<html>
<body>
<font size=3><b>2nd Day of Call-In<br>
WEEK OF SOLIDARITY WITH OSCAR LOPEZ RIVERA<br><br>
</b>Summary of Yesterday, Monday, January 31<br><br>
We estimate that the US Parole Board received between 350-450 calls from
Puerto RIco, Mexico and various cities across the US. The phone lines, as
well as the fax line, have been busy for 10-15 minutes at a time. DO NOT
BE DISCOURAGED. KEEP TRYING. Various people have been told that the only
way to make their opinions heard is only through writing. KEEP CALLING,
FAXING AND MAILING YOUR LETTERS TO THE US PAROLE BOARD. Spread the word
on your personal and organizational Facebook account.<br><br>
CALL IN TODAY!<br><br>
The US Parole Commission has said they intend to make their decision to
confirm or reject the negative recommendation by the US Parole Examiner
on Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Oscar López Rivera, #87651-024,
currently incarcerated at FCI Terre Haute. Oscar, 68 years old, is
presently serving his 30th year of incarceration for struggling for
Puerto Rican independence. <br><br>
The National Boricua Human Rights Network and the Puerto Rico-based
Comité Pro-Derechos Humanos are urging the parole commissioners to reject
the wrong-headed and politically punitive recommendation of the parole
examiner. We intend to flood the Parole Board with letters until they
respond positively. <br><br>
PLEASE DO THE FOLLOWING 3 THINGS:<br><br>
1) DAILY CALL-IN CAMPAIGN FOR THIS WEEK (Jan 31-Feb 4): CALL the Parole
Board in support of Oscar Lopez Rivera from 9:00am UNTIL 5:00 PM (EST)
CALL and have others call. It only takes 5 minutes. THE NUMBER IS:
301-492-5990 hit 0 to speak to operator. Sample script is below.<br><br>
Hi, I'm calling for the release of Oscar Lopez and I live in Chicago [NY,
etc.] The Parole Commission should parole Oscar López # 87651-024
immediately, in spite of the hearing examiner’s recommendation to deny
parole.<br><br>
<i>IF YOU HAVE TIME, USE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING REASONS:<br>
1) Oscar has the support of a broad sector of Puerto Rico’s civil society
as well as Puerto Rican and Latino communities throughout the United
States.<br>
2) Oscar was not accused or convicted of causing injury or taking a life.
He was never accused or convicted of participating in the 1975 Fraunces
Tavern bombing or any other action that resulted in injury or death.<br>
3) President Clinton’s determination that Mr. López Rivera’s sentence was
disproportionately lengthy, and his offer that would have resulted in Mr.
López Rivera’s release in September of 2009.<br><br>
</i> <br>
2) <b>Download the attached letter and fax it right away. </b>(<b>FAX NO:
301/492-5543</b>)<br>
Remember the Parole Commission has stated their intention to make their
decision by Feb. 4. Get as many of your friends, family. colleagues and
forward to your Facebook and retweet. You can also download the letter at
the National Boricua Human Rights Network website
<a href="http://boricuahumanrights.org">here</a>.<br><br>
3) MAIL Letters to:<br>
Isaac Fulwood, Chairman<br>
United States Parole Commission<br>
5550 Friendship Boulevard, Suite 420<br>
Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815<br><br>
Re: Oscar López Rivera, #87651-024, FCI Terre Haute<br><br>
Please keep close track of the letters sent/faxed to the Parole Board and
let us know at
<a href="mailto:alejandrom@boricuahumanrights.org">
alejandrom@boricuahumanrights.org</a>.<br><br>
LET'S FREE OSCAR<br><br>
Alejandro Luis Molina<br>
<a href="mailto:alejandrom@boricuahumanrights.org">
alejandrom@boricuahumanrights.org</a><br>
Skype: alejandromann<br><br>
Coordinating Committee<br>
National Boricua Human Rights Network<br>
2739 W. Division Street<br>
Chicago IL 60622<br>
<a href="http://www.boricuahumanrights.org">www.boricuahumanrights.org</a>
<br>
twitter: olrcat<br><br>
Comité Pro-Derechos Humanos<br>
<a href="http://www.presospoliticospuertorriquenos.org">
www.presospoliticospuertorriquenos.org</a><br>
***********************************************************************<br>
<br>
</font><h1><font size=4><b>Oscar Lopez Rivera: A Political Prisoner That
History Cannot
Forget</b></font></h1><font size=3>amolina@prcc-chgo.org<br>
Published: January 30, 2011 <br>
<a href="http://www.humboldtparkportal.org/news/1874" eudora="autourl">
http://www.humboldtparkportal.org/news/1874<br><br>
</a>by Xavier “Xavi” Luis Burgos<br><br>
Any student of history could and should be able to communicate that what
is placed in one's school books is far from objective. Historical
events walk along the lines of power and influence. In our contemporary
society, what is considered notable to tell future generations must
reaffirm (and be repackaged to fit the) status quo, even if appears to be
one of dissent. That is why very few people in the United States know
about Oscar López Rivera, a Puerto Rican political prisoner for the last
29 years.<br><br>
There are very few people who could argue that Puerto Rico <i>is not
