Imprisoned in San Juan when the Americans invaded
Puerto Rico in 1898, Santiago Iglesias was a fiery
labor organizer who frequently ran afoul of Spanish
authorities. Eventually embracing American democratic
principles, Iglesias became known as “Mr. Liberty” and the
“He-Cinderella of Porto Rico.”1 Born in poverty in Spain,
Iglesias, the former radical who was eventually considered
the “dean of the Puerto Rican politicians” and a “staid
and dependable” public servant, was elected Resident
Commissioner during a period of political upheaval.2 A
tireless legislator, Iglesias espoused Puerto Rican statehood
along with greater local control, increased federal financial
assistance, and close political ties to the mainland United
States. “Puerto Rico is American socially, politically,” he
concluded in his maiden speech on the House Floor. “And
its trade, its practices, and its industry pile and flourish
under the American flag.… Since 1917 all Puerto Ricans
have been American citizens, and this citizenship is the
same brand as that of New Yorkers, or Californians, or
Minnesotans, or Down-in-Mainers.”3
Santiago Iglesias was born on February 22, 1872, in
La Coruña, Spain. His father, Manuel Iglesias, was a
carpenter.4 Iglesias’s mother, Josefa Pantín, worked in a
cigar factory to support her family, and Santiago Iglesias
left school at age 12 to become a carpenter’s apprentice.
Early in his training, he took part in a violent strike, his
first act in a lifelong struggle to reform labor rights.5
In 1887 Iglesias joined the Spanish Socialist Party
and moved to Cuba, where he took a job in a furniture
factory. His work with organized labor, including rallying
laborers to lobby for a 12-hour workday, led to his
frequent dismissal from and constant movement between
jobs. Iglesias’s involvement with the Cuban War for
Independence in 1895 drew the ire of Spanish authorities.
He attempted to escape to England in 1896; however, after
arousing the suspicions of his fellow passengers aboard the
ship, which was to route through Spain on its way to Great
Britain, he disembarked in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on
December 26.6
Iglesias’s arrival marked the beginning of a labor
movement in Puerto Rico that was previously nonexistent
because of oppressive Spanish labor laws.7 As a carpenter
helping to reinforce San Juan’s military fortifications,
Iglesias began organizing his fellow laborers. Two days
after he arrived, Iglesias met with local labor leaders to
discuss starting a newspaper to promote their causes.8
Iglesias’s impassioned speech in that initial meeting,
advocating participation in the international labor
movement and decrying colonialism, vaulted him to
the unofficial position of the island’s labor leader. Taking
advantage of the eroding Spanish colonial infrastructure
in Puerto Rico, Iglesias quickly organized meetings,
educational programs, and literature designed to unite
laborers. He refrained from publicly supporting the
political factions that were emerging in the late 1890s
as Spain promised autonomy to Puerto Rico, believing
that the local political elite cared little about the working
people. After Iglesias organized his first mass meeting
of workers on March 27, 1898, Luis Muñoz Rivera, then
a member of the Spanish Autonomist Cabinet, ordered
his arrest, but Iglesias fled to the other side of San Juan
Harbor. Two weeks later, amid the confusion caused
by the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, Iglesias
attempted to escape to New York, but Spanish authorities
captured and incarcerated him in San Juan. Iglesias spent
the rest of the war in prison. He was nearly killed when
an American bomb hit his jail cell on May 12.9
The Spanish government attempted to deport Iglesias,
but before that occurred, Washington asked Madrid to
release all political prisoners in October 1898. Iglesias
immediately returned to his labor-organizing activities,
receiving protection from the island’s U.S. military
commander, General John R. Brooke, for whom Iglesias
was an interpreter. Soon afterward Iglesias founded the first
official organized labor group on the island, the Federación
Regional de los Trabajadores (Puerto Rican Federation of
Laborers), and presided over the group’s initial meeting on
October 20, 1898.10
Iglesias’s labor activities redoubled after the United
States acquired Puerto Rico as a territory in February 1899.
He pitted himself against his longtime political enemy
Muñoz Rivera, the founder of the Partido Federalista
(Federal Party), by allying occasionally with José Celso
Barbosa, the founder of the Partido Republicano (Puerto
Rican Republican Party), Muñoz Rivera’s rival and a
sometime friend to Iglesias.11 Ultimately, his refusal to
take clear sides resulted in a split in the Puerto Rico
Federation of Laborers.12 Iglesias headed up the Federación
Libre de Trabajadores (Free Federation of Laborers),
a faction insisting on labor’s independence from the
political wrangling.13 Frequently imprisoned, and ill as
a result of his activism, Iglesias managed to organize a
large general strike starting August 1, 1900, to protest the
severe devaluation of the Spanish peso after the Foraker
Act demanded its exchange for American dollars. Though
the strikers were unsuccessful, the month of violence that
followed the strike solidified the power of the Federación
Libre de Trabajadores.
Realizing he needed to link with U.S. trade unions,
Iglesias moved to New York to seek out sympathetic labor
leaders. He worked as a carpenter in Brooklyn while
learning English and taking night classes at Cooper Union
College.14 He also became an American citizen.15 Iglesias
convinced the American Federation of Labor (AFL) to
organize in Puerto Rico, and with the blessing of AFL
president Samuel Gompers, met with Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.16 With Gompers’s
and Roosevelt’s support, Iglesias returned to Puerto Rico
as the island’s AFL organizer, but upon his arrival in
1901, Iglesias was arrested for failing to appear for a court
date for charges that he broke a Spanish law prohibiting
conspiracy to raise wage labor.17 Gompers paid Iglesias’s
bail, but in December, Iglesias was sentenced to slightly
more than three years in prison. Supporters appealed his
case to the Puerto Rican supreme court, and after Iglesias
served seven months, the court overturned his sentence.
Bolstered by Gompers’s advocacy, and garnering headlines
about his legal battles in major mainland newspapers,
Iglesias rose to national prominence. A year later, he
married Justa Bocanegra of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. The
couple raised 11 children: Santiago Angel, Josefina,
Libertad, Fraternidad, América, Igualdad, Justicia, Laura,
Luz, Manuel, and Eduardo. Many of their names reflected
their father’s political beliefs.18
For the next three decades, Iglesias merged politics with
labor activism as the Federación Libre (Free Federation)
became more powerful. He edited a series of Spanish-language
newspapers promoting labor causes; in addition
to the Ensayo oberero (1897–1899), Iglesias helped
publish the Porvenir social (1899–1900), the Unión
oberera (1903–1906), and the Justicia (1914–1925).19
In 1906 and 1908, he ran for Resident Commissioner on
the Federación Libre ticket, but his party lost handily to
the Partido de Unión (Unionist Party) and its candidate,
Tulio Larrínaga.20 In 1915 Federación Libre workers met
in Cayey, Puerto Rico, and formed their own political
arm, which they designated the Partido Socialista (Puerto
Rican Socialist Party). Though he did not officially lead
the party until 1920, Iglesias was one of its founders
and remained the party’s spokesperson for the rest of his
life.21 Representing his new party, Iglesias was elected to
the Puerto Rican territorial senate, where he served from
1917 to 1933. With Gompers, Iglesias founded the Pan
American Federation of Labor (PAFL).22
Iglesias won election as Resident Commissioner to
Congress primarily because of a coalition between his
Partido Socialista and the Partido Unión Republicana
(Union Republican Party). Although Socialistas had
traditionally focused more on economic reform than on
Puerto Rico’s status and because Iglesias believed stronger
ties to the American mainland would benefit poorer Puerto
Ricans, the two parties were linked by the issue of status.23
