Edwin Cortes

Edwin Cortes was a Puerto Rican nationalist and member of the FALN who received a sentence of 35 years for seditious conspiracy and other charges. He was sentenced on February 18, 1981, and incarcerated in a U.S. federal prison. However, he was released early from prison, after President Bill Clinton extended a clemency offer to him on September 7, 1999.

Cortes and 11 others were arrested on April 4, 1980, in Evanston, Illinois. They had been linked to more than 100 bombings or attempted bombings since 1974 in their attempt to achieve independence for Puerto Rico. At their trial proceedings, some of the arrested declared their status as prisoners of war, and refused to participate in the proceedings.

The arrest in April 1980 of a dozen FALN members in Evanston led to the identification of Edwin Cortes as a suspect. Nicknamed The Rabbit by law enforcement, a large team of local and federal agents placed him under nearly constant surveillance, which was used to identify a FALN safe house, which then was placed under surveillance.

The surveillance team was able to place cameras and listening equipment in the apartment. In the apartment, they found approximately 24 pounds of dynamite, 24 blasting caps, weapons, disguises, false identification and thousands of rounds of ammunition. The agents were able to neutralize all the ammunition and explosives in the apartment, by replacing the gunpowder with coconut charcoal.

These actions plus information derived from continued surveillance foiled an attempt to free Oscar Lopez Rivera from jail during a trip to a hospital in mid March 1983. In addition, they forestalled similar escape attempts targeted for other FALN prisoners, housed near Bloomington, Illinois.

Using surveillance, investigators documented Edwin Cortes training Alberto Rodriguez on how to build a bomb; evaluate the perimeter of Army Reserve Center and GSA facility at 74th and Pulaski; and plan to place bombs on July 4 of 1983. This prompted the arrest on June 29, 1983 of Cortes, Alberto Rodriguez, and Alejandrina Torres and a fourth sympathizer (Jose Rodriguez).

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