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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...

As we all know, the professional peace-loving Mother Sheehan is all for murder and mayhem for a good cause. And a good cause for her is anything or anyone who is against the United States. In this photo released by Venezuela's Miraflores Press, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez embraces visiting U.S. peace activist Cindy Sheehan, left, whose son was killed in Iraq, and Elma Beatriz Rosado, the widow of slain Puerto Rican nationalist Filiberto Ojeda Rios during his national broadcast 'Hello President' in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2006. All three joined in condemning the government of U.S. President George W....

Reactions to the death of Filiberto Ojeda Rios, whom FBI agents shot Sept. 23, reflect the ambivalent attitude toward pro-independence extremists in Puerto Rico. Those who are prepared to take up arms against the United States are a tiny minority and have hardly been heard from since the early 1980s, when they carried out some high-profile military operations, both on the island and the U.S. mainland. The independence cause is largely in the hands of politicians who are respectful of the democratic process and never secure more than 5 percent of the votes. The shooting was met with outrage even...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Puerto Rican police tightened security at federal buildings and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton canceled a visit to the island amid fears the killing of a Puerto Rican nationalist in an FBI shootout could lead to a resurgence of pro-independence violence. Police chief Pedro Toledo acknowledged the potential for unrest, saying the death of Filiberto Ojeda Rios had generated "rancor and rage." Ojeda Rios, 72, was shot to death Friday by FBI agents who came to arrest him at his farmhouse in southwestern Puerto Rico for the 1983 armed robbery of a Wells Fargo depot in...

HORMIGUEROS, Puerto Rico (AP) - A Puerto Rican nationalist leader wanted in the 1983 robbery of a Connecticut armored truck depot to finance his political movement was killed in a shootout with FBI agents, sources said. Police said gunfire erupted Friday as agents surrounded the farmhouse where Filiberto Ojeda Rios, 72, was hiding in the western town of Hormigueros and at least one agent was wounded. A law enforcement agent who spoke on condition of anonymity and Hector Pesquera, president of the Hostiano independence movement, told The Associated Press Ojeda Rios was killed. But there was no official confirmation. Main...

MIAMI, Florida (Reuters) --The fugitive founder of a violent Puerto Rican independence group was killed in a gunfight with federal agents at a mountain farmhouse in western Puerto Rico, the FBI said Sunday. Filiberto Ojeda Rios, 72, opened fire on agents who were trying to arrest him at a house in the Hormigueros area of Puerto Rico on Friday, the FBI said. Ojeda Rios was killed, and an FBI agent was shot in the stomach and severely wounded, the agency said. Ojeda Rios was the founder and leader of Puerto Rico's radical Boricua Popular Army, which sought independence for the...