ANDRÉS PASCUAL: ¿A QUE OBEDECE ESA ACTITUD?

ANDRÉS PASCUAL: ¿A QUE OBEDECE ESA ACTITUD?

USA, 30 de agosto de 2010. Tal vez el cubano anticastrista con acceso “a los medios” como que canse al lector de otras nacionalidades porque “mezcla lo político con la Feria del Músculo”; pero estas son dos actividades que nacen, crecen y se reproducen mas estrechamente juntas que dos “siameses”, lo que ocurre es que el grueso de las poblaciones de Hispanoamérica no viven bajo el fuego destructor en que malvive la sociedad cubana desde hace 50 años; entonces pedimos comprensión para su propio bienestar, porque el peligro de caer bajo el totalitarismo comunista en cualquier país de la región es mas cierto que la salida del sol diariamente.

A la invasión castrocomunista con malas intenciones de la ciudad se le llama en Miami “intercambios” por los intereses creados; a quienes nos oponemos nos llaman “mafia de Miami” con la coletilla de “intransigentes”, todo por parte de elementos infiltrados de Castro; o por simpatizantes de la tiranía de cualquier lugar: el caso cubano vende y es de dominio publico sobre el que todo el mundo se abroga el derecho de opinar sin llevarse el celebre “paron” de: “eso a usted no le interesa”; o “no intervenga en asuntos que no le incumben…”

¿Por qué somos intransigentes más allá de lo razonable? Porque es nuestra única defensa ante un enemigo superior y de mejor apoyo logístico. Si no lo cree, escuche esto: El diario el Nuevo Herald de la ciudad de Miami acaba de desplegar, con fotografía, un comentario de una agencia de noticias basada en La Habana sobre el posible retiro del lanzador Pedro Luis Lazo en noviembre; el tipo lleva dos años anunciándolo “para el mes entrante” y no lo puede hacer porque no hay relevo que aguante la caída en barrena de ese béisbol. Solo después de un venidero campeonato internacional podrá irse, porque necesitan esa victoria para reivindicar lo que ya no pueden ni si los refuerza Luis Tiant en su mejor momento: darle vuelta a la condición de hazmerreír del béisbol en que juegan por la crisis de identidad y en asuntos socio-político-económicos de la ideología decadente que impusieron en vez de gobierno razonable.

A pesar de que no hay terreno favorable en cuanto a cantidad de lectores ni en Miami ni en ningún lado como para que se constituyan en noticia obligada las informaciones sobre la pelota castrocomunista; esta bien, el equipo de redactores cubanos y el editor, también cubano, simpatizan con ese béisbol, incluso algún que otro venezolano; porque lo vieron, porque les gusta o porque conocen poco del otro y por lo mismo no se llenan con el que deberían…eso no es pecado.

Pero que dejen fuera de un titular de importancia en la sección deportiva la información sobre la muerte en Miami de un ex jugador de gratos recuerdos, cubano, que actuara 8 años en la Liga Invernal; que se desempañara durante 14 campañas en Ligas Menores, 5 de estas en Triple A y tres de ellas con los Cubans; que representara a Cuba en Series del Caribe con el Cienfuegos y que continuara poniendo el pabellón tricolor en alto en Nicaragua y en la Liga Mejicana no es un olvido involuntario; si no una displicencia con el régimen; porque “esa gente” reciben informaciones de muchas personas sobre el acontecer deportivo veterano de la ciudad cada vez que sucede una fatalidad o cosas por el estilo.

Dejar de poner la noticia de la muerte de Ultus Álvarez para colocar la del retiro de Lazo no va a opacar la clase que tuvo el ex jardinero ni a aumentar la relativa del serpentinero castrista que tal vez haga un hito en la historia del béisbol como “el hombre que nunca se va a retirar”; sino que contribuirá a aumentar la grieta que aparta a los cubanos de quienes solo creen que lo son porque nacieron allí; además de alimentar el criterio popular de que, a pesar de lo que diga el tirano, ese diario es un libelo que funciona como sucursal del Granma…por estas cosas nos llaman intransigentes y mafiosos en el propio Nuevo Herald; viéndolo bien, a mucha honra.

Por Andrés Pascual Cronista Deportivo Cubano y Ex Prisionero Político


Nota: No nos hacemos responsables y tampoco compartimos con algunos argumentos de este escrito. Se publica en Honor a la Libertad de Prensa que los Países Fascistas no tienen.

MAYIYOS DE COAMO CAMPEONES SECCIONALES EN EL BASEBALL CLASE A DE PUERTO RICO

MAYIYOS DE COAMO CAMPEONES SECCIONALES EN EL BASEBALL CLASE A DE PUERTO RICO

Coamo, 29 de agosto de 2010. El domingo (29 de agosto de 2010) los Mayiyos de Coamo se proclamaron Campeones de la Sección Sur en el Baseball Clase A al derrotar en doble partido a la novena de Ollas de Santa Isabel con marcador 2 a 1 en ambos partidos. El lugar del encuentro fue en el Estadio Municipal de Santa Isabel durante el día.

El primer juego concluyó Coamo 2 y Ollas 1. Ganó por Coamo Robert López y perdió Luis Droz. Los mejores en la ofensiva por la novena de Coamo Edward Torres (2-2, 1CA, 1CE y 1HR), Ricardo Rodríguez (3-1) y Manuel Morales (3-1 y 1CE). Los mejores en la ofensiva por Santa Isabel Héctor Vega (3-2) y Erick Hernández (3-1 y 1 CE).

El segundo encuentro del día concluyó 2 a 1, ganando el lanzador de Coamo Luis Diona, y perdiendo el lanzador de Santa Isabel Samuel Rodríguez. Los mejores en la ofensiva por Coamo Ricardo Rodríguez (3-2, 1CA, 2 CE y 1HR) y Ángel Mateo (3-1 y 1CA) y el mejor por Santa Isabel Héctor Vega (4-3 y 1 CE).

Ambos juegos eran una lucha de lanzadores expertos con un deseo de ganar y demostrar sus talentos. Durante ambos partidos se demostró una buena disciplina deportiva. De esta forma Los Mayiyos de Coamo se proclamaron Campeones Seccionales en el Baseball Clase A.

Prontamente se notificará el próximo compromiso de los Mayiyos de Coamo. Invitamos a los representantes de organizaciones mayores que visiten las Series de postemporada del Baseball Clase A de Puerto Rico ya que hay jugadores jóvenes y veteranos que tienen el corazón y habilidad de jugar un buen baseball como las épocas anteriores. Le recordamos que pueden visitar nuestra página electrónica WWW.NOTICIASILLESCANOS.COM para más información o videos de este torneo y otros temas.

Por Ramón Luis Vázquez de Noticiasillescanos.com

ANDRÉS PASCUAL: SON GÁNGSTERS MIJO, SIEMPRE LO HAN SIDO

ANDRÉS PASCUAL: SON GÁNGSTERS MIJO, SIEMPRE LO HAN SIDO

USA, 29 de agosto de 2010. Los Marlins son un club de segunda en el terreno con propietario de cuarta categoría en cuanto a honestidad, transparencia y decencia; o sea, “primera limpia” en el vergonzoso capitulo de los embaucadores y los mentirosos en toda la extensión de la palabra.

Para inaugurar un estadio no se puede aglutinar a un grupo de jóvenes ni aunque tengan las condiciones de Willie Mays; porque un novato se demora alrededor de 4 a 5 años para que pueda sostener su cuota en el peso de un equipo que tenga como meta la postemporada; un pelotero de un club con esas expectativas debe ser experimentado, capaz de asimilar la confianza que se deposite en el sin sobresaltos en la relación con la posibilidad de hacer historia; entonces tiene que salir al terreno la novena que, sin ser “viejos”, tenga la suficiente madurez para poder imponer su carácter hecho al juego importante.

Sin embargo, la gerencia del club sur floridano va a inaugurar un nuevo e inmerecido parque, prácticamente regalado tras engaños de dimensión sideral con “sus fondos”, con un club que, a ciencia cierta, nadie sabe como será; porque de cuatro anuncios de salida de peloteros por “exigencias de recortes financieros”, 2 se encuentran en otras franquicias, Cody Ross y Jorge Cantu y, los que quedan, Dan Uggla y Leo Núñez, me arriesgo a decir que no van a estar ahí en agosto del próximo año, mas lo que cuelgue. Si los Yanquis, ante el envejecimiento de Dereck Jeter voltean la vista hacia Hanley Ramirez, el torpedero dominicano pasaría a enfundarse en la franela a rayas en “menos tiempo del que canta un gallo” .

Hubo un momento en que ese propio dueño, Jeffrey Loria, se jacto ante la televisión diciendo que ni Castillo, ni Cabrera, ni Beckett estaban en venta; mientras, por detrás, ponía en orden las operaciones a través de las cuales salieron esos jugadores del club.

Loria es el caso típico del dueño que no ama al deporte; que lo tiene solo como negocio y que, para sacar beneficios amplios, es capaz de mentir y esconder el estado financiero del club que vendían como de números negros cuando no era así y el sitio deadspin.com se encargo de revelárselo a la prensa y al publico.

Esa jugada sucia de Loria con los fondos para que le saliera lo más barato posible un estadio hasta con techo retractil y parqueo de 150 millones, es una maniobra de fullero de bajo perfil.

Debería haber una ley que congele la construcción del estadio y otra que le quite la franquicia para llevarla a subasta; porque presionaron al fanático infundiéndole el miedo a perder la franquicia, en lo que también mintieron, al proponer como listas para recibirlos a Las Vegas; por ejemplo, que nunca admitirían al béisbol como competencia del juego en los casinos por su horario nocturno sin limite de tiempo; la otra ciudad, San Diego, no tiene capacidad para mantener saludables dos franquicias a la vez. La ciudad de Miami emitió mas de 2000 millones en bonos a pagar por un contribuyente que ya no da más y la única voz en la defensa ciudadana, la de Tomas Regalado, se apago en medio del estridente, equivocado, suicida e injusto apodo de “Comisionado del No”. Los errores se pagan caro: en el béisbol, carreras; en la vida diaria, dinero…

Nadie sabe como el Comité de Relaciones Exteriores, el Comisionado y todos los interesados autorizaron a un tipo que ya se había complicado en gestiones oscuras; incluso mas graves, como lo de Montreal y Minnesota, a que comprara un club con problemas tan grandes que su segundo dueño salio de el y compro al Boston que, casi seguro, valía 5 o 6 veces mas que los de casa.

O si se sabe: en esos incidentes con Minnesota y Montreal también estuvo presente en fase delincuente el flamante Comisionado Bud Selig; luego, son el par de perlas que faltan en el famoso collar de la fabula.

