Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

42 • ARMED FORCES OF NATIONAL LIBERATIONoffices, and military installations, usually avoiding harm to life andlimb. On 25 January 1975, however, the FALN bombed the FrauncesTavern, a site close to Wall Street apparently chosen for its symbolicvalue because George Washington bade farewell to his troops there atthe conclusion of the War of Independence. Since the bomb explodedat the height of the lunch hour, four diners were killed and 63 othersinjured, the first time a FALN bombing had caused fatalities. Afterward,the FALN expanded its targets to include department stores andhotels, striking the Chicago area as well as New York and Puerto Rico.Despite a hiatus caused by the arrest of several members in April 1980,the FALN continued its bombing campaign until 1983. The capture ofFALN bombing expert William Morales in June 1983 largely endedthe bombing campaign on the mainland United States, which hadtotaled around 160 bombings. The arrest of several FALN and Macheterosleaders in Puerto Rico on 30 August 1985 appeared to set thegroup back, as it has remained relatively inactive since then.The FALN differed from other Puerto Rican groups in that it includedamong its roughly 50 members a large number of Puerto Ricansborn and raised in the United States. This may explain why it was theonly active Puerto Rican separatist group that regularly carried out terroristacts on the U.S. mainland. The FALN also had the distinction ofbeing one of the few terrorist groups that ever threatened to use nuclearterrorism. In a communiqué published on 21 March 1980, the FALNhinted that it would not hesitate to sabotage nuclear reactors. Suchsabotage has never occurred, but the FALN and other groups attackedseveral non-nuclear energy-related facilities in Puerto Rico, such aspower pylons, substations, and even an oil refinery.On 13 December 1998 Puerto Rico held its second referendumon the question of independence or statehood. Given five choices—statehood, independence, continued commonwealth status, “freeassociation” with the United States, and “none of the above”—thelargest share of votes at 50.2 percent went to “none of the above,”with statehood winning 46.5 percent, independence winning only2.5 percent, and the free association and commonwealth optionseach receiving less than 1 percent. On 11 August 1999 President BillClinton offered clemency to 14 FALN members imprisoned for actsof terrorism, contingent on their renunciation of the use of terrorism.On 7 September 1999, 12 accepted the offer of clemency and werefreed while two rejected the offer and remained in prison. The clem-