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wanted to win Puerto Rico’s independence from the a member of the May 19 Communist Organization, a
United States and to end “Yankee imperialism” in the clandestine militant group who often provided support
Caribbean. The FALN, along with other Puerto Rican for anti-imperialist causes, such as the FALN and the
militant nationalist groups, quickly became the Black Liberation Army.
second most important focus of the FBI’s Cointelpro In September 1979, the FALN announced that it
division, which was created to investigate and infil- would join forces with the Macheteros and other
trate leftist groups. smaller nationalist groups in Puerto Rico. On October
Unlike other Puerto Rican nationalist groups, such 17, 1979, in coordinated attacks, Macheteros bombs
as the Macheteros, the FALN focused on urban areas went off in Puerto Rico, while FALN bombs struck in
in the continental United States. In a communiqué on Chicago and New York.
October 26, 1974, the group took credit for firebombs FALN activities continued into the 1980s, with
at five New York banks, as well as the bombings of attacks on military recruiting offices in Chicago and the
the Newark, New Jersey, police headquarters and city armed occupation of the Carter-Mondale and Bush-
hall. Within a month, the group planted a bomb in the Quayle presidential campaign offices in Chicago in
Bronx; when that bomb exploded, one police officer 1980. Eleven FALN members were arrested in April
lost an eye. These early FALN attacks were typical— 1980 in Evanston, Illinois. These individuals, including
aimed at government and corporate offices and the Carlos Alberto Torres, were charged with bombing and
police, with few civilian casualties conspiracy to bomb 28 government, military, and cor-
On January 11, 1975, a bomb went off in a restau- porate offices in the Chicago area; another member,
rant in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, injuring 10 and killing Haydee Beltran Torres, was arrested in connection with
two young activists and a 6-year-old child. The FALN the 1977 bombing of the Mobil Oil office in New York.
quickly blamed the CIA for the attack. Two weeks On December 10, 1980, the 12 FALN members
later, on January 24, 1975, FALN members bombed were additionally indicted for “seditious conspiracy”
the Fraunces Tavern, a historic bar and restaurant near and on 12 other charges. The prisoners, challenging
Wall Street in lower Manhattan, killing four and injur- the validity of the U.S. court system, refused to enter
ing more than 50. The group claimed responsibility in pleas; nevertheless, all were found guilty.
a note left in a nearby telephone booth. No one has One prisoner, Alfredo Mendez, cooperated with the
ever been tried for the crime, the bloodiest and most investigators in hopes of lessening his sentence. The
infamous attack ever carried out by the FALN. The information he supplied led to the capture, in May
FALN is also the major suspect in the 1975 bombing 1981, of Oscar Lopez Rivera, a suspected leader of the
of the TWA terminal at La Guardia Airport in which FALN. Lopez was charged with seditious conspiracy
11 people were killed. and armed robbery, found guilty in July 1981, and
Over the next three years, the group set off bombs sentenced to 55 years. In 1988, he was charged with
in the Chicago Loop area, a Chicago Merchandise attempting to escape and given an additional 15 years.
Mart, the FBI’s Manhattan headquarters, the New York Two former members of Weatherman, Claude Banks
Public Library, and a Mobil Oil employment office, and Donna Wilmott, were arrested in connection with
as well as several pipe bombs at corporate head- this attempted escape—a testament to the enduring
quarters throughout New York City and firebombs at links between the remaining radical organizations in
New York’s major airports. the 1980s.
In 1978, an explosion in Queens, New York, led Although FALN members conducted a few more
police to Willie Morales, a suspected FALN leader. attacks in the 1980s, including the 1982 New Year’s
Morales was making a bomb that accidentally deto- Eve bombings at police and federal buildings in
nated; he lost most of his fingers. He was arrested soon New York City, the organization began to buckle from
after for possession of explosive devices and jailed on the effects of lost leadership. In June 1983, three more
Riker’s Island. His lawyer, Susan Tipograph, pressed FALN members—Alejandrina Torres, Edwin Cortes,
to have him transferred to the prison ward at Bellevue and Alberto Rodriguez—were arrested. All three were
Hospital in Manhattan. Once there, he escaped from a also members of the National Committee to Free
window, allegedly sliding down a rope of bandages Puerto Rican Prisoners of War (founded to support the
with his maimed hands. Tipograph, a major suspect as prisoners arrested in 1980). Torres, Cortes, and
she was the last to visit Morales before his escape, was Rodriguez were each accused of conspiring to free