The campaign to free Oscar López Rivera hit the Washington, D.C. newsstands today, as an ad calling for President Barack Obama to free to Puerto Rican political prisoner appeared in The Hill, El Nuevo Día reports.
The ad, under the headline “PRESIDENT OBAMA: Change is still possible; it’s just a signature away,” came out just two days a We the People online petition to free López Rivera surpassed 100,000 signatures in less than 30 days. Breaking the 100,000 does not guarantee a response from the President, since according to We the People, the White House has 60 days to provide an official update. It is unclear what will happen now, since President Obama would be leaving the White House on January 20, 2017.
A member of the FALN (Armed Forces of National Liberation) and a proponent of Puerto Rican independence, López Rivera was convicted in 1981 for seditious conspiracy, but many Puerto Ricans from all political stripes have been calling for his freedom.
