San Juan, May 18 (RHC-PL)-- U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders addressed crowds at a rally in Puerto Rico, calling for the release of Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera, Prensa Latina reported on Tuesday.

Rivera is accused of seditious conspiracy for links with the Armed Forces of National Liberation, the FALN, which operated in New York and Chicago in the late 70s and early 80s. Oscar Rivera has been imprisoned for 35 years for his participation in Puerto Rico independence struggles.

Bernie Sanders also spoke in favor of negotiating the Caribbean island’s US$70 billion debt.  He told supporters at the rally in San Juan: "The Puerto Rican people should not suffer more by millionaire investors who aspire to become millionaires, the debt must be renegotiated."