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<h1 id="reader-title">Puerto Rico: Years After FBI Murder, Ojeda
Rios' Legacy Lives</h1>
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<p itemprop="description alternativeHeadline"
class="subtitle">23 September 2016 <br>
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<p itemprop="description alternativeHeadline"
class="subtitle">A lifelong patriot dedicated to the
liberation of Puerto Rico, Ojeda Rios was killed in cold
blood by the FBI 11 years ago.</p>
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<p>On Sept. 23, 2005, at least a hundred heavily-armed FBI
agents landed in Puerto Rico from the United States for
a secret and horrendous criminal mission: to assassinate
the independence leader, Filiberto Ojeda Rios. </p>
<p>The operation included helicopters, military vehicles,
machine guns and sharpshooters. With the cooperation of
the Puerto Rican police, the FBI closed off roads, shut
down electricity and surrounded the Ojeda Rios residence
in the western town of Hormigueros, where he and his
wife Elma Beatriz Rosado were living. </p>
<p>The FBI shot dozens of rounds into the house, to which
Ojeda Rios responded, trying to defend himself and his
wife. As the incessant firings continued, Ojeda Rios
pleaded with his wife to leave, afraid that she would
also be killed in the shootout. She agreed, stating
later that it was important to have an eyewitness to
this crime. </p>
<p>Days later she told the press, “He yelled out to the
agents, ‘Someone is coming out, someone is coming out.’
We kissed and hugged... When I finally came out of the
house... they attempted to force me to kneel. When I
refused, they threw me to the ground, pinning me (down)
with their knees, forcing my hands behind my back and
handcuffing me.” </p>
<p>As news spread that Ojeda Rios had been shot, people
began to gather in order to help him, but the repressive
forces would not allow anybody near, much less assist
him. Even doctors were refused entrance to the house.
What a testament to the United States' human rights
commitment! For many hours the authorities let him
slowly die. It was not until the following day, almost
30 hours later, that the FBI publicly announced that
Filiberto Ojeda Rios had died. </p>
<p>Now, 11 years later, none of the criminals have been
brought to justice. The case has, for all practical
purposes, been closed. In 2011, the Puerto Rican Civil
Rights Commission urged both the Puerto Rican and the
United States Justice Departments to reopen the case to
investigate the FBI for the use of excessive force in
Ojeda Rios’ death. Their request is based on their own
independent investigation which demonstrated the use of
abusive and excessive force against Ojeda Rios. Both
departments have declined so far to reopen the case,
stating that there is “insufficient evidence.” </p>
<p>Today, as Puerto Rico’s future is at a crossroads,
Ojeda Rios' execution brings to the fore the nature of
U.S. colonialism and by extension, its goal to eliminate
any opposition to its control. </p>
<p>Filiberto Ojeda Rios is a prime example of the empire's
failure to squash opposition. </p>
<p>A lifelong patriot dedicated to the liberation of
Puerto Rico, in the tradition of Boricua’s father, Ramon
Emeterio Betances, Ojeda Rios represented the
independence movement mission in Cuba where he both
learned and was influenced by its socialist revolution.
In the late 60’s he founded the Armed Revolutionary
Independence Movement and later the Boricua Popular
Party, or the Macheteros. </p>
<p>Very little is said about the Puerto Rican armed
struggle, since by virtue of the colonial situation, any
liberation formation is demonized, deemed terrorist and
their leaders and members charged with the ubiquitous
“seditious conspiracy." </p>
<p>Many leaders, since Don Pedro Albizu Campos to Oscar
Lopez Rivera—who is still incarcerated in the U.S.—have
received long prison sentences under this charge.
According to the U.S. penal and crime code, seditious
conspiracy is, “If two or more persons in any State or
Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction
of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down,
or to destroy by force the Government of the United
States." </p>
<p>And it was armed struggle that Ojeda Rios advocated for
the liberation of his homeland. In his statement to the
court, during his trial in Hartford, Conn., Ojeda Rios
quoted many parts of the U.N. Charter and international
laws that defend the right of oppressed people against
their oppressors. </p>
<p>One example of this is Article 1514 of the U.N.
Charter, which states in part that “the subjection of a
people by foreign subjugation, domination and
exploitation constitutes a denigration of fundamental
human rights” and concludes that “any such people have a
right to resist that foreign domination." </p>
<p>In a statement by the Macheteros titled, "Birth of the
Boricua Popular Army—Macheteros," it said, “Macheteros
are the product of a process that was brewing for
decades. Numerous revolutionary organizations had
already made their appearance in the patriotic struggle
of Puerto Ricans, including the Independence
Revolutionary Movement in Arms (MIRA), Armed Commands of
Liberation (CAL), the Armed Forces of Popular Resistance
(FARP), the Organization of Volunteers for the Puerto
Rican Revolution (OVRP), all of which have resorted to
arms to achieve independence of Puerto Rico.” </p>
<p>Ojeda Rios had been living underground since Sept. 23,
1990, when he removed the electronic monitor that he was
forced to wear while on parole, accused for his role in
the Wells Fargo robbery in Hartford, Conn., in 1983.
This famous robbery by the Macheteros has been amply
discussed and is seen as a recovery of monies robbed
from people. The money, $7.2 million, was used to fund
the struggle for independence and to provide toys for
children living in poverty. </p>
<p>This Sept. 23, 2016, is the 148 anniversary of the
Grito de Lares, where glorious Puerto Rican patriots
commanded an assault on the Spanish colonial government
in the city of Lares. Unfortunately, due to many
circumstances, the uprising was not successful and was
brutally repressed. </p>
<p>However, its main leader, Betances said at the time,
“Lares was not the end of the war, but only one lost
battle.” Thus, the Grito de Lares is celebrated every
year by all the independence organizations and activists
as the birth of the Puerto Rican nation. </p>
<p>To have assassinated Ojeda Rios on such a crucial day
for independence and resistance to colonialism was an
unpardonable crime by U.S. imperialism against the
Puerto Rican people. </p>
<p>But now resistance is growing against the imposition of
a colonial Fiscal Control Board, showing its muscle and
letting the U.S. know that in spite of the message of
repression, the people in Puerto Rico are still
fighting—with new and creative methods—against colonial
rule. </p>
<p><em>Berta Joubert-Ceci is a retired psychiatrist and
long-time Puerto Rican activist and organizer for the
struggle in solidarity with the peoples of Latin
America and the liberation of Puerto Rico. While in
Puerto Rico, she was part of the committee to Free
Lolita Lebron, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irvin Flores and
Oscar Collazo, Puerto Rican independentistas held in
U.S. prisons.</em> </p>
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