Lolita Lebron: Puerto Rican Nationalist Lolita Lebron dies at 89
FILE - In this June 19, 1997 file photo, Puerto Rico Nationalist Party President Lolita Lebron attend a meeting by the special committee to hear petitioners on the question of Puerto Rico in the Trusteeship Council Chamber of the U.N. Lebron, a Puerto Rican independence activist who spent 25 years in prison for participating in a gun attack on the U.S. Congress a half-century ago, died Sunday Aug. 1, 2010 at age 89.
(08-01) 11:41 PDT SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) --
Lolita Lebron, a Puerto Rican independence activist who spent 25 years in prison for participating in a gun attack on the U.S. Congress a half-century ago, died Sunday. She was 89.
Lebron died at a hospital in San Juan of complications from respiratory disease, said Francisco Torres, president of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico. She had been hospitalized repeatedly in recent months for her ailments.
Lebron was a leading figure in the small but passionate nationalist movement in this U.S. territory.
"Lolita was the mother of the independence movement. This is an insurmountable loss," said Maria de Lourdes Santiago, a member of the Caribbean island's Senate from the Puerto Rican Independence Party.
Lebron was born Nov. 19, 1920, in Lares, in southwestern Puerto Rico, and moved as a young adult to New York, part of a mass migration from the island to the United States during the 1940s. There she developed her nationalist views and became a follower of movement leader Pedro Albizu Campos.
In 1954, she and three other nationalists entered the U.S. Capitol with automatic pistols and opened fire from an upstairs spectators' gallery onto the crowded floor of the House, firing nearly 30 shots. They unfurled a Puerto Rican flag and Lebron shouted "Viva Puerto Rico libre!"
No one died in the attack but five U.S. representatives were wounded, including one congressman who was shot in the chest.
Lebron later said that she never intended to kill anyone and that all four nationalists expected to be killed in the assault. She and the others — Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irving Flores and Andres Figueroa Cordero — received lengthy prison sentences.
President Jimmy Carter granted them clemency in 1979 and they were released.
"We didn't do anything that we should regret," Lebron said upon her release. "Everyone has the right to defend their right to freedom that God gave them."
Back in Puerto Rico, Lebron continued to attend political rallies on the island, where the independence movement holds little sway with voters. The vast majority of people in Puerto Rico favor either becoming a U.S. state or maintaining the semiautonomous status they have now.
Lebron was arrested in 2001 at age 81 when she and five other people cut through a fence on the neighboring island of Vieques to protest the 1999 death of a civilian security guard killed by an errant bomb dropped during a U.S. Navy training exercise. The U.S. has since closed the Vieques bombing range. She was sentenced to 60 days in jail for trespassing.
In recent years, Lebron tempered her support for violent struggle.
"I think times have changed, and there is no need now to kill for freedom," she told El Mundo newspaper in 1998. "I would not take up arms nowadays, but I acknowledge that the people have a right to use any means available to free themselves."
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Lolita Lebron
Lolita Lebron is a Puerto Rican nationalist who led an attack on the U.S. house of representatives on March 1, 1954 with three other men: Rafael Cancel Miranda, Andres Figueroa Cordero, and Irving Flores Rodriguez. More than 240 House members were debating an immigration bill when bullets started whizzing overhead, slamming into marble columns, splintering wood. Everywhere, House members were sliding under desks and running for exits.
Witnesses said they could hear Lolita's voice above the commotion, and it was a shrill, chilling sound. "Viva Puerto Rico Libre!" Long live free Puerto Rico, she yelled as she and her compatriots unfurled a Puerto Rican flag and blasted away with Lugers and an automatic pistol.
Police found a handwritten note in her purse, alongside some lipstick and Bromo-Seltzer tablets: "Before God and the world, my blood claims for the independence of Puerto Rico. My life I give for the freedom of my country. This is a cry for victory in our struggle for independence . . . The United States of America are betraying the sacred principles of mankind in their continuous subjugation of my country . . . I take responsible for all."
All the attackers were given minimum sentences of 70 years in prison and after spending 25 years in prison, they were pardoned by President Jimmy Carter in 1979.
Lolita was born in Lares in 1920, a town best known for a revolt, Grito de Lares, waged by Puerto Ricans against Spanish occupation in 1868.
For more information:
- Lolita Lebron convokes 100 Women for Puerto Rican Independence (2008)
- Lolita Lebrón from Wikipedia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------by Abraham Garrido
Dolores “Lolita” Lebrón Sotomayor (born November 19, 1919) is an active advocate for Puerto Rican independence. She was born and raised in Lares, Puerto Rico, where she joined the Liberal Party. In her youth she met Francisco Matos Paoli, a renowned Puerto Rican poet, with whom she had a relationship. In 1941, Lolita migrated to New York City, where she joined the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, gaining influence within the party’s leadership. Within the organization she promoted ideals based on socialist and feminist principles.
In 1952, after Puerto Rico’s official status was changed to “Commonwealth”, the Nationalist Party began a series of revolutionary actions, including the Jayuya Uprising. As part of this initiative, she became the leader of a group of nationalists, who proceeded to attack the United States House of Representatives in 1954. Lolita remained imprisoned 25 years, when Jimmy Carter issued pardons to the group involved. After their release, the nationalists returned to Puerto Rico, where they were received with a celebration. During the following years Lolita continued her involvement in pro-independence activities, including the Navy-Vieques protests. Her life would be subsequently detailed in books and a documentary.Dolores “Lolita” Lebron Sotomayor (nació el 19 de noviembre de 1919) aboga activamente por la independencia de Puerto Rico. Nació y creció en Lares, Puerto Rico, donde se unió al Partido Liberal. En su juventud conoció al famoso poeta Puertorriqueño Francisco Matos Paoli, con el que tuvo una relación. En 1941, Lolita emigró a Nueva York, donde pasó a formar parte del Partido Nacionalista Puertorriqueño y adquirió gran influencia en el liderazgo del partido. Dentro de la organización, Lolita promovio ideales basados en principios socialistas y feministas.
