SELECTED WORKS
Proclamation on the Nativity of José de Diego
richly on the steps of the Capitol in defense of the purest dignity, symbolized in the national flag. It is the day of consecration to the flag. To fully enter into the climate of this illustrious date, Nationalism will wear its best gala attire, aware, as it is, of the transcendence of the apostolate. From all horizons of the Nation, the nationalist representations will come to this capital, contributing to the splendor of the civic festival. The cadets of the Republic will render martial honors to the prominent figures whose deeds are commemorated, and anointed hands will cover the tombs of the heroes with natural flowers. As in previous times, the commemoration of April 16 will constitute a milestone of glory on the scale of Puerto Rican nationality. Being this the Day of Youth, the entire Nation will feel the joy of the lofty things. Youth will speak in the name of national decorum and will swear again not to rest until making Puerto Rico a Free and Sovereign Republic. The oath of Youth, pronounced in the presence of the Heroes, Don José De Diego and Suárez Díaz, will stand out for its eloquent sanctity; it will be a pact of love whose essential value will be determined by the young blood of Puerto Rico. Nationalism will not appeal to the cult of the dead to guide the living; Nationalism, depositary of the faith of the Liberators of America, follows the norm of life in all its transcendent manifestations: Nationalism understands that the Heroes are immortal, as immortal is the idea of Homeland that hardens them to the point of marble. With that idea as the only horizon, in this capital of San Juan Bautista, the redeeming hosts will meet to bring an end to the splendid homage. The word of Nationalism will repeat its message of Liberty and Union, the only forces that will found a sovereign and happy Homeland. Let us go on April 16, as Don José De Diego and Manuel Rafael Suárez Díaz went to immortality. Given in San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico, on the 13th day of April of 1935, Sixty-seventh year of the Proclamation of the Republic. Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico The National Board PEDRO ALBIZU CAMPOS President JOSE LAMEIRO General Secretary
Letter to Mr. Carlos Mendieta, President of Cuba San Juan de Puerto Rico May 22, 1935. Excmo. Mr. Carlos Mendieta President of Cuba La Habana. Excmo., Sir: This extraordinary communication is motivated by an unusual event perpetrated by police agents of your government, of such gravity that it obliges us to address ourselves directly to your Excellency in demand of an immediate reparation, which we do not doubt will be made as soon as you have knowledge of what has occurred. Don Juan Antonio Corretjer, Plenipotentiary Delegate of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico before the heroic and noble Cuban nation and its governments and institutions, is in La Habana. His mission has been to obtain from Cuba the sympathy that we logically expect from each Cuban towards the constitution of the Republic of Puerto Rico. This hope is founded on the sacred historical bonds, sealed with the blood of heroes and martyrs of the two nations, in the painful struggle for the independence of Cuba and Puerto Rico. The oath that joined Martí and De Hostos, Maceo and Rius Rivera, Estrada Palma and Benavides for eternity, is to be fulfilled by the Cubans, who know that Puerto Rico paid with its slavery the price of the independence of Cuba. More than two thousand Puerto Rican women went to swell the harems of the merchants of human flesh who populated the islands conquered and explored by foreigners protected by the Black Code of Spain. When Albizu was imprisoned in Atlanta, I sent a gift, in gold, to La Habana, through José Urrutia. Albizu’s letter never reached his hands. When this arrived in La Habana, I had been tried in the court of urgency more than a month before, released a month later, and José Urrutia had taken refuge in the Consulate of Uruguay resentful of the treatment he had been given for the failed shipment.
In such circumstances, we have been surprised by the news that the police of La Habana have thrown the representative of Nationalism of Puerto Rico into the dungeons of the El Príncipe castle, without any cause. We have refrained from resorting to the universal denunciation of such an execrable act that deserves continental repudiation, because it is an invariable norm of Nationalism of Puerto Rico not to contribute to the campaign of discredit that the North American press systematically carries out against our nationalities, pointing out above all its support for Batista and Colonel Pedraca after the collapse of the General Strike of March 1935. Fernández Medina had already testified against him for the serious reasons already stated of requesting continental solidarity before a common enemy, as is the Yankee empire. We understand that the presence of the Delegate of Puerto Rico before the Cuban Nation is viewed with spite by the North American government, and that its embassy in that capital pressures the Cuban government to violate the norms imposed upon it by respect for its own sovereignty and the practices prevailing in free nations with devotion and respect for representatives. This situation was presented to the government of General Machado in the year 1928 when the one who subscribes had the honor of holding before the Cuban nation the investiture that Don Juan Antonio Corretjer currently carries. Given the pressure of the North American embassy and the efforts of Martinez Ortiz, the Cuban government notified us of the order of expulsion from the territory of Cuba. We understood that those who had been the enemies of the independence of Cuba and those who assassinated its founders could not represent the representative of the independence of Puerto Rico, before the Republic of Cuba, and that we trust that a government of that kind will never exist in Cuba. We had the opportunity to combat the machadato in Cuba. But it deserves historical recognition for having refrained from requesting my presence at the Embassy; and asked me not to process the message.
I also had another reason that Albizu ignored, but that Fernández Medina knew. I had gotten up to my neck in the street fighting during the strike and only a stroke of luck got me out of El Príncipe. I was returned to El Príncipe, but I was not released until a month later. But this is part of another story.