Oscar López Rivera | |
---|---|
Oscar López Rivera | |
Born | Oscar López Rivera January 6, 1943 |
Known for | Longest-incarcerated FALN member |
Criminal status | Sentence commuted by President Obama, sentence ends in May 2017. |
Awards | Bronze Star Medal |
Criminal charge | Seditious conspiracy, use of force to commit robbery, interstate transportation of firearms and ammunition to aid in the commission of a felony |
Penalty | Prison for 70 years |
Oscar López Rivera (born January 6, 1943) is a Puerto Rican nationalist[1] and one of the leaders of the FALN. In 1977, López Rivera was arrested and tried for seditious conspiracy, use of force to commit robbery, interstate transportation of firearms, and conspiracy to transport explosives with intent to destroy government property.[2] López Rivera maintained that according to international law he was an anticolonial combatant and could not be prosecuted by the United States government. In 1981, López Rivera was convicted and sentenced to 55 years in federal prison.[2][3] In 1988 he was sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison for conspiring to escape from the Leavenworth federal prison.
López Rivera was among the 14 convicted FALN members offered conditional clemency by U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1999, but rejected the offer.
The imprisonment of López Rivera was opposed or supported by individuals and groups representing political, religious, and other constituencies. Some called him a terrorist, but others said he was a political prisoner. Several U.S. Congressmen supported Oscar López Rivera's release from prison.
On January 17, 2017, President Barack Obama commuted López Rivera's sentence and he is scheduled for release from prison on May 17, 2017. At the time, he was the longest-incarcerated member of the FALN.[4][5]
Early years and personal life
Oscar López Rivera was born in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico,[6][7][8] on January 6, 1943. His family moved to the mainland United States when he was nine years old. At the age of 14, he moved to Chicago to live with a sister. At age 18 he was drafted into the army and served in the Vietnam War and awarded the Bronze Star. When he returned to Illinois from the war in 1967, he found that drugs, unemployment, housing, health care and education in the Puerto Rican community had reached dire levels and set to work in community organizations to improve the quality of life for Puerto Ricans.[9]
He was a well-respected community activist and an independence leader for many years prior to his arrest.[10] Oscar worked in the creation of both the Puerto Rican High School and the Puerto Rican Cultural Center. He was also involved in the struggle for bilingual education in public schools and to force universities to actively recruit Latino students, staff, and faculty. He worked on ending discrimination in public utilities.[9]
López Rivera was one of the founders of La Escuelita Puertorriqueña, now known as the Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School and the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center. He was a community organizer for the Northwest Community Organization (NCO), ASSPA, ASPIRA and the 1st Congregational Church of Chicago. He helped to found FREE, a half-way house for convicted drug addicts, and ALAS, an educational program for Latino prisoners at Stateville Prison in Illinois.[11]
FALN involvement and trial
The Federal district court in the Northern District of Illinois[12] convicted López Rivera for seditious conspiracy and other charges stemming from his participation in the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN), a Marxist-Leninist organization which allegedly sought to transform Puerto Rico into a communist state during the 1970s.[13][14][page needed]
López Rivera was first linked to the criminal conspiracy carried out by the FALN in 1976. That year, a burglar was arrested in Chicago attempting to peddle stolen explosives. The burglar led the Chicago police to an apartment, nearly devoid of furniture, but in which there were boxes containing explosives and bomb-making paraphernalia, weapons, clothing, wigs, and photographs of Chicago buildings, maps of the city, and several FALN documents, including a manual for guerrilla warfare detailing deceptive practices and rules of clandestine living titled Posición Política.[a] This bomb factory was linked to the owner of the apartment, Carlos Torres, López Rivera, and their respective wives, Marie Haydée Beltrán Torres and Ida Luz Rodríguez. All four became fugitives after this discovery. The four were also linked to the National Commission on Hispanic Affairs (NCHA) of the Protestant Episcopal Church, a charitable organization based in New York City that was meant to fund projects to assist Hispanic communities throughout the United States.[16] In 1977, 11 FALN members, including Luz Rodriguez and Torres Beltrán, were arrested trying to rob an armored truck in Evanston, Illinois. López Rivera was apprehended a few years later when, according to police, he ran a stop sign in a Chicago suburb and provided a false Oregon driver's license.[17]
