Puerto Rican nationalist gets mixed reception in NYC

NEW YORK — Oscar Lopez Rivera may not have officially been honored as a National Freedom Hero in the city's Puerto Rican Day Parade on Sunday, but the fervent nationalist who spent decades in prison for his involvement with a group responsible for a string of bombings in the 1970s and ’80s still got to ride on a float.

Lopez Rivera was cheered and booed as he stood proudly clutching a Puerto Rican flag when the parade stepped off in Manhattan. His supporters followed, carrying signs that read, “Oscar Lopez Rivera is our Mandela.”

Nanchelle Rivera, who's no relation, was not among them. From the sidelines, she said she refuses to back the man who served 35 years in prison for his involvement with a group responsible for bombings that killed and maimed dozens of people.

“He did not represent me,” said Rivera, visiting from Orlando, Fla. A supporter in the parade heard her booing and shouted back, “This is your history!”

People and corporations, including AT&T and JetBlue, withdrew from the parade in protest of the decision to honor the 74year-old former member of the militant Puerto Rican nationalist group Armed Forces of National Liberation, or FALN. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, and several police and fire department groups also said they would not attend.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, said last week that he was uncomfortable with the idea of honoring Lopez Rivera. He showed up for the march, shaking hands with people across police barricades.

He was released from prison last month following the commutation of his sentence by then-President Barack Obama.

Lopez Rivera said last week he would not accept the title of National Freedom Hero organizers first granted him but would instead join the parade as a regular citizen, partly because the focus was too much on him and not enough on the plight of Puerto Rico. The parade's board of directors said in a statement that Lopez Rivera would join the parade “as a humble Puerto Rican and grandfather.”

Parade board vice chair Ululy Martinez said Lopez Rivera was placed on a float because of his age and the 92-degree heat.