Ramón Emeterio Betances
Encyclopedia
Ramón Emeterio Betances y Alacán (April 8, 1827 – September 16, 1898) was a Puerto Rican
nationalist
. He was the primary instigator of the Grito de Lares
revolution, and as such, is considered to be the father of the Puerto Rican independence movement
. Since the Grito galvanized a burgeoning nationalist movement among Puerto Ricans, Betances is also considered "El Padre de la Patria" (Father of the Puerto Rican Nation). Because of his many donations and help to people in need, he also became known as "The Father of the Poor."
Betances was also the most renowned medical doctor and surgeon
of his time in Puerto Rico, and one of its first social hygienists. He had established a successful surgery and ophthalmology
practice. Betances was also a diplomat
, public health
administrator, poet and novelist. He served as representative and contact for Cuba
and the Dominican Republic
in Paris.
A firm believer in Freemasonry
, his political and social activism was deeply influenced by the group's philosophical beliefs. His personal and professional relationships (as well as the organizational structure behind the Grito de Lares, an event that, in theory, clashes with traditional Freemason beliefs) were based upon his relationships with Freemasons, their hierarchical structure, rites and signs.
, in the building that now houses the "Logia Cuna de Betances" ("Betances' Cradle Masonic Lodge"). Betances' parents were Felipe Betanzos Ponce, a Spanish merchant born in Hispaniola
(in the part that would later become the Dominican Republic
; the surname Betanzos
transformed into Betances while the family resided there), and María del Carmen Alacán de Montalvo, a native of Cabo Rojo and of French ancestry. They were married in 1812.
Betances claimed in his lifetime that a relative of his, Pedro Betances, had revolted against the Spanish government of Hispaniola in 1808 and was tortured, executed, and his body burned and shown to the populace to dissuade them from further attempts. Meanwhile, Alacán's father, a sailor, led a party of volunteers that tried to apprehend Roberto Cofresí
in 1824 and did arrest some of Cofresí's crew, for which he was honored by the Spanish government.
Betances was the fourth of six children; the oldest of which would die shortly after birth; Betances was the only male among the surviving siblings. The family was described as being of mixed race in records of the day. His mother died in 1837, when he was nine years old, and his father remarried in 1839; the five children he had with María del Carmen Torres Pagán included Ramón's half-brother Felipe Adolfo, who was not involved in politics (according to Ramón) but was nevertheless arrested following the Grito de Lares years later.
His father eventually bought the Hacienda Carmen in what would later become the nearby town of Hormigueros
, and became a wealthy landowner. He owned 200 acre (0.809372 km²) of land, a small sugar mill, and some slaves, who shared their duties with free workers. There is speculation that he later freed his slaves, persuaded by his son Ramón.
) in Toulouse
when he was ten years old. A Franco-Puerto Rican family, Jacques Maurice Prévost and María Cavalliery Bey (who also was a native of Cabo Rojo) were appointed as his tutors. Prévost opened a drug store in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
, but was forced to return to France (particularly to his native town, Grisolles
) for not having finished his pharmacy
studies. There is also speculation that Prévost was a Freemason, as was Betances' father.
Betances accompanied the couple in Prévost's return to his country, and would be under their indirect tutelage while boarding at the school. He showed interest in natural and exact sciences early on, and also became a good fencer
.
) classification of families in Cabo Rojo. The process, when successful, entitled the requester to further legal and property rights for him and his family, and was necessary to allow his daughter, Ana María, to marry José Tió, who was a Caucasian. In the case of Betances' father, the process lasted two years, and was formalized in 1840, but not before having to have the family's lineage and religious affiliations exposed to the general public, something that embarrassed them all. Betances was considerably annoyed by the entire ordeal, since he was the first to acknowledge that he and his entire family were not "blancuzcos" ("whitish", a legal term) but "prietuzcos" ("blackish", as Betances mocked it in his letters) instead. To him the procedure reeked of hypocrisy
.
In 1846, Betances obtained his baccalauréat
(high school
diploma
). After an extended vacation in Puerto Rico, he went on to study medicine
at the Faculty of Medicine of Paris
from 1848 until 1855, with a short interlude at the Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier
for specific courses in the summer of 1852.
At the time of his arrival in Paris, Betances witnessed the aftermath of the 1848 Revolution and its backlash, the June Days Uprising
, earlier that year. His future political views were directly shaped by what he saw and experienced at the time. He considered himself "an old soldier of the French Republic". Inspired by the proclamation of the 2ème. République
, he rejected Puerto Rican aspirations for autonomy
(sought from Spain by Puerto Rican politicians since 1810) in favor of Puerto Rican independence.
In 1856, he graduated with the titles of Doctor in Medicine and Surgeon
. He was the second Puerto Rican to graduate from the University (after Pedro Gerónimo Goyco, a later political leader native of Mayagüez who would eventually interact with Betances when both returned to Puerto Rico). Among Betances' teachers were: Charles-Adolphe Wurtz
, Jean Cruveilhier
, Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud, Armand Trousseau
, Alfred-Armand-Louis-Marie Velpeau
and Auguste Nélaton
.
epidemic
was spreading across the island. The epidemic made its way to Puerto Rico's western coast in July 1856, and hit the city of Mayagüez
particularly hard. At the time, Betances was one of five doctors that would have to take care of 24,000 residents. Both he and Dr. José Francisco Basora (who became lifelong friends and colleagues from that point on) would alert the city government and press the city managers into taking preventive action.
An emergency subscription fund was established by some of the city's wealthiest citizens. Betances and Basora had the city's unsanitary slave barracks
torched and a temporary camp set up for its dwellers. A large field at a corner of the city was set aside for a supplementary cemetery, and Betances set and managed a temporary hospital next to it (which was later housed in a permanent structure and became the Hospital San Antonio, the Mayagüez municipal hospital, which still serves the city). However, the epidemic struck the city soon after; Betances' stepmother and one of his brothers-in-law would die from it. By October 1856 Betances would have to take care of the entire operation on his own temporarily.
At the time, he had his first confrontation with Spanish authorities, since Betances gave last priority of medical treatment to those Spanish-born military rank and officers who where affected by the disease (they demanded preferential and immediate treatment, and he openly despised them for it). For his hard work to save many Puerto Ricans from the ravages of the cholera
epidemic
of 1856, Betances was commended by the city's government. However, when the central government established a Chief Surgeon post for the city, Betances (who was the acting chief surgeon) was passed over, in favor of a Spanish newcomer.
Basora and Betances were eventually honored with streets named after each in the city of Mayagüez. The main thoroughfare that crosses the city from north to south is named after Betances; a street that links the center of the city with the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
is named after Dr. Basora.
, inspired not only on written works by Victor Schoelcher
, John Brown
, Lamartine and Tapia, but also on personal experience, based on what he saw at his father's farm and in daily Puerto Rican life. Based on his beliefs, he founded a civic organization in 1856, one of many others that were later called the Secret Abolitionist Societies by historians. Little is known about them due to their clandestine nature, but Betances and Salvador Brau
(a close friend who later became the official Historian
of Puerto Rico) describe them in their writings. Some of these societies sought the freedom and free passage of maroons
from Puerto Rico to countries where slavery had been abolished already; other societies sought to liberate as many slaves as possible by buying out their freedom.
The objective of the particular society Betances founded was to free children who were slaves, taking advantage of their need to receive the sacrament of Baptism
at the town church, Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, which is now the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Mayagüez. Since buying the freedom of slave children cost 50 pesos if the child had been baptized, and 25 pesos if the child had not, Betances, Basora, Segundo Ruiz Belvis
and other members of the society waited next to the baptismal font on Sundays, expecting a master to take a slave family to baptize their child. Before the child was baptized, Betances or his partners gave money to the parents, which they in turn used to buy the child's freedom from his master. The child, once freed, was baptized minutes after. This action was later described as having the child receive the "aguas de libertad" (waters of liberty). Similar events occurred in the city of Ponce
.
The baptismal font
where these baptisms were performed still exists, and is owned by a local family of merchants, the Del Moral family, who keep it at their Mayagüez house.
from his duties as director of the local hospital and again left Puerto Rico for France, followed by Basora. Soon, his half-sister Clara and her husband, Justine Hénri, would also leave for Paris with his niece, María del Carmen Hénri.
María del Carmen, nicknamed Lita, was born in 1838. She had met Betances when she was 10, and Betances became instantly fond of her. Once he returned to Puerto Rico from his medical studies he requested the necessary ecclesiastical permissions to marry her (due to the degree of consanguinity
between them), which were granted in Rome (then part of the Papal States
) after an extended delay. Their marriage was supposed to occur on May 5, 1859 in Paris, but Lita fell sick with typhus
and died at the Mennecy
house of Dr. Pierre Lamire, a friend from Betances' medical school days, on April 22, 1859 (the Good Friday
of that year).
Betances was psychologically devastated by Lita's death. Accompanied by his sister, brother-in-law, local friends and a few Puerto Rican friends residing in Paris at the time (which included Basora, Francisco Oller
and another Cabo Rojo native, future political leader Salvador Carbonell), Betances had Lita buried on April 25. Her body was later reburied in Mayagüez, on November 13 of that year. Salvador Brau
, a historian and close friend, later wrote that once Betances returned to Puerto Rico with Lita's body, he suspended all personal activities besides his medical work, spent a considerable amount of time caring for her tomb at the Mayagüez cemetery, and assumed the physical aspect that most people identify Betances with: dark suit, long unkempt beard, and "Quaker" hat.
Betances immersed himself in work, but later found time to write a short story in French, La Vièrge de Boriquén (The Boriquén Virgin), inspired in his love for Lita and her later death, and somewhat influenced by Edgar Allan Poe
's writing style. Cayetano Coll y Toste
later described the story of Lita and Betances in the story La Novia de Betances, from his book "Leyendas y Tradiciones Puertorriqueñas" (Puerto Rican Legends and Traditions).
and ophthalmology
practice in Mayagüez
. Even fierce political enemies such as Spanish pro-monarchy journalist José Pérez Morís regarded Betances as the best surgeon in Puerto Rico at the time. His good reputation in Puerto Rico would survive his stay in the island nation for many years. In 1895, while Betances was living in Paris, the manufacturers of the Emulsión de Scott (a codfish liver oil product that is still sold today, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline
in modern times), paid an endorsement fee to Betances to have him appear on advertisements on Spanish language
magazines and newspapers all over New York City and the Caribbean, based on his solid reputation as a doctor.
Betances introduced new surgical and aseptic procedures to Puerto Rico. With the assistance of Venezuelan anesthesiologist
Pedro Arroyo, Betances performed the first ever surgical procedure under chloroform
in Puerto Rico, in November 1862.
At the same time he spent a considerable amount of time serving Mayagüez's disadvantaged on a pro bono
basis, He gave many donations to the poor, and because of this he became known as "The Father of the Poor" among "Mayagüezanos" according to his contemporary, Eugenio María de Hostos
.
had its first war for independence in 1844, which was successful in obtaining independence from Haiti
, although Haitian rule of parts of the country would last intermittently until 1856. Spain reannexed the country at the request of its then-dictator, Gen. Pedro Santana
(who attempted to benefit personally from the event), in 1861. A second revolt, the War of Restoration, sought independence from the Spanish in 1863. Its leaders used Haiti as a guerrilla base, since the Haitian government feared a Spanish takeover and the restoration of slavery in the occupied territories, and was thus sympathetic to their cause. Their stronghold, however, was the Cibao
valley in the northeastern part of Hispaniola.
At the same time, the Spanish government, which ruled over Puerto Rico, attempted to banish Betances for a second time, but he and Segundo Ruiz Belvis
(a lawyer
and city administrator who became his closest friend and political companion) fled the island before they were apprehended. Both fled to the northern city of Puerto Plata
in the Dominican Republic in 1861, where Betances established a close personal friendship with Gen. Gregorio Luperón
, the military leader of the northern pro-independence faction (also a one-time president of the Dominican Republic, and a Freemason, as was Betances) who led the efforts to restore Dominican sovereignty over their country. Betances was also a collaborator of Dominican priest (and later Archbishop of Santo Domingo and one-time president of the country), Fernando Arturo de Meriño, who was the revolt's ideological leader (as well as its delegate in Puerto Rico when he was himself exiled by the restored republican government). These two friendships would prove to be key to Betances' own efforts to achieve Puerto Rican independence later on.
The volatility of the Dominican situation was severe at the time: Luperón fought a guerrilla war against the Spanish and Santana and became vice-president of the country (in 1863), only to be exiled to Saint Thomas
because of his opposition to president Buenaventura Baez
' wishes to annex the country to the United States (in 1864), to later return, provoke a coup d'état
and be part of a three-way presidency (1866), only to be exiled once again (1868). Whenever Luperón was in the Dominican Republic, Betances could use it as a base of operations for his later political and military objectives, while offering Luperón logistical and financial assistance in return.
Since Betances' exile depended on who was governing Puerto Rico at the time, a change in government allowed him to return to Mayagüez in 1862. However, a few years later, (1868) Luperón and Betances would both end up exiled in Saint Thomas.
and pediatrics
hospital in the city.
Ruiz was a Freemason who invited Betances to join his lodge, the Logia Unión Germana in nearby San Germán
. They both founded (or revived, depending on the source) the Logia Yagüez, so as to have a local lodge in Mayagüez. Based on his Masonic beliefs, Ruiz also attempted to establish a university in the city, for which he mortgaged
his house. However, the Spanish government actively discouraged the founding of secondary education institutions in Puerto Rico (so as not to have "seedlings for revolt" come out of them), and the project was canceled.
Betances met his lifelong companion, Simplicia Isolina Jiménez Carlo, in 1864. Jiménez apparently was born in what would later become the Dominican Republic. Her mother's last name, Carlo, rather common in Cabo Rojo, implies that her family had ties to the town. She worked for one of Betances' sisters between 1863 and 1864, and he met her once at his sister's house. Apparently she was infatuated with him strongly enough to appear at his door with a pair of suitcases, asking him to give her shelter, since "no gentleman would leave a woman alone on the street at night." Jiménez then became Betances' common-law wife for thirty-five years, and survived his death in 1898. They would not have any children. Their godchild
, Magdalena Caraguel, was eventually adopted by the couple as their daughter." Little else is documented about Jiménez in history books, and Betances rarely mentions her in his works and correspondence.
While still living in Mayagüez, Betances built a house for himself and his wife, which they only lived in for less than two years; the house, named the Casa de los Cinco Arcos (House of the Five Arches), still stands on the street that bears his name near the corner with Luis Muñoz Rivera
street, south of the city's center. Apparently a single, elderly man lives in the house to this day.
, Peru
and Chile
(see below), slave revolts in Cuba
, a bad economic situation in its colonies, among others. It attempted to appease the growing discontent of the citizens of its remaining colonies in the continent by setting up a board of review that would receive complaints from representatives of the colonies and attempt to adjust legislation that affected them. This board, the "Junta Informativa de Reformas de Ultramar" (Overseas Informative Reform Board) would be formed by representatives of each colony, in proportion to their collective population, and would meet in Madrid
. The Junta would report to the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emilio Castelar.
The Puerto Rican delegation was freely elected by those eligible to vote (male Caucasian property owners), in a rare exercise of political openness in the colony. Segundo Ruiz Belvis
was elected to the Junta representing Mayagüez, something that horrified the then governor general of the island. To the frustration of the Puerto Rican delegates, including its leader, José Julián Acosta
, the Junta had a majority of Spanish-born delegates, which would vote down almost every measure they suggested. However, Acosta could convince the Junta that abolition
could be achieved in Puerto Rico without disrupting the local economy (including its Cuban members, who frowned upon implementing it in Cuba because of its much higher numbers of slave labor). Once he became prime minister in 1870, Castelar did approve an abolition bill, praising the efforts of the Puerto Rico members, sincerely moved by Acosta's arguments.
However, beyond abolition, proposals for autonomy were voted down, as were other petitions to limit the unlimited power the governor general would have upon virtually all aspects of life in Puerto Rico. Once the Junta members returned to Puerto Rico, they met with local community leaders in a famed meeting at the Hacienda El Cacao in Carolina, Puerto Rico
in early 1865. Betances was invited by Ruiz and did attend. After listening to the Junta members' list of voted-down measures, Betances stood up and retorted: "Nadie puede dar lo que no tiene
" (No one can give others what they don't have for themselves), a phrase that he would constantly use through the rest of his life when referring to Spain's unwillingness to grant Puerto Rico or Cuba any reforms. He would then suggest setting up a revolt and proclaim independence as soon as possible. Many of the meeting's attendants sided with Betances, to the horror of Acosta.
, but only after the expulsions (September 1867).
Some of the expelled (such as Carlos Elías Lacroix and José Celis Aguilera) set up camp in Saint Thomas. Betances and Ruiz, on the other hand, left for New York
—where Basora had previously gone—soon after. They soon founded the "Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico", along with other Puerto Ricans living in the city. After signing a letter that could serve as proof of his intentions of becoming a United States citizen (mainly to prevent his arrest elsewhere) Betances then returned to the Dominican Republic in September 1867, where he attempted to organize an armed expedition that was to invade Puerto Rico. However, under threat of arrest by Buenaventura Báez
—who saw Betances as siding with his enemies and wanted him executed—Betances took asylum at the United States embassy in Santo Domingo
, and headed for Charlotte Amalie
soon after.
of Free Men), written in exile in Saint Thomas in November 1867. It is directly based on the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
, adopted by France's National Assembly in 1789, which contained the principles that inspired the French Revolution.
Meanwhile, Ruiz Belvis, who headed the Committee, was supposed to gather financial support for the incoming Puerto Rican revolution though a tour of South America. He had received an invitation from Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna
, a Chilean diplomat, to coordinate a common front against Spanish interests in all of Latin America (Spain was still threatening Chile after the Chincha Islands War
, and any revolution in the Caribbean would have been a welcome distraction). Vicuña promised to gather necessary support in Chile, Peru
, Ecuador
and Venezuela
to help the Puerto Rican independence cause.
However, Ruiz died in Valparaíso, Chile soon after his arrival in the country. He reportedly had uremia
and a urethra
l obstruction, both of which deteriorated into Fournier gangrene
, which killed him soon after. Later speculation that Ruiz had been poisoned or killed has been countered by three facts: that Ruiz's brother, Mariano Ruiz Quiñones (who was the coordinator of the revolution in Curaçao
), died of the same condition soon after (suggesting a genetic
predisposition to it), that Betances had used a catheter
on Ruiz before he left Saint Thomas to bring him some relief from his condition, and that Betances published a medical article in France twenty years later, in 1887, that discussed the condition, out of what he had described as many years of second-guessing what could have been done to save Ruiz's life.
Betances was shaken psychologically by news of Ruiz's death, and also literally soon after: he and his wife also experienced an earthquake
in November 1867, while in Saint Thomas. According to a letter he wrote, he and his wife vacated the building just before it collapsed, and were forced to live in a camp while aftershock
s kept shaking the island for close to a month.
Gregorio Luperón met Betances in Saint Thomas, and offered to assist the Puerto Rican revolution, in exchange for help to overthrow Báez once the right circumstances were met. As a consequence, Betances organized revolutionary cells in Puerto Rico from exile, which would be led by leaders such as Manuel Rojas and Mathias Brugman
. Betances instructed Mariana Bracetti
to knit a flag for the revolution using the colors and basic design similar to that of the Dominican Republic (which in turn was almost identical to a French military standard). Betances was also supposed to send reinforcements to the Puerto Rican rebels through the use of a ship purchased by Puerto Rican and Dominican revolutionaries, "El Telégrafo" (which was to be shared by both), but the ship was confiscated
soon after arrival by the government of the then Danish (later United States) Virgin Islands.
Eventually all these factors led the way to the abortive insurrection known as the "Grito de Lares", whose date had to be brought forward to September 23, 1868. The Grito found Betances between Curaçao
and Saint Thomas, struggling to send reinforcements in time for the revolt.
After the failed insurrection, Betances did not return to Puerto Rico, except for "secret" visits, according to the obituary written about him by the New York Herald
after his death. There is no evidence of these, although Betances suggests a visit did occur at some time between 1867 and 1869, and perhaps again in the 1880s.
", just two weeks after the Grito de Lares. He also lobbied the United States Congress
successfully against an annexation of the Dominican Republic by the United States, requested in a vote by a majority of voters in a referendum in 1869. He also befriended Venezuelan military leader and former president José Antonio Páez
in his final days. Betances stayed in New York from April 1869 through February 1870.
), Betances spent a short interlude in Jacmel
, Haiti
in 1870 at the request of its then-president, Jean Nissage-Saget, who supported Betances' efforts to have a liberal government for the Dominican Republic take power. He later spent some time in the Cibao valley (in both Santiago de los Caballeros
and Puerto Plata
) where Luperón and Betances attempted to organize another revolt, this time against conservative elements in the Dominican Republic.
While in New York, Betances wrote and translated numerous political treatises, proclamations and works that were published in the newspaper "La Revolución", under the pseudonym
"El Antillano" (The Antillean One). He was vehement about the need for natives of the Greater Antilles to unite into an Antillean Confederation, a regional entity that would seek to preserve the sovereignty and well-being of Cuba
, Haiti
, the Dominican Republic
and Puerto Rico
.
Betances also promoted direct intervention of Puerto Ricans in the Cuban independence struggle, which eventually happened in the Cuban War of Independence
(1895–98). Spain had promoted political reform in Puerto Rico, and the local political climate was not conducive to a second revolution at the time. Therefore, Betances and the Puerto Rican revolutionaries ceded their caches of firearms hidden in Saint Thomas, Curaçao and Haiti to the Cuban rebels in October 1871, since their struggle was deemed as a priority.
Betances admired the United States of America for its ideals of freedom and democracy, but despised Manifest Destiny
and the Monroe Doctrine
, and sensed that both philosophies were being used as excuses for American interventions on the continent. When Cuban revolutionaries requested help from the United States for reinforcing their armed struggle against Spain, Betances warned them against giving too much away. He feared American interventionism
in the affairs of a free Cuba, and vehemently attacked Cuban leaders who suggested the annexation
of Cuba by the United States. Some of his fears became reality years later, when the Platt Amendment
became a "de facto" part of the Cuban constitution (1901).
.
One of the events that gave Betances great satisfaction was the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico, which was made official on March 22, 1873. He reminded people that abolition would not have happened without the direct intervention of Puerto Ricans in the Spanish political process, and was thus hopeful that the islanders would assume a more proactive role in seeking their freedom from Spain. With time, Betances became essentially the representative of the liberal governments of the Dominican Republic for as long as they lasted, and the representative of the Cuban "government in arms", or insurrection.
's diplomatic mission to France, but virtually assumed the role of ambassador. He also became the commercial representative of the Dominican government in Paris, Bern and London. At one time Betances attempted to be a venture capital
partner on a failed enterprise that attempted to commercialize the use of Samaná Bay
to benefit the Dominican Republic, and also to prevent foreign interests (particularly the United States) from taking over the bay, which was considered a primary strategic geographical feature of Hispaniola
, in both commercial and military terms.
Luperón would eventually arrive in Paris as a named ambassador, but Betances' connections in the city proved to be key to whatever success Luperón had as a diplomat in France. They would assume this role until political turmoil in the Dominican Republic forced Luperón to return and lead yet another revolt, which had another Puerto Plata native, Ulises Heureaux
, installed as president. Betances sought support for Luperón's efforts, and gave him tactical and financial assistance from France.
Heureaux, however, became a despot
once he assumed the presidency. Luperón felt betrayed and went again into exile in Saint Thomas. Eventually he died of cancer, not before visiting Betances in France for a last time and being allowed to return to the Dominican Republic to die, as a gesture of good will from Heureaux. Due to Heureaux's protracted presidency and blatant acts of corruption, Betances (who had called Heureaux his "grandson" in letters he had previously written to him) was forced to cut ties to the Dominican Republic for good (two plots of land that he owned both there and in Panama
were used for agricultural experiments, but were later left unattended). Betances writes in his letters that he had spent the equivalent of USD$20,000 (in 1880 dollar
s, roughly equivalent to USD$400,000 in 2010) on expenditures on behalf of the Dominican diplomatic office. He did not expect the Dominican government to be able to reimburse him.
shipments to the Cuban rebels, to ease their pain when infected by malaria
in the island battlefields. These efforts outlasted the Pact of Zanjón
, which ended the Ten Years' War
in 1878. Betances also used his diplomatic contacts to guarantee humane treatment (and eventually freedom from imprisonment) to José Maceo, the brother of Antonio Maceo
, the later military leader of the Cuban War of Independence
, when both Antonio and José were arrested by the Spanish government in 1882. The Maceo brothers both escaped imprisonment, were recaptured in Gibraltar
and turned over to the Spanish authorities, but José remained in jail long after Antonio regained his liberty and fled to New York City. Betances even used Lord Gladstone
as a mediator, and attempted to convince him of having Jamaica
(where his family had properties) join an Antillean Federation.
Betances and Máximo Gómez
When Puerto Rico experienced a period of severe political repression in 1887 by the Spanish governor of the time, Romualdo Palacio (which led to the arrest of many local political leaders, including Román Baldorioty de Castro
), Máximo Gómez
, who was living in Panama at the time (at the time, he supervised a laborers' brigade during the construction of the Panama Canal
) offered his services to Betances, sold most of his personal belongings to finance a revolt in Puerto Rico, and volunteered to lead any Puerto Rican troops had such revolt occur. The revolt was deemed unnecessary later in the year, when the Spanish government recalled Palacio from office to investigate charges of abuse of power from his part, but Gómez and Betances established a friendship and logistical relationship that lasted until Betances' death in 1898.
Betances and José Martí
Years later, due to Betances' experience as a logistics facilitator of armed revolts, a fund raiser for the Cuban independence cause, and as a diplomat, José Martí
asked Betances to become the leader of Cuban revolutionaries in France. Betances never met Martí personally, but Martí did know Betances' younger sister, Eduviges, who lived in New York City and shared her brother's revolutionary ideals. Martí assisted her financially in her final days, out of admiration for the Betances' family. Betances accepted the assignment out of gratitude towards Martí. Soon after, Martí died in battle in Cuba in 1895, an event that brought Tomás Estrada Palma to the leadership of the Cuban insurrection movement.
.
Betances openly hated Estrada when he first met him in the late 1870s, but grew more tolerant of him with time, and even defended Estrada's actions as leader when he assumed control of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. The Puerto Rican affiliates to the Party viewed Estrada's leadership with great skepticism, since Estrada sympathized with the idea of having the United States intervene in the Cuban independence war to have the Spanish evicted from Cuba. They suspected that his weak leadership allowed opportunists to profit from an invasion and even suggest that the United States keep Puerto Rico in exchange for independence for Cuba. Some written evidence points to the truth of their affirmations, at least to the extent of wanting to have the Puerto Rican section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party shut down, which eventually did happen.
was to be directed by Betances, organized by Aurelio Mendez Mercado and the armed forces were to be commanded by General Juan Ríus Rivera
. The coup, which was the second and last major revolt against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico failed.
Betances was also a government representative for some of the governments of Haiti
while in Paris. He was also technically a diplomat for the United States of America once.
Betances, who had collected more money in France for the Party than the plan's potential cost, grew weary of the Cuban revolutionary movement's diminishing support of the Puerto Rico independence cause. By then, some of the Party's followers stationed in France wanted Betances to be stripped of his posts and assignments. At least two of them insulted him publicly, and even took advantage of Simplicia Jiménez's mental health to have her harass her husband systematically.
Given the events happening in Cuba at the time, Betances thought that his diplomatic work was more important than ever. However, his failing health (he had uremia
, and since his lungs could not exchange oxygen properly this put extra burden to his heart
and kidneys) prevented Betances from performing further diplomatic work from France on behalf of Puerto Rico or Cuba. His illness, which lasted more than a year, prevented him from performing medical work, and forced the Party to approve a stipend for Betances during his long illness, until his death.
The Cánovas
There is some speculation that the assassination of Spanish prime minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
by Italian anarchist Michele Angiolillo
in 1897 was at least supported or influenced by Betances, and possibly even planned by him (although there is no physical link that can be established that might link Betances to the event itself).
Betances' role in the Cánovas assassination is described by Puerto Rican (born in France) author Luis Bonafoux in his biography about Betances (written in 1901), and partially corroborated by later historians. These sources establish that Betances' circle of friends at the time included various Italian anarchists exiled in Paris, Domenico Tosti being one of them. Tosti and his friends would hold regular social events, during one of which Angiolillo was introduced to Betances.
