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_Teodoro Moscoso _
By: Big Red
Teodoro Moscoso Teodoro Moscoso and Puerto Ricos Operation Bootstrap by Alex
W. Maldonado tells us about the life of Teodoro Moscoso, the architect of the
economic miracle which most experts did not believe could happen in Puerto
Rico. Teodoro Moscoso was born in Barcelona on November 26, 1910. His mother,
named Alejandrina Mora Fajardo, was a Spaniard from the Balearic island of
Majorca. His father, also named Teodoro, was a pharmacist. He wanted to have a
son that could help him accomplish, a branch of pharmacies through Puerto
Rico. Moscoso attended school in New York and became a good English speaker.
He graduated from Ponce High School; soon after this, he was attending the
Philadelphia School of Pharmacy. After studying there for 3 years he insisted
to his father, to transfer him to the University of Michigan. He wanted to go
there because it offered liberal arts courses which he wanted to study. After
graduation in 1932 Moscoso returned to Ponce to work at his fathers pharmacy.
He married Gloria Sánchez Vilella, sister of future Puerto Rico governor
Roberto Sánchez Vilella (1965-1969). Pharmacy work bored Moscoso, and in the
mid 1930s when the Ponce Housing Authority (PHA) was about to lose a two
million dollar grant, Pedro Juan Rosaly, a PHA board member approached
Moscosos father and asked if his son could help. Moscosos command of the
English language was what drew the interest of PHA officials. Moscoso saved
the grant and from 1937 to 1941 he build nearly one thousand housing units,
clearing many Ponce slums in the process. It was Moscosos work at PHA which
captured the interest of the newly appointed governor of Puerto Rico, Rexford
G. Tugwell. Tugwell was a member President Franklin D. Roosevelts brain
trust, a group of well educated, committed Americans who went to Washington
during the Great Depression to try to lift the nation out of the economic
crisis. After a chance meeting when Tugwell visited Moscosos pharmacy in
Ponce, Teodoro went to work in La Fortaleza as assistant for housing. The
title was a formality in order to get Moscoso a salary for his work, but the
actual duties were far broader. Another important event in Teodoro Moscosos
life occurred in the summer of 1940 when Moscoso met Luis Muñoz Marín. Muñoz
vision and unique personality convinced Moscoso, who became a member the
recently founded Popular Democratic Party(PDP). This was the beginning of a
long and fruitful partnership which in the long run transformed Puerto Rico
from a rural-agricultural society to a mostly industrial and urban one. The
islands first factory was the glass bottle plant which was made to put the
rum, a growing industry in Puerto Rico, in bottles. Also a cardboard plant was
made to supply boxes for shipping the rum. Despite the failure in the glass
factory, they kept on with the cardboard mill proposal and added two factories
to the list: clay products and shoes. The lack of success of government owned
industrial enterprises motivated Moscoso to arrange for their sale to private
investors and to look for other alternatives to stimulate the development of
the islands economy. The new approach to lift the island from conditions of
extreme poverty included: federal and local tax exemption for industries
operating in Puerto Rico, a massive exodus of Puerto Ricans from the island,
equally massive programs on the island to vastly improve education, health,
sanitation, and housing, plus `carefully selected industrialization. (p. 54)
With the development of hotels and tourism and improvements in roads, ports,
and airports the framework for Puerto Ricos economic miracle was completed.
With the establishment of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 1952, the island
had a political vehicle to carry out economic reform. Another brilliant idea
of Moscoso was the selling of Puerto Rico as an excellent place to invest in
industrial enterprises. The government of Puerto Rico hired stateside public
relations companies to place ads in business and financial magazines with the
message that there were very big profits to be made in Puerto Rico. (p.109)
Moscosos success in Puerto Rico captured the attention of President John F.
Kennedy who named him ambassador to Venezuela, in May of 1961. Later, in
November of that same year. President Kennedy named Moscoso coordinator of the
Alliance for Progress. The alliance was described by President Kennedy as`
probably the most difficult assignments the United States has ever
undertaken. Moscosos two years of running the Alliance were a
heart-stopping, roller-coaster experience of accomplishment and exhilaration
but also one of disappointment and frustration. (p. 172) After the death of
President Kennedy in November of 1963, Moscoso was removed from his post in
December 14 of that year in one of Lyndon Johnsons first administrative
changes as President. Moscoso went back to Puerto Rico to take care of his
personal business for several years. He returned to government service to
head Fomento, the agency in charge of Puerto Ricos industrial promotions and
economic development, in 1973. This second round as administrator of Fomento
was filled with problems, frustrations, and insatisfaction for Moscoso. The
oil crisis of the mid 1970s hurt Puerto Ricos economy badly. It cost the
1976 elections to governor Rafael Hernandez Colon, Moscosos boss. Teodoro
Moscoso again retired to private life and performed the role of elder
statesman well into the 1990s. Moscoso is one of the persons responsible for
the transformation of Puerto Rico. By the beginning of 1990s... average
family income, $1,495 in 1950, was now $22,000. Life expectancy increased from
61 years in 1950 to 75 years; where there was one doctor per 4,108 persons in
1950, now the ratio was one doctor per 335 persons... As The Economist
described it, Bootstrap produced `one century of economic development... in a
decade. (p. 230) There is no doubt that Puerto Rico owes a lot to the
leadership of Teodoro Moscoso, who died on June 15, 1992. This book was good
for me. It taught me about the most important period in the history of Puerto
Rico. I recommend this book for people interested in modern Puerto Rican
history.
Word Count: 1012
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