> forwarded by Michael Hoover > > The Orlando Sentinel's San Juan Bureau has been doing good coverage of the > growing movement to stop the U.S. Navy from using the island of Vieques as > a bombing range. Information on the Puerto Rican Independence Party: > http://www.pip.org.pr and http://www.jpip.com (youth group; both of these > sites are in Spanish); http://www.jpip.com/home.htm (in English). > > > Activists make selves at home on > Navy's land > > Published in The Orlando Sentinel on May 1, 1999. > > Ivan Roman > San Juan Bureau > > VIEQUES, Puerto Rico -- On a ridge overlooking the > Caribbean, protesters on Friday placed 50 white wooden crosses > amid pieces of bombshell casings, strewn metal and explosives dropped > there by the U.S. Navy. > > The activists, protesting the death of a security guard > killed by a Navy bomb last week, gathered here to tell the Navy to stop > its military exercises and go home. > > A banner they placed in the middle of the white crosses > expressed their sentiments the best: "Clinton Stop the Bombing." > > About 50 fishermen and activists sailed for more than > an hour into the restricted target-bombing range in eastern Vieques, > known as Camp Garcia, to a place that one protester called the "hole > of death." The crosses were placed as a tribute to those who have > devoted their lives to get the Navy to leave the Vieques land it expropriated > almost 50 years ago. > > They also wanted to show their support for other > protesters who have been sleeping on hammocks hanging from old bombed out > tanks on the top of the hill -- using themselves as human shields to > force the Navy to stop bombing practices there. > > "I'm going to be here until my body can't take it > anymore," said Pedro Zenon, 21, a computer technician who remembers hearing > a bullet from training exercises near the residential area of Vieques > whizzing by him while diving with his father two years ago. "[The Navy] > doesn't scare me. They must go." > > That is the call from Zenon, his father, a longtime > activist and fishermen fighting the Navy's presence, and hundreds of others > who have seen their cause take hold since security guard David Sanes > Rodriguez was killed last week by a bomb that missed its mark by > three miles during target practice. > > His death has become a rallying cry for Vieques > residents tired of the constant bombing exercises, and politicians in San Juan > who think the Navy is not only hurting the local population physically, but strangling its economy as well. > > The Navy owns three-fourths of the 52-square-mile > island where U.S. and foreign amphibious, air and ground troops regularly > train. The population of more than 9,300 is sandwiched between the > Navy grounds on both ends. Recent studies also have shown an > abnormally high percentage of cancer cases in Vieques, but federal > authorities have not accepted the protesters' theory that the weapons caused > cancer. > > Margarita Santos, who brought her 3-year-old grandson > along, said she was doing it for him. The Navy should give back the > land so the children can build homes and an economy, she said. > > "If the Navy gave back that land, maybe I wouldn't have > to live in Fajardo on the main island, looking for work," said > Santos, 39. > > The hill the protesters have dubbed "Mount David" in > memory of Sanes had been bombed so much in the past few weeks that it > was hard to walk more than a few steps without encountering bombs and > shell casings, including some that the Navy warns are still live. > Three Navy officials approached the protesters Friday to warn them again of > the dangers and hand them a 1978 injunction telling them they are on > federal grounds and must leave. > > Navy Secretary Richard Danzig wrote to Gov. Pedro > Rossello on Friday, asking him to encourage the protesters to leave > the bombing range. Rossello, who wrote to President Clinton > requesting an immediate stop to the bombing exercises, said the Navy > should allow access to the protesters and that they, in turn, must > be mindful of the dangers they face. > > "The responsibility falls on both sides," Rossello said > Friday. > > Ismael Guadalupe, a member of the Committee for the > Rescue and Development of Vieques that sponsored Friday's event, > said it plans more incursions into the restricted territory but not > where most of the bombing takes place and unexpended rounds are still > lodged in hillsides and beaches. > > Veterans of the struggle say decades of agreements, > negotiations, hearings and paperwork have led to more disappointment. > As long as the protesters are there, the Navy can't use the nearby > observation post that was hit by mistake last week, killing Rodriguez > and injuring four others. > > "There are many of us older people who have worked a > long time on this, but this will be a movement by the young people > who are going to free us, as it should be," said Myrna Pagan, mother of > one of the protesters camped out on the hill. > > In the spirit of civil disobedience, the protesters > said theyweren't afraid of being arrested. And if they were, others would > quickly take their place. Other groups, including the Puerto Rican > Independence Party, plan a major entry and civil disobedience on Mother's > Day weekend. > > To relieve the protesters who are there now, Mayra > Carroll, a photography and fine-arts student, went with three > others from the University of Puerto Rico to join in and camp out for > the weekend. When summer comes, they plan to be there a lot more often. > > "I believe in the anti-military struggle, and we have a > right to get these lands back for the people of Vieques," said Carroll, > 21. "There is a moment when you just can't turn back. We have to take > advantage of the momentum of this issue right now."
