VIEQUES--ISLAND OF RESISTANCE
Vieques is an island municipality of Puerto Rico, separated from it by 6-8 miles of sea. It measures 21 by 4 miles, with an area of 33,000 sq. acres. Population: 9,400 inhabitants who live in the narrow, middle strip of land sandwiched between two large US Naval facilities. Since the 1940s, when the Pentagon forcibly removed thousands of Viequenses, and took control of 2/3 of the island, the US Navy has been using it for the training of US, NATO, South American, and CARICOM allied forces. It is used not only by the Navy, but also by the Marines, Army, and Air Force, conducting amphibious landing exercises, special forces parachute drops, close air support, artillery and small arms firings, naval gunfire support, missile shoots, air-to-surface, air-to-air, and surface-to-air shootings, naval "war at sea" exercises, and surface, air, and submarine maneuvering and drills. Besides the eastern third of Vieques, the US Navy also uses 195,000 sq. miles of open ocean and airspace for their training.
In the western part, the Navy stores ammunition, which it both uses in the exercises and sells to other countries. The US practiced in Vieques before invading Guatemala in 1954, Cuba in 1961, Santo Domingo in 1965, Chile in 1973, Grenada in 1983, Panamá in 1989, and against El Salvador, Nicaragua, Viet Nam, and Iraq. Eighty percent of US ships and airplanes that participated in the US/NATO war against Yugoslavia, trained in Vieques.
This military occupation has devastated the lives of the people in Vieques. There is 50% unemployment; the cancer rate is 27% higher than in Puerto Rico; health needs are serviced only by an outpatient clinic, with the nearest hospital 18 miles away, by sea! With almost 60 years of constant pounding with live ammunition, including depleted uranium, napalm, and other toxic chemicals, the environment is highly polluted, affecting the area's rich ecosystem.
But the history of Vieques has also been the struggle of its inhabitants. Since the very beginning of the US expropriations, the courageous people of Vieques have been opposing the US military in many ways and fronts. Small boats from the Fishermen Association have surrounded giant battleships in an effort to stop war maneuvers. Last April 19, two 500-lb. bombs dropped by an F-18 US fighter plane in a training "exercise" prior to the invasion of Yugoslavia, killed a civilian guard, David Sane, and injured 4 others. The outrage of the people of Vieques and Puerto Rico then forced the Pentagon to stop all exercises as people started camping in the Navy bombing restricted zone, risking their lives, and demanding the ouster of the Navy. There is united opposition to the Navy from all Puerto Ricans, regardless of political affiliation. The Pentagon plans to resume the practices with live ammunition before December.
HISTORY of VIEQUES
1514--Cacimar and Yaureibo, Vieques' last Taíno Native chiefs, fight to the death against Spanish invaders.
1688 and 1717--British subjects from nearby islands attempt to colonize Vieques. They are ousted on both occasions by the Spanish military.
1811--Don Salvador Mep;léndez, governor of Puerto Rico, sends Juan Roselló to begin systematic colonization of Vieques.
1816--The great Simón Bolívar lands on Vieques for a visit.
1874--Rebellion of workers on sugar mill Hacienda Playa Grande,with more than 70 jailed.
1898--US invades PR and Vieques. Both islands become colonies of the US.
1915--Militant strike by sugar cane workers demanding a wage raise from 50 cents/day per 14 hrs. of work, to $1/day for 8 hrs. of work. Sugar mill owners respond with police brute force, killing and wounding several strikers. The people, outraged at the massacre, start uprising to the point that the bosses have to send for additional police forces from PR in order to suppress it. One hundred are imprisoned. They win a small wage increase and a reduction of work hours.
1922-1927--Closure of several sugar mills.
1930--US economic depression brings crisis to Vieques; thousands migrate to St. Croix in search of work. Don Albizu Campos and Don Antonio Corretjer, from the PR Nationalist Party, hold meetings in Vieques. First Puerto Rican Nationalist Women's Section organized in Vieques.
