Daily Headlines: February 3, 2014

* Brazil: Respected Brazilin filmmaker Eduardo Coutinho was stabbed to death yesterday in an incident allegedly perpetrated by his son who has mental health issues.

* South America: Days after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in a border dispute between Chile and Peru, Bolivian President Evo Morales said that his country will not drop its ICJ lawsuit against Chile.

* Latin America: Support for Puerto Rican independence and a promise to resolve regional differences via dialogue were some of the details mentioned in a declaration at the end of last week’s summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.

* Venezuela: The Caribbean Series of baseball started on Sunday in Venezuela with the return of Cuba for the first time since 1960.

Video Source – YouTube user Gabriel Silva Mendeleh (The career of Eduardo Coutinho spanned four decades and included directing documentaries such as 1999’s “The Mighty Spirit,” which focused on the residents of a Rio de Janeiro slum prior to a visit of Pope John Paul II to Brazil.)

Online Sources- Folha.com; UPI; Reuters; The Latin Americanist; Xinhua

Puerto Ricans Vote in Vital Elections (Updated)

All eyes have been placed on the U.S. presidential election that is projected to be won by incumbent Barack Obama over Mitt Romney.  Off the mainland, however, Puerto Ricans participate in a pair of crucial votes on Tuesday.

Hundreds of thousands of boricuas voted in a two-part plebiscite to help decide the political status of the island.  The first part of the referendum asked voters if they prefer the island’s political status as a commonwealth.  The second part of the plebiscite allowed voters to chose what type of political status they would like for Puerto Rico:  become the fifty-first U.S. state, become an independent country or remain as a commonwealth? (The island has been a commonwealth since the U.S. took control of the territory in 1898).

The results of the plebiscite are reportedly too close to call with exit polls indicating a 48%-48% tie over the first question on the island’s “status quo”.  Preliminary results for the second part of the plebiscite have indicated 50% for statehood, 32% for “enhanced commonwealth status” and 4% for independence. 

The referendum is non-binding and details of the island’s upcoming political status would have to be agreed upon by the governments of the U.S. and Puerto Rico.  The role of Puerto Rican governor thus gains more importance yet it’s unknown who will hold that seat for those critical negotiations.

The future of Gov. Luis Fortuño, who is representing the pro-statehood party, is in the balance with results of the gubernatorial election far too close to call.  With half of the votes tabulated in a recount Fortuño is behind by less than 1.0% to pro-commonwealth candidate Alejandro García Padilla.


Obama has said that he would “respect the people's will if there is a clear majority”.   The negotiations over Puerto Rico’s future political status could be made easier if Padilla wins his race since the political party he’s with is allied with the Democrats.

Update below the page break:

Daily Headlines: April 17, 2012

* Puerto Rico: Norberto Gonzalez Claudio, a Puerto Rican nationalist accused of participating in a 1983 armed vehicle robbery in the Connecticut, has sought to be released on bond while he awaits trial.

* Chile: A 6.7- magnitude earthquake shook central Chile and startled residents as well as visiting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

* U.S.: A new Nielsen report concluded that the per capita income among Latinos in the U.S. is higher than in emerging economic countries such as Brazil, India and China.

* Mexico: Authorities raised the alert level for the Popocatepetl volcano located roughly fifty miles away from Mexico City.

Video Source – YouTube via newsntn24 (Norberto Gonzalez Claudio was arrested by the FBI last May over his alleged role in a 1983 armed vehicle heist).

Online Sources- Boston.com, BusinessWeek, Canada.com, Reuters

Today’s Video: Shooting at Cerro Maravilla

Today marked the thirty-third anniversary of the Cerro Maravilla incident where two Puerto Rican pro-independence activists were shot by police under unusual circumstances. The controversial killings shook up Puerto Rican politics during the late 1970s and 1980s. Investigations by the commonwealth's legislature into the event revealed a cover-up effort by some local law enforcement authorities and allegations of possible misconduct in the probes conducted by U.S. federal agencies.

