139 thoughts on “VIEQUES: The People or the Navy?”
Protests Continue in Puerto Rico
Friday May 5 4:51 PM ET
Protests Continue in Puerto Rico
By EILEEN MCNAMARA, Associated Press Writer
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – College campuses closed, militants protested
and the National Guard shielded U.S. installations and public utilities
Friday following a federal raid that dislodged 216 protesters from the
Navy’s bombing range on Vieques Island.
On Vieques, an anti-Navy activist claimed that seven people were hiding on
the range. The Navy said it knew of no holdouts and was planning to rapidly resume training – a year after its Atlantic fleet bombing range was occupied.
Protests against the raid also were announced on the U.S. mainland,
including one by political activists outside a Navy recruiting office in
Philadelphia.
“It has unified the Puerto Rican people like nothing I have ever seen in my life,” said Philadelphia City Councilman Angel Ortiz.
“All of the resentments about the colonial situation are being exhibited
through Vieques.”
The 4 million American citizens who live on the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico can serve in the military but cannot vote for president or Congress. They receive $13 billion a year in U.S. aid but pay no federal taxes.
In Puerto Rico, police increased security at Army and Navy bases, federal
courts in San Juan and at U.S. military recruiting and post offices. Hundreds of protesters briefly scuffled with police at the U.S. Army base at Fort Buchanan on Thursday.
Gov. Pedro Rossello ordered enhanced security at public utilities. National Guard troops stood watch at power plants, including one at San Juan’s international airport, said utility spokesman Freddy Marrero.
Nearly 5,000 members of the electricity workers union staged a four-hour protest Friday against the Vieques raid.
In historic Old San Juan, hundreds of flag-waving protesters demonstrated
peacefully outside a newly-renovated federal courthouse hours before it
was to be dedicated by judges and local officials.
Protests by students – and in some cases their professors – shut down classes at colleges in the cities of Ponce and Bayamon and disrupted many classes at the University of Puerto Rico’s main campus in San Juan.
On Vieques, where about 300 federal agents peacefully removed 216 protesters from the bombing range Thursday – including religious leaders and two U.S. members of Congress – an activist claimed that some had eluded the raid.
Carlos Zenon, head of the Vieques Fishermen’s Association, said seven
people, including two of his sons, were at two “secret camps” in the hilly zone. Zenon said he had spoken with son Casimar by radio Friday.
“If they find them, they’ll surrender peacefully,” Zenon said. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Mark McDonald, a spokesman at the Joint Information Center at Roosevelt Roads, said military personnel were patrolling the range but had no information on any holdouts.
Protesters occupied the Navy’s 60-year-old Atlantic fleet range in April 1999 after a civilian Navy guard was killed in an accidental bombing. They stood in the way of a Jan. 31 accord between President Clinton and Rossello allowing the Navy to resume limited training with inert bombs until 2003, with a Vieques referendum to decide whether the Navy can stay longer and use live ammunition.
The Navy argues Vieques is vital to national security because it is the
only place that air, land and sea forces can train simultaneously with live munitions before deploying abroad.
Despite Thursday’s detentions – all protesters were released without
charge – many Puerto Ricans celebrated the outcome because it attracted
international attention to the plight of Vieques’ 9,300 civilians.
“They got us out, but it is a disgrace for the nation that calls itself the architect of democracy that it had to use warships with more than 1,000 soldiers, armed with all of their equipment, to remove a few people who are demanding peace,” said Vieques fisherman Carlos Ventura.
The need for a long-term strategy
Certainly protesting and re-entering the site from which we have been ousted will prevent the Navy from doing its maneuvers. But what else. I think the support of workers on the island was also important. If the Navy attempts to begin bombing, there should be a nationwide strike on the island until they stop.
Let’s make sure it doesn’t
Let’s make sure it doesn’t. The Navy is the reason there is such a high rate of cancer and they must be stopped. If indeed there is consensus in Puerto Rico, then the Navy must go now! One can’t compromise on health–our health has already been compromised!
I would like to see all labor show their support for Vieques by striking. And all the students on the island should likewise strike in a coordinated effort to paralyze the country.
RE: White Ribbons
N Dallas,
What’s your email? Puerto Rico and the American Dream is putting together an email list as we build our online community. We would like to put you on our list. Please email us at info@prdream.com. Thank you.
truth about arrests
Officially the Navy has declared that they started bombing with “inert” bombs, although they know that we still have 17 protestors inside of the range. If you think that “inert” bombs are not that bad, imagine a 500-lb rock falling on top of your head from 5,000ft above sea level. The U.S. also offically declared a state of war and they are not letting the fishermen go to the waters. They are using all their might against humble people that only want to live in peace and who are stricly using non-violent tactics to oust the military from Vieques. Also, the press reported that the arrests were carried out peacefully. Read the following message from a friend from Vieques. The question no is, what do we do next? How much longer can we continue to fight non-violently before they kill us all. Obviuosly the US government has no respect whatsoever for most people around the world. At least, I hope that much is clear.
more shocking truth about arrests
— Forwarded Message from xxxxx —
just got back from vieques. what a diference from the media show.
once the desobedientes where out of camera range the story was very
different. lolita lebrón and the nuns where foddled by these apes. women where handcuffed. yes, they where plastic, but very tight and if they complained, well, they where made tighter. you should see their wrists, red and swollen. and then if you further complained, you got to use metal handcuffs. they were kept on those metal boats for four hours, in the water, under the sun, with no drinking water. while they showered themselves in drinking water. vieques is in a state of siege, helicopters all over the place, surrounded by warships and speed boats. fishermen can not go out to fish, people from the community in front of camp garcía are forced to walk to their homes, four miles for some of them, if they happen to be so unlucky not to have cars. parents or friends o públicos are not allowed in. it actually was a very sad scene. these are actually very
humble and nice people. the humiliation. but they will get over the shock and empire will see how audacious locals can be. fuera la marina.
“LA MARINA REANUDA LA INMORALIDAD CONTRA LOS VIEQUENSES”
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA/MENSAJE URGENTE
CAMPAMENTO MONTE DAVID
VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO
Contacto: Carlos Zenon (Tel. 787-741-8315)
8 de mayo del 2000-
Carlos Zenon, Presidente de la Asociacion de Pescadores de Vieques y
dirigente del Campamento Monte David en la zona de tiro en Vieques, denuncio hoy el anuncio de la Marina y del Gobernador interino Angel Morey de que la Marina habia reanudado el bombardeo en Vieques.
Zenon, cuyos hijos Pedro y Cacimar se encuentran junto a varias personas
escondidos aun en la zona de tiro, dijo que la Marina contin·a con su guerra psicologica contra el pueblo de Vieques, tal como lo hizo recientemente con los constantes informes de la “inminencia” de los arrestos.
Zenon senalo: “La reanudacion de los bombardeos en esta isla, aun cuando
no queden personas en la zona de tiro, es inmoral. Pero bombardear cuando
mis hijos y otras personas se encuentran allÌ en la zona de tiro, es evidencia m·s de que la vida de los viequenses vale poco para la Marina. Si se atrevieron a bombardear hoy, sabiendo de la presencia de seres humanos en el ·rea y sabiendo que hay cientos de casquillos de uranio y cientos de bombas vivas que pueden explotar al ser impactadas por las.bombas inertes, el mensaje que esta enviando la Marina es que su intencion
verdadera es continuar abusando del pueblo de Vieques como les de la gana,
independientemente de la farsa de las directrices de Clinton sobre Vieques”
Zenon expreso: “Rossello y Clinton bien saben eso. Ya ver·n ustedes como su gente va a ir corriendo ante el Congreso para llevarles con alegria el mensaje de los arrestos y el anuncio de los bombardeos. A estas alturas a nadie le puede quedar duda de que las directrices de Clinton sobre Vieques son pro-Marina y anti-Vieques.”
Por ·ltimo, Zenon comento: “Esta falta total de consideracion por parte de
la Marina contra la vida, la salud y el bienestar de los viequenses es harto conocida por nosotros. La semana pasada dije que de la Marina de Guerra se puede esperar cualquier cosa, pero que ni ellos se atreverian a tirar una sola bomba si queda un solo ser humano en esa zona de tiro. Si en realidad tiraron bombas hoy, sabiendo que quedan varios seres humanos en el area, entonces tenemos que decir que de la Marina de Guerra se puede esperar cualquier cosa, por m·s inmoral que sea. Cosas como esta le dan urgencia a nuestra lucha por la paz.”
___________________________________
(English version)
“US NAVY RESUMES IMMORALITY AGAINST VIEQUENSES”
PRESS RELEASE/URGENT MESSAGE
CAMP MOUNT DAVID
VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO
Contact: Carlos Zenon (Phone# 787-741-8315)
May 8, 2000-
Carlos Zenon, President of the Vieques Fishermen’s Association and leader
of Camp Mount David in the live impact area in Vieques, denounced today
the announcement by the U.S. Navy and by acting Governor Angel Morey that
the U.S. Navy had resumed bombing in Vieques.
Zenon, whose sons Pedro and Cacimar are still in the live impact area
along with several other people, said that the Navy continues with its
psychological warfare against the people of Vieques, as it recently did
with the constant reports about the “imminency” of the arrests.
Zenon said: “Resuming bombing on this island, even if there were no one
left in the live impact area, is immoral. But bombing when my sons and
others are there in the live impact area, is further evidence that the
lives of Viequenses are worth very little to the Navy. If they had the
audacity to bomb today, knowing full well about the presence of several
human beings in the area and knowing full well that there are hundreds of
depleted uranium shells and hundreds of unexploded live bombs that could
explode upon impact by the inert bombs, then the message the Navy is
sending is that its true intention is to continue abusing Vieques and
doing whatever they please to the people of Vieques, regardless of the
charade of Clinton’s directives on Vieques.”
ZenÛn stated: “RossellÛ and Clinton know this full well. You’ll now see
how their people go running to Congress to gleefully share the news of the
arrests and the resumption of bombing. At this stage, no one can have any
doubts that Clinton’s directives on Vieques are pro-Navy and anti-Vieques.”
Finally, Zenon said: “This total disregard of the Navy towards the lives,
health and well-being of the people of Vieques is well known by us. Last
week I said that one can expect anything from the Navy, but that even they
would not dare drop one single bomb if there is even one human being in
the live impact area. If they actually dropped bombs in the area today,
knowing as they do that there are several people in the area, then we have
to say that one can expect anything from the Navy, however immoral it may
be. Things like these make our struggle for peace more urgent.”
Party Leader Detained in Vieques
Party Leader Detained in Vieques
By Ismael Torres
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, May 10, 2000; 7:00 p.m. EDT
VIEQUES, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico’s independence party leader slipped past Marines guarding the Navy’s Vieques training ground and was arrested Wednesday, hours before a Navy destroyer shelled the range using non-explosive ordnance.
Ruben Berrios and activist Jorge Fernandez Porto entered the island bombing range before dawn and were stopped at 9 a.m. by Marines.
Berrios and Fernandez were charged with trespassing on federal property, a misdemeanor, and released from the federal courthouse in San Juan on their own recognizance. U.S. Magistrate Jesus Castellanos warned them they could face contempt of court charges if they re-enter the base.
Berrios who insisted he didn’t recognize the court’s jurisdiction could face six months in jail and a $1,000 fine on the trespassing charge. No trial date was set, said Rosa Emilia Rodriguez, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“I refuse to accept any condition from the court,” Berrios told about 100 supporters outside. “If I want to, and if we decide to go to Vieques, we go but first, the trial.”
At 11 a.m., the USS Stump fired non-explosive rounds in the first ship-to-shore shelling at the Atlantic fleet range in more than a year. The shelling, which lasted roughly two hours, complied with a presidential order allowing the Navy to resume limited operations on Vieques using non-explosive ordnance, said Navy spokesman Bob Nelson. Puerto Rico’s government was notified at least 15 days ago of the event.
“Today’s training was completed safely, professionally and without incident,” Nelson said.
Two Navy A-4 Skyhawks dropped 12 “dummy” bombs at the ground Monday, fulfilling a Navy pledge to resume operations despite protesters’ claims that some colleagues were still on the range.
Berrios, 60, had camped on the range for nearly a year, helping lead protests against Navy training before he and 223 others were removed in a federal operation that began May 11.
The detainees were released without charges, but anyone entering now faces tough penalties: up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine under a new order issued by President Clinton.
Berrios “is violating the imperialist law in order to comply with the law of his fatherland,” said Independence Party Senator Manuel Rodriguez Orellana.
Protesters occupied the range in April 1999 after a civilian security guard was killed by stray bombs. They say decades of bombing have harmed their health and the environment and stunted tourism.
The Navy disputes those arguments and says Vieques is the only place where the Atlantic Fleet can hold simultaneous air, land and sea training. Clinton and Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Rossello agreed in January to let the Navy resume limited training with inert ordnance and, in exchange, let Vieques residents vote probably next year on whether the Navy should leave by 2003.
In San Juan, a U.S. magistrate issued arrest warrants for two activists who, protesters claim, are inside the range. Brothers Casimar and Pedro Zenon are accused of assault for allegedly throwing rocks at Navy and contract personnel at the range on March 18. One civilian was hit.
Vieques fishermen, meanwhile, said they would try Saturday to run a 3-mile-wide no-entry zone around the range that they say has robbed them of their fishing grounds. The Coast Guard is enforcing the zone.
Vieques Alert Guideline
Vieques Alert Guideline
1. What’s the latest news?
On Thursday, May 4, 2000, federal authorities removed 215 people that were
conducting Civil Disobedience in Vieques, defending the island against
renewed occupation and bombing by the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Government’s
response to the demands for respect of basic Human Rights of the people of
Vieques was a military invasion of Vieques that was met with no violent
resistance by protestors who, from the outset, had vowed to engange in
non-violent Civil Disobedience. In spite of this military/police show of
force (there were over 1,000 U.S. Marines in the perimeter) the Federal
Government was incapable of removing all of those who were protesting at the target range.
Close to a dozen activists (and counting!) have remained hidden in secret encampments. At least three of those activists have been caught and
removed, but the rest remains at the target range. And more are coming
back to the range by the day.
The presence of human beings inside the target zone, of which the U.S.
Government is fully aware, has not been sufficient to detain the resumption of bombing of Vieques. The military began to bomb Vieques once again while they know that there are civilians right there in the bombing range. More civilians are getting back inside the target range to serve as human shields against the bombings. Among those getting back was Ruben Berrios, former Senator and President of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, and José Fernandez Porto, environmentalist and member of the Puerto Rican Independence Party. They were arrested on May 10, 2000 and taken to a federal magistrate, who released them and set a court date. In the midst of all the Vieques-related news, it is important to bear in mind that every single day, every single hour there are human beings at the bombing
range and, though the U.S. Navy knows this, it has kept on bombing.
2. What can be done to help the people of Vieques?
You or your organization should call and fax President Clinton to let him know that what he has done is a travesty that brings shame to this nation and that the U.S. Government is been looked at by many Americans and the international community as an imperialistic bully that decided to brutalize those who defend the Human Rights of the 9,400 people who live in Vieques. Tell him and his staff that his outrageous decision to arrest
and resume the bombing of the Island will continue to be met by protests,
civil disobedience, and peaceful resistance in Vieques, Puerto Rico, in
the U.S., and in other parts of the world. Also call the media to demand
fair coverage and to underscore the importance and urgency this story has.
Call or fax:
Maria Echaveste – White House Deputy Chief of Staff
Phone – 202- 456-6594
Fax – 202-456-6703
3. How do I plan a protest in my area?
To select the ideal site take this into consideration: the ideal site would be a Federal or Military facility, but keep in mind that you would like to protest in a public place with passers-by. Therefore, if there are no well-located facilities a public plaza or square will be a good place. This will ensure the visibility to the public, will allow you to hand out flyers and inform the public, and it will also decrease the chances of any illegal action from authorities. Remember to call the media for the event and bring cameras and these chants [ http://www.micronetix.net/virus/Chants.htm ] with you! And don’t forget: The Puerto Rican Day Parade in NYC this year will be dedicated to Vieques. It’ll be held in Manhattan on Sunday June 11th. Mark your calendars!
4. How can I contact the media to bring the attention to this?
Call, e-mail, and fax the media in your city. If you have contacts, great.
If you don’t, it doesn’t matter. You should still contact the media, provide them with relevant information and urge them to cover what’s happening in Vieques. Use this site to send Press Releases to local and national media:
provide background information on various aspects of the struggle for
Vieques. If you access the articles, press releases, etc., you’ll have
more than enough information on the environmental and ecological
devastation in Vieques, the abnormally high rate of illnesses such as cancer, and other aspects. Depending on the target audience, media outlet or organization, you can cull information from these sources and tailor it
accordingly.
6. What is the general position of the people of Vieques?
The general position of the people of Vieques is the same position as the
great majority of the people of Puerto Rico and millions of others in the
U.S. and elsewhere: The people of Vieques have suffered the abuse of the
U.S. Navy for too long and the U.S. Navy must leave and halt the bombing of the Island. The following documents present the position of the people of Vieques:
Acces the News archive in http://www.viequeslibre.org for recent press releases, resolutions, public letters and policy statements.
7. How can I inform others about what is happening?
The best policy is not to assume that others are going to inform others.
Vieques activists have an incredibly busy workload, especially these days,
and the more people can help out by taking the initiative to write and
submit something on Vieques for a newspaper, organizing a vigil, protest,
demonstration, march, lobbying drive, etc., the better.
Send e-mails, faxes, make phone calls. The more people you contact the better. Attend the Vieques events in your cities and tell others about them. Bring banners, poster, flags, bullhorns, flyers etc. to those events. Visit this site for Vieques activists that contains helpful resources, including logos and cartoons for your flyers: [http://www.micronetix.net/virus/activist.htm]
Join the ViequesLibre listerve by sending a message to subscribe@viequeslibre.org to receive updated information.
If you organize a Vieques event in your community, send a detailed description with contact info to Viequeslibre@viequeslibre.org.
Congress Blocks Clinton’s Orders
Congress Blocks Clinton’s Orders
United Press International News
House panel blocks Puerto Rican compromise
Wednesday, May 10, 2000 6:35:19 PM EST
By PAMELA HESS WASHINGTON, May 10 (UPI) — Thumbing its nose at Defense
Secretary William Cohen, a powerful House committee says the Navy must use
explosive munitions at the Navy’s Vieques training range, undermining
months of painstaking negotiations between the U.S. Navy and the governor
of Puerto Rico.
After more than a year, the Navy was allowed to use the Vieques range
again this week, albeit with inert bombs. Military police just days ago
cleared the beach of the last of hundreds of protestors who have been
occupying the land since an errant bomb killed a civilian Puerto Rican
guard on April 19, 1999.
The incident dramatically affected the Navy: Vieques is the only range in
the western Atlantic where entire battle groups, including submarines and Marine amphibious assault units, can rehearse battles together in what is known as “combined arms training,” according to the Navy. Consequently, two battle groups went to sea without critical training.
The Navy and Puerto Rico in January hammered out a compromise that would
allow the service to use the vital range again: the Navy would use only inert munitions; it would use the range only 90 days a year; it would give $40 million to Vieques for economic development; and it would conduct a
vote to determine whether it could continue using the range beyond 2003
and whether it could ever use live munitions again.
“That agreement allows us to address the concerns of the citizens of Vieques and gain their necessary support for the training mission which must be accomplished at Vieques,” wrote Cohen in a May 10 letter asking the committee to accept the compromise.
But today the House Armed Services Committee adopted language in its
fiscal year 2001 defense authorization bill that could abrogate that entire agreement: It prohibits the Navy from transferring any of the 8,700 acres of Vieques it has promised to Puerto Rico unless the commonwealth also allows the service to resume using live munitions on the training range.
It also prohibits the Navy from using any of the $40 million it has earmarked for Vieques to run the referendum. And no matter what the result of that vote, it prohibits the transfer of any part of the eastern end of the island – where the live impact area is located – back to Puerto Rico. Not only that, the committee says the 8,700 acres the Navy has already pledged to transfer to Puerto Rico can only be used as a conservation zone. It may not be commercially developed.
Moreover, it would allow the Navy to use the range for a full 180 days, half with live ordnance.
Cohen enjoined the committee from adopting the restrictions in his May 10
letter, warning that it could derail the delicate state of affairs on Vieques and put the Navy even further behind in training.
“The continued cooperation of the government of Puerto Rico is critical to
achieving the goal which you and I seek; i.e. resumption of the full range
of training exercises at Vieques. If legislation which abrogates the
agreement is adopted, the opportunity to achieve that goal will be set back, if not lost altogether. I urge that the committee reject any language that would undermine our efforts to achieve that goal,” Cohen wrote.
“Altering provisions of the agreement would eliminate crucial components
of the delicate balance that has been worked out with the government of
Puerto Rico. The significance of those components cannot be overstated.” An administration official close to the issue agreed with that assessment,
saying if the Navy uses live ordnance it would likely start the protests all over again.
However, the House Armed Services Committee bill will go to the full House
for consideration this summer and the Vieques provisions could face stiff
opposition. The House defeated similar language in a 232 – 183 vote taken
last month.
“We just have to take the battle to the House floor,” the administration
official said. “This obviously strikes at the heart of the agreement.” The
Senate Armed Services Committee version of the authorization bill supports
the terms of the Navy agreement, so the House language will also have to
survive a compromise conference in order to be enacted.
The Senate also turns up the heat on Puerto Rico by directing the General
Accounting Office to study the costs and benefits of closing the Army’s
Fort Buchanan on Puerto Rico and moving its operations to the Navy’s Roosevelt Roads facility, a proposal only likely to be made if the Puerto Rican referendum rejects the Navy’s use of Vieques after 2003.
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Here are two updates from people in Puerto Rico. Also, last night I spoke to Eduardo Morales Coll, President of the Ateneo Puertorriqueño, who was in Vieques, and he told me that the Navy now has a double fence and that just last night the police motorists to use the road that leads to the gate of Camp Garcia. The road had been blocked since the protestors were removed last week. –Hector
Ruben Berrios Martinez, head of the Puerto Rican Independence Party is back
inside the firing ranges on Vieques.
Vieques fisherman are defying the Navy today by fishing in Puerto Rican
waters.
Update: Rev. Estrada asked the fishermen to postpone till Saturday, in deference to negotiations he is carrying on with Adm. Green regarding lifting of restrictions for specific work periods. Estrada told Green he needs an answer before Friday. Fishermen met last night to consider this, and although hard pressed, decided to allow Estrada to conclude his negotiations. They are planning to work in the north on Saturday, and the south on Sunday or Monday.
Delegation to Vieques and Puerto Rico
Disarming the Naval Colossus
in Puerto Rico
National Delegation to Vieques and Puerto Rico
August 12 – 20, 2000
Sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Caribbean Project
for Justice and Peace
The populated island of Vieques on the eastern end of Puerto Rico has been
bombed by the U.S. Navy since 1941 as part of training for war. NATO forces have also trained on Vieques. For the last year, Puerto Rico has experienced an unprecedented movement to recover the land and waters of Vieques for civilian use. More than a dozen civil disobedience encampments in the Vieques impact area prevented the Navy from bombing for more than a year. Other groups are investigating environmental cleanup of the explosives and economic conversion of the island. Puerto Rican civil society has played a leading role.
The Navy’s firing range in Vieques is part of a complex that includes
Roosevelt Roads, the largest U.S. naval base outside the United States. Roosevelt Roads also hosts hundreds of Special Forces troops who train Latin American armed forces, aircraft conducting drug war surveillance,
and U.S. Navy South. Some Congressmen have said that if Vieques closes,
Roosevelt Roads will also close.
This delegation will visit community groups in Vieques and Puerto Rico,
meet with church and civic leaders in San Juan and the communities around
Roosevelt Roads, and explore the prospects for environmental cleanup and
economic conversion of U.S. military bases in Puerto Rico.
We seek individuals with experience in base cleanup, economic conversion
and community organizing to be delegates. Translation to English will be provided. Cost of $550 covers all food, lodging, and transportation in
The FOR is an interfaith pacifist organization founded in 1915. The
Caribbean Project for Justice and Peace, in San Juan, works for demilitarization and a culture of peace in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean region. For a report from the 1999 delegation to Puerto Rico co-sponsored by the Caribbean Project, FOR and other groups, contact the FOR office.
Ex-President of Panama in Solidarity with Vieques
Ex-President of Panama in Solidarity with Vieques
Panama, may 10th, 2000
H.E.
William J. Clinton
President of the United States of America
White House
Washington, D.C.
U.S.A.
Dear Mr. President:
As former President of the Republic of Panama, I will like to express my
solidarity with the people of Puerto Rico that have stated his concern about the military maneuvers developed by the U.S. Army in the tiny island of Vieques.
At the present times, when the entire world is preoccupied in preserving
for us and future generations the forest, wildlife, rivers, lakes and
seas, it seems an unwise practice to jeopardize the ecology with weaponry.
As you should remember, after the delivery of the Canal to Panama, the
U.S. Army has departed without removing the military devices used for many
years in the bases they occupied. That is a claim the government of Panama
will file to obtain the reparation of the lands and waters almost destroyed by so many potentially hazardous artifacts still left in such areas. For this similarities we are capable of understanding and sharing attitude of puertoricans.
Ruben Berrios, leader of the independentist Party of Puerto Rico, have been imprisoned in Vieques. I really hope that this graduate from Yale
University, as you are, will be freed as soon as possible. His only crime had been to act against the activities of the most powerful army of the world that will devastate one of the smaller islands of the earth unless they stop using live ammunition.
Trusting once more in your wisdom and sense of justice, I remain with my
best wishes,
Aristides Royo
Ex-President of Panama
Solicitud de Ayuda
Solicitud de Ayuda: Amigos de Vieques y Colectivo Cayo la YaYis
Mensaje: Solicitud de Ayuda
Por: Amigos de Vieques y Colectivo Cayo la YaYis (Dos de los Campamentos de Desobediencia Civil)
Saludos solidarios a todos nuestros hermanas y hermanos
Ante los hechos acontecidos y atropellos morales y sicologicos que estamos
viviendo TODOS por mantener viva la esperanza de un pueblo que ha sido
historicamente maltratado, atropellado y olvidado por 60 años, un pueblo que lucha para vivir y poder tener las mÌsmas oportunidades y derechos como cualquier ser humano en el mundo, por todos nuestros amigos y familiares que hoy est·n dando sus vidas por conseguir la paz y el respeto que se merece el pueblo de la Isla Nena, ahora mas que nunca necesitamos de ti.
!Tu mas que nadie sabe como puede aportar a la lucha por la paz de Vieques!
Este mensaje es solo para dejarles saber que si no puede estar fÌsicamente en el area de tiro con nosotros, existen otras alternativas sumamente atiles y necesarias en este momento. Dejanos saber de que forma puedes ayudarnos:
1. Venta y compra de Camisas
2. Venta de stickers
3. Donacion a los campamentos: Amigos de Vieques y Colectivo Cayo la Yayis
4. Ofreciendo charlas y presentando el documental “Taller de Desobediencia
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA – PRESS RELEASE
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA – PRESS RELEASE
[Scroll Down for ENGLISH]
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA
COMITE PRO RESCATE Y DESARROLLO DE VIEQUES
Apartado 1424
Vieques, PR 00765
Contacto: Flavio Cumpiano
Tel.: 202-721-4688
jueves 11 de mayo del 2000
Washington, DC.- El representante del ComitÈ Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de
Vieques en Washington, Lcdo. Flavio Cumpiano, denunciÛ hoy la reanudaciÛn
del bombardeo por parte de la Marina de Guerra de los Estados Unidos en Vieques como “un cruel acto de prepotencia e inmoralidad”.
