Radio War Nerd EP197 — Puerto Rico's Independence Struggle, with Nelson Denis

Guest: Nelson Denis, writer & filmmaker Recorded: September 10, 2019 "Alvaro, are we invisible?"—Puerto Rico's remarkable independence leader Pedro Albizu Campos said this to one of his comrades during the failed 1950 rebellion against US rule. For some strange reason, Americans know more about historical crimes committed by our foreign adversaries than we do about the the appalling catalogue of crimes committed against America's own territorial colony: Puerto Rico. Thankfully, we have guest Nelson Denis to slap us awake, with his unforgettable book "War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America's Colony". It's a grim story of massacres, colonial exploitation, gruesome experiments and subjugation—but it has some of the most amazing characters, and they're real, all too real: from Nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos and Vidal Santiago Díaz — the barber who fought off an army from inside his barber salon . . . to sleazy villains like the Mengele-esque Dr. Cornelius Rhoads, and Luis Munoz Marin. We had some sound issues this episode, so bear with us. Buy Nelson Denis' book "War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America's Colony".