Puerto Rico sues FBI for stonewalling probe of independentista’s murder

An unprecedented legal challenge to the dominance that the US has exerted over its Caribbean colony for over a century, the court action reflects growing anger within the Puerto Rican population as a whole over the strong-arm tactics exercised by Washington, employing the methods of the “war on terror” against its nationalist opponents on the island.

The case stems from the September 23, 2005 raid carried out by the FBI against the home of Filiberto Ojeda Rios, founder of the militant independence Macheteros group in the southwestern municipality of Hormigueros.

At least 100 agents backed by helicopters and military sharpshooters surrounded the home where Ojeda, 72, and his wife were living. Ojeda, convicted in absentia of having participated in the planning of a $7.3 million armored car robbery in Connecticut in 1983, was a well-known political figure who regularly addressed pro-independence meetings and rallies by means of recorded messages.

After wounding him in a shootout, the FBI cordoned off the area surrounding the house, refusing to allow in emergency medical personnel, attorneys and even the Puerto Rican police. He was left to slowly bleed to death on the floor of his home over the course of many hours.

Outrage over the killing was heightened by the FBI’s decision to launch the raid, dubbed “Operation Order,” on the 137th anniversary of the “Grito de Lares,” which marked the beginning of the struggle for independence from Spanish rule and which is commemorated each year as a milestone in the struggle against colonialism.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/mar2006/puer-m30.shtml