The Machete Wielders

2005 The FBI assassinates 72-year old Filiberto Ojeda Rios, leader of the Boricua Popular Army, Los Macheteros (the Machete Wielders). Ojeda Rios (1933–2005) led a life of revolutionary activity in Puerto Rico as early as 1961, when he first went underground. He was arrested in 1970, after being accused of belonging to armed anti-colonial insurgency groups, but he evaded prosecution by again returning underground. Later, in 1978, he helped found the Ejercito Popular Boricua-Macheteros, also known as Los Macheteros. Notorious for its brazen attacks on U.S. military interests, the guerrillas proclaimed their goal of securing the independence of Puerto Rico through revolutionary action. In 1985, the FBI launched raids against independence activists across the island, angering even the local Commonwealth government, which had not been warned in advance. After a dramatic firefight, Ojeda Rios was among those arrested, but was later acquitted. While his acquittal was for charges stemming from his armed resistance to the FBI's arrest attempt—which he claimed was an assassination attempt—the real charges brought by the FBI immediately after the acquittal included seditious conspiracy and charges for the 1983 Wells Fargo bank heist, which the Macheteros publicly took credit for. Ojeda Rios knew that they had been pursuing him since the late 1960s and was clear on the need to protect his life and his organization. Ojeda Rios returned underground in 1990, causing widespread embarrassment to the FBI. Over the next 15 years, his would be the voice of rebellion and revolution, of social justice, of the working class, and of his ultimate vision of a Puerto Rico emancipated from the dependency and control of U.S. colonialism. His name and figure became legendary; his voice and image repeatedly emerged in the form of videos, voice recordings, and even exclusive TV interviews. Unrelenting in its pursuit, the FBI sent Quantico's Hostage Rescue Team to attack Ojeda Rios's home in the mountains of Hormigueros in September 2005. Elma Beatriz Rosado, his wife, safely made it out of the home during the firefight that ensued. She witnessed the ambush in which Ojeda Rios was left to bleed to death after an FBI sniper's single bullet wounded him. News reports suggested that agents tampered with the scene, and officials at FBI headquarters discussed portraying the incident as a suicide in order to cover up misconduct. "Puerto Rico has a history that is very heroic and prolific. Naturally, as a colony, there exists a history of double interpretation; the colony, and the history of the anti-colonial struggle. In reality, the colonial history does not apply to us. It is more fitting for the colonizer. Ours, the only one, is the anti-colonial history because it is the history of our native people who survived and are in constant battle to defeat the powerful colonial forces. It is the history of our Puertorriqueñidad."—Comandante Filiberto Ojeda Rios