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Home Front: Politix

Puerto Ricans Protest Against FBI

2006-02-27

More than 1,000 demonstrators chanting anti-FBI slogans and carrying Puerto Rican flags marched through the capital of this U.S. island territory on Sunday. Demonstrators chanted "Respect Puerto Rico!" and "FBI get out!" Many of the marchers favor independence for the island and accuse the FBI of persecuting the movement. They also accuse the FBI of letting Filiberto Ojeda Rios — the fugitive leader of a pro-independence militant group — bleed to death during an FBI raid in September. Federal agents have said they shot Ojeda Rios after he fired on them, but his widow said the FBI fired first. Ojeda Rios was wanted for the 1983 robbery of a Wells Fargo armored truck depot. Marchers Sunday later accused an onlooker of being a federal agent. Confronting the man, demonstrators began shouting "murderer, murderer." After several minutes the man fled in an automobile and protesters banged on the car windows, cracking the glass, witnesses said. Many of the marchers said the man had been taking photographs of the demonstration. Several witnesses said the man had been carrying a firearm. More at the link.

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Home Front: WoT

FBI Stopped Terrorist Attack in Puerto Rico

2006-02-12

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - FBI agents in Puerto Rico on Friday searched five homes and a business to thwart what the agency said was a "domestic terrorist attack" planned by militants favoring independence for the U.S. island territory. The alleged attack would have involved explosives directed at "privately owned interests" and the public in Puerto Rico, according to Luis Fraticelli, special agent in charge of the FBI on the island. Fraticelli's statement did not disclose details about the alleged attack or the investigation, which the FBI earlier said was focused on the pro-independence People's Boricua Army. FBI spokesman Harry Rodriguez said there were no arrests, but declined to provide details. The People's Boricua Army, also known as the Macheteros or "cane cutters," was accused of bombings and attacks in the 1970s and 1980s. The group was among three to claim responsibility for a 1979 attack in which gunmen opened fire on a U.S. Navy bus, killing two U.S. sailors. In September, FBI agents shot and killed Filiberto Ojeda Rios, a leader of the Macheteros who was wanted for the 1983 robbery of an armored truck depot in Connecticut, after he allegedly opened fire when they came to arrest him at a farmhouse in a western town on the island. Hundreds of protesters staged a demonstration late Friday outside the federal building in San Juan, accusing the FBI of persecuting the pro-independence movement. They burned an American flag and chanted, "If the Yankees don't leave, they'll die in Puerto Rico!" The FBI should continue to persecute them and hunt them down like dogs. "I believe that this is an act of abuse and an act of persecution," said Alberto Jesus, known for leading protests against U.S. Navy bombing exercises on Vieques island. "We have here a foreign country that puts the label of terrorist on us." You're not a foreign country, you're part of the US, and yes, you're a terrorist. As word spread of the FBI operation early Friday, protesters and reporters gathered outside an apartment building in San Juan as it was searched by agents. Fraticelli said agents used "non-lethal force" when protesters and the media tried to cross a law enforcement perimeter. The move was necessary "to protect members of the media, the public and the law enforcement officers executing this lawful search warrant." Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila denounced the incident, saying in a statement that there was "no justification for the excessive use of force." The FBI didn't use excessive force, but the demonstrators did. If PR wants to leave the US, no skin off my fore: take a vote, get a substantial majority and do it. No subsidies, no boodle, just go. But if you stay either as a commonwealth or as a state, you do it by American rules. And that means, in part, that mooks like Ojeda Rios get hunted down.

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Caribbean-Latin America

Chavez Backs Sheehan Plan for Bush Protest

2006-01-30

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Cindy Sheehan, who gained international fame when she camped outside President Bush's ranch in an anti-war protest, plans to pitch her tent again, Venezuela's president said Sunday as he urged activists worldwide to help bring down "the U.S. empire." Hugo Chavez, an arm around Sheehan's shoulders, told a group of activists that she had told him "she is going to put up her tent again in front of Mr. Danger's ranch" in April. Just in time for tornado season, I'll put in a call to Haliburton and get one on the schedule If we can just get them to put up a few trailers you won't need to ... In some of his strongest recent comments aimed at Washington, Chavez condemned the Bush administration and said his audience should work toward ending U.S. dominance. "Enough already with the imperialist aggression!" Chavez said, listing countries from Panama to Iraq where the U.S. military has intervened. "Down with the U.S. empire! It must be said, in the entire world: Down with the empire!" Chavez said Sheehan had invited him to join her April protest at Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch. Sheehan, whose 24-year-old soldier son Casey was killed in Iraq in 2004, held a vigil outside Bush's ranch during the president's vacation in August, attracting some 12,000 peace activists and reinvigorating the national anti-war movement. "Maybe I'll put up my tent also," Chavez said, to applause from an audience invited to his weekly broadcast on the final day of the World Social Forum, an annual gathering of anti-war and anti-globalization activists. Chavez said his government would help protest the war in Iraq by supporting a drive to gather petitions and delivering them to the U.S. Embassy in Caracas. Chavez, who before the war in Iraq had friendly relations with Saddam Hussein, has been a frequent and strident critic of the war. Sheehan thanked Chavez for "supporting life and peace." She said earlier that she was impressed by his sincerity when they met privately on Saturday. "He said, 'Why don't I run for president?'" she said. "I just laughed." Sheehan also noted that singer and activist Harry Belafonte recently called Bush "the greatest terrorist in the world," and said, "I agree with him. George Bush is responsible for killing tens of thousands of innocent people." Also joining Chavez on Sunday was Elma Beatriz Rosado, the widow of slain Puerto Rican nationalist Filiberto Ojeda Rios. Holding back tears as she stood at Chavez's side, Rosado accused the United States of killing her husband, a 72-year-old militant terrorist independence activist. Rios was slain in a September FBI raid on a Puerto Rican farmhouse where he was living in hiding while being wanted for the 1983 robbery of $7.2 million from a Wells Fargo armored truck depot in Connecticut - funds intended for the terrorist independence cause. "They murdered him," Chavez said. "Viva Filiberto!... Let's follow his example."