At his trial in 1980–81, López Rivera admitted committing every act with which he was charged, but declared himself a political prisoner and refused to take part in most of his trial.[18] At the time of their arrest, López, Rivera and the others declared themselves combatants in an anti-colonial war against the United States to liberate Puerto Rico from U.S. domination. They invoked prisoner of war status. They stated that U.S. courts did not have jurisdiction to treat them as criminals, and they petitioned for their cases to be handed over to an international court that would determine their status. The U.S. Government did not recognize their request.[19]
In August 1981, at the trial of López Rivera, Alfredo Méndez, one of those arrested in Evanston who had become an informant, testified that López Rivera taught him how to make bomb detonation devices and gun silencers. He also testified that the first bombing in which Méndez was to have taken part planned to target the hotel that housed the offices for the Democratic Party. Méndez stated that other bombings were scheduled to occur simultaneously in New York City, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. Speaking on his own behalf during closing arguments, López Rivera stated, "Puerto Rico will be a free and socialist country" and denounced Méndez as a traitor.[17] López Rivera was convicted of "seditious conspiracy, use of force to commit robbery, interstate transportation of firearms and ammunition to aid in the commission of a felony, and interstate transportation of stolen vehicles".[20][21] The charges included armed robbery and for being a recruiter and bomb-making trainer in the FALN.[17]
The pre-sentencing report stated that López Rivera had been:
personally involved in bombing and incendiary attacks across the country for at least five years prior to Méndez's [sic] involvement and knowledge, has been a prime recruiter for members of the underground terrorist group, and has been a key trainer in bombing, sabotage and other techniques of guerilla warfare. He has set up a series of safehouses and bomb factories across the country, the searches of which have uncovered literally hundreds of pounds of dynamite and other forms of high explosive, blasting caps, timing devices, huge caches of weapons and stockpiles of ammunition, silencers, sawed-off shotguns, disguises, stolen and altered identity documents, and the proceeds of the armed robberies of locations such as a National Guard Armory, Chicago's Carter-Mondale Re-Election headquarters, radio and communications companies, as well as a variety of stolen vehicles.[22]
In 1995, in interviews after his conviction, López Rivera neither confirmed nor denied his affiliation with the FALN and disowned any personal involvement in the bombing deaths.[23]
1988 conspiracy conviction for escape plot
Rivera was later convicted for taking part in an unsuccessful plot to use hand grenades, plastic explosives, blasting caps, and a helicopter to engineer and escape from Leavenworth prison.[24][25] In 1988, López Rivera was convicted of conspiracy to escape and given an additional 15 years.[10] Prison authorities said that Lopez had solicited supporters outside the prison to obtain weapons, grenades, and C-4 explosives to help him and others escape.[2][26] According to the United States government, an initial escape plot in 1983, utilizing explosives and weapons and involving Carlos Torres and Edwin Cortés was foiled, but the conspirators were not arrested in order to maintain surveillance of their activities.[27] The United States has also stated that a second escape plot, which involved explosives and weapons, ultimately led to the conviction and arrest of two of the FBI's most wanted fugitives of the 1980s, Claude Daniels Marks and Donna Jean Willmott.[28]
Imprisonment
Supporters
For many years, numerous national and international organizations criticized López Rivera' incarceration categorizing it as political imprisonment.[29] Luis Nieves Falcón, a social science professor at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, has said that López Rivera is "among the longest held political prisoners in the history of Puerto Rico and in the world."[30] He has been jailed for 43 years and 3 days.[31]
Cases involving the release of other Puerto Rican Nationalist prisoners have been categorized as cases of political prisoners, with some[32][33][34][35] being more vocal than others.[36][37][38]
In 1999, speaking on the FALN's charge of seditious conspiracy, Congressman Luis Gutiérrez stated that the charge was "a political charge",[39] and Congressman John J. LaFalce added that it represented López Rivera's "desire to have independence for Puerto Rico from the United States".[39] The charge of seditious conspiracy refers to participation in plots aiming to "overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States".[40]
Prison experience
After spending twelve years in maximum security prisons in Marion, Illinois and Florence, Colorado, he was transferred to the general prison population at the federal correctional facility in Terre Haute, Indiana, where he remains today.
