Boricua Popular Army
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The Boricua Popular/Peoples Army — or Ejército Popular Boricua in Spanish — is a clandestine organization based on the island of Puerto Rico, with cells throughout the United States. They campaign for and support the independence of Puerto Rico from what they characterize as United States colonial rule. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) classifies the Boricua Popular Army as a terrorist organization.[1]
Also known as Los Macheteros ("the Machete Wielders") and 'Puerto Rican Popular Army', their active membership is consisted by Puerto Rican men and women and was calculated by professor Michael González Cruz on his book Nacionalismo Revolucionario Puertorriqueño to be composed by approximately 5,700 members with an unknown number of supporters, sympathizers, collaborators and informants, with cells (usually consisting of between six and ten members) in the United States and other countries.[2] Although a report by The Economist locates the number of active members at 1,100 excluding supporters.[2] The group has claimed responsibility for numerous bombings, attacks against the U.S. military and armed robberies since 1978, and was led primarily by former FBI Most Wanted Fugitive Filiberto Ojeda Ríos until his death in 2005.
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[edit] Background
The name Machetero evokes an impromptu band of Puerto Ricans who assembled to defend the town of Aibonito from the invading forces of the United States Army during the Spanish American War, between August 10 and August 12, 1898. These macheteros did not formally side with the Spanish garrison that defended Aibonito (since, by then, most of its troops had either been wounded or had defected from the ranks), and assumed the town's defense on its own when the Spanish suffered heavy casualties. The Aibonito Macheteros successfully made the Americans retreat during a standoff sometimes referred to as the Asomante Battle, using a battle tactic copied from the Cuban mambises who fought the Cuban War for Independence in 1895 (charge the standing enemy with a rifle first, then slash him with a machete while he recharges). However, the stoppage of military action by Spain on (August 12, 1898) put an end to what could potentially become a bloodbath, in an otherwise smooth military campaign that produced few casualties on the American side.[3]
The Boricua Popular Army, was organized in the 1970s by Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, Juan Enrique Segarra Palmer and Orlando González Claudio. The group began in 1976, but it can trace its origins back to the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN).[4]
Upon its beginnings, the group attracted a wide variety of Puerto Rican independence supporters, including members of: University Pro-Independence Federation of Puerto Rico (FUPI); Pro-Independence Movement (MPI); Puerto Rican Independence Party and pro-independence activists.[4]
Only some members of the above groups support the Macheteros' ideology and methods. Other organizations including the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) have a similar political ideology but they follow protocol of the insular political system, based on the Commonwealth laws established in 1952.
[edit] Notable incidents
On August 1978 the group accepted responsibility for the murder of San Juan police officer Julio Rodriguez Rivera while attempting to steal his police car.[5]
In 1979, two attacks were made on unarmed US Navy technicians. In the first, on December 3, Macheteros opened fire on a bus carrying sailors, killing CTO1 John R. Ball and RM3 Emil E. White as well as wounding nine.[6] A second attack, on off-duty sailors returning from liberty, killed one and wounded three.[7] The attack was in retaliation for the murder in a prison of a member of the Macheteros by the prison guards who were retired Marines.[6]
On January 1981, Machetero commandos infiltrated the Puerto Rico Air National Guard Muñiz Air Base, located on the northeastern corner of the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, and destroyed or damaged ten A-7 Corsair II light attack aircraft and a single F-104 Starfighter supersonic interceptor aircraft, causing approximately $45 million in damages. The subsequent investigation concluded security at the base was so lax that the attackers managed to enter and depart the base without ever being detected.[8]
On September 12, 1983 in an operation entitled Aguila Blanca (White Eagle) the group assaulted the Wells Fargo depot located in West Hartford, Connecticut stealing a total of seven million dollars. After the robbery, the Macheteros threw some of the stolen money into the air from high floor buildings and used most of the remaining sum to fund their continued operations. According to a written statement from the Macheteros, the action was a symbolic protest against the "greed-infested men and mechanisms which strain our elected officials, government agencies, and social aspirations in this country, as well as in Puerto Rico."[9] Under Puerto Rico, US and international law, the act was categorized as terrorism due to the way it was executed, the organization's stated motives and the trauma suffered by the Wells Fargo security guards. The criminal charges filed against the participants in this robbery include: Aggravated Robbery, Aggravated Robbery of Federally Insured Bank Funds, Armed Robbery, and Conspiracy to Interfere With Commerce By Robbery.