</i>a colony of the United States. In a 1922 case, the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that the island<i> belongs to </i>but is not <i>a part</i> of the
Union. Moreover, the U.S. Congress (which only has one non-voting
representative from Puerto Rico) can exercise full powers over the
possession, including overriding any laws adopted by the local
legislative body. This, among other reasons, is why Oscar López Rivera,
in the 1960s and 1970s, struggled for independence in a long trajectory
of other movements and figures.<br><br>
Born in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico on January 6, 1943, López Rivera was a
part of the massive migration of islanders in the 1950s, and settled in
Chicago. By the advent of the Vietnam War, he was drafted into the
military and earned a Bronze Star for bravery. Like many other servicemen
of color who returned to their communities, he witnessed extreme forms of
poverty, substance abuse, and other manifestation of racism and
inequality. This motivated López Rivera to organize other community
activists and build institutions, initiatives, and programs that still
exist today, like the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, Dr. Pedro Albizu
Campos High School, and the Latino Cultural Center at the University of
Illinois-Chicago. Furthermore, he advocated for fair housing, bilingual
education, and an end to police brutality and racist practices in public
utilities. Following the international spirit of the times, by the
mid-1970s he joined a guerilla organization to step-up the pressure on
the U.S. government to address the colonial question of Puerto
Rico.<br><br>
By 1981, he and other alleged members of the organization were arrested
for seditious conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government in Puerto Rico
and sent to prison with disproportionate sentences. All but two of his
compatriots were released by 1999 due to an international campaign that
persuaded President Bill Clinton to offer them clemency. The remaining
two were released on parole. Oscar López Rivera remains in prison
despite, like his fellow prisoners, denying being a part of any acts that
killed or injured anyone. More importantly, he was never charged with
such actions.<br><br>
What is interesting is the fact that many U.S. citizens are absent-minded
about this country's imperial history, while elevating towards sainthood
those whose background are very similar to that of López Rivera. Nelson
Mandela, the famed South African hero of racial equality, is a great
example. In the early 1960s, Mandela was one of the founders and leaders
of an armed guerilla group that took responsibility for multiple bombings
on civilian and military installations, resulting in many deaths. He also
spent 27-years as a political prisoner of the white, apartheid system
that sought to destroy the spirit of the black indigenous population.
Mandela was never charged with attacks on human lives, but with seditious
conspiracy, just like López Rivera and his compatriots. Ironically
enough, President Barack Obama is slated to write the forward of
Mandela's new book while ignoring the plight of his government's owned
political prisoners and colonies. Therefore, it is safe to say that if
anyone believes Nelson Mandela is a historic figure of great stature and
justly represents global struggles of national liberation (which, he
indeed, does!), then Oscar López Rivera should also be out of
prison.<br><br>
On January 5, the U.S. Parole Commission hearing examiner, Mark Tanner,
recommended to the parole board that López Rivera serve his full sentence
(slated for 2023) or serve another 15 years before being released. This
was done despite the fact that thousands of people signed petitions
asking for his release, including three Congress people, the Archbishop
of Puerto Rico, the Resident Commissioner of the island (who does not
believe in independence, but in statehood!), and numerous elected
officials in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York City, and even Haiti. In an
act that uncovers the political nature of López Rivera's case, the parole
board never responded to the Puerto Rican Bar Association's request to be
at the hearings, but victims of the bombings that López Rivera was never
charged with conducting, were allowed to testify – unbeknownst to his own
lawyer until the day of.<br><br>
Nonetheless, the parole board still needs to make a final decision and
could do so as early as February 1. Everyone's voice can be
influential.<br><br>
<b>The National Boricua Human Rights Campaign is asking for petition
signatures and phone calls to the U.S. Parole Commission everyday,
between 9-5pm at (301) 492-5990 <br>
To get a petition, go to
<a href="http://boricuahumanrights.org/">http://boricuahumanrights.org</a>
.<br><br>
<br><br>
</b></font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#008000">415 863-9977<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#0000FF">
<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.Freedomarchives.org</a></font><font size=3> </font></body>
</html>