Patria Ensangrentada

2006
Acrylic on Burlap
63" x 40"

This portrait of Machetero leader Filiberto Ojeda Rios was inspired by the story of how he died, or rather how he was killed. The days after he was killed by the FBI, I remember hearing some reports on WBAI (NYC) on his last days. Those interviewed talked about how he was known in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico (where he lived) as a jardinero, always tending to the flowers in his garden. I most remember the descriptions of how when he fell from a sniper bullet to the clavicle. Having fallen behind his front door, he was left there to bleed by the FBI till the next day. They described, as I later saw in photos, the blood that dripped under the door and down the front step of his home. I got this poetic image in my head of that blood seeping back into the ground and feeding the flowers he had planted. I have to develop this idea more but this first simple portrait uses red roses as a metaphor for this freedom fighter's blood and how he was left to bleed to death by the FBI.
The portrait features the words of Puerto Rican Nationalist poet heroine Julia de Burgos. The irony is that her words, "patria ensangrentada pero jamas deshecha", come from her poem 23 de septiembre. That poem was written decades ago in honor of the Grito de Lares Revolution. Knowing that that day is sacred, the FBI strategically murdered Filiberto on that very day. Many years later, Julia’s words about this day and how despite the blood shed on this day the nation will live on were reenergized on September 23, 2005, the day Filiberto died.
Back to the idea of his blood feeding the flowers, I think of another incredible excerpt from Julia's poetry. As a devout Puerto Rican Nationalist she could never imagine turning her loyalty from Puerto Rico to the United States, even in death. She wrote these words while living in NY:

Si me muero no quiero que este trágico país se tragué mis huesos
Necesitan el calor de Borinquen
Por lo meno fortalecer los gusanos de allá, no los de acá

If I die, I don’t want this tragic nation to swallow my bones
They need the warmth of Borinquen
To at least strengthen the worms over there, not the ones here.

I am glad that this response to the bloody murder of Filiberto was presented in this way. This work was exhibited in Puerto Rico during the island's first Social Forum at the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras in the fall of 2006. Elma Beatriz, Filiberto's partner/ widow was at the foro and was happy with the portrait which she encouraged folks at her presentation to go see. I'm glad she believed this image was able to do some justice to his profound legacy.