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Casimiro Berenguer Padilla was a Puerto Rican nationalist. He was the military instructor of the Cadets of the Republic (''Cadetes de la República'') who received permission from Ponce Mayor Tormos Diego to celebrate a parade on March 21, 1937, in commemoration of the abolition of slavery and to protest the jailing of its leaders, including Pedro Albizu Campos. The parade resulted in the police riot known as the Ponce massacre.
He set up his shoe repair shop at Marina and Aurora streets, at a building used by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party to celebrate its meetings in that city. The Insular Police carried out the 1937 Ponce massacre, under the instructions of US-installed governor Blanton Winship, outside this building.
In 1938, Berenguer and other Nationalists were accused of the murder of Col. Luis Irizarry of the Puerto Rican National Guard, in their attempt on the life of U.S.-installed governor Blanton Winship in retaliation for the Blanton-ordered Ponce massacre. The other Nationalists also accused of murder by the government of Blanton Winship in relation to the massacre were Luis Castro Quesada, Julio Pinto Gandía, Lorenzo Piñeiro, (Interim President and Interim Secretary General of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party), Plinio Graciani, Tomás López de Victoria, Martín González Ruiz, Elifaz Escobar, Luis Ángel Correa, Santiago González, and Orlando Colón Leyro. Of this group, only Tomás López de Victoria, Santiago González, Elifaz Escobar and Berenguer Padilla were members of the cadets. A grand jury was convened, and the accused were tried, but all the Nationalists, including Berenguer, were released.
On September 28, 1938, Berenguer was convicted with other ''Nacionalistas'' in connection with the attempted assassination of Governor Winship during the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the U.S. military invasion of Puerto Rico. The other Nationalists convicted were Tomás López de Victoria, Elifaz Escobar, Santiago González, Vicente Morciglio, Leocadio López, Juan Pietri, Guillermo Larrogaiti, and Prudencio Segarra.
''Panteon Nacional Roman Baldorioty de Castro.'' Official Website of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce.
The Ponce Massacre(1937)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berenguer, Casimiro 1909 births 2000 deaths Puerto Rican people of Catalan descent Puerto Rican Nationalist Party politicians Members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Puerto Rican party leaders Puerto Rican prisoners and detainees Imprisoned Puerto Rican independence activists Nationalists from Ponce Burials at Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro Puerto Rican independence activists Puerto Rican nationalists People from Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
Early years
Casimiro Berenguer Padilla was born in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. His parents were Alejandro Berenguer, amason
Mason may refer to:
Occupations
* Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces
* Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...
, and Eugenia Padilla, a housewife. At age 6, he emigrated to the Dominican Republic with his parents, where he spent his childhood and part of his youth. He also learned to trade as a cobbler there. In 1929, he returned to Puerto Rico and established a shoe repair shop in Ponce.
Background
Berenguer Padilla was an instructor of the Cadets of the Republic in Ponce."FBI Files"; "Puerto Rico Nationalist Party"; SJ 100-3; Vol. 23; pages 104-134.He set up his shoe repair shop at Marina and Aurora streets, at a building used by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party to celebrate its meetings in that city. The Insular Police carried out the 1937 Ponce massacre, under the instructions of US-installed governor Blanton Winship, outside this building.
In 1938, Berenguer and other Nationalists were accused of the murder of Col. Luis Irizarry of the Puerto Rican National Guard, in their attempt on the life of U.S.-installed governor Blanton Winship in retaliation for the Blanton-ordered Ponce massacre. The other Nationalists also accused of murder by the government of Blanton Winship in relation to the massacre were Luis Castro Quesada, Julio Pinto Gandía, Lorenzo Piñeiro, (Interim President and Interim Secretary General of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party), Plinio Graciani, Tomás López de Victoria, Martín González Ruiz, Elifaz Escobar, Luis Ángel Correa, Santiago González, and Orlando Colón Leyro. Of this group, only Tomás López de Victoria, Santiago González, Elifaz Escobar and Berenguer Padilla were members of the cadets. A grand jury was convened, and the accused were tried, but all the Nationalists, including Berenguer, were released.
On September 28, 1938, Berenguer was convicted with other ''Nacionalistas'' in connection with the attempted assassination of Governor Winship during the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the U.S. military invasion of Puerto Rico. The other Nationalists convicted were Tomás López de Victoria, Elifaz Escobar, Santiago González, Vicente Morciglio, Leocadio López, Juan Pietri, Guillermo Larrogaiti, and Prudencio Segarra.
Death and legacy
Berenguer's remains were brought from the Dominican Republic and interred at the Panteon Nacional Roman Baldorioty de Castro in Ponce on the 70th anniversary of the Ponce massacre, March 21, 2007.Notes
See also
* Cadets of the Republic * Puerto Rican Independence Movement * Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s * Puerto Rican Nationalist Party * Ponce massacre * Río Piedras massacre * Jayuya Uprising * Utuado Uprising * Puerto Rican Independence Party * History of Puerto Rico * Gilberto Concepción de Gracia *Blanca Canales
Blanca Canales (February 17, 1906 – July 25, 1996) was an educator and a Puerto Rican Nationalist. Canales joined the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party in 1931 and helped organize the Daughters of Freedom, the women's branch of the Puerto Rican N ...
* Lolita Lebrón
References
External links
The Ponce Massacre(1937)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berenguer, Casimiro 1909 births 2000 deaths Puerto Rican people of Catalan descent Puerto Rican Nationalist Party politicians Members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Puerto Rican party leaders Puerto Rican prisoners and detainees Imprisoned Puerto Rican independence activists Nationalists from Ponce Burials at Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro Puerto Rican independence activists Puerto Rican nationalists People from Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico