When word came late Friday afternoon that FBI agents had surrounded the house in Puerto Rico where Filiberto Ojeda Rios was hiding out, most people expected the worst. On Saturday, the FBI confirmed that Ojeda had been killed in a shootout with agents.
The death of Filiberto Ojeda Rios highlights once again Puerto Rico`s delicate and vague political relationship to the U.S., and an independence movement that is dwindling but undying. Even those people who don`t believe the island should be an independent nation respect the leaders and the history of the independence movement, and are disturbed by the events surrounding Ojeda`s death.
The FBI moved in on Ojeda on a day of great significance in Puerto Rico, the 147th anniversary of El Grito de Lares, a cry for independence. And given that Ojeda was in his 70s, surely there was a way to capture him without killing him. Then, FBI officials waited almost a day before confirming his death. Protesters on the island said the FBI mishandled the arrest.
For 12 or 15 solid hours, he was left there to bleed. The blood from his body seeped out of the house under the door and through the little place in front of the house and could be seen by everybody,but the Federal Bureau of Investigations repeatedly denied the access of his doctors or his attorneys that were there as he bled to death.
Ojeda’s life and death are an important part of the story of Puerto Rico, the people’s struggle to preserve their dignity and history, and a U.S. government that says it is fighting for democracy still maintains a colonial relationship with this island of 3.8 million U.S. citizens.
More information on the subject:
Amnesty USA
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