Lares, Puerto Rico...Founded in 1827 and named after one of its settlers, Don Amador de Lariz had been known as Hato de Lariz since the early 1500's. Interestingly enough the city was founded by Francisco de Sotomayor and Pedro Vélez Borrero.
On September 23, 1868 Lares became an important place in Puerto Rican history. It was the birthplace of the first major revolt against Spanish rule and call for independence. Although the revolt was short lived the cries for independence would be heard for generations and still continues.
El Grito de Lares, planned by Ramon Emeterio Betances and Segundo Ruiz Belvis and carried out by leaders of the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico (Comite Revolucionario de Puerto Rico) etched its place in Puerto Rican history. While attempts to commerate it as holiday were outlawed during several time periods, since some would have preferred that this moment in history would rather be forgotten, in 1969, pro-statehood Governor Luis A. Ferré, declared September 23rd a National Holiday: El Grito de Lares.
Resources to feed your mind:
Lares (wiki)
Lares (topuertorico.org)
Grito de Lares (wiki)
El Grito de Lares (NY Latino Journal)
El Grito de Lares (elBoricua.com)
Grito de Lares 1868 (enciclopediapr.org)
Also:
Pagina Official de Lares
Judith Mercado Short Stories: The Cry of Lares
"Lares es Tierra Santa, y como tal, debe entrarse a ella de rodillas"
- Pedro Albizu Campos
Filiberto Ojeda Ríos (April 26, 1933 – September 23, 2005)
Calle 13 - Querido FBI - Tribute to Filiberto Ojeda Rios
Posts
My family is from Lares, so I heard about Lares all my life. The story of El Grito de Lares was almost like a nursery rhyme for me and my brother. I wrote a short story about a girl (not me) who makes her first trip to Lares. It was published in Nassau Review. You can read it at:
ReplyDeletehttp://judithmercadoshortstories.blogspot.com/2009/09/cry-of-lares.html
I am working on the "Pol Family Tree" and discovered that Andres and Bernabe Pol Serrano were my great grandfather's brothers. They both participated in "El Grito de Lares". My father, Samuel Pol Beltran and my mother, Irma Acevedo Ramirez are from Lares. I am also related to Beauchamp Family. Lares is a beautiful town.
ReplyDeleteivette Pol