Libertad para Oscar López

Libertad para Oscar López

Publicado: martes, 5 de junio de 2012 Claridad

La libertad física. Eso fue lo que el pueblo puertorriqueño le exigió este martes al presidente Barak Obama para el prisionero político puertorriqueño Oscar López Rivera.

En pueblos como su natal San Sebastián, su vecino Lares (el Altar de la Patria), Mayagüez, Humacao, San Germán, Vieques y San Juan, diversos grupos de jóvenes universitarios, políticos, cívicos, culturales desplegaron enormes pancartas exigiendo la libertad inmediata para Oscar. Un avión con un cartel con la misma consigna de ¡libertad para Oscar!, sobrevoló el Área Metropolitana al medio día. Las actividades formaron parte de la ofensiva de la campaña del Comité Pro Derechos Humanos de Puerto Rico (CPDH) a favor de la excarcelación de López Rivera y los también prisioneros políticos puertorriqueños los hermanos Avelino y Norberto González Claudio.

En horas de la mañana en una conferencia de prensa celebrada en la sede del Colegio de Abogados, en Miramar más de una decena de personalidades reconocidas en sus campos; artistas, activistas, feministas, líderes políticos, sindicales y religiosos, organizaciones políticas, profesionales, exprisioneros políticos, unieron sus voces en apoyo a la liberación de Oscar López Rivera, quien este martes 29 de mayo cumplió 31 años naturales de prisión lo que le coloca como el prisionero político que ha pasado más años en prisión. Más años de prisión que los prisioneros políticos, Nelso Mandela el líder de la nación Sur Africana, y el Mahatma Gandhi, líder de la India.

El portavoz del Comité Pro Derechos Humanos de Puerto Rico (CPDH), licenciado Luis Nieves Falcón, expuso las nuevas vertientes de los trabajos de la campaña a favor de la excarcelación. Según calificó la campaña se encuentra en una fase crítica, la cual se intensificará hasta el periodo eleccionario de 2012 en Estados Unidos.

La campaña de excarcelación se lleva a cabo en tres campos, en el ámbito nacional, internacional y en Estados Unidos. Sobre el trabajo a nivel internacional informó que ya se cuenta con la petición específica de los premios Nóbel: Mariead Corrigan Maguire, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel y Desmond Mpilo Tutu. Cada una de las peticiones directas al presidente Obama de estas figuras entre sus expresiones afirma… “al trabajar por la reconciliación y la paz nos sentimos nuevamente obligados a repetir el reclamo de Isaías: liberar a los que están encarcelados”.

Otros prominentes líderes de la India que han reclamado al presidente Obama la liberación de López Rivera lo son Narayan Desai, rector del Colegio Universitario fundado y dirigido por Gandhi hasta su muerte en 1948; Mahaved Desai, hijo del biógrafo de Gandhi; Arundhati Roy, prominente crítico social y escritor; Ashis Nandy, teórico social reconocido como uno de los 100 intelectuales más distinguidos del mundo; y Ela Gandhi, nieta de Gandhi y quien fue parlamentarista del Congreso Nacional Africano (CNA).

En América la Internacional Socialista (IS) que agrupa a partidos políticos socialistas de todo el mundo aprobó en su reciente reunión una resolución a petición del Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño (PIP). El presidente de Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega se unió a la petición. Otro organismo internacional que también reclamó la excarcelación en meses recientes lo fue la Red Intercontinental de Mujeres en Contra del Militarismo (RIMCM), el cual incluye representantes de Guam, Japón, Hawai, Okinawa, Corea del Sur, Filipinas, Estados Unidos y Puerto Rico.

También el primer Congreso por la Integración Política Regional, celebrado en Uruguay en el mes de abril en su declaración final apoyo la excarcelación. Este congreso fue convocado por la Federación de Estudiantes de Uruguay y contó con la participación de del expresionero político puertorriqueño Elizam Escobar.

En el ámbito religioso la Organización Ecuménica Regional y el Concilio Nacional de Iglesias (en la cual participaron 26 líderes regionales) en una reciente reunión en el Líbano, se redactó y envió una comunicación al Presidente Obama. “Como personas de fe, apelamos a su sentido de justicia, a su espíritu humanitario y a su sano juicio para respetuosamente solicitarle que tome una decisión a favor del Sr. López Rivera y le permita regresar a casa”, lee parte de la misiva. En la reunión hubo representación de Suiza, India, Etiopía, Nigeria, Cuba, Jamaica, Zimbawe, República Popular de Corea, Srilanka, Alemania, Canadá, Noruega, Hong Kong, Finlandia, Malaysia, Líbano, Corea del Sur, Tahití, Ecuador, Ghana, Trinidad Tobago y Puerto Rico.

En Estados Unidos
En Estados Unidos la campaña es liderada por la Red Nacional Boricua de Derechos Humanos (BHRNW, siglas en inglés) desde la ciudad de Chicago, donde el prisionero puertorriqueño creció y se desarrollo como líder comunitario, en la comunidad boricua de Humboltd Park. Nieves Falcón indicó que en Chicago la Red lleva a cabo un intenso trabajo en las comunidades puertorriqueñas y mexicanas para pedirles a los electores latinos que le exijan al presidente Obama la excarcelación de López Rivera. Una de las actividades organizadas por la Red es la Jornada 31 días por 31 años, la cual consiste de una cárcel improvisada, con un carcelero, donde 31 activistas y residentes comunitarios pasan 24 horas encerrados para representar de forma dramática el significado del encarcelamiento injusto de Oscar. Entre las personas que han permanecido horas en la celda están el ministro Musulmán Abel Muhammad y el artista plástico puertorriqueño Antonio Martorell.

Otras ciudades en las cuales también se desarrollan actividades son Nueva York, San Francisco, Detroit, Cleveland, Búfalo, los estados de Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Tennessee, Florida y otros sectores latinos en donde reside una fuerza electoral necesaria para la reelección del presidente Obama.

Además, las organizaciones solidarias en EU la War Resistance League (WRL), Resistance in Brooklyn (RB), Prisoners of Concience (Project (PCP) y la Red (NHRNW) preparan para septiembre de 2012 un encuentro de líderes afroamericanos a favor de la libertad de López Rivera y la publicación de un libro.

En la Patria
Entre las actividades que se desarrollan en Puerto Rico está el recogido de firmas de mujeres para una carta dirigida a Michelle Obama, la esposa del Presidente, en la que se le solicita su intervención a favor de Oscar. La gestión es coordinada por la abogada activista feminista, Josefina Pantoja. “Le estamos pidiendo que ella que también cree en los derechos humanos y así lo ha demostrado y lo ha manifestado, como abogada y ahora como primera dama que interceda con su esposo”, expresó Pantoja sobre la intención de la carta. La carta está disponible para firmar en la sede del Colegio de Abogados y en el semanario CLARIDAD.

La celebración de oficios religiosos de diversas denominaciones, la dedicación de actividades sindicales del Primero de Mayo, actividades deportivas como una carrera de cinco kilómetros, resoluciones de legislaturas municipales, la creación de murales públicos son algunas de las actividades de divulgación sobre la situación del patriota puertorriqueño. La presentación de la exposición Antesala de la Libertad, de obras de López Rivera, la cual ya ha recorrido 31 municipios y 21 museos entre universidades y centros culturales del país tendrá una próxima instalación del 31 de mayo al 28 de junio en la Galería Zahir, en San Sebastián.

Expresan su apoyo a Oscar
“Estamos aquí, los exprisioneros políticos para mí eso es la prueba, si es que necesitamos más pruebas que las voces del consenso de toda la sociedad civil en Puerto Rico expuestos aquí, que los expresioneros políticos que llevan más de 12 años viviendo entre ustedes, gente productiva aquí y en Estados Unidos, son la prueba de que Obama no corre ningún riesgo en que salga Oscar para vivir entre nosotros”, manifestó ‘Jan Susler, la asesora legal de López Rivera, presente en la conferencia de prensa.

En tanto la reverenda Metodista, Eunice Santana, reclamó: “A mí me parece que si hay un sector al cual le debe ser fácil pronunciarse y trabajar por la excarcelación de Oscar como prisionero político es el sector religioso. Jesús fue un preso político por lo tanto le decimos a las iglesias, miren nuevamente el origen de ustedes, miren nuevamente lo que significa, lo que implica ser un preso político, el sufrimiento, las vejámenes cuando son sometidos y la justeza, que es que tales personas puedan estar en libertad y compartiendo y trabajando con su pueblo”.

El reverendo Enrique Lozada, presidente del Concilio Nacional de Iglesias, dijo que las iglesias que forman el Concilio han aprobado resoluciones a favor de la excarcelación por entender que “es un acto de justicia, un acto de dignidad”, con lo cual citó el capítulo 4 versículo 8 del Evangelio de Lucas.

Otro religioso presente en la conferencia lo fue el Padre Pedro Ortiz, quien reafirmó el compromiso en el marco del magisterio de la Iglesia Católica de hacer lucha por la paz pero teniendo como condición previa la justicia y la justicia social. Ortiz habló del compromiso del trabajo y la participación de manera directa de los laicos en sus comunidades con relación a Oscar y destacó lo valiosos que han sido los testimonios de los ex prisioneros políticos para transformar las conciencias.

 “Darle la mano a Oscar, eso es poco porque él nos ha dado la vida. Espero que todos hagamos todo lo que podamos de una manera u otra por la liberación de Oscar”, expresó el líder nacionalista Rafael Cancel Miranda, quien también estuvo 25 años en prisión por luchar por la independencia de Puerto Rico.

En la conferencia participaron, además, el candidato a la gobernación del PIP, el licenciado Juan Dalmau y su candidato a comisionado residente, licenciado Juan Mercado; la candidata a la Alcaldía de San Juan por el Partido Popular Democrático (PPD), Carmen Yulín Cruz, quien dijo que ese mismo día había enviado su carta número 300 al Presidente Obama, solicitando la libertad de Oscar. Los líderes sindicales Luis Pedraza Leduc, de la Coordinadora Sindical (CS) y José Manuel Báez, el presidente del Colegio de Abogados, licenciado Osvaldo Toledo, el activista Alberto de Jesús, conocido por ‘Tito Kayak”. El reconocido cantante patriótico Danny Rivera y la joven cantante Chabela Rodríguez. El historiador José Paraliticci, miembro del Movimiento Unión Soberanista (MUS) y los exprisioneros políticos, Alicia Rodríguez, Luis Rosa, Elizam Escobar, Edwin Cortés y Juan Segarra Palmer.

Para concluir el licenciado Eduardo Villanueva, coordinador del CPDH agradeció la constancia de todos los presentes entre los cuales había decenas de militantes independentistas, a las voces de las diversas organizaciones por su constancia en su reclamo A su vez mencionó el apoyo de miembros del Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP) entre los cuales se encuentran alcaldes, legisladores y el comisionado residente Pedro Pierluisi. . “Todas las voces son importantes, todos ustedes son esenciales en esta lucha, todos ustedes son representantes del ansia, del hambre de justicia del pueblo puertorriqueño”.

Freedom for Oscar López
By Cándida Cotto
Published: Tuesday, June 5, 2012
http://www.claridadpuertorico.com/content.html?news=BD5CAE32EB00A54AA6CA2B1D2E8ADD4D

Physical freedom. That's what the Puerto Rican
people demanded this Tuesday of president Barack
Obama for Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera.

In towns like his hometown San Sebastián,
neighboring Lares (Altar of the Homeland),
Mayagüez, Humacao, San Germán, Vieques and San
Juan, different groups including university
youth, politicians, civic and cultural displayed
enormous banners demanding Oscar's immediate
release. A plane with a banner with the saying
"Freedom for Oscar!" flew over the San Juan area at noon.

