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The Boricua Popular Army — or '''''Ejército Popular Boricua''''' in , 2001 Although the group has claimed responsibility for numerous armed robberies and bombings since 1978, and was led primarily by former FBI Most Wanted Fugitive Filiberto Ojeda Ríos until his 2005 death, they claim to have refocused their resources and networks to political, information and enforcement support for the general independence and nationalist movement. Also known as ''Los Macheteros'' ("the Machete Wielders") and 'Puerto Rican Popular Army', their active membership of mostly Puerto Rican men and women is alleged to have swelled to over 1,100, with an unknown number of supporters, sympathizers, collaborators and informants, with cells (usually consisting of between six and ten members) in the United States and other countries. BACKGROUND ''']] ''Los Macheteros'' were organized in the 1970s by Filiberto Ojeda Ríos , Juan Enrique Segarra Palmer and Orlando González Claudio . The group began in 1976 , but it can trace its origins back to the Armed Forces Of National Liberation (FALN). Upon its beginnings, the group attracted a wide variety of Puerto Rican independence supporters, including members of:
Only some members of the above groups support the Macheteros' ideology and methods. For example, the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) has a similar political Ideology but they follow protocol of the insular political system, based on the Commonwealth laws established in 1952. NOTABLE ACTS / INCIDENTS 1970s In January 2 , 1977 one day after Carlos Romero Barceló , a statehood advocate, was sworn in as Governor Of Puerto Rico , two bombs were placed at an Army ROTC building in San Juan, Puerto Rico . The bombs were successfully destroyed by the Police , but the Macheteros took responsibility for the incident. In August 1978 they murdered San Juan police officer Julio Rodriguez Rivera while attempting to steal his police car for use in a terrorist attack. In 1979, two attacks were made on unarmed US Navy sailors. In the first, on December 3rd, Macheteros opened fire on a bus carrying sailors, killing CTO1 John R. Ball and RM3 Emil E. White as well as wounding nine. A second attack, on off-duty sailors returning from liberty, killed one and wounded three. The attack was in retaliation for the murder in a prison of a member of the macheteros by the prison guards who were retired marine soldiers. 1980s NOTES REFERENCES # Federal Bureau of Investigation (USA). FBI Fugitive Profile: Filiberto Ojeda Rios (2003). United States of America. # Federal Bureau of Investigation (USA). FBI Fugitive Profile: Victor Manuel Gerena . United States of America. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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