A Show of Force

Last updated
A Show of Force
A Show of Force VideoCover.jpeg
DVD cover of the film
Directed by Bruno Barreto
Screenplay by Evan Jones
John Strong
Based onMurder Under Two Flags
by Anne Nelson
Produced byJohn Strong
Starring
Edited byHenry Richardson
Music by Georges Delerue
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • May 11, 1990 (1990-05-11)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$12 million [1]
Box office$152,982 (USA)

A Show of Force is a 1990 American thriller drama film directed by Bruno Barreto. The film is based on events and theories surrounding the Maravilla Hill case in Puerto Rico adapted from Anne Nelson's book, Murder Under Two Flags.

Contents

Plot

In 1978, Kate Melendez (Amy Irving) is a television news reporter who investigates the mysterious deaths of two radical Puerto Rican activists. The government claims they were terrorists while others claim the two were merely student activists. [2] Despite threats to her own life, Melendez investigates the deaths, gradually leading her to conclude that undercover American agents were responsible for framing the activists as terrorists, and then murdering them. [3]

Cast

ActorRole
Amy Irving Kate Melendez
Andy García Luis Angel Mora
Lou Diamond Phillips Jesus Fuentes
Robert Duvall Howard
Kevin Spacey Frank Curtin
Erik Estrada Machado
Jorge CastilloNestor Chavez
Lupe Ontiveros Pepita

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boricua Popular Army</span> Puerto Rican nationalist organization

The Ejército Popular Boricua, also known as Los Macheteros, is a clandestine militant and insurgent organization based in Puerto Rico, with cells in the broader US and other nations. It campaigns for, and supports, the independence of Puerto Rico from the United States.

The Cerro Maravilla murders, also known as the Cerro Maravilla massacre, occurred on July 25, 1978, at Cerro Maravilla, a mountain in Ponce, Puerto Rico, wherein two young Puerto Rican pro-independence activists, Carlos Enrique Soto-Arriví (1959–1978) and Arnaldo Darío Rosado-Torres (1953–1978), were murdered in a Puerto Rico Police ambush. The event sparked a series of political controversies where, in the end, the police officers were found guilty of murder and several high-ranking local government officials were accused of planning and/or covering up the incident.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canóvanas, Puerto Rico</span> Town and municipality in Puerto Rico

Canóvanas is a town and municipality in Puerto Rico, located in the northeastern region, north of Juncos and Las Piedras; south of Loíza; east of Carolina; and west of Río Grande. Canóvanas is spread over 6 barrios and Canóvanas Pueblo. It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cidra, Puerto Rico</span> Town and municipality in Puerto Rico

Cidra is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the central region of the island, north of Cayey; south of Comerío and Aguas Buenas; east of Aibonito and Barranquitas; and west of Caguas. Cidra is spread over 12 barrios and Cidra Pueblo. It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ponce massacre</span> 1937 police shooting in Puerto Rico

The Ponce massacre was an event that took place on Palm Sunday, March 21, 1937, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, when a peaceful civilian march turned into a police shooting in which 17 civilians and two policemen were killed, and more than 200 civilians wounded. None of the civilians were armed and most of the dead were reportedly shot in their backs. The march had been organized by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party to commemorate the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico by the governing Spanish National Assembly in 1873, and to protest the U.S. government's imprisonment of the Party's leader, Pedro Albizu Campos, on sedition charges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lornna Soto</span> Puerto Rican politician

Lornna J. Soto Villanueva is a Puerto Rican politician affiliated with the New Progressive Party (PNP). She is the current mayor of Canóvanas, succeeding her father, José "Chemo" Soto in 2014. Before being mayor, Soto was elected Senator for the district of Carolina in the 2004 general election along with Senator Héctor Martínez Maldonado. She served as Senator until 2013.

José Ramón "Chemo" Soto Rivera was a Puerto Rican politician who was the mayor of Canóvanas from 1993 to 2014, Puerto Rico and a member of the New Progressive Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">María Meléndez</span> Puerto Rican politician

María Eloisa Meléndez Altieri also known as Mayita, is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the mayor of the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, from 2009 to 2021. Meléndez Altieri was elected during the Puerto Rican general elections of 2008, becoming the first woman elected to the office in Ponce's political history. She was also the first mayor of a party other than the Popular Democratic Party in Ponce since 1989, when Rafael Cordero Santiago became mayor. This is Mayita's second candidacy in politics on the island and her first electoral win. In the Puerto Rico's 2004 general election, Mayita presented her candidacy for a senatorial seat representing Puerto Rico's 5th district, but lost in her bid for the position. Meléndez Altieri lost her bid for reelection in the 2020 general elections to Luis Irizarry Pabon from the Popular Democratic Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Seilhamer Rodríguez</span> Puerto Rican politician

Lawrence N. "Larry" Seilhamer Rodríguez is a Puerto Rican politician who was the Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. He is affiliated with the pro-statehood New Progressive Party (PNP), and was a member of the Senate of Puerto Rico from January 7, 2009 until January 15, 2020. Seilhamer is also a former basketball player for the Baloncesto Superior Nacional from 1972 to 1984. On December 2, 2020, he was nominated as Puerto Rico Secretary of State by Governor-elect Pedro R. Pierluisi.

