Outside women's prison
Tears & chants of '¡Libertad!
¡Libertad!'
By
Gloria La Riva
Dublin, Calif.
They waited anxiously on a roadside in this town, a short
distance from the federal prison. It was Sept. 10. Many of the
130 or so people had been there since eight a.m., and it was
now two in the afternoon. But the wait was more than
worthwhile.
All the children patiently held a banner and practiced their
greeting. Finally, a car drove up from the prison and the crowd
went wild.
Inside the car were Ida Luz and Alicia Rodriguez, Puerto
Rican independence fighters and sisters. They waved Puerto
Rican flags as they drove alongside the crowd.
The tears were flowing as everyone shouted "¡Libertad,
libertad!" Then Carmen Valentin drove up in another car
accompanied by supporters. As she stepped out, it seemed that
everyone wanted to embrace her. She needed a circle of people
to give her some space, just to get her through. Everyone was
so excited; it was hard to believe that she was free.
As Valentin walked to the microphones and cameras to speak,
her spirit couldn't be contained. She told the press that it
was because of the struggles of people around the world that
she and the other independentistas were free. And she proudly
shouted, "I will continue to fight for the rest of my life
until Puerto Rico is freed."
Within hours, she and the other women were on flights to
Puerto Rico, where hundreds more waited to welcome them
home.
Dylcia Pagan drove up next, to receive the same enthusiastic
reception. As her 20-year-old son, Guilllermo Morales, stood by
her side, Pagan echoed the same sentiments as Valentin. This
young man had been only two months old when his mother was
imprisoned. Pagan spoke of her desire to return to Puerto Rico
and rebuild her life with her son, and to work for Puerto
Rico's independence. She ended by raising her fist in the air
and shouting, "Que viva Puerto Rico libre."
The women and men who walked out of U.S. prisons in
Connecticut, California and Indiana are heroes. They lost so
much of their personal lives; their combined time in jail comes
to hundreds of years. Yet today, in front of Dublin prison as
elsewhere, they came out unshaken, declaring their right and
intent to organize for Puerto Rico's independence in spite of
Clinton's clemency restrictions.
Their freedom is a tremendous boost for the Puerto Rico
independence movement. It was the struggle of the people,
especially in Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican communities on
the mainland, which opened the prison gates. It was the
marches, petitions, sit-ins, documentaries, meetings, rallies
and more that sustained our sisters and brothers and finally
freed them. This was a day to remember.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
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