Supporters of López Rivera have accused the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons of isolating López Rivera on the basis of his political beliefs.[41] Twelve of his 32 years in prison, López Rivera has been held in solitary confinement in maximum security prisons in the United States.[23]
In 2006, a special committee of the United Nations called for the release of the remaining Puerto Rican so called political prisoners in United States prisons.[32]
Push for clemency
Conditional clemency offer (1999)
U.S. President Bill Clinton offered conditional clemency to López Rivera and 13 convicted FALN members in 1999.[42] Clinton judged that the sentences received by López Rivera and the other nationalists were "out of proportion to the nationalists' offenses."[1][43][44] Clinton and others defended this offer of clemency, stating that Oscar López Rivera was never convicted of specific crimes that resulted in deaths or injuries,[45] and that López Rivera was never convicted of any act of violence.[29][46][47][48] U.S. Government statistics showed the prisoners' sentences were "about six times longer" than sentences for murder offenses by the American population at large.[49][b][50]
Critical reception
The clemency offer was opposed by bipartisan majorities in both the U.S. House of Representatives (311-41)[51] and Senate (95-2).[39][52] Those opposed to the clemency pointed to the several charges on which Oscar López had been convicted, including armed robbery, recruiting for the FALN, and trained others to make bombs and silencers.[17] López Rivera and the other FALN prisoners were labelled as terrorists by the U.S. Congress.
On September 21, 1999, the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico Carlos Romero Barceló testified that he "did not oppose the conditional release of these criminals, but (he) did oppose their unconditional release."[53] López Rivera had sought unconditional release. In making the statement to a committee evaluating the pardons, he stated: "Between 1974 and 1983, a small group of political extremists... carried out over 100 major armed attacks in the mainland and in Puerto Rico with the purpose of imposing independence for the island by means of violence, threats and terror." Barceló went on further to state that López and other FALN members were terrorists, and that if they did not commit violence directly, they endorsed it.[54]
While López Rivera does not deny or confirm his affiliation with the FALN and disowns any personal involvement in the bombing deaths, The FALN was involved in more than 100 bombings in New York, Chicago and other cities. The 1975 bombing at Fraunces Tavern in Manhattan killed four people, among them, Frank Connor, age 33. His son, Joseph F. Connor, has played an instrumental role in blocking the release of López Rivera, the man he considers partly responsible for his father's death.[55]
Former New York City police officer Richard Pascarella, who was blinded and lost five fingers on his right hand in an FALN bombing, also publicly opposed clemency to FALN members, stating: "They will again voice their ideology on the American public with a bomb and with a gun."[56]
The FALN seditious conspiracy, with its many bombings of civilian buildings in New York and Chicago, was one of the targets of the first terrorism task force in the United States; the US Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), established in April 1980, had as one of its goals to pursue threats from the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN).[57]
Rejection
López Rivera rejected the offer[58] because one of its conditions was that he renounce the use of terrorism.[1] Others provided other explanations. His sister, Zenaida López, said he refused the offer because on parole, he would be in "prison outside prison."[1][59] Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi said that "the primary reason that López Rivera did not accept the clemency offer extended to him in 1999 was because it had not also been extended to fellow FALN prisoner Carlos Torres."[60][1][c]
Clemency (2017)
The continued imprisonment of Oscar López Rivera was opposed by the Puerto Rican community in the United States, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere.[61][62][63][64]
Several members of Congress called for his release, including Alan Grayson,[65] Jose Serrano,[66] and Luis Gutiérrez.[67] Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi did so as well.[60]
His release has been demanded by 10 Nobel Peace Prize winners, Coretta Scott King, President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Senator Bernie Sanders as well as an international coalition of human rights, and religious, labor, and business leaders including the United Council of Churches of Christ, United Methodist Church, Baptist Peace Fellowship, Episcopal Church of Puerto Rico, and the Catholic Archbishop of San Juan.[51][61][62][63][64][68][69][70]
On January 17, 2017, President Obama commuted López Rivera's sentence. His release is scheduled for May 17.[71]
Timeline
2010
- In 2010, the Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, officially requested López Rivera's release.[72]
