cover image Los Macheteros: The Wells Fargo Robbery and the Violent Struggle for Puerto Rican Independence

Los Macheteros: The Wells Fargo Robbery and the Violent Struggle for Puerto Rican Independence

Ronald Fernandez. Prentice Hall, $17.45 (272pp) ISBN 978-0-13-950056-5

Los Macheteros (Machete-Wielders) are a group of revolutionaries who are fighting for Puerto Rican independence. The principal impetus for the U.S. to crack down on them came from the theft of $7 million from a Wells Fargo depot in Connecticut purportedly carried out by a guard who was a Macheteros member. In 1985, the FBI rounded up 19 additional individuals also alleged to have been involved in the robbery or the transfer of the money. They are awaiting trial. Using the case as his point of departure, psychologist-sociologist Fernandez traces the history of Puerto Rico (with emphasis on economic exploitation by the U.S.) and its various independence movements and their leaders. He makes a strong case for viewing the Macheteros as patriots and not as terrorists. Photos not seen by PW. (April 30)