de LEON, Maria Boriken 'Puerto Rico'

[/color]:[/b] Maria Boriken Guadalupe de Leon,
named by Charles V after Ponce De Leon, who founded the first colony and the lady of faith. Pride keeps her from using the surname Spain gave her in favor of the name her indigenous Taínos gave her, that being Boriken
Nickname/Alias: Boricua, Boriken, Ria, Borinqueneer (out of respect for the 65th infantry regiment of WWII) Puerto Rico
Gender: Female
Character Type: Country, technically
Country or Country of Origin: Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
Canon or Original: Original
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[/color]:[/b]dark, dark blue eyes
Hair: Long, wild, dark brown hair always left free to the wind
Height and Weight: Five foot four, one hundred twenty pounds
Other Distinguishing Features:
Tan skin, long hair, perpetual smirk

Overall Appearance:

Some would consider her short, but she likes to think of it as a normal height, Maria has curves in all the right places but has managed to stay fit from years of running through the forest wilderness of her island. Eyes just the right shade of deep dark blue to have someone drown in them and her hair always long and windblown she looks as wild as she is at heart. Her skin is deeply tanned from the years spent outside and under the tropical sun, and where clothing is concerned, she really doesn't wear much, and what she does tends to leave little to the imagination, a girl's gotta keep cool when the weather hits ninety six degrees after all.

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[li]Cooking
rice, beans, pernil, empanadias, flavorful, filling food
[/li][li]Drinking
Puerto Rico is the rum capital of the world after all
[/li][li]Playing Dominos
Whether one on one or partner games, she loves it
[/li][li]Sports
Football, baseball, basketball, even wrestling, she loves active sports
[/li][li]Swimming
Surrounded on all sides by water, you have to love it
[/li][li]Watching sunsets
Nothing better then sitting on the beach, rum in hand and watching the sun set over the water
[/li][li]A cool rain
Especially on a hot summer night
[/li][li]The Coquí
The little frog is native to the island, and said to only sing for her
[/li][li]America
The land of opportunity!
[/li][li]Pirates
They were so much fun, even if they did try to steal from her
[/li][li]Family
Ricans are big on family, and for her, her people are her family
[/li][li]Company
She enjoys parties, or simply having a companion
[/li][li]The West Side Story
Quite possibly one of her favorite movies ever
[/li][li]Dancing
Salsa, merengue, mambo, its her favorite past time
[/li][li]Gold and jewels
If its shiny and valuable, chances are she wants it
[/li][li]Spain, at times
There were times when she thought of him as something of a hero and a defender

Dislikes:

[/li][li]Cold Weather
She lives for tropical whether after all
[/li][li]Hurricane season
Mother Natures rage tends to hit her head on, and all she can do is hold on and withstand
[/li][li]Bland food
There is no need to be afraid of seasonings!
[/li][li]Crooked government
Her governers are crooked, and because of that, her people suffer
[/li][li]Being invaded
On more then on occasion other nations have tried to claim her as their own
[/li][li]Diseases
They nearly destroyed her indigenous people
[/li][li]Iguanas
The pests are absolutely everywhere
[/li][li]Being used
Spain did it for years, and she resents the country for it
[/li][li]Being called lazy
She simply likes to relax and take her time, but when it comes down to work, she does her best
[/li][li]Being ignored
Maria is too good to be ignored damnit
[/li][li]The fact that all the given names for her island are in the male inflection
[/li][li]Spain, most other times
The broken promise of citizenship, the growing lack of attention, the general disregard of her people and their need for help against poverty

Strengths:

[/li][li]Resilient
[/li][li]Strong Willed
[/li][li]Fiercely Loyal
[/li][li]Master at improvising

Weaknesses:

[/li][li]Her pride
[/li][li]Her bosses are crooks
[/li][li]Financially unstable
[/li][li]Motherly instincts can get the best of her

Fears:

[/li][li]Hurricanes
[/li][li]Being swallowed up by the ocean
[/li][li]Having her heritage diluted beyond recognition by all the mixing of new cultures, as much as she enjoys them

Secrets:

[/li][li]Sort of enjoyed the other nations fighting over her
[/li][li]Felt insulted that Spain would basically ignore her in favor of African colonies unless someone was trying to steal her away

Any Quirks/Habits:

[/li][li]Always has a Coquí with her
[/li][li]Seems to gravitate towards bodies of water
[/li][li]Loves having mixers with other countries

Overall Personality:

The first thing to strike anyone about the woman, and for good reason, is her amazingly large pride in herself and her island as a whole. In fact it's probably big enough to rival that of Prussia, not that she would actually own up to the fact. But the trait is something shared by nearly every citizen of the island, no matter what comes their way, war, disease, or mother nature herself the island lives through it all and with head held high. Maria adores her island and her people and will bellow on and on loudly about it to anyone that will listen, and even a good few that wont. The pride of Puerto Rico has become infamous, and mixed with the nobility that could only come from Spain, good luck standing up against it.

When Spain first colonized, Catholicism of course came with them and as such was promptly shoved down her throat, along with those of her natives and the African slaves that were brought over. It definitely clashed with existing beliefs but eventually she adopted it as her own, to a point. Trying to change Maria is like trying to hold back the tide and so one is left with a strange mix of pseudo-religiousness and unadulterated shamelessness. There are certain aspects that are shown to have become close to her about the religion, Sunday mornings find her at church and she has been known to say a prayer and ask for forgiveness. On the other end though, Maria is looked on as quite sinful at times, the woman doesn't believe in the deeply patriarchate ideals of the Bible and shes downright shameless with her outfits and her affection, but she does always repent on Sunday.

Needless to say, the woman can be recklessly headstrong, a potent combination of her pride and shameless nature. Maria has trouble with the idea of backing down, even more when it comes to actually having to submit to the will of another. Its the firey spirit of the Boriken is what she would say, in reality he's just as stubborn as a damn mule, and she will go out of her way to do whatever she has to in order to keep from having to serve under someone she doesn't want to. Spain caught her unaware, and she felt like she paid for that for about three hundred years, it wont be something she does again. That headstrong sentiment is something that gets her into trouble time and time again, but shes quick to fight for what she believes in and is sure that she can get herself right back out of whatever trouble she gets into.

Even with her unorthodox nature, Maria is still a woman, and a sensual one at that. She isn't above using her Latin charm and her exotic looks to get what she wants, and since she's rather free with her affection to begin with it doesn't cause her to bat an eye at the thought of leaning over a little farther to give someone a view down her shirt as a distraction while they try talking politics just so she'll get what she wants. Its something of a game for her, see how many men she can wrap up in her spell before moving on to the next, deep down she knows its wrong, but men have made a mess of her and her island so many times that this is her payback. It'll take a strong, proud man to pin her down.

Even if her proud, overly dignified yet still somehow shameless ways tend to annoy people, there are a few pluses to her personality that causes people to overlook her flaws. Maria is deeply passionate, giving her all to anything that calls her attention, and fiercely loyal to those she considers friends and allies. Put these two together and you have someone that's willing to put their life on the line for their friend without hesitation. Its a fact that has gotten her pulled into more then one war, but she will continue to fight for her allies even without them having to ask.

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Really Early History:

[li] Originally settled between 3000 and 2000 BC by the Ortoiroid people, Maria is found, just a baby in the tropics
[/li][li]Between the 7th-11th Century the Taíno culture developed and by 1000 AD had become dominant in the island

Spanish Rule:

