Mr. Speaker,

I had planned to talk about something else this morning, but the events of the last 12 hours changed my plans. I watched this morning on TV and on-line – like a lot of Americans – another of our fellow Americans shot down by police. This time it was in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Earlier this week it was Baton Rouge. But we know it is everywhere. Chicago, Baltimore, South Carolina – it seems that every week or month another black man is shot by police and we always have the same reaction. Oh, that’s a tragedy. Oh, there ought to be an investigation. There will be another lawsuit and another settlement, but no justice. Oh, the Department of Justice and the FBI need to oversee the investigation because we cannot trust police to police themselves. And then we go back to business as usual and nobody actually does anything. State by state, city by city, and county by county we might make this reform or that reform, but there is no national strategy to stop police from killing people – especially black people, especially black men. I wept as I watched the mother of Philando Castile describe her son. She said he has a job. He served children in a cafeteria. He was calm. She said he was not a thug. Why does a black woman in the 21st century in the United States of America, with a black man in the oval office, almost 50 years after Martin Luther King, Jr. was gunned down – why does she have to start her description of her son with “he was not a thug”?? She said “we are being hunted.” Mr. Speaker, this is another sad chapter in American history. I do not feel compelled to say in describing my grandson Luisito, well, first and foremost he is not a gang-banger. He is not a thug. But for this black mother and for a lot of African American mothers in this country, that is something they feel they need to say. She did everything right and her son was shot dead by police. This young man was riding in the passenger seat of a car, with his fiancé, with a four-year-old little girl in the backseat. He had a permit to carry a weapon which he announced to police. So he had gone through the background check, gone through the training and had a concealed-carry permit. But he was shot dead in front of his loved ones. Why is it in 21st century America we have to have a conversation about how to avoid being shot by the police? Why do I have to instruct my 13 year-old grandson about de-escalation? About strategies to prevent a sworn public servant and officer of the court – a trained member of law-enforcement – and I have to instruct my teenage grandson about how to prevent that person from shooting him to death for no reason? Why, Mr. Speaker? We have no national strategy and no national conversation. When Americans are literally crying out in the streets that, yes, in fact, Black Lives Matter, we have no response from this Congress, the people’s house. None. The head of the FBI announces he won’t press charges against a candidate in the Democratic Party – stop everything, let’s have a hearing!! Benghazi. Let’s spend millions on hearings and investigations. Planned Parenthood, let’s form a special committee to do what the majority feels is important from their political point of view. But a young black man is shot by police in his car in cold blood? Nothing. Young men are shot by police, videotapes are withheld from the public and nothing happens. Mr. Speaker, I think black lives matter and I think this Congress should be the place where America comes together to decide what we are going to do about young black men getting shot by police. Not next week, when it happens again. Not next month when it happens again. Not waiting safely until after Election Day when it happens again and again and again. Mr. Speaker, this Congress needs to come together and lead. And we need to start right now.

