1950 — Oct 29-Nov 6,[1] Puerto Rico Independence uprisings, esp. Utuado, Jayuya, San Juan-33
–Dozens. Wikipedia. “Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s.” 10-31-2017 edit.
— 40 Pacific Stars and Stripes. “Violence in San Juan.” 11-6-1950, p. 4.[2]
— 33 AP. “Nationalist Revolt in Puerto Rico Nearly Over.” Key West Citizen, FL, 11-1-1950, 1.
–>30 AP. “Puerto Rican Revolutionists Yield in Droves.” Cumberland News, MD, 11-3-1950, 1
–>30 AP. “Rebel Chief Under Siege.” Bluefield Daily Telegraph, WV, 11-2-1950, p. 1.
–~30 AP. “Planes Strafe Puerto Rico Rebel Towns.” Oakland Tribune, CA, 10-31-1950, p. 1.
–~19 INS. “Puerto Rican Uprising Quelled.” Mount Pleasant News, IA, 10-30-1950, p. 1.
Narrative Information
Wikipedia. “San Juan Nationalist Revolt.”: “….Uprisings. From 1949 to 1950, the Nationalists in the island began to plan and prepare an armed revolution, hoping that the United Nations would take notice and intervene on their behalf. The uprising was to occur in 1952, on the date the United States Congress was to approve the creation of the political status Free Associated State (“Estado Libre Associado”) for Puerto Rico. The reason behind Albizu Campos’ call for an armed revolution was that he considered the “new” status a colonial farce.
“The police disrupted this timetable, and the Nationalist revolution was accelerated by two years. On October 26, 1950, Albizu Campos was holding a meeting in Fajardo when he received word that his house in San Juan was surrounded by police waiting to arrest him. He was also told that the police had already arrested other Nationalist leaders. He escaped from Fajardo and ordered the revolution to start.
“The next day, on October 27, the police fired upon a caravan of Nationalists in the town of Peñuelas, and killed four of them. This police massacre inflamed many in Puerto Rico, and the outcry was immediate….” (Wikipedia. “San Juan Nationalist Revolt.” 10-30-2017 edit.)
Wikipedia “Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s.”: “….Peñuelas Incident. The first incident of the Nationalist uprisings was an act by a police force against the rebels, in the pre-dawn hours of October 29, 1950. The Insular Police of the town of Peñuelas surrounded the house of Melitón Muñiz Santos’s mother. Melitón Muñiz Santos was the president of the Peñuelas Nationalist Party in the barrio Macaná, and the police were about to raid the house that Muñiz Santos was using as distribution center for weapons for the Nationalist Revolt.[3] Without warning, the police fired on the Nationalists in the house. A firefight ensued, killing three Nationalists (Arturo Ortiz, Guillermo González Ubides, José A. Ramos) and wounding six police officers.[4] Nationalists Meliton Muñoz Santos, Roberto Jaume Rodriguez, Estanislao Lugo Santiago, Marcelino Turell, William Gutirrez and Marcelino Berrios were arrested and accused of participating in an ambush against the local Insular Police.[5]
“Arecibo Incident. Tomás López de Victoria led the revolt in Arecibo. He ordered Ismael Díaz Matos to attack the local police station. Díaz Matos killed four policemen before fleeing. Fellow Nationalist Hipólito Miranda Díaz was killed while he covered the escape of his comrades. Díaz Matos and his group were captured and arrested by the National Guard. Among the cadets arrested and charged with organizing the attack were López de Victoria and Juan Jaca Hernández, cadet Captain of Arecibo.[6]
“Ponce Incident. Police Corporal Aurelio Miranda approached a car carrying some Nationalists. Fellow officers suggested they arrest them. Officer Miranda was shot dead in a gunfight between the Nationalists and the police. Antonio Alicea, Jose Miguel Alicea, Francisco Campos (Albizu Campos’ nephew), Osvaldo Perez Martinez, and Ramon Pedrosa Rivera were arrested and accused of the murder of police Corporal Miranda. Raul de Jesus was accused of violation of the Insular Firearms Law.[7]
“Mayagüez Incident. The Nationalist group of Mayagüez was one of the largest. It was divided into several units, each assigned to attack different targets. One of the groups attacked the town’s police station, resulting in the death of three policemen and three bystanders. This unit joined the others in Barrio La Quinta. After local police arrived, the men escaped into the mountains and avoided further casualties by using guerrilla tactics. One of the members of these units was Nationalist cadet Irvin Flores Rodríguez, who on March 1, 1954, together with Lolita Lebrón, Rafael Cancel Miranda and Andres Figueroa Cordero, attacked the members of the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC with automatic pistols.[8]
