BY JIM ROGERS
CHICAGO - Chanting, "All the prisoners, freedom" and
"Grand jury/FBI, U.S. justice is a lie," more than 350
people marched here August 29 to demand the release of the
17 Puerto Rican political prisoners held in U.S. jails.
Actions were held in several cities across the United
States that day, in support of the large demonstration in
San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Chicago demonstrators marched about five miles, from a gathering point in one of the Puerto Rican neighborhoods to the Metropolitan Correctional Center where José Solís is being held. Solís is the latest supporter of independence for Puerto Rico to be jailed by the U.S. government.
Solís was convicted March 12 on fabricated charges of setting a bomb outside a military recruitment center in Chicago in 1992, based on the testimony of an FBI provocateur and three FBI agents. He was sentenced July 7 to 51 months in prison.
At a rally in front of the prison, representatives from three families of the prisoners spoke, all demanding that President Clinton drop the conditions from his offer of clemency. "I would like to see these people out now, with no conditions," said Luis Galarza of the National Committee to Free the Puerto Rican Prisoners of War and Political Prisoners. "The whole Puerto Rican community supports their release."
Mervyn Méndez, representing the Committee in Solidarity with José Solís Jordán urged the crowd to keep up the pressure on Clinton and the government to drop the conditions in the clemency offer by Clinton.
SAN FRANCISCO - "I've been following the case of the naval base in Puerto Rico," said Ruairi MacTiarnian at the August 29 rally here to demand the immediate, unconditional release of the Puerto Rican political prisoners and the total withdrawal of the U.S. Navy from the island of Vieques. "Not only is the issue comparable to the British occupation of Northern Ireland, but Puerto Rico is a microcosm of the whole bigger picture in the world today." MacTiarnian, 21, is from Northern Ireland. He was walking through the Mission District in San Francisco when he saw the Puerto Rican flag at the march assembly area and decided to join in.
The demonstration was called by Comité '98 por un Puerto Rico Libre. A short rally at the assembly point heard greetings from Carmen Valentín, one of the Puerto Rican political prisoners held in nearby Dublin, California. "We are not criminals-We are freedom fighters," she said.
Representatives of a number of organizations brought greetings of solidarity, including the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, the Irish American Unity Conference, the Committee to Return Silvia Baraldini to Italy, and OLIN, a student organization which organized high school walk-outs in defense of bilingual education last year.
BRONX, New York - "We are here to demand the unconditional release of the Puerto Rican political prisoners," said Nieves Ayress, one of the moderators at the August 29 rally that preceded a spirited march that weaved down the sidewalks of predominantly Puerto Rican working-class areas.
The march began with about 60 people. During the march honking horns, solidarity fists, and cheers came from cars, restaurants, and stores. "Freedom! Freedom! With no conditions!" chanted protesters in Spanish to the beat of a drum ensemble. Along the way, a couple dozen people joined the march, which circled back to Vamos a la Peña community center for a wind up rally. More than 90 people joined some portion of the day's activities.
Jaime Medina, of the New York Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, spoke to the rally. "The work done for the prisoners in Chicago, New York," and other cities across the United States "has borne fruits," Medina said, referring to the pressure put on the Clinton administration to propose a conditional release of the 17 Puerto Rican prisoners in U.S. jails.
Other organizations and individuals making statements in support of the action included Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, longtime pro-independence activist Rev. Luis Barrios, Welfare Poets, and others. Independentista Stacey Toro read a statement by Mumia Abu-Jamal in support of the prisoners. Noting the momentum of the fight to free the prisoners, Rose Escobar of Prolibertad said, "The fight has to continue now stronger than ever."