Between insurgencies and sloths: the case of Puerto Rico compared with the continental independent processes

Abstract

Latin American independence processes yielded multiple political meanings. The meaning of the possessions that remained in Metropolitan hands, for example, was resignified within the logic of the colonial order, causing many conflicts and tensions that were contested by an increment in social and political control over the inhabitants. In this article, we’ll discuss how the advancement of the processes of Westernization varied within the colonial landscape, since, whereas in many territories independence was achieved, in others, the metropolitan stranglehold was tightened. In the case of PR, for example, a long period of relative freedoms that allowed for new lifestyles to develop was followed by a strong (counter)offensive by the government forces to “avoid the contagion of insurgency”. People started being persecuted for vagrancy and stricter labor laws were implemented as “guarantee” for “political peace” and the pursue of material gains. Such measures, needless to say, benefited the few at the expense of the many.