Cumpiano dijo: “La ultima bomba que arrojo la Marina en Vieques mato al
viequense David Sanes RodrÌguez el 19 de abril del 1999. Poco m·s de un año después, la Marina ha reanudado el bombardeo a sabiendas de que hay seres humanos en la zona de tiro. Eso es inmoral y criminal.”
Cumpiano añadio: “Antes de ocupar la zona de tiro a la fuerza, la Marina
usaba el eufemismo de que no habia sido un +buen vecino+ en Vieques. Ahora que ha vuelto a ocupar forzosamente la zona este de Vieques, deja esa retorica hueca a un lado y ha comenzado inmediatamente a actuar con un menosprecio total por la vida humana.”
Cumpiano exhorto al pueblo de Puerto Rico, de los Estados Unidos y a la
comunidad internacional, a que estÈn conscientes y denuncien el hecho de
que cada dÌa que pasa, cada minuto que transcurre, hay seres humanos en la
zona de tiro en Vieques cuya vida puede ser cegada en cualquier momento por las bombas que esta arrojando la Marina en Vieques.
Mas aun, Cumpiano tildo como “el colmo de la ironia” el que las autoridades federales hayan emitido ordenes de arrestos contra los hermanos Pedro y Cacimar Zenon, hijos del lider de los pescadores viequenses Carlos Zenon, por alegadamente haberle tirado piedras a unos marinos en Vieques en marzo, cuando la Marina est· lanzando bombas desde
aviones y barcos sobre el mismo lugar en donde la propia Marina sabe que se hayan escondidos Pedro, Cacimar y otras personas. “Las ordenes de arresto o allanamiento no se diligencian con bombas”, dijo Cumpiano.
“Este es uno de los muchos ejemplos en donde la Marina utiliza lo metodos
represivos a su alcance para intentar aplastar la voluntad de un pueblo,
desde impedir que los pescadores de Vieques puedan salir a pescar, hasta
lograr que la Guardia Costanera imponga un estado de sitio, hasta conseguir que las autoridades federales continuen amenazando con penas excesivas contra personas cuya meta es defender vidas. Hagan lo que hagan, la Marina de Guerra no lograra detener la lucha por la paz en Vieques”, señalo Cumpiano, quien participo hoy en una vigilia por Vieques
frente a la Casa Blanca.
======================================
PRESS RELEASE/URGENT MESSAGE
Contact: Flavio Cumpiano
Tel.: 202-721-4688
May 11, 2000
Washington, DC.-
The representative of the Committee for Rescue and Development of Vieques,
in Washington, Flavio Cumpiano, condemned the continuance of the bombing
in Vieques by the United States Navy by saying “it is a cruel act of arrogance and immorality.”
Cumpiano said, “The last bomb that the Navy let go in Vieques killed David
Sanes Rodriguez on April 19, 1999. A little more than a year later, the Navy has began to bomb again knowing that there are human beings in the zone. This is immoral and criminal.”
Cumpiano added, “Before occupying the zone by force, the Navy used the
euphemism that they hadn’t been good neighbors in Vieques. Now they have
returned to occupy by force the east zone of Vieques, they put that empty
rhetoric to the side and have immediately begun to undervalue human life.
Cumpiano urged the Puerto Rican community in the United States and the
international community, to denounce the acts that are occurring. Everyday, every minute they occur, there are human beings in the zone in Vieques whose lives can be taken at any moment by the bombs.
Furthermore, Cumpiano accentuated the irony that the federal agents would
have given orders to arrest the brothers Pedro and Cacimar Zenon, sons of the Leader of Fishermen from Vieques Carlos Zenon, for allegedly throwing rocks at one of the Navy men in Vieques in March, when the Navy is throwing bombs from airplanes and ships over the same place where the Navy knows Pedro, Cacimar, and others are hidden. “An arrest warrant in not carried out using bombs,” said Cumpiano.
“This is one of many examples as to how the Navy uses repressive methods to crush the will of a nation, from not allowing fishermen to fish, to having the Coast Guard impose a state of siege, to threaten with excessive penalties those people who are defending and protecting lives. Whatever they do, the Navy will not succeed to stop the struggle for peace in Vieques,” said Cumpiano, who participated today in the Vieques vigil in front of the White House.
25 people to face trial
Agence France Presse:
25 people to face trial over Vieuqes
Agence France Presse
May 16, 2000, Tuesday 5:15 AM, Eastern Time
by Martin Delfin
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, May 15
Twenty-five people will have to go to trial in US District Court on misdemeanor trespassing charges on a Navy target range in Vieques after federal authorities arrested them along with another group over the weekend, a federal judge said Monday.
The 25 appeared before the magistrate who ordered them not to return to Vieques as a condition of their release. But the protesters defied another judge’s order by holding a noisy rally outside the federal building after they were released.
This was the second time that protesters have been arrested since federal agents undertook a massive operation to remove scores of demonstrators from Camp Garcia in Vieques on May 4.
US warplanes resumed bombing practice at the target range one week ago, after federal agents forcibly ended the protesters’ year-long occupation to fight the resumption of testing.
Last week, Puerto Rican Independence Party president Ruben Berrios and environmentalist Jorge Fernandez Porto were charged with misdemeanor trespassing after they were arrested when they tried to re-enter Camp Garcia.
Interim US Attorney Guillermo Gil has declined to use President Bill Clinton’s executive order to charge the protesters with felony trespassing.
“We don’t want to use justice to deal with them but they’re forcing us to do it,” said an exasperated Gil after leaving a trial. “I’m not going to be using the full force of the law to deal with them. We’re here to deal with real crime.”
A total of 54 were arrested on Saturday, including former Puerto Rico Bar Association president Graciany Miranda Marchand and members of a Christian pacifist organization.
Twenty-five were held until Monday because they had refused to give their names and addresses to federal authorities at the time of their arrests. The remainder had been released on Sunday.
After receiving notices of violations from US Magistrate Judge Jesus Castellanos, the protesters marched out of the federal building screaming political slogans against the US Navy.
The noisy crowd purposely trampled on the grassy areas in front of the building, chanting as they marched pass the courtroom windows of US District Judge Hector Laffitte.
On Friday, Laffitte issued a controversial order prohibiting loud demonstrations in front of the federal building and adjacent courthouse during working hours or while the court is in session.
Federal assault and resisting arrest charges were filed against another individual, who was working as a contract newspaper photographer, for allegedly trying to bite a government employee as he was being transported from Vieques.
He was released on 5,000 dollars bail, which was paid for by the El Nuevo Dia newspaper.
FEDERAL JUDGE INHIBITS SELF IN A VIEQUES CASE; PROTESTERS RE-ENTER PRACTICE BOMBING ZONE
May 14, 2000
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO, HWP News Service — In an act yesterday’s edition of the Spanish-language newspaper El Nuevo Dia described as without precedent, U.S. District Judge Carmen Consuelo Vargas de Cerezo on Friday inhibited herself “motu proprio” from presiding at the trial of Puerto Rico Independence Party President Ruben Berrios, whose case was assigned
to her court the previous day.
The ex-chief judge of the federal court in Puerto Rico, Vargas de Cerezo,
declared in a dramatic written statement she will have nothing to do with the case. She indicated in her statement her strong support for the Vieques cause, and by implication her support for the highly publicized efforts of Berrios to prevent a resumption of U.S. Navy bombing practice there.
Units of the U.S. Armed Forces, normally the Marines and Navy, and military units of other nations with ties to the U.S. that reportedly pay to participate, have routinely carried out practice bombing on the eastern one-third of the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, since 1941.
Following a one-year hiatus since the accidental killing of David Sanes, a
civilian security guard, by two bombs dropped by U.S. Navy F-18s April 19
last year, practice bombing was resumed last week with inert bombs and artillery shells. At least three protesters, including one woman, remained at large in the bombing zone after the sweep by authorities May 4, and were reported to be in the target area when inert munitions were first dropped by aircraft, then fired by Naval artillery, in last week’s resumption. The woman for a time took shelter in a burned-out tank. The bombing zone and the island’s surrounding nearshore waters are strewn with unexploded ordnance and wreckage that includes submerged drums of
chemicals in the vicinity of at least one sunken vessel.
Oddly, though there were no deaths on that occasion, a guardhouse in the same immediate area of Vieques as the one hit last year was reported to have been mistakenly hit by one or more bombs from U.S. military aircraft a few years ago, resulting in injuries.
El Nuevo Dia quoted U.S. District Judge Vargas de Cerezo in Spanish as saying in relation to the Berrios case, “Vieques is a silent prayer for peace and renewal before the Holy Sacrament. So it has been, will be, and will continue to be. The undersigned recuses herself from any
participation in this case.”
The 18-mile-long stringbean-shaped island of Vieques lies about nine miles
off the southern part of Puerto Rico’s east coast, aligned east-to-west.
Nearly three-fourths of Vieques’ land area was confiscated from the Puerto
Rico government and from the smaller island’s residents in an action tied to U.S. WWII military needs.
An effort at that time, nearly six decades ago, by authorities to move the
18,000-plus residents of Vieques to the island of St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, was halted. Residents of Vieques have since been obligated to live in the middle third of their long thin island, and the population of that island has fallen to roughly half that in 1941. The U.S. Navy, whose sprawling Roosevelt Roads Naval Station is located across Vieques Sound on the east coast of the main island of Puerto Rico, maintains a military munitions dump on the western one-third of Vieques.
Berrios, 60, a tenured professor at the University of Puerto Rico law school, and for many years an at-large senator who repeatedly garnered overwhelmingly more votes in general elections than any other Puerto Rico senator, re-entered the Vieques bombing zone accompanied by the Puerto Rico Independence Party environmental adviser, undetected by U.S. Marines guarding the area, by an undisclosed route before dawn Wednesday, May 10, and was taken into custody some hours later by Marines.
The former senator, who holds a law doctorate from Oxford, and a law degree from Yale, where President Clinton studied, had previously been detained on Vieques Wednesday, May 4. On that day U.S. Marshals staged a coordinated sweep involving the FBI and Marines that began before dawn, in which they detained more than 200 protesters. The Independence Party leader had been camped on the beach in the bombing zone near the eastern tip of the stringbean-shaped island for nearly a year, since May 8, 1999.
While camped on the beach, Berrios resigned his at-large senate seat because of his inability to attend legislative sessions.
Late the afternoon of May 10, after his arrest, Berrios was taken by helicopter from Vieques to the Federal Court in San Juan’s Hato Rey sector. Though it had previously been announced that President Clinton had invoked by executive order a law tied to national security raising the maximum penalty for trespassing on land claimed by the U.S. Navy to 10
years of imprisonment plus a fine of $250,000, it has since been reported
Berrios was charged only with the misdemeanor of trespassing.
U.S. Magistrate Jesus Castellanos informed Berrios in court at the
arraignment May 10 that he would have to accept special conditions for his release on his own recognisance. Berrios asserted he would accept no conditions. Despite this, the judge shortly afterwards ordered Berrios released without bail on his own recognisance, pending trial.
Yesterday, Saturday, May 13, a group of some 45-50 people led by Ismael
Guadalupe, a fisherman, entered the bombing range and were detained by
U.S. Marines at about 8:00 p.m. Two of those detained were released today,
and Magistrate Castellanos is reported to have ordered all but two of the
others remaining in custody to be processed for release. The two who will
apparently remain in custody longer are said to be charged with assault of
a military official.
Among those yet to be released was Graciani Miranda Marchand, a former
president of the Puerto Rico Lawyers Association. Others include religious
leaders. One of the two protesters released ahead of the others is Jose
Chegui Torres, a prominent New York City community leader, well known as a
professional boxer.
Protests have been staged intermittently over the nearly six decades since
the Vieques lands were confiscated for use by the U.S. military. There were arrests in 1972, when there was a surge of protests. Though charged only with the misdemeanor of trespassing, Angel Rodriguez Cristobal, one of those arrested on that occasion, was found hanged with a bedsheet in his cell shortly before completing his six-month prison term.
Prison authorities say Rodriguez Cristobal hanged himself in his cell.
However, Rodriguez Cristobal’s friends and colleagues, among them some who
visited him in prison, described his state of mind as sound, and claimed
he was not likely to have hanged himself, certainly not so soon before his release. They believed authorities failed to adequately investigate the
In San Juan, Sunday afternoon, rumors circulated as this dispatch was being prepared that more protesters were moving into restricted U.S. military areas in Vieques.
Más de 50 manifestantes entraron a la base y fueron detenidos ayer a las 10
de la noche.
Hoy a las 7 de la noche salieron los últimos que permitieron que salieran,
entre ellos José Escoda, Miguel Santiago, Rafael Bernabe, Javier Córdova, se quedó detenido Saturnino de Cayey y Sarah Peisch.
Sarah dio información telefónica que quedaron 10 compañeras arrestadas, y
varios compañeros arrestados, entre ellos Graciani Miranda. Mañana tienen
vista, los que quedaron detenidos van a la carce federal de Guaynabo, tienen
todos vistas en el edificio federal en la calle Chardón mañana.
Manifestación en el tribunal federal al mediodia.
Las siguientes compañeras todavía siguen detenidas:
Nidia Rodriguez
Maria Renard
Tania Hernandez
Rvda. Margarita Sánchez
Marianne Grady
Ambrosia Brown
Mimite Vieves (Viequense)
Marlene (sin apellido)
Sarah Peisch
Arlene Casanova
¡Manifestación militante mañana en la corte federal en San Juan a mediodía!
¡Libertad para los emisarios de la paz detenidos por el gobierno federal!
¡Fuera la Marina de Vieques¡
**************************************
More than 50 demonstrators entered Navy grounds in Vieques and were detained
yesterday at 10 pm.
Today, Sunday, at 7 pm, the last ones freed from detention came out, among
them José Escoda, Miguel Santiago, Rafael Bernabe, Javier Córdova.
Saturnino from Cayey is still detained and so is Sarah Peisch.
Sarah relayed through telephone that 10 women are still detained, and an
undetermined number of men, among them Graciani Miranda. They have a hearing tomorrow, it seems all the detained will be moved to the federal prison in Guaynabo, they all have hearings tomorrow in the federal court in Chardón Street.