2012 On June 7, Puerto Rican activist Tito Kayak started a two-leg lone high seas voyage from Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela, to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and then from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Washington, D.C., to protest the U.S. incarceration of Oscar López Rivera. Kayak described him as a political prisoner.[73][74]
2013
- In 2013, several high-profile manifestations took place in Puerto Rico on behalf of Oscar López Rivera. These were attended by the highest levels of Puerto Rican government, politicians from all political parties, prominent Puerto Rican artists, singers, actors, Major League baseball players, and hundreds of other people.[75][76][77][78]
- Several U.S. congressmen, as well as the Governor of Puerto Rico, also supported his release, asking the President of the United States for it.[79][60][67][77]
- On May 29, 2013, on the 32nd anniversary of López Rivera's continuous incarceration, high-ranking officials, former prison personnel, singers, actors, Major League baseball players, and hundreds of other volunteers participated in mock-up prison cell events throughout Puerto Rico calling for the release of López Rivera from the American prison system.[78] In addition, several U.S. Congressmen supported his release, with a few contacting President Obama asking for his release.[79][60][67]
- Numerous volunteers participated in a 24-hour demonstration where they remained confined to 6 ft x 9 ft mock-up prison cells intended to represent López Rivera's current cell size in Terre Haute, Indiana. The demonstrations took place on May 29, 2013, at the central squares of Puerto Rico's four largest cities, San Juan, Ponce, Mayagüez, and Arecibo.[61][64] The volunteers included politicians María de Lourdes Santiago, a Puerto Rican senator,[80] musician Tito Auger,[80] and actors Ángela Meyer.[80] Others entering the mock-up cells were pro-Statehood party Ponce mayor María Meléndez, writer Mayra Montero, San Juan pro-Commonwealth party mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, former Puerto Rico governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, and former Major Leagues baseball player Carlos Delgado.[77] On that same day hundreds of activists, including pop star Ricky Martin, asked for his release from prison.[75][76] The governor of Puerto Rico, Alejandro García Padilla joined the call for López Rivera's release in a letter to President Barack Obama.[77] His release is also supported by members of Congress Luis Gutiérrez, José E. Serrano, and Nydia Velázquez.
2014
- A group of young students and workers in Spain joined the international demand for the release of Oscar López Rivera. From February 28, 2014 until April 1, 2014 the Comite 33 días por la excarcelación de Oscar informed the population resident in Spain about the violation of human rights that the U.S. government has committed against López Rivera. In addition, they collected signatures to ask U.S. President Barack H. Obama to grant him a presidential pardon.[63]
External audio | |
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You can hear a half-hour radio news segment on Oscar López Rivera, conducted by NYC radio host Howard Jordan on WBAI 99.5 FM (on June 6, 2014) Here. |
- In March 2014 the Mexican pop singer Cristian Castro joined the international demand for López Rivera's release.[62]
- In early June 2014 the Speaker of the New York City Council, Melissa Mark-Viverito, officially supported the release of Oscar López Rivera.[81]
- On June 6, 2014 in New York City, radio station WBAI 99.5 FM conducted a half-hour news and interview segment on Oscar López Rivera. The radio segment was conducted by Howard Jordan, the host of the show.[82]
- On June 7, 2014, Miguel Cotto and José Pedraza called for the release of Oscar López Rivera, lending their prestige as champion fighters hailing from Puerto Rico. Miguel Cotto is the middleweight champion of the world and the first Puerto Rican to be the world boxing champion in four different weight classes. The two fighters appeared with “Free Oscar López Rivera” shirts in the ring at Madison Square Garden, and Pedraza previously wore the shirt in a fight in Puerto Rico.[83]
- On June 8, 2014, the National Puerto Rican Day Parade paid tribute to Oscar López Rivera. On that day, a contingent in support of his release marched in the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City. A week earlier, the June March 1 in Bronx, NYC was also dedicated to Oscar López Rivera.[83]
2016
- On May 16, 2016 Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted, "Oscar Lopez Rivera has served 34 years in prison for his commitment to Puerto Rico's independence. I say to President Obama: let him out."[84]
2017
- On January 6, 2017, Lin-Manuel Miranda tweeted, "Feliz Cumpleaños y bendiciones, Oscar López Rivera. Please bring him home, @POTUS, while you still have time."[85]
Notes
- ^ A few excerpts and commentary on Posición Política are available online.[15]
- ^ The figures are based on Torres and Velazquez's documented average of 5.4 years' prison term received by those convicted of murder, and pitting this average against the average 65.4 years' prison term that the FALN prisoners received.
