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Puerto Rico

Political repression plays out state by state — shaped by local institutions, prosecutors, and movements for defense. These are the documented political prisoners and cases the census holds for Puerto Rico.

478Documented
1In custody
334Released
1Awaiting trial

Eras of repression in Puerto Rico

Where Puerto Rico’s entries fall across the census’s historical eras.

2000s 274 1950s 91 1930s 33 1980s 24 1970s 22 1940s 20

Documented cases

478 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.

B
Benjamin Ortiz
Released
One of approximately 1,500 activists arrested between 1999 and 2003 for civil disobedience at the U.S. Navy's...
R
Rubén Ortiz
Released
One of approximately 1,500 activists arrested between 1999 and 2003 for civil disobedience at the U.S. Navy's...
R
Reynand Ortiz Feliciano
Released
Reynand Ortiz Feliciano was arrested for trespass on the U.S. Navy bombing range at Vieques, Puerto Rico, as p...
N
Norma Ortiz Gusmán
Released
Norma Ortiz Gusmán was arrested for trespass on the U.S. Navy bombing range at Vieques, Puerto Rico, as part o...
R
Rafael Ortiz Pacheco
Released
Rafael Ortiz Pacheco was an instructor in the Cadets of the Republic, the youth corps of the Puerto Rican Nati...
A
Angel Pacheco
Angel Pacheco was arrested during the Puerto Rican sugar and waterfront strike movement. The Daily Worker of M...
C
César Pacheco Rodríguez
Released
César Pacheco Rodríguez was arrested for MST second brigade trespass on Vieques range as part of the sustained...
C
Carlos Padilla
A university student captured after the October 30,1950 confrontation near San Juan’s federal court. In an int...
N
Nieves Padilla
A teacher and member of the Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño’s board held for several days following the...
R
Ramona Padilla
Wife of José Ñin Negrón, detained while heavily pregnant to pressure him to surrender during the 1950 uprising...
T
Tubal Padilla Galeano
Released
Tubal Padilla Galeano was arrested during the 2000 civil-disobedience campaign against U.S. Navy training on V...
R
Ramón Pedrosa
The Nationalist cadet captain escaped from the Ponce area after the uprising, hid in San Germán and San Juan,...
S
Sarah Peisch
Sarah Peisch was an environmental activist and English teacher at Puerto Rico’s Polytechnic University who opp...
J
Jaime Perell
Released
Jaime Perell was arrested for trespass on the U.S. Navy bombing range at Vieques, Puerto Rico, as part of the...
C
Cristino Perez Mendez
Released
Cristino Perez Mendez was one of the eleven Puerto Rican Communists prosecuted in the island's first Smith Act...
J
José Perez Rivera
Released
José Perez Rivera was arrested for trespass on the U.S. Navy bombing range at Vieques, Puerto Rico, as part of...
N
Néstor Peña Ávila
Néstor Peña Ávila was a Puerto Rican nationalist from Humacao arrested in 1941 for refusing compulsory United...
J
Juan Pietri
Juan Pietri was among six Nationalists convicted in separate proceedings of first-degree murder following the...
L
Lorenzo Pinero
Released
Lorenzo Pinero was a leader of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party prosecuted in 1937 in the wave of repression...
B
Bibiano Pizarro
Released
One of approximately 1,500 activists arrested between 1999 and 2003 for civil disobedience at the U.S. Navy's...
T
Teresa Pizarro
Released
One of approximately 1,500 activists arrested between 1999 and 2003 for civil disobedience at the U.S. Navy's...
C
Carmine Pérez (Puerto Rican nationalist)
Carmine Pérez is the spelling printed in the historical Puerto Rican women’s movement account reprinted in Que...
C
Cruz Pérez
Released
Cruz Pérez was arrested for trespass on the U.S. Navy bombing range at Vieques, Puerto Rico, as part of the su...
F
Francisco Pérez
Released
One of approximately 1,500 activists arrested between 1999 and 2003 for civil disobedience at the U.S. Navy's...

Institutions in Puerto Rico

Prisons, jails, and detention centers in Puerto Rico that appear in the census’s case files.

Metropolitan Detention Center GuaynaboGuaynabo, Puerto Rico
95 cases
Federal Detention Center, GuaynaboSan Juan, Puerto Rico
93 cases
Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) GuaynaboGuaynabo, Puerto Rico
20 cases
MDC GuaynaboSan Juan, Puerto Rico
15 cases
La PrincesaSan Juan, Puerto Rico
9 cases
Vega Alta Women's PrisonVega Alta, Puerto Rico
4 cases
Arecibo Women's JailArecibo, Puerto Rico
1 case
District Jail, AreciboArecibo, Puerto Rico
1 case