The island, which Spain ceded to the United States after the Spanish–American War was governed by an American appointed governor in accordance to the Treaty of Paris of 1898.

[13] Soon thereafter, the leadership of the Nationalist party, including Pedro Albizu Campos, were arrested and incarcerated for conspiracy to overthrow the government of the United States.

The Senate, which at the time was controlled by the Partido Popular Democrático (PPD) and presided by Luis Muñoz Marín, approved the bill.

[15] Under this new law it became a crime to print, publish, sell, or exhibit any material intended to paralyze or destroy the insular government; or to organize any society, group or assembly of people with a similar destructive intent.

According to Dr. Leopoldo Figueroa, a non-PPD member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, the law was repressive and was in violation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution which guarantees Freedom of Speech.

[16] At a young age Margenat became a follower of Pedro Albizu Campos and the ideals of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party.

That horrible contempt that rained y a su calor la patria suspiró transformándose como un rojo beso en el abrazo azul y desnudo del aire.

[1] On April 7, 1957 Margenat at the age of 24 years died of Tuberculous meningitis in his house in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In 1957, poet Ana Hilda Garrastegui Pellicia wrote a poem about Margenat titled "Siete Poemas a Hugo Margenat"[21] His mother María Cristina Mediavilla, donated a collection of his written works to the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture which, under the direction of Puerto Rican poet José Manuel Torres Santiago, were published in 1974 under the title "Obras Completas" (Complete Works).