Manuel Rojas

Manuel Rojas Luzardo (c. 1831 – October 14, 1903) was a Puerto Rican-Venezuelan commander of the Puerto Rican Liberation Army and one of the main leaders of the Grito de Lares uprising against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico.

Early years Manuel Rojas Luzardo was born in the city of Obispos in the state of Barinas, Venezuela, from a Puerto Rican father and a Venezuelan mother. There he received his primary and secondary education. Rojas was a dedicated agricultural worker and when he had saved enough money he moved to Valencia, Spain where he became a successful businessmen. In the early 19th century Venezuela's economy was in turmoil because of internal wars. Rojas decided to go to Puerto Rico where he met and married Obdulia de los Ríos. His brother Miguel meet Mariana Bracetti while on a business trip to Añasco. Miguel and Mariana married and moved to "El Triunfo" where the Rojas lived.

Puerto Rico's independence movement

Rojas admired Puerto Rican independence advocate Ramón Emeterio Betances and together with his brother Miguel, joined Betances in his quest for Puerto Rico's independence. A "Revolution Committee of Puerto Rico" was formed and directed by Betances and Segundo Ruiz Belvis, who were exiled, from the Dominican Republic. Several revolutionary cells were formed in the towns and cities in the western part of the island. They were to support the armed invasion that Betances had planned to bring from the Dominican Republic.

Manuel Rojas, Commander in Chief of the Liberation Army Andres Pol, General of Division Juan de Mata Terraforte, General of Division Joaquín Parrilla, General of Division Nicolás Rocafort, General of Division Gabino Plumey, General of Division Dorvid Beauchamp, General of Division Mathías Brugman, General of Division Rafael Arroyo, General of Division Francisco Arroyo, General of Division Pablo Rivera, Cavalry General Abdón Pagán, Artillery General

The Spanish authorities found out about the plot and were able to confiscate the armed ship which Betances had, before it arrived in Puerto Rico. The Mayor of the town of Camuy, Manuel González (who also happened to be the leader of that town's revolutionary cell) was arrested and charged with treason. He was able to hear that the Spanish Army was aware of the independence plot. He then escaped and was able to warn Manuel Rojas. The incoming governor of Puerto Rico, Jose Sanz, received orders from the new Republican Spanish Government to grant a general amnesty to all those imprisoned, effective on September 20, 1869. Manuel Rojas along with some of the other men involved in the revolution were sent into exile.

Rojas was exiled to Venezuela and went to live in Boconó a city in the Venezuelan Andean state of Trujillo. Little is known about what he did after he went into exile except that he died on October 14, 1903, in Boconó.

Legacy A school in Bartolo, Lares, Puerto Rico is named after Rojas.