The Last Liberator of the Américas

[Borincano]

Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos

Who was Pedro Albizu Campos? Was he an ordinary man, hero, or terrorist? Who was this man who was responsible for the deaths of hundreds in the name of a free 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 are and what we are capable of. Pedro Albizu Campos made them know who we are, and what we are capable of. 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? Pedro Albizu Campos was a man who did what he thought was right. What the Puerto Rican people deserved to have. That was freedom!

Pedro Albizu Campos was equally loved and hated by the people who were around him because of his political fanaticism. 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 spoken, and many would question the way Albizu reacted to the world he lived in. But all have to question themselves, would you have done the same, and why?

Pedro Albizu Campos was born on September 12th, 1891 (Or 1893) in a small, impoverished Barrio, (district) called Tenerias in the southern section of the city, named, Machuelo Abajo, in Ponce. An Aunt raised him after his mother, Juliana Campos, died. He never knew his father, Alejandro Albizu Romero, who was a Spaniard. He had not attended school until he was 12 years old because of his social and economic situation. Though, when he finally did, it turned out that he was a 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 became infatuated with the pro-independence struggles of Ireland. At Harvard, Albizu also found his love, Laura Meneses del Carpio or Perú. With her, he had three children, Pedro, Laura, and Rosa Emilia.

When the USA joined WWI in 1917, Pedro Albizu Campos quickly joined the USA Army, which he was allowed to do after United States Citizenship was imposed on Puerto Ricans that same year under the Jones Act. He faced much racism during basic training from the American officers, but none-the-less, he rose to the rank of First Lieutenant. His experiences of racism, battle tactics, along with his extreme intelligence, would later prove helpful for his cause of Puerto Rico liberation. Albizu returned from the Army in 1921, and finished his studies at Harvard Law School and then moved to Ponce with his family.

Pedro Albizu Campos, a conservative, was dedicated to his dream of independence, so he denounced the many high paid jobs that were offered to him. 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 Rico independence, he joined the Nationalist Party in 1925, which was been founded by Florencio Romero and Julio Medina Gonzalez. Through this party, Albizu fought through force, for the civil rights the Puerto Ricans disserved in a time of the silencing of the press, massacres, discrimination, beatings, colonial placed Governors and police, societal and economical restructure and many other unspeakable horrors imposed on the Puerto Rican people.

Pedro Albizu Campos quickly became Vice-President of the Nationalist Party and in 1927, went on a Puerto Rican Independence support campaign throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. In 1930 he was voted President of the Nationalist Party and imposed great reforms, some of which were anti-imperialist and focused to benefit Puerto Ricans over the USA. He was the first to directly confront the imperialistic USA government in Puerto Rico. Albizu frequently said, "Our land will be a free and sovereign nation against the will of the United States," in order to reinsure the Puerto Rican people that their cause for freedom will be rewarded.

The Nationalist Party avenged the Masacre of Río Piedras, in which 5 protesters at the University of PR were killed and Poet/Nationalist, 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 "overthrow the USA Government in Puerto Rico."

At their first trial, there was a Jury made up of mostly Puerto Ricans; they did not find any substantial evidence that these men were guilty. In result, 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. 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 Lares. On March 29th 1937, hundreds of Nacionalistas 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 Blanton Winship forced him to revoke it. 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. In perseverance, one of the soon-to-be murdered men wrote on a wall, "¡Viva La Nación! ¡Abajo Los Asasiones!" (Long live the Nation! Down with the Assassins) This fateful event is now called, La Masacre de Ponce. 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. He 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 of Partido Popular Democrático, who was elected because of his appeal to peasant struggles. 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”(Estado Libre Asociado) status on July 25th, 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 were killed and left homeless. The Nationalist Insurrection was the last great struggle for freedom by the Nationalist Party.

On 1953, Pedro Albizu Campos was again 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 President Jimmy Carter.) For that action, Albizu´s pardon was revoked and in prison, suffered from radiation experiments, which caused a stroke, kidney problems, and muteness. The inevitability he will die in prison, because of ill treatment, lead to his release 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 and Perú. Albizu received an honorary doctrine of political science two days after his death from the University of Havana.

Although, not everyone might agree with his actions, he is remembered for his actions for freedom, reform, justice, and civil rights that the Colonial rulers foolishly preached, but never followed through. Still, to this very day the fight for true freedom and the Puerto Rican people’s right to independence, continues and will always continue until it is achieved. Pedro Albizu Campos is our martyr, our teacher, and the embodiment of the human spirit. Therefore, he never died, but is alive, as the struggle that still exists today.

(Edited by Borincano at 9:47 pm on Aug. 11, 2002)

[Borincano]