Río Piedras massacre
Encyclopedia
The Río Piedras massacre occurred at the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
, and involved a confrontation between local police officers and supporters of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
on October 24, 1935. Four partisans of the Nationalist party were killed and one police officer wounded during the shooting.
named Dr. Carlos E. Chardón
Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico. In 1935, Chardón initiated a project based on the ideas of Luis Muñoz Marín
, who at the time was a Senator in the Puerto Rican legislature and member of the Liberal Party of Puerto Rico, as the Reconstruction of Puerto Rico Project. The plan which was within the established criteria of President Franklin Delano Roosevelts New Deal
was well received and became known as "Plan Chardon".
Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos
, president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, believed that Chardón, who had been put in charge of the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration
(PRRA) by the then U.S. appointed governor Blanton Winship, was being used by the United States to "Americanize" the university with the support of the Liberal Party. On October 20, 1935, in a political meeting which the Nationalist Party held in the town of Maunabo
and which was transmitted by radio, Albizu Campos denounced Chardón, the deans and the Liberal Party as traitors, who wanted to convert the university into an "American" propaganda institution.
On October 23, 1935, a group of students at the university began a signature collection campaign with the intention of declaring Albizu Campos "Student Enemy Number One". A protest against the group by the pro-nationalist faction of students in turn denounced Chardón and the Liberal Party as instigators and agents of the United States.
A witness of the massacre
, Isolina Rondón
, testified how she saw the police officers shooting at the victims and how she heard one police officer screaming not to let them "escape alive". However, her testimony was ignored and there were no charges raised against the officers. They were instead given a promotion.
Among the wounded were:
One of the results of the assassination of Riggs was that many of the leaders of the Nationalist party were imprisoned and the members of the Puerto Rican independence movement were under greater persecusion then ever. Among the leaders who were arrested were Albizu Campos, Juan Antonio Corretjer
, Luis F. Velazquez, Clemente Soto Velez
, Erasmo Velazquez, Julio H. Velazquez, Rafael Ortiz Pacheco, Juan Gallardo Santiago, Juan Juarbe Juarbe and Pablo Rosado Ortiz. Ortiz Pacheco fleed to the Dominican Republic
. The accusations against them by the United States Government was that they conspired to overthrow the United States Government in the island. The first trial ended in a "hung" jury. The jury of the second trail was made up solely of "Anglo-Americans" and, with the exception of Juarbe Juarbe who was found innocent, found the group of leaders guilty as charged.
The news of the assassination spread throughout the United States and Puerto Rican Senator Luis Muñoz Marín
, who was in Washington, D.C. at the time, was asked by Ernest Gruening
, a U.S. appointed official who served as Administrator of the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration
from 1935–1937, to condemn Riggs' assassination. Muñoz Marín refused to do so unless he was allowed to also condemn the United States controlled police for allowing their officers to take justice into their hands such as when they passed judgment upon the nationalists and murdered them without a trial. Gruening, who up to then had been a close friend of Muñoz Marín, joined U.S Senator Millard Tydings
in a legislation proposal to grant independence to Puerto Rico with unfavorable economic conditions which in the long run would leave the island in ruins. Even though the measure was seen as favorable to the political parties in Puerto Rico, among them the Liberal Party of Puerto Rico of which Muñoz Marín belonged, Muñoz Marín however, opposed the measure which he considered to be unfavorable to the island and said Bill did not progress.
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 involved a confrontation between local police officers and supporters 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...
on October 24, 1935. Four partisans of the Nationalist party were killed and one police officer wounded during the shooting.
Prelude to the massacre
In 1931, the United States appointed governor, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
Theodore D. Roosevelt, Jr. , was an American political and business leader, a Medal of Honor recipient who fought in both of the 20th century's world wars. He was the eldest son of President Theodore Roosevelt from his second wife Edith Roosevelt...
named Dr. Carlos E. Chardón
Carlos E. Chardón
Dr. Carlos E. Chardón, D.Sc., D.Litt, was the first Puerto Rican mycologist. He was also known as "the Father of Mycology in Puerto Rico". He discovered the aphid "Aphis maidis", the vector of the sugar cane Mosaic virus. Mosaic viruses are plant viruses...
Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico. In 1935, Chardón initiated a project based on the ideas of Luis Muñoz Marín
Luis Muñoz Marín
Don José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist, and politician. Regarded as the "father of modern Puerto Rico," he was the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. Muñoz Marín was the son of Luis Muñoz Rivera, a renowned autonomist leader...
, who at the time was a Senator in the Puerto Rican legislature and member of the Liberal Party of Puerto Rico, as the Reconstruction of Puerto Rico Project. The plan which was within the established criteria of President Franklin Delano Roosevelts New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
was well received and became known as "Plan Chardon".
Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos
Pedro Albizu Campos
Don Pedro Albizu Campos was a Puerto Rican politician and one of the leading figures in the Puerto Rican independence movement. He was the leader and president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party from 1930 until his death...
, president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, believed that Chardón, who had been put in charge of the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration was one of the alphabet agencies, created during the American New Deal. It was established in the Department of the Interior by Executive Order 7057 of May 28, 1935, and eliminated as of February 26, 1940, by act of August 15, 1953 .The objectives of the...
(PRRA) by the then U.S. appointed governor Blanton Winship, was being used by the United States to "Americanize" the university with the support of the Liberal Party. On October 20, 1935, in a political meeting which the Nationalist Party held in the town of Maunabo
Maunabo, Puerto Rico
Maunabo is a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the southeastern coast, northeast of Patillas and south of Yabucoa. Maunabo is spread over 8 wards and Maunabo Pueblo . It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.The Mayor of the town is Jorge L. Márquez Pérez...
and which was transmitted by radio, Albizu Campos denounced Chardón, the deans and the Liberal Party as traitors, who wanted to convert the university into an "American" propaganda institution.
On October 23, 1935, a group of students at the university began a signature collection campaign with the intention of declaring Albizu Campos "Student Enemy Number One". A protest against the group by the pro-nationalist faction of students in turn denounced Chardón and the Liberal Party as instigators and agents of the United States.
Massacre
A student assembly was held at the university on Oct. 24, where Albizu Campos was declared "Persona non-grata". Chardón requested that the governor provide and place armed police officers on the grounds of the university in case the situation turned violent. A couple of police officers spotted what they believed to be a suspicious looking automobile and asked the driver Ramón S. Pagán, who was accompanied by his friend Pedro Quiñones, for his license. A fight between the men in the car and the police soon followed which resulted in the death of Pagán and Quiñones. According to the local newspaper "El Mundo" of Oct. 25th, an explosion, followed by gunfire, was heard resulting in the additional deaths of Eduardo Rodríguez Vega and José Santiago Barea.A witness of the massacre
Massacre
A massacre is an event with a heavy death toll.Massacre may also refer to:-Entertainment:*Massacre , a DC Comics villain*Massacre , a 1932 drama film starring Richard Barthelmess*Massacre, a 1956 Western starring Dane Clark...
, Isolina Rondón
Isolina Rondón
Isolina Rondón was a political activist and Treasurer of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. She was one of the few witnesses of the killing of four Nationalists committed by local police officers in Puerto Rico during a confrontation with the supporters of the Nationalist Party that occurred in...
, testified how she saw the police officers shooting at the victims and how she heard one police officer screaming not to let them "escape alive". However, her testimony was ignored and there were no charges raised against the officers. They were instead given a promotion.
Casualties
The supporters of the Nationalist Party killed during the shooting were:- Ramón S. Pagán - Nationalist Party secretary
- Eduardo Rodríguez Vega
- José Santiago Barea
- Pedro Quiñones
Among the wounded were:
- Dionisio Pearson, who would later die of his wounds.
- One police officer was wounded during the shooting as well.
