Don Pedro Albizu Campos, Sugar Cane, and the Puerto Rican Fight for Independence.

On By Anani KaikeIn Puerto Rican independance, puerto rico

Anani Kaike

December 21, 2018

“There is nothing to gain for those who seek salvation through weapons or money. If you want freedom, you must fight for it“ – Don Pedro Albuizu Campos

“When tyranny is law, revolution is order“ – Don Pedro Albuizu Campos

A almost entirely missing element in most history classes is Puerto Rican history. If any is included it is usually, the beginnings of Spanish abuse and genocide of the Taino people, headed by Christopher Columbus. The severely lacking part of Puerto Rican history, as it is taught in school, is the more “recent” history. In the the early 1920s the Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico (PNPR), or in english, the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party formed. Their goal was to get Puerto Rico to become independent, a free nation not governed by the American government or given statehood. In 1930 Don Pedro Albuizu Campos was chosen as the 2nd president of the PNPR.

Early Degradation of the Island, Taino Genocide and Sugar:

The destruction of Puerto Rico started early on. Columbus brought horses, cattle, and smallpox. The smallpox, to which the Taino people had no immunity, killed many. Those that the smallpox did not kill were either brutally murdered by the heartless Spaniards or enslaved to find gold, although many took refuge in the mountains. Most of the enslaved Taino died or were killed if they were unable to find a certain required amount of gold. The horses and cattle degraded the island, which originally was not home to large animals. The horses and cattle ate all the vegetation and caused huge catastrophic amounts of erosion. In the early 1500’s sugarcane was introduced. This began to slowly degrade the rich volcanic soil even further.

Resistance and Terrible Conditions:

After being controlled by Spain for 400 years Puerto Rico became occupied by the United States in the year 1898. Thirty years prior to this, in 1868 1,000 people in the town of Lares rose to gain independence from Spain. Almost 30 years later in 1897 Spain gave Puerto Rico independence. But soon Puerto Rico became a colony yet again. On May 12, 1898 the US shelled and bombed San Juan. Landing by boat in Guanica, American soldiers marched into towns and raised American flags under the direction of general Nelson Appleton Miles. Literally overnight Puerto Rico was again a colony. Puerto Ricans were thought of as savages and senile people, unable and incapable of ruling themselves. Sen. Albert J. Beveridge is quoted saying “He(god) has made us adept in government so that we may administer government amongst savages and senile peoples”. This shows how the US viewed Puerto Ricans. In the following years Puerto Rico and Puerto Rican people were subjected to forced and unknown sterilization (the US goal was to have a 0% population growth by 1970), and the abrupt change from Spanish to English language in schools (leaving many children uneducated). Wages for sugar cane workers were down from 75 cents to 45 cents per twelve hour day. This drove many families to starvation. Many infants and young children died. All the while the sugar company ASR (American Sugar Refinery) that was occupying Puerto Rico, also known as Domino Sugar, was making huge profits. The first US appointed governor of Puerto Rico, Charles Herbert Allen became  the president of Domino Sugar just a few years after his resignation. He controlled 98% of the land used to produce sugar. His only interest was the sugar company, his sugar company. He did not speak Spanish or know exactly where Puerto Rico was. The conditions were so terrible that some mothers even chose to kill their children and themselves. Here history repeated its self again, widespread suicides happened frequently under the brutal Spanish rule over the Taino.

Sugar cane field 1939 Puerto rico

Machetero (sugar cane cutter) and sugar cane field. 1939. Guanica Ensenada, Puerto Rico

Sugar refinery 1973

Childhood, Education and Resistance against the US in Puerto Rico:

Don Pedro was born in 1891. His mother killed herself and only due to the intervention of neighbors was Albizu Campos saved he was raised by his aunt. In 1922 the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party formed with one goal: to get the US out of Puerto Rico. Their 2nd president was Don Pedro Albizu Campos. Don Pedro had attended Harvard and the University of Vermont and fluently spoke eight languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Latin, and ancient Greek, even though he had learned to read at the age of 12. The other students were unaware of his fluency in eight languages and routinely made racist comments and jokes about him, thinking he didn’t speak English. He graduated from Harvard as with top scores, but was mailed his law degree because he was the top student and they did not want him to give a speech at graduation because he was not white, and because of his passion for Puerto Rican independence, (a topic the college did not want included in the speech). After serving in World War I as a lieutenant and experiencing brutal racism, he turned to the fight for Puerto Rican independence. He held a public meeting in 1925 where there were several speakers. The speaker before him commented on the small American flags that were decorating the handrails of the platform, saying that if the American flag really represent freedom, then there should be freedom for Puerto Rico. Don Pedro came out and immediately began removing the American flags and putting them in his pockets. Then, he said, addressing the American flag, ” O’ American flag, if it is true that you represent liberty and democracy in the world, here, in Puerto Rico, you represent colonialism and plunder”.

In 1930 he became the 2nd president of Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. Before the sugar Cane strike of 1933 the US didn’t pay much attention to the PNPR. However, in 1933, 85 strikes arouse within tobacco, needlework, and transportation industries. These strikes aroused concern in the man who would become police chief, the then colonel E. Francis Riggs (who was killed in 1935 after the Rio Piedras Massacre by two members of the PNPR). But soon his concern was turned to an all out hatred and desire to see all of the members of PNPR dead or imprisoned. He also had up to 100 FBI agents following and documenting Don Pedro everywhere he went. The cause was the island wide sugar cane workers strike organized by the PNPR during the Sugar Cane harvest. 9,200 workers went on strike and burned sugar cane. They wanted an 8 hour workday and higher wages. These demands were eventually met, this infuriated the US. Don Pedro was now a huge problem for the US, and they wanted him and all Puerto Rican nationalists dead or imprisoned. Following this, the Police chief Riggs decided to try and silence Don Pedro with another method. He invited him to a private meeting and offered him $150,000, a house and a governorship within 10 years if he would stop his political activism. Don Pedro politely said to the Police chief “my country is not for sale” and he then walked out. Don Pedro was arrested during police attempts to stop the protests and strikes around the island. Their attempts did not work, the strikes and protests got even bigger. Don Pedro was imprisoned for 11 years in Atlanta, GA. Many say the radiation or medical experiments started here, because when he returned to Puerto Rico he was suffering from mysterious health problems he had not had before he was imprisoned.

Don Pedro Albizu Campos (above).

Cadets of the Republic, Puerto Rico. Another band of the PNPR for younger people usually under 18 (above).

Panic in the midst of the ponce massacre.

In March 21, 1937 a peaceful march was organized in Ponce (which was the center of the PNPR) on Palm Sunday to protest the imprisonment of Don Pedro. Governor Winship had said he would give the protestors a permit, but at the last minute, he refused and claimed that the march was illegal. The marchers decided to do the protest despite the governor. Since it was palm Sunday many people were in the streets not only the marchers. Winship, who felt very threatened by the peaceful march, ordered the police be present. The police, which Winship had completely militarized, were equipped with machine guns, tear gas and riot gear. He also had the police cars painted bright red. As the protestors marched through the streets the police surrounded them and opened fire, even though many ordinary civilians were present celebrating Palm Sunday. 19 people were killed, 2 were police killed by their own department. The youngest person killed was a 7 year old girl who was shot in the back. The police, in total disregard for the dead, shot and kicked dead and dying people. The Ponce Massacre was a mass murder, orchestrated by governor Winship. Innocent people were simply trapped, and murdered.

Governor Blanton Winship. He ordered the militarized police be present at the peaceful march that became the ponce massacre.

Police Chief Orbita (center in photo). The photo was used as part of a PR campaign, to cover up the Ponce Massacre. It shows Orbita pretending to look for the nonexistent snipers that supposedly started the violence.

Later years and radiation poisoning:

Albizu Campos was again imprisoned and tortured for 25 years in La Princesa, which was basically a dungeon. It dated back hundreds of years to the early Spanish occupation of Puerto Rico. Here, he was kept in a terrible form of solitary confinement. He suffered from constant headaches, he began to see mysterious strange lights and passed out routinely. The pain became worse and he continued to see the strange lights. His feet, legs, head and hands swelled causing excruciating pain. The cause was a radiation poisoning. (This was confirmed in 2000, when thousands of FBI files were released confirming what had long been spoken about). He was slowly killed for years in prison and was only allowed to have visitors every 2 weeks for half an hour. In November of 1953 he was briefly released from prison, but was arrested again in March for unfurling a Puerto Rican flag in front of protestors. He was then moved to a hospital but there was no way to help him and the right side of his body was paralyzed and he was unable to speak. He suffered strokes, sores, swelling, heart and liver problems for the rest of his life. He was pardoned by Governor Luis Muñoz Marín and he died in his home on April 21, 1965. Over 75,000 people attended his funeral in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.Puerto Rico has been degraded and oppressed for hundreds of years. First the brutal Spanish came imposing christianity, genocide and slavery for 400 years. After a short independence, the United States bombed Puerto Rico and took control. The land was even further degraded. Puerto rico has been abused and degraded and its people treated as if they do not matter. The examples are clear even to this day, look at the treatment of people after hurricane Maria. The numbers were of dead were covered up and no help was given, or it was given too late. We see the examples of this when we see the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Cruz rescuing people instead of aid from the US. It is clear and it always has been clear the US sees, and has always seen, Puerto Rico as good for nothing more than a land to plunder and discard just as Don Pedro said.

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3 thoughts on “Don Pedro Albizu Campos, Sugar Cane, and the Puerto Rican Fight for Independence.”

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