Filiberto Ojeda Ríos Filiberto Ojeda Ríos ( April 26 , 1933 – September 23 , 2005 ) was the commander - in - chief ( " " Responsable General " " ) of the Boricua Popular Army ( " Ejército Popular Boricua , a . k . a . , Los Macheteros " ) , a clandestine paramilitary organization that considers United States rule over Puerto Rico to be oppressive colonization and advocates the latter ' s independence . Ojeda Ríos was a fugitive from 1990 to 2005 , wanted by the FBI for his role in the 1983 Wells Fargo depot robbery in West Hartford , Connecticut as well as a bail bond default in September 1990 . He was killed on 23 September 2005 , a date that coincided with " Los Macheteros " ' s venerable anniversary of a Puerto Rican pro - independence uprising known as El Grito de Lares , when members of the FBI , claiming an attempt to serve an arrest warrant on him , surrounded a house in Hormigueros , Puerto Rico , where Ojeda Rios was living . The FBI operation , still not entirely laid clear , was questioned by both local Puerto Rican authorities as well as international organizations . The killing of Ojeda Ríos has been mourned by members of the Puerto Rican Independence movement and by Puerto Ricans in general , who have expressed their indignation through repeated protest s . Members of the statehood movement and supporters of the Commonwealth have also joined in the criticism of the federal and local handling of the FBI ' s shooting incident . In late March 2006 , the Puerto Rico Department of Justice sued federal authorities , including FBI Director Robert Mueller and US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales , seeking an injunction to force the federal government authorities to provide the Commonwealth government with information related to the operation in which Ojeda Ríos died , as well as another one in which the FBI searched the homes of independence supporters affiliated with Los Macheteros . The lawsuit was dismissed in the summer of 2007 . However , the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Civil Rights Commission forged on with its own investigation of the incident . Their investigation has been ongoing for several years and a report was due out on December 31 , 2009 . Biography . Ojeda Ríos was born on April 26 , 1933 , in Naguabo , Puerto Rico . Ojeda entered college when he was fifteen years old and was described as having an " engaging intelligence " . As a child , he played the trumpet and guitar . He joined a renowned Salsa band from the municipality of Ponce , Puerto Rico , " La Sonora Ponceña " , performing on both instruments . In 1961 he moved his family from Puerto Rico to Cuba and was recruited into the General Intelligence Directorate , the Cuban intelligence service . In 1967 he founded and led the very first of Puerto Rico ' s new militant political groups , the Armed Revolutionary Independence Movement ( Movimiento Independentista Revolucionario Armado ) . MIRA was disbanded by police in the early 1970s and Ríos was arrested . He subsequently skipped bail and moved to New York , where he cofounded the Armed Forces of National Liberation ( Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional ) ( FALN ) with former MIRA members as a membership base . In 1976 Ojeda Ríos founded the Boricua Popular Army ( Ejército Popular Boricua ) , also known as Los Macheteros ( The Machete Wielders ) , named after the sugar cane harvesters who use machetes to harvest the canes . Los Macheteros have been alleged to be either directly or indirectly responsible for numerous acts of terrorism and bombings in Puerto Rico and the mainland United States . The group has claimed responsibility for several incendiary and explosive incidents , including an explosion at Fraunces Tavern , a historical tavern located in New York City , which killed those inside the building and injured other bystanders . The group was involved in the killing of a Puerto Rican policeman who refused to surrender his car . The group was responsible for nearly 120 bombings in the United States between 1974 and 1983 . " Los Macheteros " is described by U . S . law enforcement agencies as a terrorist organization . On September 12 , 1983 , Los Macheteros stole approximately US $ 7 million from a Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford , Connecticut . The money obtained from this operation was allegedly used to help fund the Puerto Rican independence movement . In 1985 , 19 members of Los Macheteros were indicted for offenses associated with the Wells Fargo heist . Ojeda Ríos was captured as part of an FBI operation that took place following two years of surveillance on the group . In the operation a group of 24 agents protected by bulletproof vests , entered the building where Ojeda Ríos had his residence . The agents received assistance from a group of snipers located on adjacent buildings and a helicopter . When Ojeda noticed the presence of the agents he fired a sub - machine gun at them and threatened to kill anyone that tried to reach the building ' s second floor . In the meanwhile Ojeda ' s wife Blanca Iris Serrano burned documents in the apartment ' s bathroom . When the agents tried to climb the ladder to reach the building ' s second floor Filiberto opened fire against them injuring one of them , at this moment one of the snipers disarmed him with a bullet giving the other agents enough time to arrest him . Ojeda Ríos was released on bond after his attorneys successfully argued he had been denied a speedy trial , although the delay in bringing him to trial was largely the result of defense motions . On 23 September 1990 , the anniversary of the Grito de Lares , Ojeda Ríos cut off the electronic tag that had been placed on his ankle as a condition of his release , and became a fugitive . Fourteen of the 19 defendants were convicted after trial ; one was acquitted . Charges against