The activities were part of the Human Rights
Committee of Puerto Rico's (CPDH by its Spanish
initials) offensive in its campaign for the
release of López Rivera as well as Puerto Rican
political prisoners and brothers Avelino y Norberto González Claudio.


At a morning press conference held at the Bar
Association's headquarters in Miramar, more than
a dozen personalities renowned in their
respective areas ­ artists; activists; feminists;
political, union and religious leaders; political
and professional organizations; and ex-political
prisoners united their voices in support of
freedom for Oscar López Rivera, who this Tuesday,
May 29, has served 31 calendar years in prison,
which makes him the longest held political
prisoner. He has served more time in prison than
political prisoners Nelson Mandela, leader of the
South African nation, and Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian leader.

Human Rights Committee (CPDH) spokesperson,
attorney Luis Nieves Falcón, talked about the new
aspects of work in the campaign for Oscar's
release. He explained that the campaign is in a
critical phase which will intensify through the
2012 election season in the United States.

The campaign for Oscar's release is being carried
out in three areas ­ nationally, internationally,
and in the United States. As for the
international work, he reported that Nobel
Laureates Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Adolfo Pérez
Esquivel y Desmond Mpilo Tutu have signed on. In
each of their letters sent to president Obama,
they affirmed, "working for reconciliation and
peace, we feel newly obliged to repeat Isaiah's
demand: bring out the prisoners from prison."
Other prominent leaders from India have asked
president Obama to release López Rivera,
including Narayan Desai, chancellor of the
university founded and led by Gandhi until his
death in 1948; Mahaved Desai, son of Gandhi's
biographer; Arundhati Roy, prominent social
critic and writer; Ashis Nandy, social
theoretician renowned as one of the 100 most
distinguished intellectuals in the world; and Ela
Gandhi, Gandhi's granddaughter, who was a member
of Parliament in South Africa and member of the
African National Congress (ANC).

In the Americas, the Socialist International (IS
by its Spanish initials), which includes
socialist political parties from throughout the
world, passed a resolution at its recent meeting,
at the request of the Puerto Rican Independence
Party (PIP). The president of Nicaragua, Daniel
Ortega, joined the request. Another international
organism that also demanded Oscar's release in
the past few months is the International Network
of Women Against Militarism, which includes
representatives from Guam, Japan, Hawaii,
Okinawa, South Korea, the Philippines, the United States, and Puerto Rico.

Also, the first Congress for Regional Political
Integration, held in Uruguay in April, included
its support for Oscar's release in its closing
statement. This congress was convened by the
Uruguayan Students Federation and was attended by
former Puerto Rican political prisoner Elizam Escobar.

In the religious arena, the Regional Ecumenical
Organization and the National Council of Churches
(in which 26 regional leaders participated) in a
recent meeting in Lebanon, passed and sent a
message to President Obama. "As people of faith,
we appeal to your sense of justice, your
humanitarian spirit and your good judgment to
respectfully request that you make a decision to
release Mr. López Rivera and allow him to come
home," reads part of the message. At the meeting
were representatives from Switzerland, India,
Ethiopia, Nigeria, Cuba, Jamaica, Zimbabwe, the
People's Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany,
Canada, Norway, Hong Kong, Finland, Malaysia,
Lebanon, South Korea, Tahiti, Ecuador, Ghana, Trinidad Tobago and Puerto Rico.

In the United States
In the United States the campaign is led by the
National Boricua Human Rights Network (NBHRN)
from Chicago, where the Puerto Rican political
prisoner grew up and developed as a community
leader in the Puerto Rican community of Humboldt
Park. Nieves Falcón stated that in Chicago the
Network is carrying out intense work in Puerto
Rican and Mexican communities asking Latino votes
to ask president Obama to release López Rivera.
One of the activities organized by the Network is
the event "31 Days for 31 Years," consisting of
an improvised cell with a jailer, where 31
activists and community residents spend 24 hours
in the cell, to represent in a dramatic way the
significance of Oscar's unjust imprisonment.
Among those who have spent hours in the cell are
the Muslim minister Abel Muhammed and Puerto Rican plastic artist
Antonio Martorell.

Other cities where activities are also being held
include New York, San Francisco, Detroit,
Cleveland, Buffalo, and the states of
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Tennessee, Florida and
other Latino sectors with electoral force
necessary for president Obama's reelection.

Also, solidarity organizations in the U.S. ­ the
War Resisters League, (WRL), Resistance in
Brooklyn (RNB), Interfaith Prisoners of Concience
Project (IPCP) and the Network (NBHRN) are
preparing to publish a book and are working on a
September 2012 meeting of African American
leaders who support López Rivera’s release.

In the Homeland
Among the activities being developed in Puerto
Rico is the collection of signatures from women
on a letter addressed to Michelle Obama, the
President's wife, asking her intervention on
behalf of Oscar. The effort is being coordinated
by feminist activist attorney Josefina Pantoja.
"We are asking that since she also believes in
human rights and has proved this, as an attorney
and now as the first lady, that she intercede
with her husband," Pantoja said about the purpose
of the letter. The letter is available for those
who want to sign at the Bar Association and at the weekly newspaper CLARIDAD.

The celebration of religious services by various
denominations, the dedication of union activities
on May 1st, sports activities such as the 5 K
race, city council resolutions, and the painting
of public murals are some of the activities
exposing the Puerto Rican patriot's situation.
The presentation of an exhibit of Oscar's
paintings, On the Verge of Freedom, which has
already been to 31 cities and 21 museums,
including universities and cultural centers
throughout the country, will next open from May
31 to June 28 at Galería Zahir in San Sebastián.

Support for Oscar articulated
"Here we are, with the ex-political prisoners.
For me that is the proof, as if we need more
proof than the voices of consent of the entire
civil society in Puerto Rico gethered here ­ that
the ex-political prisoenrs who have been living
more than 12 years among you, productive people,
here and in the United States ­ they are the
proof that Obama runs no risk in letting Oscar
live among us,” said Jan Susler, López Rivera’s
legal advisor, who was present at the press conference.

Meanwhile, Methodist minister Eunice Santana
claimed, "It seems to me that if there is a
sector for which it should be easy to articulate
support and work for the release of Oscar as a
political prisoner, it is the religious sector.
Jesus was a political prisoner. Thus we say in
the churches, take a new look at your origins,
take a new look at what it means, what is implied
in being a political prisoner, the suffering, the
taunts, when they are subjected to injustice,
that such people may be free and sharing and working with their people."

Reverend Enrique Lozada, president of the
National Council of Churches, said that the
churches that comprise the Council have passed
resolutions supporting Oscar's release, as they
understand it as "an act of justice, an act of
dignity," and he quoted Luke 4:8.

Another clergy at the press conference was Father
Pedro Ortiz, who reaffirmed the commitment in the
framework of the teaching of the Catholic Church,
to struggle for peace but making justice, and
social justice, a precondition. Ortiz spoke of
the commitment to work and the direct way lay
people participate in their communities with
respect to Oscar, and he pointed out how valuable
the testimony of the ex-political prisoners has
been in transforming people's conscience.

"Reach out to Oscar. It's very little to to do,
because he has given us his life. I hope we all
do everything we can, in one way or another, for
Oscar's release," said Nationalist leader Rafael
Cancel Miranda, who also served 25 years in
prison for struggling for the independence of Puerto Rico.

Also participating in the conference were the
PIP's gubernatorial candidate, attorney Juan
Dalmau, and its candidate for resident
commissioner, attorney Juan Mercado; the Popular
Democratic Party's candidate for Mayor of San
Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, who said that same day
she had send her 300th letter to President Obama
seeking Oscar's release. Union leaders Luis
Pedraza Leduc, of the Union Coordinating
Committee (CS by its Spanish initials) and José
Manuel Báez; president of the Bar Association,
attorney Osvaldo Toledo; and activist Alberto de
Jesús, known as ‘Tito Kayak.” The renowned
patriotic singer Danny Rivera and the young singer
Chabela Rodríguez were there. Also attending were
historian José Paraliticci, member of the
Sovereigntist Union Movement, and the
ex-political prisoners Alicia Rodríguez, Luis
Rosa, Elizam Escobar, Edwin Cortés and Juan Segarra Palmer.

At the conclusion, attorney Eduardo Villanueva,
coordinator of the CPDH, thanked all those
present, including dozens of militant
independentistas and the voices of various
organizations, for their perseverance in
demanding Oscar's release. He also mentioned
support from members of the New Progressive Party
(PNP by its Spanish initials), including mayors,
legislators, and resident commissioner Pedro
Pierluisi. "All these voices are important. You
are all essential in this struggle. You all
represent the Puerto Rican people's longing and hunger for justice."

Oscar Lopez Rivera - Message for Anniversary of his arrest

Oscar López Rivera is a Puerto Rican political
prisoner serving a 70 year sentence for seditious
conspiracy. He was arrested on May 29, 1981 and
as part of the campaign for his freedom, the
National Boricua Human Rights Network, Batey
Urbano and Latin@ Coalition have created "31 DAYS
FOR 31 YEARS" - A Multimedia and Interactive
Exhibit for the Release of Oscar López Rivera.

Oscar Lopez Rivera message for May 29, 2012

Greetings with Much Respect and Love

i want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the
Puerto Rican people in PR and in the diaspora for
the support you have given me during the past 31
years. i also want to express the same gratitude
to the freedom and justice loving people in the
u.s. and in different parts of the world for the
solidarity they've shared with me. The support
i've received has been a fountain of strength
that has helped me face and deal with the
difficult challenges i've experienced in prison
during the past 31 years, and to remain morally
and spiritually strong to continue struggling and resisting.

The 31 years seem to have passed fleetingly. Many
radical changes have occurred all over the world
during this period of time. In Latin America
progressive presidents rule in Venezuela,
Ecuador, Bolivia, Uruguay, El Salvador,
Nicaragua, Brazil and Argentina. In the last two
countries the presidents are progressive women.
And in Puerto Rico the us navy is no longer
present in Vieques. Unfortunately, the most
important change Puerto Ricans need has not taken
place. Because colonialism seems to be more entrenched now than ever.

It was Jose Marti who said that for a people to
be free they needed to be cultured. i believe
Puerto Ricans are a cultured people. Yet we still
are a colonized people. We are also a morally,
mentally, spiritually strong people. But we
haven't been able to make Puerto Rico a free and sovereign nation.

It was Albert Einstein who said that by repeating
the same experiment the results were always going
to be the same. Doing that is nothing else than
an exercise in futility. And Puerto Rican
independentists have been repeating the same
experiment for decades and obtaining the same
results without being able to achieve their goal
of an independent and sovereign nation. The
celebration of plebiscites has been such an
experiment. So why do we continue engaging in
Sisyphean tasks? What should we do? Let's pay
heed to Einstein's wise warning.

My proposal is a simple one. Let's work on the
problems we can resolve with the means and
resources we have at our disposal. For example,
let's take one problem related to the health
issue we are facing - obesity. To resolve this
problem a simple change in lifestyle will
do. Eat a healthy diet, exercise and create a
support network. We can also start programs of
urban gardening. There's space for such a program
in the 78 municipalities in Puerto Rico. And in
those spaces we can grow healthy products that
can help with a nutritional diet. We can look
for alternative sources of energy and of
transportation. Let's start thinking of changes
we can make in our lifestyles and we can resolve
some of the difficult problems we face. Problems
shouldn't intimidate or scare us. They should
produce ideas in our heads and challenge us to
find solutions. Finding solutions to problems
give us confidence, and help us transcend our
colonized mentality. And that transcendence gets
us closer to our goal of achieving an independent
and sovereign nation and a better and more just
world. We are intelligent enough to know what
needs to be done. We can change lifestyles in
Puerto Rico and in the Puerto Rican diaspora and
by doing so we will grow stronger morally,
physically, spiritually and mentally. We can
make Puerto Rico a free and sovereign nation.
En resistencia y lucha, OLR.


