Puerto Rico in the American Century: A History since 1898

FIVE: Economic Depression and Political Crisis: The Turbulent Thirties

TURNING POINT IN THE FORTIES: RISE OF THE PARTIDO POPULAR DEMOCRATICO The period between 1938 and 1948 marked the beginning of a new epoch in Puerto Rican politics. It was dominated by the rise of the Partido Popular Democratico and by the struggle of diverse currents within it to determine its orientation. The end result of this process was the consolidation of a new autonomist project under the leadership of Luis Muftoz Marin. These years also saw the brilliant rise and tragic fall of a new labor federation, the Confederacion General del Trabajo, which was at first allied with the PPD but came into conflict with it by 1945. In this chapter, we cover the initial victory and internal evolution of the PPDand its evolving relation with the labor movement. This period includes one of the most hotly debated moments in twentieth-century Puerto Rican political history: Muftoz Marin's break with his past pro-independence position. As we saw in chapter 5, in May 1937, Muftoz Marin and his supporters had been expelledfrom the Partido Liberal.On July 22,1938, they launched the PPD. The party's emblem was a red profile of a.jibaro against a white background, and its motto was Bread, Land and Freedom (Pan,Tierra y Libertad). ThePPD was launched with some initial assets. Muftoz Marin still controlled La Democracia , the newspaper founded by his father in 1890. The post of attorney general was still held by PPDsupporter Benigno Fernandez Garcia. Four liberal legislators went over to the new party. Consequently, the PPDhad alegislative presence even before its first elections. In August 1938, its legislators opposed Governor Blanton Winship's proposal to reinstate the death penalty, an action they described as the "first work of the Partido Popular."1 The populares threw themselves into the 1939-40 campaign with extraordinary energy.Muftoz Marin traversedthe island speaking at dozens of large and small roadside gatherings. The PPD'S constituent assembly, held on July 21, 1940, brought together 4,000 delegates.Muftoz Marin insisted that candidates 7 PPD leader Luis MunozMarm addressesa gathering during the founding convention of the PPD in 1940. The PPD was to dominate Puerto Rican politics until the late 19605. (Proyecto digitalizacion fotos El Mundo-BibliotecaJose M. Lazaro, Universidad de Puerto Rico-Rfo Piedras) be representative of the party's constituency, which he defined as workers, farmers (agricultores), and the middle class.2 The PPDissued drafts of the main bills it intended to introduce. In a rally on September 15,1940, in Santurce, its candidates were sworn to support the measures the voters werebeing asked to endorse. Foremost among these were the proposed land and labor reforms. The party published El Batey, a small newspaper, and the pamphlet Catecismo delpueblo,which explained its ideas in an agile and accessible format. Regarding the status question, Muftoz Marin made a momentous decision. He announced that a vote for the PPDwould not be interpreted as a vote for any status but rather for immediate social reforms. He added, "I have as always my personal conviction in favor of independence through peaceful means and in RISE OF THE PARTIDO POPULAR DEMOCRATICO * 137 friendship with the United States."3 PPDleader Vicente Geigel criticized both the decision to postpone the status issue and the unilateral manner in which Muftoz Marin had taken it.4 Yet he soon yielded to Muftoz Marin, a pattern that repeateditself several times until afinalbreak betweenboth men occurred in 1951. Muftoz Marin's campaign had a clear leftist inclination. He emphasized that his party would not buy votes, a common practice at the time. Parties that bought votes, he argued, served the wealthy who gave them the money to do so. Muftoz Marin hoped to attract socialists, trade unionists, non-Nationalist independentistas, socially minded professionals, and small farmers. Trying not to leaveanybody behind, he had the PPD'S constituent assembly send greetings to Puerto Rico's most admired poet at the time, Luis Llorens Torres, and to its best-known composer of popular music, Rafael Hernandez.5 Of particular importance was Muftoz Marin's successin gaining the support of a renewedlabor movement. New Labor Activism and Left Influence in the Late 19305 By 1940, Puerto Rico's labor movement had undergone a significant transformation ushered in by two labor battles in 1937: the strike of 600 operatives at the Red Star Manufacturing Co. (a button factory) in Sunoco (near today 's Villa Palmeras...