Anarchism in Puerto Rico
[17] Following the 1868 Spanish Republic and the abolition of slavery five years later, the economic changes pushed farmers to the urban centers of Puerto Rico creating a new working class composed by salaried plantation workers and "artisans" (craftsmen).
[18] Following the 1873 decree of free association by Primo de Rivera, tobacco workshops created recreation centers for the employees where liberal ideas were shared in plays held at gatherings (later classified as "a vehicle for class self-affirmation") and which led to the propagation of stances against what was perceived as work exploitation.
[19] This was followed by the systematic incorporation of mutual aid initiatives for collective well-being (such Santiago Andrade's Sociedad Amigos del Bien Público) and casinos, such as the Círculo de Recreo y Beneficiencia.
[21] Later, the role of the lector (a literate speaker that was paid to read while the cigar rollers worked) was used to promote literacy and was also used in propagating leftist ideas, cooperativism and an open defiance to the authorities in order to preserve their autonomy.
[17] The appearance of anarchist newspaper Ensayo Obrero disturbed colonial governor Sabas Marín González enough to write a letter to king Alfonso XIII of Spain, lamenting the impending expansion of anarchism through Puerto Rico.
[32] After protests were held the day that Luis Muñoz Rivera swore in as prime minister of the new autonomic arrangement between Puerto Rico and Spain (February 11, 1898), the government and working class organizations were at odds.
[39] Leaders including Santiago Iglesias Pantín and Ramón Romero Rosa held reunions with military governor Guy Vernor Henry and San Juan mayor Luis Sánchez Morales, in which they demanded eight-hour shifts among other benefits for the working class.
[43] As the group continued their criticism of local parties and promoted their support for annexation, the FRT began developing an internal schism as more of its members became sympathetic to the independence movement and nationalism in particular, citing the principles of "individual freedom" and "respect towards the motherland".
[48] Having been accused of being an anarchist and anti-American, Iglesias left Puerto Rico and began a drastic ideological shift within the FLT, which lead to ending its association with the SLP, and approaching the American Federation of Labor.
[76] Publishing a book titled ¡Solidaridad!, fellow anarchist Alfonso Torres labeled Americans as equal to the previous Spanish regime and dismissed the elections as a way to legitimize the representation of individuals that did not understand the conditions of the working class.
[82] By 1906, an increasingly conflicted Rosa published an essay apologetic of anarchism (calling it "an ideal that is extremely honorable and good") titled "El poder de la amistad" as part of Entre broma y vera, where he also complimented Kropotkin.
[78] A generalized idea that workers were being duped into choosing between two dummy parties – Partido Union and Republican – in a divide and conquer strategy became prevalent within the group, who noted that ultimately the only real power lies in Washington.
[92] The execution of Ferrer y Guardia also inspired the anarchists like Vega Santos and Enrique Gómez to lash against public and Christian education, reflecting their intention to follow in the steps of his Modern School system.
[99] That same year, another activist advocated withdrawing the FLT from any electoral event, Antonio Quiñones Ríos, and delegates supported the move ending their political incursion and providing a moral victory for anarchists.
[100] Despite this, a shortage of tobacco leaf and Vilar's health as he developed sharp stomach pains and blurred vision threatened the CES that year, forcing it to focus on innovative approaches including a band, a short-lived attempt to publish a paper and more plays.
[104] However, others like Capetillo had grown to accept retaliatory violence as unavoidable and justifiable, citing the deaths of Ferrer y Guardia and Shūsui Kōtoku as well as the Haymarket affair as examples were the confrontations with the government led to murders that were sanctioned as legal.
[106] In March 1911 a black tobacco worker and anarchist named Ventura Grillo was involved in a strike and amidst the tensions assaulted the trio of Ángel Núñez, José María Berríos and Rafael Ceferinos.
[118] The upper echelons of the FLT did not use the events at Caguas to give exposure to the involved as symbols or "martyrs" for the cause, while the government stopped discussing them in their media, as a consequence of this anarchism would experience a sharp decline in support.
[120] In example, after a strike erupted within the local sugar industry, an assembly to support the workers was organized by the exiles at Lexington Avenue, in which figure such as Ángel María Dieppa, Rafael Correa, Herminio Colón, Ventura Mijón and Antonio Vega make appearances.
[150] The exchanges between Iglesias and El Comunista aggravated internal differences within the PS, which combined by the leader's support for Americanization gathered opposition from a group that included non-(and former) anarchists such as Plaza, Marcano and Rojas.
[162] In 1934, Ventura Mijón participated in the formal foundation of the Puerto Rican Communist Party, with other vestiges of the movement being seen in the occasional public mention of anarchism, mostly emerging as a reaction to the Spanish Revolution of 1936.
[160] Entering the following decade, and now with closer ties to the socialist ideals, the Unión de Socialistas Libertarios emerged from within the UPR and adopted a number of anarchist leanings such as publishing Bandera Negra on April 10, 1972, celebrating May Day and giving classes on the concept.
[179] Vilar was also interested in Espiritismo and wrote on the individual's "essence" and physical/spiritual components of Nature, which was part of a reciprocal relationship in which spiritists also supported turning their center into "schools that followed rationalist and lay principles", his main protect.
[13] As the devaluation of the Puerto Rican coin in favor of the USD resulted in most of the viable terrains being acquired by American interests, the AFL gained increasing influence over the local labor movement.
[195] As the support for the United States grew among the working class, Juan José López cautioned against it by citing incidents such as the Haymarket affair and its ramifications, Tampa cigar makers' strike and the confrontations between the federal government and the Industrial Workers of the World, the case of Simón Radowitzky, among other examples against the ideas of Republic-based democracy.
[222] When covering a series of strikes held by the Republican José Mauleón, Fernando J. Matías employed the term despite the disorder being in support of a political party in an antithesis of the local practices of the anarchism movement.
[226] This author later collaborated with Ángel J. Cappelletti in El anarquísmo en América Latina which analyzes Puerto Rican anarchism and traces its roots to similar Spanish movements, also discussing their anti-American postures as consequence of the direct relation with capitalism.
[234] García and Ángel G. Quintero discussed the influences of international anarchism and socialism during the early stages of the literate working class in 'Desafio y solidaridad: Breve historia del movimiento obrero puertorriqueño (1997).
[235] In her collaboration for 1998's Identity and Struggle and the Margins of the Nation-State: The Laboring Peoples of Central America and the Hispanic Caribbean, Eileen J. Findlay offers an insight on gender perception within anarchists of the early 20th century.
[239] Since the 1890s and following the turn of the century, the local media used "anarchism" as a negative term, as something foreign (one, in particular, cites the "miserable" parts of Paris, London or Madrid as its source), self-destructing, capable of destroying Puerto Rican society and preventing its development.