1940s--US Navy takes over 72% of Vieques territory.
1947--US Interior Department plans to relocate Vieques' entire population to St. Croix, USVI, are prevented only by mass opposition.
1961--President John F. Kennedy and the Defense Department prepare a plan to abolish the municipality of Vieques and hand it over to the Navy, again prevented by mass opposition.
1964--Organized opposition stops Navy's attempt to expropriate remaining south coast.
1978-79--The Fishermen Association and supporters block Naval maneuvers and bombardments in protest of environmental destruction and restrictions on use of fishing areas. The Crusade for the Rescue of Vieques is founded. In May 1979, 21 activists are arrested for civil disobedience in the "restricted" bombing area. One person, Ángel Rodríguez Cristóbal, is jailed in Tallahassee, Florida, where he is eventually murdered.
1980--After investigating the Navy's activities in Vieques and the effect on its people, the US Congress recommends that the Navy leave Vieques.
1983--US Navy and then-PR governor, Carlos Romero Barceló sign an agreement canceling the case Romero vs. Navy, in exchange for promises by the Navy to protect the environment and help in the economic development of the island.
1989--The Navy tries, unsuccessfully, to expropriate land from a poor family, arguing that it is located in the limits of the Navy's "property." Hundreds of residents organize and rescue portions of the land controlled by the Navy since the '40s. In September, Hurricane Hugo passes through Vieques, causing enormous destruction. The Navy uses this tragedy to retake land that the people had rescued before.
1992--During 2 weeks of maneuvers, the Navy drops 20 tons of live ammunition, including napalm. The struggle against the Navy continues.
1993-94--The Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, CPRDV, is founded. They submit a resolution to the City Council, asking for the closure of the naval bases and the devolution of the land to Vieques. PR Senate and the House of Representatives also approve it.
1995-99--Mass demonstrations in Vieques and Puerto Rico against the Navy and the building of the Over the Horizon Radar (ROTHR). Members of the CRDV participate in international forums; many mass actions take place in Vieques and Puerto Rico.
1995-April 19, 1999--Two 500-lb. bombs, Mark-82, kill civilian guard David Sane and injure 4 other people.
1996-April 21, 1999--Vieques and Puerto Rican people in unison demand the immediate ouster of the Navy. Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Roselló sends letter to President Clinton demanding an end to the Navy military practices.
1997--April-November 199--Three days after Sane's death, fishermen from Vieques plant a cross in his memory in the exact point where he died. Soon, people start camping in these restricted areas in an effort to stop all military exercises. These encampments effectively stop the bombings. These actions, together with the active participation in mass demonstrations, forums, petitions, etc., of people both in Vieques and in PR (who form a support group rightly named "All Puerto Rico With Vieques"), prompt several US Congressional hearings and force President Bill Clinton to form a panel to look into the issue. The presidential panel created in June, consisting of 3 militaries and one ex-congressman, recommends in October,that the Navy resume exercises, decreased by 50%, and completely leave the island in 5 years. This is unacceptable to the people in Vieques, whose demands are: complete ouster of the Navy, return of the land to the people, and the decontamination and development of the island.
The CPRDV is asking for your support in their struggle. Call the White House to tell Pres. Clinton to "Cease all Military Operations and Get the Navy Out of Vieques Now!" at (202) 456-1111, Monday through Friday, from 9AM-5PM EST.
--Philadelphia International Action Center, 813 S. 48th St., Phila, PA 19143, Tel: (215) 724-1618, Fax: (215) 724-8513, (usnov@hotmail.com>
ROGUE STATE
From 1945 to the end of the century, the United States attempted to overthrow more than 40 foreign governments, and to crush more than 30 populist-nationalist movements struggling against intolerable regimes. In the process, the US caused the end of life for several million people and condemned many millions more to a life of agony and despair.
--William Blum, from the introduction to Rogue State <www.commoncouragepress.com/blum_rogue.html>