Francisco Ramírez Medina (born c.1828), was one of the leaders of "El Grito de Lares", the first major revolt against Spanish rule and call for independence in Puerto Rico in 1868. He has thus far been the only person to be named "President of the Republic of Puerto Rico". El Grito de Lares (The Lares Uprising) History has little to say about Ramírez Medina and his personal life; what is known however, is that he was a believer in the Puerto Rican independence movement. For years, various sectors in Puerto Rico had plans for claiming the independence of Puerto Rico from Spanish rule. Among those who planned for the island's freedom was Puerto Rican General Antonio Valero de Bernabé, who upon learning of Simón Bolívar's dream of liberating and creating a unified Latin America, which included Puerto Rico and Cuba, decided to join him and in St. Thomas established contacts with the Puerto Rican independence movement. However, it wasn't until 1868 when a revolt was initially started and planned by Ramón Emeterio Betances and Segundo Ruiz Belvis against the Government of Spain which then ruled the island. Manuel Rojas, Mariana Bracetti and Mathias Brugman joined them by forming revolutionary cells in the island. Ramírez Medina amongst others also joined the movement. Planning stage On September 20, Ramírez Medina held a meeting at his house in which the insurrection was planned and set to begin in Camuy on September 29. The meeting was attended by Marcelino Vega, Carlos Martínez, Bonifacio Agüero, José Antonio Hernández, Ramón Estrella, Bartolomé González, Cesilio López, Antonio Santiago, Manuel Ramírez, Ulises Cancela. Cancela instructed Manuel María González to deliver all of the acts and important papers in regard to the meeting to Manuel Rojas. On the night of September 19 a Spanish captain stationed in Quebradillas, Juan Castañón, overheard two cell members commenting that on September 29 the troop at Camuy would be neutralized by poisoning the bread rations. Given the fact that September 29 would be a holiday for most laborers, simultaneous uprisings would occur, beginning with the cell in Camuy, and following with the ones in various other points; reinforcements would come in through a ship, "El Telégrafo", and the cells would be reinforced by more than 3,000 mercenaries. Castañón and his men then entered González's residence and confiscated the documents of Medina's meeting and alerted his commanding officer in Arecibo. The cell leaders at