The Coalición (Coalition), which favored statehood,
faced off with the newly formed Partido Liberal (Liberal
Party), which was led by territorial senator Luis Muñoz
Marín, and espoused independence.24 The Coalición
leadership agreed in June 1932 to back a candidate
from the Partido Socialista for Resident Commissioner,
a candidate from the Partido Unión Republicana as
president of the territorial senate, and a candidate from
the party that received the most votes for speaker of the
territorial house.25 Amid thunderous applause, the Socialist
convention unanimously nominated Iglesias for Resident
Commissioner.26 The Partido Unión Republicana signaled
its solidarity by nominating Iglesias in September. When
the pact was formalized in October, he was officially the
Coalición candidate.27
The 1932 election was unique in that Puerto Rican
women were permitted to vote providing they (like men)
passed a literacy test. In addition, the scramble to overturn
new, local election law that purposely favored large,
established political parties left little time for campaigning.28
With three parties on the ballot—the Coalición, the
Partido Liberal, and the Partido Nacionalista (Nationalist
Party)—the question of Puerto Rico’s status became
a primary issue during the campaign, along with the
economic problems resulting from the Great Depression,
which were manifested by a decrease in Puerto Rico’s per
capita income of approximately 30 percent between 1931
and 1933.29 Iglesias campaigned on a familiar platform,
emphasizing social justice, economic aid, and reform. “I am
accused of being a radical, a Socialist who would as resident
commissioner be concerned with the working classes only,”
he said. Indeed, Iglesias’s opponents highlighted his many
jail sentences, including his imprisonment during the
U.S. invasion.30 Iglesias brushed off these attacks, likening
himself to the Democratic presidential candidate, New
York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, and his supporters.
“They stand for social justice, democratic institutions and
humanity—for individual freedom and private rights,”
he noted. Iglesias also asserted that he planned to be a
dedicated representative of Puerto Rico in Congress. “In
speaking of Congress,” he noted, “I do not have charity
in mind. It is cooperation.”31 In line with the Coalición,
Iglesias did not support independence, believing that
Puerto Rico’s becoming a U.S. territory was the best
option for the working classes. Iglesias faced Partido
Liberal candidate Benigno Fernández García, formerly
a Partido Unión candidate for the territorial house of
representatives and a floor leader for the Alianza (Alliance).
Nacionalista candidate Julio Medina González, who favored
independence, also entered the race.32
Despite interruptions by the powerful September San
Cipriano hurricane—whose devastation forced a special
legislative session—and political wrangling that lasted
through the summer, the fall campaign went relatively
smoothly. Election Day, November 8, 1932, was “as
colorful as a carnival,” with supporters flying their parties’
flags. Despite the political shifts and economic difficulties
surrounding the contest, the election was one of the
quietest since 1900.33 Eighty-five percent of registered
voters turned out to elect officials by party slates. The
Coalición won with 35 percent of the vote, elevating
Iglesias to the Resident Commissioner. The Partido Liberal
trailed with 29 percent of the vote, and the Nacionalistas
garnered less than 1 percent.34
Iglesias arrived in Washington after attending an AFL
convention in Cincinnati, eventually settling his large
family in a duplex in northwest Washington. Sworn in
on the Opening Day of the 73rd Congress (1933–1935),
he became the first Resident Commissioner to receive
committee assignments in addition to a seat on the
Insular Affairs Committee, traditionally reserved for the
representative from Puerto Rico. Iglesias was also named
to the Agriculture, Labor, and Territories Committees.
