born Feb. 18, 1898, San Juan, P.R.
died April 30, 1980, San Juan
Statesman and four-term governor of Puerto Rico (1948–64).
Educated in the U.S., he became editor of the newspaper La Democracia and was elected to the Puerto Rican senate in 1932. Early in his career he advocated independence from the U.S., but later he worked closely with the U.S.-appointed governor to improve conditions in Puerto Rico. He achieved success with Operation Bootstrap, a program for rapid economic growth. When Puerto Rico received the right to elect its own governor in 1948, he was overwhelmingly elected and repeatedly reelected. He achieved his goal of making Puerto Rico a commonwealth.