A ilha de Puerto Rico permanece, na prática, como a última colônia do mundo. A nossa imprensa, porém, sempre se preocupou muito mais com a autodeterminação dos tibetanos em relação aos chineses, ou dos Chechenos em relação à Russia. A questão de Porto Rico (um país muito mais próximo do nosso tanto geográficamente quanto culturalmente) permanece totalmente invisível. Naturalmente o fato de que o povo portoriquenho não tem o direito de votar no presidente que os governa não parece incomodar. Menos ainda que o único representante que eles podem eleger para o congresso não tem direito a voto. Menos ainda que as últimas eleições para este representante e para o "governador" (que também não apita nada) da ilha foram regadas a inúmeras denúncias de fraude. Menos ainda o fato de que ainda vivem em cadeias norte-americanas alguns presos políticos portoriquenhos, detidos por atividades políticas pró-independência. E menos ainda que a ONU pediu oficialmente a soltura destes homens. Atualmente são dois: Oscar Lopez Rivera e Avelino Gonzales Claudio. Um terceiro foi liberado em 26 de julho deste ano, Carlos Alberto Torres, depois de 30 anos de jaula. Ao atingir a liberdade voltou finalmente para sua terra natal, mas sua recepção de herói foi ignorado pela mídia.
Depois de muito procurar não tive sucesso em encontrar um único texto em português sobre os três presos políticos. Pedindo desculpas por minha preguiça em traduzir o texto posto estes dois artigos em inglês sobre Carlos Alberto Torres que nunca foi acusado por qualquer crime senão o de participar de uma organização política conspiratória clandestina.
Basta de opressão e hipocrisia.
Paz
Alexei.
The Incarceration of Carlos Alberto Torres
Fri, Jul 30, 2010
After 30 Years in Prison, the Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Will Be Freed
Commentary:
By Marjorie Cohn
Today (July 26), Puerto Rican political prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres will walk out of prison after 30 years behind bars. He was convicted of seditious conspiracy – conspiring to use force against the lawful authority of the United States over Puerto Rico. Torres was punished for being a member of an armed clandestine organization called the FALN (Armed Forces of National Liberation), which had taken responsibility for bombings that resulted in no deaths or injuries. He was not accused of taking part in these bombings, only of being a member of the FALN.
In 1898, Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States by Spain as war bounty in the treaty that ended the Spanish-American War. Nevertheless, the U.S. invaded Puerto Rico and has occupied it ever since. Puerto Ricans have always resisted foreign occupation of their land and called for independence.
The Puerto Rican independence movement enjoys wide support internationally. Every year for 29 years the United Nations Decolonization Committee has passed a resolution calling for independence. There have been similar declarations of the Non-Aligned Movement, and recent submissions to the United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review.
All of these expressions call on the U.S. government to release Puerto Rican political prisoners who have served 30 and 29 years of their disproportionately long 70 year sentences in U.S. prisons for cases related to the struggle for Puerto Rican independence. They include Torres (who was sentenced to 30 years) and Oscar López Rivera (sentenced to 29 years), as well as Avelino González Claudio, who was recently sentenced to seven years. None of these men was convicted for harming anyone or taking a life.
Torres’ attorney, National Lawyers Guild member Jan Susler of Chicago, notes, “Carlos is being released from prison due to the unflagging support of the Puerto Rican independence movement and others who work for human rights. The more than 10,000 letters of support from the U.S., Puerto Rico, Mexico and other countries sent a strong message to the Parole Commission.”
Supporters from all over the United States will flock to the welcoming celebration in Chicago, which will take place in the heart of the Puerto Rican community. Tomorrow, Torres, his family and attorney will fly to Puerto Rico, where thousands will greet him with a concert of the nation’s finest musicians and artists.
Yet there is a damper on the celebration, as Torres leaves behind his compatriot Oscar López, a 67 year old decorated Viet Nam veteran. López did not accept the terms of President Clinton’s 1999 clemency offer, which would have required him to serve an additional 10 years in prison with good conduct. Though he declined the offer, López has now served the additional 10 years in prison with good conduct. Had he accepted the deal, he would have been released last September. Those who did accept are living successful lives, fully integrated into civil society. There is no reason to treat him differently.