He still lacked the right to vote and the ability to accrue
seniority on committees, but at that time lawmakers
considered the Agriculture Committee to be one of the most
attractive committee assignments in the House.35
The new Resident Commissioner educated his colleagues
about Puerto Rican history, government, and economic
issues, speaking frequently and protractedly on the House
Floor about matters that affected his home island. His first
speech on March 29, 1933, introduced his colleagues to his
two greatest concerns during his service on Capitol Hill:
Puerto Rico’s economic rehabilitation and the clarification
of the territory’s political and cultural connection with
the mainland United States. Furthermore, he emphasized
the economic problem Puerto Rico faced as a result of
the Depression and asked that the territory be included in
economic rehabilitation plans proposed by newly elected
President Roosevelt. “As you all know,” he said, using a
sentence he would invoke frequently, “Puerto Rico stands
literally at the crossroads of the world, at the entrance to
the Caribbean region and on a direct line between east
and west, north and south.”36
During his two terms in office, Iglesias doggedly pursued
Puerto Rico’s inclusion in New Deal legislation for the
financial relief of banks and individuals. On March 12,
1935, he argued in favor of incorporating Puerto Rican
banks under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC), a program to guarantee bank deposits that was
created as part of the Glass–Steagall Banking Act of 1933.37
Iglesias eventually succeeded in having Puerto Rican
banks included among those of other territories under the
legislation’s protection.38 He also fought for the inclusion
of Puerto Rico under the umbrella of Social Security,
yet succeeded only late in his career in securing coverage
for Puerto Ricans under two sections of the legislation:
Section 5 funneled aid through the Children’s Bureau in
the Department of Labor, and section 6 provided money
aimed primarily at rural communities via the U.S. Public
Health Service.39
At other times Iglesias had to shift tactics to block
the effects of New Deal legislation. He unsuccessfully
attempted to combat the negative effect of the Agricultural
Adjustment Act (AAA), passed in May 1933, on the
prices of food imports in Puerto Rico. A later amendment
to the AAA, the Sugar Act of 1934 (also known as the
Jones–Costigan Act) proved particularly damaging to
Puerto Rico’s depressed sugar industry.40 The bill attempted
to regulate sugar production by assigning quotas to
American sugar producers in various regions. Puerto Rico’s
allotment—nearly 40 percent lower than the expected
output in the following year—proved severely inadequate.
Moreover, quotas assigned to Cuba, the Philippines,
Hawaii, and mainland producers were much higher.41
“Puerto Rico feels it is entitled to be treated with the same
consideration that has been accorded to the domestic
producers of sugar,” Iglesias railed. “Puerto Rico wants
to be recognized as an integral part of the United States
and be recognized in the same way as any other domestic
community of the mainland or any other part or territory
of the United States.”42
But it was Iglesias’s response to the debate over Puerto
Rico’s status that drew the most attention during his career
on Capitol Hill. On January 3, 1935, on the Opening Day
of the 74th Congress (1935–1937), Iglesias introduced a
bill granting Puerto Rico statehood.43 Outlining the history
of the island’s acquisition by the United States from the
invasion of the island in 1898 through the passage of the
Jones Act in 1917, he explained his reasoning. “The loyalty
and sincerity of purpose of the people of Puerto Rico are
far above any possible question,” he declared. “We have
done our duty and played our part in the sorrows and
happiness of the Nation.” He further noted, as he would
frequently, that Puerto Rico’s population, according to
the 1930 Census, exceeded the combined populations of
Nevada, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, and Vermont,
which were established states. He also cited his limited
rights as Resident Commissioner. “I desire that you bear
in mind that Puerto Rico, not having a vote in Congress,
cannot exercise the great influence which may be exercised
by the representatives of the several States of the Union,”
he said.44 Iglesias’s initial bill languished in the Committee
on Territories, but after a year, almost to the day, Iglesias
made a similar appeal.45
Iglesias’s statehood bill was soon overshadowed by the
introduction of a vindictive piece of legislation calling
for Puerto Rico’s independence from the United States—contingent on complete economic severance during the
severe financial crisis—from Senator Millard Tydings
of Maryland, a close friend of the late Puerto Rican
police chief E. Francis Riggs, who had been assassinated
by Nacionalista extremists in February 1936. In a rare
moment of unanimity with the island’s Partido Liberal
spokesman Luis Muñoz Marín, Iglesias deemed the
Tydings legislation “unjust, arbitrary, and devastating
for Puerto Rico … a destructive measure and [one that]
certainly will bring nothing but despair among the people
