CHICAGO--After 30 years as a political prisoner, Puerto Rican community activist Carlos Alberto Torres was released from a federal prison in Pekin, Ill., La Raza reports.

 In 1980 the Torres was arrested along with 10 others on charges of belonging to the FALN (Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional), and conspiring against the U.S. government.

The 57-year-old activist was released on parole following an intense campaign in his favor by human rights groups. The Committee for Human Rights has called an official ceremony in his honor in the city of San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Asked what he plans to do, Torres said, “I remain convinced that independence is best. I continue to be a nationalist, committed to the principle of freedom. While Puerto Rico remains a
colony, it does not enjoy freedom.”

“ I will come to fight and participate in the independence movement,” he said.