[NYTr] Puerto Rico: Assassins on the Loose
 
Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2007 20:53:27 -0500 (CDT)

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
Granma Daily - 7 July, 2007
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/english/news/art12.html

Puerto Rico: Assassins on the Loose

Interview with Elma Beatriz Rosado, partner of Puerto Rican
independence activist Filiberto Ojeda, murdered by FBI agents

By ARSENIO RODRIGUEZ

The crime was premeditated and with malice. Dozens of FBI agents
assaulted the house where independence activist Filiberto Ojeda was.
They had no intention of arresting him, only, simply, to kill him.

ELMA BEATRIZ CONTINUES IN THE STRUGGLE FOR THE INDEPENDENCE OF HER
COUNTRY, A CAUSE FOR WHICH HER PARTNER WAS MURDERED.

His partner, Elma Beatriz Rosado, recently visited Cuba along with a
group of young Puerto Ricans, who paid tribute at the plaque that
recognizes their dedication to the struggle for Puerto Rican
independence at the Jose Marti Anti-Imperialist Plaza.

Witness to the terrible murder in September 2005, Elma recalls her last
moments alongside Filiberto:

"It was very painful, because Filiberto had said I should leave. He
told me that with the harassment of the FBI agents I should tell his
comrades to continue forward, always forward. That was the message for
his comrades in struggle. Never abandon the path, and to always
struggle onward."

It was clear that the Puerto Rican patriot bled to death inside a house
in the municipality of Hormigueros, in his beloved San Juan. Hector
Pesquera, a local doctor and also an independence leader, took part in
the autopsy on Ojeda. He told EFE news agency, "in the opinion of the
pathologists he did not die instantly."

"They let him bleed to death, it wasnbt a bullet wound to kill him
instantly. In my opinion, he remained wounded a long time and didnbt
receive the treatment that could have saved his life," said Rosado.

"Filiberto was a person with an incredible heart. With a look of light
in his eyes, an eternal smile, with an incredible spirit. He charged
anybodies batteries. Contact with him was always energizing." Thatbs
how his widow remembers him.

"He knew he wasnbt going to see independence. His message was that he
was going to dedicate himself to building a future with his comrades in
struggle, so the youth could build on that solid base.

"He always said that. Ibm not going to see the independence; the fruit
of the victory, of our revolution, will be seen by my children, my
grandchildren. He was always very modest, never seeking personal
recognition. His greatest sorrow in life was being far from his family,
when he was underground."

Cuba and Filiberto Ojeda?

"Everyone talks to me here about Filiberto. He belonged to the July 26
Movement. Filiberto entered the independence struggle via the Cuban
revolution, which he profoundly admired. He lived here in the 60s; he
was the deputy representative of the Puerto Rican Mission and always
had Cuba in his heart."

"MY CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN WILL SEE THE TRIUMPH OF OUR REVOLUTION."

"Puerto Ricans have a long independence tradition, since the time of
[Simon] Bolivar. We have participated in the struggles of many Latin
American countries," said Rosado when asked about the process taking
place in Venezuela.

Whatbs your opinion about the current situation in the region?

"I believe that in the current situation, when such favorable changes
are taking place, it is necessary that the case of Puerto Rico be known.

"This is the time. We have to open peoplebs eyes, especially those of
Puerto Ricans, so they are aware that the FBI is in our country, in our
schools alongside our children.

"They are assassins on the loose. I ask why there are United States
courts in Puerto Rico. We need to be free. At this time, with winds of
freedom blowing, hopefully they will arrive in Puerto Rico, engulf us
and take us to freedom."
       
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