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The Boricua Popular/People's Army - or ''Ejército Popular Boricua'' in Spanish - is a clandestine organization based in Puerto Rico, with cells in the U.S. mainland.〔 It campaigns for, and supports, the independence of Puerto Rico from the United States. In 2001, FBI Director Louis J. Freeh linked the group to acts of terrorism, but some authors, including Ronald Fernandez, view such labeling as political convenience by the United States Government, intended to "shift the blame for any attacks on U.S. policy or personnel from us to them".〔(''The Disenchanted Island: Puerto Rico and the United States in the Twentieth Century'', by Ronald Fernandez. Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT. Page 247. ISBN 0-275-95226-6 and 0-275-95227-4. Retrieved August 3, 2009. )〕 Also known as ''Los Macheteros'' ("The Machete Wielders") and the Puerto Rican Popular Army, their active membership was calculated in 2006 by professor Michael González Cruz, in his book ''Nacionalismo Revolucionario Puertorriqueño,'' to consist of approximately 5,700 members with an additional unknown number of supporters, sympathizers, collaborators and informants throughout the U.S. and other countries. A report by ''The Economist'' placed the number of active members at 1,100, excluding supporters.〔 〕 The group claimed responsibility for the 1978 bombing of a small power station in the San Juan area, the 1979 retaliation attacks against the United States armed forces personnel, the 1981 attacks on Puerto Rico Air National Guard aircraft, and a 1983 Wells Fargo bank robbery. Boricua Popular Army was led primarily by former FBI fugitive Filiberto Ojeda Ríos until his killing by the FBI in 2005. Ojeda Rios's killing was termed "an illegal killing" by the Government of Puerto Rico's ''Comision de Derechos Civiles'' (Civil Rights Commission) after a 7-year investigation and a 227-page report issued on 22 September 2011.〔(''Informe Final sobre la Investigacion de los Sucesos occ=urridos en el Municipio de Hormigueros el 23 de septiembre de 2005 donde resulto muerto el ciudadano Filiberto Ojeda Rios.'' ) Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Comision de Derechos Civiles. 31 March 2011. Revised 22 September 2011. p140.〕〔(''"Muerte ilegal" la de Filiberto Ojeda.'' ) Noticel. 2 February 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2014.〕 == History == The name ''Machetero'' evokes images of an impromptu band of Puerto Ricans who assembled to defend the island of Puerto Rico from the invading forces of the United States Army during the Spanish–American War, between July 26 and August 12, 1898. ''Macheteros de Puerto Rico'' were dispatched throughout the island, working in cooperation with other voluntary groups including the ''Guardias de la Paz'' in Yauco and ''Tiradores de Altura'' in San Juan. These voluntary units were involved in most of the battles in the Puerto Rican Campaign. Their last involvement was in the ''Battle of Asomante'', where along units led by Captain Hernaíz, defended Aibonito Pass from invading units. The allied offensive was effective, prompting a retreat order from the American side.〔 However, the following morning the signing of the Treaty of Paris was made public. Subsequently, both Spanish and Puerto Rican soldiers and volunteers disengaged and Puerto Rico was annexed by the United States. The Boricua Popular Army was organized in the 1970s by Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, Juan Enrique Segarra-Palmer and Orlando González Claudio. The group began its operations in 1976, however 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 some of the members of the University Pro-Independence Federation of Puerto Rico (FUPI) and the Pro-Independence Movement.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Boricua Popular Army」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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