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Hi, this is Christina and this is Historia's Unknown. This
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is part two following last week's episode where we talked
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about Alita Lebron leading up to the attack that happened
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on March first, and here's the rest of that episode.
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Now for the attack itself. On the morning of March first,
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Lolita traveled to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan to meet
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the rest of the group. They were Rafael Cansel, Miranda,
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Irvin Flores, and Andres Vigueroa Corlero. They all took a
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train to Washington, DC, and then they walked from Union
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Station over to the Capitol. They sat on the steps
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and Rafael suggested not attacking because they were already reading
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a little late and it was raining. He said, I
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don't know, man, it's raining, but Lolita would not happen.
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It's like I immediately almost cancel all plants if it's raining.
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I was going to say, if that's not the most
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Latin American thing driving in the rain, no, thank you, No,
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maybe we shouldn't do this. It's reading. It's a bad sign.
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But she told them then I am alone, and she
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continued up the steps, meaning she was still going to
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go through with it even if they didn't. So she
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was like, then, you know, I'm about myself then, and
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so she kept walking up the steps, and they all
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looked at each other and like all right, they followed her.
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Then the group reached the visitors gallery, which is above
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the House chamber. And you know, while they're standing on
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this visitor's gallery, the representatives down there are discussing issues
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of immigration. Then Lolita gave her group the order. They
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recited the Lord's Prayer together. Then Lolida stood up and
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she shouted, Viva Puerto Rico Libre long, Live a free
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Puerto Rico. She unfurled the Puerto Rican flag and the
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group fired with their semi automatic pistols toward the House chamber. Wow.
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I'm sorry, but I got chills when.
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I heard that.
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I mean, like, you drive people into these crazy conditions
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and they drives them to do these kind of things.
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So yeah, it is what it is, you know, truly.
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So about thirty shots were fired, mostly by Rafael, who
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wounded five Congress members. Lolita fired all her shots at
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the ceiling. Okay, and Andres Friguero's gun jammed so he
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can fire in a damn on this that sucks the
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plan though they were never because you know, people would
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be like, oh, four crazy Puerto Ricans, four terrorists came
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and tried to kill congress members, but that was never
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the plan. Their plan was to go and shoot up
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like a statement. Yes, yeah, they were never planning that
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killing was never their intention, which is like what they
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say now about it, they're more noble, yeah, honestly. Yeah again,
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she's my hero. So congress members injured during this attack
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were Republican Michigan Representative Alvin Morrile Bentley, Tennessee Democrat Clifford
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Davis I wore, Republican Ben F. Jansen, Maryland Democrat George
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Hyde Fallon, and Alabama Democrat Kenneth Roberts. The Puerto Rican
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nationalists were immediately arrested, and while she was being cuughed,
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Lolita yelled, I did not come to kill anyone. I
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came to die for Puerto Rico. Oh my god. Now
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just look up right now and go to images that
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itself gave me chills. No right. One of the first
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images that comes up is her being arrested, and you
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can just see how beautiful and well dressed she is.
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Truly gorgeous women. No wow, truly yes, Like I'm not
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kidding she like look at her, Oh my gosh, and
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I just imagine her this one too. You can just
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see there are beautiful curls on all of them. I know,
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that's the first thing I saw, Like amazing when we'll
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share these images on Instagram as well. Anyway, So yeah,
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just those words. I did not come to kill one.
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I came to dine for Puerto Rico, like oh man,
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like she I listened to an episode I have. I'm
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gonna put it in the show notes as well. But
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this podcast was called Passeo Podcasts, and it's episode twelve
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of this podcast. It's called episode twelve, one hundred Years
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of Lolita Leron and Pasel podcast is like Pasel podcast
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Colin sharing Puerto Rican stories and the host just interviewed
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people that knew her. Wow, and one of them there
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is like even up to the day of her death,
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like she was just such a beautiful, gorgeous woman, and
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she just gave this aura when she were in her presence,
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like you could tell she was just so full of life,
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so loyal, so courageous. She's just like being in her
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presence was like like my life is complete now. Like,
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I don't know what else and I can only imagine
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what that felt like. But that's such a beautiful episode
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and I was going to actually mention it at some points.
