------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Nov. 15, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
NAVY POSTPONES REFERENDUM: VIEQUES ACTIVISTS SAY "BACK TO THE STREETS" By Berta Joubert-Ceci In the tense political climate created by the Pentagon's war on Afghanistan, the people of Vieques, Puerto Rico, are continuing the struggle to liberate their island from the grip of the U.S. Navy, which uses it for military exercises. Sept. 11 brought the people of the United States to a standstill, but not the Pentagon. In fact, the military worked overtime. It went ahead with its scheduled September bombings of Vieques. It had earlier announced that the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy would practice in Vieques for 23 days, starting no later than Sept. 23. This was a direct attack on the independence movement in particular, since that date is the "Grito de Lares" celebration of the most important day when freedom was attained, though briefly, in 1868 from the Spanish empire and the Republic of Puerto Rico was proclaimed. It holds the promise of a future republic free from U.S. imperialism--the cherished ideal of every independentista. Since Sept. 23 was a Sunday, the Navy began the bombardments the next day, the 24th. The Puerto Rican governor sent 250 police to Vieques to "keep the peace," she said. Activists of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques (CPRDV) declared a moratorium on civil disobedience, afraid that under the special "Delta alert" of the Navy base Camp García, military personnel would with impunity shoot young activists who are regarded as "terrorists" by the Navy--just because they cut the fence that separates the restricted bombing area from the civilian part so people could get inside the range. In spite of this moratorium, soldiers kept close watch, pointing their machine guns at the "Peace and Justice Camp" headquarters of the CPRDV, trying to frighten the activists. On Oct. 31 the CPRDV ended the three-week moratorium. In those weeks it and the community groups involved in the struggle had been meeting to coordinate and improve the anti- Navy actions, planning new strategies for the next round of military maneuvers in November. The message that repression will escalate against anti-Navy activists was very clear when, in the early morning hours of Nov. 3, after Puerto Rican police secured the area surrounding the house of veteran activist and fisher Carlos Zenón, 12 FBI agents went to arrest him and his 21-year-old son Yabureibo for having entered the restricted area on Oct. 4. To arrest the two activists they brought five state authority vehicles and two federal buses. In a press release issued that day, the CPRDV stated that "the arrest of the Zenons at this precise moment, when the U.S. military has created a state of hysteria with its 'war against terrorism,' is part of a plan to threaten and frighten the Viequenses. What the Navy has not yet learned is that this community cannot be bought and will not be scared into giving up." The group denounced the conditions of house arrest imposed on the two as a violation of the right to freedom of movement. NAVY POSTPONES REFERENDUM After the U.S. postponed a referendum scheduled for Nov. 6, the CPRDV issued a press advisory entitled "On the streets of Vieques, with or without a referendum." The activists had participated in referendums and lobbying of politicians both in Puerto Rico and in the United States, but the press advisory underscored their firm belief that only the people struggling will make the U.S. Navy leave their island. "We were prepared to challenge the referendum that was supposed to be held today," said the group. "We criticized it because it did not include the alternative that represented the will of 70 percent of the people of Vieques stated in the July 29th local referendum, the immediate cessation of the bombardments and the permanent leaving of the Navy. But we decided to participate because we knew that even in that 'land-mined' terrain we could overwhelmingly defeat the U.S. Navy. "This has been confirmed by the Navy's suspension of the referendum." Just a week before the scheduled federal referendum on the Navy's presence in Vieques, which had been proposed by the Clinton administration, Navy Secretary Gordon England had sent a letter to Puerto Rico's governor, Sila Calderón, saying that "exercising the authority given by law" he would "postpone the consult on the future of war exercises in Vieques until Jan. 25, 2002." He added that "if it appears to be more convenient, the referendum could be held earlier." Amid suits and counter-suits involving the legitimacy of this federal referendum on the island, the Sept. 11 events have given the defenders of the military a louder voice to oppose ending war practices in Vieques. This, in turn, has heightened the contradictions inherent in the colonial status of Puerto Rico. The governor, who ran and won her post based on her anti- Navy posture prior to the election, is now vacillating and adopting the "national defense" mantra, saying that the best the people of Vieques can get is an assurance by the U.S. government that the Navy will leave in the year 2003, as President George W. Bush stated earlier this year. The people of Vieques say that is too late. Cancer and other major illnesses brought about by six decades of U.S. Navy bombardments have decimated the population and have diminished their overall quality of life. They cannot wait. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
