Rafael Cancel Miranda (July 18, 1930 – March 2, 2020) was a poet,
political activist
A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...
, member of the
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
The Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico ( es, Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico, PNPR) is a Puerto Rican political party founded on September 17, 1922, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its primary goal is to work for Puerto Rico's independence. The P ...
and an advocate of Puerto Rican independence. On March 1, 1954, Cancel Miranda and three other Nationalists (
Lolita Lebrón
Lolita Lebrón (November 19, 1919 – August 1, 2010) was a Puerto Rican nationalist who was convicted of attempted murder and other crimes after carrying out an armed attack on the United States Capitol in 1954, which resulted in the wound ...
,
Andrés Figueroa Cordero, and
Irvin Flores RodrÃguez) attacked the House of Representatives while it was in session at the United States Capitol building, firing 30 shots and injuring five
congressmen
A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
. The four were arrested, convicted, and sentenced to long prison terms. In 1979, Cancel Miranda's sentence was commuted by United States President Jimmy Carter.
Early years
Cancel Miranda was born in the town of
Mayagüez, located on the western coast of Puerto Rico. His father, Rafael Cancel RodrÃguez, was president of the Mayagüez chapter of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and his mother was a member of the Daughters of Freedom, an organization which was the women's branch of the Nationalist Party. His father, a businessman and owner of a furniture store, had been imprisoned because of his political beliefs.
Ponce massacre
In March 1937, when Cancel Miranda was seven years old, his mother and father traveled to the city of
Ponce to participate in a march organized by the Nationalist Party. He and his sisters couldn't go because they were sick with measles. The march, which was scheduled for March 30 (
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Holy ...
), was 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
Pedro Albizu Campos (September 12, 1891Luis Fortuño Janeiro. ''Album Histórico de Ponce (1692–1963).'' p. 290. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta Fortuño. 1963. – April 21, 1965) was a Puerto Rican attorney and politician, and the leading fi ...
on
sedition
Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...
charges.
Upon learning of the planned protest, however, the colonial
Governor of Puerto Rico
The governor of Puerto Rico ( es, gobernador de Puerto Rico) is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and commander-in-chief of the Puerto Rico National Guard.
The governor has a duty ...
at the time,
General Blanton Winship, who had been appointed by
US President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, demanded the immediate withdrawal of the permits. They were withdrawn a short time before the march was scheduled to begin. As "
La Borinqueña
"" (from the native name of Puerto Rico, ''Borinquen'' or ''Boriquen''), ) is the official anthem of Puerto Rico.
After Puerto Rico became known as "The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico" in 1952, the first elected governor, Luis Muñoz MarÃn, sig ...
", Puerto Rico's national anthem, was being played, the demonstrators began to march.
They were then fired upon for over 15 minutes by the police from four different positions. About 235 people were wounded and nineteen were killed.
[Insular Police]
Retrieved July 9, 2009.
Among the dead were 17 unarmed civilians and two police officers at the hands of the Insular Police.
Ultimately, responsibility for the massacre fell on Governor Winship, and he is considered to have, in effect, ordered the massacre. Many were chased by the police and shot or clubbed at the entrance of their houses as they tried to escape. Others were taken from their hiding places and killed. Leopold Tormes, a member of the Puerto Rico legislature, told reporters how a policeman murdered a nationalist with his bare hands. Dr.
José N. Gándara, one of the physicians who assisted the wounded, testified that wounded people running away were shot, and that many were again wounded by the clubs and bare fists of the police. No arms were found in the hands of the civilians wounded, nor on the dead ones. About 150 of the demonstrators were arrested immediately afterward; they were later released on bail. The incident is known as the
Ponce massacre
The Ponce massacre was an event that took place on Palm Sunday, March 21, 1937, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, when a peaceful civilian march turned into a police shooting in which 19 civilians and two policemen were killed, and more than 200 civilians ...
.
The white nurse's uniform of Cancel Miranda's mother was soaked with blood as she crawled over bodies in search of her husband. Miraculously, they both managed to return home unharmed. After the family returned home, Cancel Miranda committed his first political act in his first grade class in school when he refused to salute the
American flag
The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the c ...
which at the time was mandatory.