Óscar López Rivera is a political prisoner who, at 74 years of age, has served 34 years in American prisons, 12 of them in consecutive solitary confinement, because of his ideas. Sentenced to 55 years for seditious conspiracy in 1981 and an additional 15 years for conspiracy to escape in 1987, López Rivera has never been convicted of a violent act. His only idea, overarching as it is, is the independence of Puerto Rico. His continued incarceration today, as the nation ponders the ills of disproportionate criminal sentencing, can only be justified by gross punishment and retribution. Why else keep a 74 year old man whose release is supported by Nobel Peace Prize recipients Desmond Tutu, Rigoberta Menchu and Mairead Maguire, among thousands of others, behind bars for this long? Punishment — that enduring characteristic of American exceptionalism, plain and simple — is the only justification. For our sake, President Barack Obama, please release him. Now. The two consecutive criminal sentences, totaling 70 years, shout out disproportionality thereby reflecting this country’s illogical and unnecessary criminal justice policies — which the Obama administration is trying to correct. Equally important, because Mr. López Rivera is widely considered to be unjustly sentenced for his political beliefs and his advocacy for the independence of Puerto Rico, his continued incarceration is inconsistent with this nation’s values. Seditious conspiracy in 1981 really had no parallel in the nation’s courts since it appears that at that time the only persons even accused of the crime were exclusively persons advocating for Puerto Rican independence. Thus, 55 years for that conviction — where Mr. López Rivera has already served 34 — is disproportionate especially considering that he was never convicted of any violent crime or crimes that caused injuries to others. His 1987 conviction for conspiracy to escape also belies any fair notion of just sentencing upon receiving 15 consecutive years of imprisonment far more than any other members of the conspiracy. Again, Mr. López Rivera was not convicted of actually escaping or even actually attempting to do so. The facts and circumstances of his conspiratorial acts were all part of the public record when President William Clinton offered Mr. López Rivera executive clemency in 1999, noting that the sentences were “out of proportion.” Mr. López Rivera chose not to accept the offer in light of the terms of the offer for his other co-defendants — but that has nothing to do with fair sentencing. In fact, the best practices of sentencing reform in the modern era were recently highlighted by the National Research Council of the National Academies in 2014 in “The Growth of Incarceration in the United States: Exploring Causes and Consequences.” That body of academics concluded that incarceration in America should be balanced by four guiding principles: Proportionality (criminal offenses should be sentenced in proportion to their seriousness); Parsimony (the period of confinement should be sufficient but not greater than necessary to achieve the goals of sentencing policy); Citizenship (the conditions and consequences of incarceration should not be so severe or lasting as to violate one’s fundamental status as a member of society); and, Social Justice (prisons should be instruments of justice and their collective effect should be to promote, not undermine, society’s aspirations for a fair distribution of rights, resources and opportunities). When applied to a 74-year-old man who has spent nearly half of his life imprisoned for his political beliefs, these principles underscore how unjust this case really is. The sentences, as noted above, are patently disproportionate, and given that Mr. López Rivera spent 12 consecutive years in solitary confinement they go beyond any sense of justice. The sentences are also well beyond frugality or parsimony; belie any sense of the value of citizenship given Mr. López Rivera’s age and his life expectancy; and run counter to any modicum of social justice. Under these principles his sentences serve no value except, at best, retribution and we should be well beyond that debilitating and corrosive mind-set in modern sentencing reform. The Obama administration knows better. It has been steadfastly advocating for sentencing reform of late. The President visited a federal prison, a historic and welcome first, while speaking to the scourge of racial profiling, and addressing juvenile justice on one hand, and enduring collateral consequences on the other. The growing support for the release of Mr. López Rivera has unified each of the major political parties in Puerto Rico who along with clergy, unionists, activists and elected and community leaders have made his cause well within the mainstream. Moreover, such a request is not outside the propriety of the power of the executive since granting presidential clemency for prisoners who advocate for Puerto Rico’s independence is not a complete rarity. President Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter and William Clinton have all done it. Instead, what America has in Óscar López Rivera is a beacon of freedom and a symbol of what needs to be rectified at the earliest possible moment in order to restore our standing in the world community and to make palpable the very criminal justice and sentencing reform that has wisely guided this administration. In addition to the support López Rivera receives from Nobel laureates, it was President Obama’s memorable speech in South Africa in 2013 at the commemoration of the life of Mr. Mandela that raised real hopes for his release. The President spoke of Mandela’s activism for freedom, inspiring both him and the whole world and then he spoke of Mandela’s reconciliatory outlook: “It took a man like Madiba to free not the prisoner, but the jailer as well … to teach that reconciliation is not just a matter of ignoring a cruel past, but a means of confronting it with inclusion, generosity and truth.” I personally met with Óscar López Rivera in his prison in Indiana in 2015 as part of a delegation of three attorneys, including his own, the incomparable Jan Susler. López Rivera held no rancor, and was the picture of peace and benevolence. His mind was clear and spirit intact. His return to his cell that day as I exited the visiting room was an affront to everything I have learned about justice in our country. Should President Obama commute his sentence it will not only free Óscar López Rivera, but also the very system that unjustly jails him.