A demonstration is being called at noon at the Federal Court.
The following compañeras are still detained:
Nidia Rodriguez
Maria Renard
Tania Hernandez
Rvda. Margarita Sánchez
Marianne Grady
Ambrosia Brown
Mimite Vieves (Viequense)
Marlene (no last name)
Sarah Peisch
Arlene Casanova
Picket tomorrow in the Federal Court.
¡Freedom for the emissaries of Peace for Vieques detained by the federal
government!
¡Fuera la Marina de Vieques¡
Agreden a un fotoperiodista
Agreden a un fotoperiodista – Federal Authorities Attacked Photojournalist
CEIBA – El fotoperiodista Freddie Toledo, que cubrÌa actividades contra la
Marina en Vieques, fue acusado de delito grave este domingo por las autoridades federales en el incidente en que detuvieron m·s de 50 personas que entraron al Campamento GarcÌa el sabado por la noche.
Segun testigos de la detencion del grupo de manifestantes, Toledo fue agredido por personal de seguridad de la Marina que intentaron entorpecer su labor de fotoperiodista mientras detenian a los manifestantes y a pesar de que este se identifico debidamente como miembro de la prensa y mostro sus credenciales.
Juan Vera, quien ha estado involucrado en las investigaciones sobre el daño ambiental causado por las practicas militares en Vieques, dijo que vio desde el otro lado de la verja como los marinos “le estaban dando un trato diferente al que le daban a las otras personas en la actividad”.
“El se identificÛ desde un principio que era prensa acreditada”, dijo Vera, quien aÒadiÛ que los militares mantenÌan a Toledo rodeado y trataban de agarrar la c·mara. “…l protegÌa su equipo”, dijo Vera, quien hizo llegar a El Nuevo Dia los rollos de fotografÌas tomadas por Toledo.
Una vez detenidos, los manifestantes y Toledo fueron transportados en camiones militares a un antiguo edificio que sirviÛ de celda para todos ellos. Luego de varias horas, los montaron en una barcaza que los transporto desde el muelle Mosquito en la zona oeste de la Marina hasta Roosevelt Roads en Ceiba.
La primera mujer en ser liberada relato que cuando llegaron a Roosevelt Roads los marinos empujaron a Toledo de la guagua y Èste cayo al suelo. “En defensa de Èl fue que los compañeros empezaron a protestar y ahi fue que se dio la situacion del gas pimienta y las macanas”, dijo la mujer.
Robert Nelson, portavoz de la Marina en la base Roosevelt Roads, nego que los detenidos hayan sido maltratados.
***************
Photographer Freddie Toledo, who covered activities against the US Navy in
Vieques, was accused of serious crime Sunday by the federal authorities in
an incident in which they stopped more than 54 people that entered the Navy firing range on Camp Garcia late Saturday night.
According to witnesses, Toledo was attacked by Navy security personnel.
The Navy secruity personnel tried to obstruct the photographer’s work while they were intervining with the demonstrators. The Navy did this even though Toledo was properly identified as a member of the press and showed his credentials.
Rev. Juan Vera, who has been involved in the investigations on the environmental damage caused by the military practices in Vieques, said
that he saw from the other side of the fence how the sailors “were treating Toledo different from how the Navy treated the other people in the activity.” From the begining Toledo identified himself a a memeber of
the credited press, “the military maintained Toledo surrounded and tried
to take away his camera. Toledo protected his equipment,” said Vera. Vera gave the rolls of film taken by Toledo to his newspaper.
Once prisoners, the demonstrators and Toledo were transported in military
trucks to an old building that served as cell for all of them. After several hours, they were put on a Navy barge that transported them from the Mosquito in the western zone of Vieques to
Roosevelt Roads in Ceiba.
The first woman released stated that when the demonstrators arrived at
Roosevelt Roads Navy sailors pushed Toledo from a bus and this made him
fell to the ground. “As a reaaction to this and in Toledo’s defense demonstrators began to protest. The navy answered with night sticks and pepper spray,” the woman said.
Robert Nelson, Navy spokesman on the base Roosevelt Roads base, denied that the prisoners have been mistreated.
Informe desde Vieques por Robert Rabin
Informe desde Vieques por Robert Rabin
16 de mayo del 2000
Compañeros solidarios con la lucha del pueblo viequense por la Paz:
La lucha por la paz de Vieques continua, tanto en Vieques como en Estados Unidos y en otros piÌses. Los arrestos del sabado pasado y las continuas entradas a la zona restringida de la Marina son solo una parte de las estrategias trazadas por las organizaciones comunitarias viequenses y los lideres de los campamentos.
Las entradas a la zona militar tienen propositos variados: crear nucleos
de escudos humanos para bloquear el bombardeo; provocar arrestos para asÌ
dramatizar el caso de Vieques y asegurar la constante divulgacion de noticias sobre la lucha en los medios de comunicacion; explorar el posible
establecimiento de nuevos campamentos de desobediencia civil en la zona de
bombardeo; obligar el uso de recursos de la Marina para la busqueda y arresto de los manifestantes; permitir una participacion cada vez mas amplia en la lucha directa de viequenses y de puertorriqueños de la Isla Grande.
Los trabajos del Campamento Justicia y Paz, frente al porton de Camp Garcia, continuan. En tres predios directamente frente al porton, residentes de Vieques mantiene una presencia las 24 horas para vigilar los movimientos militares por ese espacio. El Campamento Justicia y Paz mantuvo bloqueado al transito militar por ese porton desde el 3 de
diciembre hasta los arrestos-secuestros del 4 de mayo. Un contingente de
la Fuerza de Choque de la Policia de PR llego en la madrugada del 4 de mayo para ofrecerle apoyo a la Marina en el area del porton de Camp Garcia, y no se han ido todavia. Esta presencia represiva tiene el proposito de asegurarle a los militares el flujo de tr·nsito por el porton o “gate” de la base. Sin embargo, tan pronto salga la policia del area, los integrantes de Justicia y
Paz aseguran que bloquearan de nuevo cualquier movimiento vehicular militar por el porton.
El Campamento Justicia y Paz sigue como punto de reunion de personas de nuestra comunidad para reuniones de planificacion de estrategia, la
celebracion de talleres de desobediencia civil y otros temas relacionados
con la lucha. Sigue en funcion el sistema de comunicaciones con sede en
la oficina del Campamento y que mantiene el flujo de informacion entre el sector civil y los luchadores que se encuentran en la zona restringida, asi como con otros integrantes de la lucha en Vieques y en la Isla Grande.
La viglia que se ha celebrado frente a la entrada de Camp Garcia por mas
de un año, continuo este pasado sabado con una enÈrgica participacion de
mas de doscientos viequenses representativos de todos los sectores de
nuestra poblacion. Se ha contstruido una nueva tarima para las actividades frente al porton de la base y se logro – tras dialogo con los oficiales de la Fuerza de Choque – el uso de la mitad de la carretera que pasa por la zona, para la celebracion de los piquetes que se han convertido en actividad obligatoria para cientos de viequenses todos los
s·bados por la noche.
En coordinacion con los grupos religiosos, sindicales, ambientales,
organizaciones de mujeres y estudiantiles en Puerto Rico y en Estados Unidos, el Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques (CPRDV) sigue -junto a los otros grupos que forman la Coordinadora Justicia y Paz de Vieques –
planificando una gran variedad de acciones diseñadas a imposibilitar el
funcionamiento militar en Vieques.
Este viernes, residentes de Vieques participar·n con el Obispo de Caguas,
MonseÒor Alvaro Corrada del Rio, en una ayuna por la paz, en las escalinatas del Capitolio en San Juan. Un grupo mayor de catalicos y otros religiosos planifican una actividad similar para el Capitolio en Washington, DC en el mes de junio.
El CPRDV participa tambien en dos acciones judiciales – una demanda
exigiendo el cese y desista contra la Marina sometida por la Comision de
Vieques del Colegio de Abogados de Puerto Rico, y otro esfuerzo en Estados
Unidos con la oficina del abogado ambientalista Robert Kennedy, hijo,
quien estuvo en Vieques recientemente.
Asi que, podemos garantizarles a todos que la lucha contin·a y continuara
hasta lograr nuestros objetivos de paz para un Vieques Libre de la Marina
de Guerra de Estados Unidos.
Como punto final de este informe, expresamos desde ac· nuestro profundo
agradecimiento por los enormes sacrificios y esfuerzos de tantos
compañeros en la Isla Grande de Puerto Rico, en los Estados Unidos y en
el exterior que forman parte de esta gran jornada en pro del derecho del
pueblo viequense a vivir en paz.
En lucha, en solidaridad,
Robert Rabin Siegal
Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
relato de sucesos
Este relato es del compañero Rafael del Comité de Hartford, quien fuera arrestado en Vieques hace unos días, beruff Disfrútenlo. –Héctor
*********************
Gracias a la intervencion rapida de
miles de puertorriquenos, incluyendo =
alguaciles federales, fuimos liberados del arresto ilegal por parte de =
la marina estadounidense. Los que piquetearon, llamaron a la corte =
federal y se movilizaron, no saben en realidad que quizas nos salvaron =
la vida. Por mas de 24 horas fuimos mantenidos como prisioneros de =
guerra sin que se respetaran ningunos de nuestros derechos basicos. Se =
nos nego el derecho a asistencia legal y se nos maltrato fisicamente.Tan =
obvia fue la cosa que el personal boricua de la oficina de alguaciles =
federales se nego a ser complice de lo que los militares hacian y , una =
vez intervienen, les llamaban la atencion a los marines sobre nuestros =
derechos, pues el NAVY sostenia que como prisioneros del NAVY no = teniamos derechos civiles basicos.
Brevemente esto fue lo que sucedio. A eso de las 8:10 de la noche = del sabado, un contingente de 59 puertorriquenos de todas las edades =
entraron por tres puntos en el territorio restringido. Estos companeros = fueron interceptados por militares que procedieron a arrestarlos a eso = de las 10 PM. Luego fueron traslados a una vieja edificacion donde la = marina tenia tres jaulas de cyclone fence alumbradas por focos de luz de = los que se usan en los parques de beisbol. Alli hubo registro de = personas y a muchos se les traslado esposados en el piso de=20 vehiculos militares. El personal militar de bajo rango era etnicamente =
diverso: dominicanos, afro-americanos, boricuas, blancos del sur de = Estados Unidos, y muchos de descendencia centroamericana. Los oficiales =
eran en su mayoria blancos y se pasaban haciendo comentarios como = “fucking-clowns”, etc.
A eso de las 2 AM del domingo aparecio un grupo de alguaciles =
federales blancos. Estos ofrecieron liberar a la gente a cambio de =
firmar un papel prometiendo no volver al area restringida. Nadie acepto. =
Los alguaciles entonces nos devolvieron a la custodia de los marines. =
Chegui Torres, quien necesitaba insulina de emergencia, fue separado = del grupo y liberado con la mentira de que nos dejaban salir a todos en = seguida. Alli empezo otra odisea.
Como a las 5 AM del domingo, la marina traslado a todo el mundo a =
Roosevelt Roads en lanchas y helicopteros. El personal militar que nos = recibio estaba en actitud hostil. Aparentemente, el NAVY le prohibio a =
los marines de bajo rango el comunicarse con sus madres, aunque fuera = por telefono, hasta que se resolviera el asunto de nuestra = detencion.Esto fue hecho para que se encojonaran con nosotros pues = empezaron a culparnos de haberles jodido el dia de las madres.=20
En Roosevelt Roads todo el mundo fue trasladado a la carcel militar =
y ubicados en areas abiertas verjadas por cyclone fence. Los marines =
empezaron a hostigar, pues obligaban a todo el mundo a permanecer = exactamente en el centro del area de confinamiento sin permitir que la = gente se moviera. Habia un sol que picaba. Alguna de la gente fue = fisicamente atacada cuando los bajaban de los camiones militares. Cuando = se exigio que no golperan a la gente, un grupo de marines entro al area = verjada y empezo a amenazar, empujar y atacar a Ismael Guadalupe. Al = hijo de Ismael, quien yo considero casi como mi hijo propio, lo tenian = en el suelo esposado y maltratandolo. Tambien usaron pepper spray en la = cara de la gente. Alli permanecimos hasta las 5 PM del domingo sin que = se permitiera hacer llamadas, etc.
A las 5 PM del domingo hubo una vista frente a un magistrado. =
Algunas personas aceptaron ser liberados con la promesa de no violar = ciertas condiciones. Otros exigimos asistencia legal. Se nos nego y se = nos dejo encarcelados de nuevo con los marines. Alli siguo el = hostigamiento. Permanecimos en RR hasta las 8 PM del domingo.
A eso de las 10 PM del domingo fuimos trasladados a la carcel =
federal en Guaynabo. Los alguaciles federales eran ahora boricuas y nos =
dijeron que elllos no fueron notificados del problema hasta las 3 PM del =
domingo y no sabian de la intervencion de los alguaciles blancos la = noche anterior. Ellos nos prometiron que no seriamos en adelante = maltratados fisicamente y cumplieron su palabra.
Estuvimos en la carcel federal hasta el lunes a las 10 AM que se nos =
tralado a la corte federal en Hato Rey. En adelante, no me encontre con = un puertorriqueno que no estuviera orgulloso de nosotros, incluyendo los =
empleados boricuas de la corte federal. La vista preliminar se condujo = en espanol, lo que nunca habia pasado en la corte federal en Puerto Rico = y a lo que objeto la marina que estuvo presente alli. Una gran cantidad = de los mejores abogados de Puerto Rico estaban alli para representarnos = de gratis.
Cuando nos liberaron salimos para ser recibidos por la prensa, = cientos de gente piqueteando y la senora LOLITA LEBRON. Lo demas es = historia conocida. Estamos en libertad condicional y se nos radicaron = cargos criminales. Gracias a todos los que nos brindaron su apoyo. =
Gracias. Se les quiere de verdad.
