Condolences

 

The Boards and personnel of Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School, the Puerto Rican Cultural Center and the National Boricua Human Rights Network extend our sincerest condolences to compa�era Veronica Crespo-Rich on loss of her mother, Ramona Cuevas Oquendo. Our thoughts are with you and your family during these difficult times.

 

From Puerto Rican Cultural Center & Programs

Thanks to Alderman Maldonado's Support

PRCC Acquires Properties to Develop Paseo Boricua Arts Centre; Belmont Bank Provides Financing

In a move that will initiate the implementation of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center's new 5-year strategic plan, the organization closed on the buildings which once served as the Ashland Sausage Company on Division Street. The acquisition of those properties is a major step in trying to commercially and culturally anchor our community as it faces the onslaught of an ever encroaching gentrification process which seeks to erase our historical memory from the Greater Humboldt Park community. These properties will be transformed into the Paseo Boricua Arts Centre: A development which will include the following: 14 live-work spaces for community artists; a 99 seat theater for performance arts and dramatic productions; a retail arts gallery business; and a Wines of Latin America/ Spirits of the Caribbean Piano Lounge. The project will definitely invigorate the financial development of the community, and will provide a place where artists can realize themselves both economically and creatively. It will truly foment a sense of place for our cultural workers.

 

Thanks to the support of 26th Ward Ald. Roberto Maldonado and to the financing by Belmont Bank, our community will be able to organically develop itself and continue to insure that ours will be an economically diverse, culturally vibrant community with a very strong Puerto Rican/Latino flavor and focus.

 

Division Street Business Development Association, and its Executive Director Eduardo Arocho will manage the initiative.

13th Annual Haunted Paseo Boricua

Featuring Carnival Circus Extravaganza &

Healthy Treats for Children of All Ages

 

Chicago, IL - October 1, 2014- hosts the 13th Annual Haunted Paseo Boricua on Friday, October 31st in the Humboldt Park neighborhood along Division Street from Western to California, between the giant Paseo Boricua Gateway Flag monuments. The festivities begin at 4:00pm and go until 7:30pm. Admission is free and open to the public. We provide a safe space for hundreds of families to enjoy the Halloween festivities, trick or treating and have plenty of fun. 

This year's festival includes over dozen of "halloweenesque" stations inspired by the carnival circus theme infused with a bit of Puerto Rican culture such as: a Haunted Casita, Scary Graveyard, Spooky Dancing & Thriller Stations, Healthy Treats Station, and the infamous and devilish Puerto Rican VEJIGANTE Station. 

 

This is the second year that Haunted Paseo launches the initiative " Healthy Treats for Healthier Kids" a campaign to inform children and their families about moderation and healthier snacks choices. We encourage our businesses to offer alternatives to candy in order to help prevent diabetes and obesity among our youth and in our community.

 

This event is being co-sponsored by: Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos H.S., West Town Bikes/Ciclo Urbano (Boys & Girls Bike Club), AfriCaribe Cultural Center, The Puerto Rican Cultural Center, Batey Urbano, Roberto Clemente High School, Muevete - Diabetes Empowerment Center, VIDA SIDA, The Chicago Park District, Alderman Roberto Maldonado (26th Ward), Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation, and The Greater Humboldt Park Community of Wellness.  

 

Visit: www.paseoboricua.org

Find us on Facebook:Haunted Paseo

or Flickr: Haunted Paseo 2012

 

HEALTHY TREATS, HEALTHIER CHILDREN CAMPAIGN

 

Did you know that the average kid consumes 3 cups of sugar during Halloween?             

Last year Haunted Paseo launched an extraordinary campaign to promote healthy alternatives and moderation during and beyond the Halloween celebration. Children all ages and families were genuinely happy to receive more than candy, but also delicious treats that won't scare good health away.

 

We are encouraging donations of every kind within this category to help realize this initiative. 

 

Some examples are:

  • Fruit Gummies
  • Pretzels
  • Juice boxes
  • Mini water bottles 
  • Plain cookies (graham crackers, Teddy Grahams, vanilla wafers, etc.)
  • Baked chips, baked tortilla chips
  • Popcorn
  • Low-fat granola or cereal bars
  • Sugar-free gum
  • Small toys (be conscious of small children)
  • Stickers

 

Donations can be dropped off at DSBDA, Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School, Erie Elementary Charter School, Diabetes Empowerment Center and many others. 

