Additional documentation thanks to Freedom Archives
On April 4, 1980 Eleven national liberation fighters for Puerto Rican independence were captured by local police in Evanston, Illinois and accused of being members of the Fuerzas Armadas de LiberaciĆ³n Nacional (FALN). Immediately upon their arrest, the Eleven rejected the criminal charges taking the position that they are armed combatants of the Puerto Rican struggle against colonialism. They demanded to be treated as Prisoners of War in accordance with the Geneva Convention and other International Law. As such, they did not participate in any of their legal proceedings. Instead, by turning their backs to the judge and addressing their supporters, they turned the courtroom into another arena of struggle for Puerto Rican independence. In 1977 Pablo Marcano and Nydia Cuevas Rivera, took as hostage.the Consul General of the Chilean Consulate in Puerto Rico. They demanded the release of the Puerto Rican Nationalist prisoners as well as the ceasing of July 4th celebrations on the island. When the Nationalists were released in 1979, they campaigned for the release of these two independentistas.
