Ángel Rivero Méndez
Encyclopedia
Ángel Rivero Méndez was a Puerto Rican
soldier, writer, journalist and a businessman who is credited with inventing the "Kola Champagne" soft drink. As a soldier in the Spanish Army
, Rivero fired the first shot against the United States
in Puerto Rico
in the Spanish-American War
.
to Juan Rivero and Rosa Méndez, who had immigrated to Puerto Rico from the Canary Islands
. Rivero received his secondary education at the "Colegio de Jesuitas" in Santurce (a section of San Juan
, the capital of Puerto Rico
). After graduation, he enlisted in the Spanish Army and entered the Infantry Academy of Puerto Rico. He was given an officer's commission upon graduation from the Academy on August 2, 1882.
On October 16, 1882, Rivero married Manuela Boneta Babel from San Juan. In 1885, he was accepted in the General Military Academy of Toledo in Spain
. There he wrote Toledo, a book about the city of Toledo
. In 1886, Rivero was transferred to the Academy of Artillery in Segovia
and, on February 28, 1889, he earned a degree in Industrial Engineering
.
.
As a captain, he was assigned to teach math and chemistry at the Civil Institution of Secondary Education. During this time in his life, he became active in politics as member of the Unconditional Spanish Party. Rivero also founded a newspaper called La Integridad Nacional (The National Integrity), a political paper which represented the views of the party. Rivero, along with some others was expelled from the party and together they formed another political party. An article criticizing the government, written by Rivero, was published and as a consequence, he was arrested and sent to jail. Due to the rumors of war, he was pardoned by Governor Macias and, on March 1, 1898, was assigned the command of the 3rd Company of the 12th Artillery Battalion at Fort San Cristobal
in San Juan.
declared war against Spain, the U.S. Navy sent the USS Yale
to form a blockade in San Juan Bay. On May 10, 1898, Captain Rivero-Méndez ordered his men to fire upon the Yale, thus becoming the first attack against the Americans in Puerto Rico of Spanish-American War
. For his actions, he was awarded the Cruz de la Orden de Merito Militar (The Cross of the Order of the Military Merit) first class. However, the residents of San Juan were furious with Rivero and blamed him for the destruction caused to their city by the responding bombardments. Nothing came of those accusations and Puerto Rico became a possession of the United States as an outcome of the Treaty of Paris of 1898
. Rivero-Méndez was ordered to turn over the keys of all the military installations in San Juan to Captain Henry A. Reed of the U.S. Army. Captain Rivero-Méndez was offered a military position by both the American and Spanish governments. He declined both offers and, on April 18, 1899, he officially retired from the Spanish Army.
After Rivero retired, he founded the Polo Norte Fabrica de Sodas (North Pole Soda Factory), a soft drink company. Rivero is credited with the invention and elaboration of the "Kola Champagne" which became, and still is, a very popular soft drink in Puerto Rico. It is also elaborated and sold in other countries, such the United States, Colombia
, Jamaica
and Mexico
.
", "El Mundo
" and La Correspondencia de Puerto Rico, where he defended Puerto Rican nationalism. In 1922, Rivero published his book Crónica de la Guerra Hispano Americana en Puerto Rico (Chronicles of the Spanish American War in Puerto Rico), which is considered one of the most complete works written in regard to that military action.
Rivero and his wife were devotees of the Virgin of Lourdes. In 1924, he built a shrine dedicated to the Virgin of Lourdes, on his land in Trujillo Alto. The shrine, which still stands today and is considered an important landmark of the area, was blessed by San Juan's Bishop Jorge Caruana on January 6, 1925.
In the end, Angel Rivero-Méndez suffered from severe depression. On February 23, 1930, he committed suicide by shooting himself in his house in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico. His remains are buried in the Old San Juan cemetery.
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...
soldier, writer, journalist and a businessman who is credited with inventing the "Kola Champagne" soft drink. As a soldier in the Spanish Army
Spanish Army
The Spanish Army is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies - dating back to the 15th century.-Introduction:...
, Rivero fired the first shot against the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 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...
in 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...
.
Early years
Ángel Rivero Méndez was born on October 2, 1856 in Trujillo Alto, Puerto RicoPuerto 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...
to Juan Rivero and Rosa Méndez, who had immigrated to Puerto Rico from the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
. Rivero received his secondary education at the "Colegio de Jesuitas" in Santurce (a section of San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
, the capital of 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...
). After graduation, he enlisted in the Spanish Army and entered the Infantry Academy of Puerto Rico. He was given an officer's commission upon graduation from the Academy on August 2, 1882.
On October 16, 1882, Rivero married Manuela Boneta Babel from San Juan. In 1885, he was accepted in the General Military Academy of Toledo in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. There he wrote Toledo, a book about the city of Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
. In 1886, Rivero was transferred to the Academy of Artillery in Segovia
Segovia
Segovia is a city in Spain, the capital of Segovia Province in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated north of Madrid, 30 minutes by high speed train. The municipality counts some 55,500 inhabitants.-Etymology:...
and, on February 28, 1889, he earned a degree in Industrial Engineering
Industrial engineering
Industrial engineering is a branch of engineering dealing with the optimization of complex processes or systems. It is concerned with the development, improvement, implementation and evaluation of integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information, equipment, energy, materials, analysis...