 

Lets make it happen!

Welcome to Centro Infantil!

 
 

Centro Infantil would like to officially welcome a new batch of kids. They are on the 15 month old side of our Childcare with teachers Maria and Antonia. From left to right, meet Anijah, Julian, Jeremiah, Jaylen, Cataleya and Violeta. Welcome to Centro Infantil! Get ready to learn and expand your knowledge to your full potential, your friends and teachers will be your motivators and to be there when you think you can't do something get ready for the journey little ones and most of all have fun and by the time you know it you will be graduating Centro Infantil with new adventures and friends.  

Groupon of the Day 

 

Every Friday at 10am, El Rescate holds a house meeting with its residents and all of its staff. It's a time to connect, reflect, answer questions, talk about upcoming cultural events, revisit house rules and receive a weekly update from everyone. This past Friday, we had three Groupon representatives visit our program. Their objective was to answer questions regarding employment, look over our residents resumes and conduct mock interviews. A big thank you to John Kasang and his co-workers for taking the time to help sharpen our youths resume and interview skills. 



From Our Community Partners

 

 

Interview with PACHS Reading Specialist Christina Camacho 

Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School Receives Award to Buy Culturally Relevant Books to Support Outstanding Reading Program

by Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School Press Team

One of the goals of our school-wide Literacy Plan is to build a culture of literacy. We want students to love reading and to engage in authentic reading and writing experiences. We want them to see themselves in the books they read. To make that possible, we need to have books that are culturally relevant to their lives, their family, and their community. We believe if they can experience that link, it will promote life-long literacy habits.

 

Recently, we were funded for a 'Donor's Choose' award, in which we received over $1800 in books, which now our students are enjoying. We've seen an increase in student interest with the new books. In just 3 weeks, some students are reading their third or fourth book.

 

This year, the school also purchased the "Accelerated Reader" program that enables us to track students' reading comprehension of the books they read in Silent Sustained Reading. (Our school day is organized so that for 35 minutes per day, the entire school engages in Silent Sustained Reading.) Students have already taken 18 quizzes on finished books. Also, this year, the school will be making 5 after-school Book Trips to bookstores around the city, where students purchase the book of their choice. For some, this is the first book that is truly their own. These are just a few of the latest developments of a very dynamic reading program. Stay tuned!

 

INTERNET ESSENTIALS at Roberto Clemente Community Academy!

 

INTERNET ESSENTIALS
INTERNET ESSENTIALS
 

 

Library Announces Interactive Student Discovery Series for Tablets

As the new school year begins, the Library of Congress invites students everywhere to touch, draw on and explore some of its most valuable treasures-all via a new set of free interactive ebooks for tablets.
The new Library of Congress Student Discovery Sets bring together historical artifacts and one-of-a-kind documents on a wide range of topics, from history to science to literature. Interactive tools let students zoom in for close examination, draw to highlight interesting details and make notes about what they discover.
The first six Student Discovery Sets are available now for the iPad, and can be downloaded for free on iBooks. These sets cover the U.S. Constitution, Symbols of the United States, Immigration, the Dust Bowl, the Harlem Renaissance, and Understanding the Cosmos.
With a swipe of a finger, learners can peer into the workshop where the Statue of Liberty was built, scrutinize George Washington's notes on the Constitution, and zoom in on the faces of new arrivals at Ellis Island. Using the portability that tablets bring, students can hand their work to a classmate to collaborate.
The objects in the Student Discovery Sets are primary sources-items created by eyewitnesses to history. From Galileo's drawings of the moon to Zora Neale Hurston's plays to Thomas Edison's films, these maps, songs, posters, sheet music and iconic images immerse students in history, culture and science and give them the power to explore.
Primary sources have unique instructional power, says the Library's director of Educational Outreach, Lee Ann Potter. "By analyzing primary sources, students can engage with complex content, build their critical thinking skills and create new knowledge. The Library's new Student Discovery Sets provide rich tools for launching that process of analysis and discovery."
The sets are designed for students, providing easy access to open-ended exploration. A Teacher's Guide for each set, with background information, teaching ideas` and additional resources, is one click away on the Library's website for teachers, www.loc.gov/teachers/.
The Library of Congress, the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and the largest library in the world, holds more than 158 million items in various languages, disciplines and formats. The Library serves the U.S. Congress and the nation both on-site in its reading rooms on Capitol Hill and through its award-winning website at www.loc.gov.
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UrbanTheater Company premiere's 

"Julia De Burgos: Child of Water" 

by Carmen Rivera in Humboldt Park

 

UrbanTheater Company (UTC) has been making professional theater accessible to the community of Humboldt Park for the last nine years, especially plays written by Puerto Rican playwrights. This Fall, to celebrate the centennial of Julia de Burgos, UTC kicks off their 9th season with the Midwest Premiere of Carmen Rivera's Julia De Burgos: Child of Water, directed by Juan Casta�eda (UTC ensemble member). Performances will be held at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture located at the Humboldt Park Stables at 3015 W. Division St. The play runs from November 7 - December 14, 2014. Make sure to save the date. Tickets will be on sale soon. 

 

For more information visit: www.UrbanTheaterChicago.org


Campaign to Free Oscar L�pez Rivera

WRITE TO OSCAR LOPEZ, #87651-024

FCI Terre Haute,  PO Box 33

Terre Haute, IN,  47808 

In Partnership with Philly NBHRN

Taller Puertorrique�o Hosts Melissa Mark Viverito as Fundraiser for New Cultural Center Nears Goal

On Saturday, September 27, 2014, Philadephia's Taller Puertorrique�o also known as El Coraz�n Cultural del Barrio hosted NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito in a benefit for their new Cultural Center. a $12 million project. Over 100 supporters passed through the doors of El Taller to the meet and greet with Melissa, who was introduced by Dr. Carmen Febo- San Miguel, the Executive Director of the Taller. During the meet and greet, Melissa was introduced to several of Philadelphia's Latino Elected Officials, including Councilman Maria Qui�onez, Councilman at large Greenlee, State Rep. Angel Cruz, former City Councilman Angel Ortiz. Luis Sanabria, of the Philly National Boricua Human Rights Network Chapter, was the co-emcee. Philadelphia prominent personalities Rev. Luis Cort�s President of Nueva Esperanza, Rev. Roger Zepernick and artist Betsy Caza�as were also present to support the Taller.


Among the distinguished guests attending the event was Iris Camacho, Dean of Students at Interamerican Law School in Puerto Rico and Alicia Rodr�guez. ex-political prisoner. The Puerto Rican Cultural Center from Chicago was in attendance in the persons of Luis Rosa, ex-political prisoner and Alejandro Luis Molina, Secretary of the Board of Directors. The PRCC also gave a small donation towards the building the new Cultural Center campaign, which aims to raise $12,000,000.00. The Taller has already raised close to $7,000,000.00 and needs to raise $170,000.00 to qualify for the $3.9 million tax credit.

From the meeting and greet, the crowd moved down the block to attend the screening of "El Antillano", the documentary by filmmaker Tito Roman about Dr. Ram�n Emeterio Betances. The standing room only crowd listened to Melissa Mark Viverito as she exhorted the crowd to give generously to help the Taller meets its goal of building the New Cultural Center.

Lesbianas se unen a lucha excarcelaci�n de Oscar L�pez

Un grupo de lesbianas se sum� hoy a la lucha por la excarcelaci�n del preso pol�tico Oscar L�pez Rivera, al unirse a las 33 mujeres que mes tras mes se re�nen en el puente Dos Hermanos durante 33 minutos para exigir su liberaci�n.

Convocadas por el colectivo "Mujeres, 33 por Oscar. Hasta su regreso!", las 33 lesbianas entonaron consignas como "lesbianas por Oscar, en el puente hoy est�n" y "la orientaci�n sexual no es problema para Oscar", para reclamar la excarcelaci�n de L�pez Rivera, quien ayuna cada �ltimo domingo de mes en agradecimiento por la solidaridad de las manifestantes.

La portavoz de las mujeres lesbianas, Olga Orraca Paredes, ley� un pronunciamiento en el que exigieron al presidente estadounidense, Barack Obama, que otorgue el indulto al preso pol�tico. Esta es la �nica opci�n que resta para su excarcelaci�n porque, de lo contrario, seg�n su sentencia por conspiraci�n sediciosa, tendr�a que pasar unos 10 a�os m�s tras las rejas.

