SAN JUAN — Over 40 organizations signed an open letter published Monday by the pro-independence activist group Jornada Se Acabaron Las Promesas (JSALP) denouncing law enforcement monitoring of the group after a story by The Latino Newsletter found the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had discussed the group with the Puerto Rico Police (PRP) during an August 2024 domestic terrorism meeting. 

Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) show that the federal agency has collected information about the group three times since 2018. A police lieutenant shared information about La Colectiva Feminista en Construcción (La Cole), which also signed the Monday letter, during a 2019 meeting with the FBI, the documents show.

“We, the undersigned, strongly support the two sister organizations in their clear and unequivocal statements to combat the iniquities imposed by the invading and colonial governments. We denounce political persecution and the ‘carpeteo’ of the government, and we reaffirm our defense of the rights of the people, as well as the human, civil, and constitutional rights of the organizations and individuals who demonstrate with us,” reads the letter, which groups like the Puerto Rico chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Puerto Rican Independence Party signed.

“Carpeteo” is Puerto Rican slang for being surveilled by law enforcement. The word comes from “las carpetas,” a massive surveillance program operated by the FBI and the PRP between the 1930s and the mid-1980s. The program collected more than 1.5 million pages of information on over 100,00 people. The FBI also kept tabs on the Puerto Rican independence movement as part of COINTELPRO.

The organizations held a Monday press conference about the letter that cited The Latino Newsletter’s initial reporting.

An FBI spokesperson previously told The Latino Newsletter that the documents merely show a routine exchange of information between the two law enforcement agencies and that they are not “evidence of any specific investigative activity.”

Meanwhile, a PRP spokesperson did not acknowledge a 2024 document — which showed that a discussion of domestic terrorism took place — prior to the publication of the original article. However, they did acknowledge a 2019 document, only to say they could not certify whether the 2019 meeting did or did not take place because it did not include any identifying information.

Following the publication of The Latino Newsletter’s story earlier this month, PRP superintendent Joseph González Falcón said during a press conference that an FBI investigation can only come about due to a criminal element or violence, according to local newspaper El Nuevo Día. He also said, “‘carpeteo’ does not exist.” González Falcón headed up the FBI’s San Juan Office in 2024, the same year the domestic terrorism meeting took place.

“In Puerto Rico, the persecution of those who are outraged, organize, and fight for justice and collective rights is nothing new. Surveillance and ‘carpeteo’ — which today are carried out not only in the traditional way, but also electronically and digitally — have been part of the price to pay for denouncing human, social, and political rights violations,” reads the open letter. 

News of the documents raised concerns for many because it came about at the same time the Trump administration is ramping up attacks on social justice and left-aligned political groups. 

“The policies announced by President Trump in late September, designating as alleged domestic terrorism any thought that opposes fascism or the so-called ‘traditional values,‘ coupled with the military deployment against the population exercising its constitutional right to protest, reveal the manipulation and crude repression of the federal government toward its own citizens, as well as the population of its colonial possessions,” the letter notes.

The FBI and the Puerto Rico Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The Latino Newsletter’s reporting on the FBI documents was highlighted in local news outlets, including the radio shows “Puestos pa’ la mañana” and “Cátedra 580.”

You can find a copy of the letter here. You can find the FBI documents obtained through FOIA here. 

Carlos Berríos Polanco is a journalist from Puerto Rico who covers climate, conflict, and their intersection. He is also the Deputy Editor of The Latino Newsletter’s San Juan bureau.

From Our Twitter (We Can’t Call It X) Feed:

Julio Ricardo Varela edited and published the edition of The Latino Newsletter.

Consider donating to The Latino Newsletter. Any contribution, no matter how small, helps keep this newsletter free and accessible to all. ¡Gracias mil!