Boricua Popular Army
The Ejército Popular Boricua, EPB also known as Los Macheteros, is a clandestine militant and insurgent organization based in Puerto Rico, with cells in the broader US and other nations. It campaigns for, and supports, the independence of Puerto Rico from the United States.
During their first decade of existence, they had an average of two actions per year. The group claimed responsibility for the 1978 bombing of a small power station in the San Juan area, the 1979 retaliation attacks against the United States armed forces personnel, the 1981 Muñiz Air National Guard Base attack, and a 1983 Wells Fargo bank robbery.
Boricua Popular Army was led primarily by former FBI fugitive Filiberto Ojeda Ríos until he was killed by the FBI in 2005. Ojeda Rios' killing was termed "an illegal killing" by the Government of Puerto Rico's Comisión de Derechos Civiles after a seven-year investigation and a 227-page report issued on 22 September 2011.
Ideology and operation
Political stance
The name Machetero was symbolically adopted from an impromptu band of Puerto Ricans who assembled to defend the island of Puerto Rico from the invading forces of the United States Army during the Spanish–American War, between July 26 and August 12, 1898. Macheteros de Puerto Rico were dispatched throughout the island, working in cooperation with other voluntary groups including the Guardias de la Paz in Yauco and Tiradores de Altura in San Juan. These voluntary units were involved in most of the battles in the Puerto Rican Campaign. Their last involvement was in the Battle of Asomante, where along with units led by Captain Hernaíz, defended Aibonito Pass from invading units. The allied offensive was effective, prompting a retreat order from the American side. However, the following morning the initial peace accords between the U.S. and Spain were made public. Subsequently, both Spanish and Puerto Rican soldiers and volunteers disengaged and Puerto Rico was annexed by the United States.Hierarchy
As established in the EPB's "Organization of the EPB", the organization operates in a systemic and hierarchic structure. The entire organization is overseen by a central committee, which is generally focused on politics and policies. Beneath it lies a military commission, which in turn is divided by sub commissions specialized in finances, intelligence, transportation, provisions and general services and others as needed. Each commando receives additional salary, with specific exemptions being given to marriages, unemployed individuals and those with dependents. In December 1981, the EPB included benefits similar to those in the American military. The organization agreed to medical services and college education pending commission approval. New recruits may be covertly trained in rural farms or in foreign countries and inconspicuous businesses may be used to provide cover to certain individuals. Training includes skills such as lock picking, handling firearms and explosives, forging documents, scuba diving, photography, concealment using makeup and forging license plates. An exercise regime is expected from commandoes afterwards. Meetings are kept to a minimum and only held when relevant.Structure
The basic units are the "combat units", composed of five foot soldiers that are led by a leader with ties to the political branch. Their weapons and munitions are arbitrarily divided by type, such as short weapons and semi-automatic weapons. Rifles and shotguns are present in each unit to ensure balance. A car was also provided and used both for meetings and in incursions without attracting attention. Units in turn subscribe to specific 17-men cells, with three of the unit leaders forming the hierarchy along a pair of political and military leaders. These cells generally aim to have equipment that is comparable to the American military or law enforcement agencies. Additional support cells include trained medical personnel and are mostly in charge of logistics, maintenance, vehicles, equipment and media. Cells form 73-men formations in charge of a political member, which are assigned to specific districts and are generally independent of each other. The EPB usually plans in advance and establishes networks in places of interest, such as those in New York, Boston, Illinois, Texas and Connecticut used in the Wells Fargo heist of 1983.Composition
For the most part, individuals affiliated with the EPB are expected to merge into general society and be as inconspicuous as possible, usually holding civilian jobs or studying, some receiving training within the United States military. A newspaper article by La Prensa stated that Michael González Cruz, a professor who published Nacionalismo Revolucionario Puertorriqueño had estimated that in 1999, there may have been 5,700 members and that in 2005, there may have been 1,100 members.Tactics