"De alguna manera, la comunidad l�sbica representa muchas de esas identidades que componen lo diverso, y como grupo, queremos hacernos visibles y llevar un mensaje desde la diversidad por la excarcelaci�n de Oscar L�pez Rivera", expres� la portavoz durante su mensaje.

Agreg� que "desde la diversidad, as� como es el reclamo nacional e internacional; voces distintas que dicen ya es hora de traerlo a casa, para que vea el mar, para que disfrute con su hija y familia, para que cada una de nosotras siga aprendiendo de su tes�n, claridad y fortaleza".

A diferencia de los dem�s ocasiones en las que han ido abogadas, maestras, psic�logas, abuelas, religiosas, periodistas y funcionarias, entre otras, esta vez las lesbianas llevaron banderas de arcoiris y enmarcaron la lucha con un tri�ngulo rosa invertido que es s�mbolo de represi�n.

"La idea de rescatar y utilizar el tri�ngulo rosa fue recordar lo ocurrido en la guerra y reforzar la lucha en contra de la discriminaci�n y la homofobia a trav�s de este s�mbolo", expres� Orraca Paredes.

En referencia a las habilidades art�sticas de L�pez Rivera, las lesbianas llevaron dos cuadros con pinturas de flores y el mar, ya que el prisionero pol�tico no lo ha podido ver hace m�s de 33 a�os por sus ideas pol�ticas, por lo cual las mujeres han realizado consignas dedicadas a eso como "las lesbianas luchar�n para que Oscar vea el mar".

El grupo de mujeres se re�ne todos los �ltimos domingos de mes entre las 4:00 y las 4:33 de la tarde y mensualmente se invita a diversos grupos que se unan al reclamo de que el presidente Obama indulte a L�pez Rivera.

From Caribbean Business
Maduro Raises 
Puerto Rico issues in UN speech

Venezuela President Nicol�s Maduro touched on Puerto Rico's political status during an address before the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.


  He called on the UN to act of its own decolonization findings on Puerto Rico.

In June, the U.N. Special Committee on Decolonization again called on the United States to expedite a process that would allow Puerto Ricans to fully exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence. It reiterated its position that the 2012 status plebiscite was a rejection of the current commonwealth status.

The 29-member panel has taken up the issue of Puerto Rico's status every year for four decades, but the UN General Assembly has not acted on the resolutions.

By a draft resolution approved by consensus during its annual meeting in June, the panel reaffirmed the inalienable right of the people of Puerto Rico to self-determination and independence, and reiterated that the Puerto Rican people constituted a Latin American and Caribbean nation with its own unequivocal national identity. It called for the island to be able to take decisions, in a sovereign manner, to address its economic and social needs.

The decolonization committee has now agreed on 33 resolutions and decisions on the Puerto Rican issue, the latest 15 of them presented by Cuba and adopted by consensus.

The UN committee continues to take up the issue of Puerto Rico's unresolved political status despite the fact that it doesn't hang the "colony" tag on the island.

In 1917, Puerto Ricans were collectively made U.S. citizens via the Jones Act, and in 1952 the U.S. Congress turned the territory into a commonwealth after ratifying the island Constitution. The U.S. government then declared the territory was no longer a colony and stopped transmitting information about Puerto Rico to the United Nations Decolonization Committee. As a result, the UN General Assembly removed Puerto Rico from the UN list of non-self-governing territories.

Petitioners before the panel have pressed the international community to recognize Puerto Rico's colonial status and place it on the list.

Maduro also compared jailed Puerto Rican nationalist Oscar L�pez to the late South African President Nelson Mandela.

He said L�pez is the "oldest political political prisoner in the world," saying he is doing time in a federal prison for "the lone sin of fighting for the independence of his homeland."

During a visit to Hostos Community College the Bronx on Tuesday, Maduro called L�pez the "Mandela of Latin America and the Caribbean."

L�pez, 71, has been behind bars for nearly 33 years, nearly half of a 70-year sentence. He was sentenced to 55 years in prison after a 1981 conviction on federal charges including seditious conspiracy, use of force to commit robbery and interstate transportation of firearms. He received an additional 15 years in 1988 after being convicted of conspiring to escape from a prison in Kansas. Continue reading here.

