Desde que comenzó el mes de junio tanto en Manhattan como en San Juan miles de puertorriqueños han salido a las calles levantando dos demandas fundamentales: la independencia de Puerto Rico y la liberación de Oscar López Rivera quien cumple más de 34 años de prisión y es el preso político por más tiempo encarcelado en Nuestra América.

En estas manifestaciones han participado todos los sectores políticos y sociales de Puerto rico, sin excluir a ninguno.  Convocados por todas las organizaciones patrióticas que han luchado contra el colonialismo por caminos diferentes pero ahora se juntaron para esta acción, a ellas se sumaron otras que, de un modo u otro, muestran creciente inconformidad con un régimen que, carente de soberanía, atraviesa además una profunda crisis económica y social.

La causa puertorriqueña ha sido singularmente compleja y difícil.  Enfrentando por más de un siglo al Imperio más poderoso de la Tierra, la pequeña isla ha sufrido de un muy duro aislamiento.  Por presiones de Washington su drama fue ignorado por mucho tiempo por la mayoría de sus hermanas latinoamericanas y caribeñas y silenciado por la gran prensa internacional.  Su lucha ha sido, sobre todo, una lucha solitaria desde que, apartada del gran movimiento emancipador del Siglo XIX, al que, sin embargo, aportó una importante contribución de combatientes y sacrificios, fue cedida como posesión por la Corona española al naciente Imperio norteamericano que sobre ella ejerce un dominio absoluto.  El tremendo desafío explica en gran medida las desavenencias internas que han obstaculizado la necesaria unidad del pueblo.

SIGA LEYENDO.

June 26, 2015

 

A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.

http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs4409.html

Since the beginning of June, in both Manhattan and San Juan, thousands of Puerto Ricans have taken to the streets raising two key demands: independence for Puerto Rico and the release of Oscar López Rivera who has been in prison for more than 34 years, and is the longest-serving political prisoner in Our America.

All political and social sectors of Puerto Rico, without exception, have been involved in these demonstrations. They were convened by all patriotic organizations which have fought against colonialism in different ways but now came together for this action. They were joined by others who, in one way or another, have shown increasing dissatisfaction with a regime that, lacking sovereignty, is also experiencing a deep economic and social crisis.

The Puerto Rican cause has been particularly complex and difficult. Having confronted the most powerful empire on earth for more than a century, the small island has suffered a very harsh isolation. Under pressure from Washington, its drama was largely ignored by most of its Latin American and Caribbean sister nations and silenced by the big international media.

Its struggle has been, above all, solitary. It was left out of the great liberation movement of the nineteenth century, to which it nonetheless made an important contribution of fighters and sacrifices. It was then ceded as a possession by the Spanish crown to the rising US empire which exerts absolute control over Puerto Rico. The tremendous challenge to a large extent explains the internal disagreements that have hindered the necessary unity of the people.

The situation, however, is changing. The engine that drives the change has a name: Oscar López Rivera. The brutal sentence he endures has generated the unanimous rejection of all Puerto Ricans without exception.

Oscar did not kill or cause harm to anyone. He did not practice violence or transgressed the law. His only armed experience was in the Vietnam War -to which he was dragged into as so many young people of his generation- and he returned decorated by the US Army.

He was sentenced, in 1981, to 55 years in prison for the alleged crime of "seditious conspiracy", specifically for being a militant in a Chicago-based organization that seeks independence for Puerto Rico.

He was subjected to particularly cruel prison conditions, including 13 years in solitary confinement and severe restrictions on his communication with the outside world. His first contact with the press took place two years ago when, by the way, he said: "I'm ready for whatever comes; I will always be ready for whatever comes."

Oscar's case is grossly unfair and it was so recognized at the highest level by the US authorities.

In 1999, sixteen years ago, President Clinton decided that he and other Puerto Ricans then imprisoned had received excessively long sentences and therefore they should be immediately released. Oscar refused to accept this because that presidential action did not include two other prisoners. These two served their punishment and were released, while successive petitions filed by Oscar's defense have been denied.

This petition was presented to President Obama in 2013 by the convention of the AFL-CIO, the US union organization, after a unanimous vote. Similar requests have been made by all political, religious, academic and social institutions of Puerto Rico, including the governor-who, in an unprecedented gesture, visited Oscar in the federal prison- as well as colonial parties and all media of the island and the Boricua emigration. Never before had such an expression of unity been reached among Puerto Ricans.

It is a miracle of love and solidarity. It was made possible by a man who sacrificed his entire life for others and suffered the worst torments for the unredeemed homeland he embodies today in an exemplary manner.
 
Before the end of the month the Decolonization Committee of the United Nations will reaffirm the right of Puerto Rico to independence and will join the demand for Oscar's freedom. The UN committee has been active in this respect since 1972, always recognizing the inalienable rights of the Puerto Rican nation.

But Washington turns a deaf ear to a claim that -despite US's efforts to stop it- continues to grow. Over the years, only Cuba promoted the issue in the UN; today it is accompanied by a group of Latin American countries. Actions must be multiplied in the General Assembly and every international forum, and beyond, until the case of Puerto Rico becomes what it should be: a real priority for all.

It is a battle in which Latin America, now moving along the roads of a new era, has an inescapable obligation; and it will be waged with the same determination of the indomitable patriot who, from the solitude of his cell, has managed to overcome the atrocious captivity.

