Freedom For Puerto Rican Political

[kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu]

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at locust.etext.org>
Subject: Freedom For Puerto Rican Political Prisoners And POWs

Message From Puerto Rican Pow Oscar Lopez

Message From Oscar Lopez Rivera For The Activities Of April 4,
1997

     This fast is being carried out, in the first place, to
remember and to remind our people that nine (9) Puerto Rican
political prisoners have now served 17 years in prison for waging
a struggle against colonialism, in consonance with international
law which recognizes the right of all colonized peoples to obtain
their freedom and exercise their self-determination using all
means at their disposal. Conscious that colonialism is a crime
and institutionalized injustice (condemned and repudiated by the
entire world), and that even ultra-conservative U.S. politicians,
including ex-president George Bush, have recognized that the
Puerto Rican people have not exercised their right of
self-determination, we demand that the Puerto Rican political
prisoners be released.
     In the second place, the fast is being carried out to demand
that the Puerto Rican political prisoners be permitted to
participate in any democratic process established to resolve the
issue of the status of Puerto Rico. U.S. politicians have
expressed their commitment to establish such a process. if it is
to be a truly democratic process, then there is not reason to
deny the political prisoners the participation they seek. The
solution is an exquisitely simple one. It is suggested that
president Clinton, who holds the power to do so, grant freedom to
the Puerto Rican political prisoners, and thus they will be able
to integrate themselves into the decolonization process.
     In the third place, the fast is being carried out to
strengthen the fundamental connection between the political
prisoners and the rest of our people - in the diaspora or in
Puerto Rico. Through the fast we are democratizing the sacrifice
and living our ideals together.
     We don't claim to point an accusatory finger at anyone, but
we are compelled to point out that there has been practiced, and
there continues to be practiced, persecution, criminalization and
the terror of colonialism against people who have affirmed and
who affirm the truth about the political status of Puerto Ricans.
Day after day, in flesh and blood, the political prisoners live
this persecution, criminalization and terror. Thus, their release
from prison becomes more urgent, necessary and significant. It is
incumbent on all of us who love and defend the ideal of justice,
freedom and democracy to work and sacrifice to accomplish this
goal.

We Demand The Freedom Of The Political Prisoners And Their
Participation In Any Process Established To Resolve The Status
Question.

Mensaje De Oscar Lopez Rivera Para Las Actividades Del 4 De
Abril, 1997

     Este ayuno se esta llevando a cabo, en primer lugar, para
recordar y recordarle a nuestro pueblo que nueve (9) presos(as)
politicos(as) boricuas ya han cumplido 17 anos de encarcelacion
por luchar contra el colonialismo en consonancia con la ley
internacional que reconoce el derecho que todo pueblo colonizado
tiene a obtener su libertad y ejercitar su libre determinacion
usando todos los medios a su alcance. Conscientes que el
colonialismo es un crimen e injusticia institucionalizado
(condenado y repudiado por el mundo entero), y que hasta
politicos ultra-conservadores estadounidenses, incluyendo al
ex-presidente George Bush, han reconocido que los(as)
puertorriquenos(as) no han ejercitado su derecho a la libre
determinacion, exigimos que los(as) presos(as) politicos(as)
boricuas sean ex-carcelados(as).
     En segundo lugar, se esta llevando a cabo para exigir que a
los(as) presos(as) politicos(as) boricuas se les permita
participar de todo proceso democratico establecido para resolver
el asunto del status de Puerto Rico. Politicos estadounidenses
han expresado su compromiso para establecer tal proceso. Si es un
proceso verdaderamente democratico entonces no hay razon para
negarle a los(as) presos(as) politicos la participacion que
buscan. La solucion es una exquisitamente sencilla. Se sugiere
que el presidente Clinton, quien tiene todo el poder para
hacerlo, ponga en libertad a los(as) presos(as) politicos(as)
boricuas, y asi podran integrarse al proceso de descolonizacion.
     En tercer lugar, se esta llevando a cabo para fortalecer los
vinculos fundamentales entre los(as) presos(as) politicos(as) y
el resto de nuestro pueblo - en la diaspora o en Puerto Rico. A
traves del auyno estamos democratizando el sacrificio y viviendo
ideales juntos(as).
     No pretendemos apuntar un dedo acusador hacia nadie, pero se
nos hace imperativo senalar que contra las personas que han
afirmado y afirman la verdad sobre el status politico de los
puertorriquenos se ha practicado y se continua practicando la
persecusion, criminalizacion y el terror del colonialismo. Dia
tras dia, en carne y hueso, los(as) presos(as) politicos(as)
viven esa persecusion, criminalizacion y terror. Por tanto, su
ex-carcelacion se hace mas urgente, necesaria y significativa.
Nos incumbe a todos(as) los(as) que amamos y defendemos el ideal
de la justicia, libertad y democracia trabajar y sacrificar para
lograr esta meta.

