[Ppnews] Call Today! - Oscar Lopez Rivera: A Political Prisoner That History Cannot Forget

[Political Prisoner News]

2nd Day of Call-In
WEEK OF SOLIDARITY WITH OSCAR LOPEZ RIVERA

Summary of Yesterday, Monday, January 31

We estimate that the US Parole Board received 
between 350-450 calls from Puerto RIco, Mexico 
and various cities across the US. The phone 
lines, as well as the fax line, have been busy 
for 10-15 minutes at a time. DO NOT BE 
DISCOURAGED. KEEP TRYING. Various people have 
been told that the only way to make their 
opinions heard is only through writing. KEEP 
CALLING, FAXING AND MAILING YOUR LETTERS TO THE 
US PAROLE BOARD. Spread the word on your personal 
and organizational Facebook account.

CALL IN TODAY!

The US Parole Commission has said they intend to 
make their decision to confirm or reject the 
negative recommendation by the US Parole Examiner 
on Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Oscar López 
Rivera, #87651-024, currently incarcerated at FCI 
Terre Haute. Oscar, 68 years old, is presently 
serving his 30th year of incarceration for 
struggling for Puerto Rican independence.

The National Boricua Human Rights Network and the 
Puerto Rico-based Comité Pro-Derechos Humanos are 
urging the parole commissioners to reject the 
wrong-headed and politically punitive 
recommendation of the parole examiner. We intend 
to flood the Parole Board with letters until they respond positively.

PLEASE DO THE FOLLOWING 3 THINGS:

1) DAILY CALL-IN CAMPAIGN FOR THIS WEEK (Jan 
31-Feb 4): CALL the Parole Board in support of 
Oscar Lopez Rivera from 9:00am UNTIL 5:00 PM 
(EST) CALL and have others call. It only takes 5 
minutes. THE NUMBER IS: 301-492-5990 hit 0 to 
speak to operator. Sample script is below.

Hi, I'm calling for the release of Oscar Lopez 
and I live in Chicago [NY, etc.] The Parole 
Commission should parole Oscar López # 87651-024 
immediately, in spite of the hearing examiner’s recommendation to deny parole.

IF YOU HAVE TIME, USE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING REASONS:
1) Oscar has the support of a broad sector of 
Puerto Rico’s civil society as well as Puerto 
Rican and Latino communities throughout the United States.
2) Oscar was not accused or convicted of causing 
injury or taking a life. He was never accused or 
convicted of participating in the 1975 Fraunces 
Tavern bombing or any other action that resulted in injury or death.
3) President Clinton’s determination that Mr. 
López Rivera’s sentence was disproportionately 
lengthy, and his offer that would have resulted 
in Mr. López Rivera’s release in September of 2009.


2) Download the attached letter and fax it right away. (FAX NO: 301/492-5543)
Remember the Parole Commission has stated their 
intention to make their decision by Feb. 4. Get 
as many of your friends, family. colleagues and 
forward to your Facebook and retweet. You can 
also download the letter at the National Boricua 
Human Rights Network website <http://boricuahumanrights.org>here.

3) MAIL Letters to:
Isaac Fulwood, Chairman
United States Parole Commission
5550 Friendship Boulevard, Suite 420
Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815

Re: Oscar López Rivera, #87651-024, FCI Terre Haute

Please keep close track of the letters sent/faxed 
to the Parole Board and let us know at 
<mailto:alejandrom at boricuahumanrights.org>alejandrom at boricuahumanrights.org.

LET'S FREE OSCAR

Alejandro Luis Molina
<mailto:alejandrom at boricuahumanrights.org>alejandrom at boricuahumanrights.org
Skype: alejandromann

Coordinating Committee
National Boricua Human Rights Network
2739 W. Division Street
Chicago IL 60622
<http://www.boricuahumanrights.org>www.boricuahumanrights.org
twitter: olrcat

Comité Pro-Derechos Humanos
<http://www.presospoliticospuertorriquenos.org>www.presospoliticospuertorriquenos.org
***********************************************************************


Oscar Lopez Rivera: A Political Prisoner That History Cannot Forget

amolina at prcc-chgo.org
Published: January 30, 2011
http://www.humboldtparkportal.org/news/1874

by Xavier “Xavi” Luis Burgos

Any student of history could and should be able 
to communicate that what is placed in 
one's  school books is far from objective. 
Historical events walk along the lines of power 
and influence. In our contemporary society, what 
is considered notable to tell future generations 
must reaffirm (and be repackaged to fit the) 
status quo, even if appears to be one of dissent. 
That is why very few people in the United States 
know about Oscar López Rivera, a Puerto Rican 
political prisoner for the last 29 years.

There are very few people who could argue that 
Puerto Rico is not a colony of the United States. 
In a 1922 case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that 
the island belongs to but is not a part of the 
Union. Moreover, the U.S. Congress (which only 
has one non-voting representative from Puerto 
Rico) can exercise full powers over the 
possession, including overriding any laws adopted 
by the local legislative body. This, among other 
reasons, is why Oscar López Rivera, in the 1960s 
and 1970s, struggled for independence in a long 
trajectory of other movements and figures.

Born in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico on January 6, 
1943, López Rivera was a part of the massive 
migration of islanders in the 1950s, and settled 
in Chicago. By the advent of the Vietnam War, he 
was drafted into the military and earned a Bronze 
Star for bravery. Like many other servicemen of 
color who returned to their communities, he 
witnessed extreme forms of poverty, substance 
abuse, and other manifestation of racism and 
inequality. This motivated López Rivera to 
organize other community activists and build 
institutions, initiatives, and programs that 
still exist today, like the Puerto Rican Cultural 
Center, Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School, and 
the Latino Cultural Center at the University of 
Illinois-Chicago. Furthermore, he advocated for 
fair housing, bilingual education, and an end to 
police brutality and racist practices in public 
utilities. Following the international spirit of 
the times, by the mid-1970s he joined a guerilla 
organization to step-up the pressure on the U.S. 
government to address the colonial question of Puerto Rico.

By 1981, he and other alleged members of the 
organization were arrested for seditious 
conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government in 
Puerto Rico and sent to prison with 
disproportionate sentences. All but two of his 
compatriots were released by 1999 due to an 
international campaign that persuaded President 
Bill Clinton to offer them clemency. The 
remaining two were released on parole. Oscar 
López Rivera remains in prison despite, like his 
fellow prisoners, denying being a part of any 
acts that killed or injured anyone. More 
importantly, he was never charged with such actions.

What is interesting is the fact that many U.S. 
citizens are absent-minded about this country's 
imperial history, while elevating towards 
sainthood those whose background are very similar 
to that of López Rivera. Nelson Mandela, the 
famed South African hero of racial equality, is a 
great example. In the early 1960s, Mandela was 
one of the founders and leaders of an armed 
guerilla group that took responsibility for 
multiple bombings on civilian and military 
installations, resulting in many deaths. He also 
spent 27-years as a political prisoner of the 
white, apartheid system that sought to destroy 
the spirit of the black indigenous population. 
Mandela was never charged with attacks on human 
lives, but with seditious conspiracy, just like 
López Rivera and his compatriots. Ironically 
enough, President Barack Obama is slated to write 
the forward of Mandela's new book while ignoring 
the plight of his government's owned political 
prisoners and colonies. Therefore, it is safe to 
say that if anyone believes Nelson Mandela is a 
historic figure of great stature and justly 
represents global struggles of national 
liberation (which, he indeed, does!), then Oscar 
López Rivera should also be out of prison.

On January 5, the U.S. Parole Commission hearing 
examiner, Mark Tanner, recommended to the parole 
board that López Rivera serve his full sentence 
(slated for 2023) or serve another 15 years 
before being released. This was done despite the 
fact that thousands of people signed petitions 
asking for his release, including three Congress 
people, the Archbishop of Puerto Rico, the 
Resident Commissioner of the island (who does not 
believe in independence, but in statehood!), and 
numerous elected officials in Chicago, 
Philadelphia, New York City, and even Haiti. In 
an act that uncovers the political nature of 
López Rivera's case, the parole board never 
responded to the Puerto Rican Bar Association's 
request to be at the hearings, but victims of the 
bombings that López Rivera was never charged with 
conducting, were allowed to testify – unbeknownst 
to his own lawyer until the day of.

Nonetheless, the parole board still needs to make 
a final decision and could do so as early as 
February 1. Everyone's voice can be influential.

The National Boricua Human Rights Campaign is 
asking for petition signatures and phone calls to 
the U.S. Parole Commission everyday, between 9-5pm at (301) 492-5990
To get a petition, go to 
<http://boricuahumanrights.org/>http://boricuahumanrights.org.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
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