FBI let Puerto Rican independence fighter bleed to death

SAN JUAN, September 25.—The leader of the underground Puerto Rican People’s Army (EPB-Macheteros), Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, bled to death – virtually killed – due to lack of medical attention after being hit by a bullet in his right clavicle, it was confirmed today in this capital.

Dr. Héctor Pesquera told Prensa Latina that "the FBI let him bleed to death," after being shot by a sniper brought in from the United States.

Pesquera, spokesperson for the Hostosiano National Independence Movement (MINH), took part in the autopsy last night in the capital’s Forensic Science Institute, during which it was confirmed that the body of the EPB-Macheteros leader only revealed one bullet wound.

Pesquera assured PL that evidently, the FBI tactic was not to intervene so that "Comandante Ojeda Ríos would bleed to death through lack of medical attention."

"The bullet penetrated the top part of the right clavicle, crossed his lung and exited from his back, where it lodged in the bullet-proof vest that he was wearing," stated the doctor.

The death of Ojeda Ríos happened last Friday in the western municipality of Hormigueros, after he was surrounded by a contingent of 300-plus agents, including 20 snipers brought in from Virginia (United States).

The 72-year-old leader, who used a pacemaker, was in Hormigueros to celebrate the Grito de Lares, when the independence movement recalls the proclamation of the first Republic of Puerto Rico on September 23, 1868.