Esta noticia-cubo de agua fría para quienes se dejaron engañar con lo informado por las oficinas de los Marlins, puede ocurrir solamente cuando el béisbol esta en manos de facinerosos que lo menos que les interesa es la salud del pasatiempo. Si no se cambia la mentalidad actual de quienes pueden decidir hasta la selección de un Comisionado que debe ser independiente, honesto y de alto perfil moral, este deporte se acaba como actividad de multitudes en Estados Unidos.

Por Andrés Pascual Cronista Deportivo Cubano y Ex Prisionero Político

Nota: No nos hacemos responsables y tampoco compartimos con algunos argumentos de este escrito. Se publica en Honor a la Libertad de Prensa que los Países Fascistas no tienen.

División de Honores entre Cariduros y Lomas En La Doblea Juvenil Sabatina

División de Honores entre Cariduros y Lomas En La Doblea Juvenil Sabatina

Coamo, 28 de agosto de 2010. El sábado ( 28 de agosto de 2010) los Cariduros de Coamo dividieron honores con la Novena de Lomas de Juana Díaz en el Torneo de la Doblea Juvenil 2010 con marcador 10 a 8 y 5 a 0 respectivamente.

Primer partido del día concluyó Lomas 10 y Cariduros 8. Ganó Alberto Torres, Salvó Joan Santiago y perdió José Colls. Los mejores en la ofensiva por Juana Díaz David Otero (4-2, 1CA y 1 CE), James Rodríguez (3-2 y 2 CA), Jordan Amateo (3-1, 1 CA y 2 CE) y Alberto Alvarado (3-1, 2CA y 2CE). Los mejores en la ofensiva por Coamo Cristian Delgado (4-2 y 1 CE), Arturo Rivera (3-1, 1 CA y 1 CE), Jovani Rodríguez (1-1, 1CA y 1CE) y Johnny Nieves (4-1 y 1CA).

Segundo partido terminó Cariduros 5 y Lomas 0. Ganó José Alvarado y perdió Joan Santiago. Los mejores en la ofensiva por Coamo Joseph Morales (3-1 y 1 CE), José Aviles (3-2 y 1 CE) y Hernán Hernández (2-1, 1CA y 1 CE). Los mejores en la ofensiva por Juana Díaz Luis Vargas (3-1), James Rodríguez (3-1), John Vega (2-1) y Cesar García (3-1). Felicitamos a ambos equipos por una buena disciplina deportiva en el comienzo de esta temporada.

Debemos señalar que la plantilla de los Cariduros de Coamo son jugadores de Coamo y el Cuerpo Técnico es de Coamo. El cuerpo técnico esta dirigido por Luis Guillermo Torres y sus entrenadores son Omar Delgado y Kevin Borges. Señalamos además que los apoderados de los Cariduros son los deportistas Elpidio Borges y Arnaldo Avilés. El anotador de los Cariduros es el estadístico Roberto Cruz. Felicitamos a la Junta Administrativa por darle prioridad al talento de nuestro pueblo.

El próximo miércoles (1 de septiembre de 2010) los Cariduros de Coamo visitan a los Maratonistas de Coamo en el Estadio Municipal Pedro Miguel Caratini de Coamo. El partido comienza a las 7:00 PM. Le recordamos que pueden visitar nuestra página electrónica WWW.NOTICIASILLESCANOS.COM para más información o videos de este torneo y otros temas.

Por Ramón Luis Vázquez de Noticiasillescanos.com

Geographical Map Report By Dr. Frank J. Collazo

Geographical Map Report By Dr. Frank J. Collazo
August 27, 2010

Abstract

The report is comprised of three sections: Section I describes the history of maps tracing map generation to the 2300 BC. Section II is the Chronology of map generation to include the latest technology of the 20th century. Section III describes the biography of famous cartographers highlighting Mercator who was the architect of map generation. This investigation was triggered in response to the Dominican Republic Map Institute Requirement that Colsa Corporation is planning to bid. In order to have an understanding of these requirements, I need to know more about map making. None of the data presented in the report has been created; it has been organized in chronological order to have a grasp of the history of map making.

Introduction

Maps are a representation of a geographic area, usually a portion of the earth's surface, drawn or printed on a flat surface. In most instances a map is a diagrammatic rather than a pictorial representation of the terrain; it usually contains a number of generally accepted symbols, which indicate the various natural, artificial, or cultural, features of the area it covers.

History of Map Making

The earliest existing maps were made by the Babylonians about 2300 bc. More extensive regional maps, drawn on silk and dating from the 2nd century bc, have been found in China. One of the most interesting types of a primitive map is the cane chart constructed by the Marshall Islanders in the South Pacific Ocean. This chart is made of a grid work of cane fibers arranged to show the location of islands. The art of mapmaking was advanced in both the Maya and Inca civilizations and the Inca as early as the 12th century ad made maps of the lands they conquered. The first map to represent the known world is believed to have been made in the 6th century BC by the Greek philosopher Anaximander. One of the most famous maps of classical times was drawn by the Greek geographer Eratosthenes about 200 BC.

About ad 150 the Alexandrian scholar Ptolemy published his geography containing maps of the world. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, European mapmaking all but ceased; such maps as were made were usually drawn by monks who often portrayed the earth inaccurately. The Arabian geographer al-Idrisi made a map of the world in 1154. Beginning approximately in the 13th century, Mediterranean navigators prepared accurate charts of that sea, usually without meridians or parallels but provided with lines to show the bearings between important ports.

In the 15th century, editions of Ptolemy's maps were printed in Europe; for the next several hundred years these maps exerted great influence on European cartographers. A map produced in 1507 by Martin Waldseemüller, a German cartographer, probably was the first to apply the name America to the newly discovered transatlantic lands. The map, printed in 12 separate sheets, was also the first to clearly separate North and South America from Asia. In 1570 Abraham Ortelius, a Flemish mapmaker published the first modern atlas, Orbis Terrarum. It contained 70 maps. During the 16th century many other cartographers produced maps that incorporated the ever-increasing information brought back by navigators and explorers.

It is Gerardus Mercator, however, who stands as the greatest cartographer of the age of discovery; the projection he devised for his world map proved invaluable to all future navigators. The accuracy of later maps was greatly increased by more precise determinations of latitude and longitude and of the size and shape of the earth.

The first maps to show compass variation were produced in the first half of the 17th century, and the first charts to show ocean currents were made about 1665. By the 18th century, the scientific principles of mapmaking were well established, and the most notable inaccuracies in maps involved unexplored parts of the world.By the late 18th century, as the initial force of world exploration subsided and as nationalism began to develop as a potent force, a number of European countries began to undertake detailed national topographic surveys. The complete topographic survey of France was issued in 1793; roughly square, it measured about 11 m (about 36 ft) on each side. Britain, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, and other countries followed suit. In the United States the Geological Survey was organized in 1879 for the purpose of making large-scale topographic maps of the entire country. In 1891 the International Geographical Congress proposed the mapping of the entire world on a scale of 1:1,000,000, a task that still remains to be completed.

During the 20th century, mapmaking underwent a series of major technical innovations. Aerial photography was developed during World War I and used extensively during World War II in the making of maps. Beginning in 1966 with the launching of the satellite Pageos, and continuing in the 1970s with the three Landsat satellites, the U.S. has been engaged in a complete geodetic survey of the surface of the earth by means of high-resolution photographic equipment. In spite of the great advancements in cartographic technique and knowledge, substantial portions of the earth's surface have not been surveyed in detail. Surveying work continues, for instance, on the continent of Antarctica.

Types of Maps

Maps may be used for a variety of purposes, and as a result a number of specialized types of maps have been developed.

Topographic Maps

The basic type of map used to represent land areas is the topographic map. Such maps show the natural features of the area covered as well as certain artificial features, known as cultural features. Political boundaries, such as the limits of towns, countries, and states, are also shown. Because of the great variety of information included on them, topographic maps are most often used as general reference maps.

Special-Purpose, or Thematic, Maps

Among the most important of the special-purpose maps are hydrographic and aviation charts. Hydrographic charts are used for the navigation of ships and cover the surface of the oceans and other large bodies of water and their shores. Over the water portion of a chart, depths are shown at frequent intervals by printing the number of fathoms of water at low tide. Shoal areas are circled or shaded to give them greater visibility, and the limits of channels are shown by lines. The type of bottom, such as sand, mud, or rock, is also indicated. An important feature of such charts is the exact location of lighthouses, buoys, and other aids to navigation. The only other shore features shown on a chart are such landmarks as tall buildings or prominent peaks on which a navigator may wish to take a bearing. Aviation charts for use over land somewhat resemble topographic maps but bear in addition the location of radio beacons, airways, and the areas covered by the beams of radio range stations.

Other special-purpose maps include political maps, which show only towns and political divisions without topographic features; geologic maps, showing the geologic structure of an area; and maps indicating the geographic distribution of crops, land use, rainfall, population, and hundreds of other kinds of social and scientific data. Another useful type of map is the relief map, which is a three-dimensional model of the terrain of an area. Such maps are usually carved out of clay or plaster of Paris. To emphasize relief, the vertical scale of relief maps is usually several times the horizontal scale. Such maps can also be manufactured by stamping plastic sheets in a mold. Relief maps are extensively used in military and engineering planning.

Basic Elements of a Map

For a map to contain a large amount of easily read information, a system of symbols must be employed. Many commonly used symbols have become generally accepted or are readily understood. Thus cities and towns are indicated by dots or patches of shading; streams and bodies of water are often printed in blue; and political boundaries are shown by colored ribbons or dotted lines. A cartographer, as mapmakers are called, may, however, devise a great variety of symbols to suit various needs. For example, a dot may be used to symbolize the presence of 10,000 head of cattle, or crossed pickaxes may be used to denote the location of a mine. The symbols used on a map are defined in the map's key, or legend.

Geographic Grid

In order to locate a feature on a map or to describe the extent of an area, it is necessary to refer to the map's geographic grid. This grid is made up of meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude. By agreed convention, longitude is marked 180° east and 180° west from 0° at Greenwich, England. Latitude is marked 90° north and 90° south from the 0° parallel of the equator. Points on a map can be accurately defined by giving degrees, minutes, and seconds for both latitude and longitude (see Latitude and Longitude). Maps are usually arranged so that true north is at the top of the sheet, and are provided with a compass rose or some other indication of magnetic variation (see Magnetic Pole).

