Carlos Padilla Rodríguez, a member of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico Liberation Movement, participated in the October 30, 1950 revolt. It was an armed uprising against one of the most powerful and violent empires in modern history, a nation that had recently dropped not one, but two nuclear bombs. Within just three days of the Nationalist uprising, the broader revolt continued with an armed attack on U.S. President Harry S. Truman on November 1, 1950, the same president who had ordered the bombing of Japan.

At only 20 years old, he was one of the youngest to take part. He would have turned 95 in 2025.

When patriots walk through the valley of death and emerge with their integrity intact, they are not buried and forgotten. They enter the realm of immortality.

Padilla served nearly two years in prison for his role in the October 30 uprising. After his release, he traveled to Cuba to support Juan Juarbe Juarbe and Laura Meneses de Albizu. His continued commitment to Puerto Rican independence led to further imprisonments in Cuba, Guatemala, Peru, and Ecuador.

In his words:

“Don Pedro dedicated himself, after his return, to exposing to the people the falsehood behind a project being quietly discussed in Puerto Rico and in the U.S. Congress. The so-called reforms to establish a government that was neither independence nor statehood. They called it a Free Associated State.”

— Carlos Padilla Rodríguez

We honor him with silence and respect. He now belongs to history, and to the spirit of Puerto Rico’s unbroken struggle.

 

Original Article: The Young Lords