The spreading of exaggerations, distortions and outright falsehoods is a commonplace tactic of those in power. In the past several weeks, the international freedom campaign for Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera has suffered numerous attacks from the mainstream press and conservative pundits. López Rivera has been incarcerated since 1981 for his involvement in the Puerto Rican independence movement, a cause legitimated by international law and the United Nations protocol on decolonization. Before his imprisonment, he served as a community activist and founder of numerous grassroots community and educational organizations in Chicago. Though López Rivera counts on widespread support within the Puerto Rican/Latino community and progressive sectors around the globe, recent attacks by the Right have attempted to sabotage his appearance before the U.S. Parole Commission.

Using various media outlets, the opposition has tried to shift the debate through sensationalistic articles and opt-eds. The most recent article, published in the Sun Times, represents another propaganda piece masquerading as journalism. In the article, “Gutierrez pushes for release of imprisoned former Chicago FALN leader,” author Dave Mckinney advances unsubstantiated and ideologically-motivated claims, which virtually – and this I suspect is no coincidence – the official line of the F.B.I. and broader ‘intelligence’ community. This most recent article, just as those that preceded it, have displaced the facts, drawn convenient connections without evidence, and constructed an ‘objective’ narrative devoid of journalist integrity. This, of course, is not surprising and to be expected. Notwithstanding, it is important to set these falsifications straight and maintain the legitimacy and humanity of the campaign to free Oscar López Rivera.

One of the consistent threads in opposition articles is the fallacious attribution of a host of actions to López Rivera. For instance, he is accused of planning and executing the 1974 bombing of Fraunces Traven. To be clear, there is no evidence tying López Rivera to this event. But conservative commentators will not be deterred by something as troublesome as ‘evidence.’ In their eyes, López Rivera is guilty; no matter what the evidence supports or what his conviction is based on. They obviously hold in contempt the old adage: innocent until proven guilty. What they want is for López Rivera to remain in jail for virtually the duration of his life regardless of the facts of the case. The opposition operates by a different code: guilt by suspected association. Though they have tried to muddle the truth, I should firmly stress that López Rivera was not convicted of harming anyone or causing bloodshed.

Right wing attacks against López Rivera’s campaign ignore the fact that he was convicted of “seditious conspiracy” and related charges. It is important to note that in the 20th century, this highly-political charge was almost exclusively used against Puerto Ricans advocating for Puerto Rican independence and other progressive, liberatory movements. One of the immense and tragic ironies of the case is the fact that Oscar López Rivera was convicted of the exact same charge as Nelson Mandela. While the U.S. government (now) hails Mandela as a symbol of freedom, López Rivera is depicted as an “unrepentant separatist” bent on violence. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Thus contrary to the claims of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, López Rivera is not a fanatical endorser of violence. In fact, he and all of the now freed Puerto Rican political prisoners have – on numerous occasions – renounced violence and have expressed a deep commitment to resolving Puerto Rico’s colonial status through civic means. Former President Clinton, who released 11 Puerto Ricans incarcerated for “seditious conspiracy” and offered to release López Rivera after an additional 10 years, affirmed publically that these individuals posed no threat to civil society. In contrast to the false allusions circulating the internet, López Rivera did not reject Clinton’s offer due to a commitment to violence. The truth of the matter is simply he did

not want to accept an offer not extended to all his co-defendants.