Political activist
Cancel Miranda joined the
Cadets of the Republic
Cadets of the Republic, known in Spanish as Cadetes de la República, was the paramilitary wing of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party in the twentieth century. The organization was also referred to as the Liberation Army of Puerto Rico ''(Ejà ...
(''Cadetes de la República''), the youth organization of the Nationalist Party, and organized nationalist youth committees in different towns. His group had a radio program and a small newspaper.
As a cadet, Cancel Miranda went to welcome Albizu Campos in December 1947, when the Nationalist Party leader returned from the United States after serving out a ten-year prison sentence – first in the U.S. penitentiary in Atlanta, then in New York – on charges of conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government and "inciting rebellion" against it. Following World War II, there was widespread resistance to Washington's attempt to impose English as the main language of instruction in Puerto Rico's schools. Cancel Miranda was among those who participated in a school strike to this respect, two months before his graduation and was expelled from school. He then went to San Juan to finish high school.
Puerto Ricans became U.S. citizens as a result of the 1917 Jones-Shafroth Act and those who were eligible, with the exception of women, were expected to serve in the military, either voluntarily or as a result of the military draft (
conscription
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
). In 1948, Cancel Miranda, then eighteen and in high school, refused to be drafted into the military. One day, he was walking to school in San Juan with other students, and there was a car with four
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
agents at the corner of his house. He handed his books to the other students to take them to the place where he was living. The men arrested him and charged him with refusing the U.S. draft. The
U.S. Federal Court
The federal judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government. The U.S. federal judiciary consists primaril ...
in Puerto Rico sentenced him to two years and one day and he was sent to a prison in
Tallahassee
Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, where he remained from 1949 to 1951. During his stay in prison he confronted a prison guard because of the racist segregation inside prison walls. Under
Jim Crow
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...
legislation at the time, the prison dormitories and lunch areas were segregated with areas for black prisoners and areas for white prisoners. Puerto Ricans were sent to either black or white areas, depending on their skin tone. Cancel was placed in the white area but said he "dined with the black prisoners" when he wanted to.
Self exile in Cuba
In the 1950s, the United States entered the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
. Believing that he was to be drafted by the US Military and that he would once again face a prison term for refusing, Cancel Miranda followed the advice of his wife and his sister Zoraida and went into a self exile in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
. Cancel Miranda arrived in the city of
Miranda using a different identity, Robert RodrÃguez. Cuba at that time was governed by
Carlos PrÃo Socarrás
Carlos Manuel PrÃo Socarrás (July 14, 1903 – April 5, 1977) was a Cuban politician. He served as the President of Cuba from 1948 until he was deposed by a military coup led by Fulgencio Batista on March 10, 1952, three months before new ele ...
. He moved to
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. where, with the help of Albizu Campos' son, Pedro Albizu Meneses, he found a job with the Public Works Department. After a while, he went to work for the Raymond Concrete Pipe Co. which was building the LÃnea Street Tunnel, which connects the two banks of the Almendares River.
On October 30, 1950, a
Nationalist Party uprising occurred in Puerto Rico. The uprising was a call for independence against the United States Government's rule of Puerto Rico. It was also a protest against the approval of the creation of the political status the "Free Associated State of Puerto Rico" or how it is legally known, the "Commonwealth of Puerto Rico" ("Estado Libre Asociado") for Puerto Rico which was considered a colonial farce. Numerous Nationalists were arrested, among them Cancel Miranda's father. In 1951, he published an article in a Havana paper to commemorate the first anniversary of that uprising. The United States embassy learned about it and demanded that the PrÃo Socarrás government turn him over along with another Puerto Rican, Reynaldo Trilla, but the Cuban authorities ignored them.
Aracelio Azcuy, a politician of the Civil Damages Office and supporter of PrÃo Socarrás, used to ask Cancel Miranda to campaign for him, to write his speeches. On March 10, 1952,
Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y ZaldÃvar (; ; born Rubén ZaldÃvar, January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as its U.S.-backed military dictator ...
led a military coup overthrowing PrÃo Socarrás' government. After the coup, Batista's police arrested Cancel Miranda and Trilla. They were sent to the Tiscornia prison until August 1952, when they both were expelled from Cuba.
