[Ppnews] FBI arrests PR Independence Fighter

[Political Prisoner News]

http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B10725AC7-731D-4A7C-9EC8-86E1035C9475%7D)&language=EN

Antonio Camacho Negron
FBI Snags PR Independence Fighter

San Juan, Mar 29 (Prensa Latina) The Federal Bureau of Investigations 
(FBI) arrested the prominent Puerto Rican left-winger Antonio Camacho 
Negron, former leader of the Popular Army (EPB-Macheteros), confirmed 
Wednesday official sources.

The detention of Camacho Negron took place on Tuesday after his 
participation in a progressive activity at Puerto Rico University in 
the capital sector Rio Piedras.

FBI spokesperson in Puerto Rico Harry Rodriguez confirmed the veteran 
independence fighter remains jailed in Guaynabo Federal Prison in San Juan.

In an attempt to justify the detention, police authorities alleged 
that three days after his release, Camacho Negron violated parole 
regulations in 2004.

The prominent leftwing leader, sentenced for his alleged 
participation in the theft of 7.3 million dollars against Well Fargo 
enterprise in Connecticut, US in 1983, has never recognized the 
federal authorities.

That is why former President William Clinton did not include him 
among the Puerto Rican political prisoners he pardoned in 1999.



http://www.villagevoice.com/blogs/powerplays/archives/002547.php


P.R. Independence Figure Nabbed

By Jarrett Murphy | March 29, 2006

In the latest friction between federal agents and the 
<http://www.iacenter.org/puertorico/negron-101405.htm>Puerto Rican 
independence movement, the FBI busted a veteran militant in San Juan 
yesterday for allegedly violating the terms of his release from 
federal prison.

The timing of Antonio Camacho Negron's arrest makes independentistas 
suspicious, because it comes a few months after movement member 
<http://sanjuan.fbi.gov/pressrel/2005/sj092405.htm>Filiberto 
Ojeda-Rios was killed in a federal raid, and a few weeks after the 
feds served search warrants on several independence figures and 
<http://www.iacenter.org/puertorico/negron-101405.htm>clashed with 
onlookers and the media.

Negron's legal troubles date back to the 1983 Wells Fargo robbery in 
Connecticut.

He was sentenced to 15 years for his role in the heist, but was 
released early for good behavior in 1998. According to press 
accounts, he was jailed again later that year for violating his 
parole by associating with other members of the movement. He refused 
the <http://www.jonathanpollard.org/1999/081299a.htm>clemency offers 
that President Clinton made to several imprisoned independence 
figures in 1999, and was released again in 2002.

FBI Agent Harry Rodriguez, spokesman for the bureau's office in 
Puerto Rico, tells the Voice that after that release, Negron failed 
to register with the local parole office; he was re-arrested in April 
2003 and jailed for another 16 months. Freed from federal prison for 
the third time on August 17, 2004, he allegedly failed once again to 
register with his local parole office. A warrant was issued three 
days later and Negron's been a fugitive since.

Back in October, in the immediate aftermath of the Ojeda-Rios raid, 
rumors that Negron's 
<http://www.iacenter.org/puertorico/negron-101405.htm>arrest was 
imminent roiled the independence movement, which believes that the 
recent events are part of a crackdown. At the time, Negron issued a 
<http://www.wbai.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=7224&Itemid=2>statement 
saying, "I feel that the FBI will make an attempt on my life and 
justify it with the fabricated lies in pursuit of the information I 
have shared with various elements of the Puerto Rican media, as well 
as to quell the revolutionary spirit that has been activated by 
Filiberto's death." Many Puerto Rican independence activists reject 
the conditions of their release from U.S. custody because they do not 
recognize the authority of the federal government over the island.

The recent events in Puerto Rico are the subjects of 
<http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ny16_serrano/060303FBIresponse.html>FBI 
internal investigations and an inquiry by some members of Congress.

Rodriguez says he does not know why Negron was pinched at this 
particular time, given that the warrant on him is more than 18 months 
old. The feds nabbed him as he exited his car.

As a parole violator at large, Negron's capture would have been the 
responsibility of the U.S. Marshals Service.

As a parole violator in custody, Negron won't see a judge but will 
instead have a hearing before parole commissioners. He is currently 
being held in Guaynabo, P.R., awaiting that hearing.


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