The couple had met while she was in prison, when the Nationalist Party ordered him to monitor her health. Their marriage took place eight years after they had met. They moved into a small house in Loiza. The house possessed few distinctive traits, mostly composed of religious iconography and a large flag of Puerto Rico in the living room. In 1979, Lolita Lebrón, Irvin Flores, Rafael Cancel Miranda and Oscar Collazo were recognized as the embodiment of the directive of their teacher Albizu Campos to exercise valor and sacrifice before representatives of fifty-one countries at the International Conference in Support of Independence for Puerto Rico, held in Mexico City. That same year Lebrón and her group were awarded the Order of Playa Girón in Cuba. The Order of Playa Girón is a national order conferred by the Council of State of Cuba on Cubans or foreigners. On May 22, 2000, she erroneously filed charges of verbal assault against Nívea Hernández, the mother of then-Puerto Rico Senator Kenneth McClintock who subsequently served as Minority Leader, and later President, of the Senate of Puerto Rico and now serves as Secretary of State, after a discussion ensued between her and an unidentified woman at a pharmacy in San Juan. The case was reported after an employee of the establishment identified the instigator as Hernández, who was recuperating from surgery at the moment and died two months later. She continued to be active in the independence cause and participated in the protests against the United States Navy's presence in Vieques. Lebrón appeared as a witness at the "International Tribunal on Violations of Human Rights in Puerto Rico and Vieques" held on November 17–21, 2000, on the island of Vieques. According to the local newspaper El Vocero, her audience applauded when Lebrón said at the end of her deposition "I had the honor of leading the act against the U.S. Congress on March 1, 1954, when we demanded freedom for Puerto Rico and we told the world that we are an invaded nation, occupied and abused by the United States of America. I feel very proud of having performed that day, of having answered the call of the motherland". On June 26, 2001, Lebrón was among a group of protesters that were arrested for trespassing in the restricted area in Vieques. On July 19, 2001, she was sentenced to 60 days of prison on the