WE CAN FREE OSCAR LÓPEZ RIVERA

Alejandro Luis Molina
alejandrom@boricuahumanrights.org
Skype: alejandromann

Coordinating Committee
National Boricua Human Rights Network
2739 W. Division Street
Chicago IL 60622
www.boricuahumanrights.org

Exhibit highlights plight of Puerto Rican political prisoner

By Starla Muhammad -Staff Writer- | Last updated: May 21, 2012 - The Final Call¡Libertad Para Oscar López Rivera! Free Oscar López Rivera!
 
CHICAGO (FinalCall.com) - Free Oscar López Rivera! That is the cry from supporters of the longest imprisoned freedom fighter for Puerto Rican independence. To make their point, friends and family of Mr. López Rivera along with community activists have sentenced themselves to “jail.”

In a show of solidarity, they are each spending 24 hours “behind bars” in a six by six foot cell to highlight the plight of Mr. López Rivera and other political prisoners currently languishing in America’s prison industrial complex. Mr. López Rivera was sentenced to prison in 1981 for seditious conspiracy and minor arms charges and has spent the last three decades incarcerated.

Oscar Lopez Rivera has been in prison three decades and is currently incarcerated in Indiana.

Advocates for Mr. López Rivera, 69, are showing their support through “31 Days for 31 Years,” an interactive, multi-media art exhibit housed in Batey Urbano, a cultural youth center located in Chicago’s predominately Puerto Rican, “Paseo Boricua” neighborhood.

His supporters said the continued imprisonment is unjust and starting April 29, 31 activists each began spending one day in a makeshift storefront prison cell with “guard” posted outside.
“All the campaign is saying is 31 years is a horrendous, disproportionate sentence for this man to have served when you have rapists, prisoners, pedophiles getting out in 12 to 15 years,” said Alejandro Luis Molina of the National Boricua Human Rights Network that along with Batey Urbano and Latin@Coalition are coordinating the exhibit and fighting on behalf of Mr. López Rivera.

Many Puerto Ricans in the U.S. and Puerto Rico view Mr. López Rivera, a Vietnam Veteran as a hero and servant of his people.

Mr. López Rivera was well-known as a community activist in Chicago, helping to fund a halfway house for convicted drug addicts, founder of a high school, the Puerto Rican Cultural Center and other programs.

A vocal advocate for the independence of Puerto Rico, the U.S. government accused Mr. López Rivera and others of being behind a series of bombings in the 1970s in Chicago and New York, resulting in five deaths. Mr. López Rivera and the others were accused of belonging to Fuezas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (Armed Forces of National Liberation), described as a Puerto Rican nationalist group. The group was accused of trying to overthrow the U.S. government in Puerto Rico.
However, according to reports, during his trial, Mr. López Rivera was not linked to specific bombings. Offered conditional clemency by then President Bill Clinton in 1999, Mr. López Rivera rejected the offer because it did not include two other political prisoners. His sister Zenaida reportedly said on parole Mr. López Rivera said he would be “in prison outside of prison.”

Community activists participate in 31 Days for 31 Years exhibit to call attention to plight of Oscar Lopez Rivera and other Puerto Rican political prisoners. L-r, Abel Muhammad, Jessica Fuentes, Alejandro Molina and Matt McCanna. Photos: Starla Muhammad

“None of the prisoners including Oscar when they were arrested in 1980, 81 and 83 were charged with anything like causing a death, causing bodily harm, causing the spilling of a drop of blood. They weren’t charged with that,” Mr. Molina told The Final Call. Each day of the exhibit, features a 31 second video clip of the “prisoner” voicing support for the freedom campaign. Each video can be seen online.

Shuffled around to several prisons around the country he is currently confined in a federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., where he has been the past eight years and has a scheduled release date of July 27, 2027. Mr. López Rivera has had a perfect disciplinary record, although he spent a dozen years in solitary confinement his supporters point out.
The idea for the exhibit began six years ago said Mr. Molina. The concept for the symbolic cell was so young people, community residents, activists and family members of Mr. López Rivera could take one day staying in the mock cell to educate and familiarize the community about the freedom fighter he added.

Through the years the exhibit featured artwork and letters by Mr. López Rivera, art by former political prisoner Carlos Alberto and literature from the campaign to free others behind bars.
“The idea was that whoever walked in would be saturated in educational material as well as be able to walk out with reading material that addressed both the international legal aspects of the campaign as well as aspects of the campaign in Puerto Rico, Chicago and the Puerto Rican Diaspora,” said Mr. Molina.

“The project that we have here, 31 Days For 31 Years, is a way to build and learn upon historical memory. The reality of our youth in this community is they don’t know about their history because of the way CPS (Chicago Public Schools) history department is set up,” said Jessica Fuentes, director of Batey Urbano.

Ms. Fuentes said, as she began learning about her Puerto Rican and Afro-Caribbean history including the story of Mr. López Rivera, it moved her to become active in the community. Learning that Puerto Rico is a colonial property of the United States impacted her deeply, she added.

The 21-year-old activist spent day two in the mock cell and said young Puerto Ricans she comes into contact with go through a “culture shock” when they begin learning about their true history but become active once they learn.

“It’s a calling. You cannot learn about your history, understand the conditions that your people are in and not feel like you have to do something about that. Most of our young people feel that way. They feel like they have to be part of this transformative process,” said Ms. Fuentes.

Abel Muhammad is a student minister in the Nation of Islam and the National Latino Representative of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. Mr. Muhammad spent day 4 in the exhibit and has met several former Puerto Rican political prisoners.

“I personally wanted to do whatever I could to bring attention to it because it’s really an unjust sentence that has been given to him. Not so much because I’m Mexican. My brothers are Puerto Rican, my sisters are Puerto Rican, Black, Indigenous, all those who fight and struggle for justice,” said Mr. Muhammad.

“Hopefully we can do something to get our brother home because he’s already sacrificed more than should have been sacrificed in terms of the time of his life, which he can’t get back and he should be home with his family so that we can give him the honor and respect that he’s due,” added Mr. Muhammad.

According to Mr. Molina there are two other Puerto Rican political prisoners, Avelino González-Claudio arrested four years ago and his brother Noberto arrested in 2011. Accused of being members of a Puerto Rican independence group, “Los Machetero,” the brothers were accused of participating in an armed robbery in 1983 of a Wells Fargo depot in Connecticut. Avelino is scheduled to be released in October due to a medical issue.

The independence of Puerto Rico is an important crusade for many in the Puerto Rican community. Claimed by Christopher Columbus in 1493, Tainos, the original indigenous inhabitants of Puerto Rico were enslaved by the Spaniards.

Now, a Commonwealth of the U.S., Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship in 1917. They elect their own governor. The president of the U.S. is also over Puerto Rico though Puerto Ricans are not permitted to vote in U.S. elections.

A debate has raged for years on whether Puerto Rico should remain a U.S. territory, be granted statehood or be independent. Puerto Ricans are scheduled to vote on their fate again Nov. 6, later this year.

“It’s absolutely true the root cause of Oscar being in jail is that Puerto Rico is a colony. And it’s absolutely true there have been succeeding generations since the 1950s of Puerto Ricans who have been willing to fight for Puerto Rico’s freedom and that’s the reason they’re in prison,” said Mr. Molina.

“These people were not social criminals, they didn’t have criminal backgrounds. If anything, they were people who little by little became involved in the patriotic movement to decolonize Puerto Rico,” he added.

“Over the years representatives from every political strata in Puerto Rico, the Statehood party, the Commonwealth party, the Independence party have signed letters and openly and vocally supported Oscar’s freedom because his crime is that of wanting his country free,” said Mr. Molina.
May 29 will mark the 31st day of the exhibit. Organizers will hold a press conference that day along with his family and friends.

(For more information on “31 Days For 31 Years” and to visit the exhibit, visit www.boricuahumanrights.org or www.bateyurbano.net)

Raise funds for Oscar López Rivera book - Between Torture and Resistance

Kickstarter Fundraising Campaign for
The Book: Oscar López Rivera: Between Torture and Resistance



Goal: $3,500

Our goal is to publish, in cooperation with
renowned human rights activist and author Luis
Nieves Falcon, the English-language edition of
the recently published book Oscar Lopez Rivera:
Between Torture and Resistance (San Juan, Comite
pro Derechos Humanos de Puerto Rico). It is the
story of one of Latin America's longest-held
political prisoners, a Puerto Rican
pro-independence activist who was convicted of
the political "crime" of seditious conspiracy,
not of harming anyone. Lavishly illustrated with
photos of his life and artwork (he has become a
painter during his now over thirty years behind
bars), the book is an easily accessible
introduction to U.S.-Puerto Rico relations and contemporary prison issues.

TO MAKE AN ONLINE DONATION TO THIS CAMPAIGN, and
to get more info, including the gifts you will
receive for your donation at different levels, go to this site:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/573856605/oscar-lopez-rivera-between-torture-and-resistance?ref=email

**********************************************
About the Project Coordinators

Educator-author-activist Matt Meyer has written
and edited six books on contemporary liberation
movements, with over twenty-five years of
teaching experience to his credit. A leader of
the Peace and Justice Studies Association and the
War Resisters League, he is coordinating this
project on behalf of the local anti-imperialist
collective Resistance in Brooklyn, which will
serve as co-publisher of the book along with the
Interfaith Prisoners of Conscience Project and PM Press.

This work is being done under the direct
supervision of world-renowned lawyer,
psychologist, professor, and sociologist Luis
Nieves Falcón. At the intellectual and activist
forefront of every major modern campaign for
Puerto Rican sovereignty, Dr. Nieves Falcón has
served as chairman of the Puerto Rico Committee
for Human Rights, the Puerto Rican PEN Club, and
the International League for the Rights and Liberation of the Peoples.

Response to Daily News attack on Oscar López Rivera

A Response to the New York Daily News
Perpetuating False Charges on the 1975 Fraunces Tavern Bombing

By Jan Susler (January 26, 2012)
www.boricuahumanrights.org

Oscar López Rivera, a 69-year-old decorated
Vietnam veteran, has spent 31 years in U.S.
prison for his commitment to the independence of
Puerto Rico. He has the dubious distinction of
being the longest held pro-independence prisoner
in Puerto Rico's history of seeking
self-determination - and thousands preceded him.
Convicted of seditious conspiracy in Chicago, he
is serving a sentence of 70 years, although he
was not convicted of harming or killing anyone.

If you read the New York Daily News article
published this year on January 24th, on the 37th
anniversary of the bombing of Fraunces Tavern,
you wouldn't know this . . . and you would be
left with the impression that López Rivera should
remain in prison because he is somehow
responsible for that tragic action. That is,
sadly, what the FBI has led the victims to
believe, and it is most certainly the weapon
wielded by the FBI in its unceasing efforts to
convince the public, the U.S. Parole Commission,
and the President, that López Rivera should remain in prison.

López Rivera has denied participation in the 1975
tragedy at Fraunces Tavern. There is no evidence
to connect him to it. If the FBI had such
evidence, it would surely prosecute him - but in
the 37 years since, it has not. Instead, it has
waged a campaign of guilt by association, using
its bully pulpit to prolong his imprisonment, and
thereby punish him for his commitment to the independence of Puerto Rico.