[/li][li]November 19, 1493, Columbus lands on the island for the first time and names it San Juan Bautista. Maria sees her first glimps of the light skinned men, and she is less then pleased at being called under a male name.
[/li][li]August 8, 1508, Juan Ponce de León founds the first settlement on the island, Caparra. A year later it's moved to San Juan, and the Island is renamed Puerto Rico. The pubescent girl finds herself fascinated with these people.
[/li][li]In 1511, a second settlement, San Germán was established in the southwestern part of the island, Maria finds that she's growing up quite quickly now
[/li][li]Later the colonization began to take the form of encomienda settlements, where the natives were forced into slavery
[/li][li]In 1511, the Taínos revolted against the Spanish but it was easily crushed by Ponce de Leon, and soon the Taínos found themselves nearly wiped out by violence, disease, and suicide. Maria wept for her people for days on end.
[/li][li]August 8, 1511, Pope Julius II established three dioceses on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church, Alonso Manso, was appointed bishop of the Puerto Rican diocese, and Maria finds herself being forced into the religion.
[/li][li]December 27, 1512, Ferdinand II of Aragon issued the Burgos' Laws, after being pressured by the church, modified the encomiendas into a system called repartimientos, aimed at ending the exploitation
[/li][li]After, Puerto Rico became the ecclesiastical headquarters of the next Pope in relation to the New World, and the general headquarters of Spain for the New World during the Inquisition. She became fearful of the religion, how it could bring people to do such horrible things to each other
[/li][li]In 1513 AFrican slaves were brought over to deal with the decline of the Taino labor force. Caribs were the first to make an attempt to take the island from the Spanish, but the attempt was laughably unsuccessful
[/li][li]In 1528, the French, recognizing the strategic value of Puerto Rico, sacked and burned the southwestern town of San Germán along with a few other settlements. Maria decided that Spain was the lesser of two evils at that point
[/li][li]In 1532, determined to hold their prize Spain began construction of the first fortifications began with La Fortaleza, all of a sudden the girl was being tutored in the arts of offense and self defense
[/li][li]Seven years later, three more fortifications were built, including the now famous Morro, the lighthouse shown on many Puerto Rican images
[/li][li]November 22, 1595, English privateer Sir Francis Drake—with 27 vessels and 2,500 troops—sailed into San Juan Bay intending to loot the city, although the city was set ablaze, they were unable to defeat the forces in the forts. Maria still has faint scars from that day
[/li][li]June 15, 1598, the Royal Navy landed troops to the east in Santurce, they met resistance, but were able to take the island and Maria found herself captive or several months, until the English were forced to abandon the island due to an outbreak of dysentery among the troops. Maria really believes that the Britsih just werent used to actual good cooking.
[/li][li]A year later Spain sent a fresh wave of troops, artillery, and a new Governor to take back the island.
[/li][li]In 1607, Puerto Rico served as a port for provisions for the English ships that were on their way to establish the first English settlement in Jamestown, Virginia
[/li][li]September 25, 1625, the Dutch attacked San Juan, besieging Fort San Felipe del Morro and La Fortaleza, citizens fled but the Spanish, led by their governor, fought them back and Maria made sure to help. As they left the Dutch set the city ablaze, and yes Maria has a few scars from that skirmish as well.
[/li][li]In 1634, Philip IV ordered further fortification of the island and six new fortress were constructed, the woman found herself and her island filling out a bit more
[/li][li]In 1702, the English assaulted the town of Arecibo, located on the north coast, west of San Juan, with no success and it was proven that Maria had learned to defend herself.
