“Albizu Campos was a Fascist”, said Luis A. Ferrao

El líder nacionalista Pedro Albizu Campos es identificado como fascista en uno de los libros del profesor Luis Ferrao.

1 de octubre de 2015 Por Especial para Diálogo Opinión

Por: Nelson A. Denis

SOBRE EL AUTOR

Especial para Diálogo

Colaboración especial para el periódico oficial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico.

A writer named Luis A. Ferrao has caught my attention.

Back in 1990, he published Pedro Albizu Campos y el Nacionalismo Puertorriqueño (Editorial Cultural, PR). The book repeatedly claimed that Don Pedro was a fascist who wanted to emulate Mussolini in Puerto Rico, and that the Nationalist Party was an authoritarian, right-wing, fascist organization.

Here are some choice samples of Ferrao’s book. For the sake of purity, I left the text in the original Spanish…

“Los desvaneos de Albizu con el fascismo, y su falta de vocación democrática, no pueden ser ignorados.” (p. 6)

“Albizu se proponía…a guardar semejanzas con los grupos juveniles fascistas de Europa.” (p. 315)

“Los Cadetes de la Republica iban a ser vistos por muchos como una visión caribeña falangista y de los fasci di combatimiento.” (p. 315)

The book’s reception was tepid.

Of the very few reviews, doctor Emilio Pantojas-García wrote that Ferrao “provides no evidence of any institutional link between the Nationalist Party and any of the fascist organizations in Europe.”

Doctor Pantojas-García noted a “penchant for speculation” throughout the entire book, and an absence of “rigorous research.”

In the end, doctor Pantojas-García found that “Methodologically, the book is very weak, and its style makes it read as mainly an attempt to diminish the stature of Albizu in Puerto Rican history.”

To this day, twenty-five years after its original publication, the book has received one (1) customer review on Amazon, where it is now “out of print” and “unavailable.”

http://www.amazon.com/Albizu-Campos-Nacionalismo-Puertorrique%C3%B1o-1930-1939/dp/B000MFAMNI

But the book has a much more select audience.

Originally written in Mexico as his Ph.D. thesis, Ferrao’s thesis adviser (Jose Luis González) hated Don Pedro…so “Albizu the fascist” was born.

After publication in 1990, the Puerto Rican government rewarded Ferrao with a two-year sabbatical in Paris.

Ferrao defecated on Don Pedro’s grave, for a few dollars and a trip to Paris. He is trying to do it again, with War Against All Puerto Ricans. The pattern and modus operandi are the same: a quick and dirty hit, then run and get your reward.

However, Ferrao made one fatal mistake. When he abused Albizu in 1990, El Maestro was dead.

I’m not.

Further editorials will follow this one, with specific refutation of his 29 lies – and with further analysis of his academic career, in relation to Puerto Rico.

Tomorrow: The Many Lies of Luis Ferrao

Para ver el primer artículo de Luis Ferrao pulse aquí.

Para ver el segundo artículo de Luis Ferrao pulse aquí.

Para ver el tercer artículo de Luis Ferrao pulse aquí.

Para ver la entrevista con Nelson Denis pulse aquí.

Otro artículo relacionado “Nelson Denis, y el espía que surgió de…¿dónde?.