La Democracia (newspaper)
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''La Democracia'', founded on 1 July 1890, was a news daily published by
Luis Muñoz Rivera Luis Muñoz Rivera (July 17, 1859 – November 15, 1916) was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist and politician. He was a major figure in the struggle for political autonomy of Puerto Rico in union with Spain. In 1887, Muñoz Rivera became part ...
in Ponce,
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
. It crusaded for Puerto Rican self-government. At a publication length of 58 years, it was the longest continuously-running Puerto Rican Spanish newspaper of its time, and one of the longest continuously running Puerto Rican newspapers of all time.


History

La Democracia was for many years the official organ of the
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
. It began in Ponce in 1890, as a newspaper with three issues per week, but in May, 1893, it became a daily. After ten years in Ponce, in 1900 it moved to
Caguas Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, and east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey. Caguas was founded ...
. In 1904, it moved again, to
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
. Originally not a daily, it became a daily when Muñoz Rivera imported a Marinori press from the United States. The Marinori press could produce 25,000 copies of a newspaper in one hour.


Coverage

The publication was mostly directed towards politics, but it also included poetry and stories published by Puerto Rican artists. The newspaper brought immediate controversy, which eventually led to Muñoz Rivera's arrest. Protests were organized throughout Puerto Rico and he was released after his father paid 15,000 pesetas as bond. Muñoz Rivera sold his half of the store, in order to raise funds for the publication's establishment. Among the better known writers and contributors in La Democracia were Carlos del Toro Fernández, Gumersindo Rivas, Mariano Abril, Luis Rodríguez Cabrero, and José A. Negrón Sanjurjo, Rafael Matos Bernier,
Antonio R. Barceló Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular mal ...
, José Coll y Vidal, Alfredo Vargas, José Dávila Ricci,
Luis Muñoz Marín José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín (February 18, 1898April 30, 1980) was a Puerto Rican journalist, politician, statesman and was the first elected governor of Puerto Rico, regarded as the "Architect of the Puerto Rico Commonwealth." In 1948 he ...
, Sebastián Dalmau Canet, Samuel R. Quiñones.


Legacy

La Democracia "laid the groundwork for Ponce's journalistic tradition." The building structure where ''La Democracia'' was edited and printed still stands in Ponce, on Calle Cristina across from Hotel Melia; a plaque on the side of the building states "site of Imprenta 'El Vapor' of Luis Muñoz Rivera".


Other Ponce-based papers

* ''
El Ponceño ''El Ponceño'', founded in 1852, was the first newspaper published in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The paper was originally named "El Observador Ponceño" but it was shortened to "El Ponceño". History ''El Ponceño'' was founded by Daniel Rivera. I ...
'' (1852) * '' El Fénix'' (1855) * ''El Derecho'' (1873) By Roman Baldorioty de Castro. * ''La Crónica'' (1894) By Ramón Marín. * ''El Postillón'' (1894) By Francisco Gonzalo Marín.''Historia de Puerto Rico.''
Paul G. Miller. New York: Rand, McNally and Co. 1922. Pages 507. Accessed 15 January 2019. * ''El Día'' (1909) * ''La Revista de Puerto Rico'' (ca. 1916) * ''
La Perla del Sur ''La Perla del Sur'' is a weekly regional Spanish-language newspaper based in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is distributed in nine towns in southern Puerto Rico and has a circulation of 75,000. It also had an Internet portal where the entire printed v ...
'' (1982) By Juan J. Nogueras.


See also

*
List of newspapers in Puerto Rico This is a list of newspapers in Puerto Rico. Unless otherwise indicated, all papers are published in the Spanish language. List of newspapers Defunct newspapers 19th century 20th century 21st century Diaspora/Exile newspapers These a ...


References


Further reading

*Negron Portillo, Mariano. ''A Study of the Newspaper "La Democracia", Puerto Rico, 1895-1914: A Historical Analysis.'' Ph. D. Dissertation. State University of New York, 1989. 278p.


External links


Image of the 10 January 1893 (Year 3, Issue 393) issue of "La Democracia".
Accessed 21 August 2019.
Image of the 25 March 1854 (Year 3, Issue 91) issue of "El Ponceño".
Accessed 18 August 2019.
Image of the 2 August 1856 (Year 2, Issue 57) issue of "El Fenix".
Accessed 18 August 2019
Archived 16 June 2019.

Image of the 8 October 1884 (Year 1, Issue 1) issue of "El Avisador Ponceño".
Accessed 18 August 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:Democracia, La Spanish-language newspapers published in Puerto Rico Defunct newspapers published in Puerto Rico Newspapers from Ponce, Puerto Rico Newspapers established in 1890 1890 establishments in Puerto Rico