Familia
Please forgive the repeat e mails. Due to the many requests for the original article, and the Spanish El Diario OpEd I am forwarding everything together. The English version of the Op Ed is as it was before editing in order to accommodate space considerations. Consequently is somewhat more elaborate
Gracias
By Vicente “Panama”Alba
A story that ran on Sunday March 21st in the New York Daily News made me laugh. It was the story of a Miguel Rodriguez who claims to be victimized by airport security because of his “heroic” work fighting terrorism, specifically Puerto Rican terrorism. The irony of the date in which it ran did not escape those who like me know that March 21st is the anniversary of the Ponce massacre in 1937, a dark day in Puerto Rico’s colonial history.
When I get done writing this I will head to one of the monthly vigils held throughout the island celebrating the life and the example of 72 year old Filiberto Ojeda Rios, Puerto Rico’s most influential Independence leader of the lat 50 years, assassinated by an FBI sharp shooter on September 23, 2005. Tomorrow when I rise, I will head to the cemetery in Old San Juan. I’ll join those who will go to pay respect and once again demand justice for Santiago Mari Pesquera, the 24 year old son of Pro Independence leader Juan Mari Bras who was murdered as a message to his father by right wing Cubans..
The government sponsored terrorism faced by Puerto Rican people who dream of Independence does only very rarely, and under very dramatic conditions get any coverage in the English press. One of those very rare times was on October 25, 1977 when a total of 32 people carried out the takeover of the Statue of liberty demanding the Independence of Puerto Rico and the Freedom of Loita Lebron, Oscar Collaso, Irvin Flores, Andres Figueroa Cordero and Rafael Cancel Miranda. Esta acción se llevó a cabo como parte de una campaña, que efectivamente obtuvo sus excarcelaciones
This action was carried out as part of an effective campaign that resulted in their freedom. 28 were arrested, undercover cop Miguel Rodriguez being one. In the article Rodriguez claims “he participated in planning sessions for bombings and the spectacular takeover of the Statue of Libertyâ€. Miguel was nowhere near the planning of the takeover. I know. I was one of only three people who knew about it until it was actually carried out. We planned it. The late Richie Perez and my compai Mickey Melendez were the other two. We already suspected Miguel and his buddy Fred Mendez. Our instincts proved to be right.
I could not get arrested that day. I was already on bail, thanks to Miguel and his other undercover buddies. Just months earlier I escaped with my life from a police raid on my home in the Bronx. My spare bedroom was the office and storage for the N.Y. Committee to Free the Puerto Rican Nationalists. We distributed information about the colonial situation of Puerto Rico and about the longest held Political Prisoners at that time, the Nationalists. I was accused of “Terrorismâ€. I spent 6 months in jail and 5 years on bail before getting a trial. I was acquitted in 45 minutes by a jury. No one else was ever prosecuted for any “crimes†because of Miguel’s great undercover police work
We also get stopped in airports. Over 30 years later I’m still being treated as a terrorist. There is something very selective about what is called terrorism, democracy, freedom and free speech. Miguel, there is also poetic justice.
Aclarando el ‘terrorismo’ en Puerto Rico
Vicente ‘Panama’ Alba / activista veterano de Nueva York. |2010-03-28| El Diario NY
El periódico New York Daily News, me hizo reÃr con un artÃculo que publicó el domingo pasado. Trataba sobre la historia de Miguel RodrÃguez quien alega haber sido victimizado por los oficiales de seguridad en un aeropuerto debido a su lucha “heroica†en contra del terrorismo, especÃficamente, el “terrorismo†puertorriqueño. Lo irónico es el dÃa en que se publicó el artÃculo: el 21 de marzo, aniversario del DÃa de la Masacre de Ponce, ocurrido en 1937, un dÃa oscuro en la historia colonial de Puerto Rico.
Es rara la ocasión en que los medios estadounidenses cubren el terrorismo ––apoyado por el gobierno federal–– que enfrentan los puertorriqueños que sueñan con la independencia. Por eso, los grupos independentistas puertorriqueños tienen que luchar para ser escuchados.
Un momento en esta lucha ocurrió el 25 de octubre de 1977, cuando 32 personas del Comité de Nueva York Pro Libertad de Los Presos Nacionalistas Puertorriqueños tomamos la Estatua de la Libertad exigiendo la independencia de Puerto Rico y la libertad de Lolita Lebrón, Oscar Collazo, Irvin Flores, Andrés Figueroa Cordero y Rafael Cancel Miranda.
Esta acción se llevó a cabo como parte de una campaña, que efectivamente obtuvo sus excarcelaciones. Veintiocho personas fueron arrestadas, incluyendo al policÃa encubierto y objeto del artÃculo del New York Daily News, Miguel RodrÃguez.
