Ángel Rivero Méndez

Ángel Rivero Méndez

Ángel Rivero Méndez (born October 2, 1856 in Trujillo Bajo , Puerto Rico , † February 23, 1930 in Trujillo Alto , Puerto Rico) was a soldier, writer, journalist and businessman.

Life

His parents immigrated to Puerto Rico from the Canary Islands . Méndez received his training at the Jesuit College in Santurce , a district of San Juan . He then joined the Spanish Army and came to the Infantry Academy of Puerto Rico. On August 2, 1882, he received an officer's commission.

On October 16 of the same year he married Manuela Boneta Babel from San Juan. In 1885 he was accepted into the General Military Academy of Toledo . There he wrote a book about the city called Toledo . In 1886 he moved to the Artillery Academy in Segovia and on February 28, 1889 he obtained a title as industrial engineer.

On January 1, 1890, Méndez returned to Puerto Rico, where he was assigned to the 12th Battalion from Plaza. He taught at the Military Preparatory Academy in San Juan and rose to captain in 1896 . He then taught math and chemistry at the Civil Institution of Secondary Education.

During this time he became politically active as a member of the Unconditional Spanish Party , for which he also edited the party's newspaper La Integridad Nacional . He was later expelled from the party with a few others and formed a new political party with them. When he criticized the government in an article, he was arrested. Because of the unrest of the war, Governor Macias pardoned him and on March 1, 1898 he was appointed commander of the 3rd command of the 12th Artillery Battalion at Fort San Cristobal in San Juan.

USS Yale (1898)

When the United States declared war on Spain, the US Navy dispatched the USS Yale warship to build a blockade in San Juan Bay. On May 10, 1898, Méndez opened fire on the Yale and thus the first attack on the Americans in Puerto Rico as part of the Spanish-American War . For his actions he received the Cruz de la Orden de Merito Militar (Cross of the Order of the Military Merit ) first class. The residents of San Juan, however, were angry with Méndez and blamed him for the destruction in the city from the reciprocated bombing. The allegations did not help and Puerto Rico became the property of the United States under the Treaty of Paris in 1898. Méndez had to hand over all military facilities in San Juan to General Reeds of the US Army. Both the American and Spanish governments offered him military posts, but Méndez declined all offers and officially withdrew from the Spanish army on April 18, 1899.

He founded the beverage company Fabrica Polo Norte (North Pole Factory) and invented Soda Kola Champagne , which became popular in the United States, Colombia , Jamaica and Mexico beyond Puerto Rico . In his spare time he did research for his book on the Spanish-American War in Puerto Rico. He also wrote articles for the El Imparcial , El Mundo and La Correspondencia de Puerto Rico newspapers defending nationalism. In 1922 he published his book Crónica de la Guerra Hispano Americana en Puerto Rico , which is considered to be one of the most complete accounts of the war.

Méndez and his wife were followers of the Virgin of Lourdes . In 1924 he built a shrine to the saint on his estate in Trujillo Alto, which was blessed on January 6, 1925 by Bishop Jorge Caruana and still exists today. Méndez was suffering from a severe depression and committed suicide in 1930 on 23 February suicide by shooting himself in his house. He is buried in the Old San Juan cemetery.

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