PR Political Prisoners' Campaigns id SAA09286; Wed, 24 Sep 1997 18:15:11 -0400 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Wed, 24 Sep 1997 06:10:53 -0700 (PDT) source: ipr-forum@igc.org from the Institute for Puerto Rican Policy (IPR) 1982-1997: Celebrating 15 Years of Service! LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF INDEPENDENCE: THE CAMPAIGN TO FREE PUERTO RICAN POLITICAL PRISONERS GOES IN A NEW DIRECTION by Karen Carrillo Third Force (September/October 1997), pages 33-35 When Dylcia Pagan was a young woman growing up in "El Barrio" (a.k.a. East Harlem) she became passionately involved in the struggle to free the island of Puerto Rico from control by the United States. Believing that more conventional strategies had not been effective, she joined a group known as the FALN (Fuerzas Armadas para la Liberacion Nacional or Armed Forces of National Liberation). The FALN took the fight directly to the U.S. mainland in the late 1970s, planting bombs and threatening further violence if the U.S. did not give Puerto Rico its independence. After she was captured in 1980, Pagan was tried and convicted of "seditious conspiracy" and sentenced to 68 years in prison. While most murderers, rapists, and even right-wing prisoners get out of jail in ten or fifteen years, Pagan is still behind bars  a result, she says, of her unchanged political views. But the recent release of Geronimo ji jaga Pratt and Norma Jean Croy, who were also held in prison for years because of their political activities, has given Puerto Rican independence activists hope that the independentistas will soon be released as well. In addition, some of the organizations working for the release of the Puerto Rican prisoners have adopted new strategies that organizers say have a better chance of working than the ones used in the past. One of these organizations is Pro Libertad, a group that works, like similar groups around the country, for independence for Puerto Rico and to get Pagan and the other prisoners out of jail. Pagan. who was sentenced to 68 years in prison and is currently being held in California's Camp Parks, told Third Force that it was her political views that got her the long sentence, rather than any criminal acts she committed. Pagan and the others insisted during their trials that they were prisoners of war not criminals. "When you have 11 people who walk up to you and say, "We do not recognize the jurisdiction of the United States courts" then you [the judge] have to respond. We took an international law position which states that according to the Geneva Convention we have the right in a declared or an undeclared war situation  and Puerto Rico is definitely in an undeclared war situation  to use whatever was at our disposal, and the right to pick up arms." Pagan is adamant that her incarceration is due to her political beliefs and not any criminal acts. "Why did the United States criminalize us? They criminalized us because we took the position of going before their courts and not playing a legal game. We did not put up a defense nor an appeal. We took the opportunity to be in court to talk about what the reality of Puerto Rico was. Because of that they will not acknowledge that we are political prisoners  well, they don't acknowledge political prisoners in this country at all. And yet Hillary Clinton goes to South Africa and says on national television that the person she most admires is Nelson Mandela. There is no difference between Nelson Mandela and a Puerto Rican political prisoner." In addition to Pagan, the FALN members currently in U.S. prisons are Ida Luz Rodriguez, Carmen Valentin, Antonio Camacho-Negron, Edwin Cortes, Elizam Escobar, Alejandrina Torres, Alicia Rodriguez, Luis Rosa, Juan Segarra-Palmer, Carlos Alberto Torres, Ricardo Jimenez, Alberto Rodriguez, Oscar Lopez Rivera and Adolfo Matos Antongiori. They were all charged with "seditious conspiracy," i.e. trying to overthrow United States control of Puerto Rico. All declared that they were prisoners of war in a foreign country, and all refused to participate in their trials. Convicted FALN members received sentences ranging from 55 to 90 years, even though not one of them had a previous conviction and they were all first-time offenders. Despite the decades they have been in jail, they have not been forgotten, least of all by the members of groups like Pro Libertad. Taking a New Approach But this year, there is a difference in the way Pro Libertad leaders do their work. The campaigns of the past tended to demand that participants agree with the politics and actions of the prisoners and that they also be supporters of Puerto Rican independence. Mariposa, a 25-year-old poet and Pro Libertad member, says that few people were receptive to this hard-line political message: "They would say, 'Pero son communistas/They're communists!' or 'Let them rot in jail; nobody helps me, why should I help them?"' "There was a need, really," says Frank Velgara, a founding member of the four-year old organization, "to have the campaign broadened to involve a lot more people, more different sectors of people  like people from the religious community  who could support this issue on humanitarian grounds: grounds of injustice, lengthy sentences, the fact that they weren't accused of nor did they take any lives or property or anything like that. We needed a campaign that would allow more people from religious groups and student groups, who are not necessarily pro-independence, to rally around amnesty for the prisoners." Pro Libertad's main strategy is to keep constant pressure on the Clinton administration and the justice system to release the prisoners. They are an active presence at social events wherever there are Puerto Rican communities around the country, and spend a lot of time gathering signatures and petitioning