Vol. 74/No. 31      August 16, 2010

“Today we celebrate,” Torres told the crowd. “But tomorrow we have to put on our work boots because there are still two Puerto Rican political prisoners in federal jails in the United States.”

“We cannot rest until they are free,” Torres said. He was referring to Oscar López, who has been in prison for 29 years, and Avelino González Claudio, who was arrested in February 2008.

Torres was arrested in April 1980 along with 10 other supporters of Puerto Rican independence. The U.S. government accused them of being “terrorists” and members of the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN) of Puerto Rico. They were charged with “seditious conspiracy” and armed robbery.

Torres was gagged during part of his trial for speaking Spanish in court. In 1999 then-president William Clinton offered to pardon or commute the sentences of 14 Puerto Rican political prisoners, but not Torres, claiming that Torres was a leader of the group and was for “revolution against the United States.”

Before his arrest, Torres had lived in Chicago where he was politically active in the Puerto Rican community. About 50 people, including his family members and lawyer, greeted him as he left Pekin Federal Prison July 26 and drove with him to Chicago’s Humboldt Park, where 500 people cheered his release.

Both in Chicago and on his arrival in San Juan, Torres said he would continue to fight for independence for Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico has been a U.S. colony since 1898, when U.S. troops wrested control from Spain. Puerto Ricans on the island are subject to U.S. laws, courts, and military service.

Noting the international support that he received in his struggle to be freed from prison, Torres told his supporters, “You are the ones that made this day possible.”

At least 15 former Puerto Rican political prisoners joined the enthusiastic crowd in San Juan to celebrate Torres’s release. El Nuevo Día, a daily paper in Puerto Rico, pointed out that there also were many young people present “who had not yet been born when Torres was jailed in April 1980.”

In an interview with the paper, Torres said he was pleased that students who recently concluded a two-month struggle against fee hikes at the University of Puerto Rico were part of the organization of the welcoming event.  
 
 
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