- ^ Torres and Nananin were released from prison in July 2010.
References
- ^ a b c d e Broder, John M. (November 8, 1999). "12 Imprisoned Puerto Ricans Accept Clemency Conditions". New York Times. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
- ^ a b c United States Justice Department, 2011 parole hearing report for Oscar López Rivera.
- ^ UPI article from August 11, 1981, title: Sentence FALN terrorist to 55 years in jail.
- ^ "Behind a Push for Parole in Chicago, a Prisoner's Old Neighborhood". New York Times. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ "New Book: "Oscar López Rivera, Entre la Tortura y la Resistencia"". Repeating Islands. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ "Resolution 51: Resolution in Support of the Release of Oscar Lopez Rivera". Aflcio.org. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ "Claridad / Oscar Lopez Rivera" (in Spanish). Claridadpuertorico.com. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ OLR Biography. National Boricua Human Rights Network. 2014.
- ^ a b ProLIBERTAD Campaign for the Freedom of Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War: Arm the Spirit ProLIBERTAD. October 30, 1995. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
- ^ a b James, Joy (2007). Warfare in the American Homeland: Policing and Prison in a Penal Democracy. Duke University Press, ISBN 0-8223-3923-4, p. 159
- ^ Rosales, Francisco (2006). Dictionary of Latino Civil Rights History. Arte Publico Press, ISBN 1-55885-347-2, p. 159
- ^ Puerto Rico Herald; Findings of Committee on Government Reform investigation of the President's decision to offer clemency to sixteen FALN and Macheteros terrorists.
- ^ Smith, Brent L. (1994). Terrorism in America: Pipebombs and Pipedreams. SUNY Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-079141-759-1.
- ^ Holcomb, Raymond W. (2011). Endless Enemies: Inside FBI Counterterrorism. University of Nebraska Press (imprint: Potomac Books, Inc. ISBN 978-1-59797-361-8.
- ^ Virginia Colwell. "Las FALN en contexto" (PDF).
- ^ Effects and effectiveness of law enforcement intelligence measures to counter homegrown terrorism: A case study on the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN); Roberta Belli, Final Report to the Science & Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, August 2012, page 16.
- ^ a b c d "Son Of Reagan Termed The Target Of Terrorist Plot". Puerto Rico: NYTimes.com. July 25, 1981. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ UPI article from August 11, 1981, titled Sentence FALN terrorist to 55 years in jail.
- ^ Torres, Andrés; Velázquez, José Emiliano (1998). The Puerto Rican Movement: Voices from the Diaspora. Temple University Press. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-56639-618-9.
{{cite book}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ US Department of Justice Parole Commission report Archived July 13, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Dankosky, John. "Rep. Gutierrez: "It's Time" to Release Oscar López Rivera".
- ^ Puerto Rico Herald, Findings of Committee on Government Reform.
- ^ a b Prendergast, Alan (July 12, 1995). "END OF THE LINE - Denver | Denver News and Events". Westword. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ 6 Indicted In Faln Escape Plot, Chicago Tribune, August 21, 1986, By William B. Crawford Jr.
- ^ Faln Leader Among 4 Whose Convictions Are Upheld By Court, Chicago Tribune, December 25, 1989, by William Grady, Legal affairs writer.
- ^ US Department of Justice, news advisory on the commutation of sentences for FALN members.
- ^ Roberta Belli, page 25.
- ^ Roberta Belli, page 28.
- ^ a b 11 Puerto Rican nationalists freed from prison: Hearings in Congress next week on Clinton clemency offer. CNN. September 10, 1999. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
- ^ “Oscar López Rivera, Entre la Tortura y la Resistencia”, by Luis Nieves Falcón. "Repeating Islands: News and commentary on Caribbean culture, literature, and the arts." December 2, 2011. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
- ^ Puerto Rico: Free Oscar López Rivera! Steven Katsineris. Green Left Weekly. Issue 879. May 15, 2011. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
- ^ a b United Nations General Assembly. Special Committee on Decolonization Approves Text Calling on United States to Expedite Puerto Rican Self-determination Process: Draft Resolution Urges Probe of Pro-Independence Leader’s Killing, Human Rights Abuses; Calls for Clean-up, Decontamination of Vieques. June 12, 2006. (GA/COL/3138/Rev.1*). Department of Public Information, News and Media Division, New York. Special Committee on Decolonization, 8th & 9th Meetings. (Issued on June 13, 2006.)
