilation (1991), the former head of U.S. En~ ~otanicas, glish, Inc., a citizens' action group that advocates making Englisq which abound in every Puerto Rican neighborhood in the official language of the United States, and the current chair Of) erica, are shops that sell herbs and "natural" medicines, as the Center for Equal Opportunity, have also pointed a finger aO ell as religious items for followers of Santeria: everything from the breakdown of the Puerto Rican family unit, as evidenced bjP ndles, incense, and potions to bead necklaces, religiousmedals, the high rate of female family headship among Puerto Ricai( d statues. Most botdnicas are owned by a santera or santera, a mainlanders. And others point to the fact that many Puerto Ri;'j 'fIriest or priestess of Santeria, who gives consultations to followers 'f the religion on, everyday problems, such as marital discord, cans who migrated to New York City between the 1940s and th¢~ ave lost, stress, and health complaints. 1970s ended up in the manUfacturing sector, which in the 1950{i began a long, nearly total decline, the effects of which were feli~, long after. z! How do Puerto Ricans observe However, it is also important to point out that the socioeco~jr St. John the Baptist Day? nomic status of mainland Puerto Ricans is advancing at a ~teady' '!!t" profes~ , e Puerto Rican calendar is filled with many holidays, from Eu­ pace. Large numbers of mainland Puerto Ricans hold igenio Maria de Hostos's birthday on January II to Constitution sional, managerial, technical, and administrative support jobs,' !Day on July 25 and the commemoration of £1 Griiode Lares on which are cornerstones of economic well-being. Interestingly, ,4September 23. One of the most unusual Puerto Rican holidays is Puerto Rican mainlanders who live outside of the Northeast have, ';;;;St,John the Baptist Day, £1 Dia de Sanjuan Bautista, which falls in shown better socioeconomic Outcomes than their counterparts in; f.trune. At the stroke of midnight on this holiday, Puerto Rican the Northeast, owing to their human capital and labor market) characteristics. ,f!mainlanders and islanders immerse themselves in a body ofwater 'ito cleanse themselves of bad luck and to invite good luck. This ,;ritual has its roots in the southern Spain of more than a millen­ ;iinium ago, when pagan rites related to the summer equinox PUERTO RICAN CULTURAL LIFE j:blended with Christian observances of Jesus's baptism by St. t.ITohn, giving way to a practice of immersion in the Mediterranean What's a santo? r;,gea. This ritual later traveled to the Caribbean; where it took on :' 'native and African elements, such as burning candles in honor of A santo is a saint in the Roman Catholic tradition. But for those' YYoruban gods, and so it is the result of a syncretism, in the way of many Puerto Rican mainlanders and islanders who are followers ', Santeria. Nowadays in Puerto Rico, folks spend the eve ofSt. John of Santeria-a New World faith centered in Cuba that emerged , , the Baptist Day picnicking on the beach, waiting until midnight when the ancient Yoruban religions that West Mrican slaves • t to pitch themselves backward into the ocean to be cleansed. In brought to the Caribbean blended with the Roman Catholic be­ !''. New York City, where the tradition has fewer adherents, especially liefs of the Spanish-santos also have counterparts among West ~.', among the mainland. born, Nuyoricans flock to Coney Island, Far Mrican deities. For example, the Catholic St. Barbara is the' I;: Rockaway, the East River, Orchard Beach, and other watery places equivalent of the Yoruban god Chango, the Catholic Virgen de las. :Ii, 'to either immerse themselves or to pour a pail ofwater over thei~ Mercedes is also the Yoruban goddess of the waters, Yemaya, and 'heads, washing away bad luck and inviting good luck. so on. This practice of worshipping saints and Yoruban deities is ) just one example of the kind of syncretism that occurred when I the Africans brought to the Caribbean came in contact with the." Spanish colonizers there.

158 159 Pw e r to Ricans EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LATINO

