At least one FBI agent and Ojeda's wife, Beatriz Rosado Barbosa, were wounded and hospitalized following an earlier exchange of gunfire.

The confrontation seemed to be a restaging of the events of August 30, 1985, when over 400 federal agents descended on the homes of 15 pro-independence leaders, including Ojeda, allegedly to arrest them in connection with the legendary 1983 heist of $7.2 million from a Wells Fargo truck in Hartford, Connecticut. Ojeda exchanged gunfire with federal agents then, as well, claiming self-defense from a premeditated murder attempt. Three months later, he was acquitted on charges of resisting arrest by a Puerto Rican jury.

Soon thereafter, he returned underground and in 1992 was tried in absentia and convicted on charges of aggravated robbery and conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce. He has remained on the FBI's Most Wanted list ever since.

In addition to the Wells Fargo heist, the EPB-Macheteros became well known for the 1981 bombing of 11 National Guard planes at Muñiz Air Base destined for use against popular insurgents in El Salvador. The EPB-Macheteros and Ojeda himself have kept a low profile in recent years, occasionally releasing public statements to be read at patriotic events such as the celebration of the Grito de Lares, Puerto Rico's uprising against Spanish colonialism on September 23, 1868 in the town of Lares.

In 1898, the Spanish crown transferred rule over Puerto Rico to the United States as a result of the so-called Spanish-American War. Puerto Rico has remained a colonial possession of the US ever since.

The facts as well as the timing of the raid, which coincides with the 137th anniversary of the Grito de Lares, and the secrecy surrounding the events seem to corroborate the long-held belief that federal authorities have always been out to eliminate Ojeda. At the time of this writing, the site remains sealed off by the FBI, which is not allowing Ojeda's lawyers or family members access.

Popular outrage and indignation at what seems to amount to nothing less than the cold-blooded assassination of someone who is considered a true patriot by all Puerto Ricans, regardless of political affiliation, has not hesitated to make itself felt. As of right now, one of San Juan's main avenues remains completely blocked by spontaneous demonstrations.

What could well be a twenty-first century lynching, calculated to humiliate all Puerto Ricans in the wake of the popular victory against the U.S. Navy in Vieques, at a time when colonialism in Puerto Rico is undergoing a severe structural crisis will not go unanswered. We call on all Puerto Ricans, all progressive peoples, and their allies and friends to denounce this apparent atrocity of the racist and warmongering US government, and heed it as a wake-up call to demand genuine self-determination for the Puerto Rican people once and for all.

¡Filiberto... Presente!

Socialist Front of Puerto Rico, New York Commitee