“Jayuya Uprising. The Jayuya Uprising was a revolt in the town of Jayuya, Puerto Rico, which occurred on October 30, 1950.[9] The revolt, led by Blanca Canales, was one of the most notable among the various revolts which occurred that day against the island’s US-supported government.[10] In the town square, Canales gave a speech and declared Puerto Rico a free Republic. Under the direction of the Puerto Rican commander of the Puerto Rican National Guard, the town was attacked by US-supplied planes and artillery.[11] The town was held by the Nationalists for three days.[12]
“Utuado Uprising. The Utuado Uprising was a revolt that occurred in Utuado as part of a series of uprising. Nationalists, led by the captain of the Utuado branch of the Cadets of the Republic, attacked the police station. The National Guard arrived that day and ordered the nine surviving Nationalists to surrender. They were marched to the town plaza and required to remove their shoes, belts and personal belongings. Taken behind the police station, the men were machine gunned by the national guardsmen. Five men died: Heriberto Castro, Julio Colón Feliciano, Agustín Quiñones Mercado, Antonio Ramos and Antonio González.[13] The four survivors were seriously wounded. The event became known as “La Masacre de Utuado” (The Utuado Massacre). Over the next two days, the Puerto Rican military commander used U.S.-supplied P-47 Thunderbolt fighter planes to bomb Utuado.[14]
“San Juan Nationalist revolt. The rebels also attacked the capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan, in the San Juan Nationalist revolt, on October 30, 1950. The San Juan uprising’s main objective was to attack “La Fortaleza” (the Governors mansion) and the United States Federal Court House Building in Old San Juan. Four Nationalists died during the attempt: Raimundo Díaz Pacheco, Domingo Hiraldo Resto, Carlos Hiraldo Resto and Manuel Torres Medina.[15] In the incident known as the Gunfight at Salon Boricua, Vidal Santiago Díaz Albizu Campos’ barber, was attacked by 40 police officers and guardsmen. The incident happened at Santiago Díaz’s barbershop, “Salon Boricua”, located in the Santurce neighborhood of San Juan. The gunfight was broadcast live over the radio to the Puerto Rican public.[16] (Wikipedia. “Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s.” 10-31-2017 edit.)
“Attack on the United States Federal Court House. In accordance with the planned uprising in San Juan, a group of Nationalists were supposed to attack the mansion known as La Fortaleza, where Puerto Rican governor Luis Muñoz Marin resided. Simultaneously, the Nationalists planned to attack the U.S. Federal Court House, located close to La Marina in Old San Juan. The government learned of the planned attacks from informants named Faustino Díaz Pacheco and Luciano Cuadra. Faustino Díaz Pacheco was the brother of Raimundo Díaz Pacheco, the Commander-in-Chief of the Nationalist Cadets of the Republic. He was thus aware of all Nationalist activity and planning not only in San Juan, but throughout the entire island.[17] Luciano Cuadra was president of the San Juan chapter of the Nationalist Party. Pacheco and Cuadra betrayed their own organization, informed the police, and later became government witnesses.[18]
“Unaware of the internal betrayal, Jesús Pomales González, one of five Nationalists assigned to attack the court house, approached the building and saw the police arresting his comrades Carlos Padilla, Diego Quiñones González, Juan Sandoval Ramos and Joaquín Padín Concepción. Pomales opened fire, the police fired back, and Pomales was taken to the municipal hospital where he would recover from his wounds.”[19] (Wikipedia. “San Juan Nationalist Revolt.” 10-30-2017 edit.)
“Naranjito Incident. José Antonio Negrón, a World War II veteran, led the revolt in Naranjito and Nationalists who attacked the police. Afterward, they retreated to the nearby mountains and formed a guerrilla group. They continued to raid several locations until November 6, when the National Guard arrived and attacked the house where the group was staying. Negrón escaped to Corozal, where he was arrested on November 10. The Nationalist Insurrection in Puerto Rico ended at Naranjito.[20] (Wikipedia. “Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s.” 10-31-2017 edit.)
Newspapers
Oct 30: “San Juan, Puerto Rico, (INS) — Nationalist separatists revolted in Puerto Rico today and an estimated 19 persons were killed in uprisings spreading from the provinces of San Juan. The rebels, who favor severance of relations with the United States, precipitated an hour-long battle with revolvers and submachine guns in an attack on the palace of Gov. Luis Munoz Marin.