7. Andy Garcia This celebrated Cuban American actor LATINO HEARTTHR0!3S OF A~L TIME has starred in such superb films as The Untouchables (1987), The Godfather: Part 1. Marc Anthony This Puerto Rican pop singer has a pas­ III (1990), Steal Big Steal Little (1995)', sion for salsa, has sold more than ten mil, ..., Ocean's Eleven (2001), and The Lost City lion albums worldwide (as of 2006), and '!. (2005), which he also directed and co­ has appeared in several Hollywood films;'_>.~ produced. including Bringing Out the Dead (1999) ',' i 8. Jennifer Lopez This multitalented superstar achieved and Man on Fire (2004). 'f, ) fame with her starring role as the singer 2., Mariah Carey This pop and. R & B singer and sopg-,~ Selena in the 1997 film Selena and with writer and actress is of Afro-Venezuelan ~ her performance in Out of Sight (1998).' ~nd Iris.h descent, has several multimil~f~ She later performed on the big screen in lion-selling albums to her name, has ':~ such films as Enough (2002) and Border­ earned a h~ndful of Gr~mys, and was.~ town (2006). In 1999 she released her de­ the.best-selhng female artist of the .1 990s. ~ but album, On the 6, which was followed 3. Julie Carmen ThIS actress first won accolades for her~. by J to Tha L-O!: The Remixes (2002), the performance in the 1988 film The Milagro '$; best-selling remix album of all time in the Beanfield War and has since starred in nu~;j world, and others. merous films, including the Emmy-nomi-if 9. Ricky Martin This talented Puerto Rican actor and musi­ nated Drug Wars: The Cocaine Carte.l.'i; cian played on the television soap General (1992) and King of theJungle (2000). ";:.; Hospital in 1994 and 1995 and took the 4. Vikki Carr Since ,~atapulting to ~ame wi,th her. 1966 :~jl Broadway stage in Les Miserables in 1996. song It Must Be HIm," this platinum- 'tm' He launched a solo music career in 1989 selling singer and.entertainer of Mexicanl and has since released a spate of albums, ancestry' has won three Grammys, haS'aJj among them Sound Loaded (2000), La His­ earned a star on the Hollywood Walk ofr? toria (2001), Almas del Silencio (2003), Life Fame, has performed for the queen of~ (2005), and MTV Unplugged (2006). England and five U.S. presidents, and il 10. Ricardo This Mexican American actor starred as much more.\r:t Montalban the unforgettable Mr. Roarke in the 5. Gloria Estefan After crossing over to an English-speaking ~tl 1978-84 1V series Fantasy Island, as the audience with her 1984 song "Dr. Beat," .~~ evil Khan in the motion picture Star Trek: this Cuban American singing sensation ,1111 The Wrath of Khan (1982), and in count­ single-~andedly .brou~ht Latin mu~ic into}\ ! less other television shows, commercials, the mainstream m a big way by fusing the:ii' and films. Latin sound with R & B and pop. She has,'~~j 11. Esai Morales This Puerto Rican actor has starred in millions of fans the world over. ,'.:tl such films as ui Bamba (1987), My Family, 6. Emilio Estevez One of Martin Sheen's sons, this highly:':~ Mi Familia (1995), and Fast,Food Nation acclaimed actor and director is a top box~;\1 (2006). For eight seasons, he played the office draw. He has starred in such Holly- :t~ role of Lieutenant Tony Rodriguez in wood hits as St. Elmo's Fire (1985), The .~: the television police drama NYPD Blue Breakfast Club (1985), and The Mighty'! (1993-2005). Ducks (1992) and has directed such note- ':1 12. Ramon Novarro This Mexican American heartthrob was worthy films as Bobby (2006), about the! cast as a "Latin lover" in silent films and assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. 161 160 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LATINO HISTORYl Puerto Ricans

talkies. His first starring role was in The the release of his multiplatinum album Prisoner of Zenda (1922), but he gained Jon Secada and its Spanish-language ver­ worldwide acclaim with his performance sion, Otro Dia Mas Sin ~rte. He has since in Ben-Hur (1926). released three albums: Heart, Soul, and a 13. Rosie Perez This actress and choreographer of Puerto ~ice (1994), Amor (1995), and SameDream Rican descent has appeared on the small (2005). screen and the big screen, in such motion 19. Charlie Sheen One of Martin Sheen's sons, he. has ap­ pictures as Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing peared in more than forty feature films, (1989), White Men Can'tJump (1992), Fear­ including the highly acclaimed motion less (1993), and Riding in Cars with Boys pictures Platoon (1986), Wall Street (1987), (2001). and BeingJohnMatkovich (1999), and in the 14. Selena This Mexican American superstar, known television sitcoms Spin City (1996-2002), Quintanilla . simply as Selena, put Tejano musiC-a for which he garnered a Golden Globe blend of Mexican ranchera, country, Award in 2002, and Two and a Half Men polka. pop, Colombian cumbia, and reg­ (2003-present). gae-on the map. In 1995, just as she was 20. Ritchie Valens This 1950s singer of Mexican ancestry, about to make her English-language de­ whose professional career lasted for less but. she was gunned down by the presi­ than a year. was the first to fuse rock and dent of her fan club. roll and Latin rhythms. The 19.87 film La 15. Chita Rivera After taking the Broadway stage for the Bamba recounts his rise to fame and his first time in 1957, this celebrated Puerto tragic early death in a plane crash in Rican and Scottish stage actress and 1959. In 2001 he was inducted into the dancer won a Tony in 1984 for her per­ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. formance in The Rink and one in 1993 for 21. Raquel Welch This actress, dancer, and model with Boli­ her acting in the Broadway hit Kiss of the vian roots was pigeonholed as a sex sym­ Spider Woman. In 2002 she became the bol in the 1960s and ~ 1970s and was first Latina to receive the 'prestigious finally recognized as a serious performer Kennedy Center Honors award. . in the 1980s. In more recent years, she 16. Cesar Romero From the 1930s to the 1960s, this popular . has appeared on the big screen in Tortilla Cuban American actor played leading Soup (2001), Legally Blonde (2001), and men as well as villains, including the Forget About It (2006). Joker in the hit TV show Batman, which first aired on January 12, 1966. 17. Linda Ronstadt America's greatest female pop star of the 1970s, she has been entertaining audi­ ences, recording albums (including some What is one ofthe biggest inspired by her Mexican ancestry), and Puerto Rican parties ofthe year? winning Grammys for over four and a half decades. Puerto Ricans customarily celebrate at home or at social dubs, but they also take their partying out into the street. The biggest 18.Jon Secada This Grammy-winning Cuban American pop idol got his start as a backup vocalist Puerto Rican street party of all-over· two million people in Gloria Estefan's Miami Sound Machine gather-is the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York and catapulted to stardom in 1992, with City, held annually along Fifth Avenue on the second Sunday in June, when comparsas (carnival dancing groups) and marching

