From Feral Scholar
They Can Kill a Revolutionary, but They Can't Kill the Revolution
On Friday, September 23, scores of FBI agents surrounded a house in semi-rural Hormigueros, Puerto Rico. They attacked, and a sniper shot Filiberto Ojeda Rios, the Responsible General of Los Macheteros, a revolutionary organization fighting for the independence of Puerto Rico. Wounded, Filiberto was left to bleed to death before the Feds moved in the next day.This assassination sparked a wave of protest in Puerto Rico while the standoff was still going on, a wave which has continued to grow in the weeks since. Though some news stories appeared in the US media, they faded fast. In fact, this murder was three stories.
Three Stories
The first is the immediate story of imperialist vengeance and arrogance. Filiberto Ojeda Rios had taken up arms against the colonialist occupiers of his homeland, and had been set free by Puerto Rican juries for charges stemming from actions which had appropriated millions of dollars from the likes of Wells Fargo, actions which had resulted in the wounding of an FBI agent and others. Still a target of the US, Filiberto had eluded capture for 15 years. The FBI chose to open their assault on the fugitive on the day of El Grito de Lares, the patriotic holiday celebrating the 1868 uprising against Spanish colonialism.
The second is the underlying story of Puerto Rican anger and resistance. Thousands gathered the first night in San Juan and other cities across the island. Politicians and public figures soon denounced the murder and its timing, not only independentistas but also leading folks from the Commonwealth and Statehood parties. Filiberto's funeral motorcade was saluted by hundreds of thousands, as schools flying the Machetero flag emptied out. Anxious elected officials convened their own hearings on the crime.
The third is the unfolding story of broad-based actions and organization. Over the last decade the people of Puerto Rico have waged several rounds of struggle. The unsuccessful mass strike of 1998 trained them in mass civil disobedience. The successful battle to drive the US Navy off the island of Vieques followed, developing highly effective flexible tactics and the coordination of front-line struggle with building bases of support. This year, over 80% of the members of the Puerto Rican teachers union voted to uphold disaffiliation from the furious United Federation of Teachers, its US-based "parent," and run their own union. Lessons and leaders from all of these struggles came to the fore as word of the standoff spread. Respected lawyers and doctors demanded to cross the FBI cordon and arrange a peaceful arrest; they were refused. When the FBI insisted that power to the besieged house be shut off, the head of the electrical workers union warned on radio and television that any member who did so would be thrown out of the union forever.