VIBRANTE ACTO EN BUENOS AIRES POR "UN PUERTO RICO LIBRE" Y EN HOMENAJE A SUS PATRIOTAS

Se record� al revolucionario Machetero Filiberto Ojeda R�os, asesinado por el FBI, y se exigi� la libertad para el prisionero pol�tico puertorrique�o Oscar L�pez Rivera


(Resumen Latinoamericano, 27 septiembre 2014) Organizado por C�tedras Bolivarianas en el �mbito de la Taberna Internacionalista Vasca, este pasado viernes fue evocada la trayectoria y la lucha de m�s de un siglo contra el imperialismo norteamericano que libra el pueblo de Puerto Rico. En ese marco, se destac� el papel meritorio que jug� el l�der del Ej�rcito Popular Boricua (Macheteros) Filiberto Ojeda R�os, quien fuera asesinado el 23 de septiembre de 2005 por un contingente de 200 efectivos del FBI, apoyados por poderoso armamento y la presencia de veh�culos artillados y helic�pteros.

El acto comenz� con la proyecci�n de una interesante entrevista realizada por una periodista en 1990 cuando Filiberto permanec�a en la clandestinidad. Y luego, otro video, donde se pudo apreciar la gran movilizaci�n popular que sucedi� en repudio al asesinato del l�der independentista.

Como se�alara posteriormente Carlos Azn�rez, director del peri�dico Resumen Latinoamericano y uno de los organizadores de la actividad, Filiberto se enrol� desde muy joven en la lucha revolucionaria. Primero fue a Cuba, donde colabor� activamente con la Revoluci�n, y luego, de regreso a su patria form� el Movimiento Independentista Revolucionario Armado (MIRA), que realiz� numerosas acciones directas contra "el enemigo gringo". Expropiaciones, ataques a aviones de la Guardia Nacional Armada y hasta el ajusticiamiento de dos marines, fueron realizadas en esa �poca de lucha, combinadas con innumerables levantamientos y movilizaciones populares, que casi siempre eran ahogados en sangre por el Imperio.

"Luego, a partir de 1976, se�al� Azn�rez, mientras aqu� se instalaba la dictadura militar m�s terrible que hemos vivido, Filiberto creaba los Macheteros, esa organizaci�n peleona y revolucionaria que se convirti� en s�mbolo de resistencia popular". "Los polic�as del Imperio apresaron a Filiberto a fines de los 80 junto con otros 19 compa�eros de lucha, pero su nombre sigui� repiti�ndose en clave clandestina, de casa en casa, d�ndole m�s aire al constante proyecto emancipador boricua. En 1988 liberaron a Filiberto bajo fianza, pero le colocaron un grillete electr�nico en una de sus piernas, para controlarlo. El l�der Machetero se desprende de ese admin�culo en 1990 y vuelve a la clandestinidad. La represi�n gringa lo consideraba su enemigo n�mero 1 en Puerto Rico, y sin embargo, no pod�an controlar las acciones de los Macheteros, que un d�a aparec�an en un punto del pa�s y al otro d�a emit�an un comunicado en otro".

El disertante, continu� se�alando que "precisamente el 23 de septiembre de 2005, cuando Filiberto ya hab�a enviado su tradicional mensaje al acto que recordaba otra gesta independentista, el Grito de Lares (cuando 500 patriotas se levantaron en armas contra el Imperio espa�ol), numerosos efectivos del FBI rodearon la casa del Comandante Machetero. Filiberto s�lo ten�a una pistola, y con ella, resisti� durante horas a un enemigo poderosamente armado. Herido gravemente, sus feroces asesinos lo dejaron morir desangrado".

Termin� sus palabras expresando, que es indispensable instalar la figura de Filiberto en un pedestal bien alto, junto a otros grandes revolucionarios. "�l y su compatriota Oscar L�pez Rivera tienen la fuerza y el coraje del Che, de Sendic, de Santucho, de Sandino y de la boricua Lolita Lebr�n, y tantos otros camaradas, y es por eso que su pueblo recoge su nombre y legado, y lleva su imagen combativa en sus banderas". Destac� tambi�n que "a pesar de todos los embates represivos, los Macheteros y otros luchadores, siguen y seguir�n, hasta que, como dijo Filiberto, Puerto Rico consiga su definitiva independencia".

