Puerto Rican Terrorists: A Possible Threat to U.S. Energy Installations?

The United States has had its fair share of terrorist incidents, but surprisingly few have been grave, compared to incidents in other parts of the world. The exceptions have been attacks by Puerto Rican terrorists who have been active in this country for more than three decades. These terrorists attained worldwide notoriety in 1950, when they attempted to assassinate President Harry Truman. Four years later, in 1954, they followed with an armed assault in the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five congressmen. These groups have carried out attacks in the United States and in Puerto Rico on various targets such as banks, FBI offices, and military installations. Their most deadly attack to date occurred in 1975, when they bombed the Fraunces Tavern in New York, killing 4 people and injuring 63 others. Who are these Puerto Rican terrorists How numerous are they and what resources do they command What are their political or other aims What are their targets This Rand Note attempts to answer these questions using information from the available open literature and interviews with law enforcement officials. By far the best known of the Puerto Rican terrorist groups is the FALN Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional. The overall declared aim of the group is Puerto Rican independence or separate nationhood, an aim that is shared by less than 10 percent of the Puerto Rican population. The FALN and other Puerto Rican terrorist organizations are of particular interest, especially to the energy industry, for two reasons 1 Puerto Rican terrorist groups have struck energy facilities on their own island, 2 the FALN made a threat against nuclear targets in the United States during their seizure of the Dominican Republics embassy in Bogota, Colombia, in March 1980. Although no evidence exists as yet to indicate that they have the capability of successfully attacking a nuclear installation, their threats against the nuclear industry must be taken seriously.