NEW YORK—Carlos Alberto Torres, a Puerto Rican independence fighter and former political prisoner, spoke at two classes and a public meeting at Hostos Community College March 15. He is in New York City to promote the campaign to free Oscar López Rivera, one of the longest-held political prisoners in the world.

Torres was released on parole July 26, 2010, after spending 30 years in prison. He was arrested in April 1980 along with 10 other supporters of Puerto Rican independence and framed up on charges of “seditious conspiracy,” armed robbery, and being a “terrorist,” based on alleged membership in the Armed Forces of National Liberation of Puerto Rico. López, now 69, was arrested the following year and convicted on similar charges.

At the public meeting Torres said Hostos students had asked him if he feels he wasted his life in prison. “I never ceased being part of the struggle while I was in prison,” Torres responded. “And I was able to raise the consciousness of other prisoners while I was there.”

“I don’t regret anything because it was part of my responsibility in the fight for my homeland,” he said.

—SETH GALINSKY