In fact, during his 1981 trial for seditious
conspiracy, López Rivera presented no defense in
court. Prosecutors risked little, if anything, in
charging him on this case. They did not charge
him - again, because there simply is not a shred
of evidence that could even remotely link him to
the Fraunces Tavern event. The New York Daily
News has done its readers - and more importantly,
truth and justice - a great disservice by
implying there is somehow some kind of link
between López Rivera and this case, a link that
somehow has mysteriously eluded prosecutors, the
courts and the FBI for more than 31 years.

A campaign for the release of López Rivera and
his co-defendants, which enjoyed broad support
throughout Puerto Rican civil society and among
the international human rights and faith
community, resulted in President Clinton's 1999
offer to commute the sentences of most of them.
Most were offered immediate release, but López
Rivera would have to serve an additional 10 years
behind bars. The others accepted the president's
offer, were welcomed as returning heroes in
Puerto Rico and Puerto Rican communities in the
U.S., and for the past 12 years have lived
productive, law-abiding lives. Out of concern
that the President's offer did not include all
those in prison for their commitment to
independence , López Rivera rejected the offer.
Had he accepted, he would have been released in
September of 2009. Those excluded from the
president's offer have since been released -
López Rivera is now the only one still in prison
from the Chicago seditious conspiracy cases of the 1980s.

That campaign continues to advocate for López
Rivera's release from prison. Recent activities
in Puerto Rico include mass demonstrations during
President Obama's June visit to the Island,
calling for his release - and elected officials
personally asking the President to release him -
; on the occasion of López Rivera's 69th
birthday, the Catholic Archbishop presiding over
a mass, and a gathering of representatives from
every sector of civil society calling for his
release; and students painting murals featuring
his face and the message "Freedom Now!" for López Rivera.

In the proud United States tradition of
exercising the constitutional power of pardon,
three U.S. Presidents have commuted the sentences
of Puerto Rican political prisoners: President
Truman in 1952, President Carter in 1979, and
President Clinton in 1999. President Obama should
not be fooled by the FBI's campaign of untruths.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
For more information about the campaign for Oscar
Lopez Rivera's release, contact the National
Boricua Human Rights Network at
www.boricuahumanrights.org.

Jan Susler, a partner at the People's Law Office
in Chicago and member of the National Lawyers
Guild, has been working as attorney for the
Puerto Rican political prisoners for the past 30
years, and was lead counsel in the campaign
leading to the 1999 presidential commutation. She
continues to work with those who remain in
prison. She can be reached at 773-235-0070 x 118
and jsusler@aol.com.

Socialist International supports self-determination of Puerto Rico and the release of Oscar López Rivera

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 claridadpuertorico.com

San Juan, Jan. 25 (INS).- The World Council of
the Socialist International, which just met in
Costa Rica, adopted a resolution supporting the
self-determination of Puerto Rico and the release
of political prisoner Oscar López Rivera,
according to today's report from the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP).

PIP spokesperson, Calixto Rivera Negrón,
explained that the resolution of the Socialist
International (SI) endorses the current call of
the United Nations Special Committee on
Decolonization that the General Assembly examine
the colonial case of Puerto Rico and the demand
for the release of the Puerto Rican patriots in
United States prisons, in particular López Rivera
who this year will have served 31 years behind bars.

The SI, the oldest and largest organization of
political parties in the world, also endorsed
efforts led by the PIP leadership to grant the
Puerto Rican independence movement observer
status in the recently created Community of
States of Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAC, by its Spanish initials).

Leaders of social democratic and socialist
parties from every continent attended the meeting in Costa Rica.

The PIP was represented by a delegation comprised
of its president, Rubén Berríos Martínez; former
senator and executive president Fernando Martín;
the candidate for governor of Puerto Rico, Juan
Dalmau, and the candidate for resident
commissioner in Washington, Juan Manuel Mercado.

Former senator Berríos Martínez is the honorary
president of the Socialist International.


Internacional Socialista favorece autodeterminación de Puerto Rico y excarcelación Oscar López Rivera

Por InterNews Service
Publicado: miércoles, 25 de enero de 2012 claridadpuertorico.com

San Juan, 25 ene (INS).- El Consejo Mundial de la
Internacional Socialista, que acaba de sesionar
en Costa Rica, emitió una resolución en apoyo a
la autodeterminación de Puerto Rico y la
excarcelación del prisionero político Oscar López
Rivera, informó hoy el Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño (PIP).

El portavoz del PIP, Calixto Rivera Negrón,
explicó que la resolución de la Internacional
Socialista (IS) respalda el llamamiento vigente
del Comité Especial sobre Descolonización de
Naciones Unidas para que la Asamblea General
examine el caso colonial de Puerto Rico y el
reclamo por la liberación de los patriotas
puertorriqueños en cárceles de los Estados
Unidos, en particular López Rivera, quien cumplirá 31 años de presidio.

La IS, la organización más antigua y grande de
partidos políticos en el mundo, respaldó además
las gestiones que encamina el liderazgo del PIP
para que se otorgue el rango de observador al
independentismo puertorriqueño en la Comunidad de
Estados de América Latina y el Caribe (CELAC), de reciente creación.

Al cónclave realizado en Costa Rica asistieron
dirigentes de partidos socialdemócratas y socialistas de todos los continentes.

El PIP estuvo representado por una delegación
integrada por su presidente, Rubén Berríos
Martínez; el exsenador Fernando Martín,
presidente ejecutivo; el candidato a la
gobernación de Puerto Rico, Juan Dalmau, y el
aspirante a delegado en Washington, Juan Manuel Mercado.

El exsenador Berríos Martínez es presidente de
honor de la Internacional Socialista.

Oscar López Rivera: circumstances of an incarceration

By Noel Colón Martínez claridadpuertorico.com
Tuesday, January 10, 2012

The unjust incarceration of our dear friend and
compañero Oscar López Rivera will have lasted for
31 years as of 2012. As with Don Pedro, he was
accused of seditious conspiracy, which is a type
of catchall where a lot of acts and circumstances
are put together to justify a long sentence.
Since it has to do with an accusation for alleged
acts committed to challenge state power, the
state acts as if it were the aggressor seeking
vengeance against the offender who has challenged
it and denied its legitimacy. If circumstances
point to the fact that many people are also
challenging in some fashion its legitimacy and
power, then the conspiracy is to mercilessly
punish the accused, because he represents the
advance stage of a far broader and far more
dangerous threat. That's how I measure the
circumstances that brought the judges to impose
absurd sentences on all the Puerto Rican patriots
who, in the decade of the 80's of the last
century, on various occasions, challenged the
legitimacy of the alleged power and authority of
the United States over our nation.

In the decade of the 80's the contradictions
between the capitalist and socialist worlds
heightened. In the case of the United States, it
saw its national interests threatened in many and
various places. The Soviet Union's support for
those who confronted U.S. power at times when
nuclear proliferation had not resolved the
problem, observed in the Cuban missile crisis in
1962, put the United States on permanent national
security alert. Cuba, 90 miles from Florida, had
decided to continue making good on the history of
solidarity with those who struggled for the
independence of Puerto Rico and, through this
solidarity, Puerto Rico became a permanent
accusation against colonialism put into practice
in the very United Nations. Soviet and Cuban
support made it possible for us to take to the
most diverse stages the just cause of our
freedom. Two years before Oscar was sentenced, in
Mexico, with the decisive support of Cuba and the
Soviet Union, there was a second conference in
solidarity with our struggle for independence
which emphasized the anger of our allies, who
listened to and helped our struggle.

At the time, the struggle within Puerto Rico and
in the United States appeared with a new vigor.
The Puerto Rican Socialist Party was considered
by the United States as an ally of subversion due
to its close ties with the victorious Cuban
Revolution, and there, six years before Oscar was
sentenced, the most successful international
conference in solidarity with our struggle was
held. In the diaspora appeared a new political
militancy that the United States characterized as
terrorist and persecuted with the viciousness
demonstrated by the accusations against the group
that accompanied Oscar to federal prison.

In 1980, Carlos Romero Barceló was re-elected
governor of Puerto Rico, a man who very broad
sectors of our country have held responsible for
the assassinations of Cerro Maravilla and for the
entire conspiracy of the police of Puerto Rico
with the local office of the FBI, dedicated to
carrying out or covering up several
assassinations of militants of the independence
movement, and in the case of Chagui Mari
Pesquera, for the purpose of punishing the militancy of Juan Mari Brás.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan became president of the
United States, a conservative anti-communist who
became the author of a policy destined to combat
progressive forces throughout the world, but
especially in Central America. Those emerging
forces in our region fought fiercely against
autocratic, dictatorial regimes that not only
seized political power from the people but
subjected the region to profound repression,
exploitation and poverty. Amnesty International
reported that in 1981 in Guatemala, over 100,000
Guatemalans had been assassinated by official and
paramilitary forces. To contain those liberation
struggles, the contras were created to detain
popular forces in Nicaragua, Honduras, San
Salvador and Guatemala. The CIA agreed to create
alliances with important collaborating drug
traffickers to hide from Congress an unauthorized
act and at the same time silence the popular
Central American offensive, which finally managed
to take over when the Central American states
decided to put an end to wars induced from the
outside, and in Contadora took the destiny of
their countries into their own hands.

These abuses and injustices were a lesson for
Latin America. From these innumerable abuses and
violations of the peoples of our America has
emerged the new democratic revolution with its
emphasis placed on recuperating that which the
United States impeded for so many dozens of years
without consideration for the methods or the
social and human consequences. Oscar López Rivera
is today living proof of this policy, which
internally within the U.S. has not been revised
or corrected; Oscar has been a worthy fighter for
the freedom of his country, an anti-imperialist,
an anti-colonial fighter who gives honor to the
principles that guided the General Assembly of
the United Nations in approving Resolution 1514
(XV) en 1960, 21 years before he was convicted of
fighting to put an end to colonialism, which is
precisely what is set forth in said Resolution.

The year 2012 commenced with important activities
to coalesce a campaign to finally achieve Oscar's
release. Aside from whatever effort is carried
out on other levels, Oscar's return to his
country cannot and should not come without
achieving the broadest support for his release
from his people acting above and beyond their
political affiliations. Now we speak in
humanitarian terms. Oscar will have served 31
years in prison. I am not aware of any political
prisoner held in custody for a longer period of
time [there are examples of Native American and
Black Liberation Movement leaders who have done
more time in US prisons]. Although the crimes
committed by the United States in its so-called
war against terrorism will be severely judged by
history (Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo, Iraq,
Afghanistan), that country has announced that it
will significantly reduce its armed forces,
because its decline is evident. For imperialism
to take such action is much more difficult than
to recognize the injustice of this long and unusual captivity.

It is possible that the United States may arrive
at the conclusion that the vengeful acts it has
committed against so many Puerto Rican fighters,
and which are demonstrated by the arbitrary
sentences, were dictated by historical situations
that no longer exist. That is what President
Clinton understood at the time. The new president
still doesn't seem to have understood it, or he
feels weaker in the face of a deeply rooted
racist opposition such that he will readily lend
himself to disemboweling at any moment that mix
of fear, prejudice and power that has led to so
many and such mistaken historical decisions by the U.S.

It is up to us to present Oscar as he is:
exceptional proof of the crimes of imperialism,
and from that perspective achieve the
rectification that Oscar and our struggle
deserve. The good will that is being felt in
Puerto Rico, outside of our struggles, is
indicative of an understanding that the
arbitrariness of a judicial sentence should not
necessarily lead to a total dehumanization. We
must all be disposed to contribute in accord with
our efforts so that this year will be the end of
his imprisonment, and we can have our friend and
compañero sharing with his family in our country.