Scale

The scale to which a map is drawn represents the ratio of the distance between two points on the earth and the distance between the two corresponding points on the map. The scale is commonly represented in figures, as 1:100,000, which means that one unit measured on the map (say 1 cm) represents 100,000 of the same units on the earth's surface. A map to this scale is also sometimes called a centimeter-to-the-kilometer map. On most maps the scale is indicated in the margin, and frequently a divided line showing the scale length of such units as 1, 5, and 10 km or mi, or both, on the original area is provided. The scales used in maps vary widely. Ordinary topographic maps, such as those of the U.S. issued by the U.S. Geological Survey, are usually made to a scale of 1:62,500 (about 1 in to the mile). For military purposes scales as large as 1:15,800 are used. Since the early years of the 20th century, a number of governments have been collaborating on a standard map of the world at a scale of 1:1,000,000.

Relief

The varying heights of hills and mountains, and the depths of valleys and gorges as they appear on a topographic map, are known as relief; unless the relief is adequately represented, the map does not give a clear picture of the area it represents. In the earliest maps, relief was often indicated pictorially by small drawings of mountains and valleys, but this method is extremely inaccurate and has been generally supplanted by a system of contour lines. The contour lines represent points in the mapped area that are at equal elevations. The contour interval selected may be any unit, depending on the amount of relief and the scale of the map, such as 50 m, and in drawing the map the cartographer joins together all points that are at a height of 50 m above sea level, all points at a height of 100 m, all points at a height of 150 m, and so on. The shapes of the contour lines provide an accurate representation of the shapes of hills and depressions, and the lines themselves show the actual elevations. Closely spaced contour lines indicate steep slopes.

Other methods of indicating elevation include the use of colors or tints, and of hachure’s (short parallel lines) or shadings. When colors are used for this purpose, a graded series of tones is selected to color areas of similar elevations; for example, all the land between 0 and 100 m above sea level may be colored a light shade of green, all land between 100 and 200 m a darker shade, and so on. Hachures are used to show slopes; they are made heavier and closer together for steeper slopes. Often only southeast slopes are hachured or shaded, giving somewhat the effect of a bird's-eye view of the area illuminated by light from the northwest. Shadings or carefully drawn hachure’s, neither of which give elevations, are more easily interpreted than contour lines and are sometimes used in conjunction with them for greater clarity.

Map Projections

For the representation of the entire surface of the earth without any kind of distortion, a map must have a spherical surface; a map of this kind is known as a globe. A flat map cannot accurately represent the rounded surface of the earth except for very small areas where the curvature is negligible. To show large portions of the earth's surface or to show areas of medium size with accuracy, the map must be drawn in such a way as to compromise among distortions of areas, distances, and direction. In some cases the cartographer may wish to achieve accuracy in one of these qualities at the expense of distortion in the others. The various methods of preparing a flat map of the earth's surface are known as projections and are classified as geometric or analytic, depending on the technique of development. Geometric projections are classified according to the type of surface on which the map is assumed to be developed, such as cylinders, cones, or planes; plane projections are also known as azimuthally or zenithal projections. Analytical projections are developed by mathematical computation.

Cylindrical Projections

In making a cylindrical projection, the cartographer regards the surface of the map as a cylinder that encircles the globe, touching it at the equator. The parallels of latitude are extended outward from the globe, parallel to the equator, as parallel planes intersecting the cylinder. Because of the curvature of the globe, the parallels of latitude nearest the poles when projected onto the cylinder are spaced progressively closer together, and the projected meridians of longitude are represented as parallel straight lines, perpendicular to the equator and continuing to the North and South poles. After the projection is completed, the cylinder is assumed to be slit vertically and rolled out flat. The resulting map represents the world's surface as a rectangle with equally spaced parallel lines of longitude and unequally spaced parallel lines of latitude. Although the shapes of areas on the cylindrical projection are increasingly distorted toward the poles, the size relationship of areas on the map is equivalent to the size relationship of areas on the globe.

The familiar Mercator projection, developed mathematically by the Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator, is related to the cylindrical projection, with certain modifications. A Mercator map is accurate in the equatorial regions but greatly distorts areas in the high latitudes. Directions, however, are represented faithfully, and this is especially valuable in navigation. Any line cutting two or more meridians at the same angle is represented on a Mercator map as a straight line. Such a line, called a rhumb line, represents the path of a ship or an airplane following a steady compass course. Using a Mercator map, a navigator can plot a course simply by drawing a line between two points and reading the compass direction from the map.

Azimuthally Projection

This group of map projections is derived by projecting the globe onto a plane that may be tangent to it at any point. The group includes the gnomonic, orthographic, and stereographic plane projections. Two other types of plane projections are known as the azimuthally equal area and the azimuthally equidistant; they cannot be projected but are developed on a tangent plane. The gnomonic projection is assumed to be formed by rays projected from the center of the earth. In the orthographic projection the source of projecting rays is at infinity, and the resulting map resembles the earth as it would appear if photographed from outer space. The source of projecting rays for the stereographic projection is a point diametrically opposite the tangent point of the plane on which the projection is made.

The nature of the projection varies with the source of the projecting rays. Thus the gnomonic projection covers areas of less than a hemisphere, the orthographic covers hemispheres, the azimuthally equal area and the stereographic projections map larger areas, and the azimuthally equidistant includes the entire globe. In all these types of projection, however (except in the case of the azimuthally equidistant), the portion of the earth that appears on the map depends on the point at which the imaginary plane touches the earth. A plane-projection map with the plane tangent to the surface of the earth at the equator would represent the equatorial region but would not show the entire region in one map; with the plane tangent at either of the poles, the map would represent the Polar Regions.

Because the source of the gnomonic projection is at the center of the earth, all great circles, that is, the equator, all meridians, and any other circles that divide the globe into two equal parts, are represented as straight lines. A great circle that connects any two points on the earth is always the shortest distance between the two points. The gnomonic map is therefore a great aid to navigation when used in conjunction with the Mercator.

Conic Projections

In preparing a conic projection a cone is assumed to be placed over the top of the globe. After projection, the cone is assumed to be slit and rolled out to a flat surface. The cone touches the globe at all points on a single parallel of latitude, and the resulting map is extremely accurate for all areas near that parallel, but becomes increasingly distorted for all other areas in direct proportion to the distance of the areas from the standard parallel.

To provide greater accuracy, the Lambert conformal conic projection assumes a cone that passes through a part of the surface of the globe, intersecting two parallels. Because the resulting map is accurate in the immediate vicinity of both parallels, the area represented between the two standard parallels is less distorted than the same area reproduced by a single conic projection.

The poly-conic projection is a considerably more complicated projection in which a series of cones is assumed, each cone touching the globe at a different parallel, and only the area in the immediate vicinity of each parallel is used. By compiling the results of the series of limited conic projections, a large area may be mapped with considerable accuracy. Because a cone cannot be made to touch the globe in the extreme polar and equatorial regions, the various conic projections are used to map comparatively small areas in the temperate zones. Poly-conic maps offer a good compromise in the representation of area, distance, and direction over small areas.

Mathematical Computation

For accurate delineation of large areas on a small scale, a number of so-called projections have been developed mathematically. Maps based on mathematical computation represent the entire earth in circles, ovals, or other shapes. For special purposes the earth often is drawn not within the original form of the projection but within irregular, joined parts. Maps of this type, called interrupted projections, include Goode's interrupted homolosine and Eckert's equal-area projection.

Map Making

Mapmaking, or cartography, has been greatly assisted by technological advancements since World War II. Perhaps most important has been the use of remote sensing techniques, that is, techniques that gather data about an object without actually touching it. Examples include aerial photography (including infrared photography) and satellite photography. Satellite triangulation has substantially reduced the margin of error in determining the exact location of points on the earth's surface. Among the more recent innovations has been the use of the computer to draw maps.

Observation

The basis of a modern map is a careful survey giving geographical locations and relations of a large number of points in the area being mapped. Today, nearly all original maps make use of aerial photographs in addition to traditional land-surveying information. Satellite photographs can furnish a wealth of accurate information about various features on the earth's surface, including the location of mineral deposits, the extent of urban sprawl, vegetation infestations, and soil types.

Compilation and Reproduction

Once the data have been collected, the map must be carefully planned with regard to its final use so that all relevant information can be rendered clearly and accurately. The collected surveys and photographs are then used to enter a large number of points on a grid of crossed lines corresponding to the projection chosen for the map. Elevations are determined and contour lines, if used, are drawn directly from stereoscopic pairs of photographs by using very complex instruments such as the multiplex. The courses of roads and rivers and the positions of other features are drawn in the same way. Final preparation of a map for printing begins by making a series of sheets, one for each color used on the map. These sheets are made of an opaque coated plastic; lines and symbols are scribed onto the surface by a sharp etching tool that removes the opaque coating. Each such sheet is a negative from which a lithographic plate is made.

Another type of map is an ortho-photomap, in which actual photographs from the body of the map. Such a map is a mosaic of carefully pieced portions of aerial photographs, which have been changed by the use of an ortho-photo scope to eliminate scale and angle distortion. During the 1970s advancements were made in computer-generated maps. Data can be stored on the coordinates of a geographic area and on the distribution of statistical phenomena in the area. A device such as a continuous-curve plotter enables a computer to draw accurate maps from the stored data. Computer-generated maps can also be displayed on a video screen, where an operator can easily make alterations in the content. Because such maps, and each incorporated change, can be stored in the computer, they are useful in furnishing an animated picture of a change over a period of time.(Contributed By: Van H. English).

American Exploration

The Spanish investigated further. Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci sailed to the northern coast of South America in 1499 and pronounced the land a new continent. European mapmakers named it America in his honor. Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and in 1513 became the first of the European explorers of America to see the Pacific Ocean. That same year another Spaniard, Juan Ponce de León, explored the Bahamas and Florida in search of the fountain of youth.

The first European voyages to the northern coast of America were old and forgotten: The Norsemen (Scandinavian Vikings) sailed from Greenland and stayed in Newfoundland for a time around 1000. Some scholars argue that European fishermen had discovered the fishing waters off eastern Canada by 1480. But the first recorded voyage was made by John Cabot, an Italian navigator in the service of England, who sailed from England to Newfoundland in 1497. Giovanni da Verrazano, in 1524, and Jacques Cartier, in 1534, explored nearly the whole Atlantic coast of the present United States for France. By that time, Europeans had scouted the American coast from Newfoundland to Brazil. While they continued to look for shortcuts to Asia, Europeans began to think of America for its own sake. Spain again led the way: Hernán Cortés invaded Mexico in 1519, and Francisco Pizarro did the same in Peru in 1532.

Physical Geography

Physical geography includes the following fields: geomorphology, which uses geology to study the form and structure of the surface of the earth; climatology, which involves meteorology and is concerned with climatic conditions; biogeography, which uses biology and deals with the distribution of plant and animal life; soils geography (see Soil; Soil Management), which is concerned with the distribution of soil; hydrographic, which concerns the distribution of seas, lakes, rivers, and streams in relation to their uses; oceanography, which deals with the waves, tides, and currents of oceans and the ocean floor; and cartography, or mapmaking through graphic representation and measurement of the surface of the earth.

