Liberal Party of Puerto Rico
Liberal Party Partido Liberal | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founder | Antonio R. Barcel� |
| Founded | 1932 |
| Dissolved | 1944 |
| Split from | The Alliance |
| Ideology | Liberalism[1] Autonomy |
| Political position | Centre |
| Colors | Red, Black |
The Liberal Party of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Partido Liberal de Puerto Rico) was a pro-Puerto Rican independence political party. The Liberal Party was founded in 1932 as a formal disaffiliation between two political parties which composed the political coalition known as the Alianza (Alliance).
Founding
[edit]The Alianza (also called the Coalition)[dubious – discuss] was a coalition between the pro-independence Union Party led by Antonio R. Barcel� and the pro-statehood Republican Party of Puerto Rico led by Jos� Tous Soto. Differences between Barcel�, Tous Soto and F�lix C�rdova D�vila, the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in Washington, as to the goals of the alliance became apparent. Barcel� requested that Herbert Hoover, the newly elected President of the United States, temporarily retain Horace Mann Towner as governor of the island. Hoover consulted C�rdova D�vila instead of Barcel� in regard to his intentions of naming Theodore Roosevelt Jr. to the post.[2] C�rdova D�vila in turn notified Tous Soto, instead of Barcel�, as to Hoover's decision.
Barcel� was offended and convinced his followers, in the Unionist sector of the alliance, to disaffiliate themselves from the "Alliance." Because of legal reasons, Barcel� was unable to use the name "Union Party" and in 1932 founded the "Liberal Party of Puerto Rico." The Liberal Party's political agenda was the same as the original Union Party's agenda and urged independence as a political solution for Puerto Rico.[3] Among those who joined him in the "new" party were Felisa Rinc�n de Gautier and Ernesto Ramos Antonini. By 1932, Luis Mu�oz Rivera's son, Luis Mu�oz Mar�n, had also joined the Liberal Party. During the elections of 1932, the Liberal Party faced the Alliance, then a coalition of the Republican Party of Puerto Rico and Santiago Iglesias' Socialist Party. Barcel� and Mu�oz Mar�n were both elected senators. The Liberals generally supported the policies of the New Deal and sought to translate the programs to Puerto Rico. It was the single strongest party from 1932 to 1940. It was prevented from taking a majority of seats by the Coalici�n.
Decline
[edit]By 1936, differences between Mu�oz Mar�n and Barcel� began to surface. While Barcel� dedicated himself to the local political activities of the party in Puerto Rico, Mu�oz Mar�n was in Washington, D.C., where, with the help of news reporter Ruby Black, he became known among the politicians of the United States. Among his successes in Washington was the implementation of the "Plan Chardon" in the New Deal of the Roosevelt Administration, which he did without consulting Barcel�. The successes of Mu�oz Mar�n convinced many in the island that he was the true leader of the Liberal Party, thereby creating a faction within the party between those who considered Mu�oz Mar�n the true leader and those who considered Barcel� as their leader.[4]
After the assassination of police colonel Francis Riggs in San Juan as an indirect result of the R�o Piedras massacre, which involved the police and students of the University of Puerto Rico, U.S. Senator Millard Tydings presented a legislative proposal in 1936 to grant independence to Puerto Rico. Barcel� and the Liberal Party favored the bill, as did other Puerto Rican parties of the time, because it would give Puerto Rico its independence; Mu�oz Mar�n opposed the bill because he thought it had unfavorable economic conditions.[4]
In 1936, a party assembly was held in San Juan where Mu�oz Mar�n stated that he was not interested in being considered for the position of Resident Commissioner and that Barcel� should be the Commissioner. This move would leave the presidency of the party empty and open for Mu�oz Mar�n. Barcel� refused to be named Commissioner and to relinquish his presidency.[4] Mu�oz Mar�n and his followers founded a group within the party called "Accion Social Puertorrique�o" (Puerto Rican Social Action) who believed in the immediate independence of Puerto Rico. After the Liberal Party was defeated in 1936 elections, an assembly was held in Naranjales on May 31, 1937, in which Mu�oz Mar�n presented his ideas as to how the party should be run; however, the majority of the party members objected and blamed him for their defeat. Mu�oz Mar�n considered this action the same as having been expelled from the party.[4]
Mu�oz Mar�n and his followers, among which were included Felisa Rincon de Gautier and Ernesto Ramos Antonini, held an assembly in the town of Arecibo, founded the Clear, Net, Authentic, and Complete Liberal Party (Partido Liberal, Neto, Aut�ntico y Completo), claiming to be the true Liberal Party. The Partido Liberal, Neto, Aut�ntico y Completo, an independence political party, later became the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), which would end up promoting the "Estado Libre Associado" (Free Associated State) status that Barcel�, as president of Union Party, had asked for in 1923 under Campbell Bill and which Mu�oz Mar�n had always opposed, instead of independence.[4]
Maria Antonia Josefina Barcel� was elected president of the Liberal Party upon the passing of her father in 1938, thus becoming the first woman to preside a political party in Puerto Rico. In the years that followed, the Liberal Party lost its base of support to the PPD. The Liberal Party only survived as an electoral force until 1944.[5]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ "el partido liberal puertorrique�o". aquiestapr. 23 March 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
- ^ El Nuevo Dia Archived July 18, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Antonio Barcelo
- ^ a b c d e "Puerto Rico Por Encima de Todo: Vida y Obra de Antonio R. Barcelo, 1868-1938"; by: Dr. Delma S. Arrigoitia; Page 292; Publisher: Ediciones Puerto (January 2008); ISBN 978-1-934461-69-3
- ^ Antonio Rafael Anastacio Barcelo
