González continues the difficult process that began with clandestinity:
The presumed Machetero, facing federal prosecution, adopted a different identity 22 years ago
By Daniel Rivera Vargas / [email protected] (Click here for the original article)
February 8, 2008
The clandestinity of the presumed Machetero Avelino González Claudio must have been a difficult life process, and the experience of being a political prisoner can mean harassment, isolation, and risks to his security, according to various people interviewed, including one of those convicted for the $7 million robbery of an armored car in 1983.
The spokesperson of the National Hostos Independence Movement (MINH, by its Spanish initials), Héctor Pesquera, pointed out that González Claudio’s 22 year long clandestinity must mean distancing himself from everything. “None of us who live in normal situations has any idea of the level of sacrifice and tension represented by adopting a new identity. It means separating yourself from your loved ones, being vigilant 24 hours a day, breaking with your past,” he said about the life that González Claudio, who has four children and many grandchildren, must have lived.
José “Che” Paralitici, spokesperson for the Comité Pro Derechos Humanos (Human Rights Committee), posited that now it is fundamental to monitor the federal authorities to ensure that they respect the rights of González Claudio while he is in their custody, and to question the government about why it collaborated with his arrest.
Protest called for
Sympathizers with the pro independence struggle called for a demonstration in solidarity with González Claudio, in front of the federal court for Monday at 3:30 p.m., when the bond hearing is scheduled.
“(The governor) Aníbal Acevedo Vilá should explain whether the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) is going to continue cooperating in the persecution of independentists, said Paralitici, alluding to the operation during which the Macheteros leader Filiberto Ojeda Ríos died.
Hilton Fernández, who was convicted of the robbery of an armored car in Connecticut and served three years in prison, spoke with El Nuevo Día yesterday, before visiting the home where González Claudio lived in Jardines de Mónaco urbanization in Manatí. The place was searched on Thursday by the FBI.
We hope that, as an enemy party, they respect the compañero’s life and protect his health, independently of the fact that he is a captured soldier in the Puerto Rican struggle,” said Fernández. He indicated that, for the independence movement, González Claudio’s capture should not be a surprise, even though he had made a new life for himself under a new identity. He added that for the family this is a painful process, but that González Claudio appeared tranquil in federal court. “It’s an occupational hazard,” he stressed.