Aldarondo asks Clinton for release of political prisoners
Translated from the original Spanish
Friday, April 23, 1999
By Leoncio Pineda, El Nuevo Día

Información enviada al Director de Tlahui. Puerto Rico April 23, 1999. San Juan (EFE): The president of the House of Representatives, Edison Misla Aldarondo, today asked the president of the United States, Bill Clinton, for the release of the Puerto Rican political prisoners incarcerated for the past 19 years.

"The Department of Justice should consider taking steps to recommend release or pardon for these people," said Aldarondo in a letter sent to Clinton as well as to the head of the United States Justice Department, Janet Reno.

In what he characterized as a "personal initiative," the house leader admitted that "there were times when I was opposed, but after analyzing their cases, I arrived at the conclusion that they have already paid their debt to society."

Misla Aldarondo, a Puerto Rico delegate to the Republican Party of the United States, thus joins ex-governor and founding president of the New Progressive Party (PNP), Luis A. Ferré.

Nevertheless, he differs with the current president and governor Pedro Rosselló, as well as with ex-governor and resident commissioner in Washington, Carlos Romero Barceló.

The house leader assured that "the release of the political prisoners can be obtained during the course of this year because they are not a danger to Puerto Rican society, and in that we are going to take our request to the ultimate consequences." Among the efforts announced by Misla Aldarondo, he emphasized those he will make in the Congress of the United States before those who control the House and the Senate, as well as a dialogue he will have with Texas governor George Bush (son), and future initiatives with those who seek the release of the Puerto Rican political prisoners.

Bush (son) is considered as a potential U.S. presidential candidate for the Republican Party.

According to Misla Aldarondo, the punishment imposed on the Puerto Rican prisoners is disproportionate.

"They were convicted of seditious conspiracy, which is a rarely used charge imputed to the most notorious terrorists in the United States, which carries a sentence of up to 90 years and strict security measures," he said.

"Taking into consideration how U.S. justice commonly grants parole or benefits for good conduct to murderers, rapists and child abusers, the gravity of these sentences feeds the public perception that the punishment for these acts is out of proportion," added the house president.

The 15 Puerto Ricans who are serving sentences for acts associated with their political ideology are Alejandrina Torres, Elizam Escobar, Juan Segarra Palmer, Oscar López Rivera, Alicia Rodríguez, Dylcia Pagán, Ida Luz Rodríguez, Carmen Valentín, Edwin Cortés, Luis Rosa, Carlos Alberto Torres, Antonio Camacho, Adolfo Matos, Alberto Rodríguez, and Ricardo Jiménez.

Rosselló believes that Clinton should evaluate the cases individually to evaluate whether they merit pardons.

"In the same way I undertake executive clemency, their cases must be evaluated and verified to see if they have additional previous offenses. I am sure that Clinton will evaluate these cases individually," Rosselló pointed out, who maintains that "pardons are not a political element."

This past December, the White House indicated that the Department of Justice would evaluate whether to recommend clemency for the independentist prisoners, who have been imprisoned 14 years.

Clinton has received more than 100,000 letters in favor of releasing the Puerto Ricans, who are linked to the clandestine organizations Armed Forces for National Liberation (FALN) and the Boricua Popular Army--the Machete Wielders.

From: National Committee to Free Puerto Rican Prisoners prpowpp@aol.com
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