Fiquito Yunqué
Encyclopedia
Carlos Federico Yunqué González, more commonly known as Fiquito Yunqué, is a fictional character (the name is actually a heteronym
) who formerly wrote a weekly humor column for the Puerto Rican
weekly newspaper Claridad
titled "Me Mudo a La Esquizofrenia" ("I'm Moving to Schizophrenia
") for close to two years (2007–2009). "Me Mudo" has been published as a blog since February 1, 2009. The column has developed a cult following among Claridad readers, with fans in the United States
, Spain
, Colombia
and Chile
.
's comedic style. The column's author was a fictional character named Fernando Clemente, whose identity had been closely guarded by Claridad's Editorial Board through the character's run. The name was actually a pseudonym that partially honored Roberto Clemente
. Speculation about Clemente's identity still continues to the present; the most credible theory is that the character's columns were written by different authors over time (including Ramón Arbona, a late editor of the newspaper). The last author to use the pseudonym still writes occasional materials for "El Verdugo Taims", an Internet alternative media
outlet in Puerto Rico using the name.
A reorganization at the newspaper left it without comedy writers. Since Claridad tends to have a rather serious tone, many readers demanded that Clemente return. When it became evident that this was not possible (the last author of the column rejected the idea, hinting that he had left Claridad in less than favorable terms), Claridad went on a search for a replacement. This search ended with the publication of an interview that preempted the first "Me Mudo" column: a conversation between José Elías Torres (head of the news department for WPAB-AM in Ponce, Puerto Rico
and a Claridad editorial board member) and Yunqué. This interview was featured on the February 7, 2007 edition of Claridad.
which is the diminutive of "Federico", or "little Fico") is a pseudonym, as that of his predecessor. However, an entire life history of the character has been revealed through bits and pieces published in various "Me Mudo A La Esquizofrenia" columns
Fiquito was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
, approximately in 1977. He is an Industrial Engineer, married, and has no children. The column's by-line claims that Fiquito is a "musician, writer and mental patient" who claims responsibility for his words, "or so he says".
Fiquito's family embodies all political factions in Puerto Rico. His paternal grandfather was a die-hard supporter of Puerto Rican independence; his maternal grandfather was a supporter of statehood for Puerto Rico. His father is a reluctant follower of the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
(PPD in Spanish), while his mother is a passionate supporter of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
(NPP). Since the Yunqués and the Gonzálezes cover all the political spectrum in Puerto Rico, Fiquito grew up politically confused. He claims to be Melina León
's second cousin.
He claimed to have developed a conscience as nationalistic
as he could possibly develop while growing up in Puerto Rico. His high school hobby was playing electric guitar
in a grunge
garage band
.
Fiquito joined the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras in 1995, attempting to pursue a humanities
degree. He loved Puerto Rican and Caribbean history, but realized he could not make a living in the humanities in an academic setting, something he detested. At the same time, he met the American-born daughter of an English literature professor, with whom he had an enduring affair that had him almost lose a semester of school ("a full semester of sex and Shakespeare", he claims). She had been raised in Puerto Rico and was a member of the Federación Universitaria Pro Independencia
; her extreme political activism stunned Fiquito.
Fiquito opted for a transfer and moved to the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
, from which he got an Industrial Engineering degree in 2001. Eventually he met his wife, Diana (nicknamed "La Colorá", or "The Red One", because of both her fair complexion and fiery character) and moved back to the metro area of San Juan. He has recently moved back to Mayagüez, at least temporarily.
professor at the Inter American University of Puerto Rico. Fiquito found the poem in a personal web page for the author, and requested her permission to use it as a column title. He has since nominated Rodríguez to the role of Urania
, as one of Fiquito's Muses (see below).
The title, according to Fiquito, is a threat: the speaker threatens to move to a chaotic place (which the author hints is the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico
, but according to Fiquito could better be suited to describe Puerto Ricans in Orlando, Florida
. The column's logo pictures a brain preserved in a jar, with sunglasses in the outside as to resemble the brain as being ready for a sunny day.
, Juan Goytisolo
and "Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, "El Sevilla", lead singer and lyricist of the Spanish
heavy metal
band "Mojinos Escozíos", who is a regular writer on comedy magazines in Spain.