While we celebrate this remarkable day in the life of Torres and the movement for Puerto Rican independence, let us commit ourselves to continue to struggle until Oscar López Rivera and Avelino González Claudio, as well as all political prisoners in U.S. prisons, also walk free.
Marjorie Cohn, a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, is immediate past president of the National Lawyers Guild, deputy secretary general of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, and the U.S. representative to the executive council of the American Association of Jurists.
Carlos Alberto Torres (Puerto Rican Nationalist)
| Carlos Alberto Torres | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: | September 19, 1952 |
| Place of birth: | Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| Movement: | Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional (FALN) |
| Influences | Pedro Albizu Campos |
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Series  Flag of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party | |
Carlos Alberto Torres (born September 19, 1952) is a member of Puerto Rico's independence movement and the longest-serving Puerto Rican political prisioner.[1] He was convicted and sentenced to 78 years in a U.S. federal prison for seditious conspiracy - conspiring to use force against the lawful authority of the United States over Puerto Rico.[2] He served 30 years, being released on July 26, 2010.[3]
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Circumstances
Torres was linked to the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN), which claimed responsibility for numerous bombings (which had led to six deaths),[4][5] although Torres himself was not accused of participating in the bombings, or himself causing any deaths.[6] He was released on 26 July 2010, after 30 years in prison.[6] In the 1970s Torres was listed for three years as one of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives during the 1970s.[7]
[edit] Education
According to the Committee Pro Human Rights of Puerto Rico, while in jail, Torres obtained a university degree, worked in the Department of Education, and became a painter and artesan.[8]
[edit] Severity of his sentence
No other Puerto Rican political prisoner has served as many years in prison as Torres. The other Puerto Rican political prisoner with a long sentence was Oscar López Rivera, who has spent 29 years behind bars.[9] Several human rights organizations including the American Association of Jurists called for the release of Alberto Torres.[10] Torres was not included in the President Bill Clinton's 1999 clemency offer to others FALN members.[11] President Clinton said he refused to commute Torres' sentence because he "was identified as the leader of the group, and had made statements that he was involved in a revolution against the United States and that his actions had been legitimate."[12] Torres spent 30 years as a political prisoner and, had he not been paroled in May, 2010, he would had been jailed until 2024.[13]
[edit] Release proceedings
In January, 2009, Carlos Alberto Torres was scheduled for a parole hearing, after serving 29 years behind bars. On the eve of his hearing, prison authorities accused him and eight of his cellmates of possessing knives which the tenth cellmate had hidden in the light fixture of the cell. On July 28, the Parole board notified Carlos Alberto that they would postpone their decision for at least 90 days, pending resolution of the charges. Two days later, the prison disciplinary hearing officer held hearings on the weapons charges. Alberto’s defense consisted not merely of his statement denying possession. The tenth cellmate appeared as a witness, admitting that the knives were his, and his alone, and that Carlos Alberto and none of the other cellmates knew he had hidden the knives in the light fixture. The guilty party also provided a sworn statement to this effect. The disciplinary hearing officer nevertheless found them guilty of possessing the hidden weapons.[14]
[edit] Parole and release
Torres was granted parole in May 2010, and released on July 26, 2010. Torres flew to his homeland island of Puerto Rico on 29 July to a hero's welcome.[15] An activity was organized at the Don Pedro Albizu Campos Park, located across the street from the Tenerías sector of Barrio Machuelo Abajo, Ponce, where Torres was born on September 1,1952.[16] This is the same place in Ponce where Pedro Albizu Campos, another independence advocate, was born.
[edit] Other prisoners
Oscar Lopez Rivera who, like Torres, also went underground in 1976, was arrested in 1981. He was accused of treason and belonging to FALN. He served 12 years of a 70-year sentence in isolation. Nevertheless, he rejected Clinton’s offer of an early release and remains in prison. His projected release date is scheduled for June 26, 2023.[17]
The other Puerto Rican political prisoner still jailed is Avelino González Claudio. He was the leader of the Federation of University Students pro Independence (FUPI) and the Pro Independence Movement (MPI) during the years he spent in New York. In 1985, González Claudio was accused in abstencia of having planned a $6 million robbery to Wells Fargo in Hartford, Connecticut, as a member of the Macheteros. He was apprehended in 2008, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years in prison.[18][19] Since 2006, the United Nations has called for the release of all Puerto Rican political prisoners in United States prisons.[20]
[edit] See also
- Carlos Alberto Torres
- Juan Enrique Segarra-Palmer
- Edwin Cortes
- Pedro Albizu Campos
- Oscar Collazo
- Lolita Lebron
- Puerto Rican independence movement
[edit] References
- ^ La Prensa San Diego. By Marjorie Cohn. The Incarceration of Carlos Alberto Torres: After 30 Years in Prison, the Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Will Be Freed.. Vol. XXXIII. July 30, 2010.
- ^ Puerto Rico Daily Sun. Political prisoner to be released. July 17, 2010.
- ^ Primera Hora. By Leoncio Pineda Dattari. Saldrá en Libertad Preso Político Puertorriqueño Carlos Alberto Torres. July 16, 2010.
- ^ The Los Angeles Times. 11 Arrested as Puerto Rican Terrorists. April 6, 1980.
- ^ The San Francisco Chronicle. Violent nationalist group leader welcomed in Puerto Rico. By Danica Coto. July 27, 2010.
- ^ a b CounterPunch, 26 July 2010, The Incarceration of Carlos Alberto Torres
- ^ "A Chronological Listing of the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" March 14, 1950 – January 1, 2000". Federal Bureau of Investigation. http://web.archive.org/web/20020127071933/http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/topten.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
- ^ Puerto Rico Daily Sun. Political prisoner to be released. July 17, 2010.
- ^ Puerto Rico Daily Sun. Political prisoner to be released. July 17, 2010.
- ^ "American Association of Jurists calls for release of Puerto Rican political prisoners". National Boricua Human Rights Network. http://boricuahumanrights.org/2008/10/17/american-association-of-jurists-calls-for-release-of-puerto-rican-political-prisoners/. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
- ^ "FALN prisoners set free". CNN. September 10, 1999. http://www.cnn.com/US/9909/10/faln.clemency.01/. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
- ^ The San Francisco Chronicle. Violent nationalist group leader welcomed in Puerto Rico. By Danica Coto. July 27, 2010.
- ^ Primera Hora. By Leoncio Pineda Dattari. Saldrá en Libertad Preso Político Puertorriqueño Carlos Alberto Torres. July 16, 2010.
- ^ Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres: parole bid foiled by Bureau of Prisons
- ^ The San Francisco Chronicle. Violent nationalist group leader welcomed in Puerto Rico. By Danica Coto. July 27, 2010.
- ^ Puerto Rico Daily Sun. Political prisoner to be released. July 17, 2010.
- ^ Federal Bureau of Prisons. U.S. Department of Justice. Immate Locator.
- ^ FoxNews. Puerto Rican nationalist sentenced to 7 years for 1983 Wells Fargo robbery in Conn. May 26, 2010.
- ^ Puerto Rico Daily Sun. Political prisoner to be released. July 17, 2010.
- ^ United Nations General Assembly. Special Committee on Decolonization Approves Text Calling on United States to Expedite Puerto Rican Self-determination Process: Draft Resolution Urges Probe of Pro-Independence Leader’s Killing, Human Rights Abuses; Calls for Clean-up, Decontamination of Vieques. June 12, 2006.(GA/COL/3138/Rev.1*). Department of Public Information, News and Media Division, New York. Special Committee on Decolonization, 8th & 9th Meetings. (Issued on 13 June 2006.)
Martin Luther King - O discurso "eu tenho um sonho".
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