Research Paper Puerto Rico

Juan David Vivas Professor Holt ENC – 1102 Honors English Final Research Paper La ficcion y la realidad en Seva "Seva: History of the first U. S. invasion of the island of Puerto Rico that took place in May 1898," is a story written by Dr. Luis Lopez Nieves that defies the boundaries of truth and fiction. This story was published on December 23, 1983 in the supplement of the newspaper “Red Clarity”. A story that was able to leave a legacy behind. This legacy created an atmosphere of questions and answers among the people in the island.

The devastation that puertorricans felt over the words they were reading were caused by a simple proofreading error, arose much confusion where people were desperate for answers, and the perfection of how Seva was written made it impossible to be questioned. Before I continue on informing about this dreadful story, it is important that I state several historical facts in order to accept the authors full credentials and obtain a better grasp of the story. Luis Lopez Nieves was born on January 17, 1950 in Washington, DC, from Puerto Rican parents.

As early as seven years old he moved to the capital of Puerto Rico and at fifteen years of age began his studies at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus. The most luxurious university to study at that time. During his second year he was in Greenwich Village, an artistic and bohemian neighborhood of New York (Ciudsv. com/Datos). At twenty years of age he returned to the University of Puerto Rico and in 1973 graduated with a degree in general studies with concentrations in Comparative Literature and Hipic Studies.

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Then he moved to the University of New York at Stony Brook, where he began his Master's degree in Hipic Studies with a grant from the Ford Foundation. In 1980 he received a doctorate in Philosophy specializing in Comparative Literature and sets a precedent by being the first student to deliver a novel as a doctoral thesis: The Prince Alexander excessive happiness. Lopez Nieves is the author of the novels The Silence of Galileo, published in June 2009 and The heart of Voltaire, published in December 2005 (Ciudsv. om/Datos). This writer is also known for his excellent work as a storyteller with his books of short stories entitled The real death of Juan Ponce de Leon, published in April 2000, Writing for Rafa, published in 1987 and Seva. The week this story was published, the people of Puerto Rico were shocked to learn that the first U. S. invasion of Puerto Rico did not occur July 25, 1898 by the town of Guanica but that it happened on May 5th on the coast of the village that no longer exists called Seva (Ciudsv. com/Datos).

That day, the 2,000 troops of General Nelson Miles was ambushed by 721 patriotic “savaenos” that resisted the American attack on the island and finally defeated the troops of General Miles. Actually it was not a historic victory but a great literary epic written by Luis Lopez Nieves (Ciudsv. com/Libros). A clarification that seemed to be absent on the published story of Seva in the newspaper Clarity caused much controversy in Puerto Rico since people were misled to believe the events occurred were true. The reaction was strong but confused. A harrowing mixture of joy, anger and pain.

Joy because finally the old hated myth was destroyed of the alleged docility of puertorricans, their supine alleged delivery to the conquerors. At last, after many years of historical ignorance, puertorricans began to learn a few episodes of their true and heroic epic. Anger because such a vile act as the slaughter of Seva, and the total eradication of the people by the invaders, with good reason (Ciudsv. com/Libros). Pain because the people more courageous than ever, heroic even Lares, lay murdered, buried and forgotten under the planes, buildings and nuclear missiles of the naval base at Roosevelt Roads.

After the Seva news, reports were confirmed that in Naguabo, Ceiba, Guayanilla, Rio Piedras, San Sebastian and several committees were organized within hours. The first committee was intended to find Don Ignacio Martinez, the only survivor of the slaughter of Seva: "My life has changed forever because last January 17 after 14 months of searching disheartened, I finally found the child-without-ear-left: Don Ignacio Martinez. When the Slaughter of Seva was 9 years old (and not 7 as I had estimated) and now has 92, but looks much younger. (Seva, 45)  Another committee was organized to dig in the Roosevelt Roads naval base at any cost until they found the remains of Seva, "The People Martyr". In addition to the committees, a prominent psychologist met with the governor of Puerto Rico, Carlos Romero Barcelo, and demanded an investigation to give the whereabouts of Dr. Victor Cabanas. The Governor, given the facts, he was obliged to study the events. This reaction from readers and patriots is admirable, but there was a problem: Seva is a story, the result of a deep dissatisfaction with Luis Lopez Nieves history of Puerto Rico (Ciudsv. om/Datos). The newspaper Clarity, stunned by the events caused by the story he was obliged to publish an apology: "The text Seva: History of the first U. S. invasion of the island of Puerto Rico took place in May 1898, published in the last edition of In Red, is a story. The same has caused shock and alarm in parts of the country because it suggests a major historical discovery. While some read the text as a story, it seems that most of our readers thought it was a sensational historical article, the product of a thorough investigation and risky.

