Posted on 02/13/2006 12:43:40 PM PST by neverdem
An FBI sweep launched in Puerto Rico to prevent a "domestic terrorist attack" is eliciting widespread outrage on the island - and as far away as New York City - with critics accusing the agency of trying to use terrorism as a guise to turn public opinion against Puerto Rico's independence movement.
The Friday morning raid on the U.S. commonwealth, which targeted five private homes and one business, was launched to prevent attacks from the Boricua Popular Army, the FBI said. The special agent in charge of the San Juan Division of the FBI, Luis Fraticelli, said the searches were undertaken because investigations disclosed planning was under way for an attack "where explosive devices were to be used." It was to be "directed at privately owned interests in Puerto Rico, as well as the general public," he said Friday. No arrests were made.
The pro-independence group, also known as the Macheteros, or "cane cutters," engaged in violent attacks in the 1970s and 1980s, and took credit for the 1979 bombing of a U.S. Navy bus that killed two American sailors. More recently, it has taken credit for bombings of American military and government sites on the island.
While recent polls have indicated that most of Puerto Rico's residents do not support independence from America, criticism of the raid quickly spread beyond the movement's sympathizers.
From the governor of the island to lawyers to journalists, calls came out to investigate the FBI's operations on the island.
Although residents of Puerto Rico, a former Spanish colony, are American citizens, they cannot vote for president, have no voting representatives in Congress, and pay no federal taxes.
Public displeasure with the FBI was already high. The sweep comes on the heels of the death of one the group's leaders, Filiberto Ojeda Rios, during an...
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
Republicans kill terrorists.
How is using US territory for a penal colony kicking people out of the US?
I am all for their Independence, we could save a ton of money, It would probably end up like Haiti in two weeks.
You sure the numbers are that low? (sarc, sort of)
Yes, but it was to help Mrs. Clintons election to the senate. Pandering to N.Y. puerto ricans.
Since it was to help Mrs. Clinton that makes it alright.
Hell people have been killed to help Mrs. Clinton and bill.
Much ado about nothing.
The FBI was executing search warrants, not arrest warrants. Out of six locations being searched, one was near the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. There, a leftift professor called on students and union leaders to gather around the condo being search and egged them on to protest the FBI. The union leader opened a gate to the condo complex and let reporters in. In typical fashion, the students walked in right behind the reporters, using them as shields.
The FBI removed everybody from the police perimeter. ONE FBI agent sprayed pepper spray directly into the line of reporters, and sprayed one reporter in particular rather heavily. One of the students lobbed a rock at one of the FBI vehicles as they left the scene, breaking a window. The FBI didn't request crowd control from the local police.
That was it.
There's also the case of the Puerto Ricans who wounded 5 congressmen at the Capitol in 1954, shooting from the gallery.
That is correct. The place has been nothing but a federal money pit since we acquired the island from Spain in 1898. I think we ought to cut PR loose.
And I'd be interested in learning what proportion of crime puerto ricans commit as a percentage of population. Sort of like blacks disproportionately commit crimes compared to its percentage of population.
Yeah I know you can't do that, it ain't politically correct.
An independent nation of Puerto Rico would descend into another Haiti in 20 years.
PR is the #1 welfare state!!
Give them their independence. That's less money out of our coffers. Promise PR that the U.S. will not interfere with their affairs and each family will get a new pair of jumper cables.
"NOTHING but a federal money pit...cut PR loose".
Gee, thanks. Tell that to the families of the 48 that have been KIA in the current conflagration, or to that of the thousands that have fallen before them, and the tens of thousands of living veterans and their families on the island and the countless thousands that currently serve. Just to give you an example.
"And I'd be interested in learning what proportion of crime puerto ricans"
So, what is a Puerto Rican to you? I ask because when comparing Puerto Ricans to blacks you might be inferring that Puerto Rican is a race, which it is not.
This is typical media spin.
First of all, the "independence movement" in Puerto Rico is a tiny minority. There is no real independence movement at all, if you consider the fact that "independence" activists try to sell an independence that allows them to keep their US citizenship.
Secondly, the "Boricua Popular Army" is a wannabe terrorist group. Raiding them would not discredit the barely existent "independence" movement unless they themselves admire nutballs and thugs. Being mostly leftist academics, they more than likely do admire these people, so you can understand their sensitivity on the subject.
Although residents of Puerto Rico, a former Spanish colony, are American citizens, they cannot vote for president, have no voting representatives in Congress, and pay no federal taxes.
only the freebie bennies, eh?
I am so disappointed with the responses on this thread, but it seems par for the course when it somes to Puerto Rico as a topic. Many here on FR want to ignore that Puerto Ricans are Americans. That they are loyal, that they have paid this country with the blood and lives of the men and women who have sacrificed in wars for America over and over and over.How many on this thread who are PR-bashing have even served in the military or been to PR.
My so-called blood sucking federal money pit welfare PR relatives have served, and served with distinction. They served in Korea, they served in Vietnam, and they are serving now in Iraq. And you know what? Thats REAL PATRIOTISM. They serve even when they can't vote. They serve even though they have to put up with attitudes like the ones on this thread.
And sorry to disappoint you, but not one single criminal in my PR family. No one going to jail, no one been in jail. Too busy going to college, or holding down two jobs, or serving in the military.
Does the US really care if PR goes private?
Do you mean you don't like:
Puerto Rico . . .
You ugly island . . .
Island of tropic diseases.
Always the hurricanes blowing,
Always the population growing . . .
And the money owing,
And the babies crying,
And the bullets flying.
I like the island Manhattan.
Smoke on your pipe and put that in!
Talk about "cutting PR loose" is just talk. Puerto Ricans are US citizens, you can't separate a US citizen from his citizenship, which means that the island is US territory whatever happens.
There is no independence movement among Puerto Ricans worthy of the name. As for the decision not to charge federal income tax to islanders, thats a decision Congress can change anytime it wants to. It just has to do it.
Puerto Rico has a kind of autonomy, but it is no more than the autonomy that any state would have if the 9th and 10th ammendments were honored. That, again, is something that mainlanders need to address. And something islanders need to consider as they negotiate the terms of statehood or continued "territorial" status.
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