December 16, 2016 - NHLA Calls for Release of Oscar Lopez Rivera

NHLA CALLS FOR RELEASE OF OSCAR LOPEZ RIVERA
Now 74 years old, the Puerto Rican activist has already served 35 years in prison

WASHINGTON—The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, a coalition of 40 of the nation’s preeminent Latino advocacy organizations, is calling on President Obama to commute the sentence of Oscar López Rivera so that he can be released from custody.

López Rivera, who is now 74, has been in federal prison for over 35 years, 12 in solitary confinement, for his connections with a militant Puerto Rican independence organization. Prior to his conviction, López Rivera served in the U.S. Armed Forces and was a committed community organizer in Chicago, building coalitions to improve the lives of Latinos in the city. For many years, he has disavowed violence as a means for seeking political change.

NHLA’s letter to President Obama can be found here.

“It is time for Oscar López Rivera to be released and President Obama should use his authority before the end of his term to ensure this happens,” said Hector Sanchez, NHLA Chair and Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.

“The release of Oscar López Rivera is not only a humanitarian issue and an issue of justice for Puerto Rico, it is a quintessential criminal justice reform issue,” said Juan Cartagena, NHLA’s Criminal Justice Committee Chair and Executive Director of LatinoJustice PRLDEF. “Oscar was given a significantly disproportionate sentence two times. There is no criminological reason to keep him behind bars. He needs to be released now.”

"This is a critical issue for the Puerto Rican community and beyond. It is time that Lopez Rivera be allowed to return to his family and community,” said Ronald Blackburn-Moreno, NHLA Puerto Rican Working Group member and ASPIRA Association President & CEO.

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The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda is composed of 40 of the leading national and regional Latino civil rights and public policy organizations and other elected officials, and prominent Latinos Americans. NHLA coalition members represent the diversity of the Latino community – Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and other Latino Americans. NHLA’s mission calls for unity among Latinos around the country to provide the Latino community with greater visibility and a clearer, stronger influence in our country’s affairs. NHLA brings together Latino leaders to establish policy priorities that address, and raise public awareness of, the major issues affecting the Latino community and the nation as a whole. For more information, please visit: www.nationalhispanicleadership.org.

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