PUERTO RICO
LYNDI MERCED
JENNIFER SANTILLAN
Key Data
Puerto Rico-
Capital: San Juan
Population: 3.8 million people
Climate: Falls into the tropical Climate zone.
Temperatures are moderates year round,
averaging near 70 Fahrenheit in lower elevations,
and 70 Fahrenheit in the mountains.
Languages: Both spanish and English are the official languages of Puerto
Rico,but Spanish is without a doubt the dominate language.
Type of currency: Untied States Dollar
1 cent- centivo or chavito
5 cent- villon or ficha
25 cent-pesta
Economy: Puerto Rico has one of the most dynamic economies in the
Caribbean Region. Recently the economy has suffered budget cuts from
United States. Te puerto Rico economy has depended heavily on the tax
incentives given to United States main land companies and on Fedral
transfer.
AGRICULTURE:
Land in agriculture: 51.9%
Agricultural population density: 713 persons per sq km
Total agricultural workers: 36,000
Agricultural workers: 3% of work-force
Sugar- 1,261,000 metric tons
Fruits- 249,000 metric tons
Plantains- 80,000 metric tons
Bananas- 65,000 metric tons
Vegetables- 45,000 metric tons
Oranges- 25,000 metric tons
Coffee- 15,000 metric tons
Yams- 12,000 metric tons
Papayas- 4,000 metric tons
Cassavas- 2,000 metric tons
Lemons and Limes- 2,000 metric tons
Cereal- 1,000 metric tons
Rice- 1,000 metric tons
Animals:
Chickens- 10,000,000
Cattle- 592,000
Pigs- 195,000
Horses- 22,000
Goats- 14,000
Sheep- 7,000
Mules- 3,000
Asses- 2,000
AGRICULTURE
Animal products:
Total Meat- 86,000 metric tons
Poultry- 40,000 metric tons
Beef- 23,000 metric tons
Pig Meat- 22,000 metric tons
Dairy Products:
Cow Milk- 348,000 metric tons
Miscellaneous products:
Eggs- 15,550 metric tons
Fish Catches- 1,200 metric tons
Honey- 90 metric tons
Puerto Rican Culture
Religion:
The dominant religion in Puerto Rico is Catholic.
About 85% of Puerto Ricos population is Catholic.
- Protestants (8%)
- Non religious (2.3%)
- Others (3%)
Music:
The music of Puerto Rico has been influenced by the Spanish, African, Tanio Indians, France,
and the United States, and has become very popular across the Caribbean and across the globe.
Native popular genres include bomba, plena, and seis, while more modern innovations include the
fusion reggeaton, also Puerto Rican calypso, reggae, and soca. Today in Puerto Rico the most
widely
heard genre of music is Salsa. Salsa is the most influential music heard from Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rican Holidays:
-November 19 Día del Descubrimiento de Puerto Rico (Discovery of Puerto Rico Day)
- July 25 Conmemoración del Estado Libre Asociado (Commonwealth of Puerto Rico)
- National Puerto Rican Day Parade (the most important day (: lol)
it is one of the largest parades in New York City, with nearly three million spectators annually
Ethnic Backround :
Three main ethnic strands reflect the heritage of Puerto Rico: the Taino Indians; Black Africans,
and Spanish.
flag
The White stripes symbolize victory, liberty and independence. The Red
stripes symbolize the'blood' that nourishes the government or that of brave
warriors. The blue triangle represents both the three sides of government and
the blue waters of the ocean, while the white star symbolizes the islandcountry of Puerto Rico. (the sky and coastal waters of this beautiful
Caribbean island). “Many people see the red, white and blue of the Puerto
Rican flag and simply assume that this is an offshoot of the American flag.
Not true. The flag was created in 1895 by the Puerto Rican section of the
Cuban Revolutionary Party in New York City. These Cubans and Puerto
Ricans were, in fact, independentistas; that is, they wanted independence
from Spain, and there was a revolution in Cuba at that very moment. Lola
Rodríguez de Tío, a Puerto Rican independentista poet who also penned the
words to La Borinqueña, the national anthem, in 1867, wrote that Cuba and
Puerto Rico were “two wings of the same bird;” they received “flowers and
bullets in the same heart.” The Puerto Rican Flag was created after the
Cuban flag, the two flags are very similar because of shared experiences
amongst the two nationalities
REPRESENTATIVE FIGURE
Oscar Lopez Rivera born in San Sebastian, Puerto Rico on January 6, 1943.
At the age of 12, he moved to Chicago with his family. He was a well-respected community
activist and a prominent independence leader for many years prior to his arrest. Oscar was
one of the founders of the Rafael Cancel Miranda High School, now known as the Dr. Pedro
Albizu Campos High School(Which is located here in Chicago by Division And California)
and the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center. He was a community organizer
for the Northwest Community Organization (NCO), ASSPA, ASPIRA and the 1st Congregational
Church of Chicago. He helped to found FREE, (a half-way house for convicted drug addicts) and
ALAS (an educational program for Latino prisoners at Stateville Prison in IllinoisH.
He was active in various community struggles, mainly in the area of health care, employmenT
and police brutality. He also participated in the development of the Committee to Free the Five
Puerto Rican Nationalists. In 1975, he was forced underground, along with other comrades.
He was captured on May 29, 1981, after 5 years of being persecuted by the FBI as one of the
most feared fugitives from US "justice". Oscar, who has a daughter named Clarissa, is currently
serving a 55-year sentence for seditious conspiracy and other charges. He was convicted of
conspiracy
to escape along with Jaime Delgado, (a veteran independence leader), Dora Garcia,
(a prominent community activist) and Kojo Bomani-Sababu, a New Afrikan political prisoner.
Oscar was one of 12 Puerto Rican political prisoners offered some form of leniency by the
Clinton Administration in the fall of 1999. According to the Chicago Sun Times, he "declined
the president's offer, which still would have him left with 10 years to serve on conspiracy to escape
charges. Now he faces at least 20 more years in prison. His sister, Zenaida Lopez, said he turned the
offer down because he would be on parole. 'Accepting what they are offering him is like prison
outside
of prison,' she said. Zenaida Lopez said her brother 'was in total agreement' with the decision of the
11 others
to take the conditional clemency." Oscar is presently in prison in Terre Haute, Indiana and his release
date is 7/27/2027.
He is a US held Puerto Rican political prisoner & prisoner of war. He has been in prison since 1981
and
is serving a sentence of 70 years. Puerto Rico has been a colony of the United States since 1898 and
Oscar is
a part of a long history of resistance to US colonialism in Puerto Rico. López, arrested in 1981, is
serving
a sentence of 70 years for seditious conspiracy, for his commitment to the independence of Puerto
Rico.
He was not accused or convicted of causing harm or taking a life. His projected release date is in
2023.
Having already served 29 years behind bars, including over 12 years in torturous conditions of total
isolation
and sensory deprivation, this 67-year-old man is among the longest held political prisoners in the
history of
Puerto Rico and in the world.