Exigimos Libertad Para Los(as) Presos(as) Politicos(as) Y Su
Participacion En Todo Proceso Que Se Establezca Para Resolver El
Asunto Del Status.

-----

Puerto Rican Political Prisoners: It's Time To Bring Them Home!

By Annette Fuentes

     Who would have guessed that more than a decade after their
imprisonment, the freedom of the independentistas would become a
cause celebre in the mainstream Puerto Rican community?
     Ignored until recently by all but a small, committed group
of supporters, 15 Puerto Rican political prisoners still locked
away in jails across the United States are a living reminder of
U.S. colonialism on the Caribbean island. Today, the struggle to
obtain their freedom has mushroomed into a broad-based human
rights campaign stretching from Puerto Rico to the mainland
United States.
     The arrest of the 10 men and five women by U.S. federal
agents between 1980 and 1985 marked a major offensive against the
Puerto Rican independence movement. Puerto Rican independentistas
and two militant underground organizations, Los Macheteros (The
Machete Wielders) and the Armed Front [it's Forces not Front -
ATS] of National Liberation (FALN), were active in both the
mainland United States and Puerto Rico during the 1970s and early
1980s. These movements took their cue from previous generations
of Puerto Rican nationalists who believed in armed resistance to
U.S. colonialism.
     At the time of their arrests, most of the 15
independentistas were living and working in the Chicago area as
educators, community organizers and university students. Edwin
Cortes was a student activist at the University of Illinois, and
Ricardo Jimenez attended the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Dylcia Pagan was a TV producer and writer at NBC, ABC and PBS.
Oscar Lopez Rivera, considered the leader of the group by
government prosecutors, helped found the Puerto Rican Cultural
Center in Chicago. Elizam Escobar was a public-school teacher in
New York City and also taught at the Museo del Barrio. The others
arrested include: Adolfo Matos, Antonio Camacho Negron, sisters
Alicia and Ida Luz Rodriguez, Luis Rosa, Alejandrina Torres, Juan
Segarra Palmer, Carlos Alberto Torres, and Carmen Valentin.
     Grand juries in Chicdgo charged each of the accused with
multiple counts of sedition and conspiracy and the possession of
illegal weapons and explosives. Prosecutors presented evidence,
including dynamite, guns and detonation timers, obtained from
apartments allegedly used as safe houses by several members of
the group. The indictments detailed conspiracies to oppose by
force the authority of the government of the United States. None
of the prisoners was ever charged, however, with an act of
violence that caused harm to a person or property.
     All 15 of the accused were tried and convicted in Chicago
courts, refusing legal representation or to acknowledge the
jurisdiction of the courts. Declaring themselves prisoners of an
anti-colonial war, they demanded a hearing before an
international tribunal. The Justice Department, headed by
then-Attorney General Edwin Meese, ignored their demands. The
courts imposed extraordinary sentences - ranging from 40 to 105
years - even though their crimes involved no physical injury to
property or human life.
     The independentistls have endured subtle forms of
deprivation - both physical and psychological - since their
arrest, says Jan Susler, a Chicago-based attorney who has
represented the Puerto Rican 15 over the past 16 years. During
their first two years in custody, two of the women were kept in
total isolation. Alejandrina Torres was kept in a notorious
maximum-security unit at the women's penitentiary in Lexington,
Kentucky, which was cited by Amnesty International for its
violations of prisoners' rights. Torres suffered physical abuse
from the prison staff, says Susler, including strip searches and
assaults during the early years of her incarceration. Today she
is in ill health. "Oscar Lopez is the only prisoner", says
Susler, "who continues to live in horrible conditions." After
being transferred from the federal prison in Marion, Illinois,
Lopez is now serving out his 55-year term at the country's newest
maximum-security prison for men in Florence, Colorado. In this
prison, says Susler, solitary confinement and a prohibition on
interaction among inmates is the rule. The remaining prisoners
are scattered among the nation's federal penitentiaries,
including Leavenworth, Kansas; Lewisburg, Pennsylvania; and
Danbury, Connecticut.
     The length of the sentences imposed on the Puerto Rican
nationalists has become a key point for those pressing for their
release. A pardon application filed by Susler in 1993 included
the results of a study comparing their sentences with those of
individuals convicted of similar crimes. The study found that the
average sentence of 842 months for the Puerto Rican political
prisoners was three times higher than the highest sentence meted
out in 1980 - 262 months for kidnapping. Weapons and firearms
violations earned average sentences of just 49 months. Compared
to all violent criminals sentenced in 1981, the sentences imposed
on the Puerto Rican nationalists were seven times higher. "When
you see the sentences given to them", says Nilda Pimentel,
director of the Campaign to Free the Political Prisoners, "there
is no other way to explain it. They were made an example of in
order to discourage others from engaging in anti-colonial work."
     Until recently, only a few left-leaning Puerto Rican
organizations kept alive the cause of freeing the imprisoned