Impressed by Betances' credentials, Angiolillo later approached Betances before the incident, and discussed his plans with him, which originally implied killing one or more young members of the Spanish royal family. Betances then dissuaded him from doing this. Angiolillo then apparently suggested Cánovas as a target instead. There is evidence that Betances financed Angiolillo's travel to Spain, and used his contacts to have Angiolillo reach and enter Spanish territory under a false identity. Further speculation that Angiolillo used a firearm that Betances himself furnished for him appears to be unfounded (although Betances, who was a fan of firearms himself —he taught a Cuban revolutionary leader on how to use a Remington
machine gun
once— gave at least one as a gift to one of his acquaintances).
Betances sympathized with anarchists like Angiolillo, and hated monarchists like Cánovas, but this alone would not justify direct action from Betances into taking Cánovas' life. Betances did state at the time, however, that "in Spain theres is only one true retrograde and reactionary leader, and he is precisely the one who confronts Cuba with a policy of '(spending in a war up to) the very last man and the very last peseta
,' the one who tries to suffocate all efforts that her patriots do to free her, and that man is Antonio Cánovas del Castillo."
Angiolillo, in true solidarity with the European anarchist current, sought to avenge the execution and/or torture of those implicated in a bombing against a Roman Catholic religious procession in Barcelona
, which occurred in 1896, and for which Cánovas sought the maximum penalties allowed by law.
The truth is that Puerto Rican liberal interests benefited directly from the Cánovas assassination, since by Cánovas' death a pact made (previous to the event) between the new Spanish prime minister, Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
, and Puerto Rican liberals headed by Luis Muñoz Rivera
would come into effect soon after. It allowed the establishment of a new autonomy charter for the island territory, which gave Puerto Rico broader political powers than at any other time before or since.
Before his execution, Angiolillo claimed sole responsibility for the assassination. When asked about his involvement in the Cánovas affair, Betances said: "No aplaudimos pero tampoco lloramos" ("We don't applaud it, but we don't cry over it, either"), and added: "Los revolucionarios verdaderos hacen lo que deben hacer" ("True revolutionaries do what they ought to do"). Betances' ambiguous response blurs the true level of his involvement in the Cánovas assassination.
Betances was awarded the "Legion of Honor" by the French government in July 1887, for his work as a diplomat for the Dominican Republic, and for his work as a medical doctor in France. He had been offered the award as early as 1882, but had repeatedly declined the honor out of humility
, until friends from Puerto Rico persuaded him to accept it as a tribute to Puerto Rico, and not as a personal award. The French Legion of Honor (Légion d'honneur) is the premier order of France, and its award is one of great distinction.
. He knew that Puerto Ricans would welcome an American invasion, but was vehement about the possibility of the United States not conceding independence to Puerto Rico.
Betances was willing to accept some political concessions to the American government in exchange for independence, and exchanged some privileged intelligence information (about the level of debt Spain had attained while fighting the Cuban insurrection) with the then-ambassador of the United States to France, Horace Porter
, so as to show goodwill towards the United States.
Frustrated by what he perceived as the unwillingness of Puerto Ricans to demand their independence from the United States while the island territory was annexed (the event occurred just days before his death), he uttered his final political stance: "No quiero colonia, ni con España, ni con los Estados Unidos" ("I don't want a colony status, neither with Spain nor with the United States"). When reminded by de Hostos through a letter of what was happening in the island, he responded, highly frustrated, with a phrase that has become famous since: "¿Y qué les pasa a los puertorriqueños que no se rebelan?" ("And what's wrong with Puerto Ricans that they haven't yet rebelled?")
Betances' last days were chaotic, not only because of the events in the Caribbean, but also because of what happening in his own household. Jiménez' mental state is reported as dubious by then. Some even suggest that she had become an alcoholic (probably) or even a morphine
addict (unlikely) by then, and she even wished for her husband to die in tantrums reported by his doctors. Political foes attempted to gain possession of Betances' intelligence dossiers, as did Spanish intelligence agents in Paris. Betances asked personal friends to keep personal guard of him, which they did until he died.
Betances died at 10:00 a.m., local time, in Neuilly-sur-Seine
on September 16, 1898. His remains were cremated
soon after and entombed at the Père Lachaise Cemetery
of Paris. His common law-wife Simplicia survived him for over twenty years. A look at his will
implies that, besides a life insurance
policy payout and two parcels of land in the Dominican Republic
, Betances died almost in poverty
.
As early as in February 1913, poet and lawyer Luis Lloréns Torres
had publicly requested that Betances' wishes to have his ashes returned to Puerto Rico be fulfilled. The Nationalist Association (predecessor of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
), under the presidency of José Coll y Cuchi
, was able to convince the Puerto Rican Legislative Assembly to approve an act that would allow the transfer of the mortal remains of Puerto Rican patriot Ramón Emeterio Betances from Paris, France to Puerto Rico. Seven years after the act's approval, the Legislative Assembly commissioned one of its delegates, Alfonso Lastra Charriez, to serve as an emissary and bring Betances' remains from France.
Betances' remains arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico on August 5, 1920, and were honored upon arrival by a crowd then estimated at 20,000 mourners. The large crowd, which had assembled near the port of San Juan as early as 4:00 a.m. (AST) that morning, was the largest ever assembled for a funeral in Puerto Rico since the death of Luis Muñoz Rivera
three years earlier. Media reporters of the day were surprised by the size of the crowd, given the fact that Betances had not visited Puerto Rico (at least in the open) for the 31 years before his death, and had been dead over 21 years afterwards.
A funeral caravan organized by the Nationalist Party transferred the remains from the capital to the town of Cabo Rojo
. It took the caravan two days to make the 120 miles (193 km) route. Once Betances' remains reached the city of Mayagüez, 8,000 mourners paid their respects. Betances' remains were laid to rest in Cabo Rojo's municipal cemetery. A few decades later his remains were moved to a monument designed to honor Betances in the town's plaza. There is a bust created by the Italian sculptor Diego Montano alongside the Grito de Lares revolutionary flag and the Puerto Rican flag in the plaza, which is also named after Betances.
A marble plaque commemorating Betances was unveiled at his Paris house by a delegation of Puerto Rican, Cuban and French historians on the 100th. anniversary of his death, on September 16, 1998.
The Voz del Centro Foundation in Puerto Rico released a series of youth-oriented books named "Voces de la Cultura - Edición Juvenil" that same year; its first title being "Doctor Ramón Emeterio Betances: Luchador por la libertad y los pobres" ("Doctor R. E. Betances, Fighter for Liberty and the Poor").
, named in honor of Betances and Hartford's Puerto Rican community.
there is a thoroughfare
linking downtown Ponce and Puerto Rico highway 14, PR-14, which is named "Avenida Betances".
The political and sociological consequences of Betances' actions are definite and unequivocal. He was the first openly nationalistic political leader in Puerto Rico, and one of the first pro-independence leaders in the island nation's history (Among Puerto Ricans, Antonio Valero de Bernabé
and Andrés Vizcarrondo—earlier pro-independence leaders for the Latin American revolutions—could not achieve the success Betances had years later within Puerto Rico). The Grito de Lares, using an often-quoted phrase that dates from 1868, "was the birth of Puerto Rican nationality, with Betances as its obstetrician". Nationalistic expressions in Puerto Rico—be they public affirmations, newspaper articles, poems, town meetings or outright revolts—were almost nonexistent before 1810s election of Ramón Power y Giralt
to the Spanish Cortes, most of them were defined within the framework of loyalty to Spain as a metropolitan power (and thus subordinate to Spanish rule over Puerto Rico), and many of them were quickly suppressed by the Spanish government, which feared an escalation of nationalistic sentiment that, in other countries, led to the independence movements of Latin America.
Although the seeds of both proactive government repression against the Puerto Rican independence movement had been planted before the Grito de Lares, and its aftermath only guaranteed the surge of autonomism
as a political alternative in the island, the level of cultural and social development of a collective Puerto Rican conscience was almost a direct consequence of the event. To put it simply, if there is any nationalistic sentiment in Puerto Rico in the present day, almost all of it can be traced back to Betances and his political work.
Betances is considered a pioneer of Puerto Rican liberalism
. His ideas resulted from his exposure to republicanism
and social activism in France through the middle part of the 19th. century. These ideas, considered subversive in the severely restricted Puerto Rico of the era, had nevertheless a considerable impact in the island nation's political and social history. His ideas on race relations alone had a major impact on economics and the social makeup of the island.
) Betances was also a strong supporter of the sovereignty of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. A Dominican historian and political leader, Manuel Rodríguez Objío, likened Betances' revolutionary work to that performed by Tadeusz Kościuszko
for Poland, Lithuania
and the United States of America. Paul Estrade, Betances' French biographer, likens him to Simón Bolívar
, Antonio José de Sucre
, Bernardo O'Higgins
and José de San Martín
.
José Martí
considered Betances one of his "teachers", or sources of political inspiration, and his diplomatic and intelligence work in France on behalf of the Cuban revolutionary junta greatly aided the cause, before it was directly influenced by the intervention of Gen. Valeriano Weyler
as governor and commander of the Spanish forces in Cuba, and by the Maine incident later on.
Paul Estrade, Betances' French biographer, assesses his legacy as an Antillean this way: "The Antilles have developed political, social and scientific ideas that have changed the world, and that Europe has used. Not everything has (a European) source. Betances is the maximum expression of this reality."
Betances wrote two books and various medical treatises while living in France. His doctoral thesis
, "Des Causes de l'ávortement" (The Causes for Miscarriage
) examines various possible causes for the spontaneous death of a fetus and/or his mother, was later used as a textbook on gynecology at some European universities. According to at least one medical practitioner who examined it in 1988, his attempt to explain the theory behind spontaneous contractions leading to childbirth
were not very different from modern-day theories on the matter.
Betances' experiences handling the Mayagüez cholera epidemic led to another book, "El Cólera, Historia, Medidas Profilácticas, Síntomas y Tratamiento", which he authored and published in Paris in 1884 and expanded in 1890. The book was later used as a public health textbook in dealing with similar cholera epidemics in Latin America.
Betances also wrote several medical articles while in France. One of the articles examines elephantiasis
; another deals with surgical castration
, called "oscheotomy" at the time. Both books were also based on personal experience: there is evidence about a surgery he performed in Mayagüez on a Spanish government official with an elephantiasis lesion of the scrotum
the size of a grapefruit
for which the costs were paid for by the local government; another patient he operated upon had a lesion that weighted 26 lb/11.8 kg. He also wrote an article on urethral obstructions in male patients (see above).
, the Society's organizer, who had written a novel inspired in Puerto Rican indigenous themes while studying in Madrid
, Betances writes his novel: "Les Deux Indiens: Épisode de la conquéte de Borinquen" (The Two Indians: an episode of the conquest of Borinquen
), and publishes it in Toulouse in 1853, with a second edition published in 1857 under the pseudonym "Louis Raymond". This novel would be the first of many literary works by Betances (most of which were written in French
), and is notable for its indirect praise of Puerto Rican nationhood which, he suggests, was already developed in pre-Columbian Puerto Rico. This type of "indigenist literature" would become commonplace in Latin America in later years. He also wrote poetry
in both French and Spanish for literary magazines in Paris, chiefly inspired by Alphonse de Lamartine
and Victor Hugo
.
Betances also wrote one of the two prologues of the book "Les détracteurs de la race noire et de la République d'Haiti" (The detractors of the black race and the Republic of Haiti, 1882)
s hosted by Angel Collado Schwarz (all in Spanish, MP3
format):
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
. He was the primary instigator of the Grito de Lares
Grito de Lares
El Grito de Lares —also referred as the Lares uprising, the Lares revolt, Lares rebellion or even Lares Revolution—was the first major revolt against Spanish rule and call for independence in Puerto Rico...
revolution, and as such, is considered to be the father of the Puerto Rican independence movement
Puerto Rican independence movement
The Puerto Rican independence movement refers to initiatives throughout the history of Puerto Rico aimed at obtaining independence for the Island, first from Spain, and then from the United States...
. Since the Grito galvanized a burgeoning nationalist movement among Puerto Ricans, Betances is also considered "El Padre de la Patria" (Father of the Puerto Rican Nation). Because of his many donations and help to people in need, he also became known as "The Father of the Poor."
Betances was also the most renowned medical doctor and surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
of his time in Puerto Rico, and one of its first social hygienists. He had established a successful surgery and ophthalmology
Ophthalmology
Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye. An ophthalmologist is a specialist in medical and surgical eye problems...
practice. Betances was also a diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
, public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
administrator, poet and novelist. He served as representative and contact for Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
in Paris.
A firm believer in Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, his political and social activism was deeply influenced by the group's philosophical beliefs. His personal and professional relationships (as well as the organizational structure behind the Grito de Lares, an event that, in theory, clashes with traditional Freemason beliefs) were based upon his relationships with Freemasons, their hierarchical structure, rites and signs.
Ancestry
Betances was born in Cabo Rojo, Puerto RicoCabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
Cabo Rojo is a municipality situated on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico and forms part of the San Germán–Cabo Rojo metropolitan area as well as the larger Mayagüez–San Germán–Cabo Rojo Combined Statistical Area....
, in the building that now houses the "Logia Cuna de Betances" ("Betances' Cradle Masonic Lodge"). Betances' parents were Felipe Betanzos Ponce, a Spanish merchant born in Hispaniola
Hispaniola
Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...
(in the part that would later become the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
; the surname Betanzos
Betanzos
Betanzos is a municipality in Galicia, Spain, in the Province of A Coruña. In Roman times Betanzos was called Carunium or Brigantium. During the Medieval period the settlement was known as Carunio....
transformed into Betances while the family resided there), and María del Carmen Alacán de Montalvo, a native of Cabo Rojo and of French ancestry. They were married in 1812.
Betances claimed in his lifetime that a relative of his, Pedro Betances, had revolted against the Spanish government of Hispaniola in 1808 and was tortured, executed, and his body burned and shown to the populace to dissuade them from further attempts. Meanwhile, Alacán's father, a sailor, led a party of volunteers that tried to apprehend Roberto Cofresí
Roberto Cofresí
Roberto Cofresí , better known as "El Pirata Cofresí", was the most renowned pirate in Puerto Rico. He became interested in sailing at a young age. By the time he reached adulthood there were some political and economic difficulties in Puerto Rico, which at the time was a colony of Spain...
in 1824 and did arrest some of Cofresí's crew, for which he was honored by the Spanish government.
