Puerto Rico : Showcase Of America (1962)

[Music] this is a piece of sugarcane from puerto rico this too came from puerto rico it was made in one of the many new factories there sugarcane and electric irons bananas pineapples and machinery are just a few of puerto rico's products one way of learning about a country is to study her products and to study books pictures and maps but traveling there can be much more instructive this is judy nelson who dreams of traveling to puerto rico well you can stop dreaming judy because we're going to take you there right now [Music] sixteen hundred miles southeast of new york city in the heart of the west indies where the atlantic ocean meets the caribbean sea there is a lovely semi-tropical island puerto rico a land of sandy beaches palm trees and clear sparkling water [Music] a land of rolling countryside and lofty mountains [Music] of sugarcane fields industries farms [Music] cities [Music] small towns and churches and people many people big people [Music] little people dark people and light people [Music] industrious hardworking laughing good-natured people adults who go to work and children who go to school this young man's name is pedro lopez and like all puerto ricans he speaks spanish he also speaks english because english is taught in all the schools buenos dias good morning pedro will you tell us about puerto rico would you be our guide today pedro says welcome to puerto rico i will be very happy to show you around the island we puerto ricans are a very proud people he says proud of our homeland and proud of our spanish ancestry we are approaching the old san juan gate this was the main entrance to the city of san juan more than 300 years ago today san juan is a thriving modern metropolis the capital of puerto rico but there is a part of the city where many streets and buildings remain much as they were three centuries ago this is a square in the old part of the city honoring christopher columbus who discovered puerto rico on his second voyage to the new world in 1493 columbus claimed the island for spain because of its location and excellent harbor on the northern coast puerto rico became an outpost of the spanish empire and the city of san juan was attacked many times by the british the french and the dutch in 1539 construction began on a huge fortress called elmoral which was not completed until 250 years later from el morrow's high walls overlooking the sea soldiers stationed in century boxes could watch for approaching enemy ships and to complete their system of defense walls were constructed around the entire city to protect it from invasion in 1898 after 400 years of spanish rule puerto rico became a possession of the united states as a result of the spanish-american war the puerto rican people became american citizens in 1917. during the years before the second world war puerto rico was a country with practically no industries and few natural resources it was completely dependent upon raising sugar cane and the production and export of raw sugar but there were too many people and not enough land on which to grow the sugarcane as the population increased jobs became scarce the result was widespread unemployment and slums like this [Music] then in the 1940s puerto rico took a giant step forward realizing that the people could no longer exist on agriculture alone the puerto rican government created an agency known as fomento the spanish word for development the purpose of the agency was to develop new industry in puerto rico thus to provide more jobs better income and a higher standard of living pimento's first task was to persuade established industries in the united states to open branch factories in puerto rico these industries created new jobs for puerto ricans first in the construction of factories and later in the factories themselves industry needs power transportation and fuel dams were built to provide water power for hydroelectric plants electricity is now cheap and plentiful modern highways enable people and materials to be transported swiftly throughout the island puerto rico's new oil refineries process crude oil for fuel and most important of all industry has discovered one of puerto rico's best natural resources the people efficient workers who like their jobs and are proud to be a part of the new puerto rico people who have chosen a new way of life and made it work their industrial program is often called operation bootstrap today puerto rico has its own government it is a country associated with the united states but with its own constitution its own elected governor its own legislature and its own supreme court the people are puerto rican citizens as well as american citizens and their two flags fly side by side in its plan for the development of puerto rico the government did not overlook the great importance of agriculture farmers are being taught new improved methods of planting and cultivating they are encouraged to grow a wider variety of crops the abundant rainfall and year-round warm climate give the island an unusual opportunity for such variation in planting pineapple is an important crop more dairy and livestock farms are meeting the needs of the local population for fresh meat and dairy products but sugar cane is still the most important agricultural product when the cane is ripe in almost every rural area on the island you will see men first burning the underbrush [Music] and then cutting the cane heavily laden trucks haul the cane from the fields to the sugar mills [Music] here the cane is weighed and lifted from the trucks by huge derricks [Music] then the sugar cane is carried by conveyor belts to the great shopping machines and finally processed into raw sugar [Music] from the mill the sugar is trucked to the warehouse at the [Music] waterfront conveyor belts lift the sugar high into the air and then through tubes and pipes into the holds of the waiting ships this is called bulk sugar loading over one million tons of sugar are exported to the united states each year for further refining [Music] shipping is puerto rico's lifeline not only agricultural products such as sugar and pineapples but also the manufactured goods from her many factories are shipped to countries all over the world and because puerto rico has so few natural resources the raw materials used in manufacturing must be brought in by ship the island also imports most of her food products and merchandise not made in our own factories [Music] although not endowed with great ore deposits or vast timberlands puerto rico does have another natural resource a year-round warm sunny climate and miles of sandy beaches banned by the gentle trade winds knowing the tourists would appreciate this ideal vacation land fomento helps to build hotels to accommodate the thousands of visitors who now come to puerto rico every year there are many tourist attractions in addition to the sunny beaches historic sites that recall the days of pirates spanish treasure [Music] quaint streets within the old walled city [Music] and a tropical rain forest where up to 300 inches of rainfall per year have produced a dense growth of giant ferns and mosses [Music] tropical wildflowers and spectacular waterfalls [Music] as an example of an underdeveloped land that is going through an industrial revolution without violence and without communism puerto rico has been called a showcase of america the growth of industry agriculture and the tourist trade is raising the standard of living a pure water supply system sanitary sewage disposal and public health centers like this one have contributed to the better health and well-being of the people malaria and tuberculosis have been practically wiped out public health centers provide medical and dental treatment and give general health information and advice the government is cleaning up the slums and replacing them with modern apartment houses many families receive loans from the government to build their own homes with the help of neighbors this is the famous self-help program a country cannot grow and prosper unless its citizens can read and write in 1920 less than half of puerto rico's children went to school because there were not enough teachers and classrooms today with more and more schools and teachers available the puerto rican law that requires all children to go to school can be enforced this is the school that pedro lopez attends pedro became so interested in showing judy the wonderful changes that are taking place in puerto rico that he is now late for school but his teacher doesn't mind miss garcia is happy to welcome a young visitor to her classroom the school subjects are taught in spanish and the textbooks are printed in spanish although english is studied in all grades there are several colleges and universities the largest of which is the university of puerto rico in the suburb of san juan with branches and other cities on the island and hemisphere [Music] against this background of history and culture the story of puerto rico is being written pedro knows the story from him judy has learned a great deal about puerto rico now she can report to her classmates at home the fascinating tale of a little island wow