But this is a story and nothing else but a story that became the product of imagination and the combination of literary resources of its author, Luis Lopez Nieves. " The immense controversy that caused Seva took the complete simplicity of just “another” column in the newspaper to have immediate government intervention to find answers. It rose over the whole story that threatens to take folkloric proportions. In sectors of intellectual, artistic, and academic independence of the country there was another issue this week. At parties, businesses, libraries and homes continually arose gatherings and discussions on the Slaughter of Seva.

Attitudes towards the story begin in the euphoria ("Seva is a rallying cry," says Ferdinand Quintana, Guayanilla musician). Several crosses appeared in front of the Roosevelt Roads naval base with the inscription: "Seva Lives! "(Seviv. com/criticas). The “Capitolio News Agency” (The white house of Puerto Rico) assigned the reporter Jennifer Wolfe to travel immediately to Washington with the intention of interviewing Peggy Ann Miles, the granddaughter of General Nelson Miles that received Dr. Victor Cabins with "biscuits, tea and very polite words", a person that does not exist (Ciudsv. om/Datos). The poet Jose Manuel Torres Santiago confirmed that following the clarification of the magazine Clarity to the effect that Seva was a story, many in Guayanilla and San Sebastian protested and refused to believe it was said then that Seva Editorial reality and fiction. Many refused to believe that Seva was a story and chose to stay with the version of Luis Lopez Nieves. A prominent nationalist claims to know a veterinarian who, in turn, had an uncle who spoke of Seva. "Its Ceiba," the vet told his uncle. "No," he replied, "I do not speak of Ceiba but of Seva".

This nationalist seemed very concerned and said that Seva is a reality. He resists, moreover, to believe that Don Ignacio Martinez is a fictitious entity created by Luis Lopez Nieves (Seva, p. 58). Fortunately, in the same way that people were wrong or did not understand the satire of Lopez Nieves, there were people who understood. A famous guayanillense wrote the following note with the real meaning of the story: "Seva is for me a reality of all Puerto Ricans, regardless of political positions, that could happen or has happened in our town that is still suffering the same symptoms of the past.

But as long as men determined as Seva, Puerto Rico will have a firm hope, of all Puerto Ricans who believe in the values that the country means for everyone. Although they do not deserve to have benefits and come to mourn for what they have not earned or deserved. But we are all too ‘Ay Bendito’ that we forgive him. " (January 9, 1984, Jose Eugenio Rivera Castagnet) The elaborate and well detailed of the context in Seva presented the story so well that it was extremely difficult to determine fact from fiction.

For the first time an author was able to take a story that was not true but because of historical events, it seemed as if it had happened exactly as stated (Seviv. com/critocas). This work is extraordinary. This paper published by Luis Lopez Nieves is a hit. It is an invitation to delve into the history of Puerto Rico, for Seva is not far from the truth. Among the readers of Clarity are probably the most sophisticated, better informed and more critical of the island: professors and university students, boxes on the left, lawyers, labor leaders, and professionals (Ciudsv. om/Libros). The author wanted to share with the people the truth that good fiction reveals: the truth about puertorricans. That is, it looks like people get an immediate sense of patriotism to see how a town was erased from history. Puerto Rican’s know the abuses that the American people rushed against Puerto Rico, the problem is that they forget or are given a blind eye when they give their coupons, housing and entertainment, among other things. They think that to swim against the current is comprehensive and to swim along is demeaning and insulting for the soul and freedom.

So they are undecided and have a lifestyle like if nothing is happening around them (Ciudsv. com/Datos). We find reality hard to believe and accept. The fiction on the other hand can easily be taken as true. How else can one explain that a publicity stunt by the author of Seva: The True Story of the American invasion in 1898 has caused such a stir, mostly clarifications and explanations from the area called the country's intelligence? Works Cited Lopez Nieves, Luis. Seva: Historia de la primera invasion norteamericana de la isla de Puerto Rico ocurrida en mayo de 1898. ra ed. Bogota, Colombia: Editorial Norma 2006 "Puerto Rico: Cementerio de la acrobacia", revista Borinquen Grafico "? Seva Vive? ". Site Oficial De Seva Vive. N. p. , n. d. Web. 25 June 2012. <http://www. sevavive. com/la-critica-y-los-medios> "Datos Personales Y BiogrA? ficos - Luis Lopez Nieves - Ciudad Seva. " Datos Personales Y BiogrA? ficos. N. p. , n. d. Web. 25 June 2012. <http://ciudadseva. com/datos/index. htm>. Seva - Luis Lopez Nieves. " Seva. N. p. , n. d. Web. 25 June 2012. ;http://ciudadseva. com/libros/seva. htm;.

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