by Juan Cartagena President and General Counsel of LatinoJustice PRLDEF

On Aug. 31, 1772, a hurricane devastated the island of St. Croix, the home of the teenage Alexander Hamilton. In a letter one week later, he described the force of the storm and the destruction it caused as “sufficient to strike astonishment into angels.” His letter included this plea for help for his countrymen: “O ye, who revel in affluence, see the afflictions of humanity and bestow your superfluity to ease them. Say not, we have suffered also, and thence withhold your compassion. What are your sufferings compared to those? Ye have still more than enough left. Act wisely. Succour the miserable and lay up a treasure in Heaven.” So vivid was his account of the disaster that the letter was published in a newspaper in the Virgin Islands, The Royal Danish American Gazette, and used to support relief efforts for the island. I’m invoking Hamilton’s words today, in this plea for relief for Puerto Rico. Much has been said about the dire economic situation pressing down on Puerto Rico. I am the son of Puerto Rican parents. What can I say to persuade elected officials and policy makers to act? What influence do I have to change the minds and hearts of those in Congress to put aside their differences and deal with the crisis confronting 3.5 million American citizens in the Caribbean? I’m not a politician or an economist. I’m a storyteller. More than 150 schools on the island have closed. San Jorge Children’s Hospital, Puerto Rico’s largest pediatric hospital, has been forced to close two wings and 40 rooms, and cannot afford to hire the nurses it needs. It’s estimated that a doctor a day leaves the island. Engineers, accountants, blue-collar workers and entire families are emigrating daily. According to the census, Puerto Rico has lost 9 percent of its population in the last decade, with 84,000 leaving last year alone. This is not the Puerto Rico I remember. Every summer my sister Luz and I stayed with our grandparents in Vega Alta, a small town on the northern coast. My grandfather managed the town credit union — a real-life George Bailey if ever there was one. My grandmother owned a travel agency, Viajes Miranda. My aunt Yamilla owned the school supply store next door, and I sold candy to returning students in August. In Vega Alta, I was “el nene de Luisito, que se fue a Nueva York” (“The son of Luisito, who left for New York”) but welcomed every summer as a cherished member of the community, despite my halting Spanglish. I walked from one end of town to the other, waving at the business owners, many of whom went to church with my grandparents, feeling a sense of community that often eluded me back in New York. Today, most of those storefronts — the school supply shop, the travel agency and many more — are boarded up, with little hope of housing new businesses. Residents like the town’s mayor, Isabelo Molina, and my uncle Elvin, who heads a Pentecostal church there, are working hard to change that. They have learned to stretch a dollar as far as it can go. But Puerto Rico’s $72 billion debt, which is equal to about 68 percent of the island’s gross domestic product, thwarts efforts for economic development. There are remedies when governments run up debt. If Puerto Rico were an American city, it could declare bankruptcy, as Detroit did in 2013. If it were a state, the federal government would surely have already declared emergency measures to help the most vulnerable. But since it is a territory of the United States, there is no system in place to handle the financial and humanitarian crisis that is happening right now. Please let us not get bogged down in Puerto Rico’s status. If a ship is sinking, you don’t ask, “Well, what type of ship is it and what type of ship should it be?” You rescue the people aboard. What Puerto Rico needs, as a first step, is what almost any other company or government has — the ability to restructure its debt. Congress can make that happen. The island is in danger of defaulting on some of its larger loans and it is already being sued by creditors. An act of Congress in support of restructuring would help bring creditors to the table to develop a workable plan that could satisfy debtholders and relieve the punishment of the people of Puerto Rico. This is not a Republican issue. This is not a Democratic issue. This is an American issue. When 3.5 million of our citizens face the consequences of financial collapse, we should act. Because Puerto Ricans can vote neither for the president nor for congressional representatives, it falls to us of Puerto Rican heritage in the continental United States to amplify their plea. By chance, I picked up Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton in 2008 and found the inspiration that changed my life. I recognized, in Hamilton’s ability to write his way out of his difficult circumstances, a kindred spirit. I write about Puerto Rico today just as Hamilton wrote about St. Croix in his time. Congress, please don’t play politics with the lives of 3.5 million Americans. Succor the miserable and lay up a treasure in heaven. We are counting on you.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is a composer, librettist, actor and the creator of “Hamilton” and “In the Heights.” This article originally appeared in the New York Times, March 28, 2016

