Title: 1950 - Utuado Uprising in Puerto Rico

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About: Nationalist rebels instiagted a short-lived uprising in Puerto Rico, aiming for independence from the USA.

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Since the beginning of the nineteenth century a Puerto Rican nationalist movement had existed . However, in the first half of the twentieth century American interests on the island were growing, and an increasingly colonial relationship began to emerge. American sugar interests began to dominate the Puerto Rican economy, while ports, utilities, and railroads were also American-owned. 

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The leader of the independence movement, Pedro Albizu Campos, had spent many years campaigning and preparing an underground nationalist struggle.  For his troubles, he spent a decade in jail, but was released in 1947, just before the island’s first-ever free gubernatorial elections were held

 

The politician who won them, Luis Muñoz Marín, was the total opposite of Albizu Campos. He not only opposed Puerto Rico’s independence but was also a driving force behind a move to keep the island within the American orbit as an 'unincorporated U.S. territory'. He enacted draconian laws against the opposition, placing large numbers of Puerto Ricans under long-term surveillance by secret police, and arresting thousands for their political beliefs. The Puerto Rican flag was also outlawed.

 

On October 27, 1950, after being alerted to preemptive police raids being carried out against his followers, Albizu Campos summoned his followers to arms. His small band of nationalists retrieved secretly cached weapons and rose up to seize towns and attack police stations and other targets. Despite localized successes, martial law was declared and the uprising crushed with widespread arrests.

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On the island, the rebellion was over by the night of October 31st. But the plot wasn’t finished. In Washington D.C., two Puerto Rican nationalists attempted an assassination of President Truman.  They never made it inside the building where the President was, but engaged in a shootout, which left one of the Puerto Ricans and one Secret Service agent dead. Albizu Campos, who was arrested along with several dozen of his followers, was sentenced to eighty years in prison. 

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Decade: 1950s

Year: 1950

Region: Latin America

Country: Puerto Rico +USA

Politics: Revolution

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Type: Historical Event

Impact: 3

Artist: Bryan Willian

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Group: Genesis

Number: 50/100

Price: 0.3 ETH

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