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Venezuela's National Constituent Assembly, or ANC, honored former political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera on his first visit to the South American nation during a session Tuesday.
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Oscar Lopez Rivera Calls US Intervention in Puerto Rico 'Biggest Experiment in Neoliberalism'
In the meeting with the assembly, Lopez Rivera, a life-long Puerto Rican independence activist who was freed in 2017 by a clemency order from former U.S. President Barack Obama, said the United States "will not allow Puerto Ricans to have a sovereign nation."
"To achieve this we have to fight, the United States will never allow Puerto Rico to be anything more than a colony," Lopez Rivera said.
The independence leader, who was imprisoned in the United States for 35 years, also said Washington maintains its racist ideology against Latin America and other countries, citing the proposed wall on the border with Mexico as an example.
#6Mar | Oscar López Rivera: La política del gobierno de Estados Unidos se fundamenta en la ideología racista vemos como persiten en la construcción del muro en la frontera con México, eso es una muestra del racismo que condena y sataniza al inmigrante#TodosSomosVenezuela pic.twitter.com/WE8PusHuC3
— Constituyente (@ANC_ve) 6 de marzo de 2018
#6Mar | Oscar López Rivera: “el gobierno estadounidense no permitirá que los puertorriqueños seamos una nación soberana. Para eso tenemos que luchar, jamás los EE.UU permitirá que Puerto Rico sea nada más que una colonia”#TodosSomosVenezuela @DrodriguezVen pic.twitter.com/2Xq1KvSmfI
— Constituyente (@ANC_ve) 6 de marzo de 2018
#6Mar | Oscar López Rivera: “El imperio estadounidense no detienen su injerencia en nuestros pueblos, eso jamás debe ser permitido”#TodosSomosVenezuela @DrodriguezVen pic.twitter.com/NIwfd6u8WZ
— Constituyente (@ANC_ve) 6 de marzo de 2018
For their part, the members of the Constituent Assemly expressed their support for Rivera and the cause of Puerto Rico.
"The strategy of the nation of the north is the subjugation of the people," said Adan Chavez, the president of the body's Commission of Interior Relations. "It is for that reason that they condemned some leaders like Oscar Lopez Rivera without cause."
Lopez Rivera, who arrived in Venezuela this Saturday, also reaffirmed his support for Venezuela as it faces U.S. interference and sanctions.
"The United States has no moral to meddle in the affairs of any country, it is a criminal State," he said.
On Monday, Lopez Rivera met with Venezuelan leaders, including Delcy Rodriguez and President Nicolas Maduro, who presented him with a replica of the sword used by Latin American independence leader, Simon Bolivar.
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