Assault on the House of Representatives
Cancel Miranda migrated to
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, where he joined his wife. He found work in a shoe factory as a press operator. In New York, he met fellow Nationalists Lolita Lebrón, a sewing machine operator, Irvin Flores RodrÃguez, a furniture factory employee and Andrés Figueroa Cordero, who worked in a butcher shop.
Attack preparations
Albizu Campos had been corresponding with 34-year-old Lolita Lebrón from prison and chose a group of nationalists who included Cancel Miranda,
Irvin Flores RodrÃguez and Andrés Figueroa Cordero to attack locations in Washington, D.C. Upon receiving the order she communicated it to the leadership of the Nationalist party in New York and, although two members unexpectedly disagreed, the plan continued.
[Ribes Tovar et al., p.132] Lebrón decided to lead the group, even though Albizu Campos did not order her to directly take part in the assault.
She studied the plan, determining the possible weaknesses, concluding that a single attack on the House of Representatives would be more effective. The attack was planned for March 1, 1954, as the anniversary of inauguration of the ''Conferencia Interamericana'' (Interamerican Conference) in
Caracas
Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
.
Lebrón intended to call attention to Puerto Rico's independence cause, particularly among the Latin American countries participating in the conference.
Trial and imprisonment
Cancel Miranda and his group were charged with attempted murder and other crimes. The trial began on June 4, 1954, with judge Alexander Holtzoff presiding over the case, under strict security measures. A jury composed of seven men and five women was assembled, their identities were kept secret by the media. The prosecution was led by Leo A. Rover, as part of this process 33 witnesses testified.
[Ribes Tovar et al., p.178] Ruth Mary Reynolds
Ruth Mary Reynolds (February 29, 1916 – December 2, 1989) was an American educator, political and civil rights activist who embraced the ideals of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. She was incarcerated in ''La Princesa'' Prison for sedi ...
, the "American/Puerto Rican Nationalist" and the organization which she founded "American League for Puerto Rico's Independence" came to the defense of Cancel Miranda and the three other Nationalists.
Cancel Miranda and the other members of the group were the only defense witnesses, as part of Lebrón's testimony she reaffirmed that they "came to die for the liberty of her homeland".
[Ribes Tovar et al., p.186][Ribes Tovar et al., p.188] On June 16, 1954, the jury declared the four guilty. Rover pursued death penalty, but Holtzoff decided to implement the maximum imprisonment penalties.
[Ribes Tovar et al., p.193–194] On July 13, 1954, the four nationalists were taken to New York, where they declared themselves not guilty on the charges of "trying to overthrow the government of the United States".
[Ribes Tovar et al., p.197] Among the prosecution's witnesses was Gonzalo Lebrón Jr., who testified against his sister. On October 26, 1954, judge Lawrence E. Walsh found all of the accused guilty of conspiracy, sentencing them to six additional years in prison.
[Ribes Tovar et al., p.209]
The four Nationalists were incarcerated at different prisons. Figueroa Cordero was sent to the federal penitentiary in Atlanta; Lebrón to the women's prison in Alderson, West Virginia; and Flores RodrÃguez to
Leavenworth, Kansas
Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 37,351. It is located on the west bank of t ...
, where
Oscar Collazo, who in 1950 attacked the
Blair House
Blair House, also known as The President's Guest House, is an official residence in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The President's Guest House has been called "the world's most exclusive hotel" because it is primarily used ...
in a failed attempt to assassinate US President
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
, was incarcerated. Cancel Miranda, considered to be the primary shooter, received a prison sentence of 85 years and was sent to
Alcatraz
Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pris ...
in the
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.
San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
.
