Filiberto Ojeda Ríos

Date of Birth:	April 26, 1933
Place of Birth:	Naguabo, Puerto Rico
Date of Death:	September 23, 2005
Place of Death:	Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
Remarks: Leader of the Macheteros Founder of FALN Founder of MIRA Former FBI's Most Wanted Fugitives

Filiberto Ojeda Ríos (April 26, 1933 – September 23, 2005) was the "Responsible General" of the Boricua Popular Army, or Ejército Popular Boricua – Los Macheteros, a clandestine paramilitary, organization, considered by United States law enforcement agencies to be a terrorist organization, based on the island of Puerto Rico, with branches throughout the United States and other countries. Los Macheteros is a political group which campaigns, supports, and promotes the independence of Puerto Rico from what they characterize as an oppressive U.S. colonial rule they claim has lasted 107 years.

Ojeda Ríos was wanted as a fugitive by the FBI for his role in the 1983 Wells Fargo depot robbery in West Hartford, Connecticut, as well as a bail bond default in September 1990.

After years of hiding, Ojeda Ríos was killed on September 23, 2005 when members of the FBI attempted to serve an arrest warrant after surrounding the clandestine house in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico where he was hiding. The FBI operation has raised questions both inside and outside Puerto Rico. (See Death and FBI Operation Below)

Ojeda Ríos death has been mourned by members of the Puerto Rican Independence movement, who have expressed their displeasure with the results of the FBI operation through repeated protests. [1] Members of the statehood movement and supporters of the Commonwealth have also criticized the Federal and local management of this incident, and have raised questions about the circumstances that led to his death.

Biography

Ojeda Ríos was born April 26, 1933 in Naguabo, Puerto Rico. An amateur musician, he played trumpet and guitar.

In 1961, he moved his family from Puerto Rico to Cuba and was recruited into the General Intelligence Directorate, the Cuban intelligence service. A year later he returned to Puerto Rico, allegedly to spy on the United States military.

In 1967 he founded and led the very first of Puerto Rico's new militant political groups, the Armed Revolutionary Independence Movement (Movimiento Armado Revolucionario Indepentista) (MIRA). The organization was disbanded by police in the early 1970s and Ríos was arrested. He subsequently skipped bail and moved to New York, organizing the Armed Forces of National Liberation (Fuerzas Armadas de la Liberación Nacional) (FALN) with former MIRA members as a membership base.

In 1976, Ojeda Ríos renamed the FALN to the Boricua Popular Army (Ejercito Popular Boricua), also known as Los Macheteros (The Sugar Cane Cutters), so named because sugar cane stalks were historically cut at harvest time by machete-wielding farm workers.

Los Macheteros have been alleged to be either directly or indirectly responsible for numerous acts of terrorism and bombings in Puerto Rico and the mainland United States. In one incident, they claimed responsibility for an explosion at a popular eatery/nightclub, wounding several people and killing an innocent bystander, a young married man from New York who was about to celebrate his children's birthday that very evening. They also killed a Puerto Rican policeman who refused to surrender his service revolver, and shot 15 unarmed US Navy personnel in two attacks, killing 3 and wounding 12. They also placed explosives at several US and local government and civilian facilities, some of which exploded, some of which did not. Yet others were successfully defused.

On September 12, 1983, Los Macheteros stole approximately $7 million from a Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford, Connecticut. The money obtained from this operation was allegedly used to help fund the Puerto Rican independence movement, but there is ample evidence that a significant portion of the stolen funds -- a minimum of $2-$3 million -- was funnelled to Cuba through their embassy in Mexico City by one of the members of Los Macheteros. Spanish - El robo de $7 millones de la Wells Fargo Automated Spanish -> English translation of article

In 1985, 19 members of Los Macheteros were indicted for offenses associated with the Wells Fargo heist. When Federal authorities attempted to arrest Ojeda Rios, he fired on them and wounded an FBI agent. Ojeda Rios was released on bond after his attorneys claimed he had been denied a speedy trial, although the delay in bringing him to trial was largely the result of defense motions. Ojeda Rios cut off the electronic monitoring device that had been placed on his ankle as a condition of his release, and became a fugitive. Fourteen were convicted after trial; one was acquitted. Charges against another were dismissed. Three, including Ojeda Ríos and Victor Manuel Gerena, were able to elude authorities.

In July of 1992, Ojeda Ríos was sentenced in absentia to 55 years in prison and fined $600,000 for his role in the Wells Fargo heist.

Death

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. Shots were fired from inside and outside the house (although it has not been established whether the FBI or Ojeda shot first) wounding an FBI agent and fatally wounding Ojeda Ríos, whom the coroner concluded bled to death over the course of several hours. According to his wife (Elma Beatriz Rosada Barbosa) and neighbor (Hector Reyes) it was the FBI agents who initiated the shooting at 3:00 pm. Elma Beatriz has made statements suggesting Ojeda Rios was allegedly willing to turn himself in to journalist Jésus Dávila, but his offer was disregarded by the agents who feared he would take the journalist as a hostage.

