Posts Tagged Puerto Rico
Machetero POW Pleads Guilty
Posted by carnalizmo in General, News, Prisoners of War/Political Prisoners on February 12, 2010
HARTFORD, Conn.— A Puerto Rican nationalist has pleaded guilty to federal charges related to his involvement in a 1983 armored truck robbery of about $7 million in Connecticut _ one of the largest robberies in American history.
Federal prosecutors said Friday that 67-year-old Avelino Gonzalez-Claudio pleaded guilty in Hartford to foreign transportation of stolen money and conspiracy to rob federally insured bank funds.
Gonzalez-Claudio conspired with others to rob the Wells Fargo Armored Service Corp. in West Hartford and to transport the stolen money to Mexico, authorities said.
Authorities allege the robbery was committed to fund the activities of Los Macheteros, a clandestine organization that seeks Puerto Rican independence.
Gonzalez-Claudio was a fugitive for more than 22 years before he was arrested in 2008 in Puerto Rico, where he had been living under an assumed name. He faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced May 26. A plea agreement, subject to court approval, calls for a seven-year sentence.
“It’s a very fair and I would say favorable resolution,” Gonzalez-Claudio’s attorney, James Bergenn, said Friday.
Bergenn has said his client’s membership in the Macheteros was not a crime and accused prosecutors of making unsubstantiated claims about him.
The Macheteros, whose name translates as “Machete Wielders” or “Cane Cutters,” are suspected of using the stolen millions to finance bombings and attacks designed to promote independence for the U.S. territory.
Their alleged leader, Filiberto Ojeda Rios, was killed in a 2005 shootout with the FBI at a remote farmhouse in Puerto Rico.
The robbery was allegedly carried out by Victor Gerena, a Wells Fargo driver recruited by the independence group. Authorities say Gerena took two co-workers hostage at gunpoint, handcuffed them and injected them with an unknown substance to disable them.
Gonzalez is accused of helping to get Gerena and the half-ton of cash out of the United States.
Two suspects, Gerena and Gonzalez-Claudio’s brother, Norberto Gonzalez-Claudio, remain at large, and Gerena is on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.
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Freedom Album Release Thursday, October 1st!!
Posted by APOC-Philly in Prisoners of War/Political Prisoners, Puerto Rico, events on September 29, 2009
Internationally acclaimed artists to perform in El Barrio
for Freedom CD Release Party
Yomo Toro, Roy Brown, Zon del Barrio, Siete Nueve
& The Welfare Poets take a musical stand
for the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Julia de Burgos Cultural Center
1680 Lexington Avenue (between 105 & 106 St)
Taller Boricua’s Multi Arts Space on the first floor.
Doors open @ 8 pm with a $20 admission. The Freedom Album will be on sale that evening.
New York, NY – On October 1, 2009, in an effort to raise funds for the remaining Puerto Rican Political Prisoners, The Puerto Rican Freedom Project celebrates the release of “The Freedom Album,” a musical compilation featuring Boricua artists from the Island to the Diaspora. One of the Island’s foremost political folk singers, Roy Brown, will be on hand alongside the Fania music legend, Yomo Toro, who will be joining East Harlem’s own Zon del Barrio. The concert will bring old and new school performers together with the strength of the politically conscious Hip Hop artists from P.R., Siete Nueve and New York’s own The Welfare Poets, the socio-political hip hop fusion band spearheading this project.