“The attack was beaten off with three known dead and four wounded. Other gun battles raged in the streets of San Juan and police surrounded the home of the revolutionist leader, Harvard-educated Pedro Albizu Campos. Police threw bombs into the fortified home and an unconfirmed report said Albizu Campos and three or four others, including his wife, were killed.
(Puerto Rican resident commissioner Antonio Fernos Isern reported to Washington by telephone from San Juan this afternoon that the nationalist uprising is ‘under control.’
(He declared that the nationalists represented ‘only a small minority’ and were incapable of organized rebellion.)
“National guardsmen patrolled the tense San Juan streets. They halted all passersby and searched them for weapons. Sporadic shooting continued from windows and roofs. Police and national guardsmen carried out a roundup of known nationalists in the island-wide effort to crush the revolt.
“Governor Munoz Marin, who described himself as ‘God’s pamphleteer’ when he live in New York’s Greenwich village nearly 30 years ago and wrote poetry, was safe with members of his cabinet.
“A huge crowd of students milled about at the University in San Juan.
“Reports from the provinces told of new outbreaks and the spreading of the nationalist revolt against the first popularly elected government in 450 years.
“The U.S. dependency had been governed by appointees from the time the island was taken over by this country from Spain after the Spanish-American war.
“A police communication from Utuado said that nationalists assaulted their barracks, the post office and the telephone exchange in the town. Another report from Arecibo said that Police Lt. Villanueva and Corp. Castillo were killed in defending their barracks against the nationalist attack. Two other policemen were severely wounded.
“The reported center of the revolt was in Peñuelas, in the south, where the nationalists were said to be entrenched in a hill dominating the town. They were said to be armed with eight machine guns in addition to small arms.” (Independent News Service. “Puerto Rican Uprising Quelled. Would Sever Relations With U.S.” Mount Pleasant News, IA, 10-30-1950, p. 1.)
Oct 31: “San Juan, Puerto Rico, Oct. 31. — (AP) — National Guard forces smashing at remaining resistance of U.S.-hating Nationalists drove the rebels out of their stronghold at Jayuya today and occupied nearby Utuado. Government troops, launching an air and ground attack this morning, were reported mopping up pockets in Jayuya, 50 miles southeast of San Juan and were spearheading from Utuado toward Arecibo, another resistance point. Governor Luis Munoz Marin, announcing that Jayuya now is in control of National Guards and police, said the whole Nationalist rebel movement will be finished in a day or two.
“Munoz said it had become clear the Nationalist uprising was directly connected with the mass prison break here Saturday [Oct 28], when 111 inmates broke out after killing two guards. Up until last night, about half of the prisoners were still at large. Yesterday government sources said they believed there was no connection between the revolt and the jail-break.[21]
“The first shots of the uprising were fired shortly after the prison break — the worst in Puerto Rican history. Part of the initial successes of the Rebels was caused by the fact that police were busy combing the country for the escaped prisoners.
“The casualty toll for the uprising — worst in the island’s history — rose today. It was difficult to estimate the number of dead and wounded. Latest reports indicated the figure for both sides at about 30 dead and 25 wounded, but it may be higher.
“Jayuya, about 50 miles southwest of San Juan, was the scene of some of the bloodiest of the fighting in the rebellion, which the Governor of Puerto Rico said was a conspiracy helped by the communists. The Nationalists, who often echo the communist line, want the United States to give full independence to this territory of 2,000,000 people.
“The revolt flared in more than 10 centers on the island, including San Juan, where 1500 troops stood by today for action wherever they might be needed.
“The government forces opened their attacks on Jayuya and Utuado early this morning. Eight fighter planes strafed the two towns before they were ordered by the insular police to stop. The ground forces were equipped with machine guns, bazookas and tanks.
Police Besieged
“Before radio communications were temporarily broken, a message from Utuado said a guard and police detachment was besieged in the police station there.
“The rebel forces in Jayuya reportedly were led by Juan Antonio Correljer, principal aide of Harvard-educated Pedro Albizu Campus, the Nationalist party chief.
“The rebels felled trees across highways leading into Jayuya and awaited the assault by troops which was expected at dawn. Jayuya was reported virtually destroyed by fire.” (Associated Press. “Planes Strafe Puerto Rico Rebel Towns.” Oakland Tribune, CA, 10-31-1950, p. 1.)
Nov 1: “San Juan, Nov. 1 — (AP). — The Nationalist rebellion here is just about over. National Guardsmen are mopping up pockets of resistance.
