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Thisnis the birthday of Eugenio Maria de Hostos, a writer and statesmannwho worked hard to promote human rights and to and gain independencenfor Puerto Rico.
Thisnis the birthday of Eugenio Maria de Hostos, a writer and statesmannwho worked hard to promote human rights and to and gain independencenfor Puerto Rico.n
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nHostosnwas born into a well-to-do family living in Puerto Rico, and hentraveled to Spain to go to “high school” and college. When Spainndisappointed him in 1869 by refusing to grant Puerto Rico itsnindependence, Hostos traveled to the United States. Later he moved tonthe Dominican Republic; he married a Cuban woman in Venezuela, andnthey had children in the Dominican Republic and Chile. Hostosntraveled all over Latin America, the Caribbean, the U.S., and France;nhe worked to better education, to promote better treatment of Chinesenimmigrants, and to achieve women’s rights, particularly in sciencenand education.
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nHostos’sndream was to help his nation, Puerto Rico, and other Caribbeannnations to gain independence from Spain. He promoted the idea of annAntillean Confederation of Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.nEventually the first two did become independent nations, but PuertonRico became a territory of the U.S. n
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n(Tonbe fair, a lot of people in Puerto Rico preferred to be annexed tonthe U.S. than to achieve full independence. But not Hostos; he wasnvery disappointed. He dictated in his will that his body not benburied in Puerto Rico until it became a fully independentnnation…and so, to this date, his body remains buried in thenDominican Republic.)
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nLearnnmore about Puerto Rico in earlier posts here, here, and here.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nAnniversary of the discovery of francium
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nBirthday of the “Father of Wildlife Management”
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