Fiquito tends to start every column with a humorous Latin quote, be them humorous sayings or popular Puerto Rican phrases. This parodies the serious style of a political scholar, Antonio Fernós López-Cepero, a regular writer in El Nuevo Dia
, the largest newspaper in Puerto Rico (and the son of Antonio Fernós-Isern
). Fiquito's topics gravitate around subjects in Puerto Rican sociology
, although he often covers political subject matter. He makes constant references to Puerto Rican and Latin American historical events (some rather obscure to his readers) as to parody current events by contrast. He later asked Claridad readers to nominate him as a write-in candidate for the governorship of Puerto Rico for the 2008 general elections, merely as a protest vote. He claimed he spent USD$63.00 in his entire campaign, and used Roy Brown Ramírez's song "Señor Inversionista" as a campaign song. There is no evidence of the number of write-in votes Fiquito obtained in the election.
Song lyrics of popular Puerto Rican artists and other Puerto Rican pop culture elements are often quoted. However, Fiquito is particularly fond of Calle 13
, and particularly, of its lyricist René Pérez's irreverent and sarcastic style. Various of Fiquito's columns have Calle 13 lines as column titles. In a rare public appearance, Fiquito introduced the band for an abbreviated set when it appeared at the 2008 Support for Claridad festival in San Juan on April 24, 2008.
s, or sources of inspiration:
He has made various references to a Puerto Rican goth
artist, Alejandra Reuhel, referred to as Alexandra The Goth, who has blue hair "and wears electrical tape
rather creatively" in her photos and art. According to Fiquito, she's his Calliope
. Puerto Rican poet Ana María Fuster has assumed the role of Erato
, while Puerto Rican choreographer Lolita Villanúa is his Terpsichore
. Nicole, a Chile
an follower of his column is his Euterpe
. Ingrid Rodríguez, responsible for naming Fiquito's column, assumes the role of Urania
.
, Fiquito is also a fan of Tego Calderón
, Simian Mobile Disco
and Bob Marley
.
of the traditional pro-independence movements, particularly the Puerto Rican Independence Party
, whose leadership he abhors. He reserves his strongest words for the political leadership of the NPP (a constant target), although he can be equally harsh to political leaders of all the other Puerto Rican parties.
Fiquito also considers himself a "recovering Roman Catholic" (he spent a year playing guitar on Sunday masses) and an acknowledged product of colonialism
in Puerto Rico, adopting local and foreign cultural references equally. He is somewhat abashed of both circumstances.
. A very vocal opponent of Fiquito is Yeyo Rodríguez, another Mayagüez native, a pro-independence icon in Puerto Rico (and a contemporary of Juan Mari Brás
) who wrote a criticism of the character in Claridad once.
to publish his column, at roughly weekly intervals. Future plans for the column have been hinted but not revealed; they will most likely include podcasts of his columns, as well as a book.
Heteronym (literature)
The literary concept of heteronym, invented by Portuguese writer and poet Fernando Pessoa, refers to one or more imaginary character created by a writer to write in different styles...
) who formerly wrote a weekly humor column for the Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
weekly newspaper Claridad
Claridad
Claridad is a Spanish-language weekly newspaper based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was first published in June, 1959. Claridad served as the official publication of the Pro-Independence Movement and later the Puerto Rican Socialist Party. The paper has been praised for its strong political and...
titled "Me Mudo a La Esquizofrenia" ("I'm Moving to Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
") for close to two years (2007–2009). "Me Mudo" has been published as a blog since February 1, 2009. The column has developed a cult following among Claridad readers, with fans in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
and Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
.
Early history
During close to twenty years in its 49-year run, Claridad featured a comedy column named "Entrando Por La Salida" ("In Through The Out Door"), initially inspired by Eddie LópezEddie López (journalist)
Manuel Eduardo López Rolón a.k.a. Eddie López was a Puerto Rican journalist.Eddie López was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico in 1940, the son of Manuel López Canals and Teresa Rolón Perez...
's comedic style. The column's author was a fictional character named Fernando Clemente, whose identity had been closely guarded by Claridad's Editorial Board through the character's run. The name was actually a pseudonym that partially honored Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente Walker was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball right fielder. He was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. Clemente played his entire 18-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He was awarded the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in...
. Speculation about Clemente's identity still continues to the present; the most credible theory is that the character's columns were written by different authors over time (including Ramón Arbona, a late editor of the newspaper). The last author to use the pseudonym still writes occasional materials for "El Verdugo Taims", an Internet alternative media
Alternative media
Alternative media are media which provide alternative information to the mainstream media in a given context, whether the mainstream media are commercial, publicly supported, or government-owned...
outlet in Puerto Rico using the name.
A reorganization at the newspaper left it without comedy writers. Since Claridad tends to have a rather serious tone, many readers demanded that Clemente return. When it became evident that this was not possible (the last author of the column rejected the idea, hinting that he had left Claridad in less than favorable terms), Claridad went on a search for a replacement. This search ended with the publication of an interview that preempted the first "Me Mudo" column: a conversation between José Elías Torres (head of the news department for WPAB-AM in Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
and a Claridad editorial board member) and Yunqué. This interview was featured on the February 7, 2007 edition of Claridad.
The Character
Fiquito (a nicknameNickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
which is the diminutive of "Federico", or "little Fico") is a pseudonym, as that of his predecessor. However, an entire life history of the character has been revealed through bits and pieces published in various "Me Mudo A La Esquizofrenia" columns
Fiquito was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Mayagüez is the eighth-largest municipality of Puerto Rico. Originally founded as "Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria" it is also known as "La Sultana del Oeste" , "Ciudad de las Aguas Puras" , or "Ciudad del Mangó"...
, approximately in 1977. He is an Industrial Engineer, married, and has no children. The column's by-line claims that Fiquito is a "musician, writer and mental patient" who claims responsibility for his words, "or so he says".
Fiquito's family embodies all political factions in Puerto Rico. His paternal grandfather was a die-hard supporter of Puerto Rican independence; his maternal grandfather was a supporter of statehood for Puerto Rico. His father is a reluctant follower of the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
The Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth....
(PPD in Spanish), while his mother is a passionate supporter of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state...
(NPP). Since the Yunqués and the Gonzálezes cover all the political spectrum in Puerto Rico, Fiquito grew up politically confused. He claims to be Melina León
Melina León
Melina León is a Puerto Rican merengue singer and actress. From an early age she performed with several groups including The Rubi, Girls of Puerto Rico and The Cherries, with whom she appeared in several San Juan hotels...
's second cousin.
He claimed to have developed a conscience as nationalistic
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
as he could possibly develop while growing up in Puerto Rico. His high school hobby was playing electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
in a grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
garage band
Garage band
The term garage band can refer to:* A band that performs garage rock* GarageBand, audio production software published by Apple Inc.* GarageBand.com, a website that helps publicize emerging bands...
.
Fiquito joined the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras in 1995, attempting to pursue a humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
degree. He loved Puerto Rican and Caribbean history, but realized he could not make a living in the humanities in an academic setting, something he detested. At the same time, he met the American-born daughter of an English literature professor, with whom he had an enduring affair that had him almost lose a semester of school ("a full semester of sex and Shakespeare", he claims). She had been raised in Puerto Rico and was a member of the Federación Universitaria Pro Independencia
University Pro-Independence Federation of Puerto Rico
The University Pro-Independence Federation of Puerto Rico is an organization of students primarily studying at the University of Puerto Rico founded in October 1956, by Puerto Rican poet and nationalist Hugo Margenat...
; her extreme political activism stunned Fiquito.
Fiquito opted for a transfer and moved to the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
The University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez or Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez in Spanish , is a land-grant, sea-grant, space-grant state university located in the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico...
, from which he got an Industrial Engineering degree in 2001. Eventually he met his wife, Diana (nicknamed "La Colorá", or "The Red One", because of both her fair complexion and fiery character) and moved back to the metro area of San Juan. He has recently moved back to Mayagüez, at least temporarily.
Name
The name "Me Mudo a la Esquizofrenia" is the last line in a poem by Ingrid Rodriguez, a writer and psychologyPsychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
professor at the Inter American University of Puerto Rico. Fiquito found the poem in a personal web page for the author, and requested her permission to use it as a column title. He has since nominated Rodríguez to the role of Urania
Urania
Urania was, in Greek mythology, the muse of astronomy. Some accounts list her as the mother of the musician Linus. She is usually depicted with a globe in her left hand. She is able to foretell the future by the arrangement of the stars...
