When a Puerto Rican hears the words “El Jibarito” (“The Little Peasant”), two iconic figures from our cultural life typically come to mind. For most, the first figure that comes to mind is Rafael Hernández Marín, a musician born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico (1892-1965), a prolific composer of hundreds of musical gems including “Preciosa,” “Campanitas de Cristal,” and the one that earned him the nickname “El Jibarito,” “Lamento Borincano.” The other figure that comes to mind is Odilio González, the eternal “Jibarito de Lares,” who was a sensation in the 1950s as a young troubadour in Puerto Rico and the United States, with hundreds of recordings throughout his career, and who, even in 2026, continues to delight us with his art.

What many do not know or remember is that Ponce also had its own “Jibarito” in the 1950s and 1960s. His name is Maximino Rivera Cosme, known as “Minito, El Jibarito de Ponce”. Minito was born in the Cuatro Calles neighborhood of Ponce on April 13, 1946, to parents Carlos Rivera De Jesús and Isabel Cosme Guzmán. Even though there were no musicians or singers in his family, he began singing at the age of eight (8) and, encouraged by his parents, started participating and standing out in fairs, radio programs, and amateur contests. In late 1957, at the age of eleven (11), he participated in the amateur radio program “Tribuna del Arte” by Don Rafael Quiñones Vidal, winning first place with a prize of $18. On that program was Juan Morales Ramos “Moralito,” brother of Florencio Morales Ramos “Ramito,” who besides been a singer, was a talent scout and had connections with the record company “Ansonia” in Puerto Rico. Impressed by Minito’s talent, he quickly made arrangements to record four (4) songs with Ralph Pérez’s Ansonia label. For these recordings, that took place at Ochoa Recording Studios in Santurce, Puerto Rico, he was accompanied by the “Conjunto Los Cialeños” (Francisco “Panchón” Ortiz Piñeiro, Apolo “Polo” Ocasio Martínez, Pedro “Piquito” Marcano, Arturito Avilés). On January 23, 1958, less than two months after his participation in Tribuna del Arte and although the holiday season had ended, “Moralito,” along with producer Victor Alonso, took him to New York, to the Puerto Rico Theater, to be part of performances that included singer Miguelito Poventud and the “Trío Los Panchos”. Between 1958 and 1959, “El Jibarito de Ponce” had multiple performances in Puerto Rico, New York, and New Jersey, sharing stage with artists of the caliber of Ramito, La Calandria, Odilio González, Chuíto el de Bayamón, Fernando Casanova, José Miguel Class “El Gallito de Manatí,” and Toñito Ferrer, among others. Additionally, he recorded six (6) songs in New York under Victor Alonso’s Embassy label, accompanied by Nieves Quintero, Claudio Ferrer, and Pedro “Papi” Andino. Meanwhile, in Puerto Rico, he continued performing at fairs, on radio programs such as Toñín Romero’s, and even on television, like the show “Corte Suprema del Arte” by Myrta Sylva on WAPA-TV, winning first prize accompanied by Felipe Rodríguez’s Trio.

In the 1960s, he focused more on popular music, becoming part of various musical groups as a singer and as a musician on cuatro, guitar, and piano. In 1965, he married Ramonita Rodríguez De Jesús, and they had three children: Maximino (musician), Rosa Isabel, and Jerry. He currently has nine (9) grandchildren and ten (10) great-grandchildren, and lives in Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico.

-Ramon Cintron