Borincano
20th May 2002, 05:41
Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos
Who was Pedro Albizu Campos? An Ordinary man? A Hero? A terrorist? Who was this man who was responsible for the deaths of hundreds in the name of freedom for his nation of Puerto Rico. He was a man who gave speeches to the masses so that his words could spread in a time of ultimate oppression. He lived in a time when a foreign nation denied who the Puerto Ricans were and what we were capable of. Pedro Albizu Campos made them know who we were, and what we were capable of doing. He made them look behind their backs every time they walked. He brought both fear and hope to the people he loved deeply. Who was this man? He was a man who did what he thought was right. What the Puerto Rican people deserved to have. That was freedom!
Equally loved and hated by the people who was around him or the deeds that he did. Whatever you think about him and his life, you have to realize that this was a man who lived in a time of utter poverty, racism, oppression, and evil. He rose upon that and did something about it. There are many what ifs that will always be questioned, and many would question the way Pedro Albizu Campos reacted to the world he lived in. But all have to question themselves, would you have done the same?
Pedro Albizu Campos was born on September 12th, 1891 in a small, impoverished Barrio, (district) called Tenerias in the southern section of the city, named, Machuelo Abajo, in the city of Ponce. An Aunt raised him after his mother, Juliana Campos, died, and never knew his father, Alejandro Albizu Romero. He had not attended school until he was 12 years old because of his social and economic situation. It turned out that he was an extremely gifted child with an advanced intellect, and finished his education in only 8 years.
In 1912 he was given a grant to go to the University of Vermont and one year later, a Professor, impressed with Albizu´s intelligence and notability, transferred him to Harvard University. At Harvard, he studied engineering, chemistry, politics, military sciences, and learned seven languages. He also meet his future wife there, from Peru, Laura Meneses del Carpio. He had three children with her, Pedro, Laura, and Rosa Emilia.
When the USA joined WWI in 1917, he quickly joined the USA Army, which he was allowed to do after United States Citizenship was imposed on Puerto Ricans that same year. He faced much racism during basic training, from the American officers, but none-the-less, he rose to the rank of First Lieutenant. He never made it to the European front because the War had ended one year after it started for the USA, but the experiences of racism, battle tactics, along with his extreme intelligence, would later prove helpful for his cause of liberation for Puerto Rico. He returned from the Army in 1921, and finished his studies at the Harvard Law School and then moved to Ponce, Puerto Rico, with his family.
Albizu, a rightist, was dedicated to his dream of independence, so he denounced the many high paid jobs that were offered to him and his response to those who questioned his distaste for those jobs, were, “that is my duty for being born in an enslaved country." He joined the Union Party in 1921, but because of the ending of its stance for Puerto Rican independence and it’s fractionating, he joined the Nationalist Party in 1925, which had been founded by Florencio Romero and Julio Medina Gonzalez.
Through this party, Pedro Albizu Campos, fought through force, for the civil rights the Puerto Ricans disserved in a time of the silencing of the press, massacres, mass beatings, colonial placed Governors and police, and many other unspeakable horrors imposed on the Puerto Rican people and never before, brought to justice.
Pedro Albizu Campos quickly became Vice-President of the Nationalist Party and went on a Puerto Rican Independence support campaign throughout Latin America and the Caribbean in 1927. Some of his stops were Perú, Venezuela, la República Dominicana, Cuba, and México and returned in late 1929. In 1930 he was voted President of the Nationalist Party and imposed great reforms, some of which were to be anti-imperialist, and try to distribute a better way of life to his people during a time of great depression through out the world.
He was the first to directly confront the imperialistic USA government in Puerto Rico and tried to gain support from his people through every means possible. He frequently said that, "Our land will be a free and sovereign nation against the will of the United States." The Nationalist Party avenged the Masacre of Rio Piedras, in which 5 protesters at the University of PR were killed and Poet, Juan Antonio Corretjer, was imprisoned for 1 year for refusing to give up the books of the national committee of the Nationalist Party.