state legislatures. The group has around 30 core members, but claims a membership base of about 200 active participants. Besides New York City, Pro Libertad is active in Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, and Chicago. The group draws heavily on activists who also work on other campaigns to free political prisoners such as Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier. Diana Crowder, a member of the group's legislative committee, says that Pro Libertad works hard to make people feel welcome. "All we ask  there's just one rule"  Crowder says, "that people find out what's happening with the political prisoners and that they just get more involved." Anniversary of an Invasion July 25, 1898 is the day the U.S. took control of Puerto Rico. After declaring war on Spain, invading Cuba and announcing that Spain's colonies were now the property of the U.S., the United States threw a blockade around the island and bombed San Juan, the island's capital. This was the so-called Spanish-American War, fought entirely in the Caribbean. On July 25 U.S. troops overran the island; many Puerto Ricans looked to the invading army as their liberators from Spanish tyranny. On December 10, 1898, the United States signed the Treaty of Paris, which declared Spain the loser and ceded Puerto Rico to the United States. Independentistas claim that the United States has never had legitimate authority over the island. In fact, the island still exists in a sort of legal limbo; more than a colony, but less than a state (it's officially called a commonwealth). In the eyes of pro-independence activists, Puerto Rico is a colony plain and simple, which means that the economy of the island is designed to profit U.S. business interests, rather than benefiting the people. Activists say that it is these beliefs that have gotten the prisoners such harsh sentences. "The main issue is that these people should not be in jail because of their political views," says Frank Velgara. "If they are in jail, they should not be subjected to all types of hi-tech torture. Most of the facilities they're in are called ADF's, which are state-of-the art facilities established in this country to deal with political people: [they come equipped with everything] from virtual reality to the latest techniques of sensory deprivation. Pro Libertad is saying that you should respect their politics and be able to ask the President for amnesty without necessarily agreeing with all of their beliefs." As July 25, 1998, the centenary of the U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico, approaches, Pro Libertad members are planning to publish a book of writings by and about the POWs. They are also asking organizations and people to send in patches for a Freedom Quilt they are making, in which quilt patches have as their theme the plight of the political prisoners. With the centenary of United States control over Puerto Rico, Pro Libertad members hope to see freedom for the POWs  and liberation for the island. Puerto Rico is scheduled to have another vote on whether it wants to be part of the United States, or a sovereign, independent nation, in 1998. [IPR Note: The plebiscite for 1998 is still only a proposal being considered by the United States Congress] Karen Carrillo writes frequently for Third Force. Pro Libertad can be reached at: P.O. Box 477, New York, NY 10159-0477, (718) 601-4751. For a list of other organizations working on behalf of Puerto Rican and other prisoners, see below. ------------------------------------------------------- Resource List for Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War (partial) ------------------------------------------------------- Pro Libertad PO Box 477 New York, NY 10159-0477 (718) 601-4751 (718) 601-3909, fax Comite Puerto Rico 98 (212) 927-9065, or (718) 328-9281 National Committee to Free Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War 1112 N. California Chicago, IL 60647 (773) 278-0885 (773) 278-1633, fax e-mail: prpowpp@aol.com Nuevo Movimiento Independentista Puertorriquen~o PO Pox 322 Arlington, VA 22210 (703) 243-4969, or (703) 519-7254 Latinos por el Cambio Social c/o Central America Education Fund 1151 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02130 (617) 492-8699 (617) 547-4959, fax Voices of Liberation PO Box 4739 Chicago, IL 60680 (773) 384-0442, tel/fax Amnesty International National Office 322 Eighth Avenue, 10th Fl. New York, NY 10001 (212) 807-8400 (212) 627-1451, fax ------------------------------------------------------- Third Force is a bimonthly publication of the Center for Third World Organizing in Oakland, CA (510-533-7583). Third Force magazine aims to help communities of color organize, develop leadership, broaden the bases of information, and build alliances with other communities. The goal is to construct an independent, grassroots, multiracial movement for justice. Annual subscription rates: $25 for individuals and nonprofits $25 for libraries and institutions $13 for low-income, students and dues paying members of community organizations and unions Sample copies are free Back issues are $5 each Mail subscription order to: Third Force Subscription Department 30 Broad Street Denville, NJ 07834 ******************************************************** The above was posted on the ipr-forum of IPRNet: The Information Service on Puerto Rican Issues of the INSTITUTE FOR PUERTO RICAN POLICY, Inc. (IPR) 286 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor New York, NY 10001-4512 212-564-1075 Fax: 212-564-1014 E-Mail: ipr@iprnet.org IPRNet Website: http://www.iprnet.org/IPR/ ******************************************************** The Institute for Puerto Rican Policy is a private nonprofit and nonpartisan policy center established in 1982. 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