Segundo Ruiz Belvis

Segundo Ruiz Belvis

Segundo Ruiz Belvis (born May 13, 1829 in Hormigueros , Puerto Rico , † November 3, 1867 in Valparaíso , Chile ) was an abolitionist who also fought for the independence of Puerto Rico.

Life

Belvis attended school in Aguadilla . He graduated from the University of Caracas in Venezuela with a degree in philosophy . He also completed a law degree at the Central University of Madrid .

In 1859 he returned to Puerto Rico, where he campaigned for the abolition of slavery . First he freed the slaves in his hacienda . Then he befriended Ramón Emeterio Betances and joined his secret organization The Secret Abolitionist Society . The group baptized and emancipated thousands of black child slaves and held the “aguas de libertad” (water of freedom) in the cathedral of Mayagüez . Belvis later moved to Mayagüez, where he practiced as a lawyer. The citizens of the city called him "the justice of peace".

In 1865 Belvis appeared in Madrid as a representative of abolitionism before the Cortes Generales . Although the Spanish rulers classified his ideas as dangerous, they nonetheless marked the beginning of a movement that eventually led to the liberation of slaves in the rest of the Spanish colonies in Latin America .

On his return to Puerto Rico had Belvis find that the Spanish governor José María Marchesi Oleaga disagreed with his liberal ideas, which is why he and his friends into exile was exiled. In 1866 he finally landed in New York City , where he founded the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico (Comité Revolucionario de Puerto Rico) together with Betances and other patriots. This resulted in the plan of an armed expedition to the island, which eventually led to the Grito de Lares . During this time, Belvis fell ill, but this did not prevent him from traveling to the Chilean city ​​of Valparaíso to receive financial support for the planned revolution. Belvis died in Chile and was not told that the Grito de Lares had failed. He did not live to see the realization of his dream of ending slavery in Puerto Rico on March 22, 1873.

Many streets and a school in Puerto Rico are named in honor of Segundo Ruiz Belvis. In Chicago there is a cultural center and in the Bronx , which also bear his name of New York City a "Diagnostic and Treatment Center".