These two communist Hollywood residents (originally from Puerto Rico) have joined up with other Hollywood elites and are working on a movie titled Porto Rico about the life of a Puerto Rican convict under Spain named Jose Maldonado nicknamed White Eagle ( águila blanca), born in 1874 .
These proindependence reactionaries bad bunny and Calle 13 evidently are trying to give the impression that Maldonado fought US troops that arrived in Guanica, Puerto Rico under General Nelson Miles on July 25 1898. That is totally false .
In 1898 , Maldonado was a 14 year old that has been arrested by Spanish authorities for burglary. He did have an extensive criminal record under Spanish rule for crimes against the Spanish landed gentry. Maldonado certainly hated the Spanish police or Guardia Civil but he never attacked the US troops . He did continue to attack Spanish owned plantations and the oligarchs after the US took over.
The descendants of these Spanish plantation owners are the current pro independence political movement that represent 5-10% voters today.
I have no idea what rewriting of Puerto Rican history these Hollywood millionaires are going to project but it makes no sense to portray a convict under Spanish rule as being anti American troops. To the contrary, US troops were welcomed with celebrations in all Puerto Rico.
The reason is clear : after 400 years of Spanish tyranny, Spain did not establish one university; no public health system ; no public schools ; illiteracy was the norm ; the rural community ( jibaros ) lived in palm huts with dirt floors.
In sum, very few people supported the Spanish government when General Miles entered the Island. The historical reality is that the people most oppressed under one regime are the most that establish alliances with invaders or foreigners. That is the reason 200,000 native Mexicans fought alongside Hernan Cortes and his 200 soldiers and overthrew the Aztec rulers in their city of 300,000 inhabitants.
The Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe refers to this tendency in his famous novel Things Fall Apart. The Nigerians that first converted to Christianity were the oppressed by Muslim overlords when Europeans arrived .
Puerto Rico is no different . The American government was welcomed and accepted by the beleaguered population. Only the privileged landed oligarchy opposed the American government. Bad Bunny , Calle 13 and their friends in Hollywood represent these descendants of the former ruling class under Spain . They are on the reactionary side of history.
Contrary to the Cuban rebels against Spain that fought in an interrupted manner from 1968 to 1898, Puerto Rico had very brief skirmishes in Lares and Yauco that lasted a few days.
The irony of this reality cannot be ignored . Maldonado died in 1932 in a hospital inaugurated by American Presbyterians pastors in San Juan, after fighting the Spanish tyranny in Cuba but never taking up arms against the American troops or people . The picture of Maldonado with the Puerto Rican flag ( not the one Bad Bunny displays in Hollywood) was taken in 1897, before the arrival of the US troops.
Now let’s see what Hollywood has for us .
These two rats talk shit about the United States and advocate for Puerto Rico’s independence but they live in Los Angeles like kings! Two hypocrites. They don’t represent the majority of puerto ricans.
