A march calling for the release of incarcerated Puerto Rican liberation fighter Oscar Lopez is expected to rally over 5,000 people in New York City on Saturday, organizers said.
Under the banner of “One Voice for Oscar Lopez,” a large diversity of community organizers, labor activists, artists and governors are expected to march in order to pressure U.S. President Obama to free Lopez. The rally will mark the 34th anniversary of Lopez’s arrest by the U.S. government. Lopez will be 84 years old by the time his sentence is completed in 2027.
"It's important to see Oscar not as an isolated case, but as the latest example of a long trajectory of Puerto Rican resistance to US colonialism and the extent to which the US will go to try to maintain its colonial control over Puerto Rico," Jan Susler, López Rivera's attorney, told online media outlet Truthout.
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Oscar Lopez has become an icon and hero in Latin America and diaspora for his contributions to the independence struggle of Puerto Rico in the 1970s. As a community organizer and leading voice for emancipation, Lopez worked to erect a Puerto Rican high school, cultural center, health and drug rehabilitation center. He further campaigned for bilingual education in public schools as well as the recruitment of Latina and Latino students, staff and faculty in universities and other public institutions. In 1981, Lopez was convicted in the United States of "seditious conspiracy" for being active in the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FARN), which fought to turn Puerto Rico into an independent communist state. Lopez was sentenced to 55 years in prison and has completed 12 of those years in solitary confinement.
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"Oscar represents the finest tradition of Puerto Rican history, and his people - even those who don't support independence - are very proud of his example and outraged at the injustice of his continued incarceration, which they see as an affront," Susler said.
Free oscar lopez now @POTUS @BarackObama !#34YearsIsLongEnough
— Residente C13/ RC13 (@Calle13Oficial)
May 29, 2015
.@POTUS You know who's also been waiting? Oscar López Rivera. Among the longest held political prisoners! Time to #FreeOscarLopez
— Marlo Daniel (@Arturo_Ulises)
May 18, 2015
A movement for his release has gained momentum over the last years with major organizations and public figures adding their voice to the collective call to release Lopez. New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark Vivento is among the political figures expected to march in New York City on Saturday.
"This is a pan-Latino issue," Alejandro Molina, a member of the National Boricua Human Rights Network, told Truthout. "Oscar's figure has become a point of unity for Puerto Ricans. Five Latin American presidents and five Nobel Peace Prize laureates have all signed on for his release.”
Nobel Peace Prize winner @TheDesmondTutu wants to #FreeOscarLopez. See why and join our fight http://t.co/oaKwU5LZeL https://t.co/jNRR42hSFr
— NBHR Network (@free_olr)
May 18, 2015
Obama, remember Mandela? 1 year was too much, 35 years is robbing precious life. #FreeOscarLopez
— Antonio Carmona Baez (@AntonioCarmonaB)
May 29, 2015
.@POTUS It's time to #FreeOscarLopez 34 years and no crime committed! Is more than abuse, is humiliation. #Enough pic.twitter.com/IoOegYtzrE
— Ismael Cancel (@Baterisma13)
May 29, 2015
Church leaders United 4Release of Oscar Lopez Rivera. 33 Iglesias X Oscar. Libertad Para Oscar! #FreeOscarLopez pic.twitter.com/6F6LPXvhHe
— mili bonilla (@meelee2B)
May 17, 2015