Abolición, independencia y confederación: Los escritos de Ramón Emeterio Betances, "El Antillano"

the names of josé martí, eugenio maría hostos, gregorio luperón, and ramón emeterio betances summarize in themselves the xixth century struggles for the freedom and the independence of the caribbean countries colonized by spain. in this paper we reconstruct some of the episodes of such struggles through the writings of ramón emeterio betances, "el antillano" ("the antillean"). following a short biographical and contextual introduction, this work is developed around two pairs of central ideas of his thought: those of antillean independence and confederation, on the one hand, and those of the defense of the black people and the abolition of slavery on the other. though presented separately, these ideas are inseparable in the bulk of betances's production.