José R. Sánchez, President and CEO of Norwegian American Hospital, said he was blindsided when Dr. Lee Francis, President and CEO of Erie Family Health, informed him of the decision to terminate the Family Medicine residency training program with Norwegian American Hospital. The program, which provides post-graduate training program for doctors following medical school, is the final step in the physician training process and is critical in shaping the future practice goals of new physicians. Community leaders in Humboldt Park and NAH administrators are extremely upset by this decision to relocate a critical healthcare services and training program from the hospital which has served the community for more than 120 years. The surprise move has set off a chain of events by Norwegian American Hospital, including a letter writing campaign to elected officials as well as two community forums where community leaders, elected officials, and NAH’s leadership and board spoke out to Erie Family Health executives about their opposition to the move. Erie Family Health’s plan is to relocate the hospital component of the Family Medicine residency training program to Swedish Covenant Hospital because of the uncertain financial commitment by Norwegian American Hospital. However, the hospital has made it clear that it was never approached by either of the partners with the opportunity to match the financial terms offered by Swedish, and that several attempts by Norwegian to meet with Erie and Northwestern to discuss the program’s future were canceled or rescheduled. History shows that Norwegian American Hospital has raised concerns with the other partners, Erie Family Health and Northwestern University, about the lack of fairness and equity in the distribution of the federal grant funds which are the predominant funding source for the residency. To date the program has received in excess of $15 million dollars in grant funds, of which Norwegian has received a total of just $80,000 despite their incurring program related costs of $300,000 annually, including malpractice liability coverage for all residents. In total, Norwegian American Hospital has provided more than $2 million dollars of net support to the program in addition to the federal grant. “This is a definite insult to Norwegian American Hospital and the community it serves,” said Maria Muñoz, M.D., obstetrics and gynecology, Norwegian American Hospital. “Erie Clinic and the Family Practice Residency have reaped both clinical and financial benefits from the benevolence of Norwegian and its medical staff for the past five years. It is pretty obvious that the population served by Norwegian was not part of the equation used by Erie when making their decision.” Dr. Muñoz went on to state that taking the patients out of this community doesn’t make sense and the community is the one that is going to suffer. She gave an example of the revamped birth certificate process implemented by Norwegian, which is now used statewide. Norwegian patients provide the data for this process and moving the program will basically eliminate this critical data from the community. This decision, executed by Dr. Francis and Rob Christie, Senior Vice President of External Affairs and Communications, Northwestern Medicine, was communitcated only after Norwegian American Hospital ensured sufficient funding for the recruitment of the fall 2015 class of residents by making available a separate source of funding outside of the federal grant should it be needed. The plan to relocate the program was never shared with Sánchez by Erie or Northwestern until the decision had been finalized. “Since I arrived in 2010, Norwegian American Hospital has consistently supported Erie Family Health’s efforts to grow in our community. We included them in the formation of MyCare, an Accountable Care Entity which now has more than 60,000 lives, and supported their application to take over the city clinic at Western and Division. When Erie took over that clinic, their first action was to sever the longstanding Nurse Midwife practice for Norwegian at that site, decreasing our deliveries by 33% .” Sánchez said. “As far as I’m concerned this is not the behavior of a trusted partner in our community. Their real interest is not in meeting the health needs of the Humboldt Park community, but economically growing their bottom line.” The health disparities of Humboldt Park and Lincoln Square run along two different paths. In a community comparison Lincoln Square’s Hispanic population is 18%, a large contrast to Humboldt Park’s 51%. 35% of Humboldt Park’s population is below the poverty level verses 12% in Lincoln Square. The per capita income in Lincoln Square is $35,500 substantially higher than the $13,000 in Humboldt Park. The deaths per 1000,000 residents from diabetes: 20 in Lincoln Square and 40 in Humboldt Park, stroke, 31 in Lincoln Square and 59 in Humboldt Park, Coronary Heart Disease, 138 in Lincoln Square and 160 in Humboldt Park. Not only does Norwegian American Hospital draw patients from Humboldt Park, but it is also one of the largest employers in the community. This decision will have repercussions for both the local economy and the future of healthcare delivery. “Erie Family Health says their intent is to look for longterm stability, but past history is a strong indication that Norwegian American Hospital has been an unwavering partner and consistent funder on two separate occasions. The rationale behind the decision to move the residency program is not in the best interest of the program, not to mention it would disrupt a long-standing medical education program that brings vital health care to this community,” said Billy Ocasio, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Norwegian American Hospital. “It is extremely obvious that Erie Family Health and Northwestern did not give any consideration to the medical needs of the residents of Humboldt Park before making this decision. Dr. Francis may not even realize that this small move for Erie Family Health will have a big effect in the future given the health disparities of this community.” For NAH board member David Hernández, it’s an issue of trust. “Personally, I feel like we were led down a path. It takes the trust out of the relationship,” he said. “This also demonstrates a complete inconsideration for Norwegian American Hospital, their patients and the Hospital’s role as the economic anchor for Humboldt Park.” The training program made a substantial impact on Norwegian American Hospital and the entire community of Humboldt Park, producing extremely high caliber physicians with an interest in serving the community. A number of residents remained in the community upon graduation and continue to provide care for Norwegian’s patients every day. The program met the goals of the HRSA Teaching Health Center (THC) grant by improving access to primary care and addressing health disparities in local medically underserved areas such as Humboldt Park and East Garfield Park. Three healthcare providers, who sat side by side for years, made training in a true safety-net hospital a national model for improving the health of an underserved population andprovided critically needed access to primary care services with a focus on the clinical and cultural needs of our community. The success of the program was even recognized and supported by our Congressional representatives. “For the last five years, Norwegian American Hospital has been Erie’s biggest supporter and we’re taken by surprise that this has happened,” said Raiza Mendoza, Board member, Norwegian American Hospital Foundation. “A community hospital is a jewel in the community where residents can go and see physicians who they trust and receive quality healthcare close to home. Referring patients to doctors in a different community can be an overwhelming and shocking experience for many of these community members. Why would you want to be further away from the people you are helping?” José E. López, a well-respected community advocate has spent his life fighting for the rights of Puerto Ricans in Humboldt Park. He has built two community centers and a mental health facility, and the Erie Family Health move has sparked resentment. “We’re going to fight for our residents and make sure they have access to the very best health care services available,” he said. “Why do you want to be further away from the people you are helping? Humboldt Park residents will have to travel too far for care and it will limit care for many poorer residents, especially those dependent on public transportation. Erie Family Health obviously hasn’t considered all that is at stake here.” López went on to say that Norwegian serves a predominately minority community with an unemployment rate of 12% with 34% of the population living below the federal poverty level. Neighborhood residents experience significant chronic health disparities such as diabetes with 12% of adults having diabetes compared to the national benchmark of 8%. 36% of adults are obese with a national benchmark of 28%. Local political leaders also blame Erie Family Health for creating this issue. They feel that Erie is disrupting five years of collaboration to gain a strategic advantage, and the proposed move to Swedish Covenant Hospital in Lincoln Square is all about increasing the bottom line. “To move this program out of the community that I represent is really distasteful,” said Cynthia Soto, State Representative, fourth district. “We want high quality physicians to come to Norwegian American Hospital and to stay here and to serve the community. Norwegian American Hospital has served this community for generations, and it is our intention to continue to meet the needs of our patients, in their own community, for years to come.” “This training program has been located at Norwegian American Hospital, in my ward, since its inception and should remain here for the foreseeable future due to significant community need,” said Alderman Roberto Maldonado. “Dr. Francis and Erie completely ignored my letter requesting them to keep the program here in Humboldt Park. I think they are putting profit motivations over the mission of serving our at-risk population. I am extremely disappointed.” “I want to tell Dr. Francis and Dean Harrison to stop ignoring the impact that the absence of this program will have on Norwegian American Hospital and the patients and community we serve. The battles lines are clear. Lives depend on it,” said Sánchez. “Dean is one of the most influential leaders in healthcare in Chicago and Illinois. The decision to prioritize financial benefits for wealthy institutions over improving the health and wellbeing of a community with great need is a failure of that leadership.” Picture of Ald. Santiago and CEO Sánchez originally from Our Urban Times.

