| Juan Ríus Rivera | |
|---|---|
General Juan Ríus Rivera |
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| Born | 1848 Mayagüez, Puerto Rico |
| Died | 1924 Honduras |
| Allegiance | Cuban Liberation Army |
| Years of service | 1869-1898 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands held | General-in-Chief of the Cuban Liberation Army of the West |
| Battles/wars | Ten Years' War Cuban War of Independence |
General Juan Ríus Rivera[note 1] (August 26, 1848-September 20, 1924), was the General of the Cuban Liberation Army of the West upon the death of General Antonio Maceo.
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Rius was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, to Eusebio Rius and Ramona Rivera he was one of nine brothers.[1] His family, owned a coffee plantation in the Río Cañas Abajo Barrio in Mayagüez,[2] and were one of the wealthiest families in that town. There, he received both his primary and secondary education. Ruis was sent by his parents, to study in Spain and earned his bachelors degree in Barcelona.[3] He then went to study law at the University of Madrid.[4][5] As a young man, he met and befriended the Puerto Rican patriot Ramón Emeterio Betances. Convinced that the Spanish Crown was mistreating the people of Puerto Rico and inspired by the ideals of Betances, he joined the pro-independence movement on the island. He became a member of the Mayagüez revolutionary cell "Capá Prieto" under the command of Mathias Brugman.
On September 23, 1868, a group of Puerto Ricans revolted against Spain in an event known as "El Grito de Lares" ("The Cry of Lares"). Many of the revolutionaries were either killed, imprisoned or exiled. Ríus, who had not participated directly in the revolt, was an avid reader of information pertaining to the Antilles and learned about the failed revolt. He then set his hopes on Cuba. He interrupted his studies in Spain, crossed the border to France, and from there he traveled to the United States. He arrived in New York City in 1869 [3] and went to the Cuban Revolutionary "Junta" and offered his services. In December 1869, Colonel Francisco Javier Cisneros advised Ríus to be ready to set sail for Cuba and a few days later the Mayagüezano (as the people from Mayagüez are known) sailed for Cuba aboard the "Anna", an American Steamship.[3] There he participated in that country's Ten Years' War (1868–1878) against Spain. In 1870 he joined the forces of Calixto Garcia and was wounded in the Battle of Las Villas while fighting under the command of General Máximo Gómez. The Ten Years' War came to an end with the Treaty of Zanjon, which resulted in the granting of more autonomous powers to Cuba.
Rius did not agree with the treaty, and moved to Trujillo, Honduras in 1884. In 1887, he married a native Honduran named Aurora, the sister of Tomás Estrada Palma, future president of Cuba.[2] In Honduras he dedicated himself to commerce and prospered economically.[2] The Spanish Crown did not keep its part of the treaty with Cuba, and on February 24, 1895, insurgents rose against the Spaniards in the provinces of Oriente, Santa Clara and Matanzas in what became known as "El Grito de Baire". Rius joined the Cuban Liberation Army as one of its generals.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban Liberation Army of the West, General Antonio Maceo, was wounded and surrounded in a place called "La Trocha". In September 1897, Rius Rivera under General Enrique Collazo was sent with Cuban troops aboard the schooner Three Friends to rescue General Maceo. They were able to break through the Spanish blockade and reach General Maceo. On December 7, General Maceo was engaged in a fierce fight against the troops of Spanish Major Cirujedas when he was killed. On December 20, General Rius was promoted to Commander-in Chief of the West at General Maceo's request.
In 1897, Antonio Mattei Lluberas, a wealthy coffee plantation owner from Yauco, visited the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Committee in New York City. There he met with Ramón Emeterio Betances, Juan de Mata Terreforte and Aurelio Méndez Martinez and together they proceeded to plan a major coup. The uprising, which became known as the Intentona de Yauco was to be directed by Betances, organized by Aurelio Mendez Mercado and the armed forces were to be commanded by General Juan Ríus Rivera from Cuba.[4] On March 28, 1897, General Rius engaged in combat at Cabezedas in the Occidental Province, where he was then overpowered by Spanish General Hernandez Velasco. He and 250 of his men were captured and imprisoned. General Juan Ríus Rivera was gravely injured and was transported to the hospital of San Ambrosio in Havana. Later, he was deported to Castillo Presidio de Monjuich in Barcelona, Spain where he remained until the end of the war. On February 15, 1898, the United States declared war against Spain in what is known as the Spanish-American War. On April 19, 1898, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution recognizing Cuba as a "free and independent" nation. Spain surrendered and signed the Treaty of Paris on December 10 resulting in Puerto Rico becoming a U.S. territory and Cuba gaining its independence.
General Rivera was soon active in the young nation's politics. Among the political positions which he held were:
General Rius Rivera was one of the few members of the Cuban Assembly (legislature) who rejected the imposition of the Platt Amendment,[5] which gave the United States the right to intervene unilaterally in Cuba as a precondition for independence in 1902.
In 1902, Tomás Estrada Palma was elected president of Cuba, he in turn named Ríus Secretary of the Treasury. When Palma's government fell he chose not to join the new government even thou he was offered a position.[2] In May 1907, Rius returned to Honduras, home town of his wife. The he founded and was president of 'the Banco Atlántico and first president of Hospital D'Antonio.[2]
General Rius was representing Cuba at a conference held in Honduras in 1924 when he suddenly died of heart failure. His remains were returned to Cuba and he is buried in the Colon Cemetery located in Havana, Cuba.,[6]