Some members of the Puerto Rican independence movement gathered at the Cerro to commemorate the deaths of Carlos Soto Arriví and Arnaldo Darío Rosado in 1978. (The independentistas view the slain men as having died for their cause and have nicknamed the Cerro as the "Hill of the Martyrs.")

The following video is from a 1984 episode of "60 Minutes" that focuses on the Cerro Maravilla incident. In the report, the late Ed Bradley questions then-Gov. Carlos Romero Barcelo over his claims that the killed men were "terrorists" intent on blowing up a TV transmission tower. The report aired days before Romero Barcelo lost his bid for a third straight term as governor.

The second part of the "60 Minutes" report can be viewed here.

Video Source - YouTube
Online Sources - Wikipedia, El Nuevo Dia

Daily Headlines: May 11, 2011

* U.S.: Will the Latino community be receptive or doubtful of President Barack Obama's call for federal immigration reform?

* Peru: In the race for the presidency one poll gave Keiko Fujimori a slim lead over Ollanta Humala while another poll gave Humala a razor-thin advantage over Fujimori.

* Puerto Rico: Authorities arrested a Puerto Rican nationalist wanted for his suspected involvement in a 1983 armed car robbery in Connecticut.

* Argentina: Three former police officers were arrested and charged in the deaths of a French nun and Argentine activist during the “Dirty War” dictatorship.

Image – AP via Houston Chronicle (“President Obama speaks about immigration reform at Chamizal National Memorial Park in El Paso.”)
Online Sources- Reuters, Voice of America, La Republica, AFP, BBC News

Daily Headlines: July 29, 2010

* Ecuador: UNESCO removed the Galapagos Islands from its list of endangered sites after citing “strong action” by the Ecuadorian government to fix environmental problems.

* Puerto Rico: Several hundred supporters of “independence militant” Carlos Alberto Torres celebrated his release on parole after spending thirty years in prison.

* Paraguay: Police gunned down one of country’s most wanted fugitives - Paraguayan People's Army leader Severiano Martinez.

* Colombia: The State Department reversed its previous decision and will grant Colombian journalist Hollman Morris a visa to come to the U.S.

Image – The Telegraph (“Marine iguanas are unique to the Galapagos.”)
Online Sources- Boston Globe, LAHT, MSNBC, Miami Herald

Today's Video: Puerto Rico a Foreign Country?

Let's add to that today's quote: "I really don’t care what it is." -- Idaho Republican Candidate for Congress Vaughn Ward.

Vaughn's opponent, Puerto Rico-born Raul Labrador, finally gets completely fed up at 1:55.

Via: New York Magazine

Eric Holder’s controversial LatAm links

Eric Holder could be chosen by Barack Obama to serve as the next Attorney General, yet his Latin American ties could obstruct his congressional approval.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, the former senior official in the Justice Department in the Clinton administration is expected to be grilled over Clinton’s presidential pardon of 16 convicted Puerto Rican nationalists. Holder acted as a “Clinton administration point man” in the aftermath of the controversial pardoning which some critics viewed as political posturing for his wife's Senatorial bid.

Furthermore, there are questions over Holder’s work for Chiquita Brands. The company was accused of hiring paramilitaries in Colombia to serve as “private security”. Holder negotiated the 2007 plea deal that forced Chiquita to pay a $25 million fine yet absolved execs from having to serve any jail time. (Chiquita still faces a class action lawsuit brought up by the families of paramilitary victims).

Holder’s possible nomination as top cop is hypocritical of Obama, according to CounterPunch’s Mario Murillo:

The disappointment in Obama's pick for AG should stem from the President-elect's strong words during the campaign in defense of human rights, particularly for those of workers in Colombia. On several occasions, including in the last presidential debate held at Hofstra University just three weeks before the election, the Democratic Candidate said he opposed the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement precisely on the grounds of the human rights violations carried out consistently against trade unionists in Colombia, and the ongoing impunity that has followed in most of those crimes.

