Vicente Balbás Capó
Encyclopedia
Vicente Balbás Capó was a prominent Puerto Rican
journalist and political figure. He was a defender of the Spanish regime in Puerto Rico, and during the Spanish-American War
he organized a volunteer battalion and was imprisoned for his opposition to Puerto Ricans serving in the United States armed forces.
Balbás-Capó was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico
, in 1864.
Puerto Rican people
A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...
journalist and political figure. He was a defender of the Spanish regime in Puerto Rico, and during the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
he organized a volunteer battalion and was imprisoned for his opposition to Puerto Ricans serving in the United States armed forces.
Balbás-Capó was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico
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...
, in 1864.
Rejected U.S. citizenship
Balbás-Capó was among a group of 229 Puerto Ricans who, at the time of the imposition of American citizenship on Puerto Ricans in 1917, decided to reject American citizenship as well as not register for military service.Sentenced to seven years prison
Balbás-Capó made history again when he was arrested and sentenced to seven years imprisonment for using his newspaper El Heraldo de las Antillas to fight the draft, American citizenship and the americanization of Puerto Rico. He appeals to the First Circuit Court in Boston and wins. He rejected American citizenship.Opposed military service
During the period of 1917 to 1919, those opposing obligatory military recruitment in Puerto Rico were strongly suppressed. During this period, 1,541 Puerto Ricans were declared delinquents by the Selective Military Service. Of those, over 330 were arrested, of which 229 were jailed for not registering in the U.S. military service. Balbás-Capó was among those 229. When his case was heard in U.S. Federal Court in Puerto Rico, he was sentenced to eight years in prison. Upon appeal to the First Circuit Court in Boston, however, he was absolved.External links
See also
- List of Latin American writers
- List of Puerto Rican writers
- List of Famous Puerto Ricans
- Puerto Rican literature
- Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States