Each of the articles and blogs postings advocating the continued incarceration of López Rivera have unsuccessfully tried to wash away the wide and broad-based support for his release. In the past several months, over 20,000 letters of support have been sent to the Parole Commission. Support is also quite diverse, including community leaders, cultural workers, professors, politicians, family, and the public at large. As seen in the recent McKinney article, supporters of his release, like Congressman Luis Gutiérrez, have begun to be attacked directly in the press. The opposition fails not only to recognize the legitimacy of support, but also the fact that supporters like Gutiérrez are not alone. This freedom campaign counts on the expressed support of Congresspersons José Serrano and Nydia Velázquez (both of NY), Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, former Puerto Rico governor, Anibal Acevedo Vilá, mayors from across the island of Puerto Rico and elected officials from the following U.S. states: New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio. Moreover, he has received the support of Nobel Peace Prize honoree South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and religious leaders throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

For the past three decades – twelve of which spent in a sensory depravation unit – Oscar López Rivera has been confined inside prison walls. Though he was never convicted of taking a life or harming anyone, he has received a longer prison sentence typically given for murder, rape, or child molestation. A parole appointed examiner recently recommended that López Rivera serve an additional 15 years. Mind you, he is already 68 years old. In addition to attempting to erase the facts of his case, they have also tried to erase the fact that López Rivera is an accomplished writer, thinker and artist. They willfully ignore his history of community activism, his Bronze Medal of Honor received in Vietnam, and his life work of fighting for a more equitable and humanistic world. His family and the Nation of Puerto Rico desperately await his return to his homeland. His continued incarceration is a human rights violation of the first order. It is time to bring Oscar López Rivera home. Anything less is a grave injustice, motivated not by the facts of his case, but by an ideological agenda opposed to freedom. Free Oscar!

To support and learn more about the
Oscar López Rivera Freedom Campaign
visit: www.boricuahumanrights.org.

Commentary by Michael Rodríguez Muñiz

[lang_en]After performing to over 5000 people throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico, Crime Against Humanity returns to its home venue in Chicago. The play has been featured in venues throughout the Midwest, the East Coast, and Puerto Rico. Crime Against Humanity, a National Boricua Human Rights Network and Teatro Batey Urbano production, begins a second Chicago run Friday February 6 at Batey Urbano (2620 W. Division) and will run every Friday and Saturday at 7pm throughout the month of February.  The play will also kick of its Midwest tour in March and is scheduled to return to New York, Puerto Rico, Philadelphia, Boston and Hartford for monthly runs in 2009.

The cast and crew of Crime against Humanity would like to truly thank every person that helped make 2008 east coast tour a success. We were happy to see so many people come out to the production at Hostos Center for Arts and Culture in the Bronx New York, Taller Puertorriqueño in Philadelphia, La Paloma Sabanera in Hartford, Lawrence Community Works in Lawrence MA, St. Andrew’s Coffee Shop in Boston, and The Freedom School in Albany.

We are confident that with our radio interviews, news coverage, printed articles and internet promotion we reached millions of people. Through this production we hoped to contribute like so many before us to the freedom of our political prisoners and in turn the freedom of our nation. The play is just one tool in that struggle.

We thank every the press, and all of the organizations that spread the word to their list serves and contact lists, as well as thank every individual that passed out flyers printed and placed posters. Also, we thank those that housed us, fed us and shared their homes, and their spaces with us and all those who attended our performances, some leaving a few dollars, others giving hundreds. We greatly appreciate every person that organized a performance in his or her city or town. Thank you to the venues and all of those that gave their time to make sure our tour was a success.

As we head toward 2009 we should remember that this year will mark the 10th anniversary of freedom for 11 of our former political prisoners. We hope the play is just one of many tools that will help us reflect on that victory and will help us focus on the great challenge ahead. We are asking that in the spirit of this historic year we find ways to remember and activate people in the spirit of justice, equality and freedom for our remaining political prisoners.

As part of our national campaign to free the remaining Puerto Rican political prisoners we are asking that April 4, which is the 29th anniversary of their capture, be a day of commemoration. We would like organizations, individuals, and communities to hold an event in the spirit of resistance against US colonialism in Puerto Rico and for the release of the remaining Puerto Rican political prisoners. On behalf of the Crime Against Humanity’s cast and crew we hope to see yet another successful year toward the freedom of our prisoners.

For those interested, contact National Boricua Human Rights Network: info@boricuahumanrights.org.