.
Military career
On January 1, 1890, Rivero returned to Puerto Rico and was assigned to the 12th Battalion of Plaza. He taught at the Military Preparatory Academy in San Juan and, in 1896, was promoted to the rank of captain. He was active in politics in the ranks of the Unconditional Spanish PartyUnconditional Spanish Party
The Unconditional Spanish Party was a loyalist conservative political party in Puerto Rico. It was originally founded on November 1870 as the Liberal-Conservative Party but in 1873 it changed its name to Unconditional Spanish Party...
.
As a captain, he was assigned to teach math and chemistry at the Civil Institution of Secondary Education. During this time in his life, he became active in politics as member of the Unconditional Spanish Party. Rivero also founded a newspaper called La Integridad Nacional (The National Integrity), a political paper which represented the views of the party. Rivero, along with some others was expelled from the party and together they formed another political party. An article criticizing the government, written by Rivero, was published and as a consequence, he was arrested and sent to jail. Due to the rumors of war, he was pardoned by Governor Macias and, on March 1, 1898, was assigned the command of the 3rd Company of the 12th Artillery Battalion at Fort San Cristobal
Fort San Cristóbal
The Castillo de San Cristóbal is a Spanish fort in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was built by Spain to protect against land based attacks on the city of San Juan. It is part of San Juan National Historic Site....
in San Juan.
Spanish-American War
When the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
declared war against Spain, the U.S. Navy sent the USS Yale
USS Yale (1889)
SS Paris—a steamship built between 1888 and 1889 by J. & G. Thompson at Glasgow, Scotland—was acquired by the U. S. Navy on 27 April 1898 under charter from the International Navigation Co.; renamed USS Yale; and commissioned on 2 May 1898, Capt. W. C. Wise in command. In 1918 she was...
to form a blockade in San Juan Bay. On May 10, 1898, Captain Rivero-Méndez ordered his men to fire upon the Yale, thus becoming the first attack against the Americans in Puerto Rico of 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...
. For his actions, he was awarded the Cruz de la Orden de Merito Militar (The Cross of the Order of the Military Merit) first class. However, the residents of San Juan were furious with Rivero and blamed him for the destruction caused to their city by the responding bombardments. Nothing came of those accusations and Puerto Rico became a possession of the United States as an outcome of the Treaty of Paris of 1898
Treaty of Paris (1898)
The Treaty of Paris of 1898 was signed on December 10, 1898, at the end of the Spanish-American War, and came into effect on April 11, 1899, when the ratifications were exchanged....
. Rivero-Méndez was ordered to turn over the keys of all the military installations in San Juan to Captain Henry A. Reed of the U.S. Army. Captain Rivero-Méndez was offered a military position by both the American and Spanish governments. He declined both offers and, on April 18, 1899, he officially retired from the Spanish Army.
Kola Champagne
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, 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...
and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
Later years
Rivero dedicated much of his later years to obtaining records and information for a book he ultimately wrote, on the Spanish-American War in Puerto Rico. He also wrote articles for the newspapers "El ImparcialEl Imparcial
El Imparcial, founded in 1918, was a Puerto Rican newspaper.In the 1970s Miguel A. García Méndez bought the newspaper. The building where the newspaper was run then was destroyed by political sabotage in a fire...
", "El Mundo
El Mundo (Puerto Rico)
-History:El Mundo was founded in 1919 by Romualdo Real.In 1929, former corrector-turned-administrator Angel Ramos and journalist José Coll Vidal, bought the newspaper when Real retired. In 1946 Ramos was the sole owner of the newspaper.-Acquisitions:...
" and La Correspondencia de Puerto Rico, where he defended Puerto Rican nationalism. In 1922, Rivero published his book Crónica de la Guerra Hispano Americana en Puerto Rico (Chronicles of the Spanish American War in Puerto Rico), which is considered one of the most complete works written in regard to that military action.
Rivero and his wife were devotees of the Virgin of Lourdes. In 1924, he built a shrine dedicated to the Virgin of Lourdes, on his land in Trujillo Alto. The shrine, which still stands today and is considered an important landmark of the area, was blessed by San Juan's Bishop Jorge Caruana on January 6, 1925.
In the end, Angel Rivero-Méndez suffered from severe depression. On February 23, 1930, he committed suicide by shooting himself in his house in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico. His remains are buried in the Old San Juan cemetery.
See also
- List of famous Puerto Ricans
- List of Puerto Rican military personnel
- Puerto Rican CampaignPuerto Rican CampaignThe Puerto Rican Campaign was an American military sea and land operation on the island of Puerto Rico during the Spanish–American War. The offensive began on May 12, 1898, when the United States Navy attacked the archipelago’s capital, San Juan. Though the damage inflicted on the city was minimal,...
- Military history of Puerto RicoMilitary history of Puerto RicoThe recorded military history of Puerto Rico encompasses the period from the 16th century, when Spanish conquistadores battled native Tainos in the rebellion of 1511, to the present employment of Puerto Ricans in the United States Armed Forces in the military campaigns in Afghanistan and...
- Puerto Rican scientists and inventors