Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
shortest-lived republic. The independent republic of Puerto Rico, proclaimed during
the abortive Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares) in 1868, lasted slightly less than 24 hours.
Worn down by slavery, high taxes and the asphyxiating grip of Spain's militaristic
rulers, independence advocates in the Caribbean colonies of Puerto Rico and Cuba
were in the ascendancy throughout the 1850s and '60s. Ironically, it was the Puerto
Ricans who acted first. After several setbacks, an insurrection was planned under the
physician of Dr Ramón Emeterio Eteances in the western town of Lares for Septem-
ber 23, 1868.
Meeting at a farm, codenamed Centro Bravo, owned by Venezuelan-born rebel
Manuel Rojas on the evening of September 23, over 600 men and women marched
defiantly on the small town of Lares near Mayagüez, where they were met with min-
imal Spanish resistance. Declaring a Puerto Rican republic from the main square, the
rebels placed a red, white and blue flag - designed by Betances - on the high altar of
the main church and named Francisco Ramírez Medina head of a new provisional
government. Fatefully, the glory wasn't to last. Electing next to march on the nearby
town of San Sebastián, the poorly armed liberation army walked into a classic Span-
ish military trap and were quickly seen off by superior firepower. A handful of the
militia were killed by Spanish bullets while hundreds more - including Rojas and
Medina - were taken prisoner.
While the Grito de Lares was decapitated swiftly and never won widespread grass-
roots support on the island, the action did lead to some long-term political conces-
sions. In the years that followed, the colonial authorities passed liberal electoral re-
forms, granted Puerto Rico provincial status and offered Spanish citizenship to all
criollos
(island-born people of European descent). The biggest victory, however,
came in 1873 with the abolition of slavery and granting of freedom to over 30,000
previously incarcerated slaves.
Blanca Canales, leader of the abortive Jayuya Uprising in 1950, is popularly considered to have been the first woman to have led
an armed revolt against the US government.
A Question of Status
Questioned by many before the ink had even dried, the Jones Act failed to provide any
long-term solutions. On the contrary, the debate over Puerto Rico's relationship with the
US continued to intensify, defining the political careers of two major figures who would
emerge on the island in the late 1920s and early '30s: Pedro Albizu Campos, leader of the
