Puerto Rico

[0] Christian nationalists want to turn America into a theocracy, a government under biblical rule.

[1] If they gain more power, it could mean fewer rights for you.

[2] I'm Heath Drusin, and on the new season of Extremely American, I'll take you inside the movement.

[3] Listen to Extremely American from Boise State Public Radio, part of the NPR Network.

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[10] Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Puerto Rico Monday.

[11] It appeared to be the largest demonstration yet.

[12] They won't stop until the governor steps down.

[13] Puerto Rico, Governor Ricardo -Roseo has officially handed in his resignation letter to the government.

[14] The first picture is now coming in from Puerto Rico after taking a direct hit.

[15] Hurricane Maria slamming into the island, and as you heard, one official saying the island is destroyed.

[16] The number of people who were killed in the storm and its aftermath is now exponentially higher.

[17] Seafood is not enough.

[18] The gas is not enough.

[19] An agonizing weight, people desperate to escape.

[20] Now, I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you've thrown our budget a little out of whack because we've spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico.

[21] The president calling Puerto Rico one of the most corrupt places on Earth.

[22] He said, wow, yet another big storm heading to Puerto Rico.

[23] Will it ever end?

[24] You're listening to ThruLine from NPR.

[25] Where we go back in time?

[26] To understand the present.

[27] Hey, I'm Ram Tina Ablui.

[28] I'm Randa Abd al -Fahtah.

[29] And today on the show, Puerto Rico.

[30] As I'm sure you know, Puerto Rico has had a really intense couple of years.

[31] hurricanes and political turmoil have forced the people on the island to face some difficult questions.

[32] And possibly the toughest one to answer, what exactly should the relationship between the mainland U .S. and Puerto Rico be?

[33] Puerto Rico became a territory of the U .S. in 1898, and for the next 50 years, Puerto Ricans fiercely debated whether the island should push to become an independent country or have a closer relationship with the United States.

[34] The battles fought over that question resonate to this day in the way mainland Americans view the island with indifference, confusion, or hostility, and also in the way the island struggles with political and economic instability.

[35] So in this episode, we're going to revisit those first 50 years of Puerto Rico's relationship with the mainland and the key figures who shape the island's fate.

[36] You're listening to ThruLine from NPR.

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[40] This is the song La Borin Kenya, the anthem of Puerto Rico.

[41] It's a tribute to the indigenous name of the island, Borinken.

[42] The language of the song is romantic and patriotic and pretty typical of a national anthem.

[43] But the lyrics of the version you're hearing were written in 1903.

[44] And it's not the first version.

[45] The original lyrics were written in 1868 by the poet Lola Rodriguez de Tio.

[46] And they were, let's just say, more intense.

[47] Arise for Iqqa, the call to arms had sounded.

[48] Awake from the slumber, it is time to fight.

[49] These fighting lyrics might make you wonder what was going on in Puerto Rico.

[50] Doesn't this patriotic call set your heart alike?

[51] So Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic are all Caribbean island nations that at one time were part of the Spanish Empire.

[52] But by the late 1800s, Spain was...

[53] In the midst of an imperial crisis, it found itself repeatedly fighting insurgents who were seeking independence.

[54] By the 1890s, Spain was engaging in brutal acts of repression in order to maintain its hold.

[55] That's Daniel Imervar.

[56] He's the author of How to Hide an Empire, a History of the Greater United States.

[57] Given the failing state of the Spanish Empire and the history of their brutal colonial rule, lots of Puerto Ricans wanted independence.

[58] Puerto Ricans had long -harbored very deep resentments against Spain and Spaniards.

[59] That's Eileen Finley.

[60] She's a professor of history at American University.

[61] And the Spaniards were identified as the slave honors, the owners of the plantations, etc. etc., the sugar plantations.

[62] So a revolutionary insurgency began in Puerto Rico.

[63] It wasn't an armed insurgency like a neighbor in Cuba, but the lyrics Lola Rodriguez -Detteo wrote still captured the spirit of the movement.

[64] Come, the sound of the canon will please us.

[65] Look, the Cuban will already be free.

[66] Dimacheri will give him his freedom.

[67] The machete will give him his freedom.

[68] By 1897, the Spanish crown was under pressure to appease Puerto Ricans, and it issued an order allowing the island to set up its own self -ruling government.

[69] Soon after, the United States entered the fray and entered it on the side of the insurgents and did so under the banner of liberation, promising to be sort of a force for freedom throughout the Spanish Empire.

[70] The Spanish -American War started in 1898.

[71] The U .S. invested heavily in the war effort, mostly because Puerto Rico, like the rest of the Caribbean, was right in its backyard, and Spain's weakening power presented an opportunity to take control of the Caribbean.

[72] So the U .S. Navy directly attacked the Spanish at San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico.

[73] In 1898, Spain handed over control of Puerto Rico in a ceremony in San Juan that was reported by the New York Evening Post.

[74] It was all a quiet affair.

[75] There was no excitement and but little enthusiasm.

[76] An hour after its close, the streets had assumed their wanted appearance.

[77] There was little to show that anything important had taken place, that by this brief ceremony, Spain's power on the island of Puerto Rico had ended forever.

[78] Most Puerto Ricans see the U .S. intervention as a liberation move from Spanish rule.

[79] Compared to Spain, the United States looked like.

[80] Like that city on the hill, like that beacon of democracy with all its imperfection.

[81] The United States looked like something a lot of Puerto Rican aspired to be.

[82] The Civil War had been fought.

[83] Slavery was defeated.

[84] A lot of black Puerto Ricans, in particular, thought of the United States as the land of Lincoln.

[85] So it's really interesting that we have in Puerto Rico at the turn of the century, the fledgling socialist party is fervently pro -U

[86].S.