[/li][li]Puerto Ricans fought in the American Revolutionary War in 1776, and participated in the capture of Pensacola, the capital of the British colony of West Florida and the cities of Baton Rouge, St. Louis and Mobile. They helped defeat the British in Pensacola, and Maria herself joined in, wanting revenge for the repeated attempts at kidnap by the English.
[/li][li]When the French and Spanish declared war on the UK in 1797 the British again attempted to conquer the island, attacking San Juan with an invasion force of 7,000 troops and an armada consisting of 64 warships, and again they were successfully held back
[/li][li]Voting representatives from the colonies were finally allowed in 1802, so long as they still swore allegiance to the King, because of fear of Napoleon gaining absolute power in England
[/li][li]Puerto Rico was finally granted conditional Spanish citizenship in 1812
[/li][li]August 10, 1815, the Royal Decree of Grace was issued and foreigners were finally allowed to enter the island while other countries were allowed to finally trade, as opposed to the exclusivity of Spain
[/li][li]After the fall of Napoleon though, Puerto Rico was downgraded back to a colony, Maria had never felt so slighted in her life, and her resentment for Spain hit an all time high.
[/li][li]June 25, 1835, Queen María Cristina abolished the slave trade to Spanish colonies
[/li][li]1851, Governor Juan de la Pezuela Cevallos founded the Royal Academy of Belles Letters, Maria became interested in academics and learned all she could
[/li][li]September 23, 1868, hundreds of men and women in the town of Lares—stricken by poverty and politically estranged from Spain—revolted against Spanish rule, seeking Puerto Rican independence. The uprising was quickly put down by Spanish authorities, but their resentment was made known
[/li][li]June 4, 1870, the Moret Law was approved, giving freedom to slaves born after September 17, 1868 or over 60 years old
[/li][li]Later on March 22, 1873, slavery was finally abolished in Puerto Rico
[/li][li]1897, Antonio Mattei Lluberas and the local leaders of the independence movement of the town of Yauco, organized another uprising, which became known as the "Intentona de Yauco" Again they were quickly silenced by Spanish authorities
[/li][li] On March 10, 1898, Dr. Julio J. Henna and Robert H. Todd, leaders of the Puerto Rican section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, began to correspond with United States President William McKinley and the United States Senate in hopes that they would consider including Puerto Rico in the intervention planned for Cuba
[/li][li]On April 24, Spanish Minister of Defense Segismundo Bermejo sent instructions to Spanish Admiral Cervera to proceed with his fleet from Cape Verde to the Caribbean, Cuba and Puerto Rico, having caught wind of the plans between PR and America
[/li][li]April 23, 1898, Spain declared war on America after the sinking of the USS Maine outside of Cuba, and an ultimatum sent by the US to get Spain out of Cuba
[/li][li]May 10, Spanish forces at Fort San Cristóbal under the command of Capt. Ángel Rivero Méndez in San Juan exchanged fire with the USS Yale under the command of Capt. William C. Wise. Maria made no move to help either, instead busy keeping her people out of harms way
[/li][li]Two days later on May 12, a squadron of 12 US ships commanded by Rear Admiral William T. Sampson bombarded San Juan, causing panic among the residents, she could have shot the man herself
[/li][li]June 25, the USS Yosemite blocked San Juan harbor
[/li][li]July 18, General Nelson A. Miles, commander of US forces, received orders to sail for Puerto Rico and to land his troops, three days later 3,300 soldiers, escorted by USS Massachusetts, sailed for Puerto Rico from Guantánamo.By the end of the next month, the US was in control of the island.
[/li][li]December 10, 1898, the Treaty of Paris was signed (ratified by the US Senate February 6, 1899).[39] Spain renounced all claim to Cuba, ceded Guam and Puerto Rico and its dependent islets to the United States