According to the FBI Official Press Release, 9/24/2005, the San Juan field office received a tip on the whereabouts of Ojeda. They surrounded his house and crashed a vehicle through the home's wrought-iron gate. Ojeda came out of the house and fired a pistol at the agents as they rushed the home, wounding one FBI agent in the stomach. The agents returned fire. Ojeda then stated he would surrender to a journalist by the name of Dávila. This offer was rejected for the reasons noted above. Ojeda let his wife out of the house, and another exchange of gunfire ensued. The San Juan Special Agent in Charge then called FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. as required because of the wounded agent. He was told to stand fast and not attempt to approach the home until a mainland Hostage Rescue Team arrived. The HRT arrived overnight, entered the house tactically early the following morning and found Ojeda dead.

The Superintendent of the Police, Pedro Toledo Dávila, confirmed through a local news radio station, WAPA radio, that the former Most Wanted fugitive was dead. The Government of Puerto Rico also confirmed the information. However, the FBI did not release any confirmation regarding Ojeda's death until the next day.

On September 24, 2005 the FBI contacted the Governor of Puerto Rico to confirm his death. The circumstances of his death are still unclear and questions have been raised as to the intentions of the FBI agents during the operation. Members of the independence movement in Puerto Rico, which historically has been shown to represent some 3% of the total electorate, have called the operation a "political assassination". (2)

Some members of all political parties in Puerto Rico have criticized how this case was handled, and have questioned the selection of the 23rd of September for the operation since it is a special day for Puerto Rican independence supporters, known as "El Grito de Lares" or "The Cry from Lares" (even though it is well known that Ojeda Rios would always pick this day to make statements to his followers from undisclosed hideouts), a day which commemorates Puerto Rican resistance to the Spanish empire. On this day in 1868, a group of Puerto Rican revolutionaries rose up in rebellion against the then-ruling Spanish colonial power. Although the rebellion was quickly supressed, the anniversary of the uprising is commemorated annually and is one of the most important dates for the independence movement.

File:7filiberto-mural-rio-piedras.jpg

A mural in Rio Piedras in honor of Ojeda.

The current Governor of Puerto Rico Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, has called "improper" and "highly irregular" the FBI actions related to Ojeda's death and has demanded explanations of why his government was not informed of the operation, since Ojeda's death was sure to cause political turmoil on the island, and why the press of the island was not allowed to cover the operation. Nevertheless, he refused calls from the independence movements to establish an official period of mourning.

Death Scene

When the federal agents finally decided to approach them home, they found Filiberto Ojeda Rios dead. The autopsy revealed a bullet had entered Ojeda's body below the right clavicle and exited through his lower back. The bullet lacerated one of his lungs but did not damage any arteries or major organs. The forensic investigators and his doctor, Héctor Pesquera, speculated that this was not the type of wound that would have killed Ojeda immediately. The evidence suggests, and the autopsy concluded, that he bled to death, and that the shots may have been fired by a sniper.

At the time of death, Ojeda was wearing a bulletproof vest, and was dressed in camouflaged pants and hat.

Ojeda Rios body was found lying face down, just outside the door of the rural residence where he was hiding. Forensic investigators found a pistol to his right, along with over 20 bullet casings strewn around the scene, including some AR-15 shells. The investigators observed two bullet holes with entry points outside the residence, next to the main entrance door. At the rear of the residence another bullet hole was found, apparently the exit point of one of the rounds.

Reports were received that FBI agents remained at the scene well after the body was found, investigating a series of documents that were left burning in a cement "fogón," a type of cooking fireplace. Local authorities were not allowed inside the residence until more than 27 hours after the beginning of the operative.

The FBI has stated they opened fire against Ojeda Rios after one of their agents was shot. A perimeter was then established by the local police and no one but law enforcement officers were allowed to enter the area by land or air. Attempts by a local news crew to approach on a helicopter were unsuccessful after they were notified they were trespassing federal airspace and could face deadly force they did not exit the airspace above the perimeter immediately.

During the operation to capture Ojeda, his wife was arrested and a federal agent received a wound to the stomach, said the FBI. Elma Beatriz Rosado, Ojeda's widow, was released from federal custody later on the afternoon of September 24. She said his last words were pa’lante siempre, (forever onward) when she left him alive.

== Charges against him ==

File:Filiberto-foto-04.jpg

Interview while in jail.

Act of Domestic Terrorism
Aggravated Robbery (1985)
Aggravated Robbery of Federally Insured Bank Funds (1985)
Armed Robbery (1985)
Bond Default (1990)
Conspiracy to Interfere With Commerce By Robbery (1985)
Foreign And Interstate Transportation Of Stolen Money (1985)

Recent News

External links

References

Federal Bureau of Investigation (2005). FBI Fugitive Profile: Filiberto Ojeda Rios. United States of America.
Edmund Mahony (1999). The Untold Tale Of Victor Gerena. The Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut (USA).
Edmund Mahony (1999). Puerto Rican Independence: The Cuban Connection. The Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut (USA).
Daniel James (1981). Puerto Rican Terrorists Also Threaten Reagan Assassination. Human Events. United States of America.