Betances was the fourth of six children; the oldest of which would die shortly after birth; Betances was the only male among the surviving siblings. The family was described as being of mixed race in records of the day. His mother died in 1837, when he was nine years old, and his father remarried in 1839; the five children he had with María del Carmen Torres Pagán included Ramón's half-brother Felipe Adolfo, who was not involved in politics (according to Ramón) but was nevertheless arrested following the Grito de Lares years later.
His father eventually bought the Hacienda Carmen in what would later become the nearby town of Hormigueros
Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
Hormigueros is a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the western region of the island, northeast of Cabo Rojo; northwest of San Germán; and south of Mayagüez. Hormigueros is spread over 5 wards and Hormigueros Pueblo...
, and became a wealthy landowner. He owned 200 acre (0.809372 km²) of land, a small sugar mill, and some slaves, who shared their duties with free workers. There is speculation that he later freed his slaves, persuaded by his son Ramón.
Primary education
The young Betances received his primary education from private tutors contracted by his father, a Freemason who owned the largest private library in town. His parents' attitude towards religion and civil authority shaped his personal beliefs in both subjects. His father would eventually send him to France, to study at the then-named "Collège Royal" (later named the Lycée Pierre de FermatPierre de Fermat
Pierre de Fermat was a French lawyer at the Parlement of Toulouse, France, and an amateur mathematician who is given credit for early developments that led to infinitesimal calculus, including his adequality...
) in Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
when he was ten years old. A Franco-Puerto Rican family, Jacques Maurice Prévost and María Cavalliery Bey (who also was a native of Cabo Rojo) were appointed as his tutors. Prévost opened a drug store in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Mayagüez is the eighth-largest municipality of Puerto Rico. Originally founded as "Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria" it is also known as "La Sultana del Oeste" , "Ciudad de las Aguas Puras" , or "Ciudad del Mangó"...
, but was forced to return to France (particularly to his native town, Grisolles
Arrondissement of Montauban
The arrondissement of Montauban is an arrondissement of France, located in the department of Tarn-et-Garonne, in the Midi-Pyrénées region. It has 18 cantons and 92 communes.-Cantons:The cantons of the arrondissement of Montauban are:# Caussade# Caylus...
) for not having finished his pharmacy
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
studies. There is also speculation that Prévost was a Freemason, as was Betances' father.
Betances accompanied the couple in Prévost's return to his country, and would be under their indirect tutelage while boarding at the school. He showed interest in natural and exact sciences early on, and also became a good fencer
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
.
Legal "whitening" of family
While Ramón was in France, his father sought to move the family's registration from the "mixed race" to the "white" (CaucasianCaucasian race
The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
) classification of families in Cabo Rojo. The process, when successful, entitled the requester to further legal and property rights for him and his family, and was necessary to allow his daughter, Ana María, to marry José Tió, who was a Caucasian. In the case of Betances' father, the process lasted two years, and was formalized in 1840, but not before having to have the family's lineage and religious affiliations exposed to the general public, something that embarrassed them all. Betances was considerably annoyed by the entire ordeal, since he was the first to acknowledge that he and his entire family were not "blancuzcos" ("whitish", a legal term) but "prietuzcos" ("blackish", as Betances mocked it in his letters) instead. To him the procedure reeked of hypocrisy
Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie....
.
Medicine studies
Baccalauréat
The baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...
(high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
diploma
Diploma
A diploma is a certificate or deed issued by an educational institution, such as a university, that testifies that the recipient has successfully completed a particular course of study or confers an academic degree. In countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, the word diploma refers to...
). After an extended vacation in Puerto Rico, he went on to study medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
at the Faculty of Medicine of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
from 1848 until 1855, with a short interlude at the Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier
University of Montpellier
The University of Montpellier was a French university in Montpellier in the Languedoc-Roussillon région of the south of France. Its present-day successor universities are the University of Montpellier 1, Montpellier 2 University and Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III.-History:The university...
for specific courses in the summer of 1852.
At the time of his arrival in Paris, Betances witnessed the aftermath of the 1848 Revolution and its backlash, the June Days Uprising
June Days Uprising
The June Days Uprising was a revolution staged by the citizens of France, whose only source of income was the National Workshops, from 23 June to 26 June 1848. The Workshops were created by the Second Republic in order to provide work and a source of income for the unemployed, however only...
, earlier that year. His future political views were directly shaped by what he saw and experienced at the time. He considered himself "an old soldier of the French Republic". Inspired by the proclamation of the 2ème. République
French Second Republic
The French Second Republic was the republican government of France between the 1848 Revolution and the coup by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte which initiated the Second Empire. It officially adopted the motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité...
, he rejected Puerto Rican aspirations for autonomy
Autonomy
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
(sought from Spain by Puerto Rican politicians since 1810) in favor of Puerto Rican independence.
In 1856, he graduated with the titles of Doctor in Medicine and Surgeon
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
. He was the second Puerto Rican to graduate from the University (after Pedro Gerónimo Goyco, a later political leader native of Mayagüez who would eventually interact with Betances when both returned to Puerto Rico). Among Betances' teachers were: Charles-Adolphe Wurtz
Charles-Adolphe Wurtz
Adolphe Wurtz was an Alsatian French chemist. He is best remembered for his decades-long advocacy for the atomic theory and for ideas about the structures of chemical compounds, against the skeptical opinions of chemists such as Marcellin Berthelot and Etienne Henri Sainte-Claire Deville...
, Jean Cruveilhier
Jean Cruveilhier
Jean Cruveilhier was a French anatomist and pathologist.In 1816 he earned his doctorate in Paris, where in 1825 he succeeded Pierre Augustin Béclard as professor of anatomy...
, Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud, Armand Trousseau
Armand Trousseau
Armand Trousseau was a French internist. His contributions to medicine include Trousseau sign of malignancy, Trousseau sign of latent tetany, Trousseau-Lallemand bodies , and the truism, "use new drugs quickly, while they still work."-Biography:A native of Tours, Indre-et-Loire, Armand Trousseau...
, Alfred-Armand-Louis-Marie Velpeau
Alfred-Armand-Louis-Marie Velpeau
Alfred-Armand-Louis-Marie Velpeau was a French anatomist and surgeon.-Biography:A native of Brèches, Indre-et-Loire, he was a student and assistant to Pierre Bretonneau. During his early medical career he was a surgeon in several hospitals in Paris...
and Auguste Nélaton
Auguste Nélaton
Auguste Nélaton was a French physician and surgeon. Born at Paris, he began studying medicine in 1828 and was graduated as an M.D. in 1836 with a thesis on the effects of tuberculosis on the bones. Three years later, he became a professor at the Hôpital St. Louis with a habilitation on breast tumors...
.
Father's death and family's economic problems
While Betances was studying medicine in France, his father died (in August 1854) and his sister Ana María would be forced to take over the Hacienda Carmen's management. By 1857 the heirs were forced to give the operation's output to a holding company headed by Guillermo Schröeder.Cholera epidemic of 1856
Betances returned to Puerto Rico in April 1856. At the time, a choleraCholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
was spreading across the island. The epidemic made its way to Puerto Rico's western coast in July 1856, and hit the city of Mayagüez
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Mayagüez is the eighth-largest municipality of Puerto Rico. Originally founded as "Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria" it is also known as "La Sultana del Oeste" , "Ciudad de las Aguas Puras" , or "Ciudad del Mangó"...
particularly hard. At the time, Betances was one of five doctors that would have to take care of 24,000 residents. Both he and Dr. José Francisco Basora (who became lifelong friends and colleagues from that point on) would alert the city government and press the city managers into taking preventive action.
An emergency subscription fund was established by some of the city's wealthiest citizens. Betances and Basora had the city's unsanitary slave barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
torched and a temporary camp set up for its dwellers. A large field at a corner of the city was set aside for a supplementary cemetery, and Betances set and managed a temporary hospital next to it (which was later housed in a permanent structure and became the Hospital San Antonio, the Mayagüez municipal hospital, which still serves the city). However, the epidemic struck the city soon after; Betances' stepmother and one of his brothers-in-law would die from it. By October 1856 Betances would have to take care of the entire operation on his own temporarily.
At the time, he had his first confrontation with Spanish authorities, since Betances gave last priority of medical treatment to those Spanish-born military rank and officers who where affected by the disease (they demanded preferential and immediate treatment, and he openly despised them for it). For his hard work to save many Puerto Ricans from the ravages of the cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
of 1856, Betances was commended by the city's government. However, when the central government established a Chief Surgeon post for the city, Betances (who was the acting chief surgeon) was passed over, in favor of a Spanish newcomer.
Basora and Betances were eventually honored with streets named after each in the city of Mayagüez. The main thoroughfare that crosses the city from north to south is named after Betances; a street that links the center of the city with the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
The University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez or Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez in Spanish , is a land-grant, sea-grant, space-grant state university located in the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico...
is named after Dr. Basora.
Exile from and return to Puerto Rico
Abolitionist
Betances believed in the abolition of slaverySlavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, inspired not only on written works by Victor Schoelcher
Victor Schoelcher
Victor Schoelcher was a French abolitionist writer in the 19th century and the main spokesman for a group from Paris who worked for the abolition of slavery, and formed an abolition society in 1834...
, John Brown
John Brown (abolitionist)
John Brown was an American revolutionary abolitionist, who in the 1850s advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which five men were killed, in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas, and made his name in the...
, Lamartine and Tapia, but also on personal experience, based on what he saw at his father's farm and in daily Puerto Rican life. Based on his beliefs, he founded a civic organization in 1856, one of many others that were later called the Secret Abolitionist Societies by historians. Little is known about them due to their clandestine nature, but Betances and Salvador Brau
Salvador Brau
Dr. Salvador Brau Asencio , was a journalist, poet and writer from Puerto Rico. He was also a renowned historian.-Early years:...
(a close friend who later became the official Historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
of Puerto Rico) describe them in their writings. Some of these societies sought the freedom and free passage of maroons
Maroon (people)
Maroons were runaway slaves in the West Indies, Central America, South America, and North America, who formed independent settlements together...
from Puerto Rico to countries where slavery had been abolished already; other societies sought to liberate as many slaves as possible by buying out their freedom.
The objective of the particular society Betances founded was to free children who were slaves, taking advantage of their need to receive the sacrament of Baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
at the town church, Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, which is now the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Mayagüez. Since buying the freedom of slave children cost 50 pesos if the child had been baptized, and 25 pesos if the child had not, Betances, Basora, Segundo Ruiz Belvis
Segundo Ruiz Belvis
Segundo Ruiz Belvis , was a dedicated abolitionist who also fought for Puerto Rico's right to independence.-Early years:...
and other members of the society waited next to the baptismal font on Sundays, expecting a master to take a slave family to baptize their child. Before the child was baptized, Betances or his partners gave money to the parents, which they in turn used to buy the child's freedom from his master. The child, once freed, was baptized minutes after. This action was later described as having the child receive the "aguas de libertad" (waters of liberty). Similar events occurred in the city of Ponce
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
.
The baptismal font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
where these baptisms were performed still exists, and is owned by a local family of merchants, the Del Moral family, who keep it at their Mayagüez house.
La vièrge de Boriquén (The Boriquén Virgin)
The Spanish governor of Puerto Rico, Fernando Cotoner, threatened Betances with exile in 1858 because of his abolitionist tactics. Betances took a leave of absenceLeave of absence
Leave of absence is a term used to describe a period of time that one is to be away from his/her primary job, while maintaining the status of employee...
from his duties as director of the local hospital and again left Puerto Rico for France, followed by Basora. Soon, his half-sister Clara and her husband, Justine Hénri, would also leave for Paris with his niece, María del Carmen Hénri.
María del Carmen, nicknamed Lita, was born in 1838. She had met Betances when she was 10, and Betances became instantly fond of her. Once he returned to Puerto Rico from his medical studies he requested the necessary ecclesiastical permissions to marry her (due to the degree of consanguinity
Consanguinity
Consanguinity refers to the property of being from the same kinship as another person. In that respect, consanguinity is the quality of being descended from the same ancestor as another person...
between them), which were granted in Rome (then part of the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
) after an extended delay. Their marriage was supposed to occur on May 5, 1859 in Paris, but Lita fell sick with typhus
Typhus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
and died at the Mennecy
Arrondissement of Évry
The arrondissement of Évry is an arrondissement of France, located in the Essonne département, in the Île-de-France région. It has 17 cantons and 52 communes.-Cantons:The cantons of the arrondissement of Évry are:# Brunoy# Corbeil-Essonnes-Est...
house of Dr. Pierre Lamire, a friend from Betances' medical school days, on April 22, 1859 (the Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
of that year).
Betances was psychologically devastated by Lita's death. Accompanied by his sister, brother-in-law, local friends and a few Puerto Rican friends residing in Paris at the time (which included Basora, Francisco Oller
Francisco Oller
Francisco Manuel Oller y Cestero was a Puerto Rican visual artist. Oller is considered to be the only Latin American painter to have played a role in the development of Impressionism.-Early years:...
and another Cabo Rojo native, future political leader Salvador Carbonell), Betances had Lita buried on April 25. Her body was later reburied in Mayagüez, on November 13 of that year. Salvador Brau
Salvador Brau
Dr. Salvador Brau Asencio , was a journalist, poet and writer from Puerto Rico. He was also a renowned historian.-Early years:...
, a historian and close friend, later wrote that once Betances returned to Puerto Rico with Lita's body, he suspended all personal activities besides his medical work, spent a considerable amount of time caring for her tomb at the Mayagüez cemetery, and assumed the physical aspect that most people identify Betances with: dark suit, long unkempt beard, and "Quaker" hat.
Betances immersed himself in work, but later found time to write a short story in French, La Vièrge de Boriquén (The Boriquén Virgin), inspired in his love for Lita and her later death, and somewhat influenced by Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
's writing style. Cayetano Coll y Toste
Cayetano Coll y Toste
Dr. Cayetano Coll y Toste , was a Puerto Rican historian and writer. He was the patriach of a prominent family of Puerto Rican, educators, politicians and writers.-Early years:...
later described the story of Lita and Betances in the story La Novia de Betances, from his book "Leyendas y Tradiciones Puertorriqueñas" (Puerto Rican Legends and Traditions).
Doctor and surgeon
After returning to Puerto Rico in 1859, Betances established a very successful surgerySurgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
and ophthalmology
Ophthalmology
Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye. An ophthalmologist is a specialist in medical and surgical eye problems...
practice in Mayagüez
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Mayagüez is the eighth-largest municipality of Puerto Rico. Originally founded as "Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria" it is also known as "La Sultana del Oeste" , "Ciudad de las Aguas Puras" , or "Ciudad del Mangó"...
