<html>
<body>
<h3><b>
<a href="http://mamaradio.blogspot.com/2010/01/puerto-rico-pawn-in-us-policy-towards.html">
PUERTO RICO: PAWN IN THE U.S. POLICY TOWARDS VENEZUELA<br><br>
</a></u></b></h3><h2><font size=2><b>Friday, January 8,
2010</b></font></h2><font size=2><b>
<a href="http://mamaradio.blogspot.com/2010/01/puerto-rico-pawn-in-us-policy-towards.html" eudora="autourl">
http://mamaradio.blogspot.com/2010/01/puerto-rico-pawn-in-us-policy-towards.html<br>
<br>
</a></b></font><font size=3>Jesús Dávila – Translated by Jan
Susler<br><br>
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, January 7, 2010 (NCM) – The operation in which the
commando group killed Macheteros commander Filiberto Ojeda in 2005 was
coordinated from the office of the then U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleeza Rice, according to unofficial information provided by a
political source connected to the agency.<br><br>
The source also indicated that the Ojeda case was part of Washington’s
strategy towards the South American nation and that currently there are
in process political and diplomatic actions whose purpose is to confront
the attempts to expand the influence of the Bolivarian revolution in
Puerto Rico and the rest of the region.<br><br>
Among the measures being discussed in Washington political circles is the
possibility of promoting a Congressional investigation into the
activities of Venezuelan diplomats in Puerto Rico, and even ordering the
withdrawal of the Consul General of Venezuela in San Juan. The source
assured that he had talked about the topic in the Venezuela section of
the U.S. State Department led by Moisés Behar.<br><br>
This affair has a trajectory that dates back to the end of the 18th
century, when the U.S. and England agreed to support Latin American
independence in exchange for their not challenging the empire’s supremacy
over a series of islands, including Puerto Rico. A few years later, Simón
Bolívar tried without success to liberate Puerto Rico, which became a
U.S. colony at the end of the 19th century as a result of the Spanish
American War.<br><br>
In the past few years, the U.S. has been evaluating the search for a
solution to the colonial case of Puerto Rico, and President Barack Obama
assures that he will take definitive steps during this term.<br><br>
The issue of the conduct of the U.S. State Department according to the
source’s information also connects politicians from the state of Florida
as well as Puerto Rico, including the official spokesman of the New
Progressive Party in the Senate, Roberto Arango.<br><br>
The legislator, an important ally of governor Luis Fortuño, has waged an
intense campaign against Venezuelan diplomacy in Puerto Rico, and has
sought, without success, meetings with the consular office as well as
with the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Washington,
to present his complaints.<br><br>
In fact, during 2009, Puerto Rico was the scene of controversial news
related to Venezuela, such as last January, when news emerged about a
meeting in San Juan between U.S. officials and Venezuelan opposition
businessmen. But the Ojeda case is the first involving a violent
death.<br><br>
The new chain of revelations has been the result of news published last
year by the Miami Herald, revealing the supposed Federal Bureau of
Investigation’s investigation of the then Venezuelan consul in San Juan,
Vinicio Romero, and his supposed connections to radical groups in Puerto
Rico between 2004 and 2005. At that time, the only known operation on
this subject in the FBI San Juan field office was the one focused on the
capture of Ojeda, commander of the Boricua Popular
Army–Macheteros.<br><br>
NCM News confronted the source with the fact that the U.S. Code provides
that when this type of investigation into terrorism is to be carried out
on a foreign diplomat, they must not only notify the State Department in
Washington, but also the office of the Secretary of State has the legal
responsibility to become the link and coordinate everything the agencies
do. The source showed no surprise at all and explained that he was always
aware this was the case, and he assented when told that this implied that
the agency in charge of U.S. diplomacy was present at headquarters in
Washington where the bloody deeds were coordinated.<br><br>
The deeds took place on September 23, 2005, when an FBI commando group
assaulted Ojeda’s home in a rural area of western Hormigueros, in an
operation where a sharpshooter wounded the veteran military chief and
left him to slowly bleed to death. According to the report of the FBI
Inspector General, the order not to enter the house until the following
day was given directly from headquarters in Washington.<br><br>
The Inspector General’s investigation concluded that there were errors
committed in the operation, but found no criminal responsibility.
Similarly, although the attorney at the Justice Department of Puerto Rico
determined that the investigation should be continued as a murder case,
in the office of the Attorney General they eliminated that part of the
report and arranged for its dismissal, having found no sustainable
evidence of negligent homicide.<br><br>
Currently, the only official investigation into the case is the one being
handled by the Civil Rights Commission, whose draft is expected to be
ready by mid January.<br><br>
Ojeda’s death had the immediate effect of aborting conversations he was
having with the Catholic Church, which explored the possibility of
peaceful means for the U.S. to grant independence to Puerto Rico. In
fact, the last of the meetings had been cancelled when the Church
notified him that they couldn’t guarantee security.<br><br>
Shortly after his death, U.S. security officials showed the government of
Puerto Rico supposed taped evidence which showed Macheteros military
training, according to confidential documents. The Macheteros, led by the
mysterious “Commander Guasábara” and his Staff, have not carried out any
new offensive actions.<br><br>
Meanwhile, Ojeda, who supported the Bolivarian revolution and who issued
a declaration denouncing the 2002 coup against president Hugo Chávez, has
received several posthumous honors in Venezuela, and his widow, Doña Elma
Beatriz Rosado Barbosa, was received by the Venezuelan leader.<br><br>
NCM-CHI-NY-SJ-01-08-10<br><br>
NCM News is a global system of information distribution which is not
affiliated with any other interest, whether economic, institutional or
political, nor is it a subsidiary of any organization, entity or
government. The editorial Policy of NCM News is exclusively that which is
disseminated in its editorials and promotes pacifism, justice and freedom
of peoples without doctrinal ties. The media, agencies, and other systems
that disseminate NCM News notes do so with complete freedom and have
their own points of view and their own editorial policies. <br>
Posted by Mario Alfonso Murillo Ayala (MAMA) at
<a href="http://mamaradio.blogspot.com/2010/01/puerto-rico-pawn-in-us-policy-towards.html">
6:45 AM</a> <br><br>
<br><br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#008000">415 863-9977<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#0000FF">
<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.Freedomarchives.org</a></font><font size=3> </font></body>
</html>