Clemente Soto Vélez

Clemente Soto Vélez
Born	1905 Lares, Puerto Rico
Died	April 15, 1993 San Juan, Puerto Rico
Political party	Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
Movement	Puerto Rican Independence

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.

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.

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." 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.

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 took 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.

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