----------------------------------------

Oscar López Rivera: circunstancias de una encarcelación
Por Noel Colón Martínez
Publicado: martes, 10 de enero de 2012 Claridad

La injusta encarcelación del querido amigo y
compañero Oscar López Rivera se habrá extendido
por 31 años durante el 2012. Como Don Pedro, fue
imputado de conspiración sediciosa, que es una
especie de nasa grande donde se juntan muchos
actos y circunstancias para justificar una larga
sentencia. Como se trata de una acusación por
supuestos actos cometidos retando la autoridad
del estado, éste actúa como el agredido que se
venga del ofensor que lo ha retado y le ha negado
legitimidad. Si las circunstancias apuntaran a
que muchos a la vez también retan de alguna
manera su legitimidad y su poder entonces todo
conspira para castigar impiadosamente al imputado
porque él representa la avanzada de una amenaza
mucho más amplia y mucho más peligrosa. Así mido
las circunstancias que llevaron a los jueces a
imponer sentencias absurdas a todos los patriotas
puertorriqueños que en la década del ochenta del
pasado siglo, en una u otra ocasión, retaron la
legitimidad del supuesto poder y autoridad de
Estados Unidos sobre nuestra nación.

En la década del ochenta se acentuaron las
contradicciones entre el mundo capitalista y el
mundo socialista. En el caso de Estados Unidos,
éste se vio amenazado en sus intereses nacionales
en muchos y diversos lugares. El apoyo de la
Unión Soviética a aquellos que confrontaban el
poder de los americanos en momentos en que no se
había resuelto el problema de la proliferación
nuclear, que se atisbó en la crisis de los
misiles en Cuba en 1962, puso a Estados Unidos en
un permanente alerta de seguridad nacional. Cuba,
a 90 millas de Florida, había decidido continuar
haciendo buena la historia de solidaridad con los
luchadores por la independencia de Puerto Rico y
mediante esa solidaridad Puerto Rico se convertía
en una acusación permanente contra el
colonialismo que se practicaba en las barbas de
Naciones Unidas. Con el apoyo soviético y cubano
nos fue posible llevar a los más diversos
escenarios la causa justa de nuestra libertad.
Dos años antes de ser sentenciado Oscar, en
Méjico, con el apoyo decisivo de Cuba y la Unión
Soviética, se celebró una segunda conferencia de
solidaridad con nuestra lucha independentista que
acentuó el enojo con los aliados que le prestaban
oídos y auxiliaban nuestra lucha.

Para entonces, la lucha al interior de Puerto
Rico y dentro de Estados Unidos se manifestaba
con un nuevo vigor. El Partido Socialista
Puertorriqueño era considerado por Estados Unidos
como un aliado de la subversión en virtud de sus
estrechos lazos con la victoriosa Revolución
Cubana y allí, seis años antes de ser sentenciado
Oscar, se había celebrado la más exitosa
conferencia internacional en solidaridad con
nuestra lucha. En la diáspora se manifestó una
nueva militancia política que Estados Unidos
caracterizó como terrorista y persiguió con la
saña que demostraron las acusaciones contra el
grupo que acompañó a Oscar hasta las prisiones federales.

En 1980 revalidó como gobernador de Puerto Rico
Carlos Romero Barceló, a quien sectores muy
amplios de nuestro país lo hemos hecho
responsable de los asesinatos de Cerro Maravilla
y de toda aquella conspiración de la policía de
Puerto Rico con la oficina local del FBI,
dedicados a realizar o encubrir varios asesinatos
contra militantes del movimiento independentista
y en el caso de Chagui Mari Pesquera, con el
objeto de castigar la militancia de Juan Mari Brás.

En 1980 asumió la presidencia de Estados Unidos
Ronald Reagan, un conservador anticomunista que
se convirtió en el artífice de una política
destinada a combatir las fuerzas progresistas en
el mundo, pero sobretodo en Centro América. Esas
fuerzas emergentes en nuestra región combatían
con mucha fuerza unos regímenes autocráticos,
dictatoriales que no sólo les arrebataban el
poder político a los pueblos sino que sumergían
la región en profunda represión, explotación y
pobreza. Amnistía Internacional informaba que en
1981 en Guatemala se habían asesinado más de
100,000 guatemaltecos por fuerzas oficiales y
paramilitares. Para contener esas luchas de
liberación se crearon los contras, para detener
fuerzas populares en Nicaragua, Honduras, San
Salvador y Guatemala. La CIA estuvo de acuerdo en
crear alianzas con importantes narcotraficantes
colaboradores para ocultarle al Congreso una
acción no autorizada y a la vez acallar la
ofensiva popular centroamericana, que finalmente
logró imponerse cuando los estados
centroamericanos decidieron poner fin a unas
guerras inducidas desde el exterior y en
Contadora tomaron el destino de sus países en sus manos.

Fue de esas arbitrariedades e injusticias que
aprendió su lección América Latina. De los
incontables atropellos contra los pueblos de
nuestra América es que ha surgido la nueva
revolución democrática con el énfasis puesto en
las reivindicaciones que Estados Unidos, por
tantas decenas de años impidió, sin poner reparos
en métodos y consecuencias sociales y humanas.
Oscar López Rivera es hoy una evidencia viva de
esa política, que a nivel interno en Estados
Unidos no ha sido revisada ni corregida pues
Oscar ha sido un digno luchador por la libertad
de su país, un antiimperialista, un luchador
anticolonial que le hace honor a los principios
que guiaron a la Asamblea General de Naciones
Unidas a aprobar la Resolución 1514 (XV) en el
año 1960, veintiún años antes de ser convicto
Oscar por luchar para poner fin al colonialismo,
que es justamente aquello que se proclama en dicha
Resolución.

El año 2012 se inició con actividades importantes
para coagular una campaña que logre finalmente la
excarcelación de Oscar. Aparte de cualquier
gestión que se realice a otros niveles, no puede
y no debe producirse el retorno de Oscar a su
país sin que se logre el más amplio apoyo a esa
excarcelación por parte de su pueblo actuando más
allá de afiliaciones políticas. Ahora hablamos el
lenguaje humanitario. Oscar habrá de cumplir 31
años en prisión [hay ejemplos de los nativos
americanos y los líderes del Movimiento de
Liberación Negro que no han hecho más tiempo en
cárceles de EE.UU.] . No conozco un preso
político de mayor antigüedad en reclusión. Aunque
los crímenes cometidos por Estados Unidos en su
llamada lucha contra el terrorismo serán
duramente enjuiciados por la historia (Abu Graib,
Guantánamo, Irak, Afganistán), ese país ha
anunciado que reducirá de forma importante sus
fuerzas armadas porque su declinación es
evidente. Para el imperialismo tomar esas
acciones es mucho más difícil que reconocer la
injusticia de este largo e inusitado cautiverio.

Es posible que Estados Unidos pueda llegar a la
conclusión de que los actos de venganza que
realizó contra tantos luchadores puertorriqueños
y que se manifestaron en sentencias arbitrarias
fueron dictadas por situaciones históricas ya
superadas. El Presidente Clinton lo entendió así
en su momento. El nuevo presidente no parece
haberlo entendido aún o se siente más débil
frente a una oposición de profunda raíz racista
que está muy presta a desentrañar en cualquier
momento esa mezcla de temor, prejuicio y poder
que ha conducido a tantas y equivocadas decisiones
históricas a ese país.

A nosotros nos corresponde presentar a Oscar como
lo que es: evidencia excepcional de los crímenes
del imperialismo y desde esa perspectiva lograr
la rectificación que se le debe a Oscar y a
nuestra lucha. La buena voluntad que se está
dejando sentir en Puerto Rico, al exterior de
nuestras luchas, son indicativas de que se está
entendiendo que la arbitrariedad de una sentencia
judicial no debe llevar necesariamente a la total
deshumanización. Todos debemos estar en
disposición de aportar en la medida de nuestros
esfuerzos para que cese este año el encierro y
podamos tener al amigo y compañero compartiendo con
su familia en nuestro país.

Oscar Lopez Rivera, on your birthday

Jan. 5, 2012 elnuevodia.com

"And in spite of the fact that here the silence
from outside is more painful than the solitude
inside the cave, the song of a bird or the sound
of a cicada always reaches me to awaken my faith
and keep me going.” (Oscar López Rivera)

Oscar López Rivera is turning 69 years old. He
was born on Three Kings Day in San Sebastián. On
May 29, 2012 he will mark the 31st anniversary of
being a political prisoner in United States prison.

With the enormous sensibility that characterizes
his life, Oscar López Rivera presents us with a
unique experience of the meaning and martyrdom of
prison for the spirit of a political prisoner:
"The dehumanization and pernicious existence that
I've suffered since I've been in prison ... is
the death and annihilation of the spirit... this
gulag was a maze of steel and cement constructed
to isolate and incapacitate... We know that
sensory deprivation and the denial of creative
activity causes the spirit to wither and die.
That's exactly what the jailers are trying to do
keeping me here. ... In the case of those of us
who are prisoners for loving and defending our
Homeland, the U.S. government hasn't the
slightest excuse to hold us under such pernicious
conditions ... I am confident that I've chosen to
serve a just and noble cause where that security
resides. A free, democratic and just Homeland
represents a sublime ideal which is worth
struggling for. ... I'm in this dungeon and the
possibilities that I will be released are remote
if not impossible, under an existence the same or
worse than animals caged in the zoo under
physical and spiritual attack but with complete
dignity and with my conscience clean and clear.
... The memory of our pain is worthy of being
appreciated, remembered, and never buried ...
Even though from afar, all those times when you
celebrate together, I enjoy them vicariously."
(“Between Torture and Resistance,” Luis Nieves Falcón, 2011).

In effect, the prolonged imprisonment of Oscar
López Rivera violates the principles and
prevailing norms that prohibit inhumane, cruel
and degrading treatment. The imposition of
disproportionate sentences that result in being
locked away for decades violates the most
elemental norms of coexistence and civilization.

We must recall that the International Court of
Justice has ruled, in the matter of United States
diplomatic and consular personnel in Tehran, that
"the fact of abusively depriving human beings of
their freedom and subjecting them to physically
cruel punishment is manifestly incompatible with
the principles of the United Nations Charter and
with the fundamental rights articulated in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights." (Passed
on May 24, 1980, ICJ, Reports, 1980, par. 91).

The fundamental human rights which are absolute
and cannot be abolished under any circumstance,
including some of those expressed in the
Universal Declaration, comprise the essential
nucleus of human rights, "... expression ... of a
universal juridical conviction: rejection of barbarism."

Time passes very slowly but inexorably witnesses
Oscar's presence as an indictment of colonialism
and the brute force of the empire. And it is that
those who struggle from the very depths of the spirit cannot go unnoticed.

Oscar's life is summarized in his unconditional
love for this homeland that has led him to
sacrifice his life and that of his family in
defense of the dignity and sovereignty of his
people. He has taken every possible risk, the
penalty and pain of prolonged imprisonment,
torture, psychological assault, events that have
not been able to break his free will.

Thus, today we venerate the patriot and recognize
his bravery, temperament, valor, tenacity,
clarity of purpose and unconditional love for
this historic community. Oscar: spaces of light
will open so that you will see and speak to us.
We will sow the land of liberty. We will listen
together to the sound of the birds and the water.
We will paint with you to free the soul. We will
embrace in solidarity the oppressed and the
needy. We will share life from the perspective of
justice. We will be fierce defenders of the
truth. We will never give up the cause our
ancestors were committed to. Because we are
convinced that your voice, your actions, your
silence, your sacrifice and your vital energy
maintain the pole from which the flag of the homeland will fly.

