San Juan, October 8 (RHC)-- Puerto Rican pro-independence lawyer and leader Noel Colón Martínez died at the age of 94 in San Juan.  His life and work were praised Saturday by island politicians of different ideological currents.

Colón Martínez was president of the Bar Association from 1964 to 1965, gubernatorial candidate for the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) in 1972, and one of the founders of the Movimiento Independentista Nacional Hostosiano (MINH).

The lawyer and politician always defended the cause of Puerto Rico's self-determination and independence, participating in international forums.  He also worked as a political analyst in the written press and on television and radio programs, and opposed the presence of the U.S. Navy on the islands of Culebra and Vieques, and was arrested in 2002 for his acts of civil disobedience.

'Don Noel Colón Martínez was a true Puerto Rican who fought for his homeland, his ideals of justice and freedom with great vehemence and consistency, but never with bitterness or a divisive spirit,' Senate and Popular Democratic Party President José Luis Dalmau wrote on his social Twitter account.

The PDP leader stressed that Colón Martínez's preaching of "seeking broad consensus for Puerto Rico without surrendering principles or offending the adversary should be a beacon" in political work.  "May Noel Colón Martínez rest in peace."