by Rebecca Rios, Editor, Que Ondee Sola, NEIU

Que Ondee Sola Magazine (QOS) and Union for Puerto Rican Students (UPRS) at Northeastern Illinois University hosted Plantando Semillas on Thursday, April 14th. The annual event highlights the social, political and cultural connections between Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. Dr. Yarimar Bonilla, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University, gave the keynote address and spoke about colonialism and political practices in the Caribbean. Her lecture provided a visual c
artographic perspective of colonialism, sovereignty and non-sovereign struggles in the Antilles from 1804 (Haitian independence) to 2016. Dr. Bonilla is the author of a seminal work on non-sovereign futures focused on the French Caribbean. Guests included Hon. Jesus Rodriguez- Espinoza, the Consul General of Venezuela in Chicago, Hon. Marcelino Miranda, Consul for Consular Assistance and Legal Affairs from the Consulate General of Mexico in Chicago, and Hon. Marie Casimir, Consultant from the Consulate General of Haiti in Chicago. Hon. Jesús Rodríguez-Espinoza discussed historical implications of colonization on political relationships between Latin America and Africa. He explained the importance of making those connections and getting rid of European or U.S. “middleman” in diplomacy. He also explained the importance of policy in Venezuela, since Hugo Chavez took power, against imperialism and interventionism. Hon. Marcelino Miranda spoke about the cultural landscape of Mexico in relation to Belize, where he lived for many years. He noted the difference between diversity and inclusion. In Belize, he said, people identified with African roots and everyone, regardless of ethnicity, spoke creole. He said this was very different from Mexico. In Mexico, he explained, a small African population existed but was not talked about. Hon. Marie Casimir provided insights into the historical and political connections between Haiti and Latin American. Haiti, she explained, was the first country in the Western Hemisphere to become independent. Alexandre Pétion, from Haiti, aided Simon Bolivar with supplies, soldiers and a printing press in his struggle to liberate Latin America from Spanish colonial rule. This support was crucial in Bolivar’s struggle and, one could argue, it made his success possible, said Casimir. The event also hosted two musical performances. Gerald Alfred, from Kreyòl Roots in Chicago, performed Haitian music to give the audience a taste of the culture, which incorporates love, resistance and hope into song. Finally, Chris Rios and Noele Contreras performed a salsa piece that was upbeat and energetic. Students from LLAS 225: Puerto Ricans and the Caribbean worked in collaboration with QOS and UPRS to put together the event. A group of students from Clemente Community Academy also participated. Over 50 people attended.