En el artÃculo, RodrÃguez dice que él participó en reuniones para planificar bombardeos, intervino tambien en la toma espectacular de la Estatua de la Libertad, donde enganchamos la bandera puertorriqueña a la corona de la estatua. Pero Miguel RodrÃguez no estuvo en ninguna de las reuniones del Comité; lo sé, pues yo fui una de las tres personas que sabÃa lo que se harÃa. El difunto Richie Pérez, mi “compay†Mickey Meléndez y yo fuimos quienes lo planificamos. Nosotros ya sospechábamos de Miguel y su compañero Fred Méndez. Nuestros instintos no fallaron.
No me arrestaron aquel dÃa. Ya yo estaba bajo fianza, gracias a Miguel y sus otros amigos encubiertos. Apenas unos meses antes, habÃa escapado con mi vida de una redada de la policÃa en mi casa en El Bronx.
TenÃa un cuarto vacÃo que servÃa de oficina y almacén para el Comité de Nueva York para Liberar a los Presos Nacionalistas Puertorriqueños. DistribuÃamos la información sobre la situación colonial de Puerto Rico y sobre los prisioneros polÃticos encarcelados por mayor tiempo hasta entonces, los nacionalistas puertorriqueños.
Fui acusado de terrorismo. Pasé seis meses en una cárcel y cinco años bajo fianza antes de ir a juicio. El jurado tardó solo 45 minutos en absolverme. Nadie más fue enjuiciado por “crÃmenes†gracias al maravilloso trabajo encubierto de Miguel el policÃa.
A nosotros también nos detienen en los aeropuertos. Por los últimos 30 años todavÃa soy tratado como terrorista. El terrorismo, la democracia, la libertad y la libertad de expresión son muy particulares. Pero, Miguel, también existe la justicia poética.
Former NYPD cop Miguel Rodriguez flagged as terrorist after arrest during undercover role in 1977
BY John Marzulli
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, March 21st 2010, 4:00 AM
DelMundo for News
Former NYPD cop Miguel Rodriguez was arrested in 1977 after going undercover as part of a crime sting. His conviction was supposed to be purged, but it never was. The black-and-white mug shot shows a young man with tousled hair and a wispy beard, staring into the camera with steely eyes. It was 1977 and Miguel Rodriguez had just busted a pane of glass in the Statue of Liberty’s crown and hung out a Puerto Rican flag during a nine-hour siege staged by associates of the FALN terrorist group.
Like the others, he was arrested. At that moment, only a handful of NYPD officials knew Rodriguez was really an undercover cop who had penetrated the group. Fast-forward more than three decades since his heroic and dangerous assignment and Rodriguez is facing a new threat: U.S. Homeland Security thinks he’s a terrorist.
Rodriguez, who retired from the NYPD as a sergeant in 1994, has been detained twice in the past month at area airports because of his old arrest and conviction. His name brings up a red flag to airport screeners: “Warning, approach with caution. … Individual identified as possibly being tied with terrorists.” He was held for hours and missed several flights while cops checked out his background – a process that Rodriguez said left him “disheartened, shocked.”
“I was devastated that I was treated like a criminal,” the 63-year-old told the Daily News. “A bomber could get on a plane with bombs in his underwear and not me,” he said. “I don’t consider myself a hero, but I’m not a terrorist. I just want to be able to go someplace and not be treated like a terrorist.”
A native of Puerto Rico, Rodriguez served in combat in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967. He joined the NYPD in 1973, and was immediately sent to the cloak-and-dagger Bureau of Special Services and Investigations as an undercover targeting Puerto Rican terror groups. He said he used his real name on the street, but the NYPD payroll carried him as “Officer John Chase” and paid his salary in cash. Rodriguez gained the trust of radicals hanging out in an East New York bookstore and traveled to Chicago and Puerto Rico with his comrades.
He participated in planning sessions for bombings and the spectacular takeover of the Statue of Liberty, passing top secret intelligence to his handlers. He was still undercover when he was convicted of trespassing. The NYPD told him it would be purged, but it apparently never was. Rodriguez used to be able to fly without a problem, but Homeland Security software has apparently been updated since his last uneventful trip in 2004.
Because he still works in law enforcement – he asked that his employer not be identified for security reasons – Rodriguez was able to make some phone calls to get him out of his recent airport jams. Last week, he went to police headquarters for help. He got the brush-off from a sergeant in Commissioner Raymond Kelly’s office who, he says, told him to write a letter – and a book about his career. Rodriguez said he has faith that Kelly – “from one Marine to another” – will find a solution. Told of the ex-cop’s plight by the Daily News, the top cop pledged to help. “Commissioner Kelly will make it his business to straighten this out,” said police spokesman Paul Browne.
jmarzulli@nydailynews.com
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/03/21/2010-03-21_terror_errors_stop_hero_cop.html#ixzz0irhyMM7h
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