- ^ Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College, City University of New York. Guide to the Ruth M. Reynolds Papers: Archives of the Puerto Rican Diaspora. August 1991 and December 2003. Updated 2005. Reviews Puerto Rico – U.S. relations, including cases of Puerto Rican political prisoners.
- ^ Vito Marcantonio, U.S. Congressman. In his August 5, 1939, speech before Congress titled Five Years of Tyranny. (Recorded in the Congressional Record. August 14, 1939.) In the words of Congressman Marcantonio, "There is no place in America for political prisoners.... When we ask ourselves, 'Can it happen here?' the Puerto Rican people can answer, 'It has happened in Puerto Rico.' as he spoke about the treatment of Puerto Rican Nationalist and U.S. prisoner Pedro Albizu Campos. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
- ^ "Puerto Rican community celebrates release of political prisoner" Chicago Sun-Times. Report states, "Chicago's Puerto Rican community celebrates the release of political prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres...."
- ^ "Carlos Alberto Torres, Puerto Rican Nationalist Imprisoned In Illinois For 30 Years, Returns Home To Puerto Rico" The Huffington Post July 28, 2010
- ^ Lolita Lebrón, Puerto Rican Nationalist, Dies at 90" by Douglas Martin. The New York Times August 3, 2010
- ^ "Puerto Rican Nationalist Sentenced to 7 Years for 1983 Wells Fargo Robbery in Conn." Fox News Network. May 26, 2010. Retrieved 11 Juna 2014.
- ^ a b c "Congressional Record - House : September 1999". Frwebgate.access.gpo.gov. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ United States Code, Title 18, Section 2384
- ^ "The Circle Game" Prendergast, Alan. The Denver Westworld. Retrieved December 11, 2008
- ^ Bosque Pérez, Ramón. Puerto Rico Under Colonial Rule: Political Persecution And The Quest For. State University of New York Press. p. 119.
- ^ "Rep. Gutierrez: "It's Time" to Release Oscar López Rivera | WNPR News". Wnpr.org. November 14, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ Governor Dismisses Serious Crimes Done in the Name of Independence. Puerto Rico Report. July 5, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
- ^ "Eleven Puerto Rican Nationalists Freed from Prison". Washington: CNN. September 19, 1999.
- ^ "Arecibo clamó por la libertad de Oscar". Primerahora.com. May 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ "32 Days for 32 Years: Day 1 Alejandro Luis Molina | National Boricua Human Rights Network". Boricuahumanrights.org. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ Brooklyn Group Rallies for Release of Puerto Rican Political Prisoner. Jeanine Ramirez. NY1 Warner Cable News. February 25, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
- ^ The Puerto Rican Movement: Voices from the Diaspora. Andrés Torres and José Emiliano Velázquez. Page 149. Temple University Press. 1998. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
- ^ The Puerto Rican Movement: Voices from the Diaspora - Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ a b "Congressional Record - House : September 1999". Frwebgate.access.gpo.gov. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ The Clintons' Terror Pardons by Debra Burlingame, for Wall Street Journal, updated February 12, 2008.
- ^ Hearing before the Committee on Government reform on the FALN Clemency, Carlos Romero Barceló testimony, page 24.
- ^ Carlos Romero Barceló testimony, page 23
- ^ Behind a Push for Parole in Chicago, a Prisoner’s Old Neighborhood. Emma Graves Fitzsimmons. February 11, 2011.
- ^ 12 Accept FALN Clemency Deal, CBS News article, September 7, 1999.
- ^ "FBI — The Early Years: Part One". Fbi.gov. September 11, 1980. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ Bosque Pérez, Ramón. Puerto Rico under Colonial Rule: Political Persecution and the Quest For. State University of New York Press. p. 119.
