måndag 8 juni 2015

Svenska personligheter skriver till Obama – Frige Oscar López Rivera!



Svenska politiker och kulturpersonligheter som tidigare engagerat sig i fallet med de Fem Kubanerna, skriver ett nytt brev till president Barack Obama. Det är dags att den puertoricanska frihetskämpen Oscar López Rivera också friges!

                     
                                                                                      Stockholm, June 8, 2015


To the President of the United States of America

Mr. Barack Obama


We the undersigned have previously written to you about the case of The Cuban Five. Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González, Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino and René González who are now reunited with their families in Cuba.  We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your decision that resulted in the release of Guerrero, Hernández, and Labañino from U.S. prisons on December 17, 2014, as well as the release on humanitarian grounds of Alan Gross detained in Cuba.

We now turn to you again, this time with a plea regarding Oscar López Rivera, imprisoned in the U.S. for 34 years. He was convicted and imprisoned because he worked for his country's right to self-determination. An overwhelming majority of Puerto Ricans want Oscar López Rivera released from prison. Puerto Rico was conquered, like the Philippines, by the United States in 1898. It is known that there is in Puerto Rico a movement for the island's independence.

Oscar López Rivera could have been a free man today if he had accepted the "premature" release that he was offered by your predecessor, Bill Clinton. He did not accept that offer since two fellow prisoners were not considered for release at that time. They are now free, while Oscar López Rivera, age 72, will remain in prison until 2023.

Mr. President you have the opportunity now to give Oscar López Rivera, a man who pushed for abolishing what he perceived as a colonial repression of his homeland, the opportunity to live out the final part of his life in his homeland, Puerto Rico, whose sovereignty Oscar López Rivera has devoted his life to.

We believe that you, Mr. President, have the ability to understand the basis for Oscar López Rivera's commitment and perspective. And we therefore hope that in his case you will make the decision to immediately release him.