Hiram Rosado (1911-February 23, 1936) was a member of the

Cadets of the Republic Cadets of the Republic, known in Spanish as Cadetes de la República, was the paramilitary wing of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party in the twentieth century. The organization was also referred to as the Liberation Army of Puerto Rico ''(Ejér ...

, the

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

wing of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party who, together with fellow Cadet Elías Beauchamp, carried out the 1936 assassination of Col. Elisha Francis Riggs, the United States appointed chief of the

Puerto Rico Police The Puerto Rico Police (PPR; , ), officially the Puerto Rico Police Bureau (, ), is a law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the entire Puerto Rico, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a division of the Puerto Rico Department of Public Safe ...

. Both men were arrested and shot, officially while attempting to escape, at the police headquarters in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

. News of the assassinations spread throughout the United States and lead to legislative proposal by U.S. Senator

Millard Tydings Millard Evelyn Tydings (April 6, 1890February 9, 1961) was an American attorney, author, soldier, state legislator, and served as a Democratic Representative and Senator in the United States Congress from Maryland, serving in the House from 1 ...

, to grant independence to Puerto Rico.

Early years

Rosado (birth name: Hiram Rosado Ayala ) was born in the town of

Ciales, Puerto Rico Ciales (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico, located on the Central Mountain Range, northwest of Orocovis; south of Florida and Manatí; east of Utuado and Jayuya; and west of Morovis. Ciales is spread over eight barrios and Cial ...

. There he received his primary and secondary education. Rosado enjoyed reading and his father, Pedro Rosado would often buy him books. Rosado also had a passion for music and played the violin."Latino History and Culture: An Encyclopedia"; By David J. Leonard, Carmen R. Lugo-Lugo; Publisher: Sharpe Reference; 1st edition (2010); • . After he graduated, Rosado went to work for a company called FERA where he became a supervisor.

Puerto Rican Nationalist Party

The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party was founded by José Coll y Cuchí as a direct response to the American colonial government in 1919, By the 1920s, there were two other pro-independence organizations in the Island, they were the "Nationalist Youth" and the " Independence Association of Puerto Rico". On September 17, 1922, the two political organizations merged into the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. In 1924, Dr.

Pedro Albizu Campos Pedro Albizu Campos (June 29, 1893Luis Fortuño Janeiro. ''Album Histórico de Ponce (1692–1963).'' p. 290. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta Fortuño. 1963. – April 21, 1965) was a Puerto Rican attorney and politician, and a leading figure in ...

joined the party and on May 11, 1930, Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos was elected president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party.Luis Muñoz Marín, By A. W. Maldonado, Pg. 86, Publisher: La Editorial, Universidad de Puerto Rico, (December 1, 2006), , Rosado was interested in the cause for Puerto Rican independence and joined the Nationalist Party. He became a member of the

(Cadetes de la Republica) where he befriended fellow cadet Elías Beauchamp. The cadets was a quasi-military youth organization of the Nationalist Party also known as the "Liberation Army of Puerto Rico".

Events leading to a massacre

In 1931, the U.S.-appointed Governor of Puerto Rico,

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Theodore Roosevelt III ( ; September 13, 1887 – July 12, 1944), often known as Theodore Jr.,Morris, Edmund (1979). ''The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt''. index.While it was President Theodore Roosevelt who was legally named Theodore Roosevelt Jr ...

named Dr. Carlos E. Chardón as Chancellor of the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...

. In 1935, Chardón initiated a project based on the ideas of

Luis Muñoz Marín José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín (February 18, 1898April 30, 1980) was a Puerto Rican journalist, politician, statesman and was the first elected governor of Puerto Rico, regarded as the "Architect of the Puerto Rico Commonwealth." In 1948 he ...

, who at the time was a Senator in the Puerto Rican legislature and member of the Liberal Party of Puerto Rico. It was known as the Reconstruction of Puerto Rico Project. The plan, which was within the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

criteria established by U.S. President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, was well received and became known as ''Plan Chardón.''Dr. Delma S. Arrigoitia, ''Puerto Rico Por Encima de Todo: Vida y Obra de Antonio R. Barcelo, 1868-1938''; p. 292; Publisher: Ediciones Puerto (January 2008); On October 20, 1935, in a political meeting which the Nationalist Party held in the town of Maunabo and which was transmitted by radio, Albizu Campos denounced Chardón, the university deans and the Liberal Party as traitors, saying they wanted to convert the university into an "American" propaganda institution. On October 23, 1935, a group of students at the university who supported Chardón began to collect signatures for a petition to declare Albizu Campos "Student Enemy Number One." In turn, a protest against the group by the pro-Nationalist faction of students denounced Chardón and the Liberal Party as agents of the United States.