162 163 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LATINO HISTORY.;~, Puerto Ricans -:~ bands follow the floats, which are in tum followed by politicians~ 'tpuerto Rican cuisine. Puerto Rican cooks use achiote (annatto looking for votes. A few big-name Puerto Rican stars usually par~"~ .~ seeds), which was an essential Taino ingredient, to impart an or­ ticip~te in the forty-two-block parade. eac~ year, too. In 2~O~:i 'ange tinge and a subtle flavor to the oil in which foods are Jenmfer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Rosie Perez, and salsa kIng '!r ~,sauteed. Many Puerto Rican dishes, such as paella and caldo gal­ Willie Colon all marched to the Latin beat up Fifth Avenue. In re~l, '[ego (a rich bean soup), are straight from the Spanish kitchen, but cent years, the National Puerto Rican Day Parade has attractedl i with a tropical twist. Others, such as mofongo, "meatballs" made larger crowds than the Saint Patrick's Day Parade, and it no~'l,~ t with crushed fried plantains, garlic, and chunks of pork or pork ranks as the biggest outdoor event celebrated in the United;~ ( crackling or other meats, are clearly ofAfrican origin. States. ;~f !' 'Two critical ingredients in Puerto Rican cooking cannot go f without mention. One, called adobo, is a seasoning composed of J:, garlic, oregano, crushed peppercorns or ground pepper, salt, and What's compadrazco? I:.' "a bit of lime juice or vinegar. Adobo is rubbed into meat, poultry, Compadrazco, Spanish for "coparenting," is a critical feature of the[~ and fish, imparting a marvelous flavor. The other must-have in­ Puerto Rican social structure and is also prevalent among other' gredient in the Puerto Rican kitchen is sofrito, a marinade or Latino groups. Essentially, it's a social network of extended fami; .! sauce made of onions, garlic, green and red bell peppers, sweet lies, which are linked together by friends who select each other to' " red chiles, cilantro, reaui (a rather strong-smelling herb available act as second parents, madrinas and padrinos (godmothers and, r in Puerto Rican and Asian markets), oil, and sometimes tomatoes, provide~ godfathers), to their children. The madrinas and padrinos Co all of which are pureed together. Sofrito is the foundation for their godchildren a great deal of social support, to the extent thai 1;, sauces, soups, and stews, including asopao, and is also used as a the madrina is often the one who buys the wedding ring for her ?'condiment at the table. Many Puerto Rican cooks keep a batch of godchild. Close friends often refer to -each other as compadre and' t sofrito tucked away in the refrigerator or freezer, since so many is­ comadre as a way of affirming these ties they have forged togethen, ,Ii land dishes call for it. which are nearly as strong as those in extended biological fami­ lies.' ;

·What is Puerto Rican cooking like. and what's the Puerto Rican national dish? Mainland Puerto Ricans (and islanders, too) love typical Ameri-: can fare, but they also have a delectable tropical cuisine all their own. Among the best known Puerto Rican culinary delights a~. d::l':'idn >:;, p ~ p! U li W n Ll .;> t' 't ; J II~' -,: J pasteles (a kind of tarnal made with plantains and such tubers as" yuca and yautia, not com, and stuffed with meat), lech6n asado . (roast suckling pig), and arroz con gandules (rice and pigeon peas)., _ Asopao, a fragrant, soupy chicken and rice stew, could perhaps be~i ~~(V\Jc called the national dish of Puerto Rico, owing to the fact that a,' .>-~~., .~ 1 J I \1:;;" L . i pot of it is often found simmering on the stove in many a Puerto .. { D!JeLJ~I{-l; - 1" :f1" Rican household. Among favorite traditional desserts on the ... J.~.~ mainland and the island are cream cheese flan, coconut flan;: "milk" flan (jlan de leche), rice pudding, coconut bread pudding,' and tembleque, a coconut milk custard. .,. Spanish, African, and Taino elements are clearly visible in

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