by Greg Cook, 90.9WBUR

When Vermont’s Bread and Puppet Theater brought its show “The Seditious Conspiracy Theater Presents: A Monument to the Political Prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera” to New York’s Theater for the New City last December, a woman arrived at the opening night with a letter from López Rivera himself and read it aloud to the crowd before the show. “I would like to thank the members of the Bread and Puppet Theater for its solidarity with the campaign for my excarceration,” Lopez Rivera wrote. “I’m extremely grateful for the support you’re giving me and for all the support you have given to just and noble causes. … Puerto Ricans, who have struggled for the independence and sovereignty of our beloved homeland, have a good appreciation of how important compassion and solidarity are to keep the spirits strong and hopes alive especially when we have had to face oppression, criminalization and imprisonment. I believe no one should accept colonialism no matter where it exists or who practices it, because it’s a crime against humanity.” “We weren’t anticipating it,” puppeteer Joe Therrien says. “That was incredible. We were all just backstage. … It felt really personal to me.” Bread and Puppet Theater, which was founded by Peter Schumann in New York in 1963, is known for its tradition of distributing fresh baked bread free to audiences at the end of performances; its monumental, mythic papier-mâché puppets; and its participation in street protests against the Vietnam War, nuclear weapons, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, American torture. The company was also one of the landmark New York experimental theaters of the 1960s—and continues to elaborate its signature blend of vanguard performance, expressionist dance and folk pageantry. “Peter has said the point [of this show] is to bring enough attention to it that [President] Obama will pardon him before he gets out of office,” Therrien says. “We didn’t expect to hear from him [López Rivera].” Bread and Puppet has long critiqued the problems of the world. But often the issues can seem big and abstract, impenetrable or far away. So the shows become as much about inspiring people not to give up hope as they are about protest. But the Oscar Lopez Rivera show has more specific, concrete, immediate aims. Could this play—which the company will perform at Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s Tower Auditorium in Boston at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, Feb. 17 to 20, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21—actually help win a presidential pardon for Lopez Rivera? “Because of the urgency to get these things to the staff of Obama, because he can grant clemency, we wanted to push the issue as well as can be done,” Schumann says. Then he quips, “And because presidents usually do exactly what puppeteers tell them to, we have a chance here.” More seriously, he adds, “If the public gets excited about an issue that makes a huge difference.” Bread and Puppet Theater performs “The Seditious Conspiracy Theater Presents: A Monument to the Political Prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera” in Glover, Vermont, in August 2015. (Greg Cook/WBUR) Bread and Puppet Theater performs “The Seditious Conspiracy Theater Presents: A Monument to the Political Prisoner Oscar López Rivera” in Glover, Vermont, in August 2015. (Greg Cook/WBUR) Oscar López Rivera is a Vietnam veteran who became a housing activist and a founder of a Latino cultural center in Chicago. But he was also part of the Puerto Rican independence group FALN, a Spanish acronym for Armed Forces of National Liberation, which claimed credit for bombings in the 1970s and ‘80s, mainly in New York, Chicago, Washington and Puerto Rico. Primarily the group seems to have attacked unpopulated buildings, but some of their blasts allegedly killed a handful of people and injured dozens. Lopez Rivera was convicted in 1981 not of any specific bombings, but for seditious conspiracy—plotting to overthrow the United States government in Puerto Rico—as well as armed robbery and other charges. Sentenced to more than five decades in prison, his sentence was extended in the late ’80s for plotting an escape. President Bill Clinton offered to reduce his sentence in 1999, but Lopez Rivera turned it down, reportedly because not all the group’s imprisoned members were offered clemency. Opponents of his release allege that he turned down the offer because he would have been required to renounce violence. Of the more than a dozen members of the group convicted in the early 1980s, he’s the last still in prison. Bread and Puppet’s show arrives as part of a growing movement calling for his release. “He went to prison not for what he did, but for what he preached,” Schumann says. “That is a clear cut case of political imprisonment.” Bread and Puppet’s relationship with the Puerto Rican community goes back to nearly the theater’s beginnings in New York. “One of the first big parades with very large puppets was a Puerto Rican Day parade and it was for voter registration,” Schumann says. One of the theater’s landmark early shows, “A Man Says Goodbye to his Mother” from 1965 or ’66, was inspired by the damage of the Vietnam War to New York’s Puerto Rican community. Schumann says, “There was a group of Puerto Rican mothers who had made something like a club because they had all received the same letter, which began, ‘We regret to inform you…’ Which meant their sons had been killed in Vietnam.” In that show, a soldier goes abroad to bomb his enemy, ultimately killing a child, then is killed himself by the child’s mother in revenge. His body gets sent back home to his own mother. It feels like one of those Greek tragedies in which killing is an inevitable, unbreakable cycle. Last winter, Schumann was encouraged to create a show about Lopez Rivera by Rosa Luisa Márquez, a theater professor at the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan, who for three decades has been a conduit for Puerto Ricans to perform with the company. “It was only logical that, knowing Bread and Puppet’s commitment to social justice and freedom, evident in many shows about individual and collective injustice,” Márquez tells me via email, “they should take into account the life of Oscar Lopez Rivera and his quest for the freedom for Puerto Rico and our collective struggle to help ex-carcelate him from such an extraordinary sentence for imagining a better world, for ‘conspiring seditiously’ against a colonial power such as the U.S.A. and its total control over Puerto Rico.” “It’s a big issue in Puerto Rico,” Schumann says. “The right and the left are all pleading with Obama to set this man free.” Bread and Puppet Theater performs “The Seditious Conspiracy Theater Presents: A Monument to the Political Prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera” in Glover, Vermont, in August 2015. (Greg Cook/WBUR) Bread and Puppet Theater performs “The Seditious Conspiracy Theater Presents: A Monument to the Political Prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera” in Glover, Vermont, in August 2015. (Greg Cook/WBUR) Rehearsals for “The Seditious Conspiracy Theater Presents: A Monument to the Political Prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera” began a year ago with a few performers at the company’s home on a farm in Glover, Vermont. It started as a small clown show, but the production— and cast—grew during the theater’s summer internship program into something monumental and dark. In Boston, it will be performed by a small core group of traveling puppeteers augmented by local volunteers. The play is an indictment of American imperialism— in Puerto Rico as well as in its wars abroad. As Schumann puts it: “This total fake democracy here that pretends to spread peace and harmony by spreading as much war as possible.” The show includes a version of “Man Says Goodbye…” as well as modern dance, giant puppets, poetic and didactic monologues, cruel clowns, mournful ruminations on war, and stark confrontations with the realities of prison. It is not a linear drama, but a series of actions and vignettes. There are striking symbolic images, for example in a prison scene performers sit under a single, bare light blub facing a gray painting of a cell. One by one, they run headlong into the picture and crumple to the ground. “He was in solitary confinement for 12 years,” Schumann says, “which is deemed by most people to be a form of torture.” “Peter responded to the life of Puerto Rico’s Mandela, who’s been in jail for 35 years as he has responded to other important social and political issues that are the essence of his work,” Márquez writes. “The U.S. audience is left with the strong visual image of a man unjustly imprisoned and tortured by the country that prides itself of being the overseer of justice and peace in the world. If theater can make people aware of that, and if by chance, President Obama, the only person that can overturn his sentence, can be made aware of his pardon, then theater has accomplished a concrete goal. In the meantime, more people are made aware of this injustice through the profound power of art.”

por Agustín Criollo Oquero

Como parte de su mensaje de despedida a la presidenta del Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico, la jueza Liana Fiol Matta, luego de que esta anunciara su retiro, el juez asociado Luis F. Estrella Martínez no perdió tiempo en llevar un reclamo para la excarcelación del prisionero político Oscar López Rivera, quien extingue una sentencia de 70 años por conspiración contra el gobierno de los Estados Unidos. Estrella Martínez fue contundente en su reclamo, que levantó el interés de los presentes, entre ellos el gobernador de Puerto Rico, Alejandro García Padilla y el secretario de Justicia, César Miranda. “Aprovecho la última sesión de la Corte Fiol Matta para compartir con ustedes que recientemente he abordado en un artículo de revista el tema del restablecimiento de las relaciones diplomáticas entre los Estados Unidos y Cuba, y cómo el reclamo del respeto a los derechos humano tiene que fluir en ambas vías”, comenzó a exponer el Juez Asociado. “En lo pertinente a la exhortación formulada en la pasada juramentación de la compañera, planteé en ese artículo que las exigencias del Derecho Internacional requieren que los Estados Unidos realice una seria introspección de sus acciones y omisiones en el ámbito de los derechos humanos. En consecuencia, considero que el reclamo dirigido a Cuba no puede ser unilateral y visualizarse como una problemática aislada… los derechos humanos son necesarios en Cuba pero también debieron reconocerse hace mucho tiempo en la base de Guantánamo y en el propio sistema correccional federal, cuyas consecuencias también tocan de cerca vidas puertorriqueñas y seres humanos de otras nacionalidades”, continuó el juez. Entonces, Estrella Martínez esbozó un reclamo directo por la liberación del preso político con más antigüedad en las cárceles estadounidenses. “…y hoy añado que una de esas vidas es la del puertorriqueño Oscar López Rivera, quien ha unido a este pueblo en un reclamo solidario de humanidad”, concluyó para darle paso a un estruendo de aplausos que inundó la Sala de Sesiones del edificio del Tribunal Supremo en Puerta de Tierra. Este articulo originalmente aparecio en noticel.com

By La Voz staff,

In 1992, the Illinois State Legislature established the Cook County Judicial Subcircuits. They were created to ensure more diversity on the bench by having judges elected from the different neighborhoods in Chicago. One of those subcircuits is the 6th, a diverse district with a large Latino presence that includes the neighborhoods of Humboldt Park, Logan Square, West Town, Hermosa and others. In this subcircuit, an important race has caught the attention of many stakeholders. Carlos Claudio, whose parents were born in Puerto Rico, is the only Latino with a contested race in the 6th subcircuit. He already has the support of the majority of Latino elected officials on Chicago’s North Side. Endorsements include: Congressman Luis Gutierrez, Senator Iris Martinez, Representative Luis Arroyo, Sr., Cook County Commissioner Luis Arroyo Jr., Alderman Roberto Maldonado, Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, Alderman Ariel Reboyras, Alderman Milly Santiago, and Alderman Gilbert Villegas. Carlos was born and raised on Chicago’s Northwest side, in the Bucktown and Hermosa neighborhoods, and graduated from Kelvyn Park High School. As an undergraduate, Carlos first attended Wright College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago, where he was elected President of the Student Government Association. He then transferred to DePaul University, where he completed his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. At De- Paul, Carlos was elected president of DePaul’s Alliance for Latin American Empowerment, a student organization that highlighted the importance of diversity in higher education and worked to provide assistance to underserved communities. In addition, he, along with other student activists, was instrumental in the formation of DePaul’s Latino Cultural Center. He went on to earn his juris doctorate at DePaul University College of Law, where he received the Mayor’s Leadership Scholarship and served as the Student Bar Association’s Diversity Representative. Carlos began his career as an Assistant State’s Attorney in one of the busiest courtrooms in Chicago, where he prosecuted countless DUI cases and quickly rose to become first chair, a title given to attorneys who are in charge of their courtrooms. Later, in the State’s Attorney’s Juvenile Abuse and Neglect section, Carlos focused on ensuring the safety and security of children who had been endangered by abusive or negligent parents or guardians. While at the State’s Attorney’s Office, Carlos witnessed first hand the inequities facing so many families coping with the justice system in Cook County. “Growing up I was always drawn to the legal profession. I thought a courtroom was the great equalizer, the one place where no matter what the circumstances, fairness and accountability would always prevail. I believed justice was truly blind. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Too many times we see the inequities that exist in our society manifest themselves in our judicial system,” said Claudio. Knowing that the judicial system was failing his and other communities throughout Cook County, Carlos decided to start his own private practice where he consistently took on pro bono work focused on both civil and criminal matters. Now he is running for judge with the same passion and commitment that he has displayed throughout his career. “Our community has always had to fight for justice. My race is an extension of that. I want to represent and give a voice to the countless people from our neighborhood that feel disenchanted with our judicial system. Because for far too long we have had to endure with a heavy heart the injustice that happens around us. That is why it is important that we elect judges that transcend social biases and are willing to hold themselves to the highest standards while pursuing justice. It is with those values as my guiding principles that I will proudly represent my community,” said Claudio. Carlos lives in Logan Square with his wife Marina, a family physician in private practice on the north side, and their 11-year-old daughter.