, as one of Fiquito's Muses (see below).
The title, according to Fiquito, is a threat: the speaker threatens to move to a chaotic place (which the author hints is the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
, but according to Fiquito could better be suited to describe Puerto Ricans in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
. The column's logo pictures a brain preserved in a jar, with sunglasses in the outside as to resemble the brain as being ready for a sunny day.
Writing style
Fiquito's writing style has been compared to that of writers Nemesio CanalesNemesio Canales
Nemesio R. Canales was a Puerto Rican essayist, journalist, novelist, playwright, politician and activist who defended women's civil rights...
, Juan Goytisolo
Juan Goytisolo
Juan Goytisolo is a Spanish poet, essayist, and novelist. He currently lives in a voluntary self-exile in Marrakech.-Background:Juan Goytisolo was born to an aristocratic family...
and "Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, "El Sevilla", lead singer and lyricist of the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band "Mojinos Escozíos", who is a regular writer on comedy magazines in Spain.
Fiquito tends to start every column with a humorous Latin quote, be them humorous sayings or popular Puerto Rican phrases. This parodies the serious style of a political scholar, Antonio Fernós López-Cepero, a regular writer in El Nuevo Dia
El Nuevo Día
El Nuevo Día is a Puerto Rican newspaper based in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico and distributed daily throughout Puerto Rico and some parts of the United States.- History :...
, the largest newspaper in Puerto Rico (and the son of Antonio Fernós-Isern
Antonio Fernós-Isern
Dr. Antonio Fernós-Isern was the first Puerto Rican cardiologist and its longest serving resident commissioner.-Early years:...
). Fiquito's topics gravitate around subjects in Puerto Rican sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, although he often covers political subject matter. He makes constant references to Puerto Rican and Latin American historical events (some rather obscure to his readers) as to parody current events by contrast. He later asked Claridad readers to nominate him as a write-in candidate for the governorship of Puerto Rico for the 2008 general elections, merely as a protest vote. He claimed he spent USD$63.00 in his entire campaign, and used Roy Brown Ramírez's song "Señor Inversionista" as a campaign song. There is no evidence of the number of write-in votes Fiquito obtained in the election.
Song lyrics of popular Puerto Rican artists and other Puerto Rican pop culture elements are often quoted. However, Fiquito is particularly fond of Calle 13
Calle 13 (band)
Calle 13 is a band formed by stepbrothers René Pérez Joglar , who calls himself Residente and Eduardo José Cabra Martínez , who calls himself Visitante Calle 13 is a band formed by stepbrothers René Pérez Joglar (born February 23, 1978 in Hato Rey, a subsection of San Juan, Puerto Rico), who calls...
, and particularly, of its lyricist René Pérez's irreverent and sarcastic style. Various of Fiquito's columns have Calle 13 lines as column titles. In a rare public appearance, Fiquito introduced the band for an abbreviated set when it appeared at the 2008 Support for Claridad festival in San Juan on April 24, 2008.
Fiquito's Muses
Fiquito claims to be inspired by various museMuse
The Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...
s, or sources of inspiration:
He has made various references to a Puerto Rican goth
Goth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
artist, Alejandra Reuhel, referred to as Alexandra The Goth, who has blue hair "and wears electrical tape
Electrical tape
Electrical tape is a type of pressure-sensitive tape used to insulate electrical wires and other material that conduct electricity. It can be made of many plastics, but vinyl is most popular, as it stretches well and gives an effective and long lasting insulation...
rather creatively" in her photos and art. According to Fiquito, she's his Calliope
Calliope
In Greek mythology, Calliope was the muse of epic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Odyssey and the Iliad....
. Puerto Rican poet Ana María Fuster has assumed the role of Erato
Erato
In Greek mythology, Erato is one of the Greek Muses. The name would mean "desired" or "lovely", if derived from the same root as Eros, as Apollonius of Rhodes playfully suggested in the invocation to Erato that begins Book III of his Argonautica....
