Muñoz Rivera, Luis, 1859-1916

Luis Muñoz Rivera July 17, 1859, Barranquitas, Puerto Rico – November 15, 1916 San Juan, Puerto Rico; Early in his life, Muñoz Rivera began writing poetry. However, he did not publish any of his work until he was 23 years old. In 1882, Mario Braschi, an editor working for a newspaper named El Pueblo, accepted to publish a poem titled ¡Adelante!. Braschi advised Muñoz Rivera to continue writing, urging him to concentrate on science and politics, instead of authoring love poems. Muñoz Rivera then began writing about Puerto Rico's political status, promoting the necessity of an autonomous government; Muñoz Rivera decided to follow his uncle, Vicente Muñoz Barrios ideals and in 1883 joined the Liberal Party; married Amalia Marín, 1893; son Luis Muñoz Marín;

MUÑOZ RIVERA, Luis, a Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico; born in Barranquitas, P.R., July 17, 1859; attended the common schools; engaged in commerce and general business; founded La Democracia, a daily newspaper, in Ponce, P.R., in 1889; was sent to Madrid in 1896 as a special representative to confer with the Liberal Party of Spain on establishing home rule in Puerto Rico; one of the founders of the Liberal Party in Puerto Rico in 1897; appointed secretary of state under the home-rule government and president of the cabinet in 1897; created and organized the insular police; resigned in 1898, when American sovereignty was declared, but his resignation not being accepted, he continued to serve until 1899; representative of his party to Washington, D.C., regarding the establishment of free-trade relations between the United States and Puerto Rico; organized the Federal Party in 1900 and on its dissolution in 1902 organized the Unionist Party; founded the Porto Rico Journal in 1900; published the Porto Rico Herald in New York City in 1901; served in the Puerto Rico House of Delegates 1906-1910; presided over a special commission of the house of delegates which was sent to Washington, D.C., in 1909; elected as a Unionist a Resident Commissioner to the United States in 1910; reelected in 1912 and 1914 and served from March 4, 1911, until his death in San Juan, P.R., November 15, 1916; interment in San Antonio de Padua's Cemetery, Barranquitas, P.R.

<p>The leading voice for Puerto Rican autonomy in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, Luis Muñoz Rivera struggled against the waning Spanish empire and incipient U.S. colonialism to carve out a measure of autonomy for his island nation. Though a devoted and eloquent nationalist, Muñoz Rivera had acquired a sense of political pragmatism, and his realistic appraisal of Puerto Rico’s slim chances for complete sovereignty in his lifetime led him to focus on securing a system of home rule within the framework of the American empire. To that end, he sought as the island’s Resident Commissioner to shape the provisions of the Second Jones Act, which established a system of territorial rule in Puerto Rico for much of the first half of the 20th century. Though displeased with its obvious deficiencies, he ultimately supported the act as a stepping stone to autonomy. “Give us now the field of experiment which we ask of you,” he told the House during floor debate on the Jones Act, “that we may show that it is easy for us to constitute a stable republican government with all possible guarantees for all possible interests.”</p>

<p>Luis Muñoz Rivera was born on July 17, 1859, in Barranquitas, a rural town in central Puerto Rico, roughly halfway between San Juan and Ponce. He was the eldest son of Luis Ramón Muñoz Barrios and Monserrate Rivera Vásquez. His mother died when he was 12, and he was responsible for helping to raise and tutor his nine brothers. His father was a landowner and merchant and eventually became mayor of Barranquitas. Muñoz Rivera’s family was politically active during the 1860s and 1870s as the debate over Spanish colonial rule intensified and two primary political factions emerged in Puerto Rico. His father was a leading member of the Conservative Party, which supported rule by governors appointed by Spain, while an uncle was a Liberal Party loyalist and a proponent of home rule. Muñoz Rivera attended the local common (public) school between ages 6 and 10, and then his parents hired a private tutor to instruct him. According to several accounts, Muñoz Rivera was largely self-taught and read the classics in Spanish and French. As a young man, he wrote poetry about his nationalist ideals, eventually becoming a leading literary figure on the island and publishing two collections of verse: Retamas (1891) and Tropicales (1902). To make a living, Muñoz Rivera initially turned to cigar manufacturing and opened a general mercantile store with a boyhood friend. His father had taught him accounting, and he became, according to one biographer, a “moderately successful businessman.”</p>

<p>Muñoz Rivera married Amalia Marín Castillo in 1893. A stage actress, Amalia was the daughter of Ramón Marín y Solá, a playwright and journalist, and an oft-persecuted advocate for Puerto Rican autonomy. She was “tough-minded, opinionated, demanding” and devoted to their child, Luis Muñoz Marín. With Muñoz Rivera immersed in island politics, the marriage was not a happy one, and the couple eventually separated.5 Muñoz Marín became a transitional political figure in his own right, serving as the island’s first popularly elected governor and helping to found the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.</p>