Para muchos panameños el nombre de Oscar López Rivera le es desconocido. Pero ¿quién es Oscar y que importancia tiene para el mundo entero? Oscar López Rivera es un puertorriqueño que como la mayoría de nosotros emigró hacia Estados Unidos a la ciudad de Chicago en el estado de Illinois. Viendo las injusticias que allí se cometían contra los "hispanos", Oscar se convirtió en un destacado líder comunitario. En su comunidad, Oscar luchó contra el racismo, la xenofobia, el discrimen, la marginación y todos los males que tenían que enfrentar los habitantes latinoamericanos en ese estado. Cuando Estados Unidos intervino en el conflicto de Vietnam, Oscar fue llamado a luchar con armas contra este pueblo. Allí, viendo las injusticias cometidas por ejército "americano" fue formando una conciencia antiimperialista. A su regreso a EE. UU., se activó como un gran luchador por la independencia de Puerto Rico, una nación caribeña que desde 1898 está sometida al colonialismo estadounidense.

Oscar fue víctima de persecución y represión por parte de las autoridades estadounidenses. A él se le relacionó con las "Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional" (FALN), grupo puertorriqueño que creía en la lucha armada para lograr la independencia de Puerto Rico. Estados Unidos nunca pudo probar su vinculación con este grupo. Por luchar por la independencia de Puerto Rico, Oscar es arrestado junto a miembros de la FALN. Luego de su arresto, Oscar es acusado de sedición. ¡Qué grande es Oscar, imagínese, un solo hombre tratando de derrocar el Gobierno del imperio más poderoso del mundo!

NACIONES UNIDAS.-El Comité de Des­colonización de la ONU adoptó este lunes por consenso una nueva resolución que ratifica el derecho de Puerto Rico a la libre autodeterminación e independencia.

Por trigésima cuarta ocasión, ese órgano aprueba un documento sobre el caso de Puerto Rico, nación sometida a cinco siglos de colonialismo, los últimos 117 años bajo el dominio de Estados Unidos.

La iniciativa presentada por Cuba, con el pa­­tro­cinio de Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecua­dor, Bolivia, Rusia y Siria demanda a Wa­shing­ton asumir su responsabilidad y permitir que el pueblo boricua ejerza plenamente esas prerrogativas, en sintonía con la proclama lanzada en 1960 por la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas de poner fin al colonialismo en el planeta.

Además, insiste en el carácter latinoamericano y caribeño del pueblo de Puerto Rico, "que tiene su propia e inconfundible identidad nacional", cita PL.

On almost no money, all volunteer labor, and supporters far and wide, the May 30th Coalition organized the largest demonstration for a US political prisoner in the last 2 decades.  But we still need your help! From retiring our small to debt to building for the future, please make your donation now!

 

 

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Oscar Lopez Rivera, prisoner at Marion for seditious conspiracy to overthrow the governments of the US and Puerto Rico, on video. From video archives.

Al apoyar una nueva resolución sobre la independencia de Puerto Rico, el representante ecuatoriano sostuvo que era "una vergonzosa lacra que todavía la humanidad tenga que hablar de colonialismo".

El embajador de Ecuador ante la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) en Nueva York, Xavier Lasso, afirmó este miércoles que su país está defendiendo ante ese organismo la necesidad de abolir el colonialismo en el siglo XXI con el respaldo esta semana de una nueva resolución sobre Puerto Rico adoptada por consenso en el Comité Especial de Descolonización (CED).

"Estamos en el siglo XXI y nos parece una vergonzosa lacra que todavía la humanidad tenga que hablar de colonialismo ", aseveró el diplomático en una entrevista con Andes, vía telefónica, al comentar la resolución número 34 respecto al estatus de Puerto Rico como Estado Libre Asociado de Estados Unidos.

El representante de Ecuador, que ocupa la presidencia del CED, conocido también como C-24, integrado por 29 naciones, señaló que se está defendiendo desde esa instancia la dignidad de los pueblos y el principio fundamental de acabar con el colonialismo "porque niega libertad y dignidad a los pueblos".

EE. UU. amplía su presencia militar en Centroamérica mientras se refuerza el impulso latinoamericano para crear su propia doctrina de defensa. El independentista puertorriqueño Oscar López Rivera pasó más de 34 años preso en EE. UU., pero hay activistas de todo el mundo que no se cansan de reclamar su excarcelación. Y se ha revelado que una unidad secreta de la inteligencia británica ha ejecutado operaciones encubiertas en contra de Argentina para influir en la disputa sobre las Islas Malvinas.

La Federación Democrática Internacional de Mujeres (FDIM), Región América Latina y  El Caribe, reunidas en San Salvador,  en el marco de la IV Conferencia Regional, consideramos:

 

Oscar López Rivera cumple una sentencia de 70 años en una cárcel de Estados Unidos de América por sus acciones a favor de la lucha por la independencia de Puerto Rico, nación hermana latinoamericana y caribeña.

Oscar López Rivera, con 34 años de cárcel, en defensa de los derechos del País, es el prisionero político que ha cumplido más años de cárcel.  

