Segundo Ruiz Belvis

Segundo Ruiz Belvis (1829-1867) was a Puerto Rican abolitionist and independence advocate who co-authored one of the most important anti-slavery documents in Puerto Rican history. Born in Hormigueros to a wealthy family that owned enslaved people, Ruiz Belvis freed all his family's enslaved workers and became one of the most vocal abolitionists on the island.

In 1867, he traveled to Madrid as part of a Puerto Rican delegation to the Junta Informativa — a commission Spain convened to discuss colonial reform. Along with Ramón Emeterio Betances and José Julián Acosta, he presented the 'Proyecto para la Abolición de la Esclavitud en Puerto Rico' (Project for the Abolition of Slavery in Puerto Rico), arguing that slavery was both morally wrong and economically inefficient.

When the Junta Informativa proved to be a colonial farce — Spain had no intention of meaningful reform — Ruiz Belvis joined Betances in planning the Grito de Lares. He was tasked with traveling to Latin America to secure arms and support. He died under mysterious circumstances in Valparaíso, Chile in November 1867, at age 38 — possibly poisoned by Spanish agents, though this has never been proven.

Ruiz Belvis's decision to free his own enslaved workers and dedicate his life to abolition represents the rare willingness to act on moral conviction at personal cost — a quality that connected his abolitionism to the broader cause of Puerto Rican freedom.