Adolfo Matos is one of the 11 Puerto Rican former political prisoners able to leave Federal prison due to clemency granted by President Clinton in September 1999. He immediately returned to his home town of Lajas, which met him with a huge welcome celebration.

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

Adolfo Matos was born in Lajas, Puerto Rico on September 18, 1950. His family still resides in his hometown. He moved to New York City when he was very young and later met and married his beloved compañera Helen Rosado. He is the father of two daughters. Rosa Maria and Lydia.

Adolfo was captured on April 4, 1980 in Evanston, Illinois. He was given a 70-year federal sentence for seditious conspiracy and other charges.

He is a skilled artist, working with copper etchings that depict Puerto Rican historical and cultural figures. His work has been displayed at the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Chicago as well as elsewhere. With his optimism, his smile and his love for his people, Adolfo is a jibaro terminao in every sense of the word.

Human Rights Violations

After his capture in 1980, he was held for 46 months in various Illinois state prisons. During this period he was transferred 10 times to 9 different state prisons. In almost all prisons, Adolfo was placed in solitary confinement or "administrative detention". He was not allowed personal property and could not communicate with other prisoners or use the telephone.

He was locked down twenty-three hours a day. All of his activities were documented every half hour and kept in a log. If he was asleep, the guards would wake him up, using as a pretext the need to find out if he was still alive. This was just an excuse to harass him. Prison officials informed him that he was a high security prisoner in a low security prison.

Adolfo was then incarcerated in a federal prison camp in Lompoc, California. This prison is located literally cross country from his family, which resides in New York City.

Image licensed under GFDL with Attribution: Thomas Good / NLN
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