page_title: Independence movement in Puerto Rico
section_title: Seeking independence from the United States
hierarchical_section_title: Independence movement in Puerto Rico / Seeking independence from the United States
caption_attribution_description: English: Image of the late Puerto Rican Nationalist leader Jose Coll y Cuchi Source 1. http://www.zonai.com/promociones/biografias/0101/josecoll.asp 2. Also found in "Un Problema En America"; by Jose Coll Y Cuchi; Page I; Publisher: Arno Press, New York; ISBN-13: 9780405062179 ISBN: 0405062176; (photo dated 1917) Image is pre-1923, therefore copyright laws do not apply
context_page_description: The Independence Movement in Puerto Rico refers to initiatives by inhabitants throughout the history of Puerto Rico to obtain full political independence for the island, first from the Spanish Empire, from 1493 to 1898 and, since 1898, from the United States. A variety of groups, movements, political parties, and organizations have worked for Puerto Rico's independence over the centuries.
  A spectrum of pro-autonomy, pro-nationalism, and pro-independence sentiments and political parties exist on the island. Since the beginning of the 19th century, organizations advocating independence in Puerto Rico have attempted both peaceful political means as well as violent revolutionary actions to achieve its objectives.
  Since the second half of the 20th century, the independence movement has not been widely supported by the Puerto Rican public, failing to gain traction in both plebiscites and elections. In a status referendum in 2012, 5.5% voted for independence while Statehood obtained 61.1% of the votes cast. Independence also received the least support, less than 4.5% of the vote, in the status referendums in 1967, 1993 and 1998.
context_section_description: A few months later, the United States claimed ownership of the island as part of the Treaty of Paris of 1898, which concluded the Spanish–American War, which they had won that year. On 19 February 1904, the Union of Puerto Rico party became the first mass party to advocate for independence for Puerto Rico in the form of a sovereign nation. Other "independence parties" were formed in reaction to the colonial status of Puerto Rico with the United States. The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, founded 17 September 1922, also advocates independence. This party has since held that, by international law, the Spanish had no authority under the Treaty of Paris to cede the island, which was no longer theirs. The Nationalist movement attracted supporters following the repressions by the island government in the Ponce and the Río Piedras massacre. The profits generated by this one-sided arrangement were enormous, as US corporations developed large plantations.
  Several years after leaving office, in 1913 Charles H. Allen, the first civilian U.S. governor of Puerto Rico, succeeded to the presidency of the American Sugar Refining Company after serving as treasurer. He resigned in 1915, but stayed on the board. The company operated the largest sugar-refining operation in the world and was later renamed as the Domino Sugar company. According to historian Federico Ribes Tovar, Charles Allen leveraged his governorship of Puerto Rico into a controlling interest over the entire Puerto Rican economy through Domino Sugar.
  American professor and activist Noam Chomsky argued in the late 20th century that, after 1898 "Puerto Rico was turned into a plantation for U.S. agribusiness, later an export platform for taxpayer-subsidized U.S. corporations, and the site of major U.S. military bases and petroleum refineries." By 1930, over 40 percent of all the arable land in Puerto Rico had been converted into sugar plantations owned by Domino Sugar and U.S. banking interests. These bank syndicates also owned the insular postal system, the coastal railroad, and the San Juan international seaport.
  Taking Puerto Rico was seen as a part of American "Manifest destiny." The American government supported American corporations with military force on occasion.
  After Puerto Rico was invaded during the Spanish–American War in 1898, Manuel Zeno Gandía traveled to Washington, D.C. where, together with Eugenio María de Hostos, he proposed the idea of independence for Puerto Rico.  The men were disappointed when their ideas were rejected by the US government and the island was organized as a US territory.  Zeno Gandia returned to the island and continued as an activist.
  A number of leaders, including a well-known intellectual and legislator called José de Diego, sought independence from the United States via political accommodation.  On June 5, 1900, President William McKinley named De Diego, together with Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón, José Celso Barbosa, Manuel Camuñas, and Andrés Crosas to an Executive Cabinet under U.S.-appointed Governor Charles H. Allen. The Executive Cabinet also included six American members.
  De Diego resigned from the position in order to pursue independence. In 1904, he co-founded the Unionist Party along with Luis Muñoz Rivera, Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón and Antonio R. Barceló. De Diego was elected to the House of Delegates, the only locally elected body of government then allowed by the U.S., over which De Diego presided from 1904 to 1917. The House of Delegates was subject to the U.S. President's veto power and unsuccessfully voted for the island's right to independence and self-government. It petitioned against imposition of U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans in 1917, but the US granted citizenship to island residents. Despite these failures, De Diego became known as the "Father of the Puerto Rican Independence Movement."
  The newly created Puerto Rico Union Party advocated allowing voters to choose among non-colonial options, including annexation, an independent protectorate, and full autonomy. Another new party called the Puerto Rico Independence P
caption: José Coll y Cuchí, founder of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
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