Entrevista a Clarisa López “Me siento sumamente orgullosa que Papi forme parte de los hombres del cartel de CLARIDAD”

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Entrevista a Clarisa L?pez ?Me siento sumamente
orgullosa que Papi forme parte de los hombres del cartel
de CLARIDAD?
Por C?ndida Cotto
11 febrero 2009

?Yo dir?a que mi pap? es un hombre adelantado a
su ?poca?, es lo primero que se le ocurre decir a
Clarisa sobre su padre, Oscar L?pez Rivera. El
amor, el cariZo, el respeto y admiraci?n hacia su
padre son evidentes, a?n cuando han sido
cultivados en una relaci?n vigilada, no
precisamente por gente que los quiere bien, sino
por los guardias del imperio. Clarisa ten?a diez
aZos cuando su pap? fue arrestado en mayo de 1981
y acusado de conspiraci?n sediciosa, desde esa fecha se encuentra en prisi?n.

Las visitas de Clarisa y el resto de la familia
han sostenido el esp?ritu de este boricua nacido
en el pueblo de San Sebasti?n en un tradicional
D?a de Reyes. Clarisa trata de visitar a su padre
al menos dos veces al aZo, mientras las llamadas
telef?nicas, antes el correo y ahora el correo
electr?nico son parte de la relaci?n. Este aZo
pasado pudo visitarlo en septiembre y en
noviembre durante el fin de semana de Acci?n de Gracia.

?En noviembre cuando llegamos hab?a neblina, eso
significa que si hay neblina hay la posibilidad
de que suspendan la visita, luego de casi cinco
horas de viaje. Con neblina no los mueven dentro
de la c?rcel, cuando llegamos nos percatamos que
la fila de los carros era afuera, eso quer?a
decir que no nos iban a dejar entrar.
Efectivamente, nos dijeron que ten?amos que
esperar dos horas m?s para ver si el tiempo
cambiaba entonces nos iban a permitir visitar?.

Viaj? en carro con una de sus primas desde
Chicago hasta la prisi?n federal de Terre Haute,
en Indiana. Al llegar si hay inconvenientes para
entrar como describi?, la espera tiene que ser en
el carro y no se pueden mover porque si no se
pierde el turno. Despu?s de las dos horas todav?a
esperaron de 30 a 45 minutos, a veces puede ser
hasta una hora en lo que los guardias procesan el
papeleo de entrada, todo depende del guardia que est?.

?Luego de eso entonces pasas al sal?n de visitas
que es un ambiente hostil porque es bien
inc?modo, nada es agradable, nada, lo ?nico
agradable ah? es cuando mi pap? sale que se me
ilumina el sal?n de visitas, independiente a eso
no hay nada agradable, nada que tu puedas comer,
hay m?quinas pero son cosas que est?n a punto de
expirar, as? que preferimos no comer nada,
preferimos pasar las horas de visita que se
supone podr?an ser de cinco hasta siete horas
pero con el proceso de mal tiempo, la espera de
los carros para entrar, a veces se acorta la visita?.

Describi? que el sal?n tiene filas de asientos a
lo largo colocadas al frente y detr?s. ?As? que
tienes gente sentada a los lados y los asientos
son bien estrechos por lo que no tienes mucha
movilidad y frente a ti van a sentar otros presos
con sus familias si ese preso es una persona alta
vas a estar inc?modo. Es un poco complicado
porque a veces t? sientes que las personas est?n
sentadas encima de ti y la privacidad es muy poca
porque tu no escoges donde sentarte, ellos tienen
un mapa donde nos sientan, cuando tu llegas al
sal?n ya ellos saben donde te van a ubicar as?
que usualmente nosotros estamos sentados donde
sientes que todas las c?maras est?n hacia ti, una
arriba, a los lados, as? que es un poquito
dif?cil pero tratamos de sacar lo mejor de esa visita y hablar de todo?.

Las conversaciones giran desde los estudios de
maestr?a que al presente cursa Clarisa, los
estudios universitarios que est? iniciando su
nieta Karina, la hija de Clarisa, de pol?tica, de
deporte hasta de lo que les gustar?a hacer cuando
?l est? fuera. ?Hablamos de todo porque aunque ?l
este all? encarcelado tiene una noci?n terrible
de lo que est? pasando fuera y eso es bien
admirable hablamos de si est? haciendo una
pintura bien complicada me dice como le est?
yendo, aunque sus dos temas favoritos somos Karina y yo?.

Igual sucede con la lectura, por supuesto
pol?tica, la historia de los ind?genas, cuentos,
arte, son tantos los temas y los libros sobre los
cuales le gusta leer. Cont? Clarisa que tuvo que
pedirle en un momento a su padre que ten?a que
dividir los libros y otros materiales entre la
familia porque ella sola no los pod?a guardar. Se
supone que cada cierto tiempo Oscar tiene que
sacar parte de las cosas que tiene en la celda.

El proceso del cartel
Aunque al momento de nuestra conversaci?n todav?a
Clarisa no hab?a visto el cartel que diseZ? su
Pap? expres? estar segura de que lo disfrut?
mucho. ?S? que fue un reto bien grande porque ?l
nunca hab?a hecho ese tipo de arte y aparte de
eso estoy segura que para ?l es un honor el que
fuera considerado para hacer ese arte y quer?a llenar las expectativas?.

Describi? que el sal?n de pintura es un ?rea
pequeZa que comparte con otras personas. ?Ahora
hab?a la particularidad de que ah? no hab?a
calefacci?n as? que mientras iba a pintar se le
estaban congelando las yemas de los dedos de las
manos y de los pies entonces me dice que como
estaba envuelto en el proceso no sab?a primero
qu? era lo que iba a hacer, cada vez que volv?a
al cuarto de la pintura todav?a no sent?a los
dedos, y dice que no sabe si se va a quedar as?
permanentemente?, narr? Clarisa sobre parte de lo
que le cont? Oscar del trabajo para el festival.

?Pero el proceso como tal s? que lo disfrut?
mucho no importa que cada d?a tenga sus
complicaciones porque tiene que trabajar en ese
espacio tan pequeZo, temperaturas bien bajitas ya
el arte lo entreg? y todav?a no siente las yemas
de los dedos. En el ?ltimo correo electr?nico que
me envi? relacionado al cartel me dijo que le
gustar?a que fuera yo la que se lo entregara a
Lucecita, le dije que si me dice que sea yo, no
tengo m?s remedio. Tambi?n le dije que siempre hay mucha gente en esa tarima?.

A trav?s de Clarisa, quien fue compaZera de
trabajo en Claridad, Oscar conoce de referencia
el Festival. ?Creo que por los aZos que trabaj?
en el festival siempre le contaba que era salir
del peri?dico ir directamente al estadio, creo
que por eso ya estaba familiarizado con el
proceso, c?mo se hace, la din?mica que se da.
Para m? que todav?a estoy unida a CLARIDAD,
trabaj? ah? muchos aZos y lo agradezco, me siento
sumamente orgullosa de que Papi ahora forme parte
de los artistas que han trabajado el cartel, de
los hombres del cartel. Fueron muchas las noches
que me toc? trabajar en el Festival de CLARIDAD y
ahora que voy a estar en otra funci?n tambi?n me lo disfrutar??, expres?.

Al pedir a Clarisa qu? le gustar?a decir de su
padre que nunca antes nadie le haya preguntado,
piensa unos segundos y luego con voz tierna y
segura cuenta; ?Que es una de las personas m?s
inteligentes que he conocido en mi vida, que la
calidad de ser humano, que su sensibilidad no es
tan s?lo hacia su familia, sus hijos, sus
familiares, es algo que va m?s all? de cualquier
frontera. Para darte un ejemplo mi Pap? para mi
cumpleaZos, que fue en enero 18 me envi? un
regalo y en enero 12 fue el terremoto de Hait?,
luego de eso nos intercambiamos correo
electr?nico y me dice qu? hago, yo quisiera hacer
algo, y me lleg? un dinero que me regal?, no lo
consulte con ?l lo que hice fue que cog? la mitad
del dinero hice una compra y la don?, cuando se
lo estoy comunicando, Papi hice esto a nombre de
Karina, tuyo y m?o, me dice sabes qu? recibe un
donativo y lo endose a la gente de Hait?, as? que
los dos de manera distinta y sin habernos
consultado est?bamos haciendo algo que ?l quer?a, fue bien ch?vere?.