The group intentionally avoids any area where crime rates could result in frequent law enforcement interventions and commandos are instructed to be polite and are warned to stay away from illegal activities; association or deals with criminal organizations are prohibited. In keeping a discipline code, the organization also discourages the use of alcohol and prohibits the use of drugs. The EPB attempts to stay away from areas where other nationalist groups are based in order to avoid attention. They also settle away from military or police stations. Meetings are generally held in places with good reputation and in buildings that offer several access points, with heavy precautions being taken to reach their locations untailed. If different units are meeting, commandos are instructed to place hoods or masks and use codenames in order to protect their identities, both to accomplish plausible denial and to root out any law enforcement plant. Information is segregated between groups and only shared in limited detail, when necessary. Incriminating or detailed documents or any other evidence is to be destroyed once the potential of a law enforcement intervention is apparent. While involved in a particular mission, the EPB commandoes regularly assume a faux name, but they usually use this to acquire legitimate documents and select a nondescript address in which to receive mail in a fashion that prevents surveillance, such a P.O. Box or a decoy address where mail is delivered to the community in general. Even ammunitions were given codes such as Manteca for firearms or Libretas for explosives to conceal their nature. Armories were specifically retrofitted to preserve the condition and to prepare new ammunition as needed. Funds are managed strictly and reports are constant in order to keep a balanced budget.History
Early actions
The EPB was founded by Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, Juan Enrique Segarra-Palmer and Orlando González Claudio on July 26, 1976, with the date being symbolically used as a reminder of the United States invasion during the Spanish–American War.Their first communiqué was published on August 25, 1978, following an attack on two policemen that concluded with officer Julio Rodríguez Rivera dead in retaliation for the Cerro Maravilla murders. The federal government claimed the incident was an attempt to steal his police car. On October 2, 1978, the EPB and Volunteers infiltrated an armory and took 500 pounds of ammonium nitrate, dynamite cartridges, 988 blasting caps and 17,500 feet of primacord. In September 1979, the EPB revealed that it was working in conjunction with the Volunteers, FARP and FALN.
On October 17, 1979, the groups executed eight bombings against federal buildings.
On December 3, 1979, a bus carrying 18 American Navy sailors to Naval Security Group Activity Sabana Seca, was forced to stop by a delivery truck. Shortly afterwards, four men appeared from within another vehicle and opened fire, killing CTO1 John R. Ball and RM3 Emil E. White, as well as wounding nine others. On March 13, 1980, the EPB took responsibility for attacking an ROTC vehicle that was moving three soldiers to the UPR.
''Pitirre II''
In the morning of January 12, 1981, a group of eleven commandos, seven guards and four explosive specialists, set explosives at Muñiz Air National Guard Base, located on the northeastern corner of the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan. The ensuing explosion destroyed nine aircraft and two trucks and damaged two ships on loan from the U.S. Air Force, with the authors leaving a machete behind. The destruction of the military equipment ascended to $45–50 million USD.The FBI responded by receiving permission for a full investigation, which allowed them to employ otherwise forbidden practices to track the group. The EPB in turn expressed pride that the attack represented the most damaging to take place in American soil since Pearl Harbor and expressed satisfaction that it would attract attention to their cause, with some members even considering it a parallel to the Gaspee Affair. The group also sent a video to the media where they explained the composition of the cell in charge of the attack without revealing any identities. The security at the base was criticized in media pieces. The attack later served as the basis for upgrading base security, emphasizing flight line security, at all Air National Guard installations on civilian airports in the United States to the same level as active duty U.S. Air Force installations.
On April 21, 1981, four EPB commandos were able to extract $348,000 from a Wells Fargo armored car, with the group later noting that it would be spent in their cause. In November 1981, the EPB detonated explosives in AEE substations in Santurce, a district of San Juan. When 350 families that occupied a makeshift village in Carolina, Puerto Rico, were removed by the police, the EPB warned the governor that they would retaliate. Afterwards, they made an offensive against the police that resulted in twelve injured and one dead policeman.
On May 16, 1982, EPB members fired rifles at four sailors of the U.S.S. Pensacola, killing one of them. The group later took responsibility for the attack and expressed that it was retaliation for a large-scale amphibious attack training named "Ocean Venture '82" held at Vieques and other military facilities in Puerto Rico. Four days later, On May 20, 1982, the FBI held the EPB responsible for the placement of four defective bombs at the Caribe Hilton Hotel, with the organization denying responsibility. On September 1, 1982, a group of commandos presumed by the FBI to be Macheteros and outfitted with suppressed weapons and wearing military gear and masks, intercepted a Wells Fargo truck in a route between San Juan and Naranjito, but were unable to acquire the cargo. On November 16, 1982, four commandos feigned a heist in a supermarket to redirect those present to its warehouse until their main target, a Wells Fargo truck, arrived.Supported by more armed commandos that arrived in a van, those inside the building gained control of the armored car keys and took $300,000 from it.