It seems that the FBI & ATF conducted a raid the other day and the person in question was shot and killed. It has to do with a bank robbery in Conn. 15 or so years ago.
This was a PR national that apparently became an Icon to young folks.
Todays San Juan Star (the only english paper) has let the word out.
"Kill the Yankees" is the headline. They seem to forget that this guy was wanted by the FBI for years. They also forget that there is more Puerto Ricans living on the mainland of the US than in PR.
Hence, Norte Americano's are hunkering down. We will be online but we will probably not monitor this forum as much as we would like.
All of my trades are completed and mailed. There are a few requests but that can wait.
We hear that there are riots in San Juan at the government buildings and they are stopping buses that get near and asking for ID.
So, I will pop in and out. Those that wish to trade hold on for a few days.
You guys probably will know more than we do.
By no means am I going away.
Knotimpaired will be iffy for a while
Hang in there Karen, we'll be here when you get back.
:-)
Ack! Karen, be careful, please! I'll see if I can find any info from here and will be praying for you.
Leslie
Hope everything calms down for you and hope you stay safe.
Oh my, stay safe and inside. I hadn't heard any of this. I will try to follow how you are all doing.
Man that's scary! Stay safe Karen.
Karen, just take care of you and yours and any trades will wait with no complaints. Much rather have to wait on a trade than wonder when someone I know and care about will be on the news.
Kell,
Just do a google on "fugitive Puerto Rico".
But to be honest we are doing fine and there are promises that the political faction that is doing the protests are only about 15,000 strong island wide (Puerto Rico, not Vieques). That is good news because most are protesting in San Juan.
Our Port Authority has guards at the ferry terminal in Fajardo ID'ing everyone and asking for Vieques ID cards. These are resident cards the government gives us to allow us to bump in line for Drs. appts, government offices, etc. It recognizes that we have traveled quite a distance and when presented they respect that. It gets us in and out quick.
So the security at the port is asking for these cards in order to board the ferry to come over. I have no clue what they are asking from tourists.
Vieques has a very small anti-american community led by of all people a Boston born and raised college professor that decided to ditch his wife and kids about 25 years ago. Go figure.
Hubby and I decided that we will probably stay mostly at home with the exception of going to the PO for the next week or so. We have decided to have a cookout for our expat friends on sunday. We have a 17 lb turkey in the freezer that we are going to cook on the grill.
It is our own way of saying we belong here as much as anyone else. :))
stay safe, you are in our thoughts daily. debi
I received this email from a fellow weather correspondent (www.stormcarib.com) this morning.
Karen:
Yes, some protests have taken place, but nothing to worry about. At the
University of Puerto Rico's main campus, at Rio Piedras, some students ( a
minority) destroyed some windows, spread graffitti, and took down the U.S.
flag. This is nothing new there, I completed my first B.A. there and got
used to it. Always a minority, luckily nobody got hurt. Just like that, in
the rest of the island protests are made and people make many comments, such
as "Kill the Yankees", but that's as far as it goes.
So, Karen, please enjoy your days in PR, do not lock yourself like a hermit,
but just in case, always keep an eye out for anything strange that takes
place in your surroundings. My advise: stick to the SJ Star, to me it is the
most objective news paper in the island. To me, the other newspapers tend to
be sensationalists and print anything, you know what they say... news sell.
So, have a nice time, take care of yourself and loved ones, and we'll get in
contact later on.
Yours,
Alex
So the good news is that there is someone on PR that is letting us know what is happening. That and todays weather. It is a "chamber of commerce" day down here.
Wow!! Unbelievable!! Hope you will be ok--this doens't sound good at all. I guess I should hold onto the ears for you for a while--from our trade?? Just let me know what you want me to do and I'll do it. Thanks for letting us know about this occurence!! Bonnie
This afternoons NY Times...
Nationalist's Killing Prompts Tightening of Security in Puerto Rico
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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 29, 2005
SAN JUAN, P.R., Sept. 28 (AP) - The killing of a fugitive Puerto Rican nationalist in a shootout with the F.B.I. has sparked "rancor and rage" and prompted an increase in security at police stations and federal buildings, Puerto Rico's police chief said Wednesday.
It is too early to know if the killing of the man, Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, will spark a resurgence of pro-independence violence seen in this United States commonwealth from the 1970's to the 90's, but officials said they were not taking chances.
"You always take precautions when there are threats, but until now we haven't received any specific information about planned acts of violence," the police chief, Pedro Toledo, said.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York, canceled a planned visit to Puerto Rico, where she was to speak Friday, Philippe Reines, a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton, said. There was no response to phone calls and e-mail messages to Mr. Reines with further queries on why Mrs. Clinton changed her plans.
Ernesto Córdova, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, said he was told by Mrs. Clinton's office that the trip was postponed because of the "sensitivity of the current political situation."
Thousands of mourners turned out Tuesday for Mr. Ojeda Ríos's funeral, four days after he was shot to death by F.B.I. agents who came to arrest him at his farmhouse in southwestern Puerto Rico for the 1983 armed robbery of a Wells Fargo depot in Connecticut.
The militant nationalist group led by Ojeda Ríos, the Macheteros, or Cane Cutters, vowed to avenge his death in a statement read to mourners by the funeral's master of ceremonies.
"Yankees murderers, your days are numbered! ... The fight will continue now and until the Yankees leave our soil," read the letter, which was signed by a Commander Guasabara "from somewhere on the island."
The F.B.I. said agents shot Mr. Ojeda Ríos, 72, after he opened fire them, but it later announced an independent inquiry into the shooting after local officials questioned the bureau's handling of the incident and after Mr. Ojeda Ríos's widow, who escaped from the farmhouse unharmed, said the F.B.I. fired first.
The shooting sparked isolated street demonstrations in which some protesters burned American flags and defaced two McDonald's restaurants with graffiti.
The backlash against the United States government is the largest since an errant bomb killed a civilian guard on the island of Vieques in 1999. That incident sparked several years of protests, eventually prompting the Navy to abandon bombing exercises there in 2003.
Chief Toledo acknowledged that Mr. Ojeda Ríos's death has generated "a lot of rancor and rage" but he strongly rejected the idea that ordinary citizens would support acts of violence in favor of Puerto Rican independence.
"There can be repudiation over what happened, but acts of violence, the people won't accept that," Chief Toledo said.
Nevertheless, the authorities have increased security at United States government buildings, said José A. Fuste, the president of Puerto Rico's Federal District Court, told El Nuevo Día newspaper.
Most of Puerto Rico's four million residents either support its status as a commonwealth or want statehood.
The Macheteros have been linked to several violent acts from 1978 to 1998, the most notorious of which was the 1983 robbery of $7.2 million of the Well Fargo depot in West Hartford. The group was also accused of blowing up nine airplanes at an American military base in northern Puerto Rico in 1981.