34. The Puerto Ricans Who Lobbied for Independence, With the Pen and With the Sword
In 1922, the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party (PRNP) was formed, to lobby for independence by both the pen and sword. Decades later, the pen had not brought about independence. So frustrated PRNP activists, led by the party’s charismatic leader, the Harvard-educated Pedro Albizu Campos, came to favor the sword.
On October 30th, a series of coordinated armed attacks struck American targets in six Puerto Rican towns. The uprising was swiftly crushed by a strong military response, that included the use of planes. President Harry S. Truman described the event as “an incident between Puerto Ricans“. That further upset PRNP activists. To draw attention to the cause of independence – and make a point that what had happened was a rebellion and act of war between two countries – they drew plans for the assassination of Truman.