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Home Front: WoT

Puerto Rican Nationalist Dies in Shootout

2005-09-25

HORMIGUEROS, Puerto Rico (AP) - A Puerto Rican nationalist wanted in a 1983 robbery of an armored truck in Connecticut was shot and killed by FBI agents in a shootout, ending the fugitive's 15 years on the run, the bureau said Saturday. The G-men will eventually get you, and they never forget. Filiberto Ojeda Rios, 72, fired on the agents Friday from a farmhouse in the western Puerto Rican town of Hormigueros, wounding an agent, said Luis Fraticelli, the special agent in charge of the FBI for the U.S. island territory. ``He opened the front door of his house and whipped out a rod opened fire on the agents,'' Fraticelli said at a news conference amid protests from pro-independence Puerto Ricans who accused the FBI of mishandling the arrest. ``We went to arrest him but when the gunfire started we had to defend ourselves,'' he said. Shoot at an FBI agent, and you usually end up dead. The agents waited until midday Saturday to enter the farmhouse because they were unsure if there were explosives inside, Fratecelli said. The agents, who had been staking out the farmhouse for four days, waited for a team trained in detecting explosives to arrive from Virginia. Fraticelli said the FBI tried to persuade Ojeda Rios to surrender but negotiations fell apart. He said the nationalist had demanded that a reporter be present, but the FBI refused, fearing the journalist could be taken hostage. "Send for Geraldo!" The armored car robbery of 22 years ago is considered an act of domestic terrorism because the money was used to fund activities by the Puerto Rican nationalist Macheteros, or Cane Cutters. Only about $80,000 of the $7 million has been recovered. Ojeda Rios had been on the run since 1990 when he cut off an electronic monitoring bracelet and went into hiding while awaiting trial for the robbery of $7.2 million of the Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford, Conn. A terrorist hero in the independence movement, Ojeda Rios was convicted in absentia in 1992 on charges of robbery, conspiracy and transportation of stolen money and sentenced to 55 years in prison. The FBI agents also arrested Ojeda Rios' wife, Elma Rosado Barbosa, who was unharmed. She was released without charge Saturday evening from a federal prison outside the capital of San Juan, said her lawyer, Julio Fontanet. The United States seized Puerto Rico in the Spanish-American War. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens but cannot vote for U.S. president, have no voting representation in the U.S. Congress and pay no federal taxes. Because Puerto Rico is not a state, you idiot. It's a commonwealth. Most Puerto Ricans are split between those who support making the island a U.S. state and those who favor keeping its status as a U.S. commonwealth. A small but vocal and looney minority supports independence. Puerto Ricans who have argued for decades about their island's relationship with the United States were unified in criticizing the FBI's handling of the arrest. ``I always said that when they went to arrest him, they would have to kill him,'' said Juan Mari Bras, a veteran independence leader. Okay, so what's your complaint? Independence Party President Ruben Berrios, a critic of the violent tactics of the Macheteros, called Ojeda Rios' death ``shameful.'' He pulled a rod, he ends up in the morgue. Puerto Rico Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila, who supports keeping the island's status as a U.S. Commonweatlh, criticized the FBI for refusing to provide information about Ojeda Rios' fate until Saturday evening. He said Puerto Rican authorities would investigate whether his death could have been prevented. If only he hadn't pulled a rod ... The Macheteros have been largely inactive for more than a decade. The group also claimed credit for the 1981 bombing of 11 military planes at a U.S. National Guard base in Puerto Rico. Two marines were killed. Ojeda Rios was one of four men still wanted for the robbery. In hiding, the grey-bearded Ojeda Rios sometimes granted interviews to Puerto Rican reporters, always wearing a traditional Caribbean guayabera shirt. He died on the anniversary of a brief 1868 rebellion against Spanish colonial rule in the western town of Lares. Ojeda Rios traditionally distributed a recorded speech to mark the anniversary. ``It's not a coincidence,'' said Hector Pesquera, the president of the Hostosiano independence movement. ``They chose the moment, the date and the political circumstances to carry out this assassination.'' And the real question is, Hector, did you get the message?

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Home Front: WoT

FBI Surrounding Macheteros Leader's Home

2005-09-24

(Hormigueros, Puerto Rico) The FBI kept a tight cordon Saturday around the home of a Puerto Rican nationalist leader wanted in the 1983 robbery of a Connecticut armored truck but could not say whether the suspect was alive... With police and federal agents blocking access to the rural farmhouse, the FBI said it was unable to determine if Filiberto Ojeda Rios was killed in a gun battle with authorities. One FBI agent was wounded. Earlier, a law enforcement agent speaking on condition of anonymity and Hector Pesquera, president of the Hostiano independence movement, told The Associated Press the nationalist leader was killed when the FBI closed in to arrest him Friday. The FBI detained Ojedo Rios' wife, Elma Rosado Barbosa, who was unharmed, the agency said in a statement. The robbery of the Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford, Conn., is considered an act of domestic terrorism because it allegedly was carried out by 19 members of the Puerto Rican nationalist Macheteros, or Cane Cutters. Law enforcement agents were reluctant to speak on the record about an FBI-controlled operation that they said included U.S. Marshals, Puerto Rican police and Puerto Rican prosecutors. Ojeda Rios, leader of the Macheteros, is one of four men still wanted for the Wells Fargo robbery. He was released on bail in 1988 after about three years in prison awaiting trial in Connecticut. In 1990, he cut off an electronic monitoring bracelet and became a fugitive. He was convicted in absentia in 1992 on charges of robbery, conspiracy and transportation of stolen money and was sentenced to 55 years in prison... Only about $80,000 of the $7 million stolen has been recovered. The federal government believes most was used in Puerto Rico to finance the independence movement. Three other men remain fugitives in the case, including Victor Manuel Gerena, a former Wells Fargo guard who allegedly injected two other guards with a sleeping substance to facilitate the robbery. He is on the FBI's most-wanted list. One man imprisoned in the case, Juan Segarra Palmer, was granted clemency by President Clinton in 1999.

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