New York, November 23 (RHC/The Militant)-- Clarisa López, daughter of Puerto Rican political prisoner and independentista Oscar López Rivera, has kicked off a four-day tour of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. “I need your help to win my father’s release from prison,” she told students at the largest of three meetings at Hostos Community College in New York City.

Her tour is promoting the new book “Cartas a Karina,” a collection of 19 letters by Oscar López to Clarisa’s daughter Karina. López, now 73 years old, has been jailed in the United States for more than 35 years.

The story of his political awakening after being drafted into the U.S. Army in June 1965 and sent to Vietnam, his steadfast commitment to the struggle of the Puerto Rican people against colonial rule, and his outrage over the inhumane treatment of fellow prisoners by the U.S. “justice” system are eloquently captured in the pages of the book.

Nearly 100 people listened as professors and students read several of the letters aloud at the Hostos Community College meeting. Professor Ana López, who chaired the vent, said that now is the time to step up the pressure on President Barack Obama to commute Oscar López’s sentence.

Further information on the case can be found at the website freeoscarlopeznow.com.