La Federación Democrática Internacional de Mujeres, firme defensora del derecho a la libre determinación e independencia de los pueblos, resuelve:

* Apoyar al Movimiento de Países No Alineados y los países que componen el ALBA que han reclamado la libertad de los presos políticos, que sufren condenas, por luchar a favor de la independencia de Puerto Rico, entre ellos Oscar López Rivera, quien ha sido encarcelado inhumanamente.

SIGA LEYENDO.

NEW YORK, Jun 1 2015 (IPS) - Children in strollers held placards. Those unable to make it into the streets leaned out of high-rise apartment building windows, shouting support to the river of protestors below. For hours, several city blocks became a mass of red and blue, as scores of people waved the national flag of Puerto Rico. One name was on everyone's lips, but the cause was broader than a single man.

On Saturday, May 30, close to 4,000 people marched through New York City's East Harlem demanding the release of Oscar López Rivera, a 72-year-old Puerto Rican activist currently serving out his 34th year in prison.

He was convicted for seditious conspiracy in 1981 and sentenced to 55 years. He is one of the longest held political prisoners in Latin America.

His supporters - who span the globe and number in the millions - run the gamut from community organisations to Nobel laureates. They are petitioning U.S. President Barack Obama to order Rivera's immediate release on the grounds that he was imprisoned solely for his work as an activist and organizer - and has never been charged with any violent crime.

Puerto Rico remained locked in a cycle of poverty, brain drain and sluggish economic development caused by the "imperialist" policies of the United States, the Special Committee of 24 was told today as it heard from more than 30 petitioners on the matter and approved a resolution urging the United States to allow Puerto Ricans to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination.

Welcoming advocates from both Puerto Rico and its Diaspora community, the Special Committee - known formally as the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples - heard that more than half of the island's population lived in poverty, owing in large part to crippling trade policies imposed by the United States, the "colonial Power".

Despite having been removed from the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories in 1953, Puerto Rico remained very much a colony of the "Yankee empire", petitioners stressed, calling for the island's independence from the United States.

In that vein, the representative of the Frente Autonomista urged the United Nations General Assembly to take action to ensure that the United States met its international obligations with regard to colonialism and took responsibility to decontaminate the Puerto Rican territory.  Calling on that country to commit itself to a decolonization process, he demanded that all States help Puerto Rico with its economy and "stand on the right side of history".

"This is an imperial situation," asserted the representative of the American Association of Jurists, noting that the Territory was unable to establish trade relations with other countries, to the detriment of its economy.  The "commonwealth" status hid the real situation of Puerto Ricans, which should be energetically condemned, he said.

The representative of the Movimiento Puertorriqueño Anti-cabotaje said that certain legal and trade restrictions - which had been put in place to stimulate American industry in Puerto Rico - constituted a "wall" that blocked economic development on the island.  "We need access to markets which will make the flow of raw materials to the world at competitive prices possible," she said.

The island's economy had deteriorated in recent years, said a representative of Frente Socialista de Puerto Rico, noting that half the population lived at the poverty level.  Imported foods were required, which led to poor diets and high rates of non-communicable diseases.  Meanwhile, the United States Government maintained the designation of "domestic terrorism" for Puerto Rican activists, such as Oscar Lopez Rivera, who had been held for more than three decades in American prisons.

Mr. Lopez Rivera - who had been convicted of seditious conspiracy in the United States - was a central figure in today's discussion, with many speakers calling for his immediate pardon and release.  "He is a living legend in Puerto Rico," said the representative of the National Lawyers Guild International Committee, adding that "the clamour for his release is a unifying factor, a call for justice and human rights across party lines, national boundaries, and religious and political beliefs". Download Attorney Jan Susler's presentation here.

CONTINUE READING.

Stockholm, June 8, 2015

 

To the President of the United States of America

Mr. Barack Obama

 

We the undersigned have previously written to you about the case of The Cuban Five. Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González, Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino and René González who are now reunited with their families in Cuba.  We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your decision that resulted in the release of Guerrero, Hernández, and Labañino from U.S. prisons on December 17, 2014, as well as the release on humanitarian grounds of Alan Gross detained in Cuba.

 

We now turn to you again, this time with a plea regarding Oscar López Rivera, imprisoned in the U.S. for 34 years. He was convicted and imprisoned because he worked for his country's right to self-determination. An overwhelming majority of Puerto Ricans want Oscar López Rivera released from prison. Puerto Rico was conquered, like the Philippines, by the United States in 1898. It is known that there is in Puerto Rico a movement for the island's independence.

 

Oscar López Rivera could have been a free man today if he had accepted the "premature" release that he was offered by your predecessor, Bill Clinton. He did not accept that offer since two fellow prisoners were not considered for release at that time. They are now free, while Oscar López Rivera, age 72, will remain in prison until 2023.

 

Mr. President you have the opportunity now to give Oscar López Rivera, a man who pushed for abolishing what he perceived as a colonial repression of his homeland, the opportunity to live out the final part of his life in his homeland, Puerto Rico, whose sovereignty Oscar López Rivera has devoted his life to.

 

We believe that you, Mr. President, have the ability to understand the basis for Oscar López Rivera's commitment and perspective. And we therefore hope that in his case you will make the decision to immediately release him.