Entran mas personas al area de tiro
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA
Miercoles, 17 de mayo de 2000
Aumenta la Desobediencia Civil en Vieques: Entran mas personas al area de tiro
(English language summary: More people entered the bombing range in the eastern part of Vieques today, joining others who have been hiding in the range, acting as human shields against further bombing. For more information, please contact the persons whose names and phone numbers appear below)
Contacto:
Amigos de Vieques
RÌgel Lugo ñ787-741-0716
FÈlix Aponte ñ787-445-2129
Gazir Sued ñ787-634-0021
VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO ñ Un grupo de personas pertenecientes al Colectivo
Amigos de Vieques, al Colectivo de Resistencia Cayo La YayÌ y al Monte
Carmelo, penetraron hoy en la madrugada la Zona Restringida del Campamento
Garcia rumbo a la punta Este de la Isla Nena.
El grupo busca aumentar la presencia de manifestantes en el area de tiro
para servir como escudos humanos que impediran cualquier futura reanudacion de los bombardeos. La intervencion federal del 4 de mayo, no logro remover a todos los desobedientes. Varias personas quedaron apostadas en campamentos secretos que se encuentran en el ·rea de tiro.
Durante la pasada semana Carlos Zenon ha reportado consecuentemente que sus hijos Cacimar Zenon y Pedro Zenon aun permanecen en el ·rea de tiro, entre otras personas.
Luego de haber estado incomunicado y haber sido reportado desaparecido por
m·s de 60 horas, el activista Tito De Jes·s, conocido como Tito Kayak,
logro ayer tarde llegar hasta el campamento secreto en donde permanecen
los hermanos Zenon. Tito se unio asi al grupo de manifestantes que aun permanecen en el ·rea de tiro.
Regalado Miro, joven viequense que logro entrar hoy a la zona restringida
indico, ìcon nuestros actos de hoy buscamos que no quede duda alguna de
que existen personas en el area de tiro. Sumamos nuestros cuerpos y nuestras voluntades a los grupos que han permanecido adentro desde antes del 4 de mayo y a los que hemos ido entrando desde entonces. Vieques ya ha sido libre y no dejaremos que nos la vuelvan a arrebatar.”
Por su parte, Gazir Sued expreso, “Hoy volvemos a reafirmar que al desobedecer las leyes que permiten el bombardeo de la Isla Nena, cumplimos con el sagrado deber ciudadano que es defender la vida y la dignidad de quienes nos rodean.” “La permanencia militar en la Isla Nena y las amenazas de reiniciar los bombardeos, a sabiendas de que habemos personas en el area de tiro, es una afrenta no sÛlo contra los viequenses, sino contra todo aquel que valora la salud, la paz y la dignidad humana,” añadio.
Harry Felix Matta, hijo del veterano luchador Viequense, Carmelo Felix
Matta fue otro de los que se adentraron a la zona de bombardeo en el dia
de hoy. Sobre los actos Felix Matta indicÛ: “Entramos y salimos cada vez
que tengamos que hacerlo… Si la democracia es la voluntad del pueblo y nuestro pueblo ha dejado saber una y otra vez que no permitiremos ni una bomba mas,pues entonces los desobedientes son ellos que pisotean y desobedecen la voluntad de todo un pueblo.”
Upset about the news blackout
It’s upsetting that none of this is being covered in the American press.
U.S. Hands Off Vieques!
U.S. Hands Off Vieques!
In the early morning of May 4, 2000, U.S. Marshals and FBI agents – backed up by thousands of Marines stationed on two nearby warships – brutally arrested and removed 216 peaceful protesters from Navy-controlled areas in Vieques, Puerto Rico.
Among those detained were long-time nationalist leaders Juan Cancel Miranda and Lolita Lebron, Puerto Rico Independence Party leader Rubén Berrios, Vieques leaders Robert Barin and Ismael Guadaloupe, and 42 religious leaders. Puerto Rican members of the U.S. Congress Nydia Velasquez and Luis Gutierrez were also detained, along with well-known leaders of the trade union, student and community movements.
While the Pentagon claimed that the “detentions” were not arrests, the demonstrators were threatened with up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines if they attempt to enter the training grounds again.
Vieques has been under U.S. Navy control since 1951. Its 9,300 residents have been confined to a three-mile-wide strip down the island’s center, fenced in between military outposts. Consequently, a majority of the residents regard themselves as “prisoners of war of sorts.”
The struggle to get the U.S. Navy out of Vieques entered a new phase on April 19, 1999, when a Navy fighter jet – during one of the “readiness” exercises conducted year round with live ammunition – dropped two 5,000-pound bombs on a military observation post situated on Vieques. A civilian, David Sanes, was killed and four other people were wounded.
A “Special Commission on Vieques,” appointed by Governor Pedro Rosselló, found that the Navy was using uranium-laced bullets and napalm as part of its training activities. The Commission also concluded that Navy operations violate the civil rights of Vieques residents and lack safeguards to ensure their safety. It also called for an epidemiological study to determine whether military activities are responsible for the cancer rate on Vieques, which far surpasses that of any of Puerto Rico’s 78 townships.
Outraged by the terrorist assassination of Puerto Rican civilian David Sanes, marches and vigils were organized continuously to demand that the Navy withdraw from Vieques and that the land be returned to the people. A People’s Encampment was then set up on Vieques. For 381 days it prevented the Navy from continuing its war “tests” on the island.
These developments in Puerto Rico are of the utmost importance, especially in the context of the 1998 militant general strike against the privatization of the publicly owned telephone company.
Puerto Ricans have been mobilizing in growing numbers. For two years in a row, there have been general strikes. The 1998 struggle against the privatization of the telephone company sparked widespread protests and shut down the island.
When a U.S. Navy ship docked at a civilian port in San Juan recently, it was greeted by thousands of angry protesters. They stormed the ship, tore down the U.S. flag, and replaced it with the Puerto Rican flag. These unarmed protesters took on the police and the vessel’s crew.
Then there is the issue of political prisoners. Independence fighters have served more time in jail than most U.S. citizens convicted of murder, armed robbery, rape, or kidnapping.
September 23 traditionally marks a key date in the ongoing struggle. On that day, Puerto Ricans hold the annual “Grito de Lares” (Cry of Lares) celebration in the town of Lares. This pro-independence event commemorates the 1868 rebellion against Spain by several hundred women and men in Lares. Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances and Segundo Ruiz Belvis, who at the beginning of 1868 had founded the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico (Comité Revolucionario de Puerto Rico) from their exile in the Dominican Republic, led the rebellion, which was immediately crushed by military forces.
The bravery of those who gave their lives in Lares is honored every year.
This is a historic moment for Puerto Rico, and the Puerto Rican people and the people of Vieques deserve the solidarity of all working people around the globe.
On February 11-14, 2000, the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights took place in San Francisco. One of the conference participants, Soriel Cruz Ramirez, a leader of the the National Independent Telephone Workers Union and of the Socialist Front of Puerto Rico, presented the following resolution – which was adopted unanimously by the 560 conference participants from 56 countries.
The Resolution stated:
“Given the report which has been distributed to all the conference participants on the issue of the U.S. military occupation of Vieques, Puerto Rico, the Open World Conference affirms our most steadfast opposition to this occupation.
“The struggle for Vieques is our struggle because this struggle is not just about Vieques. This is a struggle for the dignity of our peoples, for the self-determination of Caribbean nations, for the protection of the environment, for demilitarization and to ensure that the material wealth generated by the people may be used for the benefit of the people.
“We demand that the government of the United States and its military allies respect the will of the people of Vieques and Puerto Rico and turn over the lands in Vieques that were robbed 50 years ago and were misused for decades.”
(report prepared by Ed Rosario, co-coordinator of the Open World Conference)
RE: Upset about the news blackout
Clara,
Like you, I’m extremely dismayed and disappointed by the lack of news coverage that Vieques is receiving in the U.S. press. I’m not surprised, however. If the U.S. doesn’t care for us now, what makes the pro-statehooders believe that the U.S. will care for us later???????? Especially in light of the fact that the FBI recently released hundreds of classified files that were kept on pro-Puerto Rico independence supporters.
Go to the NY Times website and run a search of Puerto Rico under its subject search vehicle. Stories with a mention of or about Puerto Rico normally are listed.
JBaez
Some Vieques Coverage
Clara,
I found this article in the online edition of the Miami Herald. I religiously check the various newspaper websites everday for news on Vieques and Puerto Rico. With the web administrators permission, I’d like to post some of the articles I find.
JBaez
Activist sues to stop bombs
NEW YORK — (AP) — Environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. initiated legal
action Wednesday to stop the Navy from bombing its range on the populated
Puerto Rican island of Vieques, charging there was no reason for the military
exercises to continue.
“The Navy is breaking the law in Vieques,” Kennedy said after a Manhattan news
conference. “We feel certain that we will win the lawsuit.”
According to Kennedy, a letter of intent to sue within 60 days was filed with the
Navy, with a copy sent to the U.S. District Court in San Juan. Within the next two
weeks, Kennedy hopes to ask the court there for a temporary restraining order to
halt the bombing.
“The reason the Navy is dropping bombs on Vieques is because the Navy likes to
drop bombs,” Kennedy said. “There is no military reason. I come from a Navy
family, and what the Navy has done is unconscionable.”
He said the suit will allege that the bombing is a violation of various environmental
and civil rights laws.
Kennedy, a senior counsel for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the
Navy was getting away with environmental violations it could never commit on the
mainland.
A Navy spokesman said they would not comment on any pending litigation.
U.S. Congress & Vieques
Protesters in Vieques cling to principles
By Ivan Roman
San Juan Bureau
Published in The Orlando Sentinel on May 15, 2000
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The anti-bombing activists in Puerto Rico couldn’t believe their ears.
Some called it the “utmost in cynicism.” Those who were a little kinder said it was “blame the victim” syndrome.
It has been just more than a week since federal agents removed more than 200 protesters from the restricted Navy grounds and target range on Vieques. The Navy began bombing exercises in an area they say is clear of people, but protesters who have been hiding keep
popping up. The Navy said Sunday that guards had detained 55 more protesters, including former light-heavyweight boxing champion Jose Torres.
Others who went back, such as Puerto Rican Independence Party president Ruben Berrios, were arrested and hauled to federal court while fishermen and Vieques residents filed a lawsuit down the hall. A federal judge recused herself from cases relating to Vieques.
Catholic leaders are starting a fast this week.
Amid all this, two congressional committees in Washington passed amendments that essentially gutted
President Clinton’s directives designed to solve the standoff over the Navy’s presence in Vieques. Angel Morey, Puerto Rico’s secretary of state and chief of
staff, blamed protesters for the actions of pro-Navy Republican conservatives in Congress.
“If we were to go to Congress all united behind the presidential directives, bolstered by the Navy’s and the White House’s position, there wouldn’t be a problem with this,” Morey said.
As proof, Morey handed to the media letters from Secretary of Defense William Cohen and Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig urging the House Armed
Services Committee not to pass legislation or amendments that alter the presidential directives. Those directives, which have proved unpopular in Puerto Rico since they were issued Jan. 31, allow another three years of training with dummy bombs until Vieques
voters, via referendum, decide the Navy’s fate there.
House committee members apparently didn’t pay much attention. They blocked the $40 million in economic-development aid for Vieques and transfer to Puerto Rico of 8,000 acres of land.
No federal money would be used on the Vieques referendum, under their amendment, and the $50 million in aid Vieques would get if voters decided the Navy could use explosive bombs after May 2003 vanished. The Senate Armed Services Committee was kinder to Clinton’s proposal but warned that ultimately military bases in Puerto Rico could be closed.
Until the referendum, Morey said, the Puerto Rico government and the Navy are on the same side. But Cohen’s and Danzig’s letters and previous statements
indicate they see the directives as part of a “long-term resolution” that will bring back live bombs.
“The responsibility lies where it’s always been, with the people in the administration who signed onto an
agreement behind the people’s back,” said San Juan Mayor Sila Maria Calderon, gubernatorial candidate for the opposition Popular Democratic Party.
Officials in Washington and San Juan say they still think the directives can survive intact from the rest of the appropriations process, particularly when the matter gets to the full House. But Jeffrey Farrow, co-chair of the
White House Working Group on Puerto Rico, seemed to echo Morey’s words last week.
Days before the mass eviction from the range, he had warned that critics needed to join forces with the government to fend off those in Congress who want to
make things as they were before the fatal accident in April 1999 that provoked the showdown.
“That’s the real danger to the people of Vieques,” Farrow said.
VIEQUES LEADER ROBERT RABIN BRUTALIZED BY POLICE
URGENT! VIEQUES LEADER ROBERT RABIN BRUTALIZED BY POLICE
Contact:
Pepo Belardo, Rangie de Leon and Kathy Gannett
Camp for Justice and Peace of Vieques, Vieques, P.R.
Tel. 787-741-0716 and 787-741-0358
May 18, 2000
Vieques, P.R.- At about 9:15 pm on Thursday, May 18, 2000, a convoy of about seven Navy vehicles lined up inside the gate of Camp Garcia. At that time many people were present in Camp for Justice and Peace in Vieques, both in the house iacross the street from the gate and in the adjacent camp to the
north of the house.
The convoy passed through the gate and took a right onto the road.
Robert Rabin, leader of the Camp for Justice and Peace in Vieques and of the
Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, was already heading North on the same road in a red jeep. The Navy convoy pulled up behind him and the first vehicle bumped Bob’s jeep on the fender right in front of the camp. Many people saw this happen and the events that follow below.
After Bob’s jeep was hit, 4 policemen (“Fuerza de Choque”) who had been
standing in front of the gate, ran to the jeep. They opened his car door and
then grabbed him and pulled him out of the car. These 4 policemen repeatedly
beat up on Bob him with their nightsticks. They pushed him to the ground. They kicked him many times. Then they put handcuffs on him. They brought him to sit on the ground in the entrance to Camp Garcia.
We were able to take photos of this senseless brutality against Bob with
disposable cameras. We plan to make these photos available to the media as
soon as possible.
