Tlahui-Politic. No. 7, I/1999


Attack against Romero for the Puerto Rican prisoners
Translated from the original Spanish
Friday, April 16, 1999
By Leonor Mulero, El Nuevo Día

Información enviada al Director de Tlahui. Puerto Rico April 16, 1999. Washington: Puerto Rican congressman Luis Gutiérrez said this Thursday that resident commissioner Carlos Romero Barceló "is motivated more by hate than by love for his neighbor," in his opposition to the release of the 15 Puerto Rican political prisoners. Romero Barceló "opposes the almost unanimous will of the people in an act of Christian pardon," expressed Gutiérrez, Democrat of Illinois.

Gutiérrez said that Romero Barceló has not criticized president Bill Clinton for having gone to Ireland to seek the release of the Irish political prisoners. Nor has the commissioner criticized Clinton for having received Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat at the White House. Romero Barceló has not criticized South Africa for releasing prisoners who committed atrocities never committed by the 15 Puerto Rican prisoners, affirmed Gutiérrez.

"The Puerto Rican political prisoners did not rob a bank to get rich. They were accused of acts of sedition, which is a political act," the congressman pointed out.

Gutiérrez indicated that Romero Barceló is obsessed with the colonial case of Puerto Rico, but forgets that in the Middle East, Ireland, and South Africa, there are colonies. "In the processes of decolonization, one seeks excarceration, one pardons political prisoners," Gutiérrez pointed out.

Romero Barceló opposes a presidential pardon of the Puerto Rican political prisoners because he considers them criminals. The 15 Puerto Ricans were convicted of offenses related to the struggle for the independence of Puerto Rico.

Gutiérrez indicated that the Puerto Rican prisoners have spent 19 years in prison, precisely the age of the congressman's daughter. "This has to do with mothers who want to see their children, with children who want to see their parents," he remarked.

He added that distinguished figures from every political ideology, as well as religious and civic leaders and businesspeople support the release as an act of reconciliation. "This is not an issue of independence. Sectors of every ideology support the pardon," he said.

The congressman pointed out that Romero Barceló, as the elected representative of Puerto Rico in Congress, "carries some weight" at the moment of deciding on release. "He is the elected representative here. Obviously one cannot diminish the damage he is doing," he said.

For his part, the Democratic congressman from the Bronx, Eliot Engel, said this Thursday that he is willing to ask Clinton to consider the release of the Puerto Rican prisoners. He maintained that he is not thoroughly familiar with the topic, but that in principle he would support a cause that is in the interest of his Puerto Rican community of the Bronx.

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