11 Puerto Rican Nationalists Freed

WASHINGTON —  Eleven of the 14 Puerto Rican nationalists granted clemency by President Clinton left prison Friday and prepared to return to their homeland after years behind bars.

Friends and relatives celebrated their releases from various prisons around the country, but few people saw a quick end to the political controversy the clemency has stirred. Both the House and Senate have scheduled hearings next week on Clinton’s decision, and some Latino officials in New York say the episode has cooled their enthusiasm for First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Senate campaign in that state.

The 14 were members of the Armed Forces of National Liberation, known by its Spanish initials FALN, which sought independence for Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory. FALN was responsible for more than 100 bombings in Chicago and elsewhere in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which left six dead and many injured. But none of the 14 in question was found to be directly responsible for deaths or injuries.

Clinton on Aug. 11 offered them conditional clemency if they would renounce violence. He said he was swayed in part by the long sentences most had served and by appeals made on their behalf by former President Carter, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and others.

Clinton offered clemency to 16 FALN members, but two turned him down. Of the 14 others, two already were out of prison, but the president’s decision will soften post-release conditions. Another will be eligible for release in two years.

“It’s our opinion that this closes a major chapter in the effort to bring some reconciliation in this matter,” said Manuel Mirabal, president of the Washington-based National Puerto Rican Coalition. “We believe it is a matter of justice . . . today, sentencing standards would never provide for the length of sentences that these individuals received.”

The original sentences ranged from 35 to 90 years. Most of those released Friday had spent more than a decade in prison.

The clemency decision triggered a national debate when several Republicans accused Clinton of trying to curry favor for his wife among New York’s Puerto Rican voters. They noted that Clinton had granted only three of 3,000 previous clemency requests. Clinton said politics played no role in his decision.

The first lady said last week that she thought the clemency offer should be withdrawn because the FALN members had not vowed to renounce violence. She later said she was not aware that her husband had set a Sept. 10 deadline for the members to accept the offer and had required them to renounce violence.

“I haven’t discussed other clemency issues with her, and I didn’t think I should discuss this one,” the president told reporters Thursday.