Azn�rez, ley� a continuaci�n mensajes enviados para la actividad: de.patriota puertorrique�o y ex preso pol�tico, Rafael Cancel Miranda, de la compa�era de Filiberto, Elma Beatriz Rosado, del portavoz del Comit� Puertorrique�o Pro Derechos Humanos, Eduardo Villanueva Mu�oz y del Copresidente del Movimiento Independentista Nacional Hostosiano (MINH), Julio Muriente P�rez

Luego habl� la estudiante puertorrique�a Gabriela Quijano, quien puso �nfasis en destacar el car�cter de colonia que sufre la naci�n boricua. "Primero sufrimos el colonialismo espa�ol y luego el colonialismo yanqui, y eso hay que recordarlo d�a a d�a, para entender qu� tipo de situaci�n vive nuestro pueblo. Cada uno de los intentos de rebeli�n popular que tuvimos, el imperio respondi� con brutal violencia, generando numerosas masacres. Sin embargo, jam�s nuestra gente dej� de luchar". En efecto, lo hizo con Ram�n Betances, con Pedro Albizu Campos, con Eugenio Mar�a de Hostos, con Juan Antonio Corretjer, y tambi�n con Filiberto y otros patriotas.

Alab� tambi�n el papel que han jugado hace muy pocos a�os los puertorrique�os luchando contra las instalaciones militares norteamericanas instaladas en la isla de Vieques. Esa fue una gigantesca resistencia que finalmente culmin� en victoria, ya que los yanquis debieron retirarse de Vieques.

Quijano se�al� que es importante que estas actividades de informaci�n y sensibilizaci�n sobre Puerto Rico se repitan en todo el continente porque debemos sacar a nuestra naci�n del sitio de invisibilizaci�n en el que quiere colocarlo el Imperio.

Posteriormente se realiz� un animado debate sobre la necesidad de renovar la lucha por la libertad de L�pez Rivera y tambi�n denunciar el car�cter opresor y represivo que ejerce EEUU sobre el pueblo de Puerto Rico.

The Children in Cages

By Oscar L�pez Rivera

 

Dear Karina:

I did not have the fortune of being near you while you were growing up. When you were very small I only saw you from time to time, two or three times a year, through a glass. But even in those brief visits, seeing you small and fragile, it horrified me to think that something could happen to you or that someone could do you harm.


 

All of us who are parents and grandparents feel horror at the scenes that are taking place in Gaza. When I see those small bodies -- wounded or enshrouded -- I also think of the tragedy of those immigrant children. I often ask myself, "Who cares about the fate of those Central American children, who are being caged like dogs for the simple act of crossing the border?"


 

In some cases, the media coverage fuels the rejection that so many people feel toward the undocumented people who enter their territory. Most politicians are using this crisis to gain votes. Take the example of Marcos Rubio, the young Republican of Florida. He is not satisfied with the walls that that are being erected at the border or the investment of millions of dollars to militarize the zone. He wants even more: more soldiers and more militarization. In Texas, they mobilize the National Guard. But what about those 55,000 children who have traveled alone, escaping hunger and violence, and who are being "warehoused" until they are deported?


The people and the news media should ask themselves about the role that the US government played in the war of El Salvador during the decades of the 70s and 80s. They should also ask themselves what forces were behind the coup d'�tat that brought down President Zelaya in Honduras. And finally, they should ask what interests are moving the drug market in the US, and for what purpose this money is used. Once these questions have been answered candidly, it will be very easy to conclude why children from all of those countries are the principal victims of Washington's and Wall Street's policies.


 

For example, let's take  the problem of the juvenile gangs. They never had any problems with gangs in El Salvador, Honduras or Guatemala until the US government started deporting the juvenile delinquents who had come from Central America. They were children who had grown up in the US, with different values and profound problems of marginalization and discrimination. When they were returned to their countries of origin they barely spoke Spanish or knew anything about their roots. They didn't have anyone to help them adapt to their new reality. So they dedicated themselves to doing what they knew best: organize the gangs, which are now causing the grave problem of violence in the region. These gangs are also involved in drug trafficking, moving many of the drugs that end up in the US.