“The number of dead in the revolt is put at 33, 23 Nationalists, nine policemen, and one National Guardsman. There have been 35 wounded.
“Police and guardsmen are keeping watch around the home of the leader of the Rebels, Pedro Albizu Campo. Shots fired from upstairs windows keeps the Puerto Rican troops at bay. But no warrant has been issued for the arrest of the rebel chieftain. One man was shot to death last night while trying to break through the blockade around Albizu’s house.” (Associated Press. “Nationalist Revolt in Puerto Rico Nearly Over.” Key West Citizen, FL, 11-1-1950, pp. 1, 7.)
Nov 1: “San Juan, Puerto Rico, Nov. 1 (AP) — Pedro Albizu Campos, leader of the rebel Nationalist party, has been under police siege in his home here for the past two days. Two letters from Campos were found on the body of one of the Nationalist revolutionaries who tried today to assassinate President Truman.
“Last night a Nationalist was shot to death trying to break through the police guard and enter the home of Albizu, a Harvard-educated revolutionary who has served a six-year term in the federal penitentiary at Atlanta, Ga., for insurrectionary activity.
“The Nationalists set off a revolt here Monday that claimed more than 30 lives in a two-day period. It was marked by an assassination attempt on Governor Luis Munoz Marin similar to that made on President Truman. The revolt was smashed by Puerto Rican police and national guardsmen. Rounded up were 118 Nationalist party members. The outbreak was the most serious since the United States acquired Puerto Rico as a result of the Spanish-American war in 1898.” (Associated Press. “Rebel Chief Under Siege.” Bluefield Daily Telegraph, WV, 11-2-1950, p. 1.)
Nov 2: “San Juan, Puerto Rico, Nov. 2. (AP) — Gun-toting Nationalist rebels came out of the hills in droves today and surrendered meekly in the aftermath to the abortive Puerto Rican uprising and the attempt to assassinate President Truman. Top Nationalist and Communist leaders were jailed. The number taken into custody passed 400. Up to 300 Nationalists carrying all kinds of arms yielded at Jayuya, rebel stronghold south of San Juan. Among them was a brother of one of the gunmen who tried to kill Mr. Truman.
“San Juan, the capital of this little United States territory, was under a virtual state of siege. The city has been tense since the American-hating Nationalists, a small but fanatical group, touched off Monday the revolt that claimed more than 30 lives. Roads were blocked and a huge dragnet was thrown out in police efforts to track down some 600 Nationalists and 150 Communists, a third of them in the San Juan metropolitan area.
“Pedro Albizu Campos, president of the Nationalist Party, who was flushed out of his home with tear gas; Cecil Andrew Iglesias, Communist Party president, and others were questioned intensively at police headquarters. Gov. Munoz Marin cabled President Truman, notifying him of the arrest of the Nationalist Party president, a Harvard-educated man of 63 who was freed from the federal penitentiary in 1943 after serving six years of a 10-year term for insurrectionary activity. Gov. Munoz Marin also said the attempt on the President’s life had left Puerto Ricans indignant.” (Associated Press. “Puerto Rican Revolutionists Yield in Droves.” Cumberland News, MD, 11-3-1950, p. 1.)
Sources
Associated Press. “Nationalist Revolt in Puerto Rico Nearly Over.” Key West Citizen, FL, 11-1-1950, pp. 1, 7. Accessed 12-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/key-west-citizen-nov-01-1950-p-1/
Associated Press. “Planes Strafe Puerto Rico Rebel Towns.” Oakland Tribune, CA, 10-31-1950, p. 1. Accessed 12-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-oct-31-1950-p-1/
Associated Press. “Puerto Rican Revolutionists Yield in Droves.” Cumberland News, MD, 11-3-1950, 1. Accessed 12-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/cumberland-news-nov-03-1950-p-1/
Associated Press. “Puerto Rico Convicts Shoot Way Out of Penitentiary.” Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, TX, 10-29-1950, p. 1. Accessed 12-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/valley-morning-star-oct-29-1950-p-1/
Associated Press. “Rebel Chief Under Siege.” Bluefield Daily Telegraph, WV, 11-2-1950, p. 1. Accessed 12-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/bluefield-daily-telegraph-nov-02-1950-p-1/
Independent News Service. “Puerto Rican Uprising Quelled. Would Sever Relations With U.S.” Mount Pleasant News, IA, 10-30-1950, p. 1. Accessed 12-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/mount-pleasant-mt-pleasant-news-oct-30-1950-p-1/
Pacific Stars and Stripes. “Violence in San Juan.” 11-6-1950, p. 4. Accessed 12-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/pacific-stars-and-stripes-nov-06-1950-p-4/
Wikipedia. “Jayuya Uprising.” 11-23-2017 edit. Accessed 12-27-2017 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayuya_Uprising
Wikipedia. “Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s.” 10-31-2017 edit. Accessed 12-27-2017 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rican_Nationalist_Party_revolts_of_the_1950s
Wikipedia. “San Juan Nationalist Revolt.” 10-30-2017 edit. Accessed 12-27-2017 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Juan_Nationalist_revolt
[1] Most of the fighting was over by Nov 1, but did not conclude entirely until Nov 6.