who love American democracy.”46
In the thick of the debate over the Tydings legislation,
Iglesias faced his first re-election campaign. As in past
elections, the primary issue was Puerto Rico’s status, but
in 1936 the issue took on national importance. “For the
first time the offensive has been taken by those opposed
to independence,” observed the New York Times. “They
say the outcome of the election will make it unnecessary
for Congress to order an independence plebiscite.”47 Also,
the election was the first conducted under universal
suffrage laws; men and women, voters—both literate and
illiterate—were now eligible to vote, and a record number
registered.48 Despite fears dating back to Spanish rule about
unescorted women entering polling places, one observer
noted, “Women voters came to the voting places and
departed, with or without escorts, with seemingly no more
concern than when they go shopping.”49 To facilitate voter
turnout, the island government shut down universities for
Election Day.50 Since Partido Liberal leader Muñoz Marín
called for a boycott of the election because of his disdain
for the Tydings legislation, Iglesias faced a weakened
candidate, Dr. J. A. López Antongiorgi, a surgeon who had
long been based in New York.51
Iglesias campaigned vigorously for his statehood bill,
denouncing the Tydings legislation and the independence
movement generally. On October 27, 1936, in Mayagüez,
Puerto Rico, Iglesias received a flesh wound to his right
arm when Nacionalista Domingo S. Crespo fired off five
rounds from the 1,000-person crowd that had gathered
to hear Iglesias speak.52 The police quickly apprehended
the shooter, and four other suspects were arrested later. An
investigation revealed that the would-be assassin had also
taken aim at two other people on the podium: Maria Luisa
Arcelay, the island’s only female legislator, and speaker of
the territorial house M. A. García Méndez.53 One week
later, Iglesias returned to the podium in the Plaza Principal
with a bandage on his arm. Again, he spoke in favor of
Puerto Rican statehood, noting “The welfare of the island
people is obtainable only within the liberality of American
institutions.”54 He later denounced Nacionalista violence
in a letter to the Washington Post, writing, “There is no
necessity or excuse for violence where freedom exists as it
does in Puerto Rico. It is a very small minority, without
any important standing among the masses of the people.”55
Aided by the boycott by the Partido Liberal, the Coalición
won handily, extending Iglesias’s term in Washington
and winning three-quarters of the territorial senate and
house.56 Iglesias’s return to Washington was a blow to the
independence movement. “Puerto Rico prefers to go along
with Uncle Sam rather than set up shop for herself as an
independent republic,” declared the New York Times.57
After the 1936 election, Iglesias became the face of the
anti-independence movement in Puerto Rico. To combat
the publicity received by the Tydings legislation, he wrote
a long editorial in the Christian Science Monitor: “In
answer to the frequent questions which are put to me,
as to whether the people of Puerto Rico want to become
independent,” he wrote, “my reply is a forceful, emphatic,
unqualified … ‘No! How could they, in view of what the
United States has meant to them!’ … They know there
is no other explanation for the fact that they have more
to eat than before; that they have a better balanced diet,
better clothing, a higher percentage of people in school
and a higher rate of literacy and knowledge of the English
language than any of the comparable Caribbean and other
countries; that they have more miles of railroads and more
miles of highways per hundred square miles than any of
those countries.”58 The Tydings legislation languished in
the Senate Committee on Territories and Insular Affairs.
Iglesias’s second term was quieter than his first; he
was less active on the House Floor but provided lengthy
treatises in the Congressional Record Appendix. In 1939
the AFL sent Iglesias back to Mexico and Cuba to revive
the PAFL. Having contracted malaria, he was weakened
by a fever and died a week after returning from his trip,
on December 5, 1939, in Washington’s Garfield Hospital.
Speaker William Bankhead of Alabama appointed a
committee to attend funeral services in Puerto Rico,
where Iglesias lay in state in San Juan, while flags on the
island flew at half-staff.59 More than 200,000 people
attended his funeral, where House Labor Committee chair
Representative Mary Norton of New Jersey spoke on behalf
of the Members of Congress.60Bolívar Pagán, elected to
succeed his father-in-law, memorialized Iglesias on the
House Floor. “A hard worker, a bold fighter, and beloved
leader for my land on the seas,” Pagán noted. “[Iglesias]
had devoted more than 40 years to the awakening to the
betterment, to the welfare, and to the social and economic
freedom of our common people.”61 He later described
his father-in-law as “a live wire, a human dynamo, an
energetic, honest, and far-sighted statesman at the service
of the people.”62 Iglesias was buried in San Juan Cemetery.
View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
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