The Washington government exported a problem, and now that problem is coming back stronger and even more dangerous. Honduras has the highest crime rate in the world. The very president of the country admits that the children and youth are never safe because of the gangs who are kidnaping them and urges the parents to pay the ransom. This is the reason why so many children are abandoning the country to travel many kilometers in harsh conditions and run the risk of dying on the way.


 The US, if it wanted to, could make room for those children. But the politicians only want to be given more money to militarize the borders, hire judges, and build more places to confine these creatures. None of this will resolve the crisis. The children need to be protected, loved, and equipped with the tools that that will make them good citizens. In each of those children I see the love that I have and the fears that parents and grandparents always feel when we think about you, regardless of your age.


 In resistance and struggle, your grandfather.

Oscar L�pez Rivera

Oscar L�pez Rivera: "Todo es posible si lo luchamos"

Por Candida Cotto

Publicado en Claridad: lunes, 15 de septiembre de 2014

A un a�o y tres meses de la entrevista anterior, CLARIDAD vuelve a conversar, v�a telef�nica, con Oscar L�pez Rivera. Aun despu�s de 33 a�os de encierro del prisionero pol�tico puertorrique�o, y en las circunstancias en que, seg�n nos describe, se le permite la entrevista, su voz se escucha calmada y dulce. Responde seguro a las preguntas, con el acento propio de quien el idioma que le abrig� de ni�o fue el espa�ol, pero que ya lleva d�cadas lidiando con "el dif�cil", el ingl�s.

En esta ocasi�n, comenzamos enmarcando la conversaci�n en la conmemoraci�n el 23 de septiembre del 146 aniversario de la gesta revolucionaria del Grito de Lares, para continuar con otros aspectos relacionados con el independentismo, la di�spora y la pol�tica internacional.

�Cu�l considera que contin�a siendo el significado de la gesta del Grito de Lares?

OLR. Bueno, quiz�s lo m�s significativo de la gesta del Grito de Lares es que le hemos podido dar continuidad, y que en el coraz�n del puertorrique�o queda esa semilla sembrada, de que podemos luchar por la Patria y que la Patria debe de ser independiente y soberana. �se es el grito que verdaderamente comienza a darle ese sentido a nuestra lucha.

�Recuerda la �ltima vez que estuvo en una conmemoraci�n?

OLR. La �ltima vez fue en 1970.

�Qu� valoraci�n tiene de la aportaci�n de Pedro Albizu Campos, quien rescat� la fecha del Grito de Lares y de otros l�deres independentistas como Gilberto Concepci�n de Gracia, Juan Mari Br�s y Filiberto Ojeda R�os?

OLR. Para que una idea se concretice necesitamos ejemplos concretos. El Grito de Lares es ese ejemplo concreto de que se puede hacer algo, de que es posible. Mientras no veamos las ideas como posibles en la praxis, no entendemos bien lo que requiere una lucha.

Creo que la inteligencia de Albizu puede verse en la forma que �l breg� con la independencia de Puerto Rico, incluso con el rescate del Grito de Lares. De nuevo, es esa continuidad de praxis, no es una cuesti�n de palabra, sino de hechos. Albizu hace que Lares lo veamos como una parte de la lucha del siglo 20. Para todos nosotros tiene que ser bien significativo que �l haya hecho eso.

Cada cual tiene su forma de expresar y manifestar el valor del Grito de Lares para sus propios prop�sitos, para el momento coyuntural. Tenemos que entender que los movimientos evolucionan, igual que evolucionamos nosotros, y cada cual aporta a ese evento tan significativo, le impregna sus propios valores, su propia concepci�n de lucha.

No tengo una idea muy clara de la cuesti�n espec�fica de cada cual, pero el hecho de que se contin�e celebrando el Grito de Lares con Concepci�n de Gracia, con Juan Mari Br�s o con Filiberto, lo importante es que se sigue celebrando y tiene esa continuidad de lo que representa para la lucha patria. Lo triste de todo esto, con Filiberto nos ense�a la maldad del enemigo, a diferencia de la maldad, quiz�s, que ni los espa�oles hicieron, de asesinar a un ser humano a sus 72 a�os de edad por su amor a esta patria. �se fue el ejemplo que nos hab�a dado a todos nosotros. Siga leyendo.



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