. Even fierce political enemies such as Spanish pro-monarchy journalist José Pérez Morís regarded Betances as the best surgeon in Puerto Rico at the time. His good reputation in Puerto Rico would survive his stay in the island nation for many years. In 1895, while Betances was living in Paris, the manufacturers of the Emulsión de Scott (a codfish liver oil product that is still sold today, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline plc is a global pharmaceutical, biologics, vaccines and consumer healthcare company headquartered in London, United Kingdom...
in modern times), paid an endorsement fee to Betances to have him appear on advertisements on Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
magazines and newspapers all over New York City and the Caribbean, based on his solid reputation as a doctor.
Anesthesiologist
An anesthesiologist or anaesthetist is a physician trained in anesthesia and peri-operative medicine....
Pedro Arroyo, Betances performed the first ever surgical procedure under chloroform
Chloroform
Chloroform is an organic compound with formula CHCl3. It is one of the four chloromethanes. The colorless, sweet-smelling, dense liquid is a trihalomethane, and is considered somewhat hazardous...
in Puerto Rico, in November 1862.
At the same time he spent a considerable amount of time serving Mayagüez's disadvantaged on a pro bono
Pro bono
Pro bono publico is a Latin phrase generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms...
basis, He gave many donations to the poor, and because of this he became known as "The Father of the Poor" among "Mayagüezanos" according to his contemporary, Eugenio María de Hostos
Eugenio María de Hostos
Eugenio María de Hostos known as "El Ciudadano de América" , was a Puerto Rican educator, philosopher, intellectual, lawyer, sociologist and independence advocate....
.
Exile in the Dominican Republic
The Dominican RepublicDominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
had its first war for independence in 1844, which was successful in obtaining independence from Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, although Haitian rule of parts of the country would last intermittently until 1856. Spain reannexed the country at the request of its then-dictator, Gen. Pedro Santana
Pedro Santana
Pedro Santana y Familias was a wealthy cattle rancher, soldier, politician and dictator of the Dominican Republic. He was born in the community of Hinche, which was part of the Colony of Santo Domingo. Currently, Hinche is a border town part of Haiti...
(who attempted to benefit personally from the event), in 1861. A second revolt, the War of Restoration, sought independence from the Spanish in 1863. Its leaders used Haiti as a guerrilla base, since the Haitian government feared a Spanish takeover and the restoration of slavery in the occupied territories, and was thus sympathetic to their cause. Their stronghold, however, was the Cibao
Cibao
Cibao, usually referred as "El Cibao", is a region of the Dominican Republic located at the northern part of the country.The Taíno word Cibao, meaning "place where rocks abound", was originally applied to the central mountain range, and used during the Spanish conquest to refer to the rich and...
valley in the northeastern part of Hispaniola.
Segundo Ruiz Belvis
Segundo Ruiz Belvis , was a dedicated abolitionist who also fought for Puerto Rico's right to independence.-Early years:...
(a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and city administrator who became his closest friend and political companion) fled the island before they were apprehended. Both fled to the northern city of Puerto Plata
San Felipe de Puerto Plata
San Felipe de Puerto Plata, often referred to as simply Puerto Plata, is the capital of the Dominican province Puerto Plata.The city is famous for resorts such as Playa Dorada and Costa Dorada, located east of San Felipe de Puerto Plata. There are a total of 100,000 hotel beds in the city.The only...
in the Dominican Republic in 1861, where Betances established a close personal friendship with Gen. Gregorio Luperón
Gregorio Luperón
Gregorio Luperón , is best known for being a Dominican military and state leader who was the main leader in the restoration of the Dominican Republic after the Spanish annexation in 1863....
, the military leader of the northern pro-independence faction (also a one-time president of the Dominican Republic, and a Freemason, as was Betances) who led the efforts to restore Dominican sovereignty over their country. Betances was also a collaborator of Dominican priest (and later Archbishop of Santo Domingo and one-time president of the country), Fernando Arturo de Meriño, who was the revolt's ideological leader (as well as its delegate in Puerto Rico when he was himself exiled by the restored republican government). These two friendships would prove to be key to Betances' own efforts to achieve Puerto Rican independence later on.
The volatility of the Dominican situation was severe at the time: Luperón fought a guerrilla war against the Spanish and Santana and became vice-president of the country (in 1863), only to be exiled to Saint Thomas
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...
because of his opposition to president Buenaventura Baez
Buenaventura Báez
Buenaventura Báez Méndez was the President of the Dominican Republic for five nonconsecutive terms. He is known for attempting to annex the Dominican Republic to other countries on multiple occasions.-Early years:...
' wishes to annex the country to the United States (in 1864), to later return, provoke a coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
and be part of a three-way presidency (1866), only to be exiled once again (1868). Whenever Luperón was in the Dominican Republic, Betances could use it as a base of operations for his later political and military objectives, while offering Luperón logistical and financial assistance in return.
Since Betances' exile depended on who was governing Puerto Rico at the time, a change in government allowed him to return to Mayagüez in 1862. However, a few years later, (1868) Luperón and Betances would both end up exiled in Saint Thomas.
Second return to Mayagüez
After returning to Puerto Rico, Betances and Ruiz proposed the establishment of a municipal hospital to take care of the city's poor. The hospital, named Hospital San Antonio, opened on January 18, 1865, with subscription funds and an assignment from the Spanish local government. The Hospital San Antonio is now an obstetricsObstetrics
Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...
and pediatrics
Pediatrics
Pediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...
hospital in the city.
Ruiz was a Freemason who invited Betances to join his lodge, the Logia Unión Germana in nearby San Germán
San Germán, Puerto Rico
San Germán is a municipality located in the southwestern region of Puerto Rico, south of Mayagüez and Maricao; north of Lajas; east of Hormigueros and Cabo Rojo; and west of Sabana Grande. San Germán is spread over 18 wards and San Germán Pueblo...
. They both founded (or revived, depending on the source) the Logia Yagüez, so as to have a local lodge in Mayagüez. Based on his Masonic beliefs, Ruiz also attempted to establish a university in the city, for which he mortgaged
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
his house. However, the Spanish government actively discouraged the founding of secondary education institutions in Puerto Rico (so as not to have "seedlings for revolt" come out of them), and the project was canceled.
Simplicia Jiménez
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
, Magdalena Caraguel, was eventually adopted by the couple as their daughter." Little else is documented about Jiménez in history books, and Betances rarely mentions her in his works and correspondence.
While still living in Mayagüez, Betances built a house for himself and his wife, which they only lived in for less than two years; the house, named the Casa de los Cinco Arcos (House of the Five Arches), still stands on the street that bears his name near the corner with Luis Muñoz Rivera
Luis Muñoz Rivera
Luis Muñoz Rivera was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist and politician. He was a major figure in the struggle for political autonomy of Puerto Rico....
street, south of the city's center. Apparently a single, elderly man lives in the house to this day.
Seeds for revolt in Puerto Rico
The Spanish government was involved in several conflicts across Latin America: war with the Dominican RepublicDominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
(see below), slave revolts in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, a bad economic situation in its colonies, among others. It attempted to appease the growing discontent of the citizens of its remaining colonies in the continent by setting up a board of review that would receive complaints from representatives of the colonies and attempt to adjust legislation that affected them. This board, the "Junta Informativa de Reformas de Ultramar" (Overseas Informative Reform Board) would be formed by representatives of each colony, in proportion to their collective population, and would meet in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. The Junta would report to the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emilio Castelar.
The Puerto Rican delegation was freely elected by those eligible to vote (male Caucasian property owners), in a rare exercise of political openness in the colony. Segundo Ruiz Belvis
Segundo Ruiz Belvis
Segundo Ruiz Belvis , was a dedicated abolitionist who also fought for Puerto Rico's right to independence.-Early years:...
was elected to the Junta representing Mayagüez, something that horrified the then governor general of the island. To the frustration of the Puerto Rican delegates, including its leader, José Julián Acosta
José Julián Acosta
José Julián Acosta Calbo , born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, was a distinguished journalist and a fervent advocate of the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico.-Early years:...
, the Junta had a majority of Spanish-born delegates, which would vote down almost every measure they suggested. However, Acosta could convince the Junta that abolition
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
could be achieved in Puerto Rico without disrupting the local economy (including its Cuban members, who frowned upon implementing it in Cuba because of its much higher numbers of slave labor). Once he became prime minister in 1870, Castelar did approve an abolition bill, praising the efforts of the Puerto Rico members, sincerely moved by Acosta's arguments.
However, beyond abolition, proposals for autonomy were voted down, as were other petitions to limit the unlimited power the governor general would have upon virtually all aspects of life in Puerto Rico. Once the Junta members returned to Puerto Rico, they met with local community leaders in a famed meeting at the Hacienda El Cacao in Carolina, Puerto Rico
Carolina, Puerto Rico
Carolina is a city located in the northern part of Puerto Rico, bordering the Atlantic Ocean; it lies north of Gurabo and Juncos; east of Trujillo Alto and San Juan; and west of Canóvanas and Loíza. Carolina is spread over 12 wards plus Carolina Pueblo...
in early 1865. Betances was invited by Ruiz and did attend. After listening to the Junta members' list of voted-down measures, Betances stood up and retorted: "Nadie puede dar lo que no tiene
Nemo dat quod non habet
Nemo dat quod non habet, literally meaning "no one [can] give what he does not have" is a legal rule, sometimes called the nemo dat rule, that states that the purchase of a possession from someone who has no ownership right to it also denies the purchaser any ownership title...
" (No one can give others what they don't have for themselves), a phrase that he would constantly use through the rest of his life when referring to Spain's unwillingness to grant Puerto Rico or Cuba any reforms. He would then suggest setting up a revolt and proclaim independence as soon as possible. Many of the meeting's attendants sided with Betances, to the horror of Acosta.
Organizer of the Grito de Lares
In late June 1867 Betances and at least 12 more potential "revolutionaries" were exiled from Puerto Rico by then governor Gen. José María Marchessi y Oleaga as a preventive measure, including Betances, Goyco and Ruiz. A battalion of local soldiers had revolted in San Juan earlier, protesting about their poor pay, compared to that of their Spanish counterparts living in Puerto Rico. Betances later stated that the revolt (called the "Motín de Artilleros" by historians) was unrelated to his revolutionary plans, and that he actually did not mind the troops stationed in Puerto Rico that much, since they would have been ill-prepared for stopping a well-developed pro-independence revolt at the time anyway. Marchesi feared that the United States, which had made an offer to purchase what were then the Danish Virgin Islands, would rather instigate a revolt in Puerto Rico so as to later annex the island—which would make a better military base in the Caribbean—at a lesser economic cost. His fears were not without base, since the then American consul in the island, Alexander Jourdan, suggested precisely this to then Secretary of State William H. SewardWilliam H. Seward
William Henry Seward, Sr. was the 12th Governor of New York, United States Senator and the United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson...
, but only after the expulsions (September 1867).
Some of the expelled (such as Carlos Elías Lacroix and José Celis Aguilera) set up camp in Saint Thomas. Betances and Ruiz, on the other hand, left for New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
—where Basora had previously gone—soon after. They soon founded the "Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico", along with other Puerto Ricans living in the city. After signing a letter that could serve as proof of his intentions of becoming a United States citizen (mainly to prevent his arrest elsewhere) Betances then returned to the Dominican Republic in September 1867, where he attempted to organize an armed expedition that was to invade Puerto Rico. However, under threat of arrest by Buenaventura Báez
Buenaventura Báez
Buenaventura Báez Méndez was the President of the Dominican Republic for five nonconsecutive terms. He is known for attempting to annex the Dominican Republic to other countries on multiple occasions.-Early years:...
—who saw Betances as siding with his enemies and wanted him executed—Betances took asylum at the United States embassy in Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
, and headed for Charlotte Amalie
Charlotte Amalie, United States Virgin Islands
-Education:St. Thomas-St. John School District serves the community. and Charlotte Amalie High School serve the area.-Gallery:-See also:* Anna's Retreat* Cruz Bay* Saint Thomas* Water Island-External links:* *...
soon after.
The Ten Commandments of Free Men
Betances was responsible for numerous proclamations that attempted to arouse Puerto Rican nationalistic sentiment, written between 1861 and his death. The most famous of these is "Los Diez Mandamientos de los hombres libres" (The Ten CommandmentsTen Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
of Free Men), written in exile in Saint Thomas in November 1867. It is directly based on the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is a fundamental document of the French Revolution, defining the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal. Influenced by the doctrine of "natural right", the rights of man are held to be universal: valid...
, adopted by France's National Assembly in 1789, which contained the principles that inspired the French Revolution.
The Grito and its aftermath
"Puerto Ricans The government of Mme. Isabella II Isabella II of Spain Isabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of... throws upon us a terrible accusation. It states that we are bad Spaniards. The government defames us. We don't want separation, we want peace, the union to Spain; however, it is fair that we also add conditions to the contract. They are rather easy, here they are: The abolition of slavery The right to vote on all impositions Freedom of religion Freedom of speech Freedom of the press Freedom of trade The right to assembly Right to bear arms Inviolability of the citizen The right to choose our own authorities These are the Ten Commandments of Free Men. If Spain feels capable of granting us, and gives us, those rights and liberties, they may then send us a General Captain, a governor... made of straw, that we will burn in effigy come Carnival Carnival Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party... time, as to remember all the Judases Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:... that they have sold us until now. That way we will be Spanish, and not otherwise. If not, Puerto Ricans - HAVE PATIENCE!, for I swear that you will be free." |
| Ten Commandments of Free Men (translated), November 1867 |
Meanwhile, Ruiz Belvis, who headed the Committee, was supposed to gather financial support for the incoming Puerto Rican revolution though a tour of South America. He had received an invitation from Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna
Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna
Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna was a Chilean writer, journalist, historian and politician. Vicuña Mackenna was of Irish and Basque descent.-Biography:...
, a Chilean diplomat, to coordinate a common front against Spanish interests in all of Latin America (Spain was still threatening Chile after the Chincha Islands War
Chincha Islands War
The Chincha Islands War was a series of coastal and naval battles between Spain and its former colonies of Peru and Chile from 1864 to 1866, that began with Spain's seizure of the guano-rich Chincha Islands, part of a series of attempts by Isabel II of Spain to reassert her country's lost...