 

Sincerely,

 

Thage G. Peterson, former Speaker of the Swedish parliament; former member of the Swedish government (Minister for Justice, Minister for Defense) (Social Democratic Party)

 

Hillevi Larsson, Member of Parliament (Social Democratic Party)

 

Amineh Kakabaveh, Member of Parliament (Left Party)

 

Torbjörn Björlund, Member of Parliament (Left Party)

 

Marco Venegas, Member of Parliament (Green Party)

 

Jeannette Escanilla, member of the Executive Board, Left Party

 

Ann-Margarethe Livh, Vice Mayor, Stockholm Municipality (Left Party)

 

Kenneth Lewis, lawyer, former president of Lawyers without Borders (Sweden)

 

Sven Wollter, actor

 

Gunilla Palmstierna-Weiss, set- and costume designer, sculptress

 

Mikael Wiehe, musician, singer, composer

 

Jan Hammarlund, singer songwriter

 

Maria Sandblad, freelance journalist/writer

 

Kristina Hillgren, psychologist

 

 

Copies of this letter have been sent to:

 

Embassy of the United States of America, Stockholm

Committee of 24 (Special Committee on Decolonization, United Nations Office at Geneva

Amnesty International, International Secretariat, London

In 1981, Oscar López Rivera, 72, was convicted of seditious conspiracy. The Puerto Ricanhas since spent 34 years in U.S. federal prisons, with more than a decade of his time spent languishing in solitary confinement. He neither killed nor assaulted anyone. In fact, the crime that put him behind bars for a 75-year sentence was non-violent. López Rivera, one of the longest-held political prisoners on the globe, sought independence for his beloved island.

As the Puerto Rican independentista continues to sit in a prison cell in Terre Haute, Indiana, a growing number of supporters, crossing nationalities, races, ages and political ideologies, are fighting for his release. Here are just eight reasons why the Boricua should be freed.

As a United Nations committee held hearings on the status of Puerto Rico in Manhattan, N.Y., outside a group of protesters rallied Monday in support of Oscar López Rivera, a Puerto Rican nationalist whose imprisonment for 34 years now is getting increasing attention.

 

López, 72, is serving time in Indiana on charges of "seditious conspiracy" for his alleged collaboration with the Armed Forces of National Liberation, or FALN, an organization that sought the island's independence from the United States back in the 70s.

"We believe that the reason why the U.S. government has kept Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera incarcerated (...) is because the U.S. government wants to maintain Puerto Rico as its colony forever," say his supporters from Compañeros Unidos para la Descolonización de Puerto Rico ("Brothers United for the Decolonization of Puerto Rico") on their website. 

A week ago, at the New York Puerto Rican Day Parade, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who was born in Puerto Rico, was one of a number of politicians wearing T-shirts or carrying posters calling for López's release.

Various photographers took pictures of the May 30th March and Rally for Oscar López Rivera and have made a selection available to the May 30th Coalition. Please view them on our Flickr site or their own site. Contact the photographers directly for prints or any licensing questions.

Edwin Vargas (therewillbesangre@gmail.com)

Perla de Leon (perlafotografica@aol.com)

Marina Ortiz (virtualboricua@gmail.com)

Matt McCanna (mattm@boricuahumanrights.org)

We are grateful for their solidarity and collaboration. We will highlight others as they become available.

WASHINGTON - El Concejo Municipal de Nueva York aprobó hoy (41-8, con dos abstenciones) una resolución que reclama al presidente Barack Obama la inmediata excarcelación del prisionero político puertorriqueño Oscar López Rivera. En la medida, el organismo municipal, que preside la puertorriqueña Melissa Mark Viverito, mantuvo que su encarcelación en estos momentos "es injusta y no sirve ningún propósito legítimo".

La resolución destaca el reciente respaldo a la liberación de López Rivera que dio el Caucus Hispano del Congreso.

Convicto por sedición y otros delitos relacionados, López Rivera cumple una sentencia de 70 años de cárcel, debido a sus vínculos con las Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN). La sentencia original fue de 55 años, pero se le agregaron 15 por un intento de fuga, lo que el Concejo Municipal también consideró un castigo desproporcionado.

El organismo municipal recordó que el presidente Bill Clinton, cuando le ofreció clemencia en 1999 a López Rivera, concluyó que la sentencia en su contra y la de otros colegas era desproporcionada, tomando en cuenta que nunca fue acusado de herir o matar a nadie.

Condecorado con la medalla de Bronce por su participación en la guerra de Vietnam, López Rivera, en una entrevista con El Nuevo Día en 2014, afirmó que "no tengo sangre en mis manos".

El gobernador de Puerto Rico, Alejandro García Padilla, la Legislatura, alcaldes, asambleas municipales, líderes políticos, religiosos y sindicales han abogado por la liberación sin condiciones de López Rivera, quien cumplió el mes pasado 34 años en prisiones estadounidenses.

De 72 años, López Rivera solicitó clemencia del presidente Barack Obama en 2011, tras haber rechazado la oferta del presidente Clinton debido a que no se le conmutó la sentencia a dos de sus colegas de la FALN, Carlos Alberto Torres y Haydee Beltrán, ya liberados.

Si hubiese aceptado la oferta de Clinton, López Rivera llevaría ya casi seis años fuera de la cárcel.

Pese a la presión de las autoridades de Puerto Rico, los congresistas boricuas y sectores de la diáspora, el Departamento de Justicia federal sigue sin decidir la solicitud de López Rivera.

