Solidarity messages pour in for slain independence leader

A thousand people marched to the home of slain Puerto Rican independence leader Filiberto Ojeda Ríos in the town of Hormigueros on Oct. 8, chanting "FBI, assassins" and "Filiberto Ojeda Ríos lives."

Filiberto Ojeda Ríos

Some 20 organizations participated, including Friends of the Sea, the Hostos National Independence Movement, the Puerto Rican Independence Party, the Pro-Independence University Federation, the Socialist Front, Mothers Against the War and others.

Since Sept. 23, when FBI agents shot and killed Ojeda Ríos, messages of solidarity have been arriving from all over the world denouncing his death as a political assassination and pledging support for the Puerto Rican independence struggle.

Venezuela denounces murder

Venezuela's UN Mission said it "strongly denounces and condemns the assassination carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States of America against the eminent independence leader Filiberto Ojeda Ríos...."

In Caracas, the Venezuelan Parliament approved a resolution of "solidarity to the family, to the independence movement and to the Puerto Rican people in general."

The World North-South Jubilee Meeting being held in Cuba—representing 60 organizations from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, North, Central and South America—adopted a resolution "energetically condemn[ing] the vile assassination of pro-independence leader Filiberto Ojeda Ríos."

The Organization of Solidarity of the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America condemned the killing by the FBI as "state terrorism." It also condemned U.S. colonial rule over Puerto Rico as a violation of the resolutions of the Decolonization Committee of the United Nations upholding the right to self-determination and independence of the Puerto Rican people.

Summarizing the heroic life of Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, OSPAAAL said: "Death is not real when one has carried out successfully the work of one's life."

Latin America and the Middle East

A joint statement from revolutionary organizations in Latin America and the Middle East said: "We repudiate your vile assassination, and are united and committed, now more than ever, to the cause of independence; we express our indignation for this fallen but not defeated revolutionary, now transformed into a flag of anti-imperialist Unity and Rebellion."

It was issued by the Argentinian Communist Party, Casa Memorial Salvador Allende, the Chilean Communist Party, the Colombian National Liberation Army (ELN), the Colombian Communist Party, the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC-EP), the Communist Party of Sudan, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Dominican Workers Revolutionary Party, the Movement of the Revolutionary Left of Chile (MIR), the National Liberation Front Farabundo Martí of El Salvador, the Nicaraguan Sandinista National Liberation Front, the Patriotic Front Manuel Rodríguez of Chile, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Revolutionary Unity of Guatemala (UNRG).

Messages condemning the U.S. action came from across a broad political spectrum, including the Executive Secretary of the Sao Paulo Forum, the Party of Democratic Revolution of Mexico, and the Association of State Workers in Rosario, Argentina.

Supporters of the Hawaiian Sovereignty movement saw it "as an attack on all peoples who seek self-determination and other human rights, including women, people of color, indigenous peoples, the working classes, and LGBTI communities."

The American Indian Movement of Florida, the Jericho Movement in the U.S., the Mexican National Liberation Movement, and three Peruvian groups—the Left Socialist Militant Force, the Hands Off Venezuela International Campaign and the Peruvian Support Committee of the Bolivian Revolution—all sent messages.

The International Action Center's office in New York called on "all progressive individuals and organizations in the United States to raise our voices in condemnation of this latest U.S. crime and to stand in solidarity with the Puerto Rican people. We must put an end to U.S. terrorism, and prevent another witch hunt against the Puerto Rican progressive movement."

Special thanks to the pro-independence newspaper Claridad and to the Socialist Front for providing many of the above-mentioned solidarity messages.