Serrano, Velázquez, Gutiérrez Send Letter
to FBI Seeking Answers
in Ojeda Ríos Killing
 Carpetas confidenciales del FBI sobre los
independentistas
Comunicado de Prensa enviado a "PReb"
por el congresista Serrano
Informe sobre los nacionalistas; año de 1936
Decisión del FBI de actuar agresivamente
contra los independentistas
en 1960
Documento del FBI espiando reunión del MPI
en el 1960
M.P.I.: Movimiento Pro
Independencia de Puerto
Rico
 Reacción del rep. Serrano ante informe de
la Oficina del Procurador
General de los
Estados Unidos sobre la
muerte de Filiberto
Ojeda Ruiz
Congresistas ante abusos FBI en Puerto Rico
Serrano cuestiona Sec. del Homeland Security
ante incidentes en P.R.
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El FBI asesinó al
líder Machetero, Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, el 23 de
septiembre del 2005,
día de la conmemoración
del Grito de Lares. |
Washington, D.C. - Representatives José E.
Serrano, (D-NY); Nydia
Velázquez (D-NY);
and Luis Gutiérrez, (D-IL)
sent the following
letter to the FBI regarding
the killing of
Filberto Ojeda Ríos.
September 26, 2005
The Honorable Robert S.
Mueller, III
Director
Federal Bureau of Investigations
935 Pennsylvania Avenue,
N.W.,
Washington, DC 20535
 ear Director Mueller:
We are writing to join
our voices to those
from Puerto Rico, where
in an unprecedented
manner the leaders of all
political parties
and groups, government
officials and religious
and civic leaders have
universally condemned
the actions of the FBI
in Puerto Rico on
September 23rd and 24th
that resulted in
the death of Mr. Filiberto
Ojeda Rios.
We demand that an independent
investigation
be commenced immediately
to determine if,
as suspected by many in
Puerto Rico, FBI
agents used unwarranted
excessive force,
acted with an arrogance
of power in keeping
Puerto Rican constitutional
and elected officials,
the press and the public
in the dark about
their activities in the
vicinity of the town
of Hormigueros, Puerto
Rico, and used extremely
poor judgment in the timing
of the attempted
arrest. We request further,
that if this
independent investigation
determines that
violations of laws, rules
or regulations
did in fact take place,
those responsible
be brought to justice.
Several aspects of this
incident stand out:
Lack of Coordination
The FBI acted in Puerto
Rico in a manner
that can only be described
as colonialist.
For example, the government
of Puerto Rico
waited for many hours before
there was any
official FBI confirmation
of the death of
Mr. Ojeda. The governor
of Puerto Rico said
his government frantically
tried to obtain
information from the FBI,
which was not forthcoming.
The first official statement
of the FBI concerning
a situation that had the
attention of all
of the people on the island,
its government
and its media, came 17
hours after it was
first known that the FBI
had initiated an
action against Mr. Ojeda.
In addition, we have been
informed that the
FBI disregarded local law
and authority and
disconnected electrical
service to the whole
neighborhood where the
house of Mr. Ojeda
Rios was located.
Excessive force
Mr. Ojeda was a fugitive
who had an arrest
order against him. Clearly,
Mr. Ojeda was
armed. On the other hand,
he was 72 years
old, and was alone with
his wife in their
house at the time of the
FBI action. We are
astonished that more resources
were not assigned
to this case to ensure
a peaceful solution
and a live arrest of Mr.
Ojeda. We have all
witnessed the arrests of
armed individuals
in the past, but usually
as the result of
the deployment of superior
forces, negotiation,
and the use of time and
patience. The people
of Puerto Rico, and those
who respect constitutionally-protected
civil and human rights,
demand and deserve
an explanation as to why
in this case those
kinds of resources and
methods were not used
to arrest Mr. Ojeda alive.
Death
It has been reported that
Mr. Ojeda died
from loss of blood from
a bullet wound received
during his armed confrontation
with FBI agents.
Puerto Rican state's attorneys
were at the
scene as of 6:00 p.m. on
September 23rd.
They were not allowed access
to Mr. Ojeda's
house. In fact, it is reported
that no Puerto
Rican officials were allowed
access there
until around 1:00 p.m.
on Saturday, September
24th.
Dr. Hector Pesquera arrived
at the police-cordoned
area adjacent to Mr. Ojeda's
house around
5:00 pm on Friday, September
23, and asked
to be allowed to enter
the premises to offer
Mr. Ojeda medical attention.
He was never
allowed to go in. The suspicion
stands, as
voiced by many Puerto Rican
leaders of all
political ideologies, that
the FBI knew Mr.
