Free Puerto Rican POWs and Political Prisoners
The National Committee to
Free Puerto Rican POWs and Political Prisoners campaigned around many issues,
regarding the 15 Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War. One of
the primary focuses of the organization, in addition to building awareness and
solidarity with the Puerto Rican Independence Movement, was to make people
aware of the distinction between international law vs. US domestic law and
further explain why the captured Puerto Ricans declared themselves POWs. The
materials contained in this collection range from 1981-1998 and include general
flyers and pamphlets about the issues, newsletters from 1980s and monographs
which delve into international law and the right to struggle against
colonialism, the political stance of the PPs and POWs and their ideas, poems
and lives.
The 15 prisoners were: Edwin Cortes, Ida Luz
Rodriguez, Elizam Escobar, Alberto Rodriguez, Alejandrina Torres, Ricardo
Jimenez, Carmen Valentin, Carlos Alberto Torres, Juan Segarra Palmer, Antonio
Camacho Negron, Luis Rosa, Dylcia Pagan, Adolfo Matos, Alicia Rodriguez, Oscar
Lopez Rivera. Only Oscar Lopez Rivera is still incarcerated.