Parque Familiar Julio Enrique Monagas is Puerto Rico's largest passive park. It is located in barrio Bucaná, Ponce, Puerto Rico, on the banks of the Bucaná and Portugués rivers. The park was named after Julio Enrique Monagas, "the father of Puerto Rican Olympic sports". In November 2017, the park was severely damaged by Hurricane Maria and, as of today, remains closed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palma Sola (Puerto Rico)</span> Small neighborhood in Canóvanas, Puerto Rico

Palma Sola is a small neighborhood located on Puerto Rico Highway 957, a branch of Puerto Rico Highway 185, in Canóvanas, Puerto Rico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT in Puerto Rico</span> Overview of LGBT in Puerto Rico

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Puerto Rico have gained some legal rights in recent years. Same sex relationships have been legal in Puerto Rico since 2003, and same-sex marriage and adoptions are also permitted. U.S. federal hate crime laws apply in Puerto Rico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parque Ecológico Urbano</span> Park in Ponce, Puerto Rico

The Parque Ecológico Urbano, also known as Parque Ecológico de Ponce, is a passive park in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The park was designed by Bonin Orozco Arquitectos and was inaugurated on 19 September 2012. The park is unique in that it was designed to create a "green lung" in the city by using ecological mindset in its entirety, from the construction materials used to the design and other areas as well. Except for one tree that got relocated within the project, the new park made use of all the existing trees and shrubs as they existed on the site prior to the development of the park.

María Milagros Charbonier Laureano is a Puerto Rican lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives from 2013 to 2020. She was elected to the Puerto Rico House of Representatives on the 2012 general election. She also served as Secretary General of the New Progressive Party (PNP). She is known for her controversial views against the LGBT community. She was arrested by the FBI in August 2020, and faces 13 charges of corruption for numerous crimes, which include theft and money laundering, perpetrated specifically through a kickback scheme.

Lorenzo Ahmed González Cacho was an eight-year-old Puerto Rican boy who was murdered on March 9, 2010 in his home in Dorado, Puerto Rico. At the time of his death, his mother, Ana Cacho González, and two sisters were at the house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anarchism in Puerto Rico</span> Social movement of political left within the working classes of Puerto Rico

Anarchism as a social movement is one of the manifestations of the political left within the working classes of Puerto Rico, having its peak during the late 19th and early 20th century. Anarchism was predominantly present within, but not exclusive to, the working classes that emerged as the sociopolitical environment changed. The municipalities of Caguas and Bayamón were the epicenters of the movement. It was also recorded in other industrial centers, such as Ponce, San Juan, Arecibo, Cayey, Cidra, Juncos, Vega Baja, Utuado, Lares, Yauco and Mayagüez. Despite sharing some core values, Puerto Rican anarchism was heterogeneous in nature. In general, Puerto Rican anarchism was distinctly anti-organized religion, in particular against the Catholic Church that had retained considerable influence since the beginning of Spanish colonialism. Following the Treaty of Paris, it also grew to oppose American sovereignty, as it perceived that the island was being forced into servitude with an Americanization initiative, leading to distinct antiauthoritarian stances against both foreign and local politicians, the wealthy higher classes and American labor unions. However, on principle the anarchists opposed joining the independence movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lomas, Canóvanas, Puerto Rico</span> Barrio of Puerto Rico

Lomas is a barrio in the municipality of Canóvanas, Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 5,336.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hato Puerco, Canóvanas, Puerto Rico</span> Barrio of Puerto Rico

Hato Puerco is a barrio in the municipality of Canóvanas, Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 7,379.

References

  1. "AFI|Catalog".
  2. Berumen, Frank Javier Garcia (2016). Latino Image Makers in Hollywood: Performers, Filmmakers and Films Since the 1960s . McFarland. p.  207. ISBN   978-1-4766-1411-3 . Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  3. Rivera Sánchez, Maricarmen. "El parque de Canóvanas se llamará ahora Parque de Lomas [Park in Canóvanas to be renamed Parque de Lomas]". El Vocero de Puerto Rico (in Spanish).