United States Rule:

[/li][li]After coming under American rule, the island was renamed again, this time to Porto Rico, and the US Dollar was adopted as currency, though Maria, out of some respect for the time spent under Spain, refused to change her name to Marie
[/li][li]Public school was founded, the government lottery was abolished, cockfighting was forbidden, and a centralized public health service established, she was beginning to like Americans more and more
[/li][li]In August 1899, two hurricanes ravaged the island and for a moment, for a moment Maria didn't think they would be able to put back the pieces. Their cash crops had been decimated, and about 3,400 people died in the floods while thousands were left without shelter, food, or work
[/li][li]The Organic Act of 1900, established a civil government and free commerce between the island and the United States
[/li][li]In 1909 Partido Independentista (Independence Party) was founded. It was the first political party whose agenda was the independence of Puerto Rico.
[/li][li]Jones Act was approved by the U.S. Congress on December 5, 1916, and signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on March 2, 1917. The law made Puerto Rico a United States territory which is "organized but unincorporated." Puerto Ricans were also collectively given a restricted U.S. citizenship. This implied that Puerto Ricans in the island did not have full American citizenship rights, such as the right to vote for the president of the United States. Maria found herself frustrated at still not being good enough for her people to be actual citizens of the country ruling over them
[/li][li]October 11, 1918, an earthquake occurred, with an approximate magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter scale, accompanied by a tsunami reaching 6.1 metres (20 ft) in height.[50] The epicenter was located northwest of Aguadilla in the Mona Passage, causing a high death toll
[/li][li]In the 1920s, the economy of Puerto Rico boomed, schools, roads, buildings were all built and Maria was having the time of her life, until the market crashed in '29
[/li][li]September 27, 1932, Hurricane San Ciprián struck the island, further aggravating the Puerto Rican economy, which was already in shambles because if the Great Depression
[/li][li]Porto Rico as the island was known, had its name changed back to Puerto Rico, Maria can honestly say she missed the name
[/li][li]February 23, 1936, two Nationalists Hiram Rosado and Elias Beauchamp, in retaliation for the "Rio Piedras Massacre," killed Police Chief Riggs in San Juan, a few months later twelve nationalists were sentenced to ten years in prison because of retaliation to the massacre
[/li][li] March 21, 1937, a peaceful march was organized by the Nationalist Party to commemorate the ending of slavery in Puerto Rico in 1873. The police, under the orders of General Blanton Winship, opened fire at the peaceful Puerto Rican Nationalist Party parade, bringing about what came to be known as the "Ponce Massacre": 20 people (including two of the policemen) were killed and over 100 were wounded.
[/li][li]During The Spanish Civil War, Puerto Rico found itself on both sides of the conflict, since the political parties leaned to either side. Maria was deeply conflicted, but fought on the nationalist side none the less.
[/li][li]During WWII Puerto Rico aided the Allies in both Pacific and Atlantic Theaters, Maria was more then at ease with helping in the navel battles after all the years she had helped Spain protect her Island from invaders. While the men fought, the women became nurses, but all faced discrimination against them from the American soldiers and Nurses because of their race, something that dampened Maria's spirit greatly. But her and her people held steadfast, showing that they wouldn't take shit from anyone
[/li][li]The late 1940s brought the beginning of a major migration to the continental United States, mainly to New York City, and although she never actually told anyone this even Maria has an apartment there, utterly enchanted by the cityOn June 11, 1948, Piñero, signed the infamous "Ley de la Mordaza" (Gag Law) or Law 53 as it was officially known, passed by the Puerto Rican legislature which made it illegal to display the Puerto Rican Flag, sing a patriotic song, talk of independence and to fight for the liberation of the island
[/li][li]The U.S. Congress passed an act allowing Puerto Ricans to vote for their own governor and the first elections under this act were held on November 2, 1948.
[/li][li]August 26, 1950, the 65th Infantry departed from Puerto Rico and arrived in Pusan, Korea to fight in the Korean War, the infantry had already distinguished themselves in WWII, but during the Korean War had earned themselves the nickname Borinqueneers. Maria couldn't have been prouder of them.
[/li][li]July 25, 1952, the Constitution of Puerto Rico was approved by voters in a referendum, and the island organized as the Estado Libre Asociado (Commonwealth of Puerto Rico). That same year marked the first time that the Flag of Puerto Rico could be publicly displayed
[/li][li]During the Cuban Missile Crisis, ships from Puerto Rico set up a blockaid on Cuba, she's been at odds with the other island nation ever since.
[/li][li]Maria and her 65th Infantry were also present during the Vietnam War, further distinguishing themselves as one of the highlighted Regiments of a war.
[/li][li]War on Terror, again Puerto Ricans rose to the fight for America and democracy, Maria has definitely grown fond enough of America over the years to constantly embroil herself in American battles, and the names of Puerto Rican lives lost are written in El Monumento de la Recordación, in front of the capital building in San Juan.


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[/color]:[/b] Devi
Timezone:Eastern US

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