Olga Viscal Garriga

Olga Viscal Garriga
Student leader and spokesperson of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party's branch in Rio Piedras during her trial
Born	May 5, 1929 Brooklyn, New York
Died	June 1995 San Juan, Puerto Rico
Nationality	Puerto Rican
Influenced by	Pedro Albizu Campos
Political movement	Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
Religion	Catholic
Children	Pedro, Olga, and Maria Luz

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

Dr. Olga Viscal Garriga ^{[note 1]} (May 5, 1929 – June 1995), was a public orator and political activist. Garriga was an advocate of Puerto Rican independence who was sentenced to 8 years in a United States penitentiary because she refused to recognize the authority of the United States over Puerto Rico.

Early years

Olga Viscal's (birth name Olga Isabel Viscal Garriga) parents, Francisco Viscal Bravo and Laura Garriga Gonzalez, moved from Puerto Rico to Brooklyn, New York, where she was born, in the in early 1920s. Olga, who was one of seven children born to the couple, was the 4th great-granddaughter of Field Marshal Don Juan Andres Daban y Busterino, who served as the Spanish-appointed Governor and General Captain of Puerto Rico from 1783-89. Her parents returned to Puerto Rico and settled in Rio Piedras where she was raised and educated. Olga Viscal was witness to the discrimination of Puerto Ricans in New York and strongly disagreed with U.S. policies limiting human rights, freedom of speech, and self determination in Puerto Rico.^[1]

Student activist

Viscal enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico where she earned her Doctoral Degree in Political Sciences. During the late 1940s, and while finishing her Ph.D., 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.

Viscal, 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, Viscal 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, one of the demonstrators was killed. She was detained and housed in the "La Princesa" jail. During her trial in the federal court 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 eight years in prison for contempt of court and was released after serving five years.^[1]

Later years

After her release from prison, Viscal 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 devout Catholic, and thus 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 three children, Pedro, Olga and Maria Luz.

Legacy

Olga Viscal was the inspiration for the main character "Antígona", in the play "La Pasión según Antígona Pérez" (The Passion according to Antígona Pérez), written by Puerto Rican playwright Luis Rafael Sánchez.^[2]

See also

Puerto Rico portal

• Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s
• List of famous Puerto Ricans
• Puerto Rican Nationalist Party

Notes

1. ^
   This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Viscal and the second or maternal family name is Garriga.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Viscal Family
2. ^ Sanchez

External links

• Viscal Family

Persondata
Name	Garriga, Olga Viscal
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 5, 1929
Place of birth	Brooklyn, New York
Date of death	1995
Place of death	San Juan, Puerto Rico