Para terminar la conversaci?n nuestra amiga no
oculta su angustia. ?Ahora le digo que ya lleva
27 aZos encarcelado que yo nunca he tenido la
oportunidad de verlo fuera de una c?rcel, que yo
tengo 39 aZos, que Karina cumple 19 aZos el 1 de
mayo, yo le digo sabes qu? Viejo, el miedo m?s
grande m?o es que el tiempo me traicione, que el
tiempo siga pasando as? a esta rapidez que va y
yo no tenga la oportunidad, la vida no me d? la
oportunidad de conocer a mi Pap? en otro plano, a
otro nivel, que la vida no me lo ha dejado
conocer por las circunstancias que han pasado.
Eso s? me da miedo y no lo digo en forma de
reproche, se lo digo porque creo que es el
momento de dejarle saber, no s? si por la edad,
porque soy madre, porque veo el tiempo pasar
porque veo mucha gente que se van en un abrir y
cerrar de ojos y eso yo no quisiera que me pase
con ?l, yo quiero hacer cosas juntos, yo quiero
ir al cine a ver una pel?cula, yo quiero ir al
campo contigo, yo quiero levantarme y tomarme una
taza de caf? contigo o solamente estar ah? y
darte un abrazo de la duraci?n que yo quiera, que
nadie nos tenga que decir ya?.
******************************************************************************
Interview with Clarisa L?pez ?I feel so proud
that Papi is now one of the CLARIDAD poster artists?
By C?ndida Cotto
February 11, 2010
http://claridadpuertorico.com/content.html?news=B4497C91304856266F9101B2F57B0ED6

translated by Jan Susler

?I would say that my father is a man ahead of his
time,? is the first thing that occurs to Clarisa
to say about her father, Oscar L?pez Rivera. Her
love, affection, respect and admiration for her
father are evident, even when they?ve been
created through a monitored relationship,
monitored not exactly by people who really love
them, but rather by guards of the empire. Clarisa
was ten years old when her father was arrested in
May of 1981 and accused of seditious conspiracy,
and he has been in prison ever since.

Visits from Clarisa and the rest of the family
have maintained the spirit of this Puerto Rican,
born in San Sebasti?n on a traditional Three
Kings Day. Clarisa tries to visit her father at
least twice a year, and telephone calls,
previously the mail, and now email, are part of
their relationship. Last year she was able to
visit him in September and November during Thanksgiving weekend.
?In November, when we arrived there was fog? if
there?s fog, they may cancel visits? and this is
after almost five hours of traveling to get
there. When there?s fog, there is no movement of
prisoners. When we arrived, we noticed that the
line of cars was outside, which meant that they
weren?t going to let us in. As it turned out,
they told us we had to wait two hours longer, to
see if the weather changed and they might let us visit.?

She traveled by car with one of her cousins, from
Chicago to the federal prison in Terre Haute,
Indiana. If something happens to prevent the
visit, like she described, they have to wait in
the car. If they leave, they lose their place in
line. After two hours they had to wait another 30
to 45 minutes longer, sometimes an hour, while
the guards process the visiting forms; it all
depends on which guard is on duty.

?After that, we get to the visiting room, which
is a hostile environment, because it?s really
uncomfortable. Nothing is nice, nothing. The only
nice thing there is when my father comes out.
That lights up the visiting room, regardless of
how disagreeable it is? nothing to eat; well,
there are vending machines, with stale food, so
we would rather not eat anything. We?d rather
spend the our time visiting? supposedly you have
from five to seven hours for the visit, but with
the bad weather, waiting in the car to come in,
sometimes the visit is cut short.?

She described the visiting room, with its long
rows of seats lined up in front and behind. ?So
you have people seated at your side, and the
seats are really narrow. You don?t have much room
to move. And right across from where you are,
other prisoners and their families are seated. If
the other prisoner is tall, it?s going to be
uncomfortable. It?s a little complicated, because
sometimes you feel like the other visit is
sitting right on top of you. You have very little
privacy, because you don?t choose where you sit?
they have a diagram they use, to tell us where to
sit. When you get to the visiting room, they
already know where they?re going to put you.
Usually we are seated where all the cameras can
focus on us? one above, others to both sides? so
it?s a little difficult, but we try to make the
most of the visit, and talk about everything.?