On 1998 Los Macheteros claimed responsibility for an explosion at a small power station in the San Juan metropolitan area. The explosion caused limited power outages.[10]
On September 23, 2005, the anniversary of "el Grito de Lares" ("The Cry of Lares") members of the FBI San Juan field office surrounded a modest home in the outskirts of the town of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico, where Ojeda Ríos was believed to be hiding. The FBI claims that it was performing surveillance of the area because of reports that Ojeda Ríos had been seen in the home. In their press release, the FBI stated their surveillance team was detected, and proceeded to serving an arrest warrant against Ojeda Ríos. As the agents approached the home, shots were fired from inside and outside the house wounding an FBI agent and fatally wounding Ojeda Ríos. A subsequent autopsy of Ojeda's body determined that he bled to death over the course of several hours.[7][11]
[edit] International terrorism laws and arguments of patriotism
According to federal and international law, as well as the proposed definition of terrorism under the United Nations' Office on Drugs and Crime, Los Macheteros is considered a terrorist organization due to the methods they have employed to further their agenda.[12][13]
Supporters of independence claim the present status has been established to create a perpetual consumer base for U.S. and foreign products and services. Foreign products and services are redirected to Puerto Rico and other "unincorporated" lands of the United States to satisfy a portion of foreign trade agreements, while allowing domestic products and services greater "home" market share. Nevertheless, those who believe Puerto Rico should be independent are a small minority of the population, evidenced by the results of all general elections and plebiscites since 1932, where they usually garner between three and four percent of the votes. The vast majority of the Puerto Rican electorate favors a continuation or enhancement of the present Commonwealth status (50%), or statehood (46%).[14]
Beginning in the 1960s, the FBI infiltrated Puerto Rico's free press and political circles in order to monitor and disrupt efforts related to the independence movement. This operation was part of COINTELPRO.[15]
Other argument presented by the independence movement claims that the Macheteros continue a clandestine rebellion that Puerto Ricans such as Pedro Albizu Campos and the nationalists have fought against United States policies on the island. Recently the focus has been on the use of Culebra and Vieques bombing range; the disproportionate number of military bases (compared to states in the Union); the deaths of independence and nationalist leaders (including the alleged experimentation with radiation on Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos while he was incarcerated); Dr. Cornelius P. Rhoades cancer "treatments", during which he allegedly admitted to killing Puerto Rican patients and injecting cancer cells to many as part of a medical investigation conducted in San Juan's Presbyterian Hospital for the Rockefeller Institute and secret testing of Agent Orange on Puerto Rican soil.[16][17]
[edit] Notable group members
| Name | Remarks |
|---|---|
| Antonio Camacho Negrón | Paroled by former President Bill Clinton, arrested for violation of parole terms on 2006[18] |
| Filiberto Ojeda Ríos | Co-founder Former leader (killed September 23, 2005) |
| Juan Enrique Segarra Palmer | Co-founder |
| Orlando Gonzalez Claudio | Co-founder |
| Victor Manuel Gerena | Former FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitive inside man for the Wells Fargo depot robbery |
[edit] References
- ^ Congressional testimony of Louis J. Freeh (2001-05-10). Retrieved on 2007-06-05.
- ^ a b Macheteros Aun Activos (2006-12-07). Retrieved on 2007-05-23.
- ^ Iriarte, Luis (2005-12-17). El combate del Asomante - 12 de agosto de 1898 (Spanish). Retrieved on 2007-06-05.
- ^ a b Armando André (1987). 20 años de terrorismo en Puerto Rico (Spanish). Retrieved on 2007-05-24.
- ^ Filiberto Ojeda: Hero or Terrorist?. Retrieved on 2007-05-22.
- ^ a b (1) "Radicals Say Attack on Bus Is Retaliation for 3 Deaths; Involved in Vieques Protest", New York Times, December 4, 1979. p. A11.
Clyde Haberman, "Terrorists in Puerto Rico Ambush Navy Bus, Killing 2 and Injuring 10", New York Times, December 4, 1979. p. A1, A10.
The Boricua Popular Army and two other groups—the Volunteers of the Puerto Rican Revolution and Armed Forces of Popular Resistance—jointly took responsibility for the attacks. - ^ a b A review of the September 2005 shooting incident involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Filiberto Ojeda RíosPDF (2.43 MiB), U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General. Accessed 14 August 2006.
- ^ "8 Military Jets Destroyed At Air Base in Puerto Rico", The New York Times/Reuters, January 12, 1981.
- ^ Spanish - El robo de $7 millones de la Wells Fargo ("The robbery of $7 million from Wells Fargo") Automated Spanish -> English translation of article via Google translator
- ^ Juanita Colombani (1998-04-07). Investigan la explosion como un acto terrorista. El Nuevo Dia. Retrieved on 2007-05-24.
- ^ Filiberto Ojeda Ríos (obituary), The Economist, September 29, 2005. Accessed 5 April 2006.
- ^ United Nations Definitions of Terrorism. Retrieved on 2007-05-22.
- ^ Definition of ‘Terrorism’ in International Law. Retrieved on 2007-05-22.
- ^ Manuel Álvarez Rivera. Elections in Puerto Rico. Retrieved on 2007-05-22.
- ^ More can be read on the web site FBI files on Puerto Ricans, created with the assistance of Congressmember José Serrano] and the City University of New York's Center for Puerto Rican Studies.
- ^ Chronological History of the life of Pedro Albizu Campos. Retrieved on 2007-05-22.
- ^ The Eviromental encyclopedia: History of the Agent Orange. Retrieved on 2007-05-22.
- ^ FBI rearrests Antonio Camacho. Retrieved on 2007-05-23.
[edit] See also
- Boricua
- Patriotism
- Terrorism
- Latin American and Caribbean Congress in Solidarity with Puerto Rico's Independence
