There is much discussion about political prisoners in Latin American countries, specifically U.S. enemy Cuba, but there is little discussion of men and women incarcerated United States federal prisons who consider themselves political prisoners. One such case is the case of Puerto Rican Oscar Lopez Rivera. Yesterday marked 27 years since his capture on charges including seditious conspiracy and is accused of being a member of the FALN, or the Armed Forces of National Liberation in English, an organization dedicated to the liberation of Puerto Rico, an organization deemed a terrorist group by the United States.Oscar López-Rivera was born in San Sebastian, Puerto Rico on January 6, 1943. At the age of 12, he moved to Chicago with his family. He was a well-respected community activist and a prominent independence leader for many years prior to his arrest. Oscar was one of the founders of the Rafael Cancel Miranda High School, now known as the Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School and the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center. He was a community organizer for the Northwest Community Organization (NCO), ASSPA, ASPIRA and the 1st Congregational Church of Chicago. He helped to found FREE, (a half-way house for convicted drug addicts) and ALAS (an educational program for Latino prisoners at Stateville Prison in Illinois).Lopez- Rivera has a connection to the Clintons, as he was offered some form of leniency by the Clinton Administration in the fall of 1999. He declined the offer.
He was active in various community struggles, mainly in the area of health care, employment and police brutality. He also participated in the development of the Committee to Free the Five Puerto Rican Nationalists. In 1975, he was forced underground, along with other comrades.
His sister, Zenaida Lopez, said he turned the offer down because he would be on parole. 'Accepting what they are offering him is like prison outside of prison,' she said. Zenaida Lopez said her brother 'was in total agreement' with the decision of the 11 others to take the conditional clemency.Part of the clemency agreement included no contact with other members of the Puerto Rican liberation struggle. He is currently serving a 55-year sentence.
Someone and something to think about as both Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, travel in Puerto Rico this weekend asking for primary votes from people who have no right to vote in the actual presidential election in November.
Source : Prison Activist Resource Center
4 comments:
Yesterday marked 27 years since his capture on charges including seditious conspiracy and is accused of being a member of the FALN, or the Armed Forces of National Liberation in English, an organization dedicated to the liberation of Puerto Rico, an organization deemed a terrorist group by the United States.
If that isn't sugar coating the issue, I don't know what is. Why don't you show the whole picture?
Between June, 1975 and November, 1979, the FALN claimed credit for nineteen bombing and six incendiary attacks in the Chicago area. These included bomb targets such as the woman’s washroom in a hotel restaurant, (9/76), the bombing of the city-county building, (6/77), and Sears Tower (10/75). These bombings, credit for which was claimed by written communiqué or telephone calls, were frequently coordinated with bombings in New York, and eventually with actions on the island of Puerto Rico. The communiqués stated such things as “ a free and socialist Puerto Rico, if necessary, will be written in red blood” and “attempts to suppress it’s offensive would be met with “revolutionary violence”
While initially law enforcement was unable to identify the FALN, in late 1976 a “bomb factory” was discovered in Chicago. This led to identification of Carlos Torres and Oscar Lopez as persons who controlled an apartment in which explosives tied to FALN bombings and FALN communiqués were found.
"Liberation" or "terrorism"? "Common criminal" or "freedom fighter"? It all depends on where you stand. They may think federal law does not apply to them.
But it does.
And these are the consequences.
People who want to know the details will look them up and find them. As to what Oscar and the others did or not, also should be looked at through the lens of Cointelpro FBI campaigns which were known for planting evidence, among other things.
I am not a non-violence advocate. I can understand, without advocating, the use of violence by colonized peoples. This goes for Puerto Rico as much as it goes for Palestinians. What concerns me, if how "bomb factories" run by people fighting for liberation are terrorists, while U.S. companies building bombs to be dropped on civilians in other countries is acceptable foreign policy.
Some think that international law doesn't apply to them. But it does.
WHEN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OPPOSES YOUR RIGHT TO BE FREE!!
Puerto Ricans, who desire to be free, must always know that the federal government, here in the states has no “subject matter jurisdiction” over the person, case or location and should be challenged to proof it.
All jury members, judges, attorneys, and employees working in federal court, must reside in federal territory to be a federal juror or touch your case or they can be commercially sued, disbarred and financially ruined for violating your constitutional rights etc.
Your god given right to be free is not wanted by the USA, it will oppose your desire for independence and freedom.
The USA has been the biggest alien invaders the world has ever known. In order to win your freedom you must oppose them by knowing that their weakness lies in the constitution and the common law and common law remedies.
To win --You must always reserve your constitutional, commercial rights and know what they are.
The majority of Anglos have no idea that the USA has killed more Latins, than Hitler Killed Jews, The USA has supported traitors, Gringitos, Butchers, Sociopaths, and Megalomaniacs who were supported and kept in power by sucking up to the Anglo Alien Invaders.
Latin America has had enough of this form of genocide of Latinos.
I want to vomit every time some ignorant fools says: “If you don’t like it here –go home”.
If the Alien Invaders would get out of each and every Latin Country and stop interfering in our affairs—it would make sense to say such a stupid thing. But unless the Snakes get out of Latin America-we have just as much right to be here!!!
A Puerto Rican without a desire for independence has no soul of a man.
The fact that the public does not know that we are NOT free, makes no difference, to the desire to be free. The PR that wants statehood is a Gringito, who has no soul of a man left in his traitor's heart. Freedom is happening all over the world and yet we allow Gringitos to kill our right to be free.
We allow the Alien Invaders to kill, harm, abuse and scam us and yet the Gringito wants to give our Country away.
This abuse must end. No man or woman is a real Man or real woman who is too scared to fight for their souls and be free.
The fight will NOT succeed if you don't fight the enemy at home first. He is there next door and claims he is a real man and tries to give you many excuses of why PR can't be a free Country.
If you listen, you will lose your soul.
The Ronbothunter,
Ex-scientologist and a proud freedom loving Puerto Rican.
All Rights Reserved
Should criminals be in charge of correcting the wrong they inflicted?
Puerto Ricans vote in elections every 4 years at an 80% level of participation. Puerto Rico has been a colony of the United States (US) government for the past 116 years. If the US government has the final say in what happens in Puerto Rico, what is the purpose of these elections? The purpose is to fool the world that Puerto Rico is a democracy.
The United Nations (UN) declared colonialism a crime against humanity in 1960. The UN has asked the US government 33 times to decolonize Puerto Rico immediately. The US government has refused. It says that Puerto Rico’s political relationship with the United States is none of the UN’s business. The US says that it is a domestic affair.
To appear that the US government wants to decolonize Puerto Rico, it promotes the use of plebiscites to determine what Puerto Ricans want. Doesn’t that sounds innocent and democratic? So what’s the problem?
To begin with, the international community already rendered its verdict and determined that colonialism is illegal. So to have a political status option in a plebiscite that favors maintaining Puerto Rico a colony of the United States is not permitted. To have a political status option of Puerto Rico becoming a state of the United States is also not permitted under international law. The problem goes back to the beginning of this article. In order to have free elections, the country must be free. So before these elections and plebiscite could be valid, Puerto Rico would have to first be an independent nation.
What people must realize is that Puerto Rico is a colony of the US because the US government wants it that way. That is why it has used terrorism to keep it that way. That is why it refuses to release the Puerto Rican political prisoner of 33 years Oscar López Rivera. That is also why it is ridiculous to believe that decolonization is a US internal matter in which the UN has no jurisdiction over. If we allow the US government to decolonize Puerto Rico, she will remain a colony of the United States forever!
José M López Sierra
www.TodosUnidosDescolonizarPR.blogspot.com
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