Event Title
Solidarity with the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners, 1980 to Today
Location
Lindy C. Boggs Conference Center, Room 256
Session
Session Three: Empire Meets Activists
Start Date
16-10-2010 12:30 PM
End Date
16-10-2010 2:30 PM
Description
During the 1980s close to twenty members of the pro Independence organization the Furnas Armadas de Liberation Nacional (FALN) were arrested in the United States. In 1999 President Clinton released many, but not all, of these prisoners. This paper will examine the remarkable and ultimately successful political campaign that supporters of the prisoners conducted to secure their release. The campaign both intersected with and evolved separately from the Central American solidarity movement. This paper will trace the contours of the campaign, examine the political transformation and tactical decisions made its supporters, and analyze the different factors and forces that led to the release of the majority of the FALN prisoners by 1999. It will also discuss the campaign’s connections to as well as tensions with the Central American solidarity movement to develop a realistic picture of the challenges faced by solidarity activists working to free prisoners fighting U.S. colonialism on the island (externally) as well as within this country (internally).
Solidarity with the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners, 1980 to Today
Lindy C. Boggs Conference Center, Room 256
During the 1980s close to twenty members of the pro Independence organization the Furnas Armadas de Liberation Nacional (FALN) were arrested in the United States. In 1999 President Clinton released many, but not all, of these prisoners. This paper will examine the remarkable and ultimately successful political campaign that supporters of the prisoners conducted to secure their release. The campaign both intersected with and evolved separately from the Central American solidarity movement. This paper will trace the contours of the campaign, examine the political transformation and tactical decisions made its supporters, and analyze the different factors and forces that led to the release of the majority of the FALN prisoners by 1999. It will also discuss the campaign’s connections to as well as tensions with the Central American solidarity movement to develop a realistic picture of the challenges faced by solidarity activists working to free prisoners fighting U.S. colonialism on the island (externally) as well as within this country (internally).