"Seva: A History of the First American Invasion of the Island of Puerto Rico in May 1898" is a short story written by Puerto Rican author Luis López Nieves. First published in the newspaper ''

Claridad ''Claridad'' ("Clarity") is a Spanish-language weekly newspaper based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was founded in June 1959. The paper served as the official publication of the Puerto Rican independence movement and later the Puerto Rican Socia ...

'' on December 23, 1983, the story gives a fictionalized account of the 1898 U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico. "Seva" tells the story of Dr. Victor Cabañas, a contemporary historian who uncovers evidence of the destruction of the town of Seva by American forces during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

. Cabañas learns that, before the July landings of U.S. troops at Guánica, General

Nelson A. Miles Nelson Appleton Miles (August 8, 1839 – May 15, 1925) was an American military general who served in the American Civil War, the American Indian Wars, and the Spanish–American War. From 1895 to 1903, Miles served as the last Commanding Gen ...

had attempted to invade Seva, on Puerto Rico's east coast. The residents of Seva fought back, causing heavy casualties among the Americans and prompting General Miles, ashamed and enraged, to bomb the town continuously for three months. After his troops' successful Guánica-based invasion, Miles ordered Seva's remaining residents killed, the city's ruins paved over with

Roosevelt Roads Naval Station Roosevelt Roads Naval Station is a former United States Navy base in the town of Ceiba, Puerto Rico. The site operates today as José Aponte de la Torre Airport, a public use airport. History In 1919, future US President Franklin D. Roosev ...

, and the area's name changed to

Ceiba ''Ceiba'' is a genus of trees in the family Malvaceae, native to tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas (from Mexico and the Caribbean to N Argentina) and tropical West Africa. Some species can grow to tall or more, with a straight, la ...

. Only one person, a boy named Ignacio Martínez, survived the slaughter. Cabañas collects evidence of these events, including a taped interview with Martínez, now an adult. The story, narrated by López Nieves himself, is framed as an exposé of Cabañas' findings. López Nieves mixed fact and fiction throughout the story. The town of Seva and the main character, Dr. Victor Cabañas, are both entirely fictional. General Nelson Miles was the leader of U.S. forces during the invasion, but the invasion began in June from the south, not in May from the east. Upon its publication, readers who mistook the story for truth demanded that the government investigate the events and that Dr. Cabañas be located. The newspaper ''Claridad'' had to issue press releases confirming that the story was fictional.

References

* * {{cite book , last = Negron-Muntaner , first = Frances , title = Boricua Pop: Puerto Ricans and the Latinization of American Culture , publisher = NYU Press , date = 2004 , location = New York , pages
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��39 , url = https://archive.org/details/boricuapop00fran , url-access = registration , isbn = 978-0-8147-5818-2 Alternate history short stories 1983 short stories Puerto Rican literature Puerto Rico in fiction Fiction set in 1898