EL GRITO DE LARES

[Guaili-Cayniabon]

[i]EL GRITO DE LARES

[i]En las verdes montañas de Lares

y en la lucha con la adversidad,

nuestros padres lanzaron el grito,

aquel primer grito de libertad.

Nuestros padres soñaron un día

una patria feliz conquistar,

y murieron sin ver realizado

el ideal soñado,

de patria y libertad.

Brazo de Oro, quien fue en Puerto Rico,

la más noble y valiente mujer;

Brazo de Oro, bordó la bandera

que los puertorriqueños

sabremos defender.

La blanca cruz en ella significa

ansia de patria y redención;

el rojo: la sangre vertida

por los héroes de la rebelión.

Y la estrella, en la azul soledad:

LIBERTAD, LIBERTAD, LIBERTAD.

[BoricuaNation]

The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party of New York
El Partido Nationalista Puertorriqueño, Junta de Nueva York

The Puerto Rican Nationalist Youth of New York
Juventud Nacionalista Puertorriqueña de Nueva York

El nacionalismo es una escuela de honor y de valor
Nationalism is a school of honor and valor
- Don Pedro Albizu Campos

The Lares Flag

A Lares, Tierra Santa,
hay que entrar de rodillas

To Lares, Holy Land,
we must enter on our knees.
- Don Pedro Albizu Campos

For Puerto Ricans, the town of Lares symbolizes the struggle for liberty and national identity. On September 23 of 1868, after loosing hopes of acquiring a change in the political situation of the island through peaceful means, a group of Patriots, acting under the leadership of Don Ramón Emeterio Betances, took up arms against the Spanish colonial government. Their goal was to rescue our national sovereignty and to proclaim the independence of Puerto Rico. In the mountains of the towns of Lares and San Sebastian, the cry of “Patria y Libertad” was heard. This glorious historical event is known as “El Grito de Lares”, for it was in that town that the Republic of Puerto Rico was declared after the up-rising.

Sometime at the end of May or the beginning of June of 1868, Don Manuel Rojas presented to the Revolutionary Committee Centro Bravo in Lares the original design of a flag conceived by Betances himself. This flag was formed by a white Latin cross in the center, two bleu squares situated above the arms of the cross, two red squares situated below, and a white five-pointed star situated in the upper left square. This design served as the model for the first Puerto Rican flag, sewn by Doña Mariana Braceti. The cry of “¡Viva Puerto Rico Libre!” and this flag became the symbols of the revolution and of the first expression of national identity in Puerto Rico. During the Grito de Lares, two other flags were used, a red flag, and a white flag with the inscription “Libertad o Muerte, Año de 1868” (Liberty or Death, Year 1868).

It was the flag with the white cross (the Lares flag) the one which became the symbol of the Puerto Rican revolutionary movement until the end of the 19th century. This flag was an adaptation of the flag of the Dominican Republic, the first Spanish speaking country in the Antilles to gain its independence from Spain. Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances’ family on his father’s side was of Dominican descent. The flag symbolizes the bond of the Puerto Rican revolutionary movement with the Dominican struggle for independence.

For information regarding the Puerto Rican Nationalist Youth of New York contact us at “BoricuaNation@yahoo.com”.

[Ecuajey]

Originally posted by BoricuaNation
Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances’ family on his father’s side was of Dominican descent.

Just like me.

Thanks for the extra info on Lares, I enjoyed reading it.

Stay cool.