, and any revolution in the Caribbean would have been a welcome distraction). Vicuña promised to gather necessary support in Chile, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
and Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
to help the Puerto Rican independence cause.
However, Ruiz died in Valparaíso, Chile soon after his arrival in the country. He reportedly had uremia
Uremia
Uremia or uraemia is a term used to loosely describe the illness accompanying kidney failure , in particular the nitrogenous waste products associated with the failure of this organ....
and a urethra
Urethra
In anatomy, the urethra is a tube that connects the urinary bladder to the genitals for the removal of fluids out of the body. In males, the urethra travels through the penis, and carries semen as well as urine...
l obstruction, both of which deteriorated into Fournier gangrene
Fournier gangrene
Fournier's gangrene is a type of necrotizing infection or gangrene usually affecting the perineum.It was first described by Baurienne in 1764 and is named after a French venereologist, Jean-Alfred Fournier following five cases he presented in clinical lectures in 1883.-Cause:In the majority of...
, which killed him soon after. Later speculation that Ruiz had been poisoned or killed has been countered by three facts: that Ruiz's brother, Mariano Ruiz Quiñones (who was the coordinator of the revolution in Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
), died of the same condition soon after (suggesting a genetic
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
predisposition to it), that Betances had used a catheter
Catheter
In medicine, a catheter is a tube that can be inserted into a body cavity, duct, or vessel. Catheters thereby allow drainage, administration of fluids or gases, or access by surgical instruments. The process of inserting a catheter is catheterization...
on Ruiz before he left Saint Thomas to bring him some relief from his condition, and that Betances published a medical article in France twenty years later, in 1887, that discussed the condition, out of what he had described as many years of second-guessing what could have been done to save Ruiz's life.
Betances was shaken psychologically by news of Ruiz's death, and also literally soon after: he and his wife also experienced an earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
in November 1867, while in Saint Thomas. According to a letter he wrote, he and his wife vacated the building just before it collapsed, and were forced to live in a camp while aftershock
Aftershock
An aftershock is a smaller earthquake that occurs after a previous large earthquake, in the same area of the main shock. If an aftershock is larger than the main shock, the aftershock is redesignated as the main shock and the original main shock is redesignated as a foreshock...
s kept shaking the island for close to a month.
Gregorio Luperón met Betances in Saint Thomas, and offered to assist the Puerto Rican revolution, in exchange for help to overthrow Báez once the right circumstances were met. As a consequence, Betances organized revolutionary cells in Puerto Rico from exile, which would be led by leaders such as Manuel Rojas and Mathias Brugman
Mathias Brugman
Mathias Brugman , a.k.a. Mathias Bruckman, was a leader in Puerto Rico's independence revolution against Spain known as El Grito de Lares .-Early years:...
. Betances instructed Mariana Bracetti
Mariana Bracetti
Mariana Bracetti was a patriot and leader of the Puerto Rico independence movement in the 1860s. She is attributed with having knitted the flag that was intended to be used as the national emblem of Puerto Rico in its attempt to overthrow the Spanish government on the island, and to establish the...
to knit a flag for the revolution using the colors and basic design similar to that of the Dominican Republic (which in turn was almost identical to a French military standard). Betances was also supposed to send reinforcements to the Puerto Rican rebels through the use of a ship purchased by Puerto Rican and Dominican revolutionaries, "El Telégrafo" (which was to be shared by both), but the ship was confiscated
Confiscation
Confiscation, from the Latin confiscatio 'joining to the fiscus, i.e. transfer to the treasury' is a legal seizure without compensation by a government or other public authority...
soon after arrival by the government of the then Danish (later United States) Virgin Islands.
Eventually all these factors led the way to the abortive insurrection known as the "Grito de Lares", whose date had to be brought forward to September 23, 1868. The Grito found Betances between Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
and Saint Thomas, struggling to send reinforcements in time for the revolt.
After the failed insurrection, Betances did not return to Puerto Rico, except for "secret" visits, according to the obituary written about him by the New York Herald
New York Herald
The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835, and 1924.-History:The first issue of the paper was published by James Gordon Bennett, Sr., on May 6, 1835. By 1845 it was the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the UnitedStates...
after his death. There is no evidence of these, although Betances suggests a visit did occur at some time between 1867 and 1869, and perhaps again in the 1880s.
In New York
Betances fled to New York City in April 1869, where he again joined Basora in his efforts to organize Puerto Rican revolutionaries into additional activities leading to independence. He joined the Cuban Revolutionary Junta, whose members were more successful at their drive for armed revolution for Cuba, which had started with the "Grito de YaraYara, Cuba
Yara is a small town and municipality in the Granma Province of Cuba, located halfway between the cities of Bayamo and Manzanillo, in the Gulf of Guacanayabo...
", just two weeks after the Grito de Lares. He also lobbied the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
successfully against an annexation of the Dominican Republic by the United States, requested in a vote by a majority of voters in a referendum in 1869. He also befriended Venezuelan military leader and former president José Antonio Páez
José Antonio Páez
José Antonio Páez Herrera was General in Chief of the army fighting Spain during the Venezuelan Wars of Independence, in addition to becoming the President of Venezuela once it was independent of the Gran Colombia...
in his final days. Betances stayed in New York from April 1869 through February 1870.
The Antilles now face a moment that they had never faced in history; they now have to decide whether 'to be, or not to be To be, or not to be "To be, or not to be" is the opening phrase of a soliloquy from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet , Act III, Scene 1. It is the best-known quotation from the play and probably the most famous in world literature but there is disagreement on its meaning, as there is of the whole speech.- Text :This... '. (...) Let us unite. Let us build a people, a people of true Freemasons, and we then shall raise a temple over foundations so solid that the forces of the Saxon and Spanish races will not shake it, a temple that we will consecrate to Independence, and in whose frontispiece we will engrave this inscription, as imperishable as the Motherland itself: "The Antilles for the Antilleans" |
| Speech to the Masonic Lodge of Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009.... ,1872 |
In Hispaniola
Somewhat disillusioned by his experience in New York City (he had philosophical differences with some leaders of the Antillean liberation movements, particularly with Eugenio María de HostosEugenio María de Hostos
Eugenio María de Hostos known as "El Ciudadano de América" , was a Puerto Rican educator, philosopher, intellectual, lawyer, sociologist and independence advocate....
), Betances spent a short interlude in Jacmel
Jacmel
Jacmel, also known by its indigenous Taíno name of Yaquimel, is a town in southern Haiti founded in 1698. It is the capital of the department of Sud-Est and has an estimated population of 40,000, while the municipality of Jacmel had a population of 137,966 at the 2003 Census.The buildings are...
, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
in 1870 at the request of its then-president, Jean Nissage-Saget, who supported Betances' efforts to have a liberal government for the Dominican Republic take power. He later spent some time in the Cibao valley (in both Santiago de los Caballeros
Santiago de los Caballeros
Santiago de los Caballeros is a city in the Dominican Republic. Founded in 1495 during the first wave of European colonization of the New World, today Santiago is the second largest metropolis in the Dominican Republic, located in the north-central region of the Republic known as Cibao valley...
and Puerto Plata
San Felipe de Puerto Plata
San Felipe de Puerto Plata, often referred to as simply Puerto Plata, is the capital of the Dominican province Puerto Plata.The city is famous for resorts such as Playa Dorada and Costa Dorada, located east of San Felipe de Puerto Plata. There are a total of 100,000 hotel beds in the city.The only...
) where Luperón and Betances attempted to organize another revolt, this time against conservative elements in the Dominican Republic.
While in New York, Betances wrote and translated numerous political treatises, proclamations and works that were published in the newspaper "La Revolución", under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
"El Antillano" (The Antillean One). He was vehement about the need for natives of the Greater Antilles to unite into an Antillean Confederation, a regional entity that would seek to preserve the sovereignty and well-being of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
.
Betances also promoted direct intervention of Puerto Ricans in the Cuban independence struggle, which eventually happened in the Cuban War of Independence
Cuban War of Independence
Cuban War of Independence was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War and the Little War...
(1895–98). Spain had promoted political reform in Puerto Rico, and the local political climate was not conducive to a second revolution at the time. Therefore, Betances and the Puerto Rican revolutionaries ceded their caches of firearms hidden in Saint Thomas, Curaçao and Haiti to the Cuban rebels in October 1871, since their struggle was deemed as a priority.
Betances admired the United States of America for its ideals of freedom and democracy, but despised Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
and the Monroe Doctrine
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine is a policy of the United States introduced on December 2, 1823. It stated that further efforts by European nations to colonize land or interfere with states in North or South America would be viewed as acts of aggression requiring U.S. intervention...
, and sensed that both philosophies were being used as excuses for American interventions on the continent. When Cuban revolutionaries requested help from the United States for reinforcing their armed struggle against Spain, Betances warned them against giving too much away. He feared American interventionism
Interventionism (politics)
Interventionism is a term for a policy of non-defensive activity undertaken by a nation-state, or other geo-political jurisdiction of a lesser or greater nature, to manipulate an economy or society...
in the affairs of a free Cuba, and vehemently attacked Cuban leaders who suggested the annexation
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
of Cuba by the United States. Some of his fears became reality years later, when the Platt Amendment
Platt Amendment
The Platt Amendment of 1901 was a rider appended to the Army Appropriations Act presented to the U.S. Senate by Connecticut Republican Senator Orville H. Platt replacing the earlier Teller Amendment. Approved on May 22, 1903, it stipulated the conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops...
became a "de facto" part of the Cuban constitution (1901).
Return to France
Expecting to bring some stability to his personal life, Betances had Simplicia Jiménez meet him again in Haiti (she had been living in St. Croix since he was evicted from Saint Thomas, to ensure her safety), and returned with her to Paris where he continued to fight for Puerto Rico's independence for close to 26 years. He established his medical office at 6(bis), Rue de Châteaudun (48.875814°N 2.341636°W), four streets away from the city's Palais GarnierPalais Garnier
The Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...
.
One of the events that gave Betances great satisfaction was the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico, which was made official on March 22, 1873. He reminded people that abolition would not have happened without the direct intervention of Puerto Ricans in the Spanish political process, and was thus hopeful that the islanders would assume a more proactive role in seeking their freedom from Spain. With time, Betances became essentially the representative of the liberal governments of the Dominican Republic for as long as they lasted, and the representative of the Cuban "government in arms", or insurrection.
Diplomat for the Dominican Republic
Soon after his return to France, Betances became the first secretary to the Dominican RepublicDominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
's diplomatic mission to France, but virtually assumed the role of ambassador. He also became the commercial representative of the Dominican government in Paris, Bern and London. At one time Betances attempted to be a venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
partner on a failed enterprise that attempted to commercialize the use of Samaná Bay
Samana Bay
Samaná Bay is a bay in the eastern Dominican Republic. The Yuna River flows into the Samaná Bay, and it is located south of the town and peninsula of Samaná....
to benefit the Dominican Republic, and also to prevent foreign interests (particularly the United States) from taking over the bay, which was considered a primary strategic geographical feature of Hispaniola
Hispaniola
Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...
, in both commercial and military terms.
Luperón would eventually arrive in Paris as a named ambassador, but Betances' connections in the city proved to be key to whatever success Luperón had as a diplomat in France. They would assume this role until political turmoil in the Dominican Republic forced Luperón to return and lead yet another revolt, which had another Puerto Plata native, Ulises Heureaux
Ulises Heureaux
Ulises Heureaux Lebert was president of the Dominican Republic from 1 September 1882 to 1 September 1883, from 6 January to 27 February 1887 and again from 30 April 1889 until his assassination, maintaining power between his terms.-Early life:Heureaux, affectionately known as Lilís, was born in...
, installed as president. Betances sought support for Luperón's efforts, and gave him tactical and financial assistance from France.
Heureaux, however, became a despot
Despotism
Despotism is a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power. That entity may be an individual, as in an autocracy, or it may be a group, as in an oligarchy...
once he assumed the presidency. Luperón felt betrayed and went again into exile in Saint Thomas. Eventually he died of cancer, not before visiting Betances in France for a last time and being allowed to return to the Dominican Republic to die, as a gesture of good will from Heureaux. Due to Heureaux's protracted presidency and blatant acts of corruption, Betances (who had called Heureaux his "grandson" in letters he had previously written to him) was forced to cut ties to the Dominican Republic for good (two plots of land that he owned both there and in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
were used for agricultural experiments, but were later left unattended). Betances writes in his letters that he had spent the equivalent of USD$20,000 (in 1880 dollar
Dollar
The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...
s, roughly equivalent to USD$400,000 in 2010) on expenditures on behalf of the Dominican diplomatic office. He did not expect the Dominican government to be able to reimburse him.
Support for Cuba's Independence and José Maceo's freedom
Immediately after returning to Paris, Betances became a key contact for the Cuban insurgency in Paris. He made several fund raising efforts, including one that attempted to fund quinineQuinine
Quinine is a natural white crystalline alkaloid having antipyretic , antimalarial, analgesic , anti-inflammatory properties and a bitter taste. It is a stereoisomer of quinidine which, unlike quinine, is an anti-arrhythmic...
shipments to the Cuban rebels, to ease their pain when infected by malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
in the island battlefields. These efforts outlasted the Pact of Zanjón
Pact of Zanjón
The Pact of Zanjón was the treaty that ended the Cuban Ten Years' War. Slaves who had fought against Spain were given freedom. The Maceo brothers refused to sign the treaty and kept on fighting until they took to exile to return later. Calixto Garcia was released from Spanish prison....
, which ended the Ten Years' War
Ten Years' War
The Ten Years' War , also known as the Great War and the War of '68, began on October 10, 1868 when sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed Cuba's independence from Spain...
in 1878. Betances also used his diplomatic contacts to guarantee humane treatment (and eventually freedom from imprisonment) to José Maceo, the brother of Antonio Maceo
Antonio Maceo Grajales
Lt. General José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo y Grajales was second-in-command of the Cuban Army of Independence....
, the later military leader of the Cuban War of Independence
Cuban War of Independence
Cuban War of Independence was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War and the Little War...
, when both Antonio and José were arrested by the Spanish government in 1882. The Maceo brothers both escaped imprisonment, were recaptured in Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
and turned over to the Spanish authorities, but José remained in jail long after Antonio regained his liberty and fled to New York City. Betances even used Lord Gladstone
Herbert Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone
Herbert John Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone GCB, GCMG, GBE, PC, JP was a British Liberal statesman. The youngest son of William Ewart Gladstone, he was Home Secretary from 1905 to 1910 and Governor-General of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1914.-Background and education:Gladstone was...
as a mediator, and attempted to convince him of having Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
(where his family had properties) join an Antillean Federation.
Betances and Máximo GómezMáximo GómezMáximo Gómez y Báez was a Major General in the Ten Years' War and Cuba's military commander in that country's War of Independence ....
When Puerto Rico experienced a period of severe political repression in 1887 by the Spanish governor of the time, Romualdo Palacio (which led to the arrest of many local political leaders, including Román Baldorioty de CastroRomán Baldorioty de Castro
Román Baldorioty de Castro distinguished himself as one of Puerto Rico's foremost abolitionists and spokesman for the island's right to self-determination...
), Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez y Báez was a Major General in the Ten Years' War and Cuba's military commander in that country's War of Independence ....
, who was living in Panama at the time (at the time, he supervised a laborers' brigade during the construction of the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
) offered his services to Betances, sold most of his personal belongings to finance a revolt in Puerto Rico, and volunteered to lead any Puerto Rican troops had such revolt occur. The revolt was deemed unnecessary later in the year, when the Spanish government recalled Palacio from office to investigate charges of abuse of power from his part, but Gómez and Betances established a friendship and logistical relationship that lasted until Betances' death in 1898.
Betances and José MartíJosé MartíJosé Julián Martí Pérez was a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. In his short life he was a poet, an essayist, a journalist, a revolutionary philosopher, a translator, a professor, a publisher, and a political theorist. He was also a part of the Cuban...
Years later, due to Betances' experience as a logistics facilitator of armed revolts, a fund raiser for the Cuban independence cause, and as a diplomat, José MartíJosé Martí
José Julián Martí Pérez was a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. In his short life he was a poet, an essayist, a journalist, a revolutionary philosopher, a translator, a professor, a publisher, and a political theorist. He was also a part of the Cuban...
asked Betances to become the leader of Cuban revolutionaries in France. Betances never met Martí personally, but Martí did know Betances' younger sister, Eduviges, who lived in New York City and shared her brother's revolutionary ideals. Martí assisted her financially in her final days, out of admiration for the Betances' family. Betances accepted the assignment out of gratitude towards Martí. Soon after, Martí died in battle in Cuba in 1895, an event that brought Tomás Estrada Palma to the leadership of the Cuban insurrection movement.
Betances and Tomás Estrada Palma
In April 1896 Betances was granted diplomatic credentials on behalf of the revolutionary government of Cuba. He became an active fund raiser and recruiter on behalf of the Cuban pro-independence movement. He also served as press officer and intelligence contact for the Cuban rebels in exile, and attempted to coordinate support for the pro-independence movement in the PhilippinesPhilippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
Betances openly hated Estrada when he first met him in the late 1870s, but grew more tolerant of him with time, and even defended Estrada's actions as leader when he assumed control of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. The Puerto Rican affiliates to the Party viewed Estrada's leadership with great skepticism, since Estrada sympathized with the idea of having the United States intervene in the Cuban independence war to have the Spanish evicted from Cuba. They suspected that his weak leadership allowed opportunists to profit from an invasion and even suggest that the United States keep Puerto Rico in exchange for independence for Cuba. Some written evidence points to the truth of their affirmations, at least to the extent of wanting to have the Puerto Rican section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party shut down, which eventually did happen.
The Intentona de Yauco
In 1897, Antonio Mattei Lluveras, a wealthy coffee plantation owner from Yauco, visited the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Committee in New York City. There he met with Ramon Emiterio Betances, Juan de Mata Terreforte and Aurelio Méndez Martinez and together they proceeded to plan a major coup. The uprising, which became known as the Intentona de YaucoIntentona de Yauco
The Intentona de Yauco a.k.a. the "Attempted Coup of Yauco" of 1897, was the second and last major revolt against Spanish colonial rule in Puerto Rico, staged by Puerto Rico's pro-independence movement....
was to be directed by Betances, organized by Aurelio Mendez Mercado and the armed forces were to be commanded by General Juan Ríus Rivera
Juan Rius Rivera
General Juan Ríus Rivera , was the General of the Cuban Liberation Army of the West upon the death of General Antonio Maceo.-Early years:...
. The coup, which was the second and last major revolt against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico failed.
Betances was also a government representative for some of the governments of Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
while in Paris. He was also technically a diplomat for the United States of America once.
Morales Plan
Through coordination with Betances and local pro-independence leaders in Puerto Rico, a Dominican military leader, Gen. José Morales, made plans to invade Puerto Rico in the late 1890s, to supply local revolutionaries with supplies and mercenaries, and take advantage of the weak Spanish military presence in Puerto Rico (there were only 4,500 Spanish soldiers in the island at the time, and 1,000 of them were later redirected to Cuba to fight the Cuban insurrection). However, the Cuban Revolutionary Party rejected the plan as being too expensive.Given the events happening in Cuba at the time, Betances thought that his diplomatic work was more important than ever. However, his failing health (he had uremia
Uremia
Uremia or uraemia is a term used to loosely describe the illness accompanying kidney failure , in particular the nitrogenous waste products associated with the failure of this organ....
, and since his lungs could not exchange oxygen properly this put extra burden to his heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
and kidneys) prevented Betances from performing further diplomatic work from France on behalf of Puerto Rico or Cuba. His illness, which lasted more than a year, prevented him from performing medical work, and forced the Party to approve a stipend for Betances during his long illness, until his death.
The CánovasAntonio Cánovas del CastilloAntonio Cánovas del Castillo was a Spanish politician and historian known principally for his role in supporting the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy to the Spanish throne and for his death at the hands of an anarchist assassin, Michele Angiolillo.-Early career:Born in Málaga as the son of...
Affair
There is some speculation that the assassination of Spanish prime minister Antonio Cánovas del CastilloAntonio Cánovas del Castillo
Antonio Cánovas del Castillo was a Spanish politician and historian known principally for his role in supporting the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy to the Spanish throne and for his death at the hands of an anarchist assassin, Michele Angiolillo.-Early career:Born in Málaga as the son of...
by Italian anarchist Michele Angiolillo
Michele Angiolillo
Michele Angiolillo Lombardi was an Italian anarchist, born in Foggia, and murderer of Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas in 1897.-Barcelona bombing and Montjuïc repression:...
in 1897 was at least supported or influenced by Betances, and possibly even planned by him (although there is no physical link that can be established that might link Betances to the event itself).
Betances' role in the Cánovas assassination is described by Puerto Rican (born in France) author Luis Bonafoux in his biography about Betances (written in 1901), and partially corroborated by later historians. These sources establish that Betances' circle of friends at the time included various Italian anarchists exiled in Paris, Domenico Tosti being one of them. Tosti and his friends would hold regular social events, during one of which Angiolillo was introduced to Betances.
Impressed by Betances' credentials, Angiolillo later approached Betances before the incident, and discussed his plans with him, which originally implied killing one or more young members of the Spanish royal family. Betances then dissuaded him from doing this. Angiolillo then apparently suggested Cánovas as a target instead. There is evidence that Betances financed Angiolillo's travel to Spain, and used his contacts to have Angiolillo reach and enter Spanish territory under a false identity. Further speculation that Angiolillo used a firearm that Betances himself furnished for him appears to be unfounded (although Betances, who was a fan of firearms himself —he taught a Cuban revolutionary leader on how to use a Remington
Remington Arms
Remington Arms Company, Inc. was founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington in Ilion, New York, as E. Remington and Sons. It is the oldest company in the United States which still makes its original product, and is the oldest continuously operating manufacturer in North America. It is the only U.S....
machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
once— gave at least one as a gift to one of his acquaintances).
Betances sympathized with anarchists like Angiolillo, and hated monarchists like Cánovas, but this alone would not justify direct action from Betances into taking Cánovas' life. Betances did state at the time, however, that "in Spain theres is only one true retrograde and reactionary leader, and he is precisely the one who confronts Cuba with a policy of '(spending in a war up to) the very last man and the very last peseta
Spanish peseta
The peseta was the currency of Spain between 1869 and 2002. Along with the French franc, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra .- Etymology :...
,' the one who tries to suffocate all efforts that her patriots do to free her, and that man is Antonio Cánovas del Castillo."
Angiolillo, in true solidarity with the European anarchist current, sought to avenge the execution and/or torture of those implicated in a bombing against a Roman Catholic religious procession in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, which occurred in 1896, and for which Cánovas sought the maximum penalties allowed by law.
The truth is that Puerto Rican liberal interests benefited directly from the Cánovas assassination, since by Cánovas' death a pact made (previous to the event) between the new Spanish prime minister, Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
Práxedes Mariano Mateo Sagasta y Escolar was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister on eight occasions between 1870 and 1902—always in charge of the Liberal Party—as part of the turno pacifico, alternating with the Liberal-Conservative leader Antonio Cánovas...
, and Puerto Rican liberals headed by Luis Muñoz Rivera
Luis Muñoz Rivera
Luis Muñoz Rivera was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist and politician. He was a major figure in the struggle for political autonomy of Puerto Rico....
would come into effect soon after. It allowed the establishment of a new autonomy charter for the island territory, which gave Puerto Rico broader political powers than at any other time before or since.
Before his execution, Angiolillo claimed sole responsibility for the assassination. When asked about his involvement in the Cánovas affair, Betances said: "No aplaudimos pero tampoco lloramos" ("We don't applaud it, but we don't cry over it, either"), and added: "Los revolucionarios verdaderos hacen lo que deben hacer" ("True revolutionaries do what they ought to do"). Betances' ambiguous response blurs the true level of his involvement in the Cánovas assassination.
Legion of Honor award
Humility
Humility is the quality of being modest, and respectful. Humility, in various interpretations, is widely seen as a virtue in many religious and philosophical traditions, being connected with notions of transcendent unity with the universe or the divine, and of egolessness.-Term:The term "humility"...
, until friends from Puerto Rico persuaded him to accept it as a tribute to Puerto Rico, and not as a personal award. The French Legion of Honor (Légion d'honneur) is the premier order of France, and its award is one of great distinction.
Efforts to counter the U.S. annexation of Puerto Rico
In 1898 Betances attempted to use his diplomatic contacts to impede a Puerto Rico annexation by the United States, which was deemed imminent by the events following the sinking of the USS MaineUSS Maine (ACR-1)
USS Maine was the United States Navy's second commissioned pre-dreadnought battleship, although she was originally classified as an armored cruiser. She is best known for her catastrophic loss in Havana harbor. Maine had been sent to Havana, Cuba to protect U.S. interests during the Cuban revolt...
. He knew that Puerto Ricans would welcome an American invasion, but was vehement about the possibility of the United States not conceding independence to Puerto Rico.
Betances was willing to accept some political concessions to the American government in exchange for independence, and exchanged some privileged intelligence information (about the level of debt Spain had attained while fighting the Cuban insurrection) with the then-ambassador of the United States to France, Horace Porter
Horace Porter
Horace Porter, was an American soldier and diplomat who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War....
, so as to show goodwill towards the United States.
Frustrated by what he perceived as the unwillingness of Puerto Ricans to demand their independence from the United States while the island territory was annexed (the event occurred just days before his death), he uttered his final political stance: "No quiero colonia, ni con España, ni con los Estados Unidos" ("I don't want a colony status, neither with Spain nor with the United States"). When reminded by de Hostos through a letter of what was happening in the island, he responded, highly frustrated, with a phrase that has become famous since: "¿Y qué les pasa a los puertorriqueños que no se rebelan?" ("And what's wrong with Puerto Ricans that they haven't yet rebelled?")
Betances' last days were chaotic, not only because of the events in the Caribbean, but also because of what happening in his own household. Jiménez' mental state is reported as dubious by then. Some even suggest that she had become an alcoholic (probably) or even a morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
addict (unlikely) by then, and she even wished for her husband to die in tantrums reported by his doctors. Political foes attempted to gain possession of Betances' intelligence dossiers, as did Spanish intelligence agents in Paris. Betances asked personal friends to keep personal guard of him, which they did until he died.
Death
Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Although Neuilly is technically a suburb of Paris, it is immediately adjacent to the city and directly extends it. The area is composed of mostly wealthy, select residential...
on September 16, 1898. His remains were cremated
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
soon after and entombed at the Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs.Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the...
of Paris. His common law-wife Simplicia survived him for over twenty years. A look at his will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
implies that, besides a life insurance
Life insurance
Life insurance is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger...
policy payout and two parcels of land in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, Betances died almost in poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
.
As early as in February 1913, poet and lawyer Luis Lloréns Torres
Luis Lloréns Torres
Luis Llorens Torres , was a Puerto Rican poet, playwright, and politician. He was an advocate for the independence of Puerto Rico.-Early years:...
had publicly requested that Betances' wishes to have his ashes returned to Puerto Rico be fulfilled. The Nationalist Association (predecessor of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party was founded on September 17, 1922. Its main objective is to work for Puerto Rican Independence.In 1919, José Coll y Cuchí, a member of the Union Party of Puerto Rico, felt that the Union Party was not doing enough for the cause of Puerto Rican independence and he...
), under the presidency of José Coll y Cuchi
José Coll y Cuchí
José Coll y Cuchi was a lawyer, writer and the founder of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. He was a member of a prominent Puerto Rican family of politicians, educators and writers See: "Notable family members" section .-Early years:Coll y Cuchi was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico...
, was able to convince the Puerto Rican Legislative Assembly to approve an act that would allow the transfer of the mortal remains of Puerto Rican patriot Ramón Emeterio Betances from Paris, France to Puerto Rico. Seven years after the act's approval, the Legislative Assembly commissioned one of its delegates, Alfonso Lastra Charriez, to serve as an emissary and bring Betances' remains from France.
Betances' remains arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico on August 5, 1920, and were honored upon arrival by a crowd then estimated at 20,000 mourners. The large crowd, which had assembled near the port of San Juan as early as 4:00 a.m. (AST) that morning, was the largest ever assembled for a funeral in Puerto Rico since the death of Luis Muñoz Rivera
Luis Muñoz Rivera
Luis Muñoz Rivera was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist and politician. He was a major figure in the struggle for political autonomy of Puerto Rico....
three years earlier. Media reporters of the day were surprised by the size of the crowd, given the fact that Betances had not visited Puerto Rico (at least in the open) for the 31 years before his death, and had been dead over 21 years afterwards.
