forwarded by Michael Hoover > Vieques trespassers sentenced to mere hours behind bars > > [Beneath this article: "Politician Berrios sick with cancer"] > > > Published in The Orlando Sentinel on June 14, 2000 > > Activists won`t rule out trespasses > > Puerto Rican activists declared victory after being handed brief > terms for sneaking onto the U.S. Navy bombing range. > > By Ivan Roman > > San Juan Bureau > > SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Anti-Navy activists claimed victory Tuesday when a > federal judge found former senator and gubernatorial candidate Ruben > Berrios and an environmental expert guilty of trespassing for re-entering > the Vieques target range, but ordered them locked up for just a few hours. > > As Berrios and Jorge Fernandez Porto were led to holding cells -- for > sentences of six and four hours, respectively -- family, friends and > supporters of the Puerto Rican Independence Party outside the federal > courthouse cheered. They say that in this test of wills, the government > blinked. > > Greeted as a hero when he came down the federal courthouse steps later, > Berrios told more than 300 supporters that the court proved the Navy can`t > beat the will of the people in this fight to get them out of Vieques. > > "The first thing I want to say is `We won!`" said Berrios, pointing to the > dozens of Puerto Rican and PIP flags waving about. "Today`s nominal > sentence made clear the moral bankruptcy and the lack of legitimacy of this > government`s actions that its own court won`t sustain. The Navy in Vieques > is finished." > > The pair were the first of the 216 people federal agents cleared off the > Navy`s restricted grounds in > Vieques on May 4 to defy warnings and return. They faced up to six months > in jail and a $5,000 fine. > > In Tuesday`s light sentence, activists see a precedent for about 90 others > still facing trespassing charges for returning to the range. They also > expect a boost to the continuing civil disobedience. > > Fernandez Porto, who was released about 3:30 p.m., was asked whether he > would return to Vieques. > > "We don`t dismiss anything ... we are willing to do whatever we have to do > at the moment that it`s > necessary," he said. > > "People who were already willing to serve six months in jail have now seen > how the government got weak in the knees," said Julio Muriente, president > of the New Independence Movement, another trespasser awaiting trial. > > This is the latest twist in the 14-month fight to get the Navy to stop > bombing on the Vieques target range, considered the crown jewel of Atlantic > training facilities, and leave the 22,000 acres it has > owned on the island municipality since World War II. In April 1999, a > wayward bomb killed a Puerto Rican civilian security guard at the range. > > Since activists, lawmakers and environmentalists were cleared off the Navy > grounds in Operation > Eastern Access, many have kept their promise to return, sustaining the > movement and trying to > create a logjam in the federal courts. After Berrios and Fernandez were > caught May 10, three other groups, one as recently as last weekend, have > crawled under fences or sailed on small boats to get > back in. > > Attorney General Janet Reno had warned those evicted on May 4 that they > could be fined up to > $250,000 or face up to 10 years` imprisonment if they returned. But the > misdemeanor trespassing > charges they have all received are a far cry from that. No arraignments > have been set for any other > protesters. > > Seemingly reluctant prosecutors have said that the full force of the law is > reserved for the "real crime" they deal with constantly. Upon hearing the > judge`s ruling Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jorge Vega Pacheco pointed > out Berrios` three-month prison term for conducting a similar protest on > the old target range in the neighboring island municipality of Culebra in > 1971, but made no specific sentence recommendation. > > He said the maximum six-month term could have made people so indignant that > more protesters > would feel compelled to sneak onto the Navy grounds. > > "We`re not going to make a political statement here," Vega Pacheco said. > "Each case will be seen > on its merits. No matter which way this went, somebody would say this would > be a boost to the > protesters." > > The judge allowed Berrios to make a closing statement. While he did not > offer to defend himself on the trespassing charge, Berrios delivered a > four-page speech calling the United States "undemocratic" for siding with > the Navy over the people`s will and blasting Congress` refusal to act to > resolve Puerto Rico`s colonial status. > > Before sentencing, U.S. District Judge Juan Perez Gimenez, who is believed > to be a strong advocate for statehood, shot back: > > "When I analyze your actions, I see clearly and with immense satisfaction > that our democracy is > strong and alive. > > "When I hear you ridicule it, criticize it, even disparage it, I know it`s > strong and alive." > > Posted Jun 14 2000 5:40AM > > ********************************* > > Politician Berrios sick with cancer > > By Ivan Roman > San Juan Bureau > > Published in The Orlando Sentinel on June 15, 2000 > > SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The day after he was jailed for six hours for > trespassing on the Vieques target range, Puerto Rican Independence > Party President Ruben Berrios announced Wednesday that he has > prostate cancer. But he made it clear that he doesn`t intend to let it slow > him down. > > Surgeons plan to remove his prostate this week or next week. He`ll > recover for about two months and then keep running his gubernatorial > campaign. Berrios, 60, who spent almost a year on the Vieques target > range to block the Navy`s bombing exercises, said he`ll go back to visit > Vieques residents in their homes as soon as he is better. > > Doctors said the cancer appears to be contained to the prostate, so the > prognosis is good. Berrios found out two weeks ago, but he kept it quiet > to avoid influencing his trial or his sentence. > > "I`ve been through two hurricanes out on the range, 30 years fighting > against a superpower, a year in that prison without bars, and this cancer > is not going to beat me," Berrios, flanked by doctors, told teary and grim > supporters. > > The announcement came a day after Berrios and his supporters claimed > victory when a federal judge sentenced him to just six hours in jail for > re-entering the restricted Navy grounds May 10, six days after federal > authorities evicted him and 215 others. Anti-Navy activists say the light > sentence proves the U.S. government won`t carry out its threat to punish > \protesters. > > PIP activists said they can`t prove it, but they suggest that Berrios` > cancer could be tied to his presence on the range for almost a year. > > In local studies -- disputed by authorities -- Vieques` civilian population= > , > situated eight miles from the target range, has a higher rate of cancer > than the main island of Puerto Rico. > > Berrios reportedly was healthy before he spent a year on the range, > which contains heavy metals, toxic substances and bullets coated with > depleted uranium. That he now has cancer is more than a coincidence, > activists say. > > Last month, 200 Vieques residents with cancer or other illnesses filed > with the Navy an intent to sue for health problems. The Agency for > Toxic Substance Disease Registry is conducting a public health > assessment of Vieques. > > Navy officials say "no scientific study or empirical data" has linked their > activities to health concerns in Vieques and that of the 180,400 new > cases of prostate cancer diagnosed each year, a vast majority are in men > in Berrios` age group. > > "Linking his illness to any Navy activities on Vieques past or present is > highly speculative," said Lt. Jeff Gordon said, adding that the Navy > supports the current agency-conducted study. > > Berrios first got to the range in May 1999, about a month after a > wayward bomb killed security guard David Sanes Rodriguez, which set > off the intense campaign to force the Navy to leave. > > He left his Puerto Rico Senate seat, but remained a candidate for > governor this year. > > Politicians from all parties wished him well Wednesday in this personal > battle. Some local doctors question whether Berrios can handle the > rough-and-tumble political arena in Puerto Rico. > > But Berrios vowed to be on the campaign trail. > > "Everything indicates that when I die, I`ll die of old age," he said.