Pan American World Airways teacher, Vol. VI, No. 4, March - April 1950

              
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March-April, 1950
Published by Pan American World Airways
VOL. VI No. 4
PUERTO RICO - CROSSROAD OF THE CARIBBEAN
by Enrique Portes
CLIPPER AT SAN JUAN—This Flying Clipper of the Douglas DC-4 type operates between New York City and San Juan. The route had the first reduced-rate, tourist-type service—a service now available throughout the Caribbean and South- America.
Every time you go to Puerto Rico, or stop over en route to South America, the Island offers something new in the way of tropical contrast, delightful mixture of historical past and progressive present.
After your Pan American Clipper landing in Isla Grande Airport you begin to feel the exhilarating mood of the people, the cheerful tempo of the islanders everywhere. The atmosphere seems exotic, part of another world, yet you are in United States territory, among fellow citizens of this great Republic of ours.
Then some interesting facts come to your mind. Puerto Rico, a tiny part of the New World, was discovered in 1493 during the second expedition of Columbus. Among those who accompanied the discoverer there was a man destined to play the principal role in the conquest of Puerto Rico. His name was Ponce de León. He is a legend today. “Had he known his island as it is today,” someone writes, “he would never have left it in the fruitless search for the Fountain of Youth.”
During the sixteenth century the island was the target of countless attacks by pirates and European nations with which Spain was at war. The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were not less peaceful for Puerto Rico. While the great Spanish Empire rapidly disintegrated during the nineteenth century, Puerto Rico made great strides not only politically but intellectually.
At various periods from 1808 on, the Island enjoyed the status of a Spanish province, with representation in the Cortes. This and other privileges were withdrawn,
then re-granted, as the control of the home government shifted between Monarchists and Republicans.
Of course, there was a movement toward independence. By 1897 Puerto Rico, together with Cuba, was granted autonomy by Royal Decree, though in fact an examination of the political status gives little evidence of political independence. The governor represented the king and exercised military as well as civil authority.
After the American occupation in 1898, a proclamation was issued : “We have not come to make war upon the people of a country that for centuries has been oppressed, but, on the contrary, to bring protection, not only to yourselves but to your property, to promote your prosperity, and to bestow upon you the immunities and blessings of the liberal institutions of our Government.”
Political Progress
“TOUR BASING FARES” REDUCE COST OF AIR TRAVEL TO SOUTH AMERICA
Vacation and educational travel to South America this summer will be made less expensive and more convenient by a new type of fare structure which has been introduced by Pan American World Airways and Panagra (Pan American-Grace Airways, Inc.).
Based upon “Tour basing fares” the new inclusive prices include cost of air transportation, hotel rooms and breakfast, ground transportation and sightseeing arrangements. An innovation in the air transport industry, they have been introduced to provide a convenient basis for leading tour operators to offer low cost all expense tours.
The financial saving to the traveler may be illustrated by an example: A 30-day Round South America tour using tourist class air transportation will offer the features mentioned in the preceding paragraph and the total cost will be $57 less than the normal fare alone, for the same journey.
Travel under the plan is applicable also for trips to South America for attendance at summer sessions of universities (see page
7).
Among the tours to be offered by the leading operators are:
Round South America, 30	days	$895
Fifteen days in Peru	455
Fifteen days in Brazil	695
While these fares are for a trip departing from and returning to Miami, there are other low fares from other PA A gateways of New York, New Orleans, Houston and Los Angeles. Typical of the opportunities offered by the plan is the Round South America tour:
Starting with a Pan American flight from New York, Miami, or other PAA gateways, you are afforded the option of traveling first by the east coast, or by the west coast, and returning the other coast. A tour starting (Continued on Page 7)
During the last fifty years Puerto Rico has made substantial political progress. On August 5, 1947 the President of the United States approved Public Law 362, which provides for the election of the Governor by popular vote. The Governor is empowered to appoint all members of his cabinet with the advice and consent of the Puerto Rican Senate. Muñoz Marin, the present Governor, was elected under this Law.
Puerto Rico, scarcely larger than Rhode Island or Delaware, is one of the most thickly populated areas in the world. About 2 million people live in some 3.400 square miles; the average density in 1947 was nearly 620 persons per square mile. Had the Island no denser settlement than the United States as a whole, it would have but 140,000 people; while if the United States were so densely populated as Puerto Rico is it would have some 1,300,000,000 inhabitants.
Viewed from your Pan American Clipper, Puerto Rico presents a rugged and serrated appearance. Numerous peaks and summits, with no definite crest line, rise from a gen-(Continued on Page 9)