The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.62/No.45           December 14, 1998 
 
 
Connecticut, Florida Protests Press For Release Of Puerto Rican Political Prisoners  

BY OLGA RODRÍGUEZ
DANBURY, Connecticut - "Tear down the prison walls! Free the Puerto Rican Prisoners of War!" "Freedom! Freedom! for Alejandrina and the rest," and "Long Live Free Puerto Rico; Yankees out of the Caribbean!"

So chanted 30 activists from Boston, New York City, and Hartford and Southington, Connecticut, as they marched down Main Street in this small town where the Federal Corrections Institute for women is located. Protesters were here to press the case for the unconditional release of Alejandrina Torres, who is jailed at the Danbury federal prison, and the 15 other Puerto Rican political prisoners. The spirited march was one of several organized by the National Committee to Free the Puerto Rican Prisoners of War and Political Prisoners. Demonstrators carried a massive Puerto Rican flag, banners demanding independence for Puerto Rico and freedom for the Puerto Rican patriots held in U.S. jails, and carrying large photos of each of the Puerto Rican political prisoners.

The actions at each of the federal prisons where 16 independentistas are serving jail sentences of 15 to 105 years were organized to publicize the cases of the prisoners and to help build toward a vigil at the United Nations on December 10. The UN rally will demand that the world body pressure Washington to free the prisoners.

The Boston and New York chapters of the National Committee were joined in the action by members of the Boston American Friends Service Committee's Support Group for Families of Prisoners, the New York and Boston branches of the Socialist Workers Party, the Young Socialists chapters in these cities, and supporters of Sylvia Baraldini, an Italian national doing time at the Danbury prison for her alleged help in aiding in the escape of Joanne Chesimar, also known as Assata Shakur, a fighter for Black rights who currently lives in Cuba.

Manuel González, a worker from Southington, Connecticut, who had been involved in the defense of the Hartford 15 at the time of their trial, stated: "I'm here to support the political prisoners, and to condemn the hypocrisy of the U.S. government that marches around the world preaching freedom of expression while denying Puerto Ricans those rights for 100 years."

Christopher Torres, a 22-year old former student at Lehman College, and activist in the New York chapter of the National Committee, said, "I became curious about who these prisoners were when I stopped by a table that the National Committee to Free the Puerto Rican Prisoners of War and Political Prisoners at the Puerto Rican Festival when I was 17. I later joined the study group they were organizing on Puerto Rican history. I learned a lot about what my people have gone through, and our true history. Stuff they never teach us in schools." He was heartened by what he sees as increased interest and growing support over the last couple of years for the international campaign to win unconditional release of the jailed Puerto Rican patriots.

Alejandrina Torres was one of 16 pro-independence fighters arrested and accused of being members of the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN), an alleged group Washington claimed carried out a series of bombings of government, business and military sites between 1980 and 1983.

Torres was brutalized by guards at Chicago's Metropolitan Correctional Center while awaiting trial and being held in administrative detention. After a visit from her daughter, a male guard threw her to the floor, broke her collarbone, and participated in a body cavity search with four women guards. After the search, the warden put Torres in solitary confinement for being "insolent."

Torres and 13 others were convicted of seditious conspiracy against the U.S. government and given sentences ranging from 35 to 105 years in prison.

Following an ecumenical service and brief rally, the protesters got in cars and vans and made the two-mile trip to the Danbury prison, with horns blaring. The caravan participants drove by the prison and then returned to town, as there is no place for cars to park or protesters to stand. Federal cops, who were waiting with cameras and video recorders at the entrance to the facility, failed to intimidate the protesters. The National Committee and others are building a December 10 rally at the United Nations, which will take place on the 50th anniversary of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Paris, through which Spain illegally ceded colonial domination of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines to the United States. Other events include longtime independentista and former Puerto Rican political prisoner Rafael Cancel Miranda speaking at Baruch College. For further information on the December 10 rally call (212) 387-1694.

Olga Rodríguez is a member of the International Association of Machinists.

*****
BY ERNIE MAILHOT

MIAMI - Twenty-four people rallied at the Federal Courthouse in Orlando, Florida, November 21, demanding freedom for Juan Segarra Palmer and the other Puerto Rican political prisoners held in U.S. jails. Segarra was convicted as one of the "Hartford 15" who were accused of conspiracy in the alleged robbery of a Wells Fargo depot in Hartford, Connecticut in 1983. He's detained at a penitentiary in Coleman, Florida, serving 65 years. The Orlando chapter of the National Committee to Free the Puerto Rican Prisoners of War and Political Prisoners organized the protest. Participants came from Miami, St. Petersburg, and Tampa. The event was aired on a local cable TV station.

 
 
 
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