Antonio Rafael Barceló

Antonio Rafael Barceló y Martínez (April 15, 1868 – December 15, 1938) was a Puerto Rican lawyer, businessman and the patriarch of what was to become one of Puerto Rico's most prominent political families. Barceló, who in 1917 became the first President of the Senate of Puerto Rico, played an instrumental role in the introduction and passage of legislation which permitted the realization of the School of Tropical Medicine and the construction of a Capitol building in Puerto Rico.

Early years

Barceló was born in the City of Fajardo, Puerto Rico, to Jaime José Barceló Miralles (son of Antonio and Catalina) and Josefa Martínez de León (b. 1842). His father Jaime had emigrated from Palma, Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain to Puerto Rico where he married Josefa (b. Naguabo, Puerto Rico) in Fajardo. He became an orphan by the age of three; his father had died in 1870 and his mother in 1871. He went to live with his aunt, Carmela de Leon, and his grandmother Belen de Leon, both of whom raised him. As a youngster, Barceló took an active interest in politics.

He studied in the "Concillier Seminary" of San Juan. In 1928 he earned a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School. He joined the "Autonomist Party" (founded by José de Diego and Román Baldorioty de Castro in 1887) and soon became the party's secretary. In 1897, he was appointed as a municipal judge of Fajardo. The United States allowed him to retain the position after its invasion during the Spanish–American War. On February 4, 1899, Barceló married Maria Georgina "Josefina" Bird Arias, a daughter of the sugar baron Jorge Bird León.

Political career

Union Party of Puerto Rico

Barceló left the Autonomist Party and together with Luis Muñoz Rivera, Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón, Eduardo Georgetti, Juan Vias Ochoteco, José de Diego, and others, founded the "Union party". The party, which believed in Puerto Rican independence, was led by Muñoz Rivera as president, with Barceló as the secretary general. The party won the election in 1904 and Muñoz Rivera was selected as a member of the House of Delegates, while Barceló was elected to the Chamber of Delegates in 1905.

In 1910, Barceló founded the Association of Puerto Rico, with the idea of protecting the main industries of the island, which at that time were coffee, tobacco and sugar, against imported brands. The legislature of Puerto Rico passed law number 52 in 1913, which officially established the Association of Puerto Rico and renamed it the Association of Products made in Puerto Rico. The law also incorporated and protected the official logo of the association, which contains the phrase Hecho en Puerto Rico (Made in Puerto Rico).

Both Barceló and Jose Tous Soto, the president of the pro-statehood Republican Party of Puerto Rico, understood by Taft's statement that neither independence nor statehood would be considered for the time being. In 1924, they formed an "Alliance" between their political parties to concentrate on improving Puerto Rico's economic situation. The party was called Alianza Puertorriqueña (or Puerto Rican Alliance). All this led to some differences in ideals between Eduardo Georgetti and Barceló. Georgetti believed in the original ideal of the Union Party and that the "Alliance" coalition would not work because of their ideological differences. Barceló and a group of party delegates traveled to Washington to seek changes in the Jones Act of 1917, by presenting their views that the economic situation in Puerto Rico was a good one and that Puerto Ricans were capable of electing their own governor. Georgetti traveled to Washington, D.C., in representation of various Puerto Rican organizations, among them the Agriculturist Association and the Association of Sugar Producers. The group which he represented became known by the press as the Fuerzas Vivas (Live Forces). Georgetti and the "Fuerzas Vivas" presented the Secretary of War a "Memorandum" which presented the economic situation of the island in the brink of ruins. His actions were viewed by Barceló and the "Alliance" as an attempt by Georgetti and the "Fuerzas Vivas" to discredit him and weaken the "Alliance". Georgetti denied it and quit the alliance. Barceló was also a victim of an assassination attempt, but this did not keep him from believing and pursuing his liberal ideas.

Liberal Party of Puerto Rico

Differences became apparent between Barceló and Tous Soto and Félix Córdova Dávila, the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in Washington, as to the goals of the alliance. Barceló requested that Herbert Hoover, the newly elected President of the United States, retain Horace Towner temporarily as governor of the island. Hoover, however, consulted Córdova Dávila, instead of Barceló, in regard to his intentions of naming Theodore Roosevelt Jr. to the position.

In 1936, a Liberal Party assembly was held in San Juan. Muñoz Marín said he was not interested in being considered for the position of Resident Commissioner and recommended Barceló. This move would leave the presidency of the party open for Muñoz Marín. Barceló refused to be named commissioner and to relinquish his presidency. Ironically, his grandson Carlos Romero Barceló (Maria Antonia Josefina's son) on January 2, 1977, was sworn in as Governor of Puerto Rico with a pro-statehood agenda, a political status which Antonio R. Barceló had opposed, as member of the Partido Nuevo Progresista de Puerto Rico (New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico).

Legacy

250px|thumb|The School of Tropical Medicine

Barceló was responsible for the approval of many laws which led to reforms and that would greatly benefit the social justice, labor and the Puerto Rican economy. Barceló helped to establish the minimum wage rate, workers' compensation and limited working hours. Barceló, also played a principal role in the establishment of "The School of Tropical Medicine", "The Federal Penitentiary", "The Antituberculosis Sanctuary" and numerous other centers. He introduced the proper legislation which permitted the construction of the Puerto Rico State Capitol. During his tenure as president of the Puerto Rico Senate. In 1928, Columbia University of New York, honored Barceló by bestowing upon him an Honorary Doctorate of Law.

References

External links

El Nuevo Dia
Protagonistas de la Guerra Hispano Americana en Puerto Rico Parte II