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CIA admits it spied on Puerto Rican independence activists
New York Amsterdam News|January 16, 2025
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has declassified documents showing that it monitored Puerto Rican independence groups from the 1960s through the 1980s.
- KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO and LEYRIAN COLÓN SANTIAGO
CIA admits it spied on Puerto Rican independence activists

Under an anti-leftist counterintelligence program known as Operation CHAOS or Operation MH/ CHAOS, the agency monitored the actions of the Pro-Independence Movement (MPI), which later became the Puerto Rican Socialist Party (PSP).

The CIA is not legally allowed to collect intelligence on U.S. citizens, yet it was empowered to create and operate MH/CHAOS during the administrations of President Lyndon Johnson and President Richard Nixon.

Both U.S. presidents expressed concerns about potential alliances between independence movement activists and the radical left anti-Vietnam War movement, Black civil rights activists, and radical student activists. They were particularly concerned about any connections they may have had with the then newly formed Fidel Castroled government of Cuba.

The Movimiento Independentista Nacional Hostosiano (Hostosian National Independence Movement; MINH) called on representatives in the Puerto Rican government to speak out against the MH/CHAOS program. "The least that would be expected of those who claim to represent the Puerto Rican people is that they take a position in defense of the civil and human rights of the population," MINH wrote in a note posted to its website.

This story is from the January 16, 2025 edition of New York Amsterdam News.

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This story is from the January 16, 2025 edition of New York Amsterdam News.

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