María de las Mercedes Barbudo

María de las Mercedes Barbudo
The first Puerto Rican woman Independentista (Freedom Fighter)
Born	1773 San Juan, Puerto Rico
Died	February 17, 1849(1849-02-17) (aged 76) [approx.] Caracas, Venezuela
Nationality	Puerto Rican
Movement	Puerto Rican independence movement

María de las Mercedes Barbudo (1773 – February 17, 1849) was a Puerto Rican political activist, the first woman Independentista in the island, and a "Freedom Fighter". At the time, the Puerto Rican independence movement had ties with the Venezuelan rebels led by Simón Bolívar.

Barbudo (birth name: María de las Mercedes Barbudo y Coronado ) was one of four siblings born in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, to a Spanish father, Domingo Barbudo and Puerto Rican mother, Belén Coronado. As her father was an officer in the Spanish Army, she benefitted by being educated and learning to read. At the time, the only people who had access to the libraries and who could afford books were either appointed Spanish government officials or wealthy land owners. The poor depended on oral story-telling, in what are traditionally known in Puerto Rico as Coplas and Decimas. Well educated, Barbudo became interested in politics and social activism.

As a young woman, Barbudo founded a sewing goods store in San Juan, specialising in the sale of buttons, threads and clothes. She eventually became successful as a personal loan provider. She dealt commercially with Joaquín Power y Morgan, an immigrant who came to Puerto Rico as a representative of the Compañía de Asiento de Negros, which regulated the slave trade on the island.

Barbudo moved in prominent circles, including such people as Captain Ramón Power y Giralt (Joaquín's son), Bishop Juan Alejo de Arizmendi and the artist José Campeche. She had a liberal mind and as such would often hold meetings with intellectuals in her house. They discussed the political, social and economic situation of Puerto Rico and the Spanish Empire in general, and proposed solutions to improve the well-being of the people.

Simón Bolívar and Brigadier General Antonio Valero de Bernabé, known as "The Liberator from Puerto Rico", dreamed of creating a unified Latin America, including Puerto Rico and Cuba. Barbudo was inspired by Bolívar; she supported the idea of independence for the island, and learned that Bolívar hoped to catalyze an American-style federation among all the newly independent republics of Latin America. He also wanted to promote individual rights. She befriended and wrote to many Venezuelan revolutionists, among them José María Rojas, with whom she regularly corresponded. She also received magazines and newspapers from Venezuela which upheld the ideals of Bolívar.