About Crime Against Humanity
Crime Against Humanity is a play based on the real life experiences of fourteen Puerto Rican political prisoners who spent more than two decades in prisons for seditious conspiracy—two of whom are still incarcerated. The play brings us into the U.S. prison system, focusing on the politically motivated use of isolation, selective punishment, sensory deprivation and disproportionate sentences. Written by poet and activist Michael A. Reyes Benavides and former Puerto Rican political prisoner Luis Rosa, the play confronts the physical and mental torture these prisoners endured for more than 27 years. It is a National Boricua Human Rights Network and Teatro Batey Urbano production.[/lang_en]

[lang_en]

Xavier “Xavi” Luis Burgos

Exactly 140 years ago, on September 23, 1868, the beginnings of a national Puerto Rican identity emerged with a sudden act of revolt in the town of Lares against the Spanish colonial authority. The date also marks the third anniversary of the FBI assassination of Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, an advocate and leader of the independence movement and the 40th anniversary of a major Vietnam War act of protest in Lares. On this 140th anniversary of “El Grito de Lares,” the Puerto Rican community of Humboldt Park came together to commemorate these important historical events.

Although the revolt lasted but a few days, it changed the relationship between Puerto Rico and Spain. Slavery was abolished in 1873, one of the priorities of the revolution. El Grito also sent a dramatic message to the world that there were a unique people that lived on the island of Puerto Rico. Due to the significance of the revolt in the creation of who we are and our national symbols, (the original Puerto Rican flag, modeled after the Dominican flag, was created by Mariana Bracetti for the revolt), an event was held at the Batey Urbano community youth space on Paseo Boricua. The event included an art exhibition of the two remaining Puerto Rican political prisoners, Oscar López Rivera and Carlos Alberto Torres, poetry from the youth of the Batey Urbano and Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School (PACHS), and a historical overview of the revolt and the Vietnam War protest presented by José E. López, Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center. In addition, Jan Susler from the People’s Law Office provided an update on the assassination of Ojeda Ríos, which was condemned all over the world, including by the Puerto Rican government.[/lang_en]

North American Political Prisoner Marilyn Buck has finally had the knee replacement surgery she so desperately needed for many years. The Bureau of Prisons repeatedly denied her the surgery, claiming that it was an elective procedure and therefore no obligation existed to provide it. Despite that claim, BOP prisoners at other facilities were receiving knee replacement surgery routinely. Over the years Marilyn’s ability to walk deteriorated requiring her to rely on a cane and then crutches. Marilyn is pleased and hopeful that she will regain full mobility in the coming months. After more than 25 years of incarceration, she has a release date in February 2011.

A federal judge ruled on Tuesday, April 15, that Avelino González Claudio, 65 years old, accused of having participated in a 1983 robbery of a deposit from armored cars, might flee, and thus must remain in jail without bail until his trial. Authorities said Claudio was one of more than 12 alleged members of the Puerto Rican independence group The Macheteros, which expropriated 7 million dollars from a Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford.

Family members offered collateral of real estate worth $500,000. However, Smith said that González remained a fugitive for 23 years, and that the robbery was the largest bank robbery in the history of the United States, making the charges “incredibly serious.” Victor Gerena and González’ brother, Norberto González Claudio, are the only suspects who remain fugitives.

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On April, 5, 2008, the Batey Urbano and the National Boricua Human Rights Network (NBHRN) debuted their play “Crime Against Humanity” to the Humboldt Park community. Over 60 persons attended the opening, with such notables as Miguel Palacio of Association House, ex-political prisoner Jose Luis Rodríguez, Jan Susler of the People’s Law Office and many more in attendance. The night began with a dinner with ex-political prisoner Luis Rosa, the co-author of the play. It was a successful evening, raising over $400. The play has shown in Chicago throughout the entire month of April, with over 200 individuals seeing it. It has also shown at various universities: Northeastern Illinois University, University of Illinois at Chicago and DePaul University. In total over 800 people have been able to experience the play and learn about the political prisoners. In May, the play will tour the East Coast with showings in Fitchburg, MA, Cleveland, NY, Hartford, CT, and Boston.