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One this will mention it now. But it is a
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listen if you want to hear people that literally directly
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knew her talking about her, it's crazy. Definitely you gonna
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check that out. Yeah. So, right after the arrest, Pedro
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Alviso Campos's home was readed in Puerto Rico. They fired
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into his house before going in there to drag him out. Wow.
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When they dragged him out, he was unconscious and half asphyxiated.
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Oh wow. And this arrest never made any sense because
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from the start, Lolita told officials this attack was orchestrated
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by me alone, plus federal Albisto Campos had been under
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twenty four hour surveillance already by the FBI, the CIA
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and in Solar police. Wow. Like, so there was no
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way he could have had a part in no. No,
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And again that letter that she said, she he said,
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I'm planning on doing this attack, which then she took over.
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This dollar doesn't exist anywhere. There's no proofs in her memory,
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in her heart, you know, So the amount of pages
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that are in the FBI's reports of pedrol Libsto campus alone,
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campus alone are over one million pages. That's how deep
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their surveillance of him went. Wow. Yeah, it's just like
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he's getting up, now, he's going to the bathroom. Oh oh,
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he took twenty minutes in there, like that's wild. One
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million pages and in the end there was no evidence
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at all tying him to the attack on Congress at all. Still,
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he was returned to La princessa prison where he had
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just been released from six months before this. He was
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accused of violating the gag law order and he did
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remain in prison until his health deteriorated, and he ended
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up dying in the San Juan Presbyterian Hospital under police
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guard in nineteen fifty six. Wow, when I'm telling you
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he was done dirty by this government, I'm not kidding.
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And I'm not gonna want to distails here because he
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is going to have his own episode eventually. But it
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was horrible, like radiation exposure, horrible. Oh my god, i
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I'm not ready. No, no, But back to Lolita. Contrary
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to what is usually told, the aim was not to
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kill anyone, but again to die for Puerto Rico and
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the cause for independence. The four were charged with attempted
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murder and conspiracy. She was imprisoned in the Federal Correctional
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Institution for Women in Alder in West Virginia, though I
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did read some other accounts that at some point she
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was in a men's prison, so I don't know if
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this was up to the trial and then after the
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trial she was sent to this other prison, but at
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some point she was in immense prison where she had
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to endure horrible things like rape and sexual assault. The
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trial began on June fourth, nineteen fifty four. The jury
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composed of seven men and five women, whose identities still
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to this day are kept secret. There were thirty three witnesses,
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including Lolita's own brother, which she viewed as a betrayal.
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And I don't blame that, that's rough. Yeah, I just
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wonder what they offered him, Yeah, because that's the only
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reason I could think. Yeah, that's well. Although some people
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have just shitty siblins, so mmm. True. So, while the
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persecution was allowed to bring all those witnesses, the defendants
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were not allowed to have anyone testify on their behalf
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except for themselves. That sounds like not a right full
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just trial. I agree, and they had I forget the
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name of the organization, but they did have an organization
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providing free legal counsel in their defense, and it's like
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a liberal organization, but I don't remember the name of it.
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So they at least they had lawyers like the minimum right,
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like good lawyers that were trying to defend them to
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the best of their ability. During her testimony, Lolita maintained
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that she did not intend to kill, only to die
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for the freedom of her homeland. And I actually have
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I have a link of her talking.
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Puerto Rican, you know, vas Puerto Rico. I stayed with
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gess Para National el Imperio North Americanos y Obstina and
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Upacion nuestro Bayis in Os Provoca, the aria infensa denutradi
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Nidad national. Some of victimas yes violencia nostros emostrato to
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medios Pacificos en cuyo processo elen Emigo North Americano Seaford
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tale SiO.
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On June sixteen, nineteen fifty four, the jury declared all
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four of them guilty. Lolita was accredited her charge of
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intent to kill, and she was instead convicted of the
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offensive assault with the dealy weapon, which lowered her sentence.
