“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”

                                                            – Gautama Buddha 

   “Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t goin’ away.”

                                                   – Elvis Presley

The following videos contain film footage, newsreels, photos, and radio coverage of the War Against All Puerto Ricans.

Ponce Massacre

The Ponce Massacre left 19 Puerto Ricans dead, dozens more maimed for life, and over two hundred gravely wounded. It happened on Palm Sunday in 1937, on the orders of U.S. Army General Blanton Winship, who had been appointed as the governor of Puerto Rico.

The footage in these two videos is painful to watch. It is not suitable for viewing by children.

Revolution of 1950

The following video is narrated in Spanish, but the images are precise and specific. They document the violent events that occurred in eight towns in Puerto Rico, during the revolution of October 1950.

The footage from Utuado is particularly graphic: showing the bodies of Puerto Ricans that were lined up in the street, then executed with machine guns by the U.S. National Guard. The bodies were left to rot in the street, as an “example” to the rest of the townspeople in Utuado.

Gunfight at Salón Boricua

This audio, also in Spanish, is part of the live radio broadcast of the gunfight at the Salón Boricua barber shop. Incredibly one barber, all by himself, battled forty U.S. National Guard troops and insular policemen. The National Guard used rifles, carbines, machine guns and tear gas. The barber, Vidal Santiago Díaz, had a few handheld weapons and some Molotov cocktails.

The gunfight lasted three hours. The barber fought so savagely, that everyone assumed that at least twenty Nationalists were firing from inside the barber shop. But it was only Vidal.

Every radio station in Puerto Rico sent a news crew to cover the event live, as a breaking story.  It was the first island-wide news broadcast in the history of  Puerto Rico…but no one in the U.S. mainland ever heard it.

Truman Assassination Attempt

This video presents the dramatic attempt by two Puerto Rican Nationalists, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, to assassinate the president of the United States.

The attempted assassination of Pres. Harry Truman occurred during the revolution of 1950.

Notice how the Nationalists are branded as “fanatics.” Also notice the ominous film score, resembling the music of many “B” monster movies of the era. This music changes abruptly at 1:09, when the “hero” emerges triumphant.

Albizu Campos Prison Torture

Gov. Luis Muñoz Marín appears on Washington Merry-Go-Round to declare Albizu Campos insane, because he was wrapping wet towels around his head while in prison. Over the years, and through recently de-classified FBI documents, it became clear that Albizu Campos was in fact being subjected to TBI (Total Body Irradiation) at La Princesa penitentiary.

La Princesa was 200 feet from the governor’s mansion. In fact, the two buildings were contiguous, right next to each other, on the same avenue in Old San Juan.

During this video, notice in particular the governor’s discussion from 7:20 to 8:45.  He clearly wanted the world to know, that Albizu Campos was “insane.”

Che Guevara speaks to the United Nations about Pedro Albizu Campos and Puerto Rico

On December 11, 1964, Che Guevara addressed the 19^th General Assembly of the United Nations, where he spoke passionately about Albizu Campos and Puerto Rico. In this video, his speech is accompanied by powerful historical photographs of Albizu, the Ponce Massacre, the Cadets of the Republic, and the revolution of 1950.

Jack Delano photographs of Puerto Rico

For over fifty years, from 1941 until the late 1990s, photographer Jack Delano took over ten thousand photographs of Puerto Rican people, places and landscapes. Delano lived in Puerto Rico for almost six decades. He traveled throughout the island photographing schools, religious festivals, fairs, hospitals and railroads.

In a two-month period alone (December 1941- January 1942), while WWII raged in Europe, Delano shot several thousand photographs of Puerto Rico, 1,524 of which can be seen at the Library of Congress: Jack Delano Photos

Another photographer, Edwin Rosskam, left 242 images of Puerto Rico in the Library of Congress: Edwin Rosskam Photos

The following videos convey the life of Puerto Rico, during the mid-20^th century, as seen by photographer Jack Delano:  

For a discussion of these videos, and for additional video and media links, please read…

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