Albizu sent Hiram Rosado and Elias Beauchamp to kill the Colonial Police chief, Francis E. Riggs, they succeeded, but they were caught and murdered in the San Juan Police Headquarters without trial. Members of the Nationalist Party were also imprisoned days after the murders. Rafael Ortiz Pacheco fled to the Dominican Republic, Pedro Albizu Campos, Luis F. Valezquez, Clemente Soto Velez, Erasmo Velazquez, Juan Garllado Santiago, Juan Juarbe, and Pablo Rosado were sentenced to imprisonment for twice trying to "over throw the USA Government."
At their first trial, there was a Jury made up of mostly Puerto Ricans and they did not find any substantial evidence that these men were guilty. So then the American placed Governor, General Blanton Winship, created a new jury made up of mostly Anglo-Americans, which, unsurprisingly, found the accused Nacionalistas, guilty and sentenced them to 10-11 years imprisonment. Then Judge Robert Cooper sent them to an Atlanta, Georgia prison from a Puerto Rican one, in response to that, some Nacionalistas tried to assassinate him.
During the 1930's, many people were arrested and imprisoned because of violations against transportation laws, which stated, collecting money for imprisoned Nacionalistas were illegal. People were imprisoned for celebrating El Grito De Lares, the first Puerto Rican revolution in 1868, in San Sebastián. Sentenced to 5 years for blowing up USA post boxes, or carrying explosives. Candita Collazo was the first Puerto Rican woman of the 20th century to be arrested for being a Nacionalista.
On March 29th 1937, hundreds of Nationalists dressed in white, marched in Ponce on Palm Sunday to commemorate the anniversary of the abolition of slavery in PR and to honor Pedro Albizu Campos. The current Mayor allowed it, but the present Governor forced him to revoke it, but the people marched anyway without any weapons or bad intentions. The Colonial Police marched towards them, surrounded them and proceeded to shoot at the crowd for 15 minutes. After the dust was cleared, 19 people were murdered, and 200 hundred wounded, including a 7-year-old girl trying to run into a church, and a man who wrote, "¡Viva La Nación! ¡Abajo Los Asasiones!" (Long live the Nation! Down with the Assassins) on a wall. This fateful event is now called, La Masacre de Ponce. (The Ponce Massacre)
In revenge for the oppressive acts, a Nacionalista, Antonigori, during the celebration of the USA invasion and illegal occupation of Puerto Rico on July 25th, 1898, tried to assassinate Governor Blanton Winship, but failed and was killed in the process, but did manage to kill Colonel Luis Irizarry.
In 1948, Pedro Albizu Campos was released from prison. The USA, under many tensions in PR, allowed Puerto Rico to elect their own Governor, and it was Senator Luis Muñoz Marín, who was elected because of his meetings with the very poor of Puerto Rico. He promised economic and political reform and Independence was his preference, but, in his view, not the reality to fund his reforms, so he created the Commonwealth status in 1952.
Albizu ordered 5 men to kill the Governor, a dear friend of his, in 1950, but security guards stopped them. The same year he had Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresela try to kill President Harry S Truman, but they failed, leaving Torresela killed and his pregnant wife detained for a few days. On October 1950, Blanca Canales and thousands of Nacionalistas staged a revolution in the town of Jayuya, which spread to Utuado, and Mayaqüez, but USA plane bombardments and quick military action stopped the revolution and thousands were sent to prison and hundreds killed, or left homeless.
On 1953, Albizu was sent to jail, but was pardoned by Muñoz until 1954 when Lolita Lebrón and three other men shot 4 Congressmen at the Capitol building in Washington D.C. They were later pardoned in 1979 after 26 years of imprisonment, by then President Jimmy Carter. For that action, Albizu was sent to jail again and tortured with radiation, which caused a stroke, kidney problems, and muteness, but was released in 1965. He later died that same year on April 21st. 75,000 Nacionalistas and fellow compatriots came to his funeral. His wife and children’s USA citizenship were revoked and they were forced to flee to Cuba, where Albizu received his honorary doctrine of political science, two days after his death.
To this very day he is remembered for his actions for freedom, reform, justice, and civil rights that the Colonial rulers foolishly preached, but never followed through. Although, not everyone might agree with his actions, but to this very day the fight for true freedom, and the Puerto Rican people right to independence, continues and will always continue until it is achieved.
¡Que viva!