Si el presidente Obama no le libera, López Rivera puede tener que estar otros ocho años en prisión. Para entonces tendrá 80 años y habrá cumplido unos 42 años de cárcel

NEW YORK, NY -- A sea of red, white and blue flags, salsa music, colorful floats, dancers and hundreds of thousands of spectators filled New York's 5th Avenue for the 2015 National Puerto Rican Day parade.

The parade is an annual tradition for New York's large Puerto Rican community and for those who come from near and far to attend the event. It has a long history; the first parade took place in 1958 along El Barrio before its route changed to Fifth Avenue.

The parade unites the "boricuas" (named for the Indian name for the island, which was Borikén, later referred to as Borinquen) in New York and across the rest of the continental U.S. with those in the island.

Every year the parade honors a region of Puerto Rico, this year they are honoring Añasco, a municipality located on the west coast of the island.

The parade, which is known to bring out stars like Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez, and Daddy Yankee, brought out Roselyn Sanchez, Ivy Queen, acclaimed orchestra composer Angel 'Cucco' Peña (who composed a theme song for the parade), Andres Jimenez, Rosie Perez, Martina Arroyo, Alex Sensation, Tito El Bambino, Toby Love, Frankie Negron and Raquel Sofia this year.

Whereas:  Puerto Rican Independentista and Political Prisoner Oscar López Rivera has been in Federal Prisons since 1981, charged with "seditious conspiracy" to overthrow the Government of the United States in Puerto Rico and convicted thereof;

 

Whereas:  Religious, labor, community, student and political leaders in Puerto Rico and in Puerto Rican communities in the US, without regard to their positions on the status of Puerto Rico, broadly have called on President Obama to release López Rivera;

 

Whereas:   Pacifica Foundation is based upon a philosophy of solidarity with social and political movements that work for social justice and human rights;

 

Be it thereby resolved:  that the Pacifica Foundation National Board calls for the release of Oscar López Rivera and, further calls for broadcasts on this topic to be aired on its five stations, and that this resolution be shared with the Pacifica affiliates, in support of national and local campaigns in favor of Oscar's liberation.

 

Pacifica has five listener-sponsored free speech radio stations, WBAI in New York, WPFW in Washington DC, KPFT in Houston, KPFK in Los Angeles, and KPFA in Berkeley, and over 100 affiliates around the US and elsewhere, including WVQR in Vieques.

 

The resolution passed without opposition, reflecting the growing support for the release of Oscar Lopez Rivera in progressive sectors in the US. Several members of the public present commented favorably about the motion.

We will be chatting with Alejandro Luis Molina member of the National Boricua Human Rights Network. Our interview will focus on the efforts to gain the freedom of Political Prisioner Oscar Lopez Rivera who has been in prison for 34 years and was convicted of Seditious Conspiracy. Recuerda, para saber de donde vamos, Debemos saber de donde venimos

By Prof. Ana M. López, NYC Coordinator to Free Oscar Lopez Rivera

In the last eight months the Oscar Freedom Campaign in the eastern corridor of the Puerto Rican diaspora has changed the narrative with respect to Oscar López Rivera campaign for freedom. This has been accomplished with the theme of "ONE VOICE FOR OSCAR".  People of different backgrounds and ideologies have united in a humanitarian effort to free Oscar. Now is the time for this unity in one voice because of the small window of opportunity before us. President Obama is the only one that can free Oscar with 'a stroke of his pen'.

 

The passage of several resolutions in New York City supporting this theme "ONE VOICE FOR OSCAR" follow: The Professional Staff Congress (PSC- CUNY) representing university professors and staff passed a resolution calling on President Obama to exercise his constitutional powers of pardon to grant immediate and unconditional release to Oscar on April 16, 2015. Subsequently, the CUNY Student Government Association passed a similar resolution on May 5, 2015, and finally the New York City Municipal Council passed its resolution on June 10, 2015 by an overwhelming majority of city council members of diverse backgrounds (41 votes for approval, 8 opposed, 2 abstained) became the icing on the cake to our May 30th March and Rally. It was the second time in our struggle to free Puerto Rican political prisoners that the NYC Council had passed a resolution, the first time being in 1991 under the leadership of José Rivera.

 

The 5,000 person May 30th march through Harlem and El Barrio was a historical landmark for Oscar as he began his 34th year of imprisonment the day before.  The narrative of "who is Oscar López Rivera" has forever been changed.  He is recognized as the longest held political prisoner in the history of Puerto Rico and Latin America, called the "Mandela of Latin America", an "icon" "a national hero", "freedom fighter" "independentista" and "nationalist leader". Today, it is believed that the 70 year sentence Oscar received had to do more with his political ideas and that the sentence imposed was grossly disproportionate.

 

Lessons we have learned. Eight months ago, no one thought it was possible to accomplish these turn of events. This attests to the belief that everything is possible when you have the will to win. Let us do the possible, Free Oscar Now!

 

"Se siente, se siente, Oscar esta presente" in Bronx,

NY Puerto Rican Parade

On Sunday, May 31st (after its participation in the successful march in Harlem the previous day), the NY Coordinator to Free Oscar López Rivera also participated in the Bronx Puerto Rican Parade. We lined-up in the Grand Concourse and marched until Van Courtland Park chanting "Free Oscar Now".  Various elected officials joined us to show solidarity for Oscar's release among them were Speaker of the NYC Municipal Council, Melissa Mark Viverito, and Assemblyman José Rivera.  

