LATIN Americans celebrated the impending freedom of Oscar Lopez on Tuesday after it was announced that the Puerto Rican independence leader, who has served more than three decades behind bars, is to be released this year.
Mr Lopez is set to walk free from a US jail on May 17 after outgoing US President Barack Obama commuted his 55-year sentence to the 36 years he has already served.
Puerto Ricans celebrated in the streets of the Spanishspeaking US island territory.
JOE DWYER of Sinn Fein reflects on the links between the Irish and Cuban struggles for independence and on Castro’s personal engagement with the cause of Irish freedom
Sinn Fein’s CHRIS HAZZARD MP addressed the closing rally at Latin America 2026 earlier this month with a reminder that the struggle for national dignity and popular power is no longer regional or symbolic — it is the front line of a global realignment led by organised peoples who refuse to bow to empire. The Star republishes his speech here
To defend Puerto Rico’s right to peace is to defend Venezuela’s right to exist, argues MICHELLE ELLNER