- ^ Babington, Charles (September 11, 1999). "Puerto Rican Nationalists Freed From Prison". Washington Post. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
- ^ a b c d Letter from Resident Commissioner Pedro L. Pierluisi to President Barack Obama. Pedro L. Perluisi. U.S. House of Representatives. February 21, 2013. Page 3. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
- ^ a b c Crean cárcel para libertad de Oscar López. Reinaldo Millán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 31. Issue 1537. Page 12. May 15, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
- ^ a b c Cristian Castro se une al pedido de excarcelación de Oscar López | El Vocero de Puerto Rico. Elvocero.com. March 12, 2014.
- ^ a b c Boricuas en la Madre Patria inician jornada por la liberación de Oscar. CyberNews. Noticel. March 2, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
- ^ a b c Oscar López Rivera une a Pedro Julio Serrano y César Vázquez. El Nuevo Dia. May 29, 2013. Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. May 29, 2013.
- ^ Grayson Letter Requesting Release of Oscar López-Rivera. Congressman Alan Grayson. January 3, 2004.
- ^ Serrano Sends Letter in Support of the Release of Oscar López Rivera. Congressman Jose E. Serrano. November 22, 2013.
- ^ a b c Rep. Gutiérrez: "It's Time" to Release Oscar López Rivera. John Dankosky. NPR News. November 14, 2013.
- ^ Shane Bauer. "This Man Is Serving 75 Years for "Seditious Conspiracy." Is He a Danger to Society?". Mother Jones. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ Denuncian torturas a las que someten a Oscar López, Daniel Rivera Vargas, Primera Hora, May 29, 2013.
- ^ Osacar Lopez Rivera (February 1, 2013). Oscar Lopez Rivera: Between Torture and Resistance. PM Press. pp. 9–. ISBN 978-1-60486-833-3.
- ^ "Puerto Ricans Cheer Commutation for Nationalist Oscar Lopez". New York Times. Associated Press. January 17, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
- ^ Figuras públicas continúan encarcelándose por Oscar López Rivera: Abogan por la liberación del preso político durante manifestación de 24 horas. El Nuevo Dia. May 29, 2013. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
- ^ Tito Kayak vuelve a enfrentar problemas en el mar. Noticel. July 2, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
- ^ Travesia a remo por la libertad y la paz: Desde Ciudad Bolívar hasta Puerto Rico en solaridad con el preso politico más antiguo: Oscar López Rivera. CCS. (via Cyber News) Bolívar, Venezuela. Issue 1002. May 17, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2012. Originally by Brenda Peña López of El Nuevo Dia, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
- ^ a b Puerto Ricans Urge Release of Nationalist Prisoner. Danica Coto. Associated Press. San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 30, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
- ^ a b René Pérez se encierra por Oscar López: Se unió a los reclamos por la liberación del prisionero político puertorriqueño que lleva 32 años encarcelado en los Estados Unidos. Gerardo Cordero. Primera Hora. May 29, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Gobernador se une petición de excarcelación de Oscar López Rivera. Primera Hora. May 29, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
- ^ a b Claman por la liberación de Oscar López Rivera. Primera Hora. May 29, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
- ^ a b Brooklyn Group Rallies for Release of Puerto Rican Political Prisoner. Jeanine Ramírez. NY1 Warner Cable News. February 25, 2014.
- ^ a b c Tito Auger ameniza manifestación a favor de Oscar López en Caguas. Primera Hora. May 29, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
- ^ "Melissa Mark-Viverito turns out to support jailed Puerto Rican nationalist". NY Daily News. June 5, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ "Edited06-06-2014JJournalJoseLopez-Oscar Lopez Brother". Mediafire.com. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ a b McDevitt, John. "Champion boxers call for release of Puerto Rican political prisoner". Pslweb.org. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ "Bernie Sanders on Twitter".
- ^ "Lin-Manuel Miranda on Twitter".
External links
- Book Review: Puerto Rican Independentista Oscar López Rivera’s 32 Years of Resistance to Torture. Written by Hans Bennett.
- "Figuras públicas continúan encarcelándose por Oscar López Rivera" (in Spanish). El Nuevo Dia. May 29, 2013. - Contains the partial, list of prominent figures who were "jailed" for López Rivera.