Vieques is a 52 square mile island just off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico. It is also one of Puerto Rico's 78 municipal districts, with a population of about 9,400. Since 1941 -- when the U.S. Navy took over the island -- the civillian population of this island-municipality has been subjected to continuous U.S. military exercises with live ammunition.
On April 19, 1999, during one of its many military target practices, a Marine F/A18 fighter jet dropped two 500-pound bombs near a military guard post, killing instantly one civilian security guard, David Sanes Rodriguez, and injuring four others.
Regrettably, this so-called "accident" is not an isolated incident. It is part and parcel of a long history of abuses by the U.S. Navy dating back to 1938, when the Navy began using the island of Vieques for military practices. In 1941, the Navy began a campaign of expropriation of land; it took over two thirds of the island and has used Vieques to practice with live ammunition for every military engagement ever since, including the most recent Kosovo bombings. As a result, the civillian population is sandwiched into a six-mile long strip in the middle of the island
A legacy of Ecological and Environmental Damage:
Since the occupation of Vieques as a target practice range for US military exercise, the island has been bombarded so stronglyt that some parts of it look like the craters on the surface of the moon. According to Dr. Neftali Garcia, a chemist and expert on natural resources, the Navy's use of shells loaded with depleted uranium during military exercises has had the effect of destroying the land and severely affecting valuable martine and animal resources. Furthermore, the radioactive contamination causes by the use of depleted uranium has contributed to a cancer rate among the 9,400 civilian population that is %26 higher than that of the main-island residents.
Economic Stagnation
Vieques has an unemployment rate of aproximately 50%. General electric, which is one of the few large -- if not th eonly -- company with current operations in Vieques, will close shop this summer. Fishing is the one remaining industry in Vieques with any truly biable economic significance.
This is clearly due to the Navy's expropriation of the most fertile lands in the island that formerly susained a respectable agricultural output.
Referring to the island's disproportionate incidence of acncer and the Navy's noxious environmental impact, Ismael Guadalupe, member of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, said: "We have no petrochemical plants or pharmacuticals or any other such industry; the only culprit is the US military." Guadalupe adds: "At the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Area, the US Navy tests bombs. This area is the most devastated. If you walk through there, you'll see bombs, craters, shrapenl and destruction everywhere. The area smells of chemicals."
It is for these and other reasons that the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques has called for the demilitarization of the island, the decontamination of its environment and the devolution of the expropriated lands to the civilian population as the only means of acheiving the sustainable economic development of Vieques.
A history of struggle
The people of Vieques have courageously resisted for more than five decades the hardhsips and abuses imposed on them by the continuous presence of the US Navy. Today, these brothers and sisters need our help more than ever. The successful removal of the Navy will mean a return to a normal life for them, free of fear and intimiation, and the ability to rebuild and island full of economic and human potential. So join the Vieques Support Campaign and help us spread the message and create public awareness. We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to the people of Vieques and above all, we owe it to our Patria, Puerto Rico!
Source:
Vieques Support Campaign
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
Phone: (212) 633-6646
Fax: (212) 633-2889
http://www.viequeslibre.org/
Local Contact:
Catholic Worker - Vieques Support Campaign
514 N Plain Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 273-7437
mgrady@lightlink.com