A funeral caravan organized by the Nationalist Party transferred the remains from the capital to the town of Cabo Rojo
Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
Cabo Rojo is a municipality situated on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico and forms part of the San Germán–Cabo Rojo metropolitan area as well as the larger Mayagüez–San Germán–Cabo Rojo Combined Statistical Area....
. It took the caravan two days to make the 120 miles (193 km) route. Once Betances' remains reached the city of Mayagüez, 8,000 mourners paid their respects. Betances' remains were laid to rest in Cabo Rojo's municipal cemetery. A few decades later his remains were moved to a monument designed to honor Betances in the town's plaza. There is a bust created by the Italian sculptor Diego Montano alongside the Grito de Lares revolutionary flag and the Puerto Rican flag in the plaza, which is also named after Betances.
A marble plaque commemorating Betances was unveiled at his Paris house by a delegation of Puerto Rican, Cuban and French historians on the 100th. anniversary of his death, on September 16, 1998.
Legacy
According to Puerto Ricans and French historians in three different fields (medicine, literature and politics), Betances left a legacy that has been considerably understated, and is only being assessed properly in recent times.Complete Works
Betances' two primary biographers, Paul Estrade and Félix Ojeda Reyes, have announced the publication of a compilation of Betances' complete works, comprising 14 volumes. José Carvajal is the collection's editor. The first two volumes were formally published in Mayagüez on April 8, 2008. The first volume features most of Betances' written works about medicine; the second features intimate letters and document excerpts Betances wrote to family and friends over a span of 39 years. A third volume, which compiles some of Betances' literary works, was published in 2009.The Voz del Centro Foundation in Puerto Rico released a series of youth-oriented books named "Voces de la Cultura - Edición Juvenil" that same year; its first title being "Doctor Ramón Emeterio Betances: Luchador por la libertad y los pobres" ("Doctor R. E. Betances, Fighter for Liberty and the Poor").
In the United States
There is an elementary school in Hartford, ConnecticutHartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
, named in honor of Betances and Hartford's Puerto Rican community.
In Puerto Rico
As mentioned above, the main throroughfare that crosses Mayagüez from north to south is named after Betances. In PoncePonce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
there is a thoroughfare
Thoroughfare
A thoroughfare is a place of transportation intended to connect one location to another. Highways, roads, and trails are examples of thoroughfares used by a variety of general traffic. On land a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a rough trail to multi-lane highway with grade separated...
linking downtown Ponce and Puerto Rico highway 14, PR-14, which is named "Avenida Betances".
In Puerto Rico
Those who have judged our Lares revolution with disdain are not aware of the dangers that the movement cost, or what was really done then, or the results obtained since, or the sorrows, the pains, the deaths, the mourning that followed. They are not aware of the sufferings of those who were outlawed, or the recognition that they deserve. But the world is full of ingratitudes, and the disdainful tend to forget that this revolutionary act is precisely the highest struggle of dignity that has been done in Puerto Rico in four centuries of the most opprobrious servitude, engraving in its flag the abolition of slavery and the independence of the island. I'd rather not remember so much pain, so many efforts to illustrate those who pretend to disavow that great redemptive work. But this was the pride of the people, of the entire Puerto Rican people, of everyone who conspired for it and suffered for the future Motherland and the liberty of today. May the holy day of revolution for the Spanish Antilles come, and I will die satisfied! |
| Article written in the Cuban revolutionary monthly Patria, August 25, 1894 |
The political and sociological consequences of Betances' actions are definite and unequivocal. He was the first openly nationalistic political leader in Puerto Rico, and one of the first pro-independence leaders in the island nation's history (Among Puerto Ricans, Antonio Valero de Bernabé
Antonio Valero de Bernabe
Brigadier General Antonio Valero de Bernabé , aka The Liberator from Puerto Rico, was a military leader who fought for the independence of South America together with Simón Bolívar and who wanted the independence of Puerto Rico...
and Andrés Vizcarrondo—earlier pro-independence leaders for the Latin American revolutions—could not achieve the success Betances had years later within Puerto Rico). The Grito de Lares, using an often-quoted phrase that dates from 1868, "was the birth of Puerto Rican nationality, with Betances as its obstetrician". Nationalistic expressions in Puerto Rico—be they public affirmations, newspaper articles, poems, town meetings or outright revolts—were almost nonexistent before 1810s election of Ramón Power y Giralt
Ramon Power y Giralt
Captain Ramón Power y Giralt , commonly known only as "Ramón Power", was, according to Puerto Rican historian Lidio Cruz Monclova, among the first native born Puerto Ricans to refer to himself as a "Puerto Rican" and to fight for the equal representation of Puerto Rico in front of the parliamentary...
to the Spanish Cortes, most of them were defined within the framework of loyalty to Spain as a metropolitan power (and thus subordinate to Spanish rule over Puerto Rico), and many of them were quickly suppressed by the Spanish government, which feared an escalation of nationalistic sentiment that, in other countries, led to the independence movements of Latin America.
Although the seeds of both proactive government repression against the Puerto Rican independence movement had been planted before the Grito de Lares, and its aftermath only guaranteed the surge of autonomism
Autonomism
Autonomism refers to a set of left-wing political and social movements and theories close to the socialist movement. As an identifiable theoretical system it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerist communism...
as a political alternative in the island, the level of cultural and social development of a collective Puerto Rican conscience was almost a direct consequence of the event. To put it simply, if there is any nationalistic sentiment in Puerto Rico in the present day, almost all of it can be traced back to Betances and his political work.
Betances is considered a pioneer of Puerto Rican liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
. His ideas resulted from his exposure to republicanism
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
and social activism in France through the middle part of the 19th. century. These ideas, considered subversive in the severely restricted Puerto Rico of the era, had nevertheless a considerable impact in the island nation's political and social history. His ideas on race relations alone had a major impact on economics and the social makeup of the island.
In the Greater Antilles
Political events in Puerto Rico and Cuba between the late 1860s and 1898 forced a liberalization of Spanish policy towards both territories, and Betances was directly involved as a protagonist in both circumstances. As a firm believer in "Antillanismo" (the common improvement and unity of the countries that formed the Greater AntillesGreater Antilles
The Greater Antilles are one of three island groups in the Caribbean. Comprising Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico, the Greater Antilles constitute almost 90% of the land mass of the entire West Indies.-Greater Antilles in context :The islands of the Caribbean Sea, collectively known as...
) Betances was also a strong supporter of the sovereignty of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. A Dominican historian and political leader, Manuel Rodríguez Objío, likened Betances' revolutionary work to that performed by Tadeusz Kościuszko
Tadeusz Kosciuszko
Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko was a Polish–Lithuanian and American general and military leader during the Kościuszko Uprising. He is a national hero of Poland, Lithuania, the United States and Belarus...
for Poland, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and the United States of America. Paul Estrade, Betances' French biographer, likens him to Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
, Antonio José de Sucre
Antonio José de Sucre
Antonio José de Sucre y Alcalá , known as the "Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho" , was a Venezuelan independence leader. Sucre was one of Simón Bolívar's closest friends, generals and statesmen.-Ancestry:...
, Bernardo O'Higgins
Bernardo O'Higgins
Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme was a Chilean independence leader who, together with José de San Martín, freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. Although he was the second Supreme Director of Chile , he is considered one of Chile's founding fathers, as he was the first holder...
and José de San Martín
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...
.
José Martí
José Martí
José Julián Martí Pérez was a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. In his short life he was a poet, an essayist, a journalist, a revolutionary philosopher, a translator, a professor, a publisher, and a political theorist. He was also a part of the Cuban...
considered Betances one of his "teachers", or sources of political inspiration, and his diplomatic and intelligence work in France on behalf of the Cuban revolutionary junta greatly aided the cause, before it was directly influenced by the intervention of Gen. Valeriano Weyler
Valeriano Weyler
Don Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, 1st Duke of Rubí and 1st Marquis of Tenerife Don Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, 1st Duke of Rubí and 1st Marquis of Tenerife Don Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, 1st Duke of Rubí and 1st Marquis of Tenerife (Seed in Ambos Camarines.-Philippines:In 1888, he was sent out as...
as governor and commander of the Spanish forces in Cuba, and by the Maine incident later on.
Paul Estrade, Betances' French biographer, assesses his legacy as an Antillean this way: "The Antilles have developed political, social and scientific ideas that have changed the world, and that Europe has used. Not everything has (a European) source. Betances is the maximum expression of this reality."
Medical
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
, "Des Causes de l'ávortement" (The Causes for Miscarriage
Miscarriage
Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving independently, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation...
) examines various possible causes for the spontaneous death of a fetus and/or his mother, was later used as a textbook on gynecology at some European universities. According to at least one medical practitioner who examined it in 1988, his attempt to explain the theory behind spontaneous contractions leading to childbirth
Childbirth
Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...
were not very different from modern-day theories on the matter.
Betances' experiences handling the Mayagüez cholera epidemic led to another book, "El Cólera, Historia, Medidas Profilácticas, Síntomas y Tratamiento", which he authored and published in Paris in 1884 and expanded in 1890. The book was later used as a public health textbook in dealing with similar cholera epidemics in Latin America.
Betances also wrote several medical articles while in France. One of the articles examines elephantiasis
Elephantiasis
Elephantiasis is a disease that is characterized by the thickening of the skin and underlying tissues, especially in the legs and male genitals. In some cases the disease can cause certain body parts, such as the scrotum, to swell to the size of a softball or basketball. It is caused by...
; another deals with surgical castration
Castration
Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses the functions of the testicles or a female loses the functions of the ovaries.-Humans:...
, called "oscheotomy" at the time. Both books were also based on personal experience: there is evidence about a surgery he performed in Mayagüez on a Spanish government official with an elephantiasis lesion of the scrotum
Scrotum
In some male mammals the scrotum is a dual-chambered protuberance of skin and muscle containing the testicles and divided by a septum. It is an extension of the perineum, and is located between the penis and anus. In humans and some other mammals, the base of the scrotum becomes covered with curly...
the size of a grapefruit
Grapefruit
The grapefruit , is a subtropical citrus tree known for its sour fruit, an 18th-century hybrid first bred in Barbados. When found, it was named the "forbidden fruit"; it has also been misidentified with the pomelo or shaddock , one of the parents of this hybrid, the other being sweet orange The...
for which the costs were paid for by the local government; another patient he operated upon had a lesion that weighted 26 lb/11.8 kg. He also wrote an article on urethral obstructions in male patients (see above).
Literary
Betances was also one of the first Puerto Rican "writers-in-exile". In 1851, a small group of Puerto Rican university students in Europe formed the "Sociedad Recolectora de Documentos Históricos de la Isla de San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico", a society that attempted to research and catalog historical documents about Puerto Rico from firsthand government sources. Betances became the Society's researcher in France. The result of the Society's research was published in an 1854 book, for which Betances contributed. Inspired by Alejandro Tapia y RiveraAlejandro Tapia y Rivera
Alejandro Tapia y Rivera was a Puerto Rican poet, dramaturg, essayist and writer. Tapia is considered to be the father of Puerto Rican literature and as the person who has contributed the most to the cultural advancement of Puerto Rico's literature...
, the Society's organizer, who had written a novel inspired in Puerto Rican indigenous themes while studying in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Betances writes his novel: "Les Deux Indiens: Épisode de la conquéte de Borinquen" (The Two Indians: an episode of the conquest of Borinquen
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
), and publishes it in Toulouse in 1853, with a second edition published in 1857 under the pseudonym "Louis Raymond". This novel would be the first of many literary works by Betances (most of which were written in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
), and is notable for its indirect praise of Puerto Rican nationhood which, he suggests, was already developed in pre-Columbian Puerto Rico. This type of "indigenist literature" would become commonplace in Latin America in later years. He also wrote poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
in both French and Spanish for literary magazines in Paris, chiefly inspired by Alphonse de Lamartine
Alphonse de Lamartine
Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine was a French writer, poet and politician who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic.-Career:...
and Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
.
Major works
- Toussaint Louverture, Les Deux Indiéns (1852)
- Un premio de Luis XIV (1853)
- Las cortesanas en París (1853)
- La Vierge de Borinquén (1859)
- La botijuela (a.k.a. AululariaAululariaAulularia is a Latin play by the early Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. The title has been translated as The Pot of Gold, and the plot revolves around a literal pot of gold that the miserly protagonist, Euclio, guards zealously...
, translation from the Latin original by PlautusPlautusTitus Maccius Plautus , commonly known as "Plautus", was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus...
, 1863) - El Partido Liberal, su progreso y porvenir (translation from the French original by Édouard René de LaboulayeÉdouard René de LaboulayeÉdouard René Lefèbvre de Laboulaye was a French jurist, poet, author and anti-slavery activist...
, 1869) - Washington Haitiano (essay about Alexandre PétionAlexandre PétionAlexandre Sabès Pétion was President of the Republic of Haiti from 1806 until his death. He is considered as one of Haiti's founding fathers, together with Toussaint Louverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and his rival Henri Christophe.-Early life:Pétion was born in Port-au-Prince to a Haitian...
, 1871) - Los viajes de Scaldado (1890)
Betances also wrote one of the two prologues of the book "Les détracteurs de la race noire et de la République d'Haiti" (The detractors of the black race and the Republic of Haiti, 1882)
See also
- List of famous Puerto Ricans
- List of revolutions and rebellions
- Revolutionary waveRevolutionary waveA revolutionary wave is a series of revolutions occurring in various locations in a similar time period. In many cases, an initial revolution inspires other "affiliate revolutions" with similar aims....
Primary sources
- Ojeda Reyes, Félix, El Desterrado de París: Biografía del Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances (1827–1898), Ediciones Puerto, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2001. (ISBN 978-0-942347-47-0)
- Thomas, Hugh. Cuba: The pursuit for freedom. Da Capo Press Inc. New York, New York, United States, 1971.(ISBN 0-306-80827-7)
Secondary sources
From "La Voz del Centro", a collection of podcastPodcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
s hosted by Angel Collado Schwarz (all in Spanish, MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format):
- Ramón Emeterio Betances: Padre de la Patria, Médico de los Pobres, Poeta, Diplomático de Puerto Rico y Cuba en Francia. - with Félix Ojeda Reyes, Betances' biographer
- Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances: el médico - with Eduardo Rodríguez Vázquez
- Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances: el literario - with Ramón Luis Acevedo
- Betances, El Grito y St. Thomas - with Francisco Moscoso