Oscar Freedom Campaign goes to Bentwood, Long Island Celebrates Festival on Puerto Rican Heritage

NY Coordinator tabled and collected petitions to President Obama to Free Oscar in the Main Street of the town of Brentwood, Long Island. Assemblyman José Rivera was recognized and spoke a few words on stage also mentioning the campaign for the freedom of Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera. The reception was very positive. On the other side of the festival, children's activities, including painting, were held. In the canvas that lay across the street was evident the painted words #FreeOscarLopez.

 

PETITION DRIVE AT 116th ST FESTIVAL IN EL BARRIO, NY

On June 13, sixteen compañeros y compañeras took turns in the set up table to do petition drive at the million people festival that is held every year in East Harlem. This petition drive has become a ritual for us and we see it as a necessity to keep in the minds and hearts the struggle to free Oscar. Under the sun, at 91 degrees, the "Oscar en la Calles" became the main attraction as hundreds stopped to sign the petition and get a photo with Oscar. Over 500 fans with Oscar's image and words printed "Libertad para Oscar" were distributed like hotcakes. Over 1,500 petitions were collected in 6 hours. Thanks to the effort of the compañeros/as.

 

National Puerto Rican Parade on Fifth Avenue in NY

Clamors to Free Oscar López Rivera Now!

 

Hundreds of parade goers holding a yellow neon banner that read "ONE VOICE FOR OSCAR" marched in a spirited contingent to free Oscar through the streets of 5th Avenue organized by the NY Coordinator to free Oscar López Rivera.  On June 14th, 2015 in a sunny Sunday, the many people of different backgrounds with one voice enunciated chants like "New York City is the key, to set Oscar López Free!" "OBAMA BETTER LISTEN, GET OSCAR OUT OF PRISON!  And "34-NO MORE!" revealing the number of years Oscar (at age 72) has been in prison, 12 of those he spent in solitary confinement. There were the forceful repetition of "Free Oscar, Free Oscar" and "Libertad, Libertad, para Oscar" prompting spectators of the parade to echo the chants. 

This year's parade was marked with spectator's overwhelming recognition of Oscar's Freedom Campaign and of his daughter Clarisa López Ramos. Multiple media and photographers directed themselves to Clarisa without asking.

Two important factors occurred.  As we approached the Saint Patrick Cathedral, Cardinal Timothy Nolan stood on the side watching the parade goers and at the precise moment that the Oscar Freedom contingent was passing.  Clarisa López Ramos, Oscar's daughter, was able to speak to the Cardinal Timothy Nolan about her father's 34 years of imprisonment and in return, he gave her a hug and a blessing.

Massive solidarity was evident through the one million parade spectators as it was obvious the many additional banners that were displayed calling for Oscar's freedom.  Upon arriving to 66th street where the stage was located, the Free Oscar contingent was received with a one hundred people holding placards "Libertad para Oscar" sponsored by the National Puerto Rican Parade Board. Camera crews and photographers took the opportunity for "Kodak moments" with the president of the PR parade, Loraine Vázquez and Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito also holding similar placards.

The theme "ONE VOICE FOR OSCAR" represents what has been accomplished in New York City: People of different backgrounds can unite with one purpose, that is, Free Oscar López Rivera Now!

The Campaign To Free Oscar Lopez Rivera

There's been a long struggle by Puerto Ricans here in the United States for the independence of their native land Puerto Rico. Oscar Lopez Riviera was one of these people. He was framed up on the political charge of seditious conspiracy and has been in prison since the 1980s. All his co-defendants in the original trial have now been freed but he remains locked up and there is a campaign going on in the United States right now to free Oscar Lopez Riviera.

Guest - Attorney Jan Susler joined People's Law Office in 1982 after working for six years as a Clinical Law Professor at the legal clinic at Southern Illinois University's School of Law, Prison Legal Aid. At the People's Law Office she continued her litigation and advocacy work on prisoners' rights issues and also took on representing people wrongfully imprisoned, falsely arrested, strip searched, or subjected to excessive force by police officers.

Her long history of work on behalf of political prisoners and prisoners' rights includes litigation, advocacy and educational work around federal and state control unit prisons in the U.S. Her work with the Puerto Rican Independence Movement and with progressive movements challenging U.S. foreign and domestic policies has been a constant throughout her 36 years as a lawyer. She was an adjunct professor of criminal justice at Northeastern Illinois University, and taught constitutional law at the University of Puerto Rico.  For over three decades she has represented Puerto Rican political prisoners, and she served as lead counsel in the efforts culminating in the 1999 presidential commutation of their sentences. She continues to represent those who remain imprisoned.

El desfile no sólo fue un colorido evento, sino también la oportunidad de apoyar las causas boricuas

Nueva York - "Free Óscar López Rivera now!" decía la camiseta negra que usó durante todo el desfile puertorriqueño la presidenta del Concejo Municipal, Melissa Mark-Viverito. "El desfile puertorriqueño es sobre nuestro orgullo, pero también queremos mostrar los temas importantes de nuestra agenda", explicó Mark-Viverito mientras caminó por la Quinta Avenida.