Image- New York Times
Sources- The Latin Americanist, Christian Science Monitor, Huffington Post, CounterPunch, CNN

FBI Continues to Harass Rican Independence Activists

Early morning on October 28, 2008, several vehicles full of FBI agents penetrated the neighborhood where the well known independentista Norberto Cintrón Fiallo lives, and waited until he left his house for work. During most of the morning, four vehicles follow the compañero while he carried out his work as an investigator for the Legal Assistance Society. The compañero detected them and headed toward the central offices of his employer in Río Piedras. From there he phoned his attorneys and several media outlets. The four FBI vehicles parked strategically around the offices of the Legal Assistance Society and stayed there, surveilling the area around the building, until mid-afternoon.

Source : Press Release

Macheteros Identify FBI Agent Who Participated In Ojeda Rios Assasination and Issue Warning

Cross-Posted at VivirLatino

The Boricua Popular Army aka los Macheteros have identified John Roeper as an FBI agent who participated in the assassination of Puerto Rican independence fighter Filiberto Ojeda Rios in 2005. From their statement:

“We in the EPB–The Macheteros, in turn, have been able to identify several of the mercenaries who participated in the assassination of our commander. Our intelligence division has been able to do so. Today we publish the name of John Roeper. In the next communiqués, we will report to the nation about other agents.

The Macheteros also stated that:

We remind the people that the colonial government of Puerto Rico is an accomplice of the FBI in this assassination...the government led by Aníbal Acevedo Vilá handed over to the federal authorities information which led the FBI to the Commander’s home...We also remind those who use the media to defend the colonial governor of Puerto Rico that history will afford this governor the sad place reserved for traitors..the people will undertake responsibility for judging his defenders who continue this attitude.”

While the United States continues to justify its actions by stating that the Macheteros are a terrorist organization, it refuses to recognize that Puerto Rico has been a colony of the United States since 1898 when the island was invaded in what is an act of war according to international law.

When is self-defense terrorism? When you are a Puerto Rican.

Attorneys For Rican Activist Will Try to Quash Grand Jury Subpoenas

Today attorneys representing two young Puerto Rican independentistas subpoenaed to a federal grand jury in New York will present a motion to quash the subpoenas.

"The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigations) should state whether the subpoenas and the grand jury questions are the product of illegal electronic interventions," the press release indicated.

More than once, the grand jury proceedings have been postponed, leading many to think that they have no legal basis, but rather are a tactic meant to intimidate the Puerto Rican independence movement.

The attorneys also allege that the United States government has politically "repressed" independentistas since the decade of the 1930's, and that U.S. law requires that "the federal grand jury must respect the freedom of association guaranteed by the First Amendment" of the U.S. Constitution.
According to the movement Table of Solidarity, legislators of the City of New York Melissa Mark Viverito, Leticia James and Rosie Méndez have rejected the grand jury subpoenas.
It was also announced that the organization Hostos One Eleven Grand Jury Resistance Coalition
will convene a demonstration of support for those subpoenaed to the grand jury on Friday, while the motion is presented in court.

Source : Personal email

Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Oscar Lopez Marks 27 Years Behind U.S. Bars

There is much discussion about political prisoners in Latin American countries, specifically U.S. enemy Cuba, but there is little discussion of men and women incarcerated United States federal prisons who consider themselves political prisoners. One such case is the case of Puerto Rican Oscar Lopez Rivera. Yesterday marked 27 years since his capture on charges including seditious conspiracy and is accused of being a member of the FALN, or the Armed Forces of National Liberation in English, an organization dedicated to the liberation of Puerto Rico, an organization deemed a terrorist group by the United States.