The conversation ranges from Clarisa?s studying
for her master?s degree, his granddaughter
Karina?s (Clarisa?s daughter) having started at
university, politics, sports, even what they?d
like to do when he leaves prison. ?We talk about
everything, because even though he?s there in
prison, he has a tremendous understanding of
what?s happening out here, which is really
admirable. If he?s creating a real complicated
painting, he tells me how it?s going? although
his two favorite topics are Karina and me.?

The same thing happens with reading? of course,
politics, the history of indigenous peoples,
short stories, and art, are topics as well as
books he likes to read. Clarisa reports that at
one point she had to ask her father to divide up
the books and other materials among the family,
because she alone couldn?t keep them all. After a
certain point, Oscar is supposed to send out the
things he?s accumulated in his cell.

The process of the poster
Although at the time of our conversation, Clarisa
hadn?t yet seen the poster designed by her
father, she said she was sure he thoroughly
enjoyed doing it. ?I know that it was huge
challenge, because he?d never done that kind of
art before, and apart from that, I?m sure that
for him it?s an honor that he was considered to
make the poster, and he wanted to meet those expectations.?

She described the room where he paints as a small
area he shares with others. ?Recently, the
situation there was that there was no heat, so
that while he was painting, his fingertips and
his toes were freezing. Then he told me how he
was involved in the process, that at first he
didn?t know what he was going to do. Each time he
went to painting room, he couldn?t feel his
fingers; that he doesn?t know if they?re going to
stay that way forever,? related Clarisa, as to
what Oscar told her about his work on the festival poster.

?But I know he really enjoyed the process,
regardless of the fact that each day was
complicated, having to work in such a small space
with frigid temperatures. He?s delivered the
painting, and he still can?t feel his fingertips.
In the last email he sent me about the poster, he
told me he would like me to be the person to
deliver the painting to Lucecita. I told him that
if he says I should do it, I won?t object. I also
told him that there are always a lot of people up on the stage.?

Through Clarisa, who was one of the companeras
working at Claridad, Oscar knew about the
Festival. ?I think that when I worked at the
festival for years, I always told him we would
leave work at Claridad and go directly to the
stadium. I think that because of that, he was
familiar with the process, how it?s done, the
dynamics of the festival. I am still close to
CLARIDAD, where I worked for many years, and I?m
grateful for that. I feel enormously proud that
Papi is now one of the artists who have made the
poster, one of the poster artists. I had to work
many nights at the CLARIDAD Festival, and now
that I?ll be there in a different capacity, I?m
also going to enjoy that,? she expressed.

We asked Clarisa what she wanted to say about her
father. No one had ever asked that before. She
thought for a couple seconds, and then in a
tender and confident voice, she said, ?He is one
of the most intelligent people I have ever known.
His human quality, his sensitivity, isn?t just
toward his family, his children, his family
members; it?s something goes beyond any border.
To give you an example, for my birthday, which
was January 18, my father sent me a gift. On
January 12, the earthquake struck Haiti. After
that we exchanged emails, and he asked me, ?What
can I do? I want to do something.? When the money
he sent for my birthday arrived, I didn?t consult
with him, but I took half the money to buy food
and donate it. When I told him, I said ?Papi, I
did this in our name, for Karina, you and me.? He
told me, ?Do you know what? I received some money
and gave it to the Haitian people.? So both of
us, in different ways and without even talking
about it, were doing something he wanted. It was a great experience.?

By the end of our conversation, our friend didn?t
hide her anguish. ?He?s been in prison 27 years,
and I?ve never had the chance to see him out of
prison. I?m 39 years old. Karina will turn 19 on
May 1. I tell him, ?You know what, Papi? My
greatest fear is that time will betray me, that
time is passing so quickly, and I won?t have the
chance, that life won?t give me the chance to
know my father on another level; that life hasn?t
let me know him, due to things that have
happened.? That makes me scared, and I don?t say
it as a reproach; I say it because I think it?s
time to let him know. I don?t know if it?s
because of my age, because I?m a mother, because
I see time passing, because I see many people who
leave in the blink of an eye, and I don?t want
that to happen to me, with him. ?I want to do
things together. I want to go to the movies. I
want to go to the countryside with you. I want to
wake up and drink a cup of coffee with you, or
just be there and hug you for as long as I want
to, with nobody telling us that visiting time is over.?