another were dismissed . Three , including Ojeda and Victor Manuel Gerena , were able to elude authorities . In July 1992 Ojeda Ríos was sentenced in absentia to 55 years in prison and fined $ 600 , 000 for his role in the Wells Fargo heist . In 1998 Ojeda Ríos recorded a public statement where he accepted responsibility for an explosion on the construction site of a public project . In this statement he declared that the Macheteros were the authors of the incident , and that they accepted all responsibility for their actions . Ojeda expressed that they accepted responsibility for the explosion directly because in the past the police has supposedly created false evidence against the organization . On July 18 , 1998 , Ojeda Ríos admitted that the Macheteros planted bombs at several banks throughout the course of the 1998 Puerto Rican General Strike . The interview was broadcast on WKAQ - AM , a local radio station . Reporters conducting the interview declared they were blindfolded and transported to Ojeda Ríos ' hideout where the interview took place . Filiberto warned the United States Navy that if the military practices on the island of Vieques continued , the group would take action . This was made public on an interview with WIAC ( AM ) on 7 December 1999 . In the interview he declared that the Macheteros " were going to pay close attention to what happened in Vieques " and that the US government " knew they were serious " . Death . On September 23 , 2005 , Ojeda Ríos was surrounded in his home in the outskirts of the town of Hormigueros , Puerto Rico , by members of the FBI ' s San Juan field office and shot fatally . The FBI recounted the incident in a press release . According to this document , the FBI was performing surveillance of the area driven by reports that Ojeda had been spotted in the home . The FBI determined its surveillance team had been detected , and decided to proceed with serving an arrest warrant against Ojeda . As the agents approached the home , Ojeda opened fire . One agent was wounded . Filiberto ' s wife says that the " FBI entered the house shooting with no warning . " The FBI denies these accounts , stating Ojeda opened fire as agents approached . An investigation by the Office of the Inspector General concluded that " this daylight assault was extremely dangerous and not the best option available to the FBI . " According to Ojeda ' s wife , Elma Beatriz Rosado Barbosa , as well as neighbor Héctor Reyes , it was the FBI agents who initiated the shooting at 3 : 00 pm . The Office of the Inspector General report determined that an FBI agent detonated a non - lethal " flash bang " grenade outside the house as a diversionary tactic when the FBI approached the house , before any gunfire began , and Rosado may have thought this explosion was gunfire initiated by the FBI . The FBI press release , however , claims that " as the FBI agents approached the front of the farm house at approximately 4 : 28 p . m . , Ojeda - Rios opened the front door to the residence and opened fire on the FBI agents . In response to the gunfire from Ojeda - Rios , the FBI returned fire and established a defensive perimeter in order to contain the environment . " Rosado has alleged that Ojeda offered to turn himself in to journalist Jesús Dávila , but that his offer was rebuffed by the agents . The Office of the Inspector General report concluded that " although the FBI utilized a negotiator from its San Juan office during the standoff , the FBI did not comply with its own policies regarding the integration of negotiators into operations planning or the use of multiple negotiators . " The FBI did not enter the house until shortly after noon the next day , at which time the agents found Ojeda dead on the floor from a single bullet wound that had punctured his lung . A coroner ' s autopsy concluded that Ojeda bled to death over the course of several hours . The FBI was criticized for failing to notify Commonwealth of Puerto Rico officials in advance of the Ojeda arrest operation . The OIG report also found that the " FBI missed opportunities to provide accurate information to the public and to Commonwealth officials regarding the reasons for the delay in entering Ojeda ' s residence . " Politicians across party lines criticized the handling of this altercation . Among the aspects objected to are the very date of September 23 . On this date in 1868 , at the village of Lares , a group of Puerto Rican revolutionaries launched a rebellion called the Grito de Lares against the then - ruling Spanish colonial authorities . The anniversary of the uprising is commemorated every year by the independence movement . Ojeda Ríos was renowned for selecting anniversaries of the Grito de Lares to make statements to his followers from undisclosed hideouts . Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá criticized the FBI assault as " improper " and " highly irregular " and demanded to know why his government was not informed of it . The FBI refused to release information beyond the official press release , citing security and agent privacy issues . The Puerto Rico Justice Department filed suit in federal court against the FBI and the US Attorney General , demanding information crucial to the Commonwealth ' s own investigation of the incident . The case was dismissed by the U . S Supreme Court . Ojeda Rios funeral was attended by the highest authority of the Roman Catholic Church in Puerto Rico , Archbishop Roberto Octavio González Nieves , ex - Governor Rafael Hernández Colón , and numerous other dignitaries and personalities . In the aftermath of his death , the United Nations created a Draft Resolution urging a " probe of [ the ] pro - independence killing , human rights abuses " , after " Petitioner after petitioner condemned the assassination of Mr . Ojeda Rios by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) " .