NEW YORK--A Puerto Rican nationalist, vilified for his alleged links to a deadly bombing campaign, decided on his own to pass up a special award that Puerto Rican Day Parade organizers wanted to give him, hoping to dispel the rancor that had enveloped the New York event, an official said.
Even so, Oscar Lopez Rivera still wanted to march in the annual celebration of Puerto Rican heritage, said Louis Maldonado, a member of the parade's board. This year was the first opportunity he had to do so since being released from prison after serving 35 years on sedition charges.
“The reality is we did not convince him to do that. This was his decision. His decision alone," Maldonado told WABC-TV when asked if organizers bowed to political pressure by dropping plans to give Lopez Rivera a "National Freedom Hero" award.
"He did so because he saw the level of divisiveness that was happening in our community," Maldonado said.
As the parade marched up Fifth Avenue on Sunday morning, there was little sign of the firestorm of criticism that has surrounded the event since organizers announced their plans. Thousands of cheering spectators lined the route, many of them waving small Puerto Rican flags. The crowd applauded wildly as Lopez Rivera, 74, rode past on a colourful float decorated with leaping fish. He gave a "thumbs up" and thrust a clenched fist in the air.
Organizers expected 1.5 million to watch Sunday's event, held the same day as the U.S. territory holds a referendum on statehood.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was among the public figures who decided against marching in the parade once it was known Lopez Rivera was being considered as the honoree. New York City Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, the nation's largest police union, called for a boycott of the annual celebration by Americans with roots on the Caribbean island, home to 3.5 million residents.
JetBlue Airways Corp, AT&T Inc and other major advertisers pulled their sponsorships over Lopez Rivera's participation. "I think it's good that he declined it because it was entirely distracting from the issue at hand, which is Puerto Rico," Mayor Bill de Blasio, who planned to march all along, said last week. "That’s the only thing this parade should have been about."
