Clemente Soto Vélez

Clemente Soto Vélez
Clemente Soto Velez with Juan Antonio Corretjer and Pedro Albizu Campos (L to R).
Born	1905 Lares, Puerto Rico
Died	April 15, 1993 San Juan, Puerto Rico
Nationality	Puerto Rican
Influenced by	Pedro Albizu Campos
Political movement	Puerto Rican Nationalist Party

Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Series Flag of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
Events and Revolts Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Ponce massacre · Río Piedras massacre · Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s · Jayuya Uprising · Nationalist attack of San Juan · Utuado Uprising · Truman assassination attempt · U.S. Capitol shooting incident (1954)
Nationalist Leaders Pedro Albizu Campos · Casimiro Berenguer · Blanca Canales · Rafael Cancel Miranda · José Coll y Cuchí · Oscar Collazo · Juan Antonio Corretjer · Lolita Lebrón · Hugo Margenat · Francisco Matos Paoli · Isolina Rondón · Clemente Soto Vélez · Griselio Torresola · Carlos Vélez Rieckehoff · Olga Viscal Garriga
Notable Nationalists Margot Arce de Vázquez · Julia de Burgos · Nemesio Canales · Carmelo Delgado Delgado · José Ferrer Canales · René Marqués · German Rieckehoff · Helen Rodriguez-Trias · Daniel Santos · Teófilo Villavicencio Marxuach

Clemente Soto Vélez (1905—April 15, 1993) was a Puerto Rican nationalist, poet, journalist and activist who mentored many generations of artists in Puerto Rico and New York City. Upon his death in 1993, he left a rich legacy that contributed to the cultural, social and economic life of Puerto Ricans in New York and Latinos everywhere.

Early years

Soto Vélez was born in Lares, Puerto Rico a town known for "El Grito de Lares" of 1868, a rebellion against Spanish colonial rule. His parents died when he was seven years old and he went to live with his godfather who raised him. He received his primary education in Lares and later studied painting in the City of Arecibo under the guidance of Ildefonso Ruiz Vélez. In 1918, he moved to San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico and lived with his sister. In San Juan, Soto Vélez studied electrical engineering and business administration at the Ramírez Commercial School. There he also met and befriended poets such as Alfredo Margenat (father of Hugo Margenat) and Pedro Carrasquillo. In 1928, Soto Vélez worked as a journalist for the newspaper "El Tiempo", where he published many of his works. He was dismissed from "El Tiempo" after he wrote an article criticizing the injustices committed against the working class by the American controlled sugar industry in Puerto Rico.^[1]

Atalayismo

In 1928, Soto Vélez together with Margenat, Carrasquillo and joined by poets Graciany Miranda Archilla and together with Fernando González Alberti, Luis Hernández Aquino, Samuel Lugo, Juan Calderón Escobar and Antonio Cruz Nieves founded the group "El Atalaya de los Dioses" which turned into the literary movement known as "Atalayismo." ^[2] The "El Grupo Atalaya" movement sought to connect the poetic/literary world with political action and most of its members, including Soto Vélez became involved with the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party.^[1]

Nationalist

Soto Vélez became a militant member of the Nationalist Party which sought Puerto Rico's independence from U.S. colonial rule and served as Party organizer in the city of Caguas. Soto Vélez also contributed to "El Nacionalista", the political news organ of the Nationalist Party. He participated part in an attempt to take over the capital building in San Juan in 1932, and in 1934 was arrested and jailed for helping to instigate and participating in a sugar workers' strike. In 1936, Soto Vélez along with Pedro Albizu Campos, Juan Antonio Corretjer and other Nationalist leaders was arrested by the United States Federal authorities and charged with conspiracy to overthrow the United States Government. He was sentenced to seven years in prison which he served at the United States Federal Penitentiary at Atlanta, Georgia. In 1937, while in prison, his friends published his first book, Escalio, a philosophical essay.^[3] In 1940, he was pardoned and returned to Puerto Rico only to be arrested once more for violating the conditions of his release. He was sent to prison at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania where he met Earl Browder, Secretary General of the Communist Party of the U.S.A. In 1942, after serving two years in prison, Soto Vélez was released and not allowed to return to Puerto Rico.^[1]

Activist

Soto Vélez went to live in New York City and in 1943, joined the Communist Party. He was involved with Vito Marcantonio's political campaigns and the American Labor Party. He worked for the Spanish Grocer's Association, Inc., and later founded Puerto Rican Merchants Association, Inc. which he directed through the 1970s. Among the cultural organizations which he founded were the "Club Cultural del Bronx" (Bronx Cultural Club) and Casa Borinquen. He also served as the president of the Círculo de Escritores y Poetas Iberoamericanos (Circle of Ibero American Poets and Writers) and was a member of the Instituto de Puerto Rico en Nueva York (Puerto Rican Institute of New York). In 1950, he founded a magazine titled La Voz de Puerto Rico en Estados Unidos (The Voice of Puerto Rico in the United States).^[1]

Written works by and about Clemente Soto Vélez

The following a selection of Soto Vélez's written work^[4] *"Clemente Soto Vélez and Amanda Vélez Papers" at the at Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY)^[5]:

• "La Tierra Prometida" by Clemente Soto Vélez (San Juan: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, 1979)
• "Obra poética" by Clemente Soto Vélez (San Juan, Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, 1989)
• "Simposio Clemente Soto Vélez" (San Juan, Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña; 1. ed edition, 1990)
• "Kaligrafiando: Conversaciones con Clemente Soto Vélez" by Marithelma Costa and Alvin Joaquin Figueroa (Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico: La Editorial Universidad de Puerto Rico; 1. ed edition, January 1990)
• "The Blood that Keeps Singing" (a bilingual edition translated into Spanish by Martín Espada & Camilo Pérez-Bustillo) by Clemente Soto Vélez (Willimantic, CT: Curbstone Press, 2001)

Later years

Soto Vélez met, Amanda Andrea Vélez who became his wife. His wife was a political activist in Argentina and was member of the Socialist Party of Argentina. She was involved Soto Vélez work and inspired him to write, while she promoted his work by organizing events on his behalf. In the 1980s, the couple moved to Puerto Rico. Soto Vélez died in Puerto Rico on April 15, 1993.

In 1995 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan (also known as Loisaida), author Edgardo Vega Yunqué and actor-director Nelson Landrieu founded the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center (also known as the "CSV") to continue Clemente's legacy.^[6]

See also

	Puerto Rico portal
	Literature portal
	Biography portal

• List of Puerto Rican writers
• List of famous Puerto Ricans
• Puerto Rican literature
• Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s
• Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
• This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Soto and the second or maternal family name is Vélez.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Guide to the Clemente Soto Vélez and Amanda Vélez Papers 1924-1996
2. ^ [Costa, Marithelma and Alvin Joaquín Figueroa, 1990. Kaligrafiando: conversaciones con Clemente Soto Vélez.]
3. ^ [Kanellos, Nicolás. 1989. Biographical Dictionary of Hispanic Literature in the United States: The Literature of Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and Other Hispanic Writers. CT: Greenwood.]
4. ^ [1]
5. ^ Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños
6. ^ Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center

Persondata
Name	Soto Velez, Clemente
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1905
Place of birth	Lares, Puerto Rico
Date of death	April 15, 1993
Place of death	San Juan, Puerto Rico