For more information, go to:
AlbizuCampos.com (http://www.albizucampos.com)
(Edited by Borincano at 6:40 pm on July 31, 2002)
Who was Pedro Albizu Campos? An Ordinary man? A Hero? A terrorist? Who was this man who was responsible for the deaths of hundreds in the name of freedom for his nation of Puerto Rico. He was a man who gave speeches to the masses so that his words could spread in a time of ultimate oppression. He lived in a time when a foreign nation denied who the Puerto Ricans were and what we were capable of. Pedro Albizu Campos made them know who we were, and what we were capable of doing. He made them look behind their backs every time they walked. He brought both fear and hope to the people he loved deeply. Who was this man? He was a man who did what he thought was right. What the Puerto Rican people deserved to have. That was freedom!
Equally loved and hated by the people who was around him or the deeds that he did. Whatever you think about him and his life, you have to realize that this was a man who lived in a time of utter poverty, racism, oppression, and evil. He rose upon that and did something about it. There are many what ifs that will always be questioned, and many would question the way Pedro Albizu Campos reacted to the world he lived in. But all have to question themselves, would you have done the same?
Pedro Albizu Campos was born on September 12th, 1891 in a small, impoverished Barrio, (district) called Tenerias in the southern section of the city, named, Machuelo Abajo, in the city of Ponce. An Aunt raised him after his mother, Juliana Campos, died, and never knew his father, Alejandro Albizu Romero. He had not attended school until he was 12 years old because of his social and economic situation. It turned out that he was an extremely gifted child with an advanced intellect, and finished his education in only 8 years.
In 1912 he was given a grant to go to the University of Vermont and one year later, a Professor, impressed with Albizu´s intelligence and notability, transferred him to Harvard University. At Harvard, he studied engineering, chemistry, politics, military sciences, and learned seven languages. He also meet his future wife there, from Peru, Laura Meneses del Carpio. He had three children with her, Pedro, Laura, and Rosa Emilia.
When the USA joined WWI in 1917, he quickly joined the USA Army, which he was allowed to do after United States Citizenship was imposed on Puerto Ricans that same year. He faced much racism during basic training, from the American officers, but none-the-less, he rose to the rank of First Lieutenant. He never made it to the European front because the War had ended one year after it started for the USA, but the experiences of racism, battle tactics, along with his extreme intelligence, would later prove helpful for his cause of liberation for Puerto Rico. He returned from the Army in 1921, and finished his studies at the Harvard Law School and then moved to Ponce, Puerto Rico, with his family.
Albizu, a rightist, was dedicated to his dream of independence, so he denounced the many high paid jobs that were offered to him and his response to those who questioned his distaste for those jobs, were, “that is my duty for being born in an enslaved country." He joined the Union Party in 1921, but because of the ending of its stance for Puerto Rican independence and it’s fractionating, he joined the Nationalist Party in 1925, which had been founded by Florencio Romero and Julio Medina Gonzalez.
Through this party, Pedro Albizu Campos, fought through force, for the civil rights the Puerto Ricans disserved in a time of the silencing of the press, massacres, mass beatings, colonial placed Governors and police, and many other unspeakable horrors imposed on the Puerto Rican people and never before, brought to justice.
Pedro Albizu Campos quickly became Vice-President of the Nationalist Party and went on a Puerto Rican Independence support campaign throughout Latin America and the Caribbean in 1927. Some of his stops were Perú, Venezuela, la República Dominicana, Cuba, and México and returned in late 1929. In 1930 he was voted President of the Nationalist Party and imposed great reforms, some of which were to be anti-imperialist, and try to distribute a better way of life to his people during a time of great depression through out the world.
He was the first to directly confront the imperialistic USA government in Puerto Rico and tried to gain support from his people through every means possible. He frequently said that, "Our land will be a free and sovereign nation against the will of the United States." The Nationalist Party avenged the Masacre of Rio Piedras, in which 5 protesters at the University of PR were killed and Poet, Juan Antonio Corretjer, was imprisoned for 1 year for refusing to give up the books of the national committee of the Nationalist Party.
