BY JACK WILLEY AND JOSHUA CARROLL
CHICAGO - Some 30 people attended a meeting at the New World Resource Center here June 28 to hear José Solís Jordán. The Puerto Rican independence activist is being framed up by the U.S. government for a 1992 bombing of a military recruitment facility in Chicago.

This case, he explained, "is about showing the Puerto Rican people what happens to you if you challenge the U.S. government in Puerto Rico." Solís went on, "Even if I go to jail, it is not a victory for [the colonial rulers]. They only win the battle when you fall down on your knees and give in."

In addition to discussing his case, Solís pointed to the strike against the privatization of the Puerto Rican telephone company. "It's the people's strike," he said. "The telephone company is national patrimony - it's ours."

Solís urged those present to build the July 25 march in Washington D.C.

This meeting took place the weekend after a June 25-26 pre-trial court hearing for Solís's case. The hearing took up a motion filed by Solís's attorney to suppress evidence that the FBI acquired during their interrogation of Solís. Both Solís and Rafael Anglada López, a prominent lawyer who handles cases involving independence activists in Puerto Rico, testified that Solís was denied legal council during the interrogation. The judge ruled against the motion.

Some 25 supporters of Solís attended a press conference preceding the hearing. The press conference and meeting were both sponsored by the Committee in Solidarity with José Solís Jordán. For more information about the committee, contact Mervin Mendez at 773-278-9361. To make a donation to the José Solís Jordán Defense Fund, c/o the Law Offices of Jed Stone, 434 W. Ontario, Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60610.  
 
 
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