The Secret War For Puerto Rico

The Takeaway | Apr 13, 2015

Nearly 100 years after civil war tore the United States apart, another armed rebellion was underway in America—but it wasn't on the mainland.

In 1950, the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party led an uprising hoping to raise attention to conditions on the island and escape from colonial rule. The movement was violently put down thorough the efforts of the White House, the FBI, and local police. It was also carefully rebranded as a minor inter-island conflict.

Nelson Denis traces this fascinating history, and its cover-up, in his new book "War Against All Puerto Ricans." This new work traces the path of the revolutionary leader Pedro Albizu Campos—a man that Denis says truly embodied the American spirit. 

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