Protests have been announced in New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, California and Puerto Rico against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over subpoenas issued to activists in a grand jury investigation of the Boricua Popular Army–Macheteros. The protests will be held Jan. 10 in Puerto Rico, and the following day in cities across the United States, calling for non-collaboration with the grand jury.

The announcement was made in a San Juan press conference held by several Puerto Rican independence organizations and Elma Beatriz Rosado Barbosa—the widow of the slain Macheteros commander Filiberto Ojeda. She called the Macheteros "a legitimate organization," while suggesting the FBI "should start thinking about leaving Puerto Rico." Rosado Barbosa denounced the FBI's so-called "2004-09 Strategic Plan," which she said aims to exploit a supposed crackdown on armed organizations such as the Macheteros to attack the entire independence movement.

Representing Puerto Rican communities in the United States was Vicente Alba of New York, who said protests will be held Jan. 11, when three local Puerto Rican activists are supposed to appear before a grand jury, at Brooklyn's Cadman Plaza. Simultaneous protests will be held in Chicago, Cleveland, Orlando, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Also participating in the press conference were representatives of the National Hostosiano Independence Movement, the Socialist Front, the Socialist Movement of Workers, the Caribbean and Latin American Solidarity Coordinator and other organizations. (El Diario-La Prensa, NY, via NACLA News, Jan. 8)

See our last post on Puerto Rico.