Irvin Flores (October 1, 1924 – March 20, 1994) was a political activist, member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and an advocate of Puerto Rican independence. Flores was a leader of the Nationalist faction of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico during the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party revolts of the 1950s. On March 1, 1954, Flores together with fellow Nationalists Lolita Lebrón, Andrés Figueroa Cordero, and Rafael Cancel Miranda entered the United States Capitol building armed with automatic pistols and fired 30 shots. Five Congressmen were wounded, however all the representatives survived and Flores, along with the other three members of his group were immediately arrested.
Early years
Flores (birth name: Irvin Flores Rodríguez ) was born in the town of Cabo Rojo in Puerto Rico. He was raised together with his five brothers and sisters by an aunt after his mother died and he became an orphan. It was in Cabo Rojo where Flores received his primary and secondary education. After he graduated from high school, he studied electronics in a local vocational school.
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party was founded by José Coll y Cuchí as a direct response to the American colonial government in 1919, By the 1920s, there were two other pro-independence organizations in the Island, they were the "Nationalist Youth" and the "Independence Association of Puerto Rico". On September 17, 1922, the two political organizations merged into the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. In 1924, Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos joined the party and on May 11, 1930, Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos was elected president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. There were sub-groups within the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. The Puerto Rican Youth for Independence was one of them. School students would often meet to discuss the political issues of the day.
Independence leader Rafael Cancel Miranda was present in one of the meetings that Flores attended where the political discussion was about Puerto Rican independence. Cancel Miranda invited Irving Flores and a relative named Dionisio Flores to join the Puerto Rican Youth for Independence and they did. Flores eventually joined the Nationalist Party and became a member of the Cadets of the Republic (Cadetes de la Republica). The cadets was a quasi-military youth organization of the Nationalist Party also known as the Liberation Army of Puerto Rico . During this time in his life he personally met Dr. Albizu Campos who encouraged him to take up public speaking.
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party revolts of the 1950s
The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party revolts of the 1950s were a series of coordinated armed protests for the independence of Puerto Rico led by Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos, against the United States Government rule on the Island. The Party repudiated the "Free Associated State" (Estado Libre Asociado) status that had been enacted in 1950 and which the Nationalists considered a continuation of colonialism. The Party organized a series of uprisings to take place in various Puerto Rican cities on October 30, 1950.
Flores was a leader of the Nationalist faction of Mayagüez. This was one of the largest branches of the party. It was divided into several units, each assigned to attack different targets. He participated in the group which attacked the town's police station, resulting in the death of three policemen and three bystanders. This unit regrouped and joined the other units in Barrio La Quinta of the municipality of Mayagüez. The local police arrived and Flores was wounded. He was able to escape into the mountains with the rest of the men. The unit avoided further casualties by using guerrilla tactics. Flores continued to hide in the mountain farms unaware that the FBI was after him, not because of his participation in the revolt, but because he had avoided conscription and refused to register for the draft. Eventually, he was captured and briefly incarcerated. After he was released, he moved to New York City.
Preparations for the assault
In New York, Flores worked in a furniture factory. There he continued his friendship with Cancel Miranda who introduced him to the Nationalist Party branch of that city. He met fellow nationalists Lolita Lebrón and Andres Figueroa Cordero during one of his visits to the party headquarters.