Marco Polo (1254-1324), Venetian traveler and author, who’s account of his travels and experiences in China offered Europeans a firsthand view of Asian lands and stimulated interest in Asian trade. Marco Polo was born in Venice, one of the most prominent centers of trade in medieval Europe, into a merchant family. Venetian merchants of the day traded regularly throughout the Mediterranean region. They also maintained trading posts in port cities on the Black Sea, where they obtained silk, porcelain, and other goods that came from China over the Silk Road, an ancient trade route linking China with Rome. Little is known about Marco Polo’s early life, because his own account of his travels, published later in his life, is the primary source of biographical material about him. Polo probably received a fairly typical education for children of merchants at that time, learning how to read, write, and calculate.

Marco Polo’s account is also the primary source of information about the travels of his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo Polo, who were jewel merchants. They left Venice in 1260 on a commercial venture to the Black Sea ports of Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) and Soldaia (now Sudak, Ukraine). From Soldaia they continued farther east to trading cities on the Volga River in present-day Russia. In 1262 a war broke out behind them and prevented them from returning home, so they proceeded farther east to the great Central Asian trading city of Bukhara (in present-day Uzbekistan). After three years there they joined a diplomatic mission going to the court of Kublai Khan, the Mongol ruler of China. The khan received them warmly and expressed a desire to learn more about Christianity. He asked the Polo brothers to return to Europe and persuade the pope to send Christian scholars who could explain the religion to him. Niccolò and Maffeo journeyed back to Europe in 1269 to satisfy the khan’s request.

The pope appointed two missionaries to accompany the Polo’s on their return to the Mongol court. The party set out in 1271, this time with Niccolò’s son Marco. Soon after their departure from Acre (now ‘Akko, Israel) the missionaries became concerned about hazardous conditions along the route and abandoned the embassy. The three Polo’s continued the journey. Judging from Marco’s account, they most likely traveled overland through Armenia and Persia (now Iran) to Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, north through Persia to the Oxus River (now Amu Darya) in Central Asia, up the Oxus to the Pamir’s, across the mountains and around the southern edge of the Takla Makan Desert to Lop Nur (in present-day Xinjiang Uygur (Uighur) Autonomous Region in western China), and across the Gobi Desert. In 1275 they reached the summer court of Kublai Khan at Shangdu (about 300 km/about 200 mi north of present-day Beijing). Marco’s account records that the khan warmly welcomed the party and arranged accommodations for them.

The Polo’s spent the next 17 years in China. Kublai Khan took an immediate liking to Marco, who was an engaging storyteller and conversationalist, and sent him on numerous diplomatic missions throughout his empire. Marco not only carried out his diplomatic assignments but also regaled the khan with interesting stories and observations about the lands he visited. His missions took him to Sichuan Province in southern China and Yunnan Province in the southwest, as well as northern Burma (now Myanmar). Marco reported that apart from entrusting him with diplomatic missions, Kublai Khan also made him governor for three years of the large commercial city of Yangzhou. Most modern scholars doubt this claim, but it is possible that Marco held some sort of post at Yangzhou, because the Mongol rulers of China routinely appointed foreign administrators to oversee the affairs of their Chinese subjects.

According to Marco’s travel account, the Polo’s asked several times for permission to return to Europe, but Kublai Khan appreciated the visitors so much that he would not agree to their departure. In 1292, however, the khan relented and permitted the Polo’s to return if they would serve as escorts for a Mongol princess traveling by sea to marry the Mongol ruler of Persia. The party departed from the southern Chinese port city of Quanzhou (in present-day Fujian Province) and sailed to Sumatra, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), southern India, and the Persian Gulf. After seeing the princess safely to Iran, the three Polo’s traveled overland through Tabrīz to Trebizond (now Trabzon, Turkey), where they took a ship to Constantinople and then to Venice, arriving home in 1295.

Contemporary accounts hold that when Marco Polo returned, the youth of Venice flocked to his home to hear his stories about the lands he had visited. Marco himself became known as il milione (“the man with a million stories”) and Marco milione (“Marco Millions”), and the courtyard of his home became known as the corte del milione (“court of il milione”). In 1298 Marco became involved in a naval conflict between Venice and its commercial rival Genoa. He fell captive, along with 7000 of his compatriots, when the Genoese navy defeated a Venetian fleet in which Marco was an honorary commander. During his year of imprisonment he passed the time by telling stories. His tales attracted the attention of a romance writer from Pisa named Rustichello, who had written two popular romances about King Arthur. Rustichello recognized Marco’s stories as fascinating material. He prepared an account of Marco’s travels in a literary dialect of French, the most commonly used language for works of adventure and romance.

Rustichello frequently embellished Marco’s story. For instance, his description of the Polo’s’ arrival at Kublai Khan’s court strongly resembles a scene in one of his Arthurian romances, and his description of battles also followed formulas that he had used in earlier works. Nevertheless, the book was extremely popular, and translations soon became available in Latin, Italian, Venetian dialect, English, and other languages. The English translation of the original title of the book was The Description of the World. Later editions and translations of Marco’s travel account have appeared under several different titles, including Il milione, The Book of Marvels, The Book of Marco Polo, and The Travels of Marco Polo. After his release from prison Marco returned to Venice, where he died in 1324.

Marco Polo’s account of his travels exercised deep influence on European readers. Cartographers looked to it for information about Asian lands, and merchants drew inspiration from it when they planned commercial ventures. Portuguese mariners studied it when they decided to seek a sea route to India in the 15th century. Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus owned a Latin translation of the work, which he read carefully. His copy still survives, along with his handwritten annotations in the margins. Columbus relied heavily on Marco Polo’s geography when planning his own voyage to reach Asian markets by sailing west from Europe.

In the 20th century some scholars have raised questions about the accuracy of Marco Polo’s account. Some have even suggested that he did not actually travel to China but rather told stories that he heard from others who did go there. Doubts have arisen largely from the fact that Marco’s work does not mention several distinctive characteristics of Chinese society. Such omissions include the use of chopsticks as eating utensils; the drinking of tea; the use in written language of ideograms—that is, characters representing things or ideas without expressing pronunciation; the binding of girls’ feet to prevent normal growth (tiny feet were considered to enhance women’s beauty); and the existence of the Great Wall, a fortification running along the northern and northwestern frontiers of China.

In response to the critics, other scholars have pointed out that Marco lived among Mongol rulers rather than Chinese subjects and therefore would have had little or no exposure to chopsticks, tea, foot-binding, or Chinese written language. As for the Great Wall, it did not exist in its present form until the 16th century, long after Marco’s death. Furthermore, many of the ambiguities in Marco’s account are attributable to Rustichello, who cast the work in a form that he thought would be popular. Finally, Marco’s account recorded many aspects of Mongol and Chinese society in convincing detail. These features include the Mongols’ road and postal system, the careers of Mongol administrators in China, Kublai Khan’s personality, Mongol court life, and descriptions of important cities such as Shangdu, Khanbaliq, Hangzhou, and Quanzhou.(Contributed By: Jerry Bentley).

Summary

The basic type of map used to represent land areas is the topographic map. Such maps show the natural features of the area covered as well as certain artificial features known as cultural features. Hydrographic charts are used for the navigation of ships and cover the surface of the oceans and other large bodies of water and their shores. Aviation charts for use over land somewhat resemble topographic maps but bear in addition the location of radio beacons, airways, and the areas covered by the beams of radio range stations. Special-purpose maps include political maps, which show only towns and political divisions without topographic features; geologic maps, showing the geologic structure of an area; and maps indicating the geographic distribution of crops, land use, rainfall, population, and hundreds of other kinds of social and scientific data. The relief map is a three-dimensional model of the terrain of an area.

For the representation of the entire surface of the earth without any kind of distortion, a map must have a spherical surface; a map of this kind is known as a globe. A flat map cannot accurately represent the rounded surface of the earth except for very small areas where the curvature is negligible. Geometric projections are classified according to the type of surface on which the map is assumed to be developed, such as cylinders, cones, or planes; plane projections are also known as azimuthally or zenithal projections. Analytical projections are developed by mathematical computation.

In making a cylindrical projection, the cartographer regards the surface of the map as a cylinder that encircles the globe, touching it at the equator. The parallels of latitude are extended outward from the globe, parallel to the equator, as parallel planes intersecting the cylinder.

The familiar Mercator projection, developed mathematically by the Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator, is related to the cylindrical projection, with certain modifications. A Mercator map is accurate in the equatorial regions but greatly distorts areas in the high latitudes. Any line cutting two or more meridians at the same angle is represented on a Mercator map as a straight line.

This group of map projections is derived by projecting the globe onto a plane that may be tangent to it at any point. The group includes the gnomonic, orthographic, and stereographic plane projections. Two other types of plane projections are known as the azimuthally equal area and the azimuthally equidistant; they cannot be projected but are developed on a tangent plane.

Map making has been traced back to the Babylonian times. Map making, or cartography, has been greatly assisted by technological advancements since World War II. The latest techniques of the 20th Century are: aerial photography (including infrared photography) and satellite photography. Satellite triangulation has substantially reduced the margin of error in determining the exact location of points on the earth's surface. Among the more recent innovations has been the use of the computer to draw maps.The above is an abstract of the original and complete report of Dr. Frank J. Collazo article title “Geographical Map Report” see link http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-485743.

By Dr. Frank J. Collazo and Edited by Ramon Luis Vazquez of Noticiasillescanos.com.


Biography:

Maps, Contributed By: Van H. English, Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Cartographic Surveying, Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
American Exploration, Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Physical Geography, Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Marco Polo Explorations, Contributed By: Jerry Bentley, Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Sebastian Cabot, Biography, Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Gerardus Mercator, Biography, Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Abraham Ortelius, Biography, Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Eusebio Francisco Kino, Biography, Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
William Clark, Biography, Contributed By: James P. Ronda, Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Henry Gannett, Biography, Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Erwin Raisz, Biography, Contributed By: A. Jon Kimerling, Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Anaximander, Greek philosopher, Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Eratosthenes, Greek mathematician, astronomer, geographer, Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Nicholas of Cusa, German cardinal, scholar, mathematician, scientist, and philosopher, Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Martin Behaim, German geographer, Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Pierre Gassendi, French philosopher and savant Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Eduard Imhof, Swiss cartographer, Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Sherman Mills Fairchild (1896-1971), American inventor and camera manufacturer, Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Nancy Graves, American sculptor, painter, and producer of several short motion pictures, Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
European Exploration and Settlement, Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Puerto Ricans Contributions to All Wars By Dr. Frank J. Collazo

Part I – Puerto Ricans Contributions to All Wars - WWI Thru Vietnam By Dr. Frank J. Collazo
August 26, 2010

Abstract

The purpose of this report is to highlight the contributions of Puerto Ricans to all wars. I am not carrying the bucket of a “group of whiners (cry babies)” just highlighting their contributions. I launched this investigation to quantify the contributions of Puerto Ricans to all wars from WWI to the Vietnam War. The report is based on facts described in the Bibliography listed in the report. In the last two years, I have sensed that some Americans do not have a clue regarding the contributions that Puerto Ricans have made in all wars.

