Incident Summary:
9/4/1978: Suspected members of the People's Revolutionary Commandos (CRP), armed with guns, broke into the United Press International office in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They tied up Jaime Miranda, a teletype operator at UPI, and sprayed graffiti on the wall calling for the release of Nydia Cuevas and Pablo Marcano. Marcano and Cuevas were imprisoned for kidnapping the Chilean Consul to Puerto Rico. When the three perpetrators left the office, Miranda was able to easily escape.
Overview
GTD ID:
197809040004
When:
1978-09-04
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Puerto Rico
City:
San Juan
What
Attack Information
| Type of Attack () |
Hostage Taking (Barricade Incident) |
| Type of Attack () |
Facility/Infrastructure Attack |
| Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
| Target Type: Journalists & Media |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
United Press International |
| Specific Description |
United Press International office, San Juan Puerto Rico |
| Nationality of Target |
United States |
Additional Information
| Hostages |
Yes |
| Number of Hostages |
1 |
| US Hostages |
1 |
| Days of Kidnapping |
0 |
| Outcome |
Hostage(s) escaped (not during rescue attempt) |
| Ransom |
No |
| Property Damage |
Yes |
| Extent of Property Damage |
Minor (likely < $1 million) |
| Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
| Type |
Sub-type |
| Firearms |
Unknown Gun Type |
| Other |
|
| Weapon Details |
|---|
| guns, sticky bandages, and spray paint |
Additional Information
| Suicide Attack? | No |
| Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
| Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
| Additional Information |
This incident was in response to the capture of Nydia Cuevas and Pablo Marcano in 197807030006. Jaime Miranda was tied up with sticky bandages but he managed to escape after only five minutes. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
| Number of Perpetrators |
3 |
| Number of Captured Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Casualty Information
| Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
| Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
| Total Number of Injured |
0 |
| Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
| "Gunmen Invade Office," Reading Eagle, September 5, 1978. |
| "Toward People's War for Independence and Socialism in Puerto Rico: In Defense of Armed Struggle," Documents and Communiques from the Revolutionary Public Independence Movement and the Armed Clandestine Movement, January 1987. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties
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