BY ANITA LYNNE
MIAMI - Chanting "!Libertad, libertad, para Camacho y los
dema's!" (Free Camacho and the others), 40 people picketed the
United States Federal Courthouse and the Federal Detention
Center in downtown Miami November 14 demanding release of all
Puerto Rican political prisoners. Antonio Camacho Negrón, one
of the 16 Puerto Rican independentistas held by the U.S.
government because of their unrelenting struggle for
independence, is currently held at the Miami Federal Detention
Center.
Camacho was convicted as one of the "Hartford 15" in a frame- up trial that began in 1985. Fifteen pro-independence activists were accused of conspiracy in the robbery of a Wells Fargo depot in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1983.
The FBI conducted illegal electronic surveillance and wiretapping for more than a year before arresting 15 activists in Puerto Rico, who were flown to Hartford to stand trial before an English-speaking jury, though most of the "evidence" was in Spanish.
Most of the defendants were denied bail and jailed for more than a year awaiting trial. Two remain in prison today, Camacho and Juan Segarra Palmer, who was sentenced to 65 years.
Camacho was released from prison on February 13 of this year after serving more than 11 years of a 15-year sentence. He was welcomed back to Puerto Rico two days later by hundreds who met him at the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan.
At a February 20 news conference Camacho announced that he would not comply with the restrictions that were a part of his release on parole. These called for him to report to the federal building in San Juan every 72 hours and forbid him to associate with other "convicted felons." He was met at the airport upon his release by Rafael Cancel Miranda and Lolita Lebrón, both of who spent more than 25 years in U.S. prisons after they took part in an armed demonstration in the U.S. Congress in 1954 to protest the colonial exploitation of Puerto Rico.
Camacho was rearrested on April 16 at a friend's house in Naranjito, Puerto Rico, by U.S. marshals who charged him with violating the conditions of his parole. The next day he was flown to the United States and held in Miami. Since then, Camacho has been further sentenced to four years in prison.
In the months since Camacho was brought to Miami there has been a press blackout on his situation. The picket line held on November 14 received coverage on three local television stations.
At the picket line, Angelo Negrón of the National Committee to Free the Puerto Rican Prisoners of War and Political Prisoners chapter in Orlando, Florida, said the Committee has had word from Camacho that he supported the action at the prison. "Despite pressure on him to stay quiet, Antonio wanted us to know that he's glad were out here," Negrón said.
The picket was attended by people from Orlando, Tampa, and St. Petersburg, Florida, in addition to Miami.
After the picket line, activists held a forum and speak-out at the Pathfinder Bookstore, with presentations by representatives of the National Committee to Free the Puerto Rican Prisoners of War and Political Prisoners, the Antonio Maceo Brigade, and the Socialist Workers Party. Irving Forestier, representing the Orlando chapter of the National Committee, stated, "We must be committed to the struggle until the last Puerto Rican political prisoner is out of jail."
The speak-out received photo coverage in the Nuevo Herald, the major Spanish-language daily in Miami, with a banner in the background featuring the demand "Free Camacho and Puerto Rican Political Prisoners."
Activists in Orlando are organizing a picket at the Federal Building in that city on November 21. Juan Segarra Palmer is held at the U.S. Penitentiary in Coleman near Orlando.