The aim and concept of the Nationalist party has contributed to the dissolution of the glue between the USA and Puerto Rico. The rejection of the State Governor of Puerto Rico of the Vieques operation has been a distraction to relations between the USA and Puerto Rico. This incompetent governor disregarded the economic benefits of the military base to Puerto Rico, and the US government caved in to his demand without justification.

The US government had the right to sustain the bases without any intervention from the local government. This action by the governor was unpatriotic and irresponsible. The rejection of the Vieques operation is not discussed in this report. The fact of the matter is that Puerto Rico is a territory of the USA with an arrangement of a Commonwealth form of government for insular matters. We cannot afford this dissolution; we are all Americans and we must stand together to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. It is focused on the heroic contributions of Puerto Ricans in all USA wars except the Civil War. Other issues that are pertinent to the theme of the report are included: Why Puerto Ricans do not vote in Presidential elections, the chronology of the citizenship legislation, and the recognition of US citizenship.

The report is comprised of two parts. Part I is the Contributions of Puerto Ricans in the Military, and Part II is the Chronology of the Nationalist Party charter triggered by discrimination practices experienced by Puerto Ricans in WWI and WWII. Only three percent of the population is members that represent this subversive organization, and the media has vigorously heralded their actions. However, the media has failed to address the patriotic actions of the other 97% of the population. It is an attempt to elucidate this misunderstanding by many Americans.

The contribution of Puerto Ricans from WWI thru Vietnam has been underestimated by several government officials and most of the public. In 1906, a group of Puerto Ricans met with the appointed Governor Winthrop and suggested the organization of a Puerto Rican National Guard. The Governor was appointed by the President of the United States of America (the Secretary of the Interior provided the oversight). The petition failed because the U.S. Constitution prohibits the formation of any Armed Force within the United States and its territories without the authorization of Congress.

The discrimination practices WWI of assigning Puerto Ricans who appeared to have African descent to black units of the Army triggered the motivation of these victims of discrimination to organize the Nationalist Party. The charter of this party was designed to be a subversive organization. The leader of the Nationalist party served in WWI and served as the platoon leader of a truck company in a black organization with a degree in physics (graduated with honors from Harvard) and discharged in 1919.

During WWII, the discrimination was very obvious in segregating Puerto Ricans who appeared to have African descent. The state of North Carolina refused to host the 375th regiment because the Puerto Ricans didn’t appreciate the segregation laws of the south. Therefore, they were deployed to Panama to defend the canal. When a Puerto Rican regiment was deployed to Europe, they kept the segregation along the black organizations. The Nationalist Party capitalized on these issues of discrimination to advance their cause.

The Vietnam War coincided with the protests of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s America. Minority groups such as Hispanics were discriminated at home and within the U.S. armed forces. According to a study made in 1990 by the Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, called the National Survey of the Vietnam Generation (NSVG), Hispanics, among them Puerto Ricans, were younger than both Black and White majority veterans when they went to Vietnam. Hispanics experienced more prejudice and discrimination in Vietnam than Blacks.

Minority groups would often band together with those of their own racial or ethnic backgrounds. One such group was "Puerto Rican Power in Unity" which eventually became "Latin Power in Unity." The objective of this group was to unite all the Hispanic Marines regardless of their national background as a brotherhood. Together they shared their cultures and demanded to be treated equally as their Black and White counterparts in the military.

We must distinguish that the Puerto Ricans and people of Puerto Rican descent have participated as members of the United States Armed Forces in every conflict in which the United States has been involved since World War I.

One of the consequences of the Spanish-American War was that Puerto Rico was annexed by the United States in accordance to the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898, ratified on December 10, 1898. Puerto Ricans became U.S. citizens as a result of the 1917 Jones-Shafroth Act and those who were eligible were expected to serve in the military. Puerto Ricans who resided in the island were assigned to the "Porto Rico Provisional Regiment of Infantry," organized on June 30, 1901, and served in World War I.

Those who resided in the mainland United States served in regular units of one of the following branches of the United States military, the United States Marine Corps, Army or the Navy. The Porto Rico Regiment was renamed the 65th Infantry Regiment under the Reorganization Act of June 4, 1920 and went on to serve in World War II and the Korean War as the only segregated Army unit where its members distinguished themselves in combat.

On July 25, 1952, the Constitution of Puerto Rico was proclaimed by Governor Luis Muñoz Marín and the island, which continues to be an unincorporated territory of the United States, adopted the name of Estado Libre Asociado (literally translated as "Free Associated State"), officially translated into English as Commonwealth, for its body politic. However, the military continued to be under U.S. jurisdiction. The 65th Infantry was deactivated in 1956, however, the Department of the Army was persuaded to transfer the 65th Infantry from the regular Army to the Puerto Rico National Guard. Since then Puerto Ricans have served in regular integrated units of the military.

In October 1940, the 295th and 296th Infantry Regiments of the Puerto Rican National Guard, founded by Major General Luis R. Esteves, were called into Federal Active Service and assigned to the Puerto Rican Department in accordance with the existing War Plan Orange.

During World War II, it is estimated by the Department of Defense that 65,034 Puerto Ricans served in the U.S. military. Soldiers from the island, serving in the 65th Infantry Regiment, participated in combat in the European Theater — in Germany and Central Europe. Those who resided in the mainland of the United States were assigned to regular units of the military and served either in the European or Pacific theaters of the war. Some families had multiple members join the Armed Forces. Seven brothers of the Medina family known as "The fighting Medinas" fought in the war. They came from Rio Grande, Puerto Rico and Brooklyn, New York. In some cases Puerto Ricans were subject to the racial discrimination, which at that time was widespread in the United States.

World War II was also the first conflict in which women, other than nurses, were allowed to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. However, when the United States entered World War II, Puerto Rican nurses volunteered for service but were not accepted into the Army or Navy Nurse Corps. As a result, many of the island's women work forces migrated to the mainland U.S. to work in the factories which produced military equipment. In 1944, the Army Nurse Corps decided to actively recruit Puerto Rican nurses so that Army hospitals would not have to deal with the language barriers. Among them was Second Lieutenant Carmen Dumler, who became one of the first Puerto Rican female military officers.

The 149th Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) Post Headquarters Company was the first WAAC Company to go overseas, setting sail from New York Harbor for Europe on January 1943. The unit arrived in Northern Africa on January 27, 1943, and rendered overseas duties in Algiers within General Dwight D. Eisenhower's theatre headquarters. Tech 4 Carmen Contreras-Bozak, a member of this unit, was the first Hispanic to serve in the Women's Army Corps as an interpreter and in numerous administrative positions.

The 65th Infantry, after an extensive training program in 1942, was sent to Panama to protect the Pacific and the Atlantic sides of the isthmus in 1943. On November 25, 1943, Colonel Antulio Segarra preceded Col. John R. Menclenhall as Commander of the 65th Infantry, thus becoming the first Puerto Rican Regular Army officer to command a Regular Army regiment.

On January 12, 1944, the 296th Infantry Regiment departed from Puerto Rico to the Panama Canal Zone. In April 1945, the unit returned to Puerto Rico and soon after was sent to Honolulu, Hawaii. The 296th arrived on June 25, 1945 and was attached to the Central Pacific Base Command at Kahuku Air Base. Lieutenant Colonel Gilberto Jose Marxuach, "The Father of the San Juan Civil Defense" was the commander of both the 1114th Artillery Company and the 1558th Engineers Company.

That same year, the 65th Infantry regiment was sent to North Africa, arriving at Casablanca, where they underwent further training. For some Puerto Ricans, this would be the first time that they were away from their homeland. this would serve as an inspiration for compositions of two of Puerto Rico's most renowned Bolero's; "En mi viejo San Juan" by Noel Estrada and "Despedida" (My Good-bye), a farewell song written by Pedro Flores and interpreted by Daniel Santos.

By April 29, 1944, the Regiment had landed in Italy and moved on to Corsica. On September 22, 1944, the 65th Infantry landed in France and was committed to action on the Maritime Alps at Peira Cava. On December 13, 1944, the 65th Infantry, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Juan Cesar Cordero Davila, relieved the 2nd Battalion of the 442nd Infantry Regiment, a Regiment which was made up of Japanese Americans under the command of Colonel Virgil R. Miller, a native of Puerto Rico. The 3rd Battalion fought against and defeated Germany's 34th Infantry Division's 107th Infantry Regiment. There were 47 battle casualties including Pvt. Sergio Sanchez-Sanchez and Sergeant Angel Martinez, from the town of Sabana Grande, who were the first two Puerto Ricans to be killed in combat action from the 65th Infantry.

On March 18, 1945, the regiment was sent to the District of Mannheim and assigned to military occupation duties. In all, the 65th Infantry participated in the battles of Naples-Fogis, Rome-Arno, and central Europe and of the Rhineland. On October 27, 1945, the regiment sailed from France, arriving at Puerto Rico on November 9, 1945. The regiment suffered a total of 23 soldiers killed in action.This was also the first time that Puerto Ricans played important roles as commanders in the Armed Forces of the United States. Besides Lieutenant Colonel Juan Cesar Cordero Davila who served with the 65th Infantry and Colonel Virgil R. Miller, a West Point graduate born in San Juan, who was the Regimental Commander of the 442d Regimental Combat Team, a unit which was composed of "Nisei" (second generation Americans of Japanese descent), that rescued Lost Texas Battalion of the 36th Infantry Division, in the forests of the Vosges Mountains in northeastern France.

Seven Puerto Ricans who graduated from the United States Naval Academy served in command positions in the Navy and the Marine Corps. There was Lieutenant General Pedro Augusto del Valle, the first Hispanic Marine Corps general, who played a key role in the Guadalcanal Campaign and the Battle of Guam and became the Commanding General of the First Marine Division. Del Valle played an instrumental role in the defeat of the Japanese forces in Okinawa and was in charge of the reorganization of Okinawa.

Admiral Horacio Rivero, Jr., USN, was the first Puerto Rican to become a four-star Admiral. Captain Marion Frederic Ramírez de Arellano, USN, was the first Hispanic submarine commanding officer. As submarine commander of the USS Balao (SS-285), he is credited with sinking two Japanese ships.Rear Admiral Rafael Celestino Benitez, USN, a highly decorated submarine commander was the recipient of two Silver Star Medals.Rear Admiral Jose M. Cabanillas, USN, was the Executive Officer of the USS Texas which participated in the invasions of North Africa and Normandy (D-Day).Rear Admiral Edmund Ernest García, USN, commander of the destroyer USS Sloat saw action in the invasions of Africa, Sicily, and France.Rear Admiral Frederick Lois Riefkohl, USN, was the first Puerto Rican to graduate from the Naval Academy and received the Navy Cross.

Colonel Jaime Sabater, USMC, commanded the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines during the Bougainville amphibious operations. It was during this conflict that CWO2 Joseph B. Aviles, Sr., a member of the United States Coast Guard and the first Hispanic-American to be promoted to Chief Petty Officer, received a war-time promotion to Chief Warrant Officer (November 27, 1944), thus becoming the first Hispanic American to reach that level as well. Aviles, who served in the United States Navy as Chief Gunner's Mate in World War I, spent most of the war at St. Augustine, Florida training recruits.

Among the many Puerto Ricans who distinguished themselves in combat were Sergeant First Class Agustin Ramos Calero and the first three Puerto Ricans to be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross: PFC. Luis F. Castro, Private Anibal Irrizarry and PFC Joseph R. Martinez. PFC Joseph (Jose) R. Martinez, born in San German, Puerto Rico, destroyed a German Infantry unit and tank in Tunis by providing heavy artillery fire, saving his platoon from being attacked in the process. He received the Distinguished Service Cross from General George S. Patton, thus becoming the first Puerto Rican recipient of said military decoration. His citation reads as follows:
"The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Joseph R. Martinez, Private First Class, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy in action against enemy forces in March 1943. Private First Class Martinez's intrepid actions, personal bravery and zealous devotion to duty exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army."

Sergeant First Class Agustin Ramos Calero was awarded a total of 22 decorations and medals his actions in Europe during World War II, thus becoming most decorated soldier in the United States Military during that war.

Puerto Ricans also distinguished themselves as fighter pilots and bombardiers. Among those who served in either the Royal Canadian Air Force, the British Royal Air Force or the United States Army Air Force during the war were Captain Mihiel "Mike" Gilormini, Captain Alberto A. Nido and T/Sgt. Clement Resto.

Captain Mihiel "Mike" Gilormini served in the Royal Air Force and in United States Army Air Force as a fighter pilot during World War II. He was the recipient of the Silver Star Medal, the Air Medal with four clusters and the Distinguished Flying Cross 5 times. Gilormini later became the Founder of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard and retired as Brigadier General.

Captain Alberto A. Nido served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal Air Force and in the United States Army Air Force during the war. He flew missions as a bomber pilot for the RCAF and as a Super marine Spitfire fighter pilot for the RAF. As a member of the RAF, he belonged to 67th Reconnaissance Squadron who participated in 275 combat missions. Nido later transferred to the USAAF's 67th Fighter Group as a P-51 Mustang fighter pilot. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with four oak leaf clusters and the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters. Nido co-founded the Puerto Rico Air National Guard and, as Gilormini, retired a Brigadier General.

T/Sgt. Clement Resto served with the 303rd Bomb Group and participated in numerous bombing raids over Germany. During a bombing mission over Düren, Germany, Resto's plane, a B-17 Flying Fortress, was shot down. He was captured by the Gestapo and sent to Stalag XVII-B where he spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war. Resto, who lost an eye during his last mission, was awarded a Purple Heart, a POW Medal, and an Air Medal with one battle star after he was liberated from captivity.

Lieutenant Maria Rodriguez Denton (U.S. Navy), born in Guanica, Puerto Rico, was the first known woman of Puerto Rican descent who became an officer in the United States Navy as a member of the WAVES. It was Lt. Denton who forwarded the news (through channels) to President Harry S. Truman that the war had ended.

Puerto Rican soldiers were also subject to human experimentation by the United States Armed Forces. On Panama's San Jose Island, Puerto Rican soldiers were exposed to mustard gas to see if they reacted differently than their "white" counterparts. According to Susan L. Smith of the University of Alberta, the researchers were searching for evidence of race-based differences in the responses of the human body to mustard gas exposure.

According to the 4th Report of the Director of Selective Service of 1948, a total of 51,438 Puerto Ricans served in the Armed Forces during World War II, however the Department of Defense in its report titled "Number of Puerto Ricans serving in the U.S. Armed Forces during National Emergencies" stated that the total of Puerto Ricans who served was 65,034 and from that total 2,560 were listed as wounded. Unfortunately, the exact total amount of Puerto Ricans who served in World War II in other units, besides those of Puerto Rico, cannot be determined because the military categorized Hispanics under the same heading as whites. The only racial groups to have separate stats kept were African-Americans and Asian Americans.

A total of 61,000 Puerto Ricans served in the military during the Korean War, most of them volunteers. A total of 121 Puerto Rican soldiers were among the 8,200 people listed as Missing in Action during the Korean War . This total does not include people of Puerto Rican descent who were born in the mainland of the United States.

Puerto Rico was officially ceded to the United States from Spain under the terms of the 1898 Treaty of Paris which concluded the Spanish-American War. It is a United States territory and upon the outbreak of World War I, the U.S. Congress approved the Jones-Shafroth Act, which granted Puerto Ricans citizenship. As a result Puerto Ricans have participated in every major conflict involving the United States from World War I onward.

Thousands of Puerto Ricans participated in these conflicts. Many lived and returned to their homeland, others were less fortunate and either died as a result of a hostile enemy action or have been listed as MIA (Missing In Action). Missing In Action (abbreviated MIA), is a term dating from 1946 referring to a member of the armed services who is reported missing following a combat mission and whose status as to injury, capture, or death is unknown. The missing combatant must not have been otherwise accounted for as either killed in action or a prisoner of war. The Korean War was one of two major conflicts (the other one was the Vietnam War) which accounted for the most Puerto Ricans missing in action.

According to "All POW-MIA Korean War Casualties," the total number of Puerto Rican casualties in the Korean War was 732; however, this total may vary slightly since some non-Puerto Ricans, such as Captain James W. Conner, were mistakenly included. Out of the 700 plus casualties suffered in the war, a total of 121 Puerto Rican men were listed as Missing in Action.

It was during the Korean War that Puerto Ricans suffered the most casualties as members of an all-Hispanic volunteer unit, the 65th Infantry Regiment. One of the problems the unit faced was the difference in languages: the common foot soldier spoke only Spanish, while the commanding officers were mostly English-speaking Americans.

In September 1952, the 65th Infantry was holding on to a hill known as "Outpost Kelly" until the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (Chinese officials maintained from the first that the Chinese fighting in Korea were volunteers) which had joined the North Koreans, overran the position. This became known as the "Battle for Outpost Kelly." Twice, the 65th Regiment was overwhelmed by Chinese artillery and driven off. The Battle of Outpost Kelly accounted for 73 of the men missing in action from the total of 121. Out of the 73 MIAs suffered by the regiment in the month of September, 50 of them occurred on the same day, September 18.

During the Korean War, two Puerto Ricans who were members of the United States Marine Corps, were awarded the Navy Cross, the second highest medal, after the Medal of Honor, that can be awarded by the Department of the Navy. One of the recipients was PFC. Ramón Núñez-Juarez who was listed as MIA and was posthumously awarded the medal. PFC Ramón Núñez-Juarez's remains have never been recovered and a symbolic burial with full military honors was held on October 25, 1970. There is a headstone with his name inscribed above an empty grave in the Puerto Rico National Cemetery, located in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. His name is inscribed in "El Monumento de la Recordacion," a monument dedicated to the Puerto Ricans who have fallen in combat, located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

On April 23, 1975, President Gerald Ford gave a televised speech declaring an end to the Vietnam War. Some sources state that a total of 345 Puerto Ricans who resided in the island died in combat, however, according to a report by the Department of Defense, titled "Number of Puerto Ricans serving in the U.S. Armed Forces during National Emergencies" the total number of Puerto Ricans who died was 455 and that were wounded was 3,775.

Because of lack of separate documentation, the total number of Puerto Ricans who lived in the mainland United States and perished is unknown. At the time, Puerto Ricans were not tabulated separately, but were generally included in the general white population census count. Separate statistics were kept for African Americans and Asian Americans. The names of those who perished are inscribed in both the Vietnam Veterans Memorial located in Washington, D.C. and in "El Monumento de la Recordacion" (The Wall of Remembrance) located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

According to a study made by the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health and the Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, Puerto Rican Vietnam veterans, have a higher risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and experience more severe PTSD symptoms than non-Hispanic white Vietnam veterans. However, despite the hardships suffered by the experiences of war, many went on to live normal everyday lives. Among the Puerto Ricans who served in Vietnam and held important presidential administrative positions in the Administration of President George W. Bush were Major General William A. Navas Jr., who was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and was named Assistant Secretary of the Navy in June 6, 2001 and Dr. Richard Carmona, a former Green Beret who was awarded two Purple Hearts and was appointed Surgeon General in March 2002.

Puerto Ricans have served as members of the United States Armed Forces and have fought in every major conflict in which the United States has been involved from World War I onward. Many Puerto Ricans, including those of Puerto Rican descent, have distinguished themselves during combat as members of the five branches of the U.S. Military, the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and the Coast Guard.

Five Puerto Ricans have been awarded the United States' highest military decoration the Medal of Honor, six have been awarded the Navy Cross and seventeen have been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Two of the Medal of Honor winners are from hometown. Utuado is very proud of these two winners who paid the final sacrifice for our country.

The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is the second highest military decoration of the United States Army, awarded for extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force. Actions which merit the Distinguished Service Cross must be of such a high degree to be above those required for all other U.S. combat decorations but not meeting the criteria for the Medal of Honor.

Why Puerto Ricans Do Not Vote in Federal Elections? Puerto Ricans who reside in Puerto Rico cannot vote in federal elections as ruled by the 1922 Supreme Court decision. In order to vote in federal elections, the individual must be a permanent resident of the USA. However, Puerto Ricans who reside in the United States of America can vote in insular elections as long as they have temporary address in Puerto Rico.

The following is a summary of the rulings associated with the rights and citizenship status of all Puerto Rican residing on the island: United States Recognition of Puerto Rican Citizenship.Puerto Rican citizenship replaced the Spanish citizenship that Puerto Ricans enjoyed at the time of the American invasion in 1898. Such Puerto Rican citizenship was granted by Spain in 1897.The Congress of the United States enacted the Foraker Act of 1900, which replaced the governing military regime in Puerto Rico with a civil form of government. Section VII of this act created a Puerto Rican citizenship for the residents "born in Puerto Rico and, therefore, subject to its jurisdiction." This citizenship was reaffirmed by the United States Supreme Court in 1904 by its ruling in Gonzales v. Williams which denied that Puerto Ricans were United States citizens and labeled them as noncitizen nationals.

