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Missing image Filiberto Ojeda Rios
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Filiberto Ojeda Ríos (born in April 26, 1933) is the "Responsible General" of Boricua Popular Army, or Ejército Popular Boricua - Los Macheteros, a clandestine paramilitary organization based on the island of Puerto Rico, with cells throughout the United States and other countries. Los Macheteros campaign for and support the independence of Puerto Rico from what they characterize as the United States colonial rule.
Ojeda Ríos is wanted by the FBI for his role in the 1983 Wells Fargo depot robbery in West Hartford, Connecticut as well as bond default in September of 1990.
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Biography
Ríos was born April 26, 1933 in Naguabo, Puerto Rico. An amateur musician, he plays trumpet and guitar.
In 1961, he moved his family from Puerto Rico to Cuba and joined the General Intelligence Directorate (DGI), 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 (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 (FALN) with former MIRA members as a membership base.
In 1976, Ríos renamed the FALN to the Boricua Popular Army—or Ejército Popular Boricua in Spanish—also known as Los Macheteros ("The Machete Wielders").
On September 12, 1983, Los Macheteros stole approximately $7 million from a Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford, Connecticut. In the course of the robbery, Ríos was confronted from a distance by law enforcement officials, and allegedly fired upon them.
In 1985, 19 members of Los Macheteros were indicted for offenses associated with the robbery. Fourteen were convicted after trial; one was acquitted. Charges against another were dismissed. Three, including Ríos and Victor Manuel Gerena, have never been caught.
In July of 1992, Ojeda Ríos was sentenced in absentia to 55 years in prison and fined $600,000.
Charges against him
- 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)
See also
- List of famous Puerto Ricans
- Boricua Popular Army
- White Eagle: the Wells Fargo depot robbery
- FBI's Most Wanted Fugitives
External links
- [1] (http://www.fas.org/irp/world/cuba/dgi/)
- [2] (http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/fugitive/nov2003/novrios.htm)
References
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (2003). FBI Fugitive Profile: Filiberto Ojeda Rios (http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/fugitive/nov2003/novrios.htm). United States of America.
- Edmund Mahony (1999). The Untold Tale Of Victor Gerena (http://courant.ctnow.com/projects/victor/victor1.stm). The Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut (USA).
- Edmund Mahony (1999). Puerto Rican Independence: The Cuban Connection (http://courant.ctnow.com/projects/victor/). The Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut (USA).
- Daniel James (1981). Puerto Rican Terrorists Also Threaten Reagan Assassination. Human Events. United States of America.