En 1952, cuando el estatus de Puerto Rico cambió a “Commonwealth”, el partido Nacionalista comenzó una serie de acciones revolucionarias que incluyeron la revuelta de Jayuya. Siguiendo esta iniciativa, Lolita se convirtió en la lider de un grupo de nacionalistas que atacaron la Camara de Representantes de los Estados Unidos en 1954. Lolita paso 25 años de prision hasta que el presidente Jimmy Carter concedió una amnistia a el grupo que habia coordinado la operación. Tras su liberación, Lolita y su grupo fueron recibidos con una gran celebracion en Puerto Rico. Durante los años siguientes Lolita continuó participando en actividades pro-independentistas, incluyendo las protestas contra la marina norteamericana en Vieques. Su vida ha sido narrada en libros y documentales.
Lolita Lebron (born Dolores Lebr�n Sotomayor in 1920 in Lares, Puerto Rico) is an active advocate for Puerto Rican independence. She was the leader of a group of nationalists who attacked the United States House of Representatives in 1954.
[edit]Biography
At a young age Lolita was a stern believer in the idea of Puerto Rican independence. She became a member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party founded by Pedro Albizu Campos.
In the early 1950's, angered by Puerto Rico's new commonwealth status with the United States, the Nationalist Party developed a plan that would involve an attack on the Blair House with the intention of assassinating United States President Harry S. Truman and also an attack on the House of Representatives.
MI
Lolita_Lebron.arrest.Congress_attack.jpgLebron is arrested after participating in a shooting attack on Capitol Hill in March 1, 1954. AP photo.
The attack on the Blair House was carried out by Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola on November 1, 1950. The attack on the House of Representatives was to be carried out by 34 year old Lolita with the help of Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irving Flores and Andres Fiqueroa Cordero. The date, for the attack on the House of Representatives, was to be March 1, 1954. That date was picked because, it was on March 1, 1917, that Puerto Ricans were made U.S. citizens by U.S. law. Lolita's mission was to bring world attention to Puerto Rico's independence cause. When Lolita's group reached the visitors gallery above the chamber in the "House", she stood up and shouted "Viva Puerto Rico Libre!" ("Long live a Free Puerto Rico!") and unfurled a Puerto Rican flag. Then the group opened fire with lugars and automatic pistols. Some 30 shots were fired wounding five lawmakers, one representative, Alvin Bentley, R-Michigan was seriously wounded in the chest. A penny size bullet hole still marks the desk used by Republicans when they speak on the floor of the House.Upon being arrested, Lolita yelled "I did not come to kill anyone, I came to die for Puerto Rico!". Lolita and her comrades were charged with attempted murder and other crimes, and sentenced to death. President Truman had the sentence changed to life imprisonment. Lolita was imprisoned in the Federal Industrial Institution for Women in Alderson, West Virginia.
In 1979, upon international preasure, President Jimmy Carter pardoned Lolita Lebron, Irving Flores and Rafael Cancel Miranda after serving 25 years in prison. Andres Fiqueroa Cordero had died in prison. Governor of Puerto Rico Carlos Romero Barcel� publicly opposed the pardons granted by Carter, stating that it would encourage terrorism and undermine public safety.
Lolita was welcomed by various independence groups as a hero upon her return to the island. She continued to be active in the independence cause and participated in the Vieques protest against the U.S. Navy.
MI
Lolita_Lebron.Navy-Vieques_protests.jpgLebr�n participating in a march during the Navy-Vieques protests. Jos� R. Bas / PIP photo.An "International Tribunal on Violations of Human Rights in Puerto Rico and Vieques" was held on November 17-21, 2000 on the island of Vieques. It was called by the "Committee on Human Rights". One of the witnesses was Lolita Lebron. According to the local newspaper "El Vocero", her audience applauded when Lolita said at the end of her deposition "I had the honor of leading the act against the U.S. Congress on March 1, 1954, when we demanded freedom for Puerto Rico and we told the world that we are an invaded nation, occupied and abused by the United States of America. I feel very proud of having performed that day, of having answered the call of the motherland".
On June 26, 2001, Lolita was among a group of protesters that were arrested for trespassing in the restricted area in Vieques. On July 19, 2001, she was sentenced to 60 days of prison on the charge that she was trespassing on a U.S. Navy property in Vieques. Lolita had already served 23 days in jail since her arrest in June, which meant that she only had to serve 37 additional days.
On May 1, 2003, the Navy moved out of Vieques and turned over their facilities to the local government of Puerto Rico.
Lolita Lebron is 84 years old and she still continues to participate actively in pro-independence activities.
Lolita has received many honors. The artist Octavio Ocampos created a poster of Lolita which was on exhibition in the Galeria de la Raza in San Francisco, California. In Humboldt Park in Chicago, there is a mural depicting Lolita among other illustrious Puerto Ricans. Among the books written about Lolita are "The Ladies Gallery:A Memoir of Family Secrets" by Irene Vilar and Rabassa Gregory Rabassa and "Lolita la Prisonera" by Federico Ribes Tovar. Writer, director and film producer Judith Escalona, is planning on making a film about Lolita. A book written by Lolita's granddaughter, Irene Vilar, "A Message from God in the Atomic Age: A Memoir", recounts what it was like growing up being the granddaughter of Lolita Lebron and how it affected her and her family. Vilar wrote about the tragedies her family had lived through.
[edit]See also
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