On March 2, 1917, the Jones-Shafroth Act was signed, granting collective United States citizenship to Puerto Ricans without rescinding their Puerto Rican citizenship. In 1922 the U.S. Supreme court in the case of Balzac v. Porto Rico ruled that the full protection and rights of the U.S constitution does not apply to residents of Puerto Rico until they come to reside in the United States proper.

Luis Muñoz Rivera, who participated in the creation of the Jones-Shafroth Act, gave a speech in the U.S. House floor that argued in favor of Puerto Rican citizenship. He declared that if the earth were to swallow the island, Puerto Ricans would prefer American citizenship to any citizenship in the world. But as long as the island existed, the residents preferred Puerto Rican citizenship.

Also the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, in 1943, cited U.S. Supreme Court case Snowden v. Hughes, 321 U.S. 1, 7 (1943) that affirm: The protection extended to citizens of the United States by the privileges and immunities clause includes those rights and privileges which, under the laws and Constitution of the United States, are incident to citizenship of the United States but does not include rights pertaining to state citizenship and derived solely from the relationship of the citizen and his state established by state law. The right to become a candidate for state office, like the right to vote for the election of state officers, is a right or privilege of state citizenship, not of national citizenship, which alone is protected by the privileges and immunities clause.

The U.S Ambassador Cabot Lodge in a memorandum sent to the United Nations in 1953 recognized that "the people of Puerto Rico continue to be citizens of the United States as well as of Puerto Rico." Puerto Rican Citizenship Reaffirmed. In 1994 Puerto Rican activist Juan Mari Brás flew to Venezuela and renounced his US citizenship before a consular agent in the US Embassy. Mari Bras through his renunciation of U.S. citizenship, sought to redefine Section VII as a source of law that recognized a Puerto Rican nationality separate from that of the United States.1995: His denaturalization was confirmed by the US State Department. Among the arguments that ensued over his action was whether he would now be able to vote in elections in Puerto Rico.

In 1997 the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico through its ruling in Miriam J. Ramirez de Ferrer v. Juan Mari Brás reaffirmed the Puerto Rican citizenship by ruling that U.S. citizenship was not a requirement to vote in Puerto Rico. According to the court's majority opinion, the Puerto Rican citizenship is recognized several times in the Puerto Rican constitution including section 5 of article III, section 3 of article IV, and section 9 of article V. In a 2006 memorandum, the Secretary of Justice of Puerto Rico concluded, based on the Mari Bras case, that the Puerto Rican citizenship is "separate and different" from the United States citizenship.

The Puerto Rico Supreme Court decision affirmed that persons born in Puerto Rico and persons subject to their jurisdiction are Citizens of Puerto Rico under the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Constitution. The Court cited as part of the applicable jurisdiction to decide this case, United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542 (1875) pp 549, the U.S. Supreme Court affirm: There is in our political system a government of each of the several States, and a Government of the United States. Each is distinct from the others, and has citizens of its own who owe it allegiance, and whose rights, within its jurisdiction, it must protect. The same person may be at the same time a citizen of the United States and a citizen of a State, but his rights of citizenship under one of those governments will be different from those he has under the other.

Puerto Ricans Get Less Military Benefits than Other U.S. Citizens. Military widows and veterans in Puerto Rico receive fewer health benefits than their counterparts in the United States, even though Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens and serve shoulder-to-shoulder with their countrymen in Iraq and Afghanistan. That means that, like all island spouses whose soldier husbands or wives were killed in the latest U.S. wars, the widow of Army soldier would get less than fully paid health insurance -- simply for living in Puerto Rico.

The reason is that the Pentagon considers Puerto Rico an "overseas" location. Yet, military retirees and survivors in Hawaii and Alaska, also considered "overseas" by the Pentagon for purposes of the health plan, receive benefits on par with their fellow citizens who live in the contiguous 48 states. While active duty military and their families in Puerto Rico are eligible for TRICARE Prime, the Pentagon's fully paid HMO option, the under-65 retirees on the island are limited to a program called TRICARE Standard.

TRICARE Standard is equivalent to a health insurance program that the Defense Department itself deemed inadequate several years ago. Survivors of soldiers killed in war, if they live in Puerto Rico, qualify for the Prime program for two years, then must switch to Standard. If the husband, who is from Puerto Rico, goes to Iraq and is killed in action, and his wife, also Puerto Rican, wants to return home to the comfort of her family and friends, she receives less than full health care benefits. The above is an abstract of the original and complete report of Dr. Frank J. Collazo (30 page) article title “Puerto Ricans Contributions to All Wars -WWI Thru Vietnam” see link http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-485498.

By Dr. Frank J. Collazo and Edited by Ramon Luis Vazquez of Noticiasillescanos.com

Bibliography

Foraker Act
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Foraker_Act
German–Spanish Treaty (1899)
http://wapedia.mobi/en/German%E2%80%93Spanish_Treaty_(1899)
Hispanic Medal of Honor recipients
http://hispanicmedalofhonor.com/recipients.html
Jones–Shafroth Act
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Jones-Shafroth_Act
Joseph B. Foraker, Senator from Ohio
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Joseph_B._Foraker
List of Puerto Ricans Missing in Action in the Korean War-From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Ricans_Missing_in_Action_-_Korean_War
Military history of Puerto Rico-http://www.wikipediaondvd.com/nav/art/8/f.html
Puerto Ricans get less military benefits than other U.S. citizens-
http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/34653
Puerto Rican women in the military
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rican_women_in_the_military
Puerto Ricans in World War II
–http://wapedia.mobi/en/Puerto_Ricans_in_World_War_II
Puerto Rico National Guard-http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/arng-pr.htm
Puerto Rico’s 65th Infantry Regiment- http://www.valerosos.com/65thpg1.htm
Puerto Ricans in the Vietnam War
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Ricans_in_the_Vietnam_War
The Puerto Rican Prisoners of War-http://www.prisonactivist.org/archive/pps+pows/pr-pows.html
Puerto Ricans in the Vietnam War
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Ricans_in_the_Vietnam_War
Spanish–American War (1/4
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Spanish%E2%80%93American_War
Spanish East Indies (1/2
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Spanish_East_Indies
The Changing of the Guard: Puerto Rico in 1898-
http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/bras.html
Treaty of Paris (1898)
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Treaty_of_Paris_(1898)
United States recognition of Puerto Rican citizenship
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Puerto_Rican_citizenship#1.
Wiki: Puerto Rican citizenship
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Puerto_Rican_citizenship
Yap Islands
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Caroline_Islands

Part II - Chronology of the Nationalist Party

Part II - Chronology of the Nationalist Party
By Dr. Frank J. Collazo
August 20, 2010

Introduction

The purpose of this discussion is to present the historical facts of the Nationalist Party. Its aim and concept was “hatred vs. friendship and harmony with the United States of America.” The same individuals who launched a terrorist campaign against the great USA were the ones participating and reaping the benefits of the Commonwealth Arrangement sponsored by the USA at a cost of $ 21 billion dollars/year.

The only way to prevent this bloodshed is to keep the sixteen renegades in prison for life. They are terrorists and fanatics focused on independence for Puerto Rico at any cost. These Nationalists do not understand that a plebiscite is the appropriate tool to obtain independence in a democracy. In December 1998, a referendum or plebiscite regarding the political future of PR, 2.5% of the population chose independence. Still the 3-5% of the population want to impose their will on the 95 % of the population. The 3-5% has captured the herald of the press.

This chronology outlines the origin of the Nationalist Party whose intentions were legal and pro-American. In 1924 the charter of the party changed under Dr. Albizu Campos. The evidence is unambiguous. The slavery issue has been a source of irritation with the Puerto Ricans during WWI and WWII, because some Puerto Ricans who appeared to have African descent were not assigned to Caucasian units, but to black military units. This report is based on facts as listed in the bibliography.

The following is a chronology of the Nationalist Party activities for the period 1873 to 1999. 1873: Slavery practices in the colony of Puerto Rico were abolished by Spain. 1898: Puerto Rico was liberated by the US of America Armed Forces during the Spanish American War.

1919: José Coll y Cuchi: A member of the Union Party of Puerto Rico who felt that the Union Party was not doing enough for the cause of Puerto Rican independence. He and some followers left it to form the Nationalist Association of Puerto Rico in San Juan. Under Coll y Cuchi’s presidency, the Party was able to convince the Puerto Rican Legislative Assembly to approve an Act that would permit the transfer of the mortal remains of Puerto Rican patriot Ramón Demetrio Butanes from Paris, France, to Puerto Rico.

1920: The Legislative Assembly appointed Alfonso Astra Cherries (the best criminalist lawyer in Puerto Rico), as its emissary since he had French heritage and spoke the language fluently. Betanses remains arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on August 5, 1920, and a funeral caravan organized by the Nationalist Association transferred the remains from San Juan to the town of "Cabo Rojo" where his ashes were interred by his monument. At that time there were two other pro-independence organizations in the Island: the Nationalist Youth and the Independence Association. The nationalist Party was organized to pursue independence from the United States in a friendly manner. Hatred was not part of the campaign.

1922: The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party was founded. Its main objective was to work for Puerto Rican Independence. These three political organizations joined forces and formed the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and Coll y Cuchi was elected president and José S. Algeria (father of Ricardo Algeria) vice-president.

1924: Dr. Pedro Ablaze Campos joined the party and was named vice-president. By 1930, disagreements between Coll y Cuchi and Albizu Campos as to how the party should be run, led the former and his followers to abandon the party and return to the Union Party. Under Albizu's leadership during the years of the Great Depression, the party became the largest independence movement in Puerto Rico. However after disappointing electoral results and strong repression by the territorial police authorities, by mid 1930s Albizu opted against electoral participation and advocated violent revolution.

1930: Dr. Pedro Albizu Campo assumed the position of President of the Party advocating overthrowing the US government because of his discrimination experience when he was serving in the US Army as a second lieutenant in charge of colored troops driving trucks. He thought that a "magna cum laude" upon graduation from Harvard could be utilized in the Army doing constructive and challenging things not doing mundane things in a supporting role. Under Albizu's leadership during the years of the Great Depression, the party became the largest independence movement in Puerto Rico. However after disappointing electoral results and strong repression by the territorial police authorities, by mid 1930s Albizu opted against electoral participation and advocated violent revolution.

1932: The Nationalist partisans marched into the Capitol building in San Juan to protest a legislative proposal to establish the current Puerto Rican flag as the official flag of the government. Nationalists preferred the emblem used during the Grito de Lares. During a melee in the building, one partisan fell from a second floor interior balcony to his death. The protest was condemned by the legislators, Rafael Martínez Nadal and Santiago Iglesias, while the spirit of local empowerment found some support in unlikely places such as the future leader of the statehood party Manuel García Méndez.

1935: A confrontation with police at University of Puerto Rico campus in Río Piedras, killed 4 Nationalist partisans and one policeman. This and other events led the party to announce on December 12, 1935, a boycott of all elections held while Puerto Rico remained part of the United States. The event is known as the Río Piedras massacre.

1936: The insular police chief, E. Francis Riggs was murdered in San Juan as he exited the Cathedral on Cristo Street. The perpetrators, two Nationalists named Hiram Rosado and Elías Beauchamp, were arrested, transported to police headquarters, and executed within hours without trial. No policeman was ever tried or indicted for their deaths. This action was in response to a massacre where four nationalists were killed by the police in October 1935. Dr. Campos organized the Nationalist Party advocating overthrowing the US Government and expressing independence at any cost.

1937: A peaceful march organized in the southern city of Ponce by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party turned into a bloody event when the Insular Police ("a force somewhat resembling the National Guard of the typical U.S. state" and which answered to the U.S.-appointed governor Blanton Winship) opened fire upon what a U.S. Congressman and others reported were unarmed and defenseless cadets and bystanders alike killing 19 and badly wounding over 200 more, many in the back while running away.

An ACLU report declared it a massacre, and it has since been known as the Ponce massacre. The march had been organized to commemorate the ending of slavery in Puerto Rico by the governing Spanish National Assembly in 1873 and to protest the incarceration by the U.S. government of nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos. Soon thereafter, the leadership of the Nationalist party, including Pedro Albizu Campos, was arrested. After a second trial, they were incarcerated for conspiracy to overthrow the government of the United States.

A government investigation into the incident drew few conclusions. A second, independent investigation ordered by the US Commission for Civil Rights (May 5, 1937) led by Arthur Garfield Hays (a member of the ACLU) with Fulgencio Pinero, Emilio Belaval, Jose Davila Rice, Antonio Ayuyo Valdivieso, Manuel Diaz Garcia, and Franscisco M. Zeno, concluded that the events on March 21 constituted a massacre. The report harshly criticized the repressive tactics and massive civil rights violations by the administration of Governor Blanton Winship.

1938: The municipality of Ponce organized celebrations to celebrate the American landing in 1898. This included a military parade and speeches by Governor Blanton Winship, Senate president Rafael Martínez Nadal, and others. When Winship rose to speak, shots were fired, slaying Police Colonel Luis Irizarry who was seated beside the governor. Despite total repudiation of involvement or support of the incident by Nationalist interim president M. Medina Ramírez, numerous nationalists were arrested and convicted of participating in the shooting. Soon afterward, two Nationalist partisans attempted to assassinate Robert Cooper, judge of the Federal Court in Puerto Rico.

1948: The U.S.-appointed governor of Puerto Rico, Jesús T. Piñero, under pressure from the United States signed the infamous "Ley de la Mordaza" (Gag Law) or Law 53 as it was officially known, passed by the Puerto Rican legislature which made it illegal to display the Puerto Rican flag, sing a patriotic song, talk of independence, or to fight for the liberation of the Island. It resembled the anti-communist Smith Law passed in the United States.

1950: With Albizu now free, and the new autonomist Commonwealth status soon to be enacted, a Nationalist uprising occurred. It involved a dozen or so skirmishes throughout the Island. The first battle of the nationalist uprisings occurred during the early hours of the day of October 29, in the barrio Macaná of town of Peñuelas. The police surrounded the house of the mother of Melitón Muñiz, the president of the Peñuelas Nationalist Party, under the pretext that he was storing weapons for the Nationalist Revolt. Without warning, the police fired upon the nationalists and a firefight between both factions ensued, which resulted on the death of two nationalists and the wounding of six police officers. Two members of the Nationalist Party tried to shoot their way into the Blair house where President S Truman was lodging. Jayuya Uprising: It was led by Nationalist leader Blanca Canales, a police station and post-office were burned. The town was held by the nationalists for three days. Utuado Uprising: It culminated in the Utuado Massacre by the local police.

There was an attempt by a handful of nationalists to enter the Governor's mansion, La Fortaleza, in what is known as the Nationalist attack of San Juan, intending to attack then-governor Luis Muñoz Marín. The five-hour shootout resulted in the death of four Nationalists: Domingo Hiraldo Resto, Carlos Hiraldo Resto, Manuel Torres Medina and Raimundo Díaz Pacheco and three guards at the compound were seriously wounded. Various other shootouts took place throughout the island including Mayagüez, Naranjito, Arecibo, San Juan (The San Juan Uprising), Jayuya (known as the Jayuya Uprising) and Utuado. The next day, there was an unsuccessful attempt by Griselio Torresola and Óscar Collazo to assassinate U.S. President Harry S. Truman, then residing at the Blair House in Washington, D.C.

1954: Lolita Lebrón, together with fellow Nationalists Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irving Flores and Andrés Figueroa Cordero, attacked the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. The group opened fire with automatic pistols. Some 30 shots were fired (mostly by Cancel, according to his account), wounding five lawmakers. One Congressman, Alvin Bentley from Michigan, was seriously wounded. Upon being arrested, Lebrón yelled "I did not come to kill anyone, I came to die for Puerto Rico!”

1956: Police officers killed Elias and Hiram Rosado while they were being interrogated. 1965: After Albizu's death, the party split, and some factions opted to join with socialist movements. The New York Junta (board) is an autonomous organ of the party that recognizes and is recognized by the National Junta in Puerto Rico. The vast majority of followers of independence movements in Puerto Rico belong to either the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) or the Puerto Rican Socialist Party (PSP). 1974: Five bombings in downtown New York City (NYC) had damage assessed at one million dollars excluding compensation of the victims. The NYC police was called to an upper east side building to collect a dead body. The building was booby trapped, and a police officer was injured and lost one eye.

1974 to 1987: Scope of terrorism: Bombed public and commercial buildings mainly in Chicago and NYC areas. Robbers held up banks. Stolen dynamite from a mining company in Colorado weapons taken from a National Guard Armory in Wisconsin.

1975: This group exploded into the public view by attacking an icon of American History. The “Fraunces Tavern” in NYC was bombed by the Nationalists, where Gen George Washington bid farewell to his troops in 1783. Four were killed, 54 wounded, and 300, 000 dollars in damages. 1977: The Merchandise Mart was bombed with estimated damages of $1.3 million dollars. 1977: Mobil Oil Company employment office was bombed by the Nationalists. One person was killed and several injured -- no estimated damages assessed.

1979: Two Chicago military recruiting offices and armory were bombed by the nationalists. Nationalist Morales was captured after bombs exploded in his apartment during assembly. Morales escaped from the hospital and fled to Mexico. He killed a police officer in Mexico and was jailed until 1988. Then, he went to Cuba, where he remains. He sought a pardon form President Clinton. Jimmy Carter granted clemency to the four terrorists involved.

1980: The members of the Nationalist Party seized the Carter-Mondale campaign office in Chicago and the George Bush Campaign office in Chicago destroying property and spray painting separatist slogans on walls. Eleven members were captured in Evanston Hill, Illinois, as they prepared for an armored car heist.

1981: Oscar Lopez Rivera, sentenced to 55 years for weapons violation, was intent to destroy government property, and seditious conspiracy. In 1998, he was given an additional sentence for attempting to escape. The Nationalist terrorists were sentenced as follows: Escobar, 60 years; Ricardo Jimenez, 90 years; and Adolfo Matos, 70 years; Alicia Rodriguez, 55 years; Ida Luz Rodriguez, 75 years; and Carmen Valentine, 70 years, all for seditious conspiracy and firearms violation.

1982: Four bombs were detonated in NYC outside police and federal buildings. Three officers were maimed at the blast. 1983: The FBI filmed the nationalists making bombs. Casualties from this even left four persons dead and 54 wounded. It was the deadliest of more than 130 attacks linked to the nationalist group. Four Nationalist members were arrested in Chicago. There were no more bombings after their arrest. 1974-1987: Most of the Nationalist members who committed terrorism were placed in jail (a good place for them).

1985: Luis Ramirez, Alicia Rodriguez, and Carlos Torres told the Chicago Tribune, “I have nothing to be sorry for and have no intention of renouncing the armed revolution.” After another Nationalist member was granted clemency, Ricardo Jimenez told the Judge: "We are going to fight; revolutionary justice will take care of you and everybody else.” Other Nationalists were sentenced for seditious conspiracy to include bombing of military installations: Edwin Cortes 35 years; and Alejandra Torres, 35 years. Juan Segarra Palmer was sentenced to 55 years and 500,000 dollars fine for seditious conspiracy, bank robbery, and interstate transportation of stolen money with the connection of the 1983 armed car robbery. He is still serving a prison term in a medium security prison in Coleman, Florida. Alberto Rodriguez was found guilty of seditious conspiracy including the planning of bombing military centers in Chicago, and Chicago Transit Authority.

1989: The following individuals were sentenced for their role in the 1983 Armored Car Heist Robbery of 7.1 million dollars: Roberto Maldonado Rivera and Norman Ramirez were sentenced to five years; they were released in 1994. The clemency of 100,000 was forgiven for Roberto and 50,000 for Ramirez. Nationalist Party terrorists were offered clemency by President Clinton. Hillary Clinton was running for the US Senate in NY where there are 4 million Puerto Ricans. Carlos Alberto Torres was born in 1951, and sentenced in June to 70 years for seditious conspiracy. He has been on the FBI most terrorists top ten list. Maria Haydee Torres, born in 1955, sentenced to life in prison and convicted of murder in connection with the bombing of Mobil Oil Building in NYC about 3 August 1977 which killed one and injured several individuals.

1998: The referendum or the plebiscite, regarding the political future of PR; 2.5% chose independence. 1999: President Clinton offered clemency to 16 of the terrorists in jail. The decision touched off congressional hearings and sparked a new fight over “Executive Privilege and became an issue in the Senate race in NY state. Four million votes were at risk.

Send and writhen by Dr. Frank J. Collazo

Bibliography:

Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rican_Nationalist_Party

Puerto Rican nationalist Lolita Lebron dies at 89

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/world/20100801

Nationalist Puerto Rican Party
http://www.bing.com/news/search?q=Nationalist+Puerto+Rican+Party&FORM=EWRE&qpvt=Nationalist+Puerto+Rican+Party