Thousands Rally to Demand Freedom for Puerto Rican Activist
Thousands Rally to Demand Freedom for Puerto Rican Activist
By Kanya D'Almeida
NEW YORK, Jun 1 2015 (IPS) - Children in strollers held placards. Those unable to make it into the streets leaned out of high-rise apartment building windows, shouting support to the river of protestors below. For hours, several city blocks became a mass of red and blue, as scores of people waved the national flag of Puerto Rico. One name was on everyone’s lips, but the cause was broader than a single man.
On Saturday, May 30, close to 4,000 people marched through New York City’s East Harlem demanding the release of Oscar López Rivera, a 72-year-old Puerto Rican activist currently serving out his 34th year in prison.He was convicted for seditious conspiracy in 1981 and sentenced to 55 years. He is one of the longest held political prisoners in Latin America.
His supporters – who span the globe and number in the millions – run the gamut from community organisations to Nobel laureates. They are petitioning U.S. President Barack Obama to order Rivera’s immediate release on the grounds that he was imprisoned solely for his work as an activist and organizer – and has never been charged with any violent crime.
Other members of the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN) – a political formation dedicated to winning independence for Puerto Rico – arrested alongside Rivera in the 1980s, have since been released after being granted clemency by former president Bill Clinton in 2001.
More:
http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/06/thousands-rally-to-demand-freedom-for-puerto-rican-activist/