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So the men received seventy five years and she received
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fifty years. So at their ages this meant life in prison. Yeah.
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They were all sent to different prisons. Figuero A Cordero
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was sent to the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Lolita Lebrun
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sent to the women's prison in Alderson, West Virginia. Cancel
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Miranda was sent to Alcatraz and San Francisco, Wow, and
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Flores Rodriguez was sent to Levenworth, Kansas. And Livingworth, Kansas
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is the same place that Oscar Coo Yasso, the person
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who was involved in the attempted assassination of President Harry S. Truman,
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was in as well incarcerated. Then they were there together.
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So Lolita would later say that her first two years
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in prison were the most difficult. Her son passed away
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during these first two years. Oh that's terrible. Yeah, he drowned,
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and of course she was not able to say goodbye
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or even go let alone see him again. Didn't even
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tell her it happened until nine days after Wow. Then
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her mother died. In his first two years, Oh my gosh,
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it's like one bad thing after another. Yeah, and again
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she couldn't say goodbye or anything. She was also unable
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to communicate with her siblings because only letters in English
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were allowed inside the prison. How is that? Yeah, probably
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to prevent more yeah, corresponding between and portwecans arrested and
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the party. But still very very unfair. Yeah. This was
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changed after a three and a half day hunger strike.
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They were finally allowed to have letters received in Spanish.
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But Lolita was placed in solitary confinement for participating in
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this hunger strike, which is something that happened to her
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often just because of her rebellious like spirit, like signing
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up for rights, she was often in solitary confinement, which
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again is a violation of human rights. It is Yeah,
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reminds me of a Martin Sosa. Yes, that was such
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a good episode, Like I had no idea about him.
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I got to do a video with him two Okay.
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And during her time in prison, they also tried to
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make her seem crazy, often putting her in the insane
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asylum section of the prison of course. Yeah, and she
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was like they're doing all this to try and break me,
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and I will not be broken. Yeah, she did it
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eventually work in the prison infirmary. Fifteen years into her sentence,
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her social worker told her she was eligible for parole.
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She could ask for it, but part of the requirement
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for the parole was for her to issue a public
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apology for March First. What she refused to do. She's
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like coome that apologizing for that, Like I wasn't the
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right and I wasn't trying to kill anyone. I was
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trying to make a statement for a free Porto Ygo,
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and I was ready to die for my cause. Like
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I'm not apologizing for that. Damn, I shouldn't even entertain
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the idea of parole. Because she showed no interest in parole,
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they made her attend a meeting before the Penitentiary Committee,
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and instead of talking about her parole during this meeting,
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she used this time to discuss how wrong the use
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of the atomic bomb was and about politics and terrorism
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of the US. Oh my gosh, I love her. I'm
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telling you, my hero. She's my hero. And I went too.
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And she had already been religious, for her interest in
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religion only grew in prison, which tends to happen for
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most people, especially because tragedy after tragedy happened. Her daughter
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also died in nineteen seventy seven, so now she's lost
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her son, mother and daughter. Wow. In prison and even
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in prison, she made sure to get ready every day
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put makeup on to her hair. When she was asked
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like why did you do this, she was like, because
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I needed to be well presented. I needed to show
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them that no one was going to break me. I
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still love myself enough to look good no matter where
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I was, and I love her for that. Wow. Yeah,
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she is my hair. She even said that even like
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horrible thing after horrible thing that happened to her in prison,
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she refused to cry, and after being released back home
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she could still not cry, Like and that is like
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a traumatic response. Yeah. And actually in that episode that
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I mentioned of that Basseo podcast, they have someone who
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wrote a song called Lolita you can Cry Now. Oh
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my god, why did that almost make me want to cry?
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Right now? Just a title alone made me cry? But
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then hearing the words, should they play part of it
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in the episode? Okay, yeah, hold on, let's just hear
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part of it right now. Lolita you may cry now,
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Lolita you may cry now.