others during this time in Puerto Rico, he used the press to publish his political ideas. With Amy Braschi, he founded in Ponce the paper El Estudio in 1896. Around 1900, he also founded La Opinion and led it as its editor. In 1902, he then bought La Correspondencia'' and directed it until 1914. To keep up with his growing journalism business, he imported Puerto Rico's first monotype press and its first Rotary printing press. Politician and independence advocate Zeno Gandia was the first Puerto Rican to propose the creation of an independence party for Puerto Rico. After Puerto Rico was invaded by American forces during the Spanish–American War in 1898, Zeno Gandía traveled to Washington, D.C. where, together with Eugenio María de Hostos, he proposed the idea of independence for Puerto Rico. The men were disappointed when their ideas were rejected by the government of the United States and the island was converted into a territory. Zeno Gandía returned to the island where he continued to write and was politically active. As a member of the Puerto Rico Union Party, he also advocated allowing voters to choose among non-colonial options, including annexation, an independent protectorate and autonomy. Under the American Government installed in Puerto Rico, Zeno Gandia was a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives in 1900 and in 1907. In 1912, Zeno Gandía joined the Independence Party, a new political party founded by Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón which promoted Puerto Rico's independence. That same year, Zeno Gandía together with Matienzo Cintrón and Luis Lloréns Torres wrote a manifesto which stated that it was time for Puerto Rico to have its independence. Their Independence Party, which also included Eugenio Benítez Castaño and Pedro Franceschi as founding members, was the first party in Puerto Rico's history to plead for Puerto Rico's independence and it established a precedent for future organizations with similar ideologies. Legacy Zeno Gandía died in Santurce, Puerto Rico, in 1930. He was buried at the Puerto Rico Memorial in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Manuel Zeno Gandía memory was honored by naming a school and avenues after him. In his native Arecibo, the credit cooperative and an industrial park are named after Zeno Gandía. An statue of him was unveiled on 27 March 2007, by Senate President Kenneth McClintock on the grounds of Puerto Rico's Capitol, to honor Zeno Gandía, with Zeno Gandia's grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren in