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Edwin Cortés

Edwin Cortés is one of the 11 Puerto Rican former political prisoners granted clemency by President Clinton in September 1999. He immediately returned to Puerto Rico, where he and his compañeros/as were met with a huge welcome celebration. For updates on this clemency, see www.prisonactivist.org/quesalgan

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The background description below is adapted from Can't Jail the Spirit (March 1998).

Edwin Cortés was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 27, 1955. He is one of 15 children. He is married to his compañera Alva and together they have two children, Noemi and Carlos Alberto.

As a student leader, he participated in struggles in support of the Iranian and Palestinian people. Edwin was one of the founders of the Union for Puerto Rican Students, an organization that defended student rights, promoted the history and culture of Puerto Rico and organized support for Puerto Rican independence. In 1978, Edwin graduated from the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle Campus, receiving a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science. Edwin was also active in community struggles, particularly on the south side of Chicago, where he was born and raised. He helped found the Pedro Albizu Campos Collective, a group of independence activists who organized community and youth programs. He later helped establish the Latino Cultural Center.

On June 29, 1983, Edwin was captured along with two other comrades and charged with seditious conspiracy. He was incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago and Lewisburg FCI in Pennsylvania. His biography was published in The Indispensables (bilingual publication, 1984).

This page is maintained by the Prison Activist Resource Center. Updated 27 September 1999.