Olga Viscal Garriga
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Dr. Olga Viscal Garriga (May 5, 1929 – June 1995), born in Brooklyn, New York, was a public orator and political activist.
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[edit] Early years
Garriga was the 4th great-granddaughter of Field Marshall Don Juan Andres Daban y Busterino, Governor and General Captain of Puerto Rico from 1783-89. Her parents moved to New York in the early 1920's and she was 1 of 7 children. Garriga's parents, Francisco Viscal Bravo and Laura Garriga Gonzalez, returned to Puerto Rico and settled in Rio Piedras where she was raised and educated. Garriga was witness to the discrimination of Puerto Ricans in New York and strongly disagreed with what she considered as United States policies limiting human rights, freedom of speech, and self determination in Puerto Rico.[1]
[edit] Student activist
Garriga enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico where she earned her Doctorates Degree in Political Sciences. During the late 1940's and while finishing her PhD., she became a student leader and spokesperson of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party's branch in Rio Piedras. The Party was headed by Dr.Pedro Albizu Campos, and favored the forceful expulsion of the United States from Puerto Rico.
Garriga who befriended Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos was a talented orator and political activist. Although she was not directly involved in any violent act in 1950, Garriga was arrested because she participated in a demonstration that turned deadly in Old San Juan, after U.S. Forces opened fire on the demonstrators. In the violent confrontation between the "Nationalists" and the "Forces" of the United States, a demonstrator was killed. She was detained in "La Princesa" jail. During her trial in the federal court room in "Old San Juan", she was uncooperative with the U. S. Government prosecution and refused to recognize the authority of the U.S. over Puerto Rico. She was sentenced to 8 years in prison for contempt of court and was released after serving 5 years..[1]
[edit] Later years
After her release from prison, Garriga went to Cuba, where she was the Puerto Rican representative to the Cuban Parliament. As such, she met with Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Albert Einstein. She was a very religious Catholic, who became disillusioned with Castro's politics and his atheist policies. After publicly criticizing Castro, she escaped from Cuba with the help of her younger sister, Irma..[1] Olga Viscal Garriga died in June 1995 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She was the mother of 3 children, Pedro, Olga and Maria Luz.
[edit] Legacy
Garriga was the inspiration for the main character, "Antígona", in the play "La Pasión segun Antigonia Perez" (The Passion of Antigonia Perez), written by Puerto Rican playwright Luis Rafael Sanchez.[2]
