The Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (English: ''Armed Forces of National Liberation'', FALN) was a Puerto Rican clandestine

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

organization that, through direct action, advocated independence for Puerto Rico. It carried out more than 130 bomb attacks in the United States between 1974 and 1983, including a 1975 bombing of the Fraunces Tavern in New York City that killed four people. The FALN served as the predecessor of the Boricua Popular Army. Several of the organization's members were arrested and convicted for seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to commit robbery and for firearms and explosives violations. On August 11, 1999 United States President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

offered clemency to sixteen of the convicted militants under the condition that they renounce any kind of violent manifestation. This decision drew criticism towards the Clinton administration from figures including the Office of the United States Attorney, the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

, and the

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Philosophy

The group was a 1970s Marxist–Leninist militant group which fought to transform Puerto Rico into a socialist-communist form of government.

History

The Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional was founded in the 1960s. It was one of several organizations established during that decade that promoted "clandestine armed struggles" against the United States government that the movement described as the "colonial forces of the United States". The group was founded following decades of persecution by the FBI, including illegal imprisonments and assassination against members of the

Puerto Rican independence movement Throughout the history of Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans, its inhabitants have initiated several movements to gain independence for the Geography of Puerto Rico, island, first from the Spanish Empire until 1898 and since then from the United States. ...

. The group was part of a movement that included other clandestine organizations, including the ''Movimiento Independentista Revolucionario Armado'', ''Organización de Voluntarios por la Revolución Puertorriqueña'' and ''Los Comandos Armados de Liberación'', and served as predecessor for what would become the Boricua Popular Army. The organization's intention was to draw attention to what they described as the "colonial condition" of Puerto Rico through armed action against the

United States government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

and

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

. The modus operandi of the FALN was to perform bombing and incendiary actions and then admit responsibility through press releases. The first of these news releases announced the group's intention; in this document they admitted responsibility for attacks on several locations in New York to weaken the " Yanki capitalist monopoly", and demanded the release of five political prisoners, these were: Lolita Lebrón, Oscar Collazo,

Rafael Cancel Miranda Rafael Cancel Miranda (July 18, 1930 – March 2, 2020) was a poet, political activist, member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and an advocate of Puerto Rican independence. On March 1, 1954, Cancel Miranda and three other Nationalists (Lo ...

, Andres Figueroa, and Irvin Flores. In this communique, the organization warns that they had opened two fronts, in Puerto Rico and the United States respectively, the goal of which were to organize a People's Revolutionary Army which they expected would "rid Puerto Rico of Yanki colonialism". Both fronts were supported and maintained by allies within Puerto Rico and North America.

FALN pardons of 1999

On August 11, 1999, U.S. President Bill Clinton offered clemency to sixteen members of the FALN convicted for seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to commit robbery, and conspiracy to bomb-making, as well as for firearms and explosives violations. None of the sixteen were convicted of bombings or any crime which injured another person, and all of the sixteen had served nineteen years or longer in prison which, according to the White House, were longer sentences than such crimes typically received. President Clinton offered the clemency at the appeal of 10

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laureates, President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

, the

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of New York, and the

of Puerto Rico, and it was conditional on prisoners renouncing violence. The commutation was opposed by U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI, and the

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Justice that is responsible for all List of United States federal prisons, federal prisons ...

and criticized by many including former victims of FALN

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

activities, the Fraternal Order of Police, and members of Congress.

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

in her campaign for Senator also criticized the commutation, although she had earlier been supportive. FALN prisoner Oscar López Rivera rejected the 1999 Clinton pardon. U.S. president

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

later commuted his sentence, and López Rivera was released in May 2017 after 36 years in prison. He had been incarcerated longer than any other member of the FALN.

Philosophy

History

FALN pardons of 1999

Major incidents

See also

References

Further reading