activists. Mainstream Puerto Rican organizations carefully
avoided the issue. Even if most Puerto Ricans harbored strong
nationalist feelings and many shared the dream of an independent
nation, they steered clear of the radicalism associated with the
political prisoners. This was especially the case during the
repressive Reagan years. The FALN's call for armed struggle did
not, in short, resonate widely in Puerto Rico or among Puerto
Ricans on the mainland.
     Who would have guessed that more than a decade later, the
freedom of the independentistas would become a cause celebre in
the mainstream Puerto Rican community? Through a vigorous media
campaign and extensive grassrolts organizing, supporters both in
Puerto Rico and the mainland have catapulted the political
prisoners' plight from relative obscurity into the public eye.
For the first time since the 15 were imprisoned, there is real
hope that a presidential pardon may set them free.
     The Campaign to Free the Political Prisoners is being
organized on the mainland by Boriqua First!, a Washington,
D.C.-based organization formed in 1994 to advance political,
economic and social justice for Puerto Ricans. Earlier this year,
Boriqua First! brought the campaign to the White House. On March
29 - National Puerto Rican Affirmation Day - 3,000 Puerto Ricans
flocked to the capital demanding freedom for the prisoners. A
contingent of Boriqua First! leaders met with White House counsel
Jack Quinn, who promised to prepare a briefing memo for Clinton.
In April, the Campaign delivered 11,000 postcards to the White
House calling on Clinton to grant a pardon.
     After twelve years of Republican rule in Washington, a
Democratic administration offers a "window of opportunity" to get
the prisoners released, says Luis Nieves Falcon, coordinator of
Ofensiva '92, a group based in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. Along
with other activist groups on the island, Ofensiva '92 has
crafted a sophisticated and successful campaign on behalf of the
political prisoners that has won the hearts and minds of Puerto
Ricans who, whether they are statehooders, independentistas or
pro-commonwealth, all share a strong nationalism. Making the
quantum leap from a marginal cause to a broad-based campaign
supported by Puerto Ricans across the entire political spectrum,
says Falcon, has been a matter of timing and presentation.
Falcon, a sociologist, has devoted most of the last 15 years to
supporting the jailed activists. A retired professor, he earned a
law degree that has enabled him to visit the prisoners regularly
and advocate on their behalf.
     "We decided to expand our movement to include all
organizations, some less radical", says Falcon. "Our main thrust
was to stress the humanitarian nature of the campaign. Whether
you agree politically with the prisoners or not, you could
support their cause because their rights were so flagrantly
abused." For many Puerto Ricans, says Jan Susler, even those who
believe the activists were involved in acts of terrorism, the 15
independentistas have become a national symbol.
     In April, Ofensiva '92 launched a media blitz on radio and
TV with the slogan, "Ya es tiempo de traerles a casa" - "It's
time to bring them home." Puerto Rican artists and celebrities,
including soap-opera star Cordelia Gonzalez and salsa-maestro
Willie Colon, lent their names and voices to the effort. So did
musicians Andy Montanez and Jacobo Morales. A short advertisement
with celebrities calling for a pardon is now playing in movie
houses throughout the island.
     Warming people up for the media campaign was a door-to-door
petition drive demanding the release of the prisoners, that was
carried out by volunteers in communities throughout the island.
In Las Marias, a conservative enclave in northern Puerto Rico,
everyone, including the mayor, signed the petition. In La Perla,
a notorious ghetto outside of San Juan, the response was equally
enthusiastic. Puerto Rico's Catholic bishops and cardinal, as
well as the Episcopal church, have also become active supporters
of the pardon effort.
     The pardon application filed by Susler is still pending at
the Justice Department. Meanwhile, Democratic members of Congress
Nydia Velazquez (New York), Luis Gutierrez (Illinois) and Jose
Serrano (New York) are lobbying on Capitol Hill for a pardon.
Last February, former President Jimmy Carter offered to assist
the Campaign's efforts to negotiate a pardon. Even John Cardinal
O'Connor, Archibishop of New York City, has joined the movement.
In a March 12 letter to Attorney General Janet Reno, he asked
that she review all 15 cases of the Puerto Rican prisoners on
"humanitarian grounds."
     Although the Clinton administration has not yet signalled
its position on the issue, the Campaign organizers remain
optimistic. It was, after all, Jimmy Carter - another southern
Democrat - who in 1979 pardoned four Puerto Rican nationalists
who had opened fire on a session of the U.S. Congress in 1954.
"Mandela and Arafat have been welcomed in the White House", says
Nilda Pimentel, director of the Boriqua First! campaign. "It is
now time for our political prisoners to be freed."

[Annette Fuentes is a freelance journalist and a member of
NACLA's editorial board.]

(Source: NACLA Report On The Americas - November/December 1996 -
E-mail: naclainfo at igc.apc.org)

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Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist information
collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide 
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