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Family Marks 'Momentous Occasion' As Puerto Rican Nationalist Oscar Lopez Rivera To Go Free

CHICAGO (CBS) -- With Puerto Rican nationalist Oscar Lopez Rivera set to be released from prison in May, his family celebrated Sunday night, just days after President Barack Obama commuted his sentence for conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government.

Rivera has been behind bars for more than 35 years, after he was convicted in 1981 for taking part in the work of a Puerto Rican nationalist group that took credit for multiple bombings in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of the bombings occurred in Chicago.

The Puerto Rican national anthem filled the hall at the Puerto Rican Cultural Center on Sunday, to celebrate Rivera's upcoming freedom.

"This has been a long, long struggle," said Rivera's brother, Jose E. Lopez. "This was a momentous occasion. My brother served 35 years with dignity, with honor."

Supporters and family said they were overwhelmed that Rivera's prison sentence has been cut short.

In 1981, Rivera was sentenced to 55 years in prison for multiple weapons, explosives, and seditious conspiracy charges. Another 15 years were added to his term, for a plot to escape from prison. On Tuesday, Obama commuted his sentence, allowing Rivera to go free in May.

"Finally, my dad is coming back home after more than 35 years," said his daughter, Clarissa Lopez Ramos. "It's like a roller coaster of emotions. I'm so happy."

Ramos said she's never hugged her father, so a big embrace is certainly in order once he is released.

Rivera was charged with taking part in the work of FALN, a nationalist group that sought a free and socialist Puerto Rico, and took credit for dozens of bombings in the 1970s and 1980s.

Before that, he was a community organizer in the Humboldt Park neighborhood in the late-1960s.

Critics of Obama's decision have called Rivera a terrorist who showed no remorse.

"Whatever your opinion of him, he paid 35 years of his life, and he's finally coming home," said Congrssman Luis Gutierrez, who had lobbied for clemency for Rivera. "Let's never forget why he is in jail; for the freedom of his people, and the immense sacrifices that Oscar had to make."

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