Filiberto Ojeda Rios started out life as an esteemed musician, but quickly gave that up to be a revolutionary. Pragda’s Filiberto details this transition and paints a remarkable picture of a lesser-known political figure.
Abandoning the trumpet for the pulpit, Ojeda Rios becomes a clandestine figure in the fight for Puerto Rican independence in the early 20th century. The musician-turned-militant cofounded the Boricua Popular Army, which to this day fights for Puerto Rico’s full independence from the United States. The film uses interviews, wiretapped conversations, and surveillance footage to paint a man who genuinely became emblematic of an entire country’s armed struggle.
Filiberto portrays Rios and his compatriots in a constant struggle with the FBI. The 1983 heist of a Connecticut Wells Fargo is a pivotal moment, as it motivated Rios’s fugitive status. Director Freddie Marrero Alfonso doesn’t necessarily paint Rios vs. the FBI as the archetypical battle of good and evil. Using the footage of the events, he allows the viewers to decide for themselves, culminating in the death of Rios by the FBI in Puerto Rico in 2005.
Despite his death almost 2 decades ago, Rios’s memory still reverberates in the country. His death also led to an investigation by former FBI Director Robert Mueller. The educational documentary is an intriguing look at a polarizing figure. It would work in academic libraries for students studying criminal law, Puerto Rican history, or American foreign policy and crime.