The Puerto Rican Freedom Project is a coalition of artists, activists and organizations that have come together to put out this project. It is co-sponsored by Aurora Communications and Taller Boricua, with additional support from the Prolibertad Freedom Campaign, Cemi Underground and The Zol Lab. To find out more information about the overall project and to purchase advance tickets log onto www.prfreedomproject.org and www.myspace.com/ thewelfarepoets for advance tickets, link directly below:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi- bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick& hosted_button_id=8215829
The Freedom Album is a musical CD/compilation dedicated to the welfare of the Puerto Rican political prisoners and their families. The struggle for Puerto Rico’s independence stems back to the late 15th century, when Christopher Columbus under the auspices of the Spanish Crown first invaded the Caribbean island. The modern struggle for Puerto Rican sovereignty, clutched in the grasp of the United States, has also been waged by Puerto Ricans from the island to the states who yearn freedom. Since July 25, 1898, Puerto Ricans have moved against America’s hegemonic wishes to liberate their island. This fight has lead to various generations of Puerto Rican political prisoners. In September of 1999, then US president Bill Clinton granted clemency to eleven Puerto Rican patriots, who had up to that point been incarcerated for close to twenty years. The Puerto Rican political prisoners who were not granted clemency Oscar Lopez Rivera and Carlos Alberto Torres, remain confined, in addition to Avelino Gonzalez Claudio, the third of the current Puerto Rican Political Prisoners, who was captured in February of 2008. To learn more about the Puerto Rican political prisoners, go to www.myspace.com/ freeourpoliticalprisoners, and www.prfreedomproject.org
Buy Tickets Here – https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=8215829
Artists appearing on the album: The Welfare Poets with Alkebulan (Hip Hop – NYC), Roy Brown (Folk – Puerto Rico), Siete Nueve (Hip Hop – Puerto Rico),Zon Del Barrio with Yomo Toro y Sammy Ayala (Bomba, Plena and Salsa – NYC), Division X (Hip Hop – NYC), Intifada (Hip Hop – Puerto Rico), Ilu Aye (Orisha/Afro-Caribbean tradition -NYC), X-Vandals (Hip Hop – NYC), Rebel Diaz with Divino of The D.E.Y. (Hip Hop Chicago/NYC), Ricanstruction (Hardcore/Punk/Hip Hop – NYC), Quique Cruz (Hip Hop – California), Foundation Movement (Boston – Hip Hop), Lourdez Perez (Decima – Puerto Rico), Homeboy Sandman (Hip Hop – NYC), Babalu Machete (Hip Hop – Puerto Rico), Segunda Quimbamba (Bomba – NJ), El David (Hip Hop – NJ), Dr. Loco (Hip Hop NYC), Fernando Ferrer (Salsa/Acoustic), Maria-Isa (Hip Hop Twin Cities), Velcro y Ikol Santiago (Hip Hop – Puerto Rico), Ray Concepcion y Cafe Con Leche (Salsa – the Bronx), M-Team (Hip Hop – Pittsburgh/ Brooklyn), Bryan Vargas Y Ya Esta (Latin, Nu-Jazz and Afro-beat – NYC), La Bruja (Hip Hop/Reggaeton NYC), MC Natra Y Lady M (Hip Hop – Vieques), Carlos Jimenez (Latin Jazz – NYC), Fallen Angelz (Hip Hop – NY and Florida), Nino Blanco (Hip Hop – NYC) and Angel Rodriguez (Guaguanco – NYC).
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En estado delicado Lolita Lebrón
Posted by APOC-Philly in General, News, Prisoners of War/Political Prisoners, Puerto Rico on September 29, 2009
La ex-presa nacionalista se encuentra en intensivo debido a una afección cardio respiratoria
Por: Maritza Cañizares – 21/9/09 8:25 PM
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Interview with Revolutionary Dylcia Pagan
Posted by APOC-Philly in General on August 16, 2009
Dylcia Pagan went underground with her infant son and was arrested in 1980. Charged with Seditious Conspiracy in relation to activities of the FALN, she refused to take part in her trial and claimed prisoner of war status on grounds that she did not recognize the authority of the United States government. She was sentenced to 63 years of imprisonment in state and federal facilities in the US.
Interview here: http://kboo.fm/node/12260
Interview excerpts:
Puerto Rican freedom fighter Dylcia Pagan has packed an amazing amount of action and activism in her 62 years. In time, she would find herself persecuted for living as a proponent of the Puerto Rican struggle for independence.
By the mid-seventies, Dylcia became heavily immersed in the struggle for Puerto Rican independence. At this time, the FALN was actively involved in bombings in the US of corporations that they said were important decision makers in the planning of domestic and foreign policy that benefited from the exploitation and oppression of Puerto Rico and other third-world nations as well as the North American working class.
It must be made clear that Dylcia Pagan never claimed to be a member of this organization.
Sometime in 1979 she went underground with her infant son and was arrested in 1980. Fearing for the safety of her child, steps were taken to hide him from the government. Charged with Seditious Conspiracy in relation to activities of the FALN, which again, she never claimed involvement with, she refused to take part in her trial and claimed Prisoner of War status on grounds that she did not recognize the authority of the United States government. She was sentenced to 63 years of imprisonment in state and federal facilities in the USA. The jailing of the Puerto Rican independence activists is just one of many severe acts of domestic repression. No evidence was presented linking any of the defendants to specific acts of violence. All were convicted of conspiracy and sedition charges after brief trials in which they refused to participate as prisoners of war.
Dylcia was granted clemency by President Clinton in 1999.
I recently spoke with Dylcia from her home in Puerto Rico…
Interview written and conducted by Marlena Gangi with production done by Erin Yanke, Honna Veercamp and Marlena Gangi.
Circle A Collective: http://kboo.fm/CircleARadio
Marlena Gangi e-mail: guerrilla.girl.is@gmail.com
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