, while Puerto Rican choreographer Lolita Villanúa is his Terpsichore
Terpsichore
In Greek mythology, Terpsichore "delight of dancing" was one of the nine Muses, ruling over dance and the dramatic chorus. She lends her name to the word "terpsichorean" which means "of or relating to dance". She is usually depicted sitting down, holding a lyre, accompanying the dancers' choirs...
. Nicole, a Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an follower of his column is his Euterpe
Euterpe
In Greek mythology, Euterpe + τέρπειν terpein ) was one of the Muses, the daughters of Mnemosyne, fathered by Zeus. Called the "Giver of delight", when later poets assigned roles to each of the Muses, she was the muse of music. In late Classical times she was named muse of lyric poetry and...
. Ingrid Rodríguez, responsible for naming Fiquito's column, assumes the role of Urania
Urania
Urania was, in Greek mythology, the muse of astronomy. Some accounts list her as the mother of the musician Linus. She is usually depicted with a globe in her left hand. She is able to foretell the future by the arrangement of the stars...
.
Fiquito's musical influences
Besides being a hardcore fan of Calle 13Calle 13 (band)
Calle 13 is a band formed by stepbrothers René Pérez Joglar , who calls himself Residente and Eduardo José Cabra Martínez , who calls himself Visitante Calle 13 is a band formed by stepbrothers René Pérez Joglar (born February 23, 1978 in Hato Rey, a subsection of San Juan, Puerto Rico), who calls...
, Fiquito is also a fan of Tego Calderón
Tego Calderón
Tegui Calderón Rosario is a Puerto Rican rapper and actor.-Early life:Calderón was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, the son of Pilar Rosario Parrilla, a schoolteacher, and Esteban Calderón Ilarraza, a government worker for Puerto Rico's Department of Health. Moving at a young age from his native...
, Simian Mobile Disco
Simian Mobile Disco
Simian Mobile Disco are a United Kingdom-based production and remix team formed in 2005 by James Ford and Jas Shaw of the band Simian. Musically, they are known for their analogue production...
and Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
.
Political philosophy
Fiquito is an extreme supporter of Puerto Rican independence, but at the same time, he claims to hold a pragmatic, Puerto Rican-centric view on how the movement, perceived as having a waning popularity in current times, should regain mass appeal to Puerto Ricans. At the same time, he rejects what he perceives as the orthodoxyOrthodoxy
The word orthodox, from Greek orthos + doxa , is generally used to mean the adherence to accepted norms, more specifically to creeds, especially in religion...
of the traditional pro-independence movements, particularly the Puerto Rican Independence Party
Puerto Rican Independence Party
The Puerto Rican Independence Party is a Puerto Rican political party that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from United States suzerainty....
, whose leadership he abhors. He reserves his strongest words for the political leadership of the NPP (a constant target), although he can be equally harsh to political leaders of all the other Puerto Rican parties.
Fiquito also considers himself a "recovering Roman Catholic" (he spent a year playing guitar on Sunday masses) and an acknowledged product of colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
in Puerto Rico, adopting local and foreign cultural references equally. He is somewhat abashed of both circumstances.
Criticism
Some Claridad readers have criticized the character's irreverence and sarcasmSarcasm
Sarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.” Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs...
. A very vocal opponent of Fiquito is Yeyo Rodríguez, another Mayagüez native, a pro-independence icon in Puerto Rico (and a contemporary of Juan Mari Brás
Juan Mari Brás
Juan Mari Brás was an advocate for Puerto Rican independence from the United States who founded the Puerto Rican Socialist Party...
) who wrote a criticism of the character in Claridad once.
Recent history
Yet another reorganization at Claridad left Yunqué off the weekly. He has since turned to BloggerBlogger (service)
Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. It was created by Pyra Labs, which was bought by Google in 2003. Generally, the blogs are hosted by Google at a subdomain of blogspot.com. Up until May 1, 2010 Blogger allowed users to publish...
to publish his column, at roughly weekly intervals. Future plans for the column have been hinted but not revealed; they will most likely include podcasts of his columns, as well as a book.
External links
- Me Mudo a la Esquizofrenia, Fiquito's blog.
- Neurolepsia, personal page for Alexandra The Goth
- Fiquito Yunqué's philosophy (in Spanish)