El demócrata rechazó que la junta de control fiscal sea la solución. El congresista demócrata Luis Gutiérrez envió un mensaje contundente al gobierno federal, donde exigió que libere a la Isla y desfavoreció la creación de una junta federal de control fiscal. Las expresiones fueron vertidas en el hemiciclo de la Cámara de Representantes de Estados Unidos, en un espacio que sirvió a Gutiérrez para expresar su sentir sobre el futuro del País. En su mensaje de poco más de cinco minutos, Gutiérrez habló de varios temas, entre los que se encuentran las leyes de Cabotaje, el sistema de salud, el potencial de desarrolló económico de la isla y la deuda actual del gobierno, cuya cifra asciende a los $69 mil millones en bonos. “Liberen a Puerto Rico para que pueda resolver el problema de su gran deuda sin estar esposada por el Congreso, su distante y desatento amo colonial.Liberen a Puerto Rico para que sus hospitales puedan permanecer abiertos para padres y madres enfermos y sus escuelas permanezcan abiertas para los niños. Nadie debe temer que su casa se queme porque los bomberos no han sido pagados”, expresó el congresista. Además, habló sobre la respuesta del Congreso a la deuda del País y solicitó atención seria para encontrar el camino para que el país “no sea ni absuelto de sus obligaciones ni herido mortalmente por ellas”. Criticó también que “Puerto Rico está siendo asfixiado por la Ley Jones – una ley aprobada aquí en esta sala sin ningún tipo de consulta con el pueblo de Puerto Rico – que dice que, por ley Puerto Rico no puede comparar precios para la mejor oferta de carga”. Según Gutiérrez, el País cuenta con los recursos suficientes para sustentarse de alimentos.”Tenemos que permitir que Puerto Rico pueda crear una economía agrícola que permita que los puertorriqueños puedan alimentarse”, abundó. Sobre la junta de control fiscal aseguró que esta no debería ser una opción para Washington. “Imagínate. Una isla que no puede determinar su propio destino, que tiene que jugar un juego económico con todas las reglas amañadas en contra de ella – ¿cuál es la solución en Washington? Quitarle lo poco que le queda de autonomía y añadir un nuevo nivel de control de Washington sobre la colonia”, añadió. Al final de su mensaje, el congresista recordó que “los problemas de Puerto Rico tomaron mucho tiempo para crearse pero tengo absoluta confianza en la capacidad del pueblo de Puerto Rico a resolverlos”. Tomado de El Vocero.com – 02/11/2016

translation by L. Alejandro Molina,

Gubernatorial candidates for the various political parties in Puerto Rico, as well as the independent candidates, united to call on the president of the United States, Barack Obama, to release political prisoner Oscar López Rivera, who tomorrow- Three Kings Day – marks his 73rd birthday. Manuel Cidre (independent), Alexandra Lágaro (independent), David Bernier (PPD), Pedro Pierluisi (PNP), Ricardo Rosselló (PNP), María de Lourdes Santiago (PIP) and Rafael Bernabe (PPT), joined their voices in a video produced by the not-for-profit film corporation Caserío Films, to send a direct message to Obama, and in English. The video was filmed yesterday at the Ateneo Puertorriqueño by filmmaker Tito Román Rivera, with the help of Alvin Couto and Karla Victoria Pesquera. “We did it as part of the campaign for the release of Oscar López, which we hope will get stronger this year before Obama leaves office. It’s a way to show that this is a call by the people in a unitary act that transcends the political question. It has become a matter of human rights” explained Román Rivera. “We know that Obama has the power. That with a single piece of paper he could sign and grant Oscar’s release. If he’s pardoned several criminals and the Cuban political prisoners, we don’t understand why he hasn’t yet taken the time to release Oscar when his release has become a call throughout the world,” added the director of the documentary ‘El Antillano.’” Román Rivera emphasized that all the candidates were willing to take part in the video and had no qualms with the proposed message. “Each one gave it his/her own color, form, but came out well. Some had commitments which prevented them from showing up, like Pierluisi, who was out of the country, but they did what they could with their cell phones. They all cooperated, were very accessible, and delivered a message of unity,” the producer explained. According to the filmmaker, this act demonstrates that politicians can transcend party lines and unite with a will to achieve an objective. “It’s a cause for hope for us as a people and that is precisely what Oscar represents,” he noted. In the video the candidates appear interspersed, saying the following message was translated into Spanish: “Today I want to urge president Barack Obama to consider the case of the political prisoner Oscar López Rivera. Oscar has been serving a sentence for the last 34 years in federal prison in the United States. Longer than that other patriot Nelson Mandela, whose freedom you once vehemently demanded. I want to add my voice to the thousands of people in Puerto Rico who are asking you, president Obama, to liberate Oscar López Rivera. We are sure that he will abide by the law and be able to share with his loved ones during the rest of his life. The people of Puerto Rico have clamored for his release by presidential pardon, and we expect you will extend it before Oscar reaches his 73rd birthday on January 6th , 2016. I urge president Obama to consider Oscar López’ case. While I don’t condone his actions, it is the ripe time to take action. Exercise your presidential power to set free Oscar López Rivera. It is time for Oscar to come home. Listen to our voices and liberate Oscar as soon as possible. President Obama, do the right thing. Release Oscar López Rivera. Let justice be finally done. We want Oscar home. We want Oscar home.” The video, which includes no credits for recording, editing or production, ends with a call for people to make their own videos and share them on social media with the hashtag #ObamaFreeOscar