Puerto Rican Oscar López Rivera wraps up visit to Cuba
HAVANA, Cuba, Nov 27 (ACN) The Puerto Rican independence activist Oscar López Rivera ended his visit to Cuba by reiterating that the reality was much more than what he dreamed of. “It has been happier, more intense and much more rewarding than I expected,” he said.
This Sunday he was saw off at the José Martí International Airport by Fernando González Llort, president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), who shared four years of cell in the United States with the Puerto Rican hero.
Oscar reiterated his tribute to Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, and thanked the Cuban people for joining the campaign for his release from US jails – he spent in them almost 36 years – and for the love he had received since his arrival last November 12th.
A strong embrace between Fernando and Oscar culminated in the stay of the Puerto Rican patriot in Cuba, which he welcomed with admiration and affection, paying homage to the symbol of anti-imperialist resistance and the struggle for the independence of Puerto Rico.
Silvia Matute, official of the Department of International Relations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, and the representatives of ICAP, Lily Zamora and Tania Parra, also said goodbye to the Puerto Rican friend, who was accompanied by his daughter Clarisa and her granddaughter Karina.
During his stay in Cuba, Oscar was decorated with the Order of Solidarity granted by the Council of State and personally received the El Mehdi Ben Barka Order, of the Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL), distinction that had been granted in 2013, and participated in a tribute to Fidel in the Casa del ALBA Cultural and in a meeting with students at the University of Havana.
The former Puerto Rican political prisoner attended an event in his honor at the headquarters of ICAP; and paid tribute to Cuban and Puerto Rican patriots in the Colon cemetery; in Santa Clara to Che and his companions, and in the Santa Ifigenia cemetery in Santiago de Cuba, to José Martí, to the Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, to Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and Mariana Grajales.
During his tour of several provinces Oscar was received by the local authorities, he was given recognition, exchanged with the population, and visited historical sites such as La Demajagua, the former Moncada barracks, the home of Fidel and Raul in Biran and the Ñico López museum.
Puerto Rican Oscar López Rivera wraps up visit to Cuba