Oscar López-Rivera was born in San Sebastian, Puerto Rico on January 6, 1943. At the age of 12, he moved to Chicago with his family. He was a well-respected community activist and a prominent independence leader for many years prior to his arrest. Oscar was one of the founders of the Rafael Cancel Miranda High School, now known as the Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School and the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center. He was a community organizer for the Northwest Community Organization (NCO), ASSPA, ASPIRA and the 1st Congregational Church of Chicago. He helped to found FREE, (a half-way house for convicted drug addicts) and ALAS (an educational program for Latino prisoners at Stateville Prison in Illinois).
He was active in various community struggles, mainly in the area of health care, employment and police brutality. He also participated in the development of the Committee to Free the Five Puerto Rican Nationalists. In 1975, he was forced underground, along with other comrades.

Lopez- Rivera has a connection to the Clintons, as he was offered some form of leniency by the Clinton Administration in the fall of 1999. He declined the offer.

His sister, Zenaida Lopez, said he turned the offer down because he would be on parole. 'Accepting what they are offering him is like prison outside of prison,' she said. Zenaida Lopez said her brother 'was in total agreement' with the decision of the 11 others to take the conditional clemency.

Part of the clemency agreement included no contact with other members of the Puerto Rican liberation struggle. He is currently serving a 55-year sentence.

Someone and something to think about as both Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, travel in Puerto Rico this weekend asking for primary votes from people who have no right to vote in the actual presidential election in November.

Source : Prison Activist Resource Center

Macheteros Warn of FBI Onslaught

The Boricua Popular Army aka The Macheteros, is warning that the FBI is getting ready to launch a campaign against Puerto Ricans actively engaged in the struggled for Puerto Rico's independence and other activists.

"Our organization possesses information indicating that the FBI, with the collaboration of the colonial police, are planning an operation to arrest, kidnap, and in some cases provoke the death of independentista, socialist leaders and activists protecting the rights of the people, said the missive. "The FBI intends to strike at all the groupings and individuals capable of supporting the people in their struggle for decolonization, national liberation and social justice," added the document dated May 19, but postmarked May 23. "United we can remove the FBI from our country, as we achieved the removal of the U.S. Navy from Vieques. United we can save the Puerto Rican nation from the FBI assassins and their colonial collaborators," added the document.

The FBI had no comment. While some may say that the Macheteros are nothing but a terrorist organization, as the U.S. has labeled them, history has shown us that the FBI has been capable of such actions. Google cointelpro and you'll see what I mean.

Source : NYC Independent Media Center

Pro Puerto Rican Independence Activist Subpoenaed to NY Grand Jury on May 23rd

The harassment against Puerto Rican independence supporters seems to be continuing. On Wednesday, the FBI seached and served a Grand Jury subpoena on the compañero attorney and educator Elliot Monteverde Torres. The subpoena orders the activist to appear in the federal court of New York on May 23, 2008. Elliot lives with his wife and daughter in Texas. He was a student leader in the U.S. and a distinguished leader of the movement in solidarity with Vieques in New York.

Source : Personal Email

FBI Continues It's Harassment on Puerto Rican Independence Movement

Just this morning, a Puerto Rican independence activist was payed a not so friendly visit by the FBI. Miguel Viqueira was getting ready to leave his home to go to work when armed FBI agents showed up, insulting and threatening Viqueira .

At 8:10 this morning, the FBI continued it's witch hunt by approaching Tania Delgado Soto as she left her home in Rio Piedras.
In both cases the FBI left when the individuals asserted their legal right not to speak to agents without a warrant and without legal counsel.

These very recent examples of the continued harassment of Puerto Rican activist demonstrates just how the U.S. federal government operates with regards to the Puerto Rican people and those determined to fight for the island's sovereignty. People are reminded that they have no legal responsibility to speak to federal agents, that when they are approached they should seek legal counsel, and report all incidents of harassment so that the Feds know that they are being watched.

Update: the count of people being harassed by armed FBI agents on the island is now up to 4 and there may possibly be an arrest. Still waiting for confirmation on that last part.

Gracias to Jo Boriken for the information.