Leopoldo Figueroa

Leopoldo Figueroa (September 21, 1887 – October 15, 1969), also known as "The deacon of the Puerto Rican Legislature", was a Puerto Rican politician, journalist, medical doctor and lawyer. Figueroa, who began his political career as an advocate of Puerto Rican Independence, was the co-founder of the Independence Association of Puerto Rico, one of three political organizations which merged to form the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. Figueroa changed political ideals and by 1948 was a member of the Partido Estadista Puertorriqueño (Puerto Rican Statehood Party). That year, he was the only member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives who did not belong to the Partido Popular Democrático (PPD), and the only Representative to oppose the PPD's approval of what became known as the Ley de la Mordaza (Gag Law), which violated the civil rights of those who favored Puerto Rican Independence. On December 22, 2006, the Puerto Rican Legislature approved a law declaring every September 21, Leopoldo Figueroa Carreras Day.

Early years Figueroa (birth name: Leopoldo Figueroa Carreras ) was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico when the island was still a Spanish colony. He became interested in politics at an early age due to the influences of his father who was a personal friend of the Puerto Rican political leader Luis Muñoz Rivera and his uncle Sotero Figueroa, a close friend of Cuban revolutionary leader José Martí. However, this did not concur with the Monroe Doctrine, or the geopolitical interests of the United States. Under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 ratified on December 10, 1898, Puerto Rico was annexed as a territory by the United States. Spain had lost its last colony in the western hemisphere, and the United States gained imperial strength and global presence.

When he was 14 years old, Figueroa began participating in the political activities of the "Puerto Rican Federal Party", a party which supported greater self-rule for the island founded by Muñoz Rivera. His interest in journalism was influenced by his uncle who was the manager of "Patria", a newspaper founded by Martí.

Change to supporter of statehood Figueroa began to doubt that the United States would grant Puerto Rico its independence and that said ideals were more wishful thinking then realistic. He realized that the passage of the Jones-Shafroth Act, which imposed a conditional US citizenship upon the people of Puerto Rico, who had neither asked for nor wanted it, made it clear that the United States had no intentions of granting Puerto Rico independence. His doubts lead him to embrace the idea that Puerto Rico would eventually become a "state" of the United States of America. He then began to associate himself with political organizations whose ideals were pro-statehood.

He then decided to study law at the University of Puerto Rico and in 1927, he earned his degree. The Alliance Party did not last long as a united political organization and was soon divided into two factions, one that believed in independence and later became the Liberal Party of Puerto Rico, the other being pro-statehood. Figueroa joined the latter and later the pro-statehood Puerto Rican Republican Party, also known as the Partido Estadista de Puerto Rico, founded in 1899, by Dr. José Celso Barbosa. The party was renamed in 1930 to Republican Union. He was elected to the Puerto Rican House of Representatives in 1933 and in 1940, representing the districts of Bayamón-Cataño-Guaynabo. On August 19, 1944, he was named vice president of his party.

Puerto Rico's Gag Law On May 21, 1948, a bill was introduced before the Puerto Rican Senate which would restrain the rights of the independence and Nationalist movements on the island. The Senate, which at the time was controlled by the Partido Popular Democrático (PPD) and presided by Luis Muñoz Marín, approved the bill that day. This bill, which resembled the anti-communist Smith Act passed in the United States in 1940, became known as the Ley de la Mordaza (Gag Law) when the U.S.-appointed governor of Puerto Rico, Jesús T. Piñero, signed it into law on June 10, 1948.

It now was a crime to print, publish, sell, or exhibit any material intended to paralyze or destroy the insular government or to organize any society, group, or assembly of people with a similar destructive intent. It made it illegal to sing a patriotic song, and reinforced the 1898 law that had made it illegal to display the Flag of Puerto Rico, with anyone found guilty of disobeying the law in any way being subject to a sentence of up to ten years imprisonment, a fine of US$10,000 , or both. According to Figueroa, the only non-PPD member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives,

New Progressive Party and later years Figueroa was elected to the Puerto Rican Senate in 1952, 1956, 1960 and 1964, representing the Republican Union. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Puerto Rico (1951–1952). On January 22, 1967, the Republican Union called for an assembly to discuss the Puerto Rican status issue. A result of the meeting was the creation of the political organization "Estadistas Unidos" (United Statehooders) which was renamed "Partido Nuevo Progresista" (PNP or New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico), presided by Luis A. Ferré. Figueroa joined the new organization and served in the House of Representatives and also as the organizations first representative in the Board of the State Elections. In 1968, Luis A. Ferré was elected Governor of Puerto Rico and the PNP gained control of the Puerto Rican House Representatives. Angel Viera Martínez was named president of the House and he in turn named Figueroa his parliamentary assessor. As a Head Nurse, Vazquez and Figueroa shared a medical background and lived in the Santurce area of San Juan until his death.

Legacy Figueroa continued in his political profession until his death on October 15, 1969. The Government of Puerto Rico named a public housing project "Leopoldo Figueroa Carreras" in his honor. On December 22, 2006, the Government of Puerto Rico approved Law 282, which declares every September 21 of every year as "Leopoldo Figueroa Day".