About 11 policemen stood in a line along the street with Bob sitting behind
handcuffed. People from the Camp gathered on the other side of the street to observe what would happen to Bob. Then many more police cars and police
arrived and joined the police line.
By the time that Bob was taken away at about 10:15 pm, there were about 35
policemen guarding him and about 7-8 police buses parked around the area. Bob
was able to report to us that he was in great pain, most likley his back and
his kidneys. Then police took him to the local hospital (Jesusa Centeno). At
about 11:00pm, because of his condition, they had to transport him by plane to the emergency room of San Pablo hospital in Fajardo.
At 10:20PM or so – after Bob had been taken from the scene where he was beaten, the 30-plus police moved their line to block the road (instead of
blocking the gate) – leaving the entrance to the gate open to the road from the south. At 10:30 a convoy of about 10 cars arrived from the south (from the direction of Esperanza) at fast speed and entered Camp Garcia. Only one or two were military vehicles, the other 7-8 appeared to be civilian cars
carrying military personnel. After they entered the gate was closed again.
Perhaps the first military convoy leaving the base was intended to divert
attention from the convoy that arrived to the base from the south later.
We denounce this senseless and unprovoked brutality against one of the great leaders of the peaceful movement to get the U.S. Navy out of Vieques.
VIEQUENSES APOYAN A HERMANOS ZENON
(Scroll down for English summary)
Las organizaciones comunitarias de Vieques, agrupadas en la Coordinadora
Justicia y Paz para Vieques (CJPV), se solidarizaron con los jovenes viequenses Cacimar y Pedro Zenon, quienes burlaron la vigilancia de la Marina y se mantuvieron hasta ayer en la zona de bombardeo al este de la Isla Nena. Como un “acto de gran valentÌa en defensa del derecho del pueblo viequense a vivir en paz,” describio Nilda Medina, portavoz de la Coordinadora, la gesta de los hermanos Zenon.
La semana pasada, el Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques, organizacion que forma parte de la Coordinadora, acuso a la Marina de intento de asesinato al saber que habian lanzado algunas bombas en la zona de tiro aun con personas en esa area.
Los hijos de Carlos Zenon y Aleida Encarnacion, veteranos luchadores
contra la presencia militar en Vieques, se presentaron voluntariamente ayer ante un magistrado federal en San Juan en relacion a cargos en su contra por sus acciones.
La CJPV felicito a Cacimar y a Pedro por su ejemplo de valor y sacrificio en pro de la paz de Vieques ante la agresion militar que desde el pasado 4 de mayo intento desalojar a todo los manifestantes de la zona de bombardeo. La presencia de Cacimar y Pedro, junto a un nucleo de personas que permanece en el area restringida, obstaculiza la reanudacion de las maniobras que la Marina quisiera llevar a cabo aqui.
“Acciones como la de Cacimar y Pedro sirven de ejemplo y estimulo para
continuar con esta lucha historica y heroica del pueblo viequense. Ellos
representan la nueva generacion de defensores de la dignidad de Vieques y
de Puerto Rico, y por eso los reconocemos como verdaderos heroes,” dijo Medina.
Contacto: Robert Rabin 787-741-0716 cel. 787-375-0525
(English summary):
The people of Vieques, assembled under the Coordinating Committee for Peace and Justice for Vieques (an organization comprised of the Puerto Rican Independence Party and the Commonwealth Party in Vieques, former-Statehood Party Mayor Radames Tirado, the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, the Viequense Women’s Alliance, the Viequense Youth Alliance, various civil disobedience camps and several churches and civic and community organizations) wholeheartedly support young Viequenses
Cacimar and Pedro Zenon, who remained in the bombing range in Vieques after the May 4th raid on Vieques and have acted as human shields against further bombing. The Coordinating Committee strongly denounces the U.S. Navy’s criminal act of dropping bombs on the bombing range in Vieques knowing full well that Pedro and Cacimar and several others were there. The presence of others on the bombing range increases every day.
NASW supports the immediate end to the bombing
NASW, with more than 150,000 members, supports the immediate cessation of bombings in Vieques
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the largest membership
organization of professional social workers in the world, with more than
150,000 members, publicly supports the immediate cessation of bombings on
the island of Vieques and publicly supports the civil disobedience
movement in order to achieve that goal.
The text of a letter from the NASW Board of Directors to President Clinton
appears below. For more information on NASW, please access
At its January meeting, the National Board of Director of the National
Association of Social Workers (NASW) discussed the plight of the people of
the Island of Vieques, located at the northeastern coast of the Island of
Puerto Rico. As a 150,000- member organization with 55 chapters in the
United States and abroad, we are concerned about the quality of life in
all of our communities. The 9,300 United States citizens on Vieques have
endured daily live-ammunition bombings by the U.S. Navy for almost six
decades. The entire population lives in fear as a result. The bombings
have also degraded one of the island’s most precious natural resources
–its beaches.
The fears of the people of Vieques turned into nightmare last April, when
a bomb accidentally killed David Sanes, a civilian guard, and injured four
others.
Mr. President, enough is enough. The Navy has bombed, shelled and strafed
the eastern edge of Vieques for 60 years. We, the National Board of NASW,
support groups who have set up civil disobedience camps in the bombardment
zone in protest.
The recent report by the special commission named by Governor Rossello
recommended the immediate conclusion of all military exercises in Vieques.
Knowing that you, as we, defend the right of all human beings to live in
peace and harmony, we urge you, Mr. President, to support this recommendation. We call on you to issue an Executive Order requesting immediate cessation of the bombings and withdrawal of armed forces from the Island of Vieques within five years.
The suffering of the people of Vieques must end.
Sincerely,
(signed)
Ruth W. Mayden, MSS, LSW
President
NASW National Board of Directors
Springfield City Council approves resolution
Springfield, Massachusetts City Council unanimously approves pro-Vieques
(English version below)
La Asamblea Municipal de la Ciudad de Springfield, Massachusetts, como otras ciudades en Estados Unidos, aprobo por unanimidad una Resolucion en apoyo de la meta Viequense de que la Marina de Guerra se vaya de Viequesmsin tirar un tiro m·s ni una bomba mas. El texto de la Resolucion aparece abajo.
The Springfield, Massachusetts City Council, as have other cities in the
U.S., unanimously approved a Resolution in support of the goal of the Viequenses of having the U.S. Navy leave Vieques without dropping one more bomb or firing one more bullet. The text of the Resolution appears below.
RESOLUTION BY THE CITY COUNCIL, SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS ON THE ISSUE OF VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO
WHEREAS, City of Springfield residents are concerned about the environmental injustice and human rights violations of the U.S. Navy in Vieques, Puerto Rico; and
WHEREAS, the City of Springfield houses a large population of Hispanics
and Puerto Ricans in Massachusetts, and many of them are concerned about the ecological damage and human harm resulting from military operations in
Vieques; and
WHEREAS, City of Springfield businesses have established commercial relations with Puerto Rico for over 100 years, and many businesses are interested in the economic conversion of military to civilian uses; and
WHEREAS, the City of Springfield has many Puerto Rican and Hispanic
organizations and they are concerned about the well being of Puerto Ricans
in Springfield and Puerto Rico; and
WHEREAS, the City of Springfield has many descendants from the island of
Vieques and they are concerned about the lives of their relatives in Vieques, Puerto Rico; and
WHEREAS, since 1941, the United States Navy has operated a training facility on two-thirds of the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico; and
WHEREAS, the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico is populated by more than 9,000 Puerto Ricans, US citizens, who are submitted to the disgrace of seeing its territory bombarded by land, air and sea; and
WHEREAS, the US Navy’s presence and activities violate the natural right
of the people of Vieques to enjoy their natural resources; and
WHEREAS, for more than half a century, the US Navy has thwarted the healthy development of Vieques’ economy forcing the people of Vieques to emigrate in search of work and well being, resulting in family disintegration; and
WHEREAS, the US Navy has used depleted uranium, napalm bombs, and other chemical and toxic weapons that have an adverse impact on the public health and the environment; and
WHEREAS, the US Navy’s war practices has contributed significantly to the
pollution of air, water and land and has contributed to high cancer levels in Vieques; and
WHEREAS, the US Navy’s presence in Vieques has contributed to the
psychological damage of the children on the island; and
WHEREAS, in 1993, a Navy FA-18 fighter jet missed its target by approximately 10 miles, dropped five 500 pound live bombs one mile from civilians living in the town of Isabel Segunda; and
WHEREAS, in 1998, Navy and National Guard exercises accidentally fired live bullets to municipal vehicles, including school buses and public works vehicles, forcing civilian employees to run for their safety; and
WHEREAS, on April 19, 1999, a resident of Vieques and citizen of the United States, was killed and four persons injured as a result of a routine war exercise conducted by the US Navy; and
WHEREAS, on May 11, 1999, the Governor of Puerto Rico issued an Executive Order appointing a Special Commission on Vieques to Study the Existing Situation on the island Municipality of Vieques with Regard to the Activities of the United States Navy; and
WHEREAS, on June 25, 1999, the Special Commission issued its report which
included in its recommendations a demand that the United States Navy immediately and permanently cease all military operations on Vieques and transfer all property controlled by the Navy on Vieques to its people; and
WHEREAS, the people of Vieques have unanimously demanded that the US Navy
cease its bombings and leave the island; and
WHEREAS, Puerto Ricoís civil society unanimously support the immediate
withdrawal of the Navy from Vieques; and
WHEREAS, the Government of Puerto Rico adopted as public policy the recommendations of the Special Commission of Vieques and the will of the residents of Puerto Rico;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Mayor and the City Council of the
City of Springfield, Massachusetts calls upon the United States Navy to relocate from the island of Vieques and return the land to the Municipality of Vieques for civilian uses; and, be it further:
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution be sent to President William J. Clinton, Vice-President Albert Gore, Attorney General Janet Reno, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen, Navy Secretary Richard Danzig, Senators Edward F. Kennedy and John F. Kerry, Congressional Representative for the City of
Springfield Richard Neil, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus
Representatives Carlos Romero Barcelo, Jose Serrano, Nydia Velazquez, and
Luis Gutierrez, and Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Rossello.
(signed)
MAYOR MICHAEL J. ALBANO
FYI
This message is for normal everyday “net-surfers”. Be carefull of what you read on this message board! Most of the postings of Pro-Indepent driven, So of course they will make the situation seem far worse than what it is.
Also analyze all the facts before choosing a side. For example, when the “Vieques” issue first came to light, many persons talked about official reports stating that ground water in Vieques was contaminated and this was a factor in the high cancer rate. Well fact number one, drinking water is piped in from the main island (from Humacao). Fact number two, ground water in Vieques flows in a North-Easterly direction, and the range is on the North-East tip. Also I would like to point to another well quoted statement “the bombing shatters windows” well anyone who has lived or had an extended stay knows that most homes in PR don’t have windows. Also I want to quote an article in the San Juan Star, the tuesday after the Navy resumed bombing, a resident of Vieques when asked what she thought of the Navy resuming bombing she replied “I don’t believe it, I didn’t hear a thing” The key phrase is “I didn’t hear a thing” because you can’t. This whole issue is basicly about drumming up support for the Independence party. It is sad to say that if anything of what they said is true, then where have they been for the last 50 years?
Veterans return medals in protest for bombings
Veterans return medals in protest for bombings in Vieques
(Scroll down for English version)
VETERANOS BORICUAS DEVOLVERAN MEDALLAS EN PROTESTA POR BOMBARDEOS EN VIEQUES (PUERTO RICAN VETERANS WILL RETURN THEIR MEDALS TO CLINTON IN PROTEST FOR BOMBINGS IN VIEQUES)
Contacto:
Luis R. Mendez,
Veteranos por la Paz,
CapÌtulo de Puerto Rico
Tel. 787-767-2936 (oficina)
Tel. 787-798-8086 (residencia)
24 de mayo del 2000-
Los veteranos puertorriqueños han decidido devolverle al Presidente
Clinton las medallas que recibieron una vez por haber defendido a los Estados Unidos, en protesta por la decision de Clinton de autorizar el reinicio del bombardeo en Vieques y en reclamo de que cesen permanentemente los bombardeos de la Marina en la Isla Nena.
Entre las condecoraciones que devolveran se incluyen varias medallas purpuras (“Purple Heart”) que se le otorgan a soldados que sufrieron lesiones en el campo de batalla. Los veteranos que enviar·n sus medallas al Presidente participaron en la primera y segunda guerra mundial, Korea, Vietnam, Granada, el Golfo PÈrsico, Somalia y Kosovo.
Luis Mendez, portavoz del grupo Veteranos por la Paz, dijo hoy, en rueda de prensa en San Juan, que el acto de devolucion de las distinciones National Defense Service Medal tendra lugar el proximo lunes, 29 de mayo, dia de la Recordacion, a las 10:00 de la mañana en el Monumento al
Veterano frente al Capitolio en San Juan.
Veteranos por la Paz es una filial de la organizacion estadounidense Veterans for Peace, con sede en Washington, DC, y tiene caracter consultivo ante la Organizacion de las Naciones Unidas.
Mendez exhorto a todos los veteranos y veteranas de la isla a unirse a ese
acto que “simboliza nuestra posicion de que la seguridad y la salud del pueblo de Vieques no son negociables, y que el concepto de defensa nacional lo que significa es la defensa de los intereses economicos del complejo militar industrial de los Estados Unidos”.
Por su parte, el veterano Ruben Lind dijo que “en este momento no existe ningun enemigo que atente contra la seguridad de los Estados Unidos. Como veteranos nosotros conocemos el dolor y la destruccion de la guerra. No queremos mas juegos de guerra en Vieques. Los viequenses tienen el derecho a la vida y a la salud”.
Para m·s informacion sobre el acto de devolucion de medallas el lunes 29
de mayo, y sobre futuros eventos de los Veteranos por la Paz en torno a Vieques, favor de llamar a Luis R. Mendez al 787-767-2936 o al 787-798-8086.