“Crime Against Humanity” is a co-production of the Batey Urbano and the National Boricua Human Rights Network. It is comprised of 27 scenes taken from interviews with the ex-political prisoners and written correspondence with the 2 remaining political prisoners. That in itself makes this play truly an experience to watch. It is the intention of the Batey Urbano and the NBHRN to educate people with this play about the issue of the political prisoners, to further expose the injustice that two men continue to be imprisoned for more than two and a half decades and to reinvigorate the campaign for their release.

Qwusu Yaki Yakubu (aka James Sayles) was an extraordinary human being. He died on March 28, 2008, at age 60 after spending almost 40 years in prison. Yaki was a revolutionary, a nationalist and an internationalist in the spirit of Malcolm X. He was an activist and theoretician, and a writer and editor of several influential journals.

Yaki gave leadership to the struggle to free the Pontiac Brothers, a successful fight against the death penalty, and he helped lead the campaign to free C number prisoners (hundreds of prisoners unfairly held).

A memorial service was held on April 5, an outpouring of love, admiration and respect from ex-prisoners, family members and many others, including José López from the Puerto Rican Cultural Center who spoke of how Yaki understood that nationalism and internationalism must go hand in hand.

As one speaker said: “We love you, Yaki. We love you for being a husband, a father, a friend and a great human being with a smile that we saw far too rarely. And we love you for being a revolutionary.”

On May 13, 2008, the FBI searched and served a Grand Jury subpoena on the compañero attorney and educator Elliot Monteverde Torres. The subpoena orders the activist to appear in the federal court of New York on May 23, 2008. Elliot lives with his wife and daughter in Texas. He was a student leader in the US and a distinguished leader of the movement in solidarity with Vieques in New York.

On April 4th, over 200 people crowded into Casa Puertorriqueña for the National Boricua Human Rights Network’s (NBHRN) annual fundraiser, entitled “Legacies of Corretjer: Narratives of Resistance and Struggle.” The evening also commemorated the 1980 April 4th arrest and incarceration of 15 Puerto Rican political prisoners (two prisoners, Oscar Lopez Rivera and Carlos Alberto Torres, are still incarcerated). The event featured a performance by Orchestra Mapeyé, a group that plays traditional Puerto Rican music, and SieteNieve, a hip-hop artist from Carolina, Puerto Rico who infuses traditional rhythms into his social justice-oriented music. Eduardo Villanueva, former head of the Puerto Rican Bar Association, spoke movingly about the legacy of Juan Antonio Corretjer, the former Secretary-General of the Nationalist Party whose 100th birthday provided the theme for the evening. Alicia Rodríguez, former political prisoner, along with Tania Frontera, a grand jury resister from New York, were honored by the NBHRN for their continuation of Corretjer’s work. The event also included a slide show of historic and current images, compiled by Jonathon Rivera. In attendance for the evening were community activists and residents, as well as local and national political leaders, including Congressmen Luis Gutiérrez. A highlight of the evening occurred when Mapeyé dedicated a song about the situation of undocumented Mexican immigrants to Flor Cristosomo from Adalberto United Methodist Church, an institution that works on immigration issues.

escribale a los patriotas

NEW address/NUEVA DIRECCIÓN:
Carlos Alberto Torres, #88976-024
BD: 19 de septiembre de 1952
FCI Pekin, Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 5000 , Pekin, IL 61555

NEW address/NUEVA DIRECCIÓN:
Oscar López Rivera, #87651-024
BD: 6 de enero de 1943
FCI Terre Haute, P.O. Box 33
Terre Haute, IN 47808

Avelino González Claudio, #09873-000
Northern Correctional Institution
287 Bilton Road, POB 665
Somers, CT 06071