Ojeda was wounded and allowed
him to bleed
to death. Only an independent,
impartial
investigation of the facts
can determine
the truth of this matter.
Context
The FBI has formally acknowledged
that "in
the past" it persecuted
advocates for
the independence of Puerto
Rico, as documented,
among many other sources,
by more than 1.8
million pages of internal
documents released
by the FBI itself. Clearly,
the persecution
of any political group
in Puerto Rico for
advocating a position regarding
the ultimate
status of the island constitutes
an undue
interference with the right
of the people
of Puerto Rico to self-determination.
Given the above, why were
the local authorities
in Puerto Rico never informed
of the impending
action of the FBI against
a recognized figure
in the pro-independence
movement? Clearly,
the implications of such
an action were just
too controversial not to
have a minimum of
coordination with local
elected and constitutional
authorities.
Timing
September 23rd is the date
when Puerto Ricans
observe Grito de Lares,
an insurrection against
Spanish colonialism and
oppression that took
place in Puerto Rico in
1868. Most Puerto
Ricans and historians agree
that that date
marks the international
declaration of the
existence of the Puerto
Rican nation.
Was the FBI aware that
any action taken on
this particular day against
a renowned leader
of a group that advocates
for the independence
of Puerto Rico would be
almost universally
interpreted as a provocation
and an insult?
Whether the FBI was aware
of this or not,
taking an aggressive action
against a figure
such as Mr. Ojeda on that
particular day
was ill advised.
"Arrest" of Mr. Ojeda's wife
On its press release of
Saturday morning,
the FBI indicated that
Mr. Ojeda's wife had
been "arrested" and was
in a safe
location under custody
of the FBI. However,
Mrs. Ojeda did not have
access to legal counsel
until she was released
from custody many
hours later. No charges
were filed against
her. We believe this also
merits an investigation.
We are aware that an FBI
agent was severely
wounded during the raid.
We pray for his
rapid and full recovery.
We believe that, as the
FBI conducts its
important duty to protect
the country from
criminal activity, it is
critical that it
maintains a very rigorous
respect and observance
for the rule of law and
upholds the values
that we hold dear. In this
situation, this
has been called into question.
We believe
that only a prompt, impartial,
and independent
investigation can determine
the truth in
this matter.
Given the urgent circumstances
related herein,
we would like to request
a response from
you no later than close
of business Thursday,
September 29.
Thank you for your attention
to our concerns.
Sincerely,
José E. Serrano Luis V.
Gutiérrez Nydia M.
Velázquez
Member of Congress Member
of Congress Member
of Congress
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SERRANO DICE OPERATIVO FBI PODRÍA CAMBIAR
PERCEPCIONES DE PUERTORRIQUEÑOS
SOBRE EE.UU.
Martes, 27 de septiembre
de 2005
SAN JUAN (AP) - El congresista demócrata de origen puertorriqueño
José Serrano afirmó
hoy que el operativo
en el que el Negociado
Federal de Investigaciones
(FBI) disparó y mató
al dirigente independentista
Filiberto Ojeda Ríos cambiará la forma en que los puertorriqueños
perciben al gobierno
estadounidense.
Serrano, nacido en Mayagüez y quien está en
su noveno ciclo en
el Congreso federal como
representante por
Nueva York, dijo que las
expresiones de indignación
por el operativo
no se limitan al
sector independentista.
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"Eso ha tocado a mucha gente y es posible que
cambie la relación
o la forma en que la gente
vea la relación de
Estados Unidos con Puerto
Rico. Personas que
no veían un gran problema
con la relación con
Estados Unidos podrían
ahora ver esto como
un acto de arrogancia
total de Estados
Unidos para demostrar su
fuerza", dijo Serrano
desde Washington
a Prensa Asociada. |
Congressman
José E. Serrano
(D-NY)
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Serrano sostuvo que sectores estadistas y
estadolibristas han expresado
su descontento
con "la arrogancia" del
FBI de
no informarle al gobierno
local sobre el
operativo y de "quizás
permitir que
el hombre se muriera".
nota: El líder Machetero, Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, fue asesinado a tiros
por el FBI el 23 de septiembre
del 2005,
día de la conmemoración
del Grito de Lares.
Estas magníficas publicaciones de la aclamada historiadora puertorriqueña
Dra. Silvestrini y otros
investigadores ofrecen
a nuestros estudiantes
la oportunidad de
recorrer esos períodos
históricos a través
de recuentos breves y bien
documentados.
Los textos se complementan
con gran variedad
de mapas, gráficas y fotografías
para hacer
más motivador y atractivo
el estudio de la
historia de nuestro país.
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