Imprisonment
Alcatraz
In July 1954, Cancel Miranda, inmate number 1163, was sent to Alcatraz where he served six years of his sentence. Alcatraz Island operated as a
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...
federal prison from August 1934 to 1963. While incarcerated, Cancel Miranda worked in the brush factory and served as an
altar boy
An altar server is a laity, lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helps bring up the gifts, brings up t ...
at Catholic services. His closest friends were fellow Puerto Ricans Emérito Vázquez and Hiram Crespo-Crespo. On the recreation yard, he played chess with Harlem gangster
Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson.
["Former Alcatraz inmate speaks about his time", Examiner San Francisco, by D. Morita; October 9, 2009] He also befriended
Morton Sobell
Morton Sobell (April 11, 1917 – December 26, 2018) was an American engineer and Soviet spy during and after World War II; he was charged as part of a conspiracy which included Julius Rosenberg and his wife. Sobell worked on military and gover ...
, an American convicted of espionage; they remained friends until Sobell's death in December 2018.
During visitation, Cancel Miranda was not allowed to see his children. His wife was allowed to see him in the visiting room, where there was a glass partition, and they could talk using a phone, but were not allowed to speak in Spanish.
Due to Cancel Miranda's good behavior in prison, he was transferred to USP Leavenworth in 1960.
Leavenworth
Cancel Miranda spent 10 years in Leavenworth. In 1970, he, Andrés Figueroa Cordero (he was transferred from the federal penitentiary in Atlanta),
Irvin Flores RodrÃguez and
Oscar Collazo organized a prisoners' strike to protest their treatment by the guards. Cancel Miranda was charged with organizing the strike and sentenced to
solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...
for five months. His wife, who had traveled to visit him during that time, was allowed to see him for one hour. During his imprisonment, in Leavenworth, a photo from a local newspaper reminded him of one of his Cuban experiences, which allowed him to recognize that a genuine revolution was taking place in that country.
Marion
Cancel Miranda was transferred to the
Marion Penitentiary, a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility located in Southern Precinct, unincorporated Williamson County, Illinois. By the late 1960s, there were increasing numbers of prisoners engaged in political activity, and Cancel Miranda joined them.
In prison, he read books on sociology and learned to play the guitar. He also became involved in the defense of
Corky Gonzales
Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales (June 18, 1928 – April 12, 2005) was a Mexican Americans, Mexican-American Boxer (boxing), boxer, poet, political organizer, and activist. He was one of many leaders for the Crusade for Justice in Denver, Colorado. T ...
and the "Crusade for Justice". Every September 16, Cancel Miranda would join the Mexican and Chicano prisoners in marking Mexico's independence day with a work stoppage. He was also involved in the African-American struggle.
Together they produced newspapers like the Chicano prisoners' paper ''Aztlán'' and the ''Militant''. In 1972, he was placed in the Control Unit, where he was held for eighteen months, after a big strike in Marion.
In the early years there was no campaign for the release of the Nationalist prisoners. An Afro-American prisoner named Ed Johnson wrote to Michael Deutsch, a lawyer, and invited him to visit the Control Unit. The campaign for the release of the Nationalists began with Michael Deutsch and Mara Siegel from the People's Law Office.
When Cancel Miranda's father died in 1977, his supporters campaigned to allow him to attend the funeral. He was eventually granted a seven-hour furlough in Puerto Rico to attend the funeral.
Pardon and later years
In 1979, President Jimmy Carter commuted the sentence of Cancel Miranda, Lolita Lebrón and Irving Flores RodrÃguez after they had served 25 years in prison.
Andrés Figueroa Cordero was released from prison earlier because of ill health.
Governor of Puerto Rico
The governor of Puerto Rico ( es, gobernador de Puerto Rico) is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and commander-in-chief of the Puerto Rico National Guard.
The governor has a duty ...
Carlos Romero Barceló
Carlos Antonio Romero Barceló (September 4, 1932 – May 2, 2021) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1977 to 1985. He was the second governor to be elected from the New Progressive Party (PNP). He al ...
publicly opposed the commutations, arguing that it would encourage terrorism and undermine public safety. Cancel Miranda and the other Nationalists received a hero's welcome upon their return to Puerto Rico.
President Carter also commuted the sentence of fellow nationalist Oscar Collazo, to time served on September 6, 1979, after spending 29 years in jail. Collazo had been eligible for parole since April 1966, and Lebrón since July 1969. Both Cancel Miranda and Flores RodrÃguez became eligible for parole in July 1979. However, none had applied for parole because of their political beliefs.
Cancel Miranda authored nine books and remained active in the struggle for Puerto Rican independence. He continued to carry the cause of independence to other countries and returned occasionally to the United States on speaking tours on behalf of Puerto Rican political prisoners.
In 1979, at the International Conference in Support of Independence for Puerto Rico, held in Mexico City, Cancel Miranda. Irvin Flores RodrÃguez, Lolita Lebrón, and Oscar Collazo were recognized as the embodiment of the directive of their teacher Albizu Campos to exercise valor and sacrifice before representatives of fifty-one countries.
That same year Cancel Miranda was awarded the
Order of Playa Girón
The Order of Playa Girón is a national order conferred by the Council of State of Cuba on Cubans or foreigners. It was established in 1961 and is named after the Playa Girón (Girón beach), site of the Cuban victory in the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
...
. The Order of Playa Girón is a national order conferred by the
Council of State
A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...
of
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
on Cubans or foreigners. In 2006, he was awarded the
Order of José MartÃ
The Order José Martà (Orden José MartÃ) is a state honor in Cuba. The Order was named so after José MartÃ, the national hero of Cuba. The design was realized by the Cuban sculptor José Delarra.
Notable recipients
* Alexander Lukashenko, ...
by the Cuban government for his work. It is the highest honor Cuba accords to non-Cubans.
A musical production of his poetry, "Por Las Calles de Mi Patria", was well received in Puerto Rico and in the United States. The poems are those he had sent to his father while in prison. He had thought them lost and was surprised to find them published by his father. The musical production is dedicated to those active in the struggle for independence.
Oscar López Rivera
Oscar López Rivera (born January 6, 1943) is a Puerto Rican activist and militant who was a member and suspected leader of the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional Puertorriqueña (FALN), a clandestine paramilitary organization devoted to ...
founded the Rafael Cancel Miranda High School in Chicago in his honor. The school is now known as the
Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School
Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School (PACHS) is an alternative high school located in the Humboldt Park, Chicago, Humboldt Park neighborhood on the Paseo Boricua in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is named for Puerto Rican Puerto R ...
and the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center.
He died of
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
in San Juan, Puerto Rico on March 2, 2020.
Further reading
*"Puerto Rico: Independence Is a Necessity" by Rafael Cancel Miranda (Author); Publisher: Pathfinder Press (NY); Booklet edition (February 1, 2001);
*"Commemorate El Grito de Lares with Rafael Cancel Miranda" by Puerto Rican Socialist Party (Author); ASIN: B0041V1C6U
*"Sembrando Patria...Y Verdades" by Rafael Cancel Miranda (Author); Publisher: Cuarto Idearo (January 1, 1998); ASIN: B001CK17D6
*"Testimonio: Los indómitos
aperback by Antonio Gil de Lamadrid Navarro; Publisher: Editorial Edil,
*"War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America's Colony" by
Nelson Antonio Denis
Nelson Antonio Denis is an American attorney, author, film director, and former representative to the New York State Assembly. From 1997 through 2000, Denis represented New York's 68th Assembly district, which includes the East Harlem and Span ...
; Publisher: Nation Books (April 7, 2015); .
See also
*
List of Puerto Ricans
*
Boricua Popular Army
The ''Ejército Popular Boricua'' (" Boricua Popular/People's Army"), also known as ''Los Macheteros'' ("The Machete Wielders"), is a clandestine militant and insurgent organization based in Puerto Rico, with cells in the states and other nat ...
*
Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (Puerto Rico) FALN is an acronym
An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometime ...
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cancel Miranda, Rafael
1930 births
2020 deaths
People from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican rebels
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party politicians
Members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
Recipients of American presidential pardons
Puerto Rican Roman Catholics
Puerto Rican prisoners and detainees
Imprisoned Puerto Rican independence activists
Puerto Rican independence activists
Inmates of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary
Puerto Rican poets