PUERTO RICAN VETERANS WILL RETURN THEIR MEDALS TO PRESIDENT CLINTON IN PROTEST FOR BOMBINGS IN VIEQUES
Contact:
Luis R. Mendez,
Veterans for Peace,
Puerto Rico Chapter
Tel. 787-767-2936 (office)
Tel. 787-798-8086 (home)
May 24, 2000-
Puerto Rican war veterans have decided to return to President Clinton the medals and condecorations they once received for defending the United States, in protest for Clinton’s decision to authorize bombing to resume in Vieques and in support of the demands that the U.S. Navy permanently stop bombing Vieques.
Among the condecorations that will be returned are several Purple Heart medals bestowed upon soldiers who were wounded in battle. The veterans who will send their medals back to the President fought in World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, the Persian Gulf, Somalia and Kosovo.
Luis Mendez, spokesperson of the Puerto Rico Chapter of the organization Veterans for Peace, announced today during a press conference in San Juan, that a ceremony will be held on Memorial Day where Puerto Rican veterans will have the opportunity to voluntarily turn in their National Defense Service medals in support of the struggle of the people of Vieques and in
response to the federal government assault on the civil disobedience camps
at the Navy bombing range in Vieques. The ceremony will be held on Monday, May 29, 2000 (Memorial Day) at 10:00AM at the Veteran’s Monument in front of the Capitol Building in San Juan.
Veterans for Peace is a national organization structured around a national
office in Washington, DC and comprised of members across the U.S. and Puerto Rico organized in chapters or as at-large members. Veterans for Peace is an official Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) represented at the United Nations.
Mendez urged all Puerto Rican veterans to join in this ceremony which “symbolizes our position that the safety and health of the people of Vieques are not negotiable, and that the concept of national security is now being used to mean the defense of the economic interests of the military and industrial complex of the U.S.”
Veteran RubÈn Lind added that “at this time there is no enemy that’s threatening the security of the United States. As veterans, we know first-hand the pain and destruction of war. We don’t want any more war games in Vieques. Viequenses have a right to life and to health.”
For more information on the ceremony on Monday May 29, and on future events of Veterans for Peace with regard to Vieques, please contact Luis R. Mendez at 787-767-2936 or at 787-798-8086.
And the PR gov’t isn’t pushing it’s pro-statehood propaganda and will on the Puerto Rican people??? Don’t be naive. Regardless of where the water comes from, why should the U.S. have the right to go into someone else’s land and violate it? Oops…I forgot….Rosello and his cronies are puppets of the U.S. gov’t. Therefore, their only purpose is to protect the interest and property of the U.S.. Thus, Vieques isn’t Puerto Rico’s property, it’s a U.S. commodity.
If you want to talk about being careful about what you read and the source, let’s talk about El Nuevo Dia in Puerto Rico. The largest and most influential newspaper in Puerto Rico is published by the Ferre family — whom happen to be huge supporters of Pro-Statehood.
(And if you think the news is reported objectively, you have a lot to learn. I was a journalism major in college and practised briefly. Objectivity in journalism is an ideal that’s NEVER practised.)
Here’s the facts — Commonwealth hasn’t worked. Statehood will never work; the U.S. will have to pump more money into our economy, deal with the ever growing welfare population, confront the issue of language, and WON’T be able to justify Vieques! Independence is the only solution.
Under independence, no foreign gov’t can dictate what to produce, how much to produce, who to trade with, etc……. There’s no fear of losing your culture and language. A sense of pride is further deepened.
Let me stress that pro-independence is not Anti-America! The Puerto Rican gov’t would be foolish to severe ties with the U.S. All pro-independence asks for is the opportunity to take care of our home as we see fit. Imagine if I went into your home with my arms swinging trying to dictate when you eat, who cleans, when you can leave, so on and so forth.
We have to do for ourselves what Spain and the U.S. could not do — and that’s take care of our affairs AS WE SEE FIT!
JBaez
EL PRESIDENTE PUEDE TRAER LA PAZ PARA VIEQUES
EL PRESIDENTE PUEDE TRAER LA PAZ PARA VIEQUES, QUIÉRALO O NO EL CONGRESO
por Flavio Cumpiano*
Jeffrey Farrow, copresidente del llamado “Grupo Interagencial de Puerto Rico en la Casa Blanca”, dijo recientemente que no hay diferencia entre una directriz presidencial (como las que emitió el Presidente Clinton en torno a Vieques el 31 de enero) y una orden ejecutiva. También dijo Farrow que el Presidente no puede ordenar que no se tire una bomba más en Vieques sin el aval del Congreso. El señor Farrow sabe, o debe saber, que
dichas aseveraciones son falsas.
Una directriz presidencial no es lo mismo ni tiene el mismo peso que una orden ejecutiva. La directriz presidencial es básicamente un memorando del Presidente a una o más agencias del Ejecutivo. Casi todas comienzan con “I hereby direct the following…” En el caso de las directrices presidenciales sobre Vieques, Clinton simplemente le ordenó a la Oficina federal de Presupuesto y Gerencia y al Departamento de Defensa que acudan
al Congreso y le soliciten lo que se menciona en las directrices (la
asignación de los $40 millones de dólares, la transferencia de ciertas
tierras al oeste de Vieques, etc.). El Congreso tiene la potestad de aprobar, modificar o rechazar esa solicitud por parte de dichas agencias federales. Y con la mera solicitud al Congreso formulada por las agencias por instrucciones de Clinton, la Casa Blanca y la Fortaleza consideran que el Presidente habría “cumplido su compromiso”, independientemente de la
actuación que pueda tomar el Congreso.
Aunque el nombre no hace la cosa, quizás una manera de hacerles ver su error a aquellos que pretenden equiparar la directriz presidencial con la orden ejecutiva es la siguiente. Las llamadas “directrices presidenciales”, o “Presidential Directives” en inglés, han tenido distintos nombres bajo distintos Presidentes. Se les llamaba “National
Security Action Memoranda” bajo Kennedy y Johnson, “National Security Decision Directives” bajo Reagan, “National Security Decision Memoranda” bajo Nixon y Ford y “National Security Directives” bajo Bush. Es bajo el Presidente Clinton que por vez primera se le llaman “Presidential Directives” a estos memorandos. El cambio de nombre no alteró su esencia.
Por otro lado, la orden ejecutiva, o “Executive Order” en inglés, es un
mandato con la fuerza coercitiva del poder presidencial. La orden ejecutiva, a diferencia de la directriz presidencial, no solo tiene fuerza
de ley, sino que no necesita aval o aprobación previa por parte del Congreso. Su poder es tan superior al de una directriz presidencial, que incluso ha sido críticado por algunos observadores que consideran que el mecanismo de la orden ejecutiva le confiere demasiado poder al Presidente. Aun así, la validez constitucional de la orden ejecutiva nunca ha sido impugnada exitosamente. Su base constitucional emana del Artículo II de la Constitución de los Estados Unidos, el cual confiere al Presidente “poder ejecutivo” y dispone que el Primer Ejecutivo debe velar por el fiel
cumplimiento de las leyes. De ese lenguaje, y de los llamados “poderes
implícitos” del Presidente, emana el poder del Primer Ejecutivo para emitir órdenes ejecutivas.
Si esta distinción entre los poderes del Presidente para emitir órdenes ejecutivas y los del Congreso para legislar es algo confusa, ello es consecuencia natural del sistema de balance de poderes entre las ramas de gobierno. Ese choque o fricción jurisdiccional no es provincia exclusiva
de la rama ejecutiva y la legislativa. A manera de ejemplo, para ilustrar la fricción entre la rama legislativa y la judicial, pensemos en aquellas ocasiones en que se le acusa a un juez o a un tribunal de “legislar judicialmente”, cuando su dictamen se asemeja más a una legislación que a la resolución de un caso y controversia aplicando el derecho vigente a los hechos del caso. Esas acusaciones surgen precisamente porque en el sistema de pesos y contrapesos la delimitación constitucional de funciones
de las ramas de gobierno no es una ciencia perfecta y, en última instancia, su éxito depende de la deferencia, respeto y autolimitación ejercida por los seres humanos que componen dichas instituciones en un momento dado.
Irrespectivamente de las delimitaciones de los poderes constitucionales de las tres ramas de gobierno, lo que es meridianamente claro es el poder del Ejecutivo para emitir órdenes ejecutivas. ¿Qué el Presidente no debe emitir órdenes ejecutivas en circunstancias en donde el Congreso es quien debe legislar? Sin duda. Pero si hay un área en donde el ejercicio de este poder del Presidente y Comandante en Jefe de las Fuerzas Armadas es indiscutible es precisamente en lo militar.
El Congreso tendrá poder constitucional para asignar fondos y mantener las Fuerzas Armadas. Pero es el Presidente el que tiene el poder constitucional para ordenar el cese inmediato y permanente de los bombardeos. Así lo hizo el Presidente Ford con relación a Culebra, a
través de la Orden Ejecutiva Núm. 11886 del 17 de octubre de 1975. El Presidente Clinton no lo ha hecho con relación a Vieques, no porque no ha podido (como dice Farrow), sino porque simplemente no ha querido.
¿Necesitó Clinton de aval congresional para ordenar la paralización de
bombardeos en Vieques en abril de 1999 y para ordenar la reanudación de los bombardeos en mayo del 2000? No. Como no le convenía, Farrow nunca argumentó eso y, como argumentar eso no pasa la prueba de la risa, ni siquiera Senadores como Warner e Inhofe lo hicieron.
Pero, como venimos denunciando hace ya casi un año, a pesar de que pudo haber traído la paz para Vieques a través de una orden ejecutiva, la estrategia de Clinton y Rosselló siempre fue que Clinton emitiese una directriz pasándole la papa caliente de Vieques al Congreso Republicano en un año eleccionario. Eso fue lo que ocurrió. Por ello ahora Jeffrey Farrow, cocausante de tantas penurias del pueblo viequense, dice que una directriz presidencial es lo mismo que una orden ejecutiva y que el
Presidente no puede ordenar que no se tire una bomba más en Vieques sin el
aval del Congreso.
Cuando pronto veamos el destino final de las directrices presidenciales sobre Vieques ante el Congreso, no perdamos de perspectiva que aún nos quedan más de seis (6) meses para lograr que este Presidente y Comandante en Jefe ordene el cese inmediato y permanente de todas las actividades bélicas de la Marina en Vieques, sin necesidad de aval congresional.
*El autor es abogado, y representa en Washington, DC al Comité Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques.
Carta abierta
Carta abierta a la desobediencia civil puertorriqueña
Estimados amigos:
Antes de comenzar esta pequeña crítica quiero felicitar política y humanamente a todos los desobedientes que se han enfrentado sistemáticamente a las fuerzas de la marina norteamericana. Pero creo, por otro lado, que ha llegado la hora de darle la espalda a ese seudo diálogo que los desobedientes realizan con el Presidente yanqui y con su esposa antipuertorriqueña, porque verdaderamente no hemos de sacar nada suplicando, pidiendo y exigiendo delante de esa gente que jamás nos ha oído y jamás nos oirá. Lo que hay que hacer ghandistamente es desarrollar nuestra propia política de liberación enfrentándonos valientemente a lo que tenemos que hacer. Pero este
enfrentamiento no puede ser individual, no puede ser el elogio a la personalidad de nadie, sino un movimiento real de la misma gente que sufre y que padece en carne propia el infierno colonial que nos han vendido demokráticamente por más de un siglo. Quizás sea bueno señalar aquí que el caso de Vieques no es un caso aislado, sino que Vieques es parte del problema colonial que padece el pueblo puertorriqueño. Esto que le parecerá una
perogrullada a los radicales es el silencio que los conservadores y los
reaccionarios no quieren asumir ni vital ni políticamente. Y es precisamente
de aquí de donde nace la traición del gobernador Roselló a la lucha
viequense. Porque lo que estos “liberales” temen (Calderón, Barceló, Burgos, Mundo, Misla, María Rosa Ortiz, etc.)1 es que el mundo pueda pensar y decir que los puertorriqueños somos antiyanquis. Pero mientras los yanquis estén en Vieques, en Puerto Rico, los puertorriqueños seremos antiamericanos. Por eso se organizan actividades como Regata 2000, no sólo para desviar la atención mundial sobre Vieques, sino también para arrebatarle el entusiasmo
nacionalista a los puertorriqueños en relación a Vieques.
—Pero no se confunda nadie: ¡Los puertorriqueños somos antiamericanos!
En Vieques hemos decidido defender no sólo el español que somos, sino la
cultura que somos. La herencia que somos no se defiende pasiva ni electoralmente. En una época de crisis como la nuestra, la tradición que somos se transmite y se defiende revolucionariamente. Si la desobediencia civil quiere ser la contestación a nuestra época, quiere ser la contestación a la globalización y al posmodernismo, tiene que tornarse revolucionaria. Tiene que se capaz de transformar la realidad que somos. Porque esta realidad que nos circunscribe es el proyecto imperialista de los “demókratas”-liberales en donde los puertorriqueños hemos pagado un precio
excesivo. Esta realidad abstracta no es otra cosa que el proyecto de la clase
colonial que yace mortuoriamente en el poder. Por eso no se trata ya de ser
anexionista, o popular, o independentista, de lo que se trata ahora es de ser puertorriqueño. Esta es la pregunta que hay que resolver internamente: ¿Quieres o no quieres ser puertorriqueño? ¿Quiéres o no quieres hablar español? Todas las demás cosas caerán pro su propio peso.