Albizu sent Hiram Rosado and Elias Beauchamp to kill the Colonial Police chief, Francis E. Riggs, they succeeded, but they were caught and murdered in the San Juan Police Headquarters without trial. Members of the Nationalist Party were also imprisoned days after the murders. Rafael Ortiz Pacheco fled to the Dominican Republic, Pedro Albizu Campos, Luis F. Valezquez, Clemente Soto Velez, Erasmo Velazquez, Juan Garllado Santiago, Juan Juarbe, and Pablo Rosado were sentenced to imprisonment for twice trying to "over throw the USA Government."
At their first trial, there was a Jury made up of mostly Puerto Ricans and they did not find any substantial evidence that these men were guilty. So then the American placed Governor, General Blanton Winship, created a new jury made up of mostly Anglo-Americans, which, unsurprisingly, found the accused Nacionalistas, guilty and sentenced them to 10-11 years imprisonment. Then Judge Robert Cooper sent them to an Atlanta, Georgia prison from a Puerto Rican one, in response to that, some Nacionalistas tried to assassinate him.
During the 1930's, many people were arrested and imprisoned because of violations against transportation laws, which stated, collecting money for imprisoned Nacionalistas were illegal. People were imprisoned for celebrating El Grito De Lares, the first Puerto Rican revolution in 1868, in San Sebastián. Sentenced to 5 years for blowing up USA post boxes, or carrying explosives. Candita Collazo was the first Puerto Rican woman of the 20th century to be arrested for being a Nacionalista.
On March 29th 1937, hundreds of Nationalists dressed in white, marched in Ponce on Palm Sunday to commemorate the anniversary of the abolition of slavery in PR and to honor Pedro Albizu Campos. The current Mayor allowed it, but the present Governor forced him to revoke it, but the people marched anyway without any weapons or bad intentions. The Colonial Police marched towards them, surrounded them and proceeded to shoot at the crowd for 15 minutes. After the dust was cleared, 19 people were murdered, and 200 hundred wounded, including a 7-year-old girl trying to run into a church, and a man who wrote, "¡Viva La Nación! ¡Abajo Los Asasiones!" (Long live the Nation! Down with the Assassins) on a wall. This fateful event is now called, La Masacre de Ponce. (The Ponce Massacre)
In revenge for the oppressive acts, a Nacionalista, Antonigori, during the celebration of the USA invasion and illegal occupation of Puerto Rico on July 25th, 1898, tried to assassinate Governor Blanton Winship, but failed and was killed in the process, but did manage to kill Colonel Luis Irizarry.
In 1948, Pedro Albizu Campos was released from prison. The USA, under many tensions in PR, allowed Puerto Rico to elect their own Governor, and it was Senator Luis Muñoz Marín, who was elected because of his meetings with the very poor of Puerto Rico. He promised economic and political reform and Independence was his preference, but, in his view, not the reality to fund his reforms, so he created the Commonwealth status in 1952.
Albizu ordered 5 men to kill the Governor, a dear friend of his, in 1950, but security guards stopped them. The same year he had Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresela try to kill President Harry S Truman, but they failed, leaving Torresela killed and his pregnant wife detained for a few days. On October 1950, Blanca Canales and thousands of Nacionalistas staged a revolution in the town of Jayuya, which spread to Utuado, and Mayaqüez, but USA plane bombardments and quick military action stopped the revolution and thousands were sent to prison and hundreds killed, or left homeless.
On 1953, Albizu was sent to jail, but was pardoned by Muñoz until 1954 when Lolita Lebrón and three other men shot 4 Congressmen at the Capitol building in Washington D.C. They were later pardoned in 1979 after 26 years of imprisonment, by then President Jimmy Carter. For that action, Albizu was sent to jail again and tortured with radiation, which caused a stroke, kidney problems, and muteness, but was released in 1965. He later died that same year on April 21st. 75,000 Nacionalistas and fellow compatriots came to his funeral. His wife and children’s USA citizenship were revoked and they were forced to flee to Cuba, where Albizu received his honorary doctrine of political science, two days after his death.
To this very day he is remembered for his actions for freedom, reform, justice, and civil rights that the Colonial rulers foolishly preached, but never followed through. Although, not everyone might agree with his actions, but to this very day the fight for true freedom, and the Puerto Rican people right to independence, continues and will always continue until it is achieved.
¡Que viva!
For more information, go to:
AlbizuCampos.com (http://www.albizucampos.com)
(Edited by Borincano at 6:40 pm on July 31, 2002)