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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.

A
Alice Agosto Hernández
Released
Alice Agosto Hernández was arrested during the 2000 civil-disobedience campaign against U.S. Navy training on...
N
Nicolás Agosto de León
Nicolás Agosto de León was a Puerto Rican nationalist from Humacao arrested in 1941 for refusing compulsory Un...
L
Luis Agroni
Released
One of approximately 1,500 activists arrested between 1999 and 2003 for civil disobedience at the U.S. Navy's...
C
Carlos R. Aguirre-Flores
Carlos R. Aguirre-Flores was arrested by the Navy on April 27, 2001 during the Vieques protest at Cayo Yayí, a...
C
Carlos Alberto Escobales
Released
One of approximately 1,500 activists arrested between 1999 and 2003 for civil disobedience at the U.S. Navy's...
J
José Miguel Alicea
A Ponce nationalist cadet arrested following the 1950 uprising. In an interview cited by the thesis, he recall...
P
Pedro Alicea
Released
One of approximately 1,500 activists arrested between 1999 and 2003 for civil disobedience at the U.S. Navy's...
R
Ramón Alicea Flores
Released
One of the Vieques 4, sentenced in 1979 to federal prison for protesting US Navy bombing on Vieques. He served...
I
Iván Alonso
Released
One of approximately 1,500 activists arrested between 1999 and 2003 for civil disobedience at the U.S. Navy's...
J
Johny Alverio
Released
One of approximately 1,500 activists arrested between 1999 and 2003 for civil disobedience at the U.S. Navy's...
J
Juan Alverio
Released
Juan Alverio was arrested for trespass on the U.S. Navy bombing range at Vieques, Puerto Rico, as part of the...
L
Luis A. Amely Martínez
Released
Luis A. Amely Martínez was arrested for PR Independence Party brigade trespass on Vieques as part of the susta...
A
Antonio Anglero
Antonio Anglero was a Mayaguez, Puerto Rico strike activist arrested after militant strikers stopped unloading...
M
Manuel Antonio Diaz
Released
One of approximately 1,500 activists arrested between 1999 and 2003 for civil disobedience at the U.S. Navy's...
J
José Antonio Rodríguez
A Caguas resident imprisoned during the 1950 repression despite denying Nationalist Party membership. He repor...
F
Félix Aponte González
Released
Félix Aponte González was arrested for trespass on the U.S. Navy bombing range at Vieques, Puerto Rico, as par...
L
Luis Armando Rivera
Released
One of approximately 1,500 activists arrested between 1999 and 2003 for civil disobedience at the U.S. Navy's...
F
Fermín L. Arraiza
Fermín L. Arraiza, a human-rights lawyer and rapporteur at the December 2001 Ibero-American ombudsman congress...
M
Manuel Arroyo Zappendfeldt
A Puerto Rican Communist activist also printed as Arroyo Zeppenfelt in the thesis. In 1958 civil rights hearin...
J
José Avilés Massanet
A Utuado nationalist survivor explicitly placed in Arecibo jail after the 1950 uprising by Heriberto Marín’s m...
R
Rafael Ayala Ayala
Rafael Ayala Ayala was arrested during Vieques anti-Navy civil disobedience on April 28, 2001 and transferred...
A
Abraham Ayala Ortiz
Released
Abraham Ayala Ortiz was arrested for PR Independence Party brigade trespass on Vieques as part of the sustaine...
E
Enrique Ayoroa Abreu
The Nationalist was imprisoned again on November 10, 1950 under Law 53 and could not post $25,000 bail. Santos...
P
Pedro Baigés Chapel
Pedro Baigés Chapel was imprisoned in connection with the 1979 campaign against U.S. Navy operations in Vieque...

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