OSCAR, EN TU CUMPLEAÑOS

Juan Santiago Nieves (Abogado) 05 Enero 2012 elnuevodia.com

“Y a pesar que aquí el silencio de afuera es más doloroso que la soledad dentro del antro, siempre llega a mis oídos el canto de un pájaro o el sonido de una chicharra para despertar mi fe y seguir pa’lante” (Oscar López Rivera)

Oscar López Rivera cumple 69 años de edad. Nació el Dia de Reyes en San Sebastián. El 29 de mayo de 2012 cumple 31 años en su condición de prisionero político en cárceles de Estados Unidos.

Con la enorme sensibilidad que caracteriza su vida, Oscar nos presenta una vivencia única del significado y martirio de la cárcel para el espíritu de un prisionero político: “La deshumanización y perniciosa existencia que he sufrido desde que estoy preso ... es la muerte y aniquilamiento del espíritu ... este gulag es un laberinto de acero y cemento construido para aislar e incapacitar... Sabemos que la privación sensorial y la negación de la actividad creativa causan que el espíritu se marchite y muera. Es exactamente lo que los carceleros buscan con mantenerme aquí... En el caso de nosotros que estamos presos por amar y defender nuestra patria, el gobierno estadounidense no tiene la menor razón para enjuiciarnos bajo tan perniciosas condiciones... Tengo confianza en que he escogido servir una causa justa y noble donde descansa esa seguridad. Una patria libre, democrática y justa representa un ideal sublime por el cual vale la pena luchar... Estoy en esta mazmorra ... bajo una existencia igual o peor que las de los animales enjaulados en zoológicos bajo ataques físicos y espirituales, pero con dignidad plena y con mi conciencia limpia y clara... La memoria de nuestro dolor merece ser apreciada, recordada y nunca enterrada... Aunque sea a la distancia, todos los momentos que ustedes celebren juntos yo me los gozaré vicariamente...” (“Entre la tortura y la resistencia”, Luis Nieves Falcón, 2011).

En efecto, el encarcelamiento prolongado de Oscar López Rivera transgrede los principios y normas imperativas que prohíben el trato inhumano, cruel y degradante. La imposición de penas desproporcionadas que conllevan un encierro por décadas violentan las más elementales normas de convivencia y civilización.

Es menester recordar que la Corte Internacional de Justicia ha sustentado, en el asunto del personal diplomático y consular de los Estados Unidos de América en Teherán, que “el hecho de privar abusivamente de la libertad a seres humanos y someterles en condiciones penosas a coacción física, es manifiestamente incompatible con los principios de la Carta de las Naciones Unidas y con los derechos fundamentales enunciados en la Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos”. (Fallo de 24 de mayo de 1980, ICJ, Reports, 1980, párr. 91.)

Los derechos humanos fundamentales, que son absolutos por no poder ser derogados en ninguna circunstancia, entre ellos algunos de los proclamados en la Declaración Universal, integran el núcleo duro de los derechos humanos, “...expresión ... de una convicción jurídica universal: la del rechazo de la barbarie”.

El tiempo pasa muy lentamente, pero atestigua inexorablemente la presencia de Oscar como un pliego acusatorio contra el colonialismo y la fuerza bruta de los imperios. Y es que quienes luchan desde lo más profundo del espíritu no pueden pasar desapercibidos.

La vida de Oscar se resume en su amor incondicional por esta patria que le ha llevado a sacrificar su vida y la de su familia en defensa de la dignidad y soberanía de su pueblo. Ha asumido todos los riesgos posibles, las penurias y dolores de la cárcel prolongada, tortura, agresión psicológica, eventos que no han podido quebrantar su voluntad libertaria.

Por ello, hoy veneramos al patriota y reconocemos su gallardía, temperamento, valor, tenacidad, claridad de propósito y su amor incondicional a esta comunidad histórica. Oscar: se abrirán espacios de luz para que tu veas y nos hables. Sembraremos la tierra de la libertad. Escucharemos juntos el sonido de los pájaros y del agua. Pintaremos contigo para liberar el alma. Daremos un abrazo solidario al oprimido y al necesitado. Compartiremos la vida desde la perspectiva de la justicia. Seremos férreos defensores de la verdad. Nunca rendiremos la causa por convicción de nuestros antepasados. Por que estamos convencidos que tu voz, tus acciones, tu silencio, tu sacrificio y tu energía vital sostienen el asta desde donde se iza la bandera de la patria.

Puerto Rico - Across the board support for release of Oscar López Rivera

Across the board support for release of Oscar López Rivera
Politicians, artists and people of faith support
release of longest held [Puerto Rican] political prisoner

By Edwin J. Rodríguez Rivera /
edwin.rodriguez@elnuevodia.com
January 4, 2012 elnuevodia.com

Politicians from every party, representatives of
the churches, former presidents of the Bar
Association and artists, among others, came
together today as a demonstration of support for the
petition for the release of Puerto Rican political
prisoner Oscar López Rivera.

The Human Rights Committee this morning convened
a press conference to make public the support
from many sectors of society for the petition for
his release and to report the addition of numerous
documents to the petition.

Among the documents that accompany the petition
(which is on its way to the office of president
Barack Obama) are letters from former governors
of Puerto Rico, endorsements of Nobel Peace Prize
laureates, and resolutions from city councils and
churches, among others.

A co-spokesperson for the Committee, Eduardo
Villanueva Muñoz, told this newspaper that it
could be months before Obama responds to the
petition. "There is no deadline by which the
president has to respond," he said, at the same
time he emphasized the achievement that
resolutions of support were included from the Sao
Paulo Forum and the United Nations Decolonization
Committee.

"The United Nations resolution specifically calls
for the release of Oscar López Rivera,” affirmed
the attorney.

Across the board support

Some 60 people attended the conference, including
senator Norma Burgos, representative Carmen Yulín
Cruz, representative Luis Vega Ramos; the mayor
of Comerío, Josean Santiago, and the mayor of Toa
Baja, Aníbal Vega Borges. Also present were PIP
gubernatorial candidate Juan Dalmau, PIP
vice-president María de Lourdes Santiago, as well
as representatives from the Sovereigntist Union
Movement (MUS, by its Spanish initials) and the
National Hostosiano Independence Movement (MINH,
by its Spanish initials). Artists such as Danny
Rivera and Jacobo Morales also showed their support
by attending.

For her part, the political prisoner's daughter,
Clarisa López told the Inter News Service agency
that the last time she visited him, she noted how
the years have taken their toll on her father.

"It something normal for a lot of people (to
watch their father age her father turns 69
years old on Three Kings Day), but I've never had
the opportunity to share with my father outside
prison ... he's in inhumane conditions; we went12
years without contact visits. I became a mother
and he couldn't touch or embrace my daughter
until she was eight years old,” López commented.

Longest held political prisoner

According to information offered by the
Committee, López Rivera is the longest held
political prisoner in the hemisphere. He has been
in prison for 31 years.

Attorney Villanueva explained that in 1999, then
president Bill Clinton offered López Rivera
conditional release if he agreed to serve an
additional 10 years in prison. At the time, López
Rivera did not accept the president's offer,
because political prisoners Carlos Alberto Torres
and Aydé [sic] Beltrán were still in prison.

Torres was released in 2011 [sic] and Beltrán in
2010 [sic], but López Rivera is still behind bars.

Apoyo multisectorial a la excarcelación de Oscar López Rivera

Políticos artistas e iglesias apoyan la excarcelación del preso político más antiguo

López Rivera lleva 31 años en la cárcel. (archivo)

Por Edwin J. Rodríguez Rivera / edwin.rodriguez@elnuevodia.com

Políticos de todos los partidos, representantes de iglesias, expresidentes del Colegio de Abogados y artistas, entre otros, se unieron hoy en señal de apoyo a la petición por la excarcelación del preso político Oscar López Rivera.

El Comité Pro Derechos Humanos celebró esta mañana una conferencia de prensa para hacer público el apoyo multisectorial que tiene la petición de excarcelación e informar que se han añadido a la misma numerosos documentos.

Entre los documentos que acompañan la petición (que está en camino a la oficina del presidente Barack Obama) hay cartas de exgobernadores de Puerto Rico, endosos de premios Nobel de la Paz y resoluciones de asambleas municipales e iglesias, entre otros.

El coportavoz del Comité, Eduardo Villanueva Muñoz, dijo a este diario que podrían pasar meses antes de que Obama conteste la petición. “El presidente no tiene término para contestar”, dijo, al tiempo que recalcó como un logro el que se incluyera una resolución de apoyo por parte del Foro de Sau Paulo y del Comité de Descolonización de las Naciones Unidas.

“La resolución de las Naciones Unidas pide específicamente la excarcelación de Oscar López Rivera”, afirmó el licenciado.

Apoyo multisectorial

Unas 60 personas acudieron a la conferencia, entre los que se encontraban la senadora Norma Burgos, la representante Carmen Yulín Cruz, el representante Luis Vega Ramos; el alcalde de Comerío, Josean Santiago, y el alcalde de Toa Baja, Aníbal Vega Borges. También estuvo presente el candidato pipiolo a la gobernación, Juan Dalmau, y la vicepresidenta del PIP, María de Lourdes Santiago, así como representantes del Movimiento Unión Soberanista (MUS) y el Movimiento Independentista Nacional Hostosiano (MINH). Artistas como Danny Rivera y Jacobo Morales hicieron acto de presencia en señal de apoyo.

Por su parte, la hija del prisionero político, Clarissa López, dijo a la agencia Inter News Service que la última vez que lo visitó notó cómo los años han caído sobre su papá.

“Es algo normal para mucha gente (ver envejecer a su padre, que cumple 69 años este Día de Reyes), pero nunca he tenido la oportunidad de compartir fuera de la prisión con mi papá... está en condiciones infrahumanas, pasamos doce años sin visitas de contacto, me convertí en madre y pudo tocar y abrazar a mi hija cuando tenía ocho años”, comentó López.

El preso político más antiguo

Según la información ofrecida por el Comité, López Rivera es el preso político más antiguo en el hemisferio. Lleva 31 años en la cárcel.

El licenciado Villanueva explicó que en 1999 el entonces presidente Bill Clinton ofreció a López Rivera que cumpliera 10 años en la cárcel y luego continuara en la libre comunidad con libertad condicionada. En ese momento, López Rivera no aceptó la clemencia presidencial hasta que los presos políticos Carlos Alberto Torres y Aydé Beltrán fueran liberados.

Torres salió de la cárcel en el 2011 y Beltrán el 2010. Pero López Rivera sigue preso.

Bar: López Rivera serving ‘longest political imprisonment in history’

Jan. 5, 2011

BY MARIA MIRANDA

Puerto Rico Daily Sun

Oscar López Rivera, a Puerto Rican nationalist who has been imprisoned for almost 30 years, and who was denied parole last year, has become the longest-incarcerated political prisoner in history, the Bar Association’s Human Rights Committee announced Wednesday. Flanked by island artists, politicians and citizens, the committee’s president, Eduardo Villanueva, made the announcement at Bar Association headquarters in Miramar.

The group charged that the U.S. government’s public policy has “two sides” when it comes to requesting the liberation of political prisoners in other countries but then “they don’t set political prisoners from one of their territories free.”

“This is not a security issue, this is an ideological issue,” Toa Baja Mayor Aníbal Vega Borges said.

López Rivera’s daughter, Clarissa, recalled one of the last times she visited her father in prison, describing him as a man who has noticeably aged behind bars.

“It’s something normal for many people (watching their father age, he will turn 69 on Three Kings Day) but I have never had the opportunity to spend time with him outside of prison … he’s living in subhuman conditions. We spent 12 years without visitation rights. I became a mother and he was able to touch and hug my daughter when she was eight years old,” López said.

She added that journalist’s petitions to interview him are always denied “because they want to keep quiet.”

López called on all her friends, and island citizens to write President Obama and any other public workers to help apply pressure for the political prisoner’s freedom.

Last February, the Puerto Rican nationalist who has been imprisoned over 29 years, was denied parole, the U.S. Parole Commission announced.

López Rivera, a member of Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Puertorriqueña (FALN), a pro-independence group that claimed responsibility for bombs set off in New York City and Chicago in the 1970s and 1980s, was convicted in 1981 for seditious conspiracy, among other charges. López Rivera was sentenced to 70 years in prison.

The four-member panel decided that López Rivera, 68, who is serving time at the Federal Correctional Institution in Terre Haute Ind., should remain incarcerated.

“We have to look at whether release would depreciate the seriousness of the offenses or promote disrespect for the law, whether release would jeopardize public safety, and the specific characteristics of the offender,” said Parole Commission Chairman Isaac Fulwood Jr. in a written statement last February.

The decision comes after a January recommendation by a hearing examiner to deny parole.

In 1999, President Bill Clinton offered clemency to López and other members of the group. López Rivera turned down the offer because it did not include the release of two of his comrades.

He would have been freed in 2009 had he accepted the offer. His sister, Zenaida López, said at the time that he refused the clemency because parole would have been “prison outside prison.”

López Rivera is a polarizing figure — to his supporters he’s a political prisoner who’s been wrongly imprisoned — while his opponents view him as a terrorist with blood on his hands.

The FALN, according to authorities, was responsible for dozens of bombings, including one at the Fraunces Tavern in New York in 1975. That bombing killed four people, including Frank Connor, a 33-year-old banker.

Connor’s son, Joseph, has done everything possible to keep López in prison for allegedly killing his father.

López Rivera will likely have to wait until 2021 for a mandatory parole date for his next chance at freedom.

The U.S. Parole Commission denied him parole because they claimed any clemency towards López Rivera would lessen the severity of his crimes.

Oscar López Rivera - Ateneo celebrates Puerto Rican flag's birthday

Dec. 23, 2011 By Rafael R. Díaz Torres Puerto Rico Daily Sun

The cold winter of 1895 in New York City was remembered Thursday by hundreds of persons who gathered under a sunny December sun in front of the Ateneo de Puerto Rico in San Juan to celebrate the 116th anniversary of the island’s national flag.

The one-star symbol, which was designed by a group of exiled pro-independence Puerto Ricans from the anti-imperialist Cuban Revolutionary Party, was raised with a message that sought for more unity with Boricuas who live abroad, as well as with the rest of Latin America.

With the participation of members from the urban music group Calle 13 (13th Street) and an eloquent speech by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Illinois), the 2011 flag ceremony was dedicated to the Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera, who after more than 30 years remains in a U.S. federal prison for allegedly planning seditious activities to overthrow the American colonial government in Puerto Rico through violent means while he was a member of the revolutionary group “Los Macheteros.”

“It’s about time to bring back Oscar and integrate him into Puerto Rican society,” said Rep. Gutiérrez during his speech where he advocated for the liberation of López Rivera.

The event was also dedicated to Calle 13 members for their role as musical ambassadors and their efforts to advocate for the decolonization of Puerto Rico and its political integration into the community of sovereign states in Latin America. The Ateneo’s Ramón Emeterio Betances medal was awarded to the group’s lead singer René Pérez Joglar (13th Street Resident) and his sister and also singer for Calle 13 Ileana Cabra Joglar (Peje 13).

As expected, René used the forum to promote the Puerto Rican political independence cause.

“It is good to know that there is a percentage of Puerto Ricans who want independence, who are proud of only one flag with a sole star,” said Pérez Joglar in reference to the pro-independence people who gathered at the 2011 flag ceremony.

“Education is the new revolution and not the fusil and while I respect those who gave their life for Puerto Rico, the true revolution is through education and with that, we will win any battle,” declared “Residente Calle 13.”

A statue of Ramón Emeterio Betances was also unveiled for the first time as members of the Ateneo’s board of directors presented it to the people minutes before the Puerto Rican flag was raised.

Betances is seen by many Puerto Ricans as the “father” of the country and, along with Eugenio María De Hostos, he was one of the first activists and scholars from the island who promoted the idea of an united Latin America with its totality of nations independent from political colonialism.

From the exile, Betances was one of the intellectual authors of the “Grito de Lares” (Lares Uprising) in September of 1868. He was a medical doctor by profession and dedicated his life to promote the independence of the Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico and Cuba.

Oscar López Rivera: Companero, Brother and Patriot

Oscar: Compañero, Hermano y Patriota

English translation follows Spanish

“... la vida es lucha toda... es mucho más fácil no luchar, rendirse y tomar el camino de los muertos vivos o los vivos muertos. Pero si pretendemos vivir, tenemos que luchar.” Oscar López Rivera Dec. 23, 2011 Claridad El 22 de diciembre de 2011 se producirá un encuentro histórico en el Ateneo Puertorriqueño a las 12 del medio día. El Pueblo de Puerto Rico rendirá sentido homenaje al Patriota Oscar López Rivera y su familia. Oscar cumple 69 años de edad el 6 de enero de 2012. El 29 de mayo de 2012 cumple 31 años en su condición de prisionero político en cárceles de E.U. Con la enorme sensibilidad que caracteriza su vida, Oscar López Rivera nos presenta una vivencia única del significado y martirio de la cárcel para el espíritu de un prisionero político: “Yo uso la palabra ‘espiriticidio’ para describir la deshumanización y perniciosa existencia que he sufrido desde que estoy preso, particularmente durante los años que llevo en esta mazmorra....es espiriticidio por que es la muerte y aniquilamiento del espíritu lo que los carceleros buscan manteniéndome bajo tan deletéreas condiciones. Por un lado, confronto un medioambiente que es un laboratorio de privación sensorial; y por el otro, un régimen repleto de obstáculos para negarme y destruir o paralizar mi creatividad... Al principio dije que este gulag era un laberinto de acero y cemento construido para aislar e incapacitar. Aquí el preso no tiene contacto con otro preso. Fuera del tiempo de ejercicio y recreación. La meta es aislar al preso para que no se cuaje ninguna solidaridad. Las celdas están construidas para garantizar este aislamiento... Yo he dicho que aquí se pretende enmudecernos como las paredes y las rejas de acero. El preso también es intimidado para que mantenga silencio... Sabemos que la privación sensorial y la negación de la actividad creativa causan que el espíritu se marchite y muera. Es exactamente lo que los carceleros buscan con mantenerme aquí. Estoy encerrado en una celda de 8’ de ancho por 9’ de largo por un promedio de 22 horas y media al día...no tengo acceso al aire fresco ni a la luz natural porque aún cuando apago la luz en la celda para dormir, los carceleros mantienen las luces de afuera prendidas y la luz entra a la celda. Algo que puedo decir es que solo veo la sombra de la sombra, pero no el objeto... Cuando me sacan al patio, una vez a la semana por dos horas, al oir el canto de los pájaros es como si fuera música para los oídos... en el transcurso del tiempo, en la prisión he aprendido que desde aquí la comunicación es una con palabras sin alas... Constantemente tengo que buscar energías para darme bríos y animarme... En el caso de nosotros que estamos presos por amar y defender nuestra Patria, el gobierno estadounidense no tiene la menor razón para enjuiciarnos bajo tan perniciosas condiciones... Sé que el espíritu humano tiene la capacidad para resucitar después de sufrir el espiriticidio y como la rosa o la hoja que marchita cae y muere y en su lugar resucita o renace una nueva y más fuerte, mi espíritu también resucitará si los carceleros logran sus metas. ...y a pesar que aquí el silencio de afuera es más doloroso que la soledad dentro del antro, siempre llega a mis oídos el canto de un pájaro o el sonido de una chicharra para despertar mi fe y seguir pa’lante... Sé que si nos atrevemos a luchar el triunfo es inminente y que para los que luchan, la victoria es su recompensa... La Patria es de todas las personas que la amamos. Y si queremos verla libre entonces nos toca a todos(as) luchar para que obtengamos la libertad. Nadie nos la va a dar... La memoria de nuestro dolor merece ser apreciada, recordada, y nunca enterrada... Aunque sea a la distancia, todos los momentos que ustedes celebren juntos yo me los gozaré vicariamente...” Entre la Tortura y la Resistencia, Luis Nieves Falcón, 2011. El colonialismo es un crimen contra la humanidad y una amenaza a la paz de las naciones. Hace más de cien años que el gobierno norteamericano ejercita su dominio sobre nuestro territorio e impone la esclavitud y servidumbre sobre nuestro Pueblo. Sus crímenes y ofensas ya rebasan las características del delincuente habitual y su opresión contra los luchadores y luchadoras por la independencia se aproxima al patrón de crueldad nazi. Nos dice Oscar: “Lo que me da la seguridad que mi espíritu resucitará después de esta penosa prueba, no es un enigma que se pueda descifrar. Tengo confianza que he escogido servir una causa justa y noble donde descansa esa seguridad. Una Patria libre, democrática y justa representa un ideal sublime por el cual vale la pena luchar. Entre este ideal y mi motivación por luchar hay una relación orgánica... La pobreza espiritual nutre la ignorancia y nos roba la conciencia. Y si somos ignorantes y no tenemos conciencia, existimos sin una misión humana... Estoy en esta mazmorra y las posibilidades que salga en libertad son remotas por no decir imposibles, bajo una existencia igual o peor que las de los animales enjaulados en zoológicos bajo ataques físicos y espirituales pero con dignidad plena y con mi conciencia limpia y clara Los que hemos defendido la Patria hemos pagado un precio alto sólo con afirmar que Puerto Rico es una colonia... Por casi 100 años ha sido el independentismo el que ha formulado la concepción de nuestra realidad política afirmando siempre que somos una colonia. Contra viento y marea, pagando el precio de la persecución y la criminalización, el independentismo ha afirmado y reafirmado que el status político es uno colonial. Una verdad irrefutable para todas las personas amantes de la justicia, de la libertad y la verdad... Sabemos que vamos a triunfar porque la verdad tarde o temprano prevalece. El independentismo puede reclamar una victoria porque fue la única fuerza que se atrevió a afirmar que éramos una colonia...”. Cuando los familiares de Oscar icen la bandera nacional en el solemne acto retumbarán las consignas y juramentos de nuestros antepasados: “La mayoría iba cantando y dando ‘vivas a la libertad’. Pedro Pablo González salió de su casa portando una ‘bandera roja’. A su lado iba Clemente Millán con una bandera blanca. Manuel Rojas dio un discurso: ‘...Viva la Libertad, Viva Puerto Rico Libre’. Manuel Cebollero tomo la bandera de Millán y expresó: ‘Libertad o muerte. Viva Puerto Rico Libre. Año 1868’. Entre la medianoche y 3:00 am tomaron el Pueblo. Gritaban: ‘Viva Puerto Rico Libre. Viva la República’. El presidente electo Francisco Ramírez en su primer decreto manifestó”: “PATRIA, JUSTICIA, LIBERTAD: VIVA PUERTO RICO LIBRE” El Grito de Lares, Olga Jiménez de Wagenheim. María Dolores Rodríguez y Ponce de León (Lola Rodríguez de Tío) apercibió desde temprano en nuestro himno nacional “que nuestras mujeres indómitas también sabrán luchar”. Blanca Canales escuchó el llamado, izó la bandera monoestrellada y proclamó la República en Jayuya a mediados del pasado siglo. Todavía sentimos en el alma la ejecución a sangre fría de Matías Brugman y Baldomero (Guayubín) Bauring en la batalla de Lares. Lolita Lebrón, Juan Mari Brás, Oscar Collazo, Irving Flores, Andres Figueroa Cordero, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Carlos Alberto Torres, Edwin Cortés, Antonio Camacho Negrón, Juan Segarra Palmer, Elizam Escobar, Carmen Valentín, Alejandrina Torres, Ricardo Jiménez, Adolfo Matos, Alicia Rodríguez, Alberto Rodríguez, Ida Luz Rodríguez, Luis Rosa y Dylcia Pagán nos acompañan —aún los que partieron— para recordarnos que nuestra tierra está habitada por seres de luz, cuyas vidas ejemplifican el valor y el sacrificio. Griselio Torresola Roura nos enseña que una misión se cumple más allá de la existencia. Se da el todo por el todo. No hay espacio para vacíos ni para la tristeza. El joven trabajador Luis Baldoni Martínez y el estudiante Manuel Suárez Díaz dan testimonio de que en la defensa de nuestra bandera nacional se compromete la vida si fuera necesario. Betances atestigua que 37 años de ausencia de la patria no quebrantan la fe ni el espíritu de lucha; más aún la acentúan y la diseminan. Desde las entrañas mismas del dolor, Albizu nos ilumina: el amor y la lucha por la independencia no admiten ausencias, yo nunca he estado ausente de Puerto Rico, nos dijo. Carmín Pérez nos enseña que la vida tiene sentido si somos consecuentes y perseveramos, que todo sacrificio es una semilla que germinará en las generaciones futuras, su sonrisa era y continúa siendo un aviso de que la lucha revolucionaria sigue. Filiberto Ojeda Ríos nos confirma que la victoria será nuestra, que la historia tiene otra dimensión más allá de la canción de cuna propuesta por el invasor, que la legalidad surge de la condena y ruptura con el régimen colonial y no de la cooperación y complacencia con la metrópolis. Oscar López Rivera nos enseña que estamos curtidos por el hierro, no hay golpe que quebrante nuestra resistencia y reciedumbre, venceremos sobre la cárcel y el destierro. Oscar, juramos que romperemos las cadenas para que tú salgas y nos hables. Abriremos espacios de luz para que veas. Elevaremos nuestro sentido de humanidad como tú propones. Sembraremos la tierra de la libertad. Escucharemos juntos el sonido de los pájaros y del agua. Seremos compasivos. Pintaremos contigo para liberar el alma. Daremos un abrazo solidario al oprimido y al necesitado. Compartiremos la vida desde la perspectiva de la justicia. Seremos férreos defensores de la verdad. Nunca rendiremos la causa por convicción de nuestros antepasados. Y cuando todo eso ocurra tú serás libre, por mandato de fuerzas y circunstancias que el carcelero yanqui nunca entenderá, tal como ocurrió en “El Reino de este Mundo”. Porque tú eres la semilla que sostiene nuestra causa y lucha de liberación nacional. Tu voz, acciones, silencio, sacrificio y energía vital sostienen el asta desde donde se iza la bandera de la Patria. Oscar y nuestros luchadores y luchadoras están guiados por fuerzas del espíritu, del amor y el sacrificio. Por ello, estaremos en el Ateneo con la bandera en alto para testimoniar al mundo que no descansaremos hasta alcanzar su libertad y la de nuestra Patria. ****************************************************************************** OSCAR: COMPAÑERO, BROTHER AND PATRIOT Juan Santiago Nieves December 20, 2011 "... life is a constant struggle... it's much easier to not struggle, to give up and take the path of the dead live ones or the living dead. But if we claim to live, we must struggle." Oscar López Rivera On December 22, 2011, there will be a historic encounter at the Puerto Rican Ateneo at noon. The People of Puerto Rico will render heartfelt homage to Patriot Oscar López Rivera and his family. Oscar will mark his 69th birthday on January 6, 2012. On May 29, 2012, he will mark 31 years as a political prisoner in U.S. prisons. With the enormous sensibility that characterizes his life, Oscar López Rivera presents us with a unique experience of the meaning and martyrdom of prison for the spirit of a political prisoner: "I use the term "spiriticide" to describe the dehumanization and pernicious existence that I've suffered since I've been in prison, particularly during the years in this dungeon ... it's spiriticide because it's death and annihilation of the spirit which the jailers are seeking, keeping me under such deleterious conditions. On one hand, I confront an environment that is a laboratory of sensory deprivation; on the other hand, a regimen replete with obstacles to deny and destroy or paralyze my creativity ... At the beginning I said this gulag was a maze of steel and cement constructed to isolate and incapacitate. Here the prisoner doesn't have contact with another prisoner. Other than exercise and recreation time. The goal is to isolate the prisoner so no solidarity sets in. The cells are constructed to guarantee this isolation ... I've said that here they're trying to silence us like the walls and steel bars. The prisoner is also intimidated to keep silent ... We know that sensory deprivation and the denial of creative activity causes the spirit to wither and die. That's exactly what the jailers are trying to do keeping me here. I'm locked in a cell 8' wide by 9' long for an average of 22 and a half hours a day ... I don't have access to fresh air or natural light, because even when I turn off the light in the cell to sleep, the jailers keep the lights on outside, and the light enters the cell. Something I can say is that I only see the shadow of the shadow, but not the object ... When they take me out to the yard, once a seek for two hours, to hear the birds singing is like music to my ears ... as time has passed, in prison I've learned that from here, communication is with words without wings ... I always have to find the energy to pick up my spirits and get motivated. In the case of those of us who are prisoners for loving and defending our Homeland, the U.S. government hasn't the slightest excuse to hold us under such pernicious conditions ... I know that the human spirit has the capacity to resuscitate after suffering spiriticide, and like the rose or the leaf that withers, falls and dies, and in its place a new and stronger one resuscitates or is reborn, my spirit will also resuscitate if the jailers achieve their goals. ... and in spite of the fact that here the silence from outside is more painful than the solitude inside the cave, the song of a bird or the sound of a cicada always reaches me to awaken my faith and keep me going ... I know that if we dare to struggle, triumph is imminent, and for those who struggle, victory is their reward ... The Homeland belongs to every one of us who loves her. And if we want to see her free, then it's our responsibility to struggle so we can win that freedom. No one is going to give it to us ... The memory of our pain is worthy of being appreciated, remembered, and never buried ... Even though from afar, all those times when you celebrate together, I enjoy them vicariously." Between Torture and Resistance, Luis Nieves Falcón, 2011. Colonialism is a crime against humanity and a threat to the peace of nations. Over a hundred years ago, the northamerican government exercised its dominion over our territory and imposed slavery and servitude on our People. Its crimes and offenses have surpassed the characteristics of the habitual criminal and its oppression of those who struggle for independence approximates the pattern of nazi cruelty. Oscar tells us: "What gives me the security that my spirit will resuscitate after this arduous test is not an enigma that can be deciphered. I have confidence that I've chosen to serve a just and noble cause where that security resides. A free, democratic and just Homeland represents a sublime ideal which is worth struggling for. Between this ideal and my motivation to struggle, there is an organic relationship ... Spiritual poverty nourishes ignorance and robs us of consciousness. And if we are ignorant and we have no conscience, we exist without a human mission ... I'm in this dungeon and the possibilities that I will be released are remote if not impossible, under an existence the same or worse than animals caged in the zoo under physical and spiritual attack but with complete dignity and with my conscience clean and clear. Those of us who have defended the Homeland have paid a high price, just to affirm that Puerto Rico is a colony ... For almost 100 years it's been the independence movement that has formulated that concept of our political reality, always affirming that we're a colony. Against all odds, paying the price of persecuting and criminalization, the independence movement has affirmed and reaffirmed that the political status is that of a colony. An irrefutable truth for all who love justice, freedom and truth ... We know we will win, because sooner or later the truth prevails. The independence movement can claim victory because it was the only force that dared to affirm that we were a colony ..." When Oscar's family raise the national flag in the solemn act they will echo the slogans and oaths of our ancestors: The majority of the people were singing and shouting "long live freedom." Pedro Pablo González left his house carrying ‘a red flag.’ At his side was Clemente Millán with a white flag. Manuel Rojas gave a speech: "... Long Live Freedom, Long Live Free Puerto Rico." Manuel Cebollero took the flag from Millán and said: "Freedom or death. Long live Free Puerto Rico. In 1868." Between midnight and 3:00 a.m. they took the Town. They shouted: "Long live Free Puerto Rico. Long Live the Republic." President-elect Francisco Ramírez in his first decree declared”: HOMELAND, JUSTICE, FREEDOM: LONG LIVE FREE PUERTO RICO Grito de Lares, Olga Jiménez de Wagenheim. María Dolores Rodríguez and Ponce de León (Lola Rodríguez de Tío) from early on prepared in our national hymn "that our indomitable women also know how to fight." Blanca Canales heard the call, raised the Puerto Rican flag and proclaimed the Republic in Jayuya in the middle of the last century. We still feel in our soul the cold-blooded execution of Matías Brugman and Baldomero (Guayubín) Bauring in the battle of Lares. Lolita Lebrón, Juan Mari Brás, Oscar Collazo, Irving Flores, Andrés Figueroa Cordero, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Carlos Alberto Torres, Edwin Cortés, Antonio Camacho Negrón, Juan Segarra Palmer, Elizam Escobar, Carmen Valentín, Alejandrina Torres, Ricardo Jiménez, Adolfo Matos, Alicia Rodríguez, Alberto Rodríguez, Ida Luz Rodríguez, Luis Rosa and Dylcia Pagán accompany us even those who have departed to remind us that our land is inhabited by enlightened beings, whose lives exemplify valor and sacrifice. Griselio Torresola Roura shows us that a mission is accomplished beyond its existence. You give your all for the greater good. There is no room for emptiness or sadness. The young worker Luis Baldoni Martínez and the student Manuel Suárez Díaz provide testimony that in the defense of our national flag you commit your life if that is what is necessary. Betances attests that 37 years of absence from the homeland doesn't shake one's faith or spirit of struggle, but rather accentuate and disseminate them. From the very bowels of pain, Albizu enlightens us: love and struggle for independence do not allow for absence I've never been absent from Puerto Rico, he told us. Carmín Pérez shows us that life makes sense if we are consistent and we persevere, that every sacrifice is a seed that will germinate future generations; her smile was and continues to be a warning that the revolutionary struggle continues. Filiberto Ojeda Ríos confirms for us that victory will be ours, that history has a dimension beyond the lullabies proposed by the invader, that legality emerges from the condemnation of and rupture from the colonial regimen, and not from cooperation and complacency with the metropolis. Oscar López Rivera shows us that we are hardened by steel, that there is no blow that can break our resistence and strength, that we will triumph over jail and exile. Oscar, we swear that we will break the chains so that you can leave prison and speak to us. We will open spaces of light so that you can see. We will raise our sense of humanity as you propose. We will sow the land of freedom. Together we will listen to the sound of the birds and the water. We will be compassionate. We will paint with you to liberate our souls. We will hug in solidarity the oppressed and those in need. We will share life from the perspective of justice. We will be fervent defenders of truth. We will never surrender the cause of our ancestors conviction. And when all this occurs, you will be free, by mandate of forces and circumstances that the yanki jailer will never understand, like what happened in "The Kingdom of this World." Because you are the seed that sustains our cause and struggle for national liberation. Your voice, actions, silence, sacrifice, and vital energy sustains the flagpole from which the flag of the Homeland is flown. Oscar and our other brothers and sisters who struggle are guided by forces of spirit, love and sacrifice. Thus, we will be at the Ateneo with our flag held high to testify to the world that we will never rest until we achieve your freedom and the freedom of our Homeland.