Puerto Rican nationalist to march, but not as parade honoree

NEW YORK – A Puerto Rican nationalist recently freed from prison will still march in a Manhattan parade – even though he has stepped aside from a formal role as “Procer de la Libertad” – National Freedom Hero.

It’s unclear whether that development will placate critics who objected to the parade committee’s original plan to honor Oscar Lopez Rivera, who was part of a militant group responsible for bombings in the 1970s and `80s that killed and maimed New Yorkers.

The parade’s board of directors said in a statement that Lopez Rivera will march June 11 in the National Puerto Rican Day Parade – “not as an honoree but as a humble Puerto Rican and grandfather.”

“Unfortunately, the narrative around the parade is not celebration and concern for the situation on the island, but rather misinformation about who I am and what I stand for,” Lopez Rivera wrote in an Op-Ed piece published in the Daily News of New York on Thursday.

“We must shift the focus. We cannot let people who are unfamiliar with Puerto Rican history define the narrative and experiences of our community,” he continued. “I want to repeat what I have said in many interviews, both in prison and since my release. I personally, and we as a community have transcended violence – it’s crucial for people to understand that we’re not advocating anything that would be a threat to anyone.”

The move came after the massive parade down Fifth Avenue lost most of its major sponsors following the decision to honor Lopez Rivera. He was a member of the Armed Forces of National Liberation, or FALN. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo also said he wouldn’t be marching. At least two sponsors that pulled out, AT&T and Coca-Cola, hadn’t changed their minds.

Hispanic societies in both the Fire Department of New York and the New York Police Department also said they would not be sending delegations this year, and the police commissioner said he wouldn’t march. Law enforcement officers were among those injured in the FALN blasts.

Lopez Rivera served more than 35 years in prison before his sentence was commuted by Democratic President Barack Obama.