Junto a ellos, varias de las agrupaciones presentes también enarbolaron letreros y pancartas con el rostro del líder independentista puertorriqueño que lleva desde 1981 en la cárcel y que pidió clemencia en 1999 al presidente Clinton.

También muchos solicitaron un trato más igualitario respecto a los beneficios que tienen los estadounidenses. "Estamos pidiendo un mejor sistema de salud", dijo Miguel Hernández, un residente de Brooklyn que abogó para que el Medicaid cubra también a la isla. Además, agrupaciones protestaron por la crisis medioambiental que está viviendo el Caño Martín Peña, uno de los principales recursos hídricos del país.

On Sunday, June 28th, 34 Mujeres NYC x Oscar gathered on 110th Street and Fifth Avenue in Harlem to engage local residents and visitors to Central Park and help build a movement for the release of Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera.

 

34 Mujeres NYC x Oscar is a group of women from New York City committed to securing Oscar López Rivera's freedom. We hold monthly rallies for 34 minutes on the last Sunday of every month from 4:00 - 4:34pm to signify the 34 years that Oscar has been imprisoned in federal penitentiaries, and will continue to hold monthly rallies until he is released. Our rallies coincide with actions occurring at the same date and time in San Juan, Puerto Rico that were initiated by 32 women in 2013 to mark Oscar's 32nd year of imprisonment.

Saturday June 20th's heat and mugginess did not keep Puerto Ricans from standing in line to show their support. As early as 11:30 AM, despite the parade starting at 2 PM, residents and other Puerto Ricans were setting out their lawn chairs and coolers to get front row seating for the parade. By the time the parade would start at 2:10, from storefront to gate Puerto Ricans, Latinos and community residents stood watching floats from community organizations like the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center, AfriCaribe and ASPIRA to political contingents like 1st ward alderman, Joe Moreno, 26th ward Alderman, Roberto Maldonado, and the National Boricua Human Rights Network- Chicago chapter. Toddlers walked hand in hand with their parents  or, from their strollers perched on floats, watched the crowd cheer them on. When a Pedro Albizu Campos High School alum stood on a float in the middle of California and Division Street's intersection to sing "Despierta Boricua," the crowd either stood silent or joined in, many with fists raised in the air.

 

The Parade this year was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the erection of the amazing Paseo Boricua Flags- the world's largest monuments the Puerto Rican flags- as well as the big and minor Baseball Leagues of Humboldt Park and Cocineros Unidos (United Cooks) of Humboldt Park.

Puerto Ricans in Humboldt Park continue to rally to demonstrate the significance of Humboldt Park to their sense of culture, history and politics. Congested gatherings like the 37th People's Parade on Division show us that no matter where we go, where or how we live, Humboldt Park and Paseo Boricua are still Boricuas' pedacito de patria.

1995. First time I participated in Chicago's downtown Puerto Rican Parade, pushing my cousin's youngest daughter in a stroller. Also the year Chicago placed two Puerto Rican flags of steel in the ground of the mile-strip between Western and California known now as Paseo Boricua. Talking about 1995 frames the parade that took place on the Saturday before 2015's Father's Day because of what has changed and what, despite those changes remain the same.

 

Puerto Rican pride was not the only sentiment waving through the air, though, as the sight of rainbow flags demonstrate. Whether on LGBT-centered initiatives' floats like El Rescate and Vida SIDA or in the crowd, queer, trans and LGBT Puerto Ricans were waving both flags during the parade. Youth spearheaded that visibility, paving the way for the growth of Chicago's Puerto Rican community to serve the ever-increasing diversity of their community.

View the collaborative Flickr set here.

By Angela Hernandez, Member of the Mobile Journalism Unit,

Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School, Paseo Boricua, Chicago

On Saturday May 23rd ,  supporters and the family of Oscar López Rivera gathered at "La Casita de Don Pedro" on Division Street to get petitions signed to send to President Obama, asking him to release Oscar López Rivera from jail. On May 29th, Oscar, now 72 years old, will have been in jail for 34 years.  He was not charged with any violent crime. He was charged with "seditious conspiracy." Oscar was put in prison for thinking that Puerto Rico should be independent. Jan Susler, an attorney who started working with the Puerto Rican political prisoners in 1980, explained, "Conspiracy is something you do with other people. An example of sedition would be trying to force the United States to leave Puerto Rico." Oscar is a founder of our amazing high school which is now over forty years old.

At this event, I also interviewed Ricardo Jimenez, another political prisoner, who was arrested in 1980. With Oscar, Ricardo was also part of the committee that founded Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School! He explained that he was released because an international campaign began the day he was arrested.  "We said, 'We are political prisoners, not criminals," Ricardo explained. He was released by President William Clinton in 1999. Now, Ricardo is working full time for the Puerto Rican community. He works with the Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Vida Sida and El Rescate. He is also part of the National Boricua Human Rights Network and coordinator of the campaign to free Oscar López Rivera.

After hearing from speakers, supporters went to talk about Oscar with people in Humboldt Park, outside grocery stores, and at the train station. Neighbors were very interested. Most had heard of Oscar and couldn't believe he was still in jail. The petitions from Chicago will be carried on the bus going to New York City to join the big march on May 30th. The Chicago petitions will be added to petitions from around the United States and from forty cities in Puerto Rico. Finally, the petitions will be given to President Obama in the winter. Everyone is hoping that, before he finishes his term, President Obama will release Oscar López Rivera.