[2] “During a bloody 48-hour revolt in which 40 persons were killed and 34 wounded, five rebels of the Nationalist party of Puerto Rico attacked the palace in an attempt to assassinate the governor.”
[3] Footnote 16: Puerto Rico entre siglos: “Historiografia y cultura’” El Estado Libre Asociado y el Partido Nacionalista (1950-1954); Antecedentes inmediatos; by: Mario R. Cancel-Sepulveda, historian and authoer; and footnote 17: “Guerra Contra Todos los Puertorrique os: Revoluci n y Terror en la Colonia Americana”; by: Nelson Denis; pages 212-213; Publisher: Nation Books.”
[4] Footnote 18: Maria Rosado; Pedro Albizu Campos: Las Llamadas de la Aurora; pp. 351-353; Ediciones Puerto pub.; and fn. 19: El ataque Nacionalista a La Fortaleza, by Pedro Aponte Vázquez, page 7, Publicaciones RENĖ.
[5] Footnote 20: Nacionalism Revolucionario Puerorriqueno, por Michael Gonzalez Cruz.
[6] Footnote 21: “FBI Files”; “Puerto Rico Nationalist Party”; SJ 100-3; Vol. 23; pages 104-134 (broken link; and footnote 21: Nationalist Insurrection.
[7] Fn. 22 cites Nationalist Insurrection. Fn. 23 cites “Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico-FBI files.” (Broken link.)
[8] No citation.
[9] Though this Wikipedia article does not note fatalities, another notes that three Nationalists were killed. (Wikipedia. “Jayuya Uprising.” 11-23-2017 edit.)
[10] Footnote 24 cites: El ataque Nacionalista a La Fortaleza, by Pedro Aponte Vázquez, page 7. Publicaciones RENÉ.
[11] Footnote 25 cites: Maria Rosado. Pedro Albizu Campos: Las Llamas de la Aurora; pp. 352, 353; Ediciones Puerto pub. Footnote 26 cites: NY Latino Journal Archived August 26, 2009 at the Wayback Machine. (Broken link.)
[12] No citation.
[13] Footnote 27 cites: “History of Utuado”, Ortizal website.
[14] Footnote 25 cites Maria Rosado (noted above), and Claridad. Archived May 8, 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
[15] Footnote 29 cites: El ataque Nacionalista a La Fortaleza, by Pedro Aponte Vázquez, page 2 (noted above).
[16] Footnote 30 cites: “Premio a Jesús Vera Irizarry”, WebCite, GeoCities.
[17] Footnote 17 cites: Federal Bureau of Investigation Reports; File Number SJ 100-3, Section 23; 1952.
[18] Cites: FBI Reports; File Number SJ 100-3, Section 23; 1952; and El ataque Nacionalista a La Fortaleza.
[19] El ataque Nacionalista a La Fortaleza”; by Pedro Aponte Vázquez; Page 2; Publisher: Publicaciones RENÉ.
[20] Footnote 22 cites: Nationalist Insurrection.
[21] Oct 29 AP report: “San Juan, P.R. (AP) Between 80 and 150 convicts shot their way to freedom from the Rio Piedras penitentiary Saturday killing two guards and wounding four others. It was the biggest prison break in Puerto Rican history. Chief of Police Col. Salvador Roig immediately organized a search for the fugitives using more than 300 policemen. The break occurred about 1 p.m. during the prison’s visiting hour. Some of the island’s worst criminals were reported to have escaped. Twenty-five of the escaped convicts were captured in a cane field at Guaynabo, near Rio Piedrad Saturday night. The prison was badly over crowded; it was built to house 1,000 but actually had 2,648 convicts before the break….” (AP. “Puerto Rico Convicts Shoot Way Out of Penitentiary.” Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, TX, 10-29-1950, p. 1.)