Otra cosa que hemos estado descubriendo y que se desprende de la praxis misma
de los desobedientes civiles, y de la infinidad de “emails” que hemos estado
recibiendo semanalmente, es que la mayoría de las personas que se cantan
líderes o seguidores de la desobediencia civil no han leído ni una sola letra
de los libros de M. Gandhi, y quizás muy poco del reverendo Martin Luther King. Lo que se hace crítico aquí es que estos compañeros, estos amigos, jamás se han cuestionado qué implica verdaderamente ser un “agitador”, un simpatizante, o un militante de la desobediencia civil y al no haberse planteado verdaderamente estas preguntas reaccionan automáticamente dejándose arrastrar por el nuevo furor nacionalista que nos rodea. Esto de por sí no es negativo. Pero lo que tenemos que entender aquí es que la paradoja que voy a señalar ahora se ha ubicado precisamente en esta situación: entre
el-furor-nacionalista-que-genera-la-lucha-de-Vieques-y-la-“pasividad”-de-la-de sobediencia-civil. El problema que salta a la luz, en esta praxis de la
desobediencia, es que esta desobediencia se ha convertido o se convirtió durante un año en la reacción pasiva de los puertorriqueños. No hicimos otra cosa que esperar que las tropas norteamericanas nos invadieran nuevamente. Los desobedientes aguardaban, aguardaban, y aguardaban sin tener un plan político de provocación y de desafío que impidiera que los imperialistas tuvieran el tiempo necesario para pensar lo que iban hacer. Le dimos todo el tiempo que necesitaban para reorganizar su estrategia y, por otro lado, nosotros no hicimos (en el tiempo precioso de la espera) casi nada. Esto que estoy diciendo sé que ha de mortificar a muchas personas que me lean, pero alguien tiene que tomar la responsabilidad política de decirlo. No digo esto para aparecer como el Ricky Martin de la cultura, aunque sé que soy más bello que él a pesar de mi artritis, a pesar de mi catarata, a pesar de mi posible muerte, y esto lo saben mejor que yo los posmodernos, sino para adquirir una conciencia radical de lo que viene sucediendo políticamente en Puerto Rico.
Fuera de la neoinvasión norteamericana, fuera de la traición de Roselló y de
los berrinches melodramáticos de Barceló y de Norma Burgos, fuera de la enfermedad de Berríos, de los “arrestos” y de una que otra manifestación en Nueva York, en Puerto Rico, en Los Angeles, Chicago, en el Yankee Stadium, etc., lo que estamos comenzando a descubrir es que en Vieques no ha sucedido absolutamente nada.
Cuando el imperio descubrió que en Vieques no iba a suceder nada que los
pudiera perjudicar, fuera de esas escaramuzas de una noche de verano que
suceden shakespearemente en Nueva York, en Los Angeles o en Chicago, decidieron invadirnos una vez más, porque ellos saben, mejor que nadie, cómo manejar a esa prensa y esa televisión que les sirve lacaya, ideológica y demokráticamente bien. No bastaba y no basta, entonces, con estar en contra de la invasión (como esa seudo carta de “protesta” que firmaron algunos escritores puertorriqueños), no bastaba con votar “no” en las encuestas que realizó el periódico El Nuevo Día, o CNN en español (como hicimos todos nosotros), no bastaba con enviar “emails” pacifista y tontamente al Presidente yanqui de la Gestapo del Congreso, no basta tampoco decir, como yo digo narcisamente, que “no hemos hecho absolutamente nada”, porque de lo que se trata aquí, si no se nos ha hecho tarde, es de movilizar todo el liderato, de jugarnos todo el liderato de la desobediencia, de desobedecer todas las leyes que estén relacionadas con Vieques. De preparar una vez más ese equipo de abogados fantasmas, ese equipo de enfermeras mártires, etc., y de marchar contra el área de tiro de la marina (de los invasores) mañana, tarde y noche. Las marchas contra las zonas de tiro restringidas por la marina yanqui deben ser infinitas. ¡Hay que marchar infinitamente contra ellos! No es el
licenciado Rubén Berríos, no es la señora Lolita Lebrón, no es el arzobispo
puertorriqueño, sino que tienen que ser cientos, miles, millones de puertorriqueños los que marchen espejista, cristiana, alucinadamente contra las tropas invasoras. No se trata sólamente de los cincuentaiseis pacifistas que han sido arrestados recientemente, no se trata sólamente de esos pastores y de esos sacerdotes de un valor vertical incuestionable, no se trata tampoco de la paliza que recibió el amigo Roberto Rabin a manos de la policía, sino que de lo que se trata es de esa marcha sublime de la nación entera contra sus hostigadores.
De lo que se trata aquí es de reorganizar la desobediencia civil a la luz de este desafío. No se trata, entonces, de sembrar ni de crear casetas de campaña como si estuviéramos en un “picnic” veraniego. De lo que se trata aquí es de convertir a la desobediencia civil en un delirio humano contra los marinos norteamericanos, contra la policía del país, y para que la prensa internacional nos sienta esquizofrénicamente vitales. Si no nos volvemos “locos” por Vieques, no nos volveremos jamás locos por Puerto Rico. ¿Por qué, entonces, no se ha llamado aún a un boicot contra los Burger King’s y contra los MacDonald’s norteamericanos que abundan imperialistamente en el país? ¿Por qué no se le ha hecho un llamado a la policía puertorriqueña, a la Guardia Nacional, aunque parezca “utópico”, para que se sumen a la desobediencia civil? Pero para que ese boicot que venimos proponiéndole a los desobedientes hace más de un año tenga sentido, y para que la policía y la
Guardia Nacional de Puerto Rico pueda sumarse a la desobediencia civil, ésta
tiene que ser totalmente dramática, ésta tiene que ser espectacular, esquiza,
aterradora en el mejor sentido de la palabra.
Lamentablemente, hemos convertido a la desobediencia civil en un “dime y direte” con los invasores. Se han hecho algunos sacrificios “inútiles”, algunos líderes han perdido su trabajo, otros han perdido su tranquilidad, otros han tenido que apartarse de sus familiares pero, dime tú, lector: ¿por qué entonces el Partido Independentista no movió la semana del 1ro. de mayo a todos sus simpatizantes a Vieques? ¿Por qué los ministros y los sacerdores no movilizaron su feligresía a Vieques para esa semana “santa” de la
confrontación? De esto es de lo que se trata la desobediencia civil: de tener
un sentido dramático de la política. No se trata de jugar judía o cristianamente a ser Cristo, ni se trata tampoco de jugar psicológicamente a ser los crucificados de la paz, sino de realizar una política dichosa para la libertá del cuerpo y del espíritu. Creo que los religiosos, a pesar de su buena intención, se equivocaron al pretenden hablar con la marina de tú-a-tú sin haber creado esa atmósfera real que les garantizará el diálogo efectivo que llegará algún día sísifamente por sí solo. “Dios” es más importante que
la ley. “Dios”, independientemente de lo que “Dios” signifique para ti (la moral, la belleza, la salvación) es más importante que la ley demokrática de
los invasores y que la ley demokrática de los lacayos.
¿Es qué somos, acaso, la paradoja perdida? Cuando hayamos aprendido que la
injusticia es la ley del mundo y cuando hayamos aprendido que la muerte es el
premio de éste, entonces, no nos preocupará ni la cárcel, ni el manicomio, ni la muerte. La libertá nacerá de esta indiferencia y de este no-deseo. El
hombre libre, el hombre del renacimiento, nacerá de este abandono. ¿Quién podrá tocar o lastimar a este hombre? Desengañado de todos los estados marchará libertaria y alucinadamente contra todos los estados. Lamentablemente, repito, hemos comenzado por el final. Aun así, y a pesar de mi crítica, deseamos felicitar a ese pueblo que está haciendo sus primeras incursiones en esa postura tan difícil que es la desobediencia civil
gandhista. Hay que entender, entonces, que nuestra crítica está en el mejor
sentido de la solidaridad y de la empatía. Nuestro amor hacia los
desobedientes (cristianos, ateos, agnósticos, budistas–reales o falsos–) es incondicional. Nuestra crítica está ubicada en el mejor deseo de la realización política y, sobre todo, en el mejor deseo de la independencia de Puerto Rico.
Muchos de ustedes se estarán preguntando: ¿cómo se logrará ese diálogo efectivo? Se logrará, pues, cuando la desobediencia civil ponga en jaque al sistema colonial que Estados Unidos ha creado en Puerto Rico. Entonces, y sólo entonces, tendrá sentido el sentarnos a dialogar con los invasores. Pero lo que hay que preguntarse aquí no es cómo se logrará ese diálogo apriori, sino cómo se logrará esa praxis alucinante de los desobedientes. Lo que hay que preguntarse ahora es si estamos preparados espiritual y políticamente para ir presos; si estamos preparados espiritualmente para comenzar huelgas de hambre en grupos (en las universidades del mercado, en las escuelas arruinadas, en las iglesias del aburrimiento espiritual, en las plazas vacías del miedo, en las oficinas mediocres del gobierno, en la legislatura corrupta de la drogadicción, etc.), al mismo tiempo que se piquetea felizmente, al mismo tiempo que se reorganiza una nueva legislatura libertaria al margen de
la que está funcionando burguesamente en el país. Un nuevo gobierno radical
dentro del país al margen del gobierno establecido que no funciona a menos
que no sea como traición. Mientras no estemos de acuerdo en crear este tipo
de situación política y social, mientras no estemos de acuerdo en crear esta
atmósfera de crisis, la desobediencia civil será, a pesar nuestro, tan inútil
como si estuviéramos asistiendo a un concurso de Miss Universo para derrocar
la colonia, o como si hubiéramos decidido enfrentarnos militarmente, sin estar preparados, contra los gorilas de la marina norteamericana. Creo que los religiosos, los pipiolos, lo viequenses y los puertorriqueños en general deberíamos de replantearnos la situación de resistencia “pasiva” a la luz de esta crítica del amor y ver cómo podemos ponerla a funcionar efectivamente.
No creo que es cuestión de ponernos a la defensiva con los clichés de siempre
(desde Nueva York es fácil; desde la Cochinchina es fácil, etc.), porque hace
más de dos siglos que ser puertorriqueño no es fácil en ningún lugar del planeta. Ser puertorriqueño se ha convertido en una de las aventuras violentas más insólitas de lo político (del ser y de lo metafísico). Pero esta “cosa insólita” que somos también nos ha enriquecido, nos ha llenado de perspectivas, de pluralidades, de imaginación, de literatura, de poesía, pero también nos ha llenado de colaboradores, de traidores, de posmodernos y de
oportunistas. Ahora el problema estriba en que si dejamos pasar este momentum, si dejamos pasar este instante de la eternidad política que somos (si lo enfriamos malignamente, si lo vendemos cretinamente, si lo manoseamos, lo prostituimos, si lo abstraemos), lo vamos a pagar individual y colectivamente con nuestra propia desaparición de lo histórico. Porque lo que estamos tratando de hacer latinoamericanamente es de aparecer (de fenomenologizar políticamente en los marcos de la historia). Estamos, por lo tanto,
haciendo un llamado a ese liderato que ha estado luchando (a esos pescadores,
a esos religiosos, a esas mujeres, a esos trabajadores, a esos estudiantes–a
los pipiolos, a los socialistas, a los independentistas, a los anarquistas, a
los anónimos, a la infrahistoria–) como la radicalidad que es. Una vez más los puertorriqueños estamos no sólo delante de la historia, sino que estamos dentro de la historia misma. Desde el “98”, desde la Huelga Nacional, el mundo se ha solidarizado con nosotros. Desde la liberación de algunos de los presos políticos el mundo está pendiente de todo lo que hagamos nosotros. Porque en Vieques se ensayan todas las tácticas y todas las técnicas militares que luego se usarán en Asia, en el Mediano Oriente, en Africa, en el resto de Latinoamérica. Ha llegado el momento, entonces, de tirar por la borda la colonia demokrática. Ha llegado el momento de deshacernos de la
“ciudadanía” de la Morgue yanqui y de crear radicalmente la-democracia-puertor
riqueña. ¡No retroceda nadie! ¡La historia todavía está clamando por nosotros!
******
21 de mayo del 2000
Nueva York
La Resistencia Continua – The Resistance Goes On
La Resistencia Continua – The Resistance Goes On
[English summary]
***The Resistance Goes On… On May 17 a group entered the so-called restricted zone and headed towards the bombing range at the east of Vieques. Authorities were unable to arrest them as they spend more than ten hours inside and placed a Puerto Rican flag where the encampment of
“Friends of Vieques” had been established. They took several pictures
El 17 de mayo de 2000, un grupo de jovenes penetro las facilidades del
Camp Garcia rumbo a la zona de tiro en la parte Este de Vieques. Los jovenes, miembros de Amigos de Vieques, Colectivo Cayo YayÌ y Monte Carmelo, estuvieron por m·s de diez horas en los terrenos restringidos por la Marina, y en varias ocasiones fueron perseguidos por las autoridades militares por tierra y por helicÛpteros, pero lograron replegarse
exitosamente sin ser atrapados.
Como parte de su mision de resistencia el grupo llego hasta donde se encontraba el campamento de Amig@s de Vieques y colocaron la bandera de Puerto Rico y tomaron varias fotos que documentan su historica gesta.
A continuacion una reflexion escrita por uno de los participantes, luego de concluido el evento.
REPRESSION INCREASES AS WASHINGTON SCHEMES
REPRESSION INCREASES AS WASHINGTON SCHEMES TO KEEP VIEQUES BASE
By Berta Joubert-Ceci
IAC – Philadelphia
25 May 2000
On May 18, four riot police brutally beat Robert Rabin, a leader of the Committee for the Rescue and Devel op ment of Vieques. A convoy of U.S. Navy vehicles rammed Rabin’s jeep outside the gates of Camp Garcia, the U.S. military training ground in Vieques, Puerto Rico. Immediately the riot cops ran to Rabin’s vehicle, pulled him out of the jeep, clubbed him to the ground with nightsticks, and kicked him.
While people gathered round, police buses brought more riot cops. They formed a line in front of Rabin, preventing anybody from stopping the assault. The activist had to be taken to the emergency room in a hospital on the Big Island, since there are no adequate medical facilities on Vieques.
This violent act of repression is the Machiavellian articulation of the
“good neighbor policy” the U.S. Navy vowed to implement to convince the
people of Vieques that the Pentagon should stay there.
Using their lackey, the P.R. government and police, the Navy and U.S. government have transformed Vieques into a hostage island under siege. Riot police stop residents in the streets and search their houses