A march of thousands in New York and Puerto Rico, representing the broad unity of millions worldwide, spoke with one voice to President Obama: Provide Immediate and Unconditional Release for Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera. Obama has the power to immediately release Oscar and doing so would be a stand in favor of human rights.

Oscar has been a prisoner for 34 years now, the longest held Puerto Rican political prisoner in U.S. history. He has remained in prison despite never having been charged with any violent act or harming anyone. Contending with the torture of solitary, being kept far from family and friends, facing severe and inhumane conditions for years on end, he has remained determined and undaunted as Puerto Rican patriot for independence. The U.S. keeps him imprisoned because he refuses to submit to U.S. demands to abandon the fight for Puerto Rican independence. Oscar's unyielding social love for his people and all those fighting worldwide is an inspiration to all, and this too the U.S. rulers fear.

CONTINUE READING.

Oscar López Rivera, a name unfamiliar to some who attended the Left Forum in New York City, but more familiar as the conference went on. 

At the opening plenary, a fan with Lopez's face was on each seat, with a sheet explaining the plight of the Puerto Rican Nationalist, a 72 year old decorated Vietnam veteran who has been in prison now for 34 years. 

Alejandro Molina is with the May 30 Coalition to Free Oscar López. "He's also a Puerto Rican Revolutionary who on May 29, 1981 was arrested and charged and convicted of seditious conspiracy, which is conspiracy to overthrow.the U.S., government by force of arms in Puerto Rico."  

On May 30th, Congressmember Nydia Velázquez joined with other López supporters for a march and rally. Addressing Barack Obama she said, "Mr. President, do the right thing. Free Oscar López!" 

WASHINGTON - Pensar en lograr tener la oportunidad de estar con su familia inmediata, por vez primera fuera de prisión, hace a Oscar López Rivera sonreír.

"Para mí la familia es sagrada", explicó López Rivera, en una entrevista el jueves, la quinta ocasión en dos años que el Negociado de Prisiones autoriza una entrevista telefónica del prisionero político puertorriqueño con El Nuevo Día pero se  niega a permitirla en persona "por razones de seguridad".

El pasado fin de semana le fue a ver su nieta Karina. Hoy - Día de los Padres -, se levantaría temprano en la mañana para esperar la visita de su hija Clarisa a la cárcel de Terre Haute, Indiana, donde está preso desde 1998. "Es un día en el que uno quiere compartir con hijos y la familia... si se puede", sostuvo.

Ayer fue un buen día para las empresas que manufacturan banderas puertorriqueñas. Desde San Juan de Puerto Rico hasta la ciudad de Nueva York, en EE. UU., los boricuas tomaron las calles ondeando la bandera nacional, la monoestrellada. Un grupo de apenas mil personas lo hicieron en San Juan, reclamando la independencia de Puerto Rico y la excarcelación de Oscar López Rivera. Mientras que otro grupo en la ciudad de Nueva York, con poco más de un millón de personas, lo hacían para afirmar la puertorriqueñidad, valorar la cultura de la Isla y pedir la excarcelacíón de Oscar López.

Así las cosas, los unos como los otros, por razones distintas, afirmaban ser puertorriqueños. Curioso, los políticos de turno en la Isla, en particular el gobernador de Puerto Rico, Alejandro García Padilla, asistido por los presidentes de los cuerpos legislativos, Eduardo Bhatia (Senado) y Jaime Perelló (Cámara de Representantes), también participaron de las actividades patrias, en particular marchando en las calles de la gran urbe americana.

¿Qué celebrábamos ayer? Posiblemente el punto unitario entre lo que pasó en la Isla y lo que sucedió en la metrópoli es la puertorriqueñidad. Ese concepto que define una identidad nacional de forma tan confusa hoy, y donde la gente, dependiendo de dónde esté viviendo, se afirma como puertorriqueño. Ahora bien, la forma de establecer ese puente identitario es lo que se afirma como la cultura en común que entrelaza a 3.7 millones de boricuas que aún viven en la Isla, frente a 4.4. millones de boricuas que se reclaman como tal a pesar de que viven en EE. UU.

Con llamados de unidad, cientos de independentistas de diversas organizaciones se juntaron hoy domingo en una marcha que recorrió la principal avenida del Condado, en San Juan, en reclamo de la independencia de Puerto Rico y de la excarcelación de Oscar López Rivera.

La manifestación se llevó a cabo por segundo año consecutivo, como preludio a las vistas del Comité de Descolonización de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) en las que se discute el caso político de Puerto Rico, pautadas para el lunes 22 de junio.

"Este año se ha duplicado la asistencia. La marcha ha sido todo un éxito. Es en reclamo a la independencia y este año además, el reclamo es por la excarcelación de Oscar López. Se ha inundado la avenida Ashford en demostración de patriotismo y compromiso con la independencia", dijo el presidente del Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño (PIP), Juan Dalmau.

"Hacía mucho tiempo que el independentismo no se convocaba en una actividad unitaria como la de hoy. La necesidad nos obliga a actuar de manera concertada. Es la única salida que tiene el país ante el colapso colonial", subrayó por su parte, Héctor Pesquera, uno de los portavoces del Movimiento Independentista Nacional Hostosiano (MINH).