Sublime

José Celso Barbosa, president of the Republican Party in Puerto Rico.

But Romero wasn’t going to lie down and die. He had a dream to pursue, a family he loved. He could be the dad he’d never had himself, the kind of dad who would not just support his kids’ games but play them.

George and Lorraine Montoya lived on a dead-end dirt lane within easy walking distance of the historic Santa Fe Plaza. On the fringe of a prestigious neighborhood, the lane consisted mostly of two rows of modest homes, all built just before or after World War II. The few houses that had changed hands from Hispanic to Anglo ownership were easy to sp

The PR person for Latinos pro Derechos Humanos, Manolo Gomez, who’d arranged the radio “debate,” was beaten and left for dead in an alley. His car was firebombed. He was also fired from his job as an editor for the Spanish-language edition of Cosmopolitan magazine because he’d made public declarations about his homosexuality.

Three months later, on February 23, 1936, Police Chief Riggs was assassinated on his way to El Escambrón. The two Nationalists who shot him, Hiram Rosado and Elías Beauchamp, were arrested, beaten for an hour, then executed in a San Juan police station.

Tydings could sponsor a bill allowing Puerto Rico to elect her own governor, and Riggs could ensure that Albizu got the job. In exchange, Albizu would back down and let Riggs take care of the strike. If Albizu refused the deal, Riggs would take the offer to Muñoz Marín. Albizu rose slowly, thanked Riggs for lunch, and told him Puerto Rico was not f