Aftermath
On February 23, 1936, Colonel Elisha Francis Riggs, a former Colonel in the United States Army and who was at the time the U.S. appointed superior police officer in the island, was considered by the nationalists to be responsible for the massacre. He was assassinated in retaliation by Nationalists Hiram Rosado and Elías Beauchamp, while he was on his way home after attending mass in San Juan's Cathedral. Rosado and Beauchamp were arrested, and summarily executed without a trial at the police headquarters in San Juan, but not before Beauchamp posed solemnly for a news photographer outside and proffered a stiff military salute.One of the results of the assassination of Riggs was that many of the leaders of the Nationalist party were imprisoned and the members of the Puerto Rican independence movement were under greater persecusion then ever. Among the leaders who were arrested were Albizu Campos, Juan Antonio Corretjer
Juan Antonio Corretjer
Juan Antonio Corretjer Montes , was a poet, journalist and pro-independence political activist opposing United States rule in Puerto Rico.-Early years:...
, Luis F. Velazquez, Clemente Soto Velez
Clemente Soto Vélez
Clemente Soto Vélez was a Puerto Rican nationalist, poet, journalist and activist who mentored many generations of artists in Puerto Rico and New York City...
, Erasmo Velazquez, Julio H. Velazquez, Rafael Ortiz Pacheco, Juan Gallardo Santiago, Juan Juarbe Juarbe and Pablo Rosado Ortiz. Ortiz Pacheco fleed to 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 accusations against them by the United States Government was that they conspired to overthrow the United States Government in the island. The first trial ended in a "hung" jury. The jury of the second trail was made up solely of "Anglo-Americans" and, with the exception of Juarbe Juarbe who was found innocent, found the group of leaders guilty as charged.
The news of the assassination spread throughout the United States and Puerto Rican Senator Luis Muñoz Marín
Luis Muñoz Marín
Don José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist, and politician. Regarded as the "father of modern Puerto Rico," he was the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. Muñoz Marín was the son of Luis Muñoz Rivera, a renowned autonomist leader...
, who was in Washington, D.C. at the time, was asked by Ernest Gruening
Ernest Gruening
Ernest Henry Gruening was an American journalist and Democrat who was the Governor of the Alaska Territory from 1939 until 1953, and a United States Senator from Alaska from 1959 until 1969.-Early life:...
, a U.S. appointed official who served as Administrator of the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration was one of the alphabet agencies, created during the American New Deal. It was established in the Department of the Interior by Executive Order 7057 of May 28, 1935, and eliminated as of February 26, 1940, by act of August 15, 1953 .The objectives of the...
from 1935–1937, to condemn Riggs' assassination. Muñoz Marín refused to do so unless he was allowed to also condemn the United States controlled police for allowing their officers to take justice into their hands such as when they passed judgment upon the nationalists and murdered them without a trial. Gruening, who up to then had been a close friend of Muñoz Marín, joined U.S Senator Millard Tydings
Millard Tydings
Millard Evelyn Tydings was an attorney, author, soldier, state legislator, and served as a Democratic Representative and Senator in the United States Congress from Maryland.-Early life:...
in a legislation proposal to grant independence to Puerto Rico with unfavorable economic conditions which in the long run would leave the island in ruins. Even though the measure was seen as favorable to the political parties in Puerto Rico, among them the Liberal Party of Puerto Rico of which Muñoz Marín belonged, Muñoz Marín however, opposed the measure which he considered to be unfavorable to the island and said Bill did not progress.
See also
- Isolina RondónIsolina RondónIsolina Rondón was a political activist and Treasurer of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. She was one of the few witnesses of the killing of four Nationalists committed by local police officers in Puerto Rico during a confrontation with the supporters of the Nationalist Party that occurred in...
- Puerto Rican Nationalist PartyPuerto Rican Nationalist PartyThe 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...
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- Pedro Albizu CamposPedro Albizu CamposDon Pedro Albizu Campos was a Puerto Rican politician and one of the leading figures in the Puerto Rican independence movement. He was the leader and president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party from 1930 until his death...
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