The Río Piedras massacre

On October 24, 1935, a student assembly held at the university declared Albizu Campos as "persona non grata." Chardón requested that the governor provide armed police officers on the university grounds, in case the situation turned violent. Two police officers spotted a "suspicious-looking vehicle" and asked the driver, Ramón S. Pagán, and his friend Pedro Quiñones, for identification. A struggle ensued, and the police killed Pagán and Quiñones. According to the local newspaper "El Mundo" of Oct. 25th, an explosion, followed by gunfire, was heard resulting in the additional deaths of Eduardo Rodríguez Vega and José Santiago Barea. Elisha Francis Riggs, a former Colonel in the United States Army, was the United States appointed police chief of Puerto Rico.Arrigoitia (2008), ''Puerto Rico Por Encima de Todo'', p. 306 An eyewitness, Isolina Rondón, testified that she saw the police officers shooting at the victims and heard one police officer screaming "not to let them escape alive." Her testimony was ignored, and no charges were filed against the police officers. The Río Piedras massacre left four men dead."Isolina Rondón"
testimony, Peace Host

Assassination of Elisha F. Riggs

Colonel Elisha Francis Riggs was born in Georgetown, a historic neighborhood located in northwest

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, Riggs was a former officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

who was appointed Chief of the

in 1933, by Blanton Winship, the U.S. appointed governor of Puerto Rico. He was an unpopular police chief, stemming from his decisions to repress the growing sugar cane worker's

organized labor The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

movement and the Nationalist Pro-Independence Movement. The Río Piedras Massacre enraged the nationalists including Rosado and Beauchamps. The nationalists believed that Col. Elisha F. Riggs was responsible for the massacre, as the chief of the

. Beauchamps decided to retaliate with the help of Rosado. On Sunday, February 23, 1936, Elisha F. Riggs had attended mass in the Church of Santa Ana in San Juan. When the mass was over, Riggs stepped out of the church and got into his car, a Packard, driven by Angel Alvarez, a police officer. Rosado knew the route which Riggs would normally take and waited. When Riggs' car reached the corner of Allen and Gambaro Streets, Rosado came out of his hideout and began shooting towards Riggs. Rosado then made a run for it, but was soon captured by Alvarez. All the while, Riggs got out of his car and began asking for the declarations of those who witnessed the attempt on his life. He was suddenly approached by Beauchamps who said "I saw everything, Colonel, I saw everything". Believing that he had a witness to the events Riggs told Beauchamps that he was headed to the police station and to accompany him. Beauchamps boarded Riggs chauffeured car and shot Riggs in the head killing him instantly. Beauchamp tried to escape and hid inside "Rodriguez y Palacios", a warehouse in Tetuan Street. Both men were arrested and taken to the San Juan police headquarters located in 305 San Francisco Street. They were not given a fair trial, instead Beauchamps and Rosado were both gunned down in the police station. Beauchamps died immediately and Rosado was transferred to a local hospital. In the hospital his last words to a nurse were "How many bullets do I have? My chest hurts a little." He later died of the gun wounds which he received. In the aftermath of the killings, the police claimed that the nationalists were shot because they attempted to escape. None of the police officers involved were demoted or suspended. The news of the assassination of Elisha F. Riggs spread throughout the United States. At that time Puerto Rican Senator,

, was in Washington, D.C., and Ernest Gruening, the administrator of the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (1935–1937), asked him to condemn Riggs' assassination. Muñoz Marín told Gruening that he would do so only if he was also allowed to condemn the police for murdering the Nationalists in the city police station without a trial.

Post assassination

Six police officers were indicted for first degree murder for the summary executions. However, they were all acquitted. After Riggs' assassination, many Nationalist Party leaders were imprisoned. Members of the Puerto Rican independence movement came under greater scrutiny and persecution. Among the leaders arrested was

, These leaders were charged with having "conspired to overthrow" the U.S. government on the island. They were tried in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts, as that federal district court had jurisdiction for Puerto Rico. The first trial jury refused to convict, and ended in a hung jury. A second jury was picked, consisting solely of "Anglo-Americans." This jury found every Nationalist charged to be "guilty".Historical Timeline
PR Dream

Early years

Puerto Rican Nationalist Party

Events leading to a massacre

The Río Piedras massacre

Assassination of Elisha F. Riggs

Post assassination

See also

Notes

References

Further reading