Andrew Cuomo, Univision Pull out of Puerto Rican Day Parade amid Spat over Terrorist

NEW YORK CITY – Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Spanish-language TV network Univisión are the latest high-profile names to pull their support from the annual National Puerto Rican Day parade, amid controversy surrounding the organizers’ decision to honor a convicted terrorist whose sentence President Obama commuted.

“WXTV Univision 41, WADO 1280AM, and La X 96.3 will not be sponsors of this year’s Puerto Rican Day Parade,” Univisión Communications said in a statement, according to The New York Daily News.

Cuomo, a name frequently floated for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, also announced he would not be attending the parade, although his office did not give a reason.

The New York Yankees, Coca-Cola, JetBlue, Goya, and AT&T have already pulled out of the June 11 parade in the wake of the decision to give convicted terrorist Oscar López Rivera the title of “national freedom hero.” Additionally, NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill, as well as the NYPD and FDNY Hispanic societies, will not be attending the parade.

The outrage behind the award centers on López Rivera’s role as a key member of the radical Marxist Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN), which conducted more than 100 bombings in the United States in the seventies and eighties, killing five people, injuring dozens, and causing millions of dollars worth of damage.

López Rivera was convicted on charges of transporting guns and bombs and was released this month after serving 35 years. Obama commuted his sentence in January. López Rivera has denied being a terrorist but said, “colonized people” have a right to use force against their oppressors.

The organizers said in a statement this month that “ Oscar’s participation is not an endorsement of the history that led to his arrest, nor any form of violence. But rather a recognition of a man and a nation’s struggle for sovereignty.”

Some Democrats are pushing back against the controversy. NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he will march in the parade, while NYC City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said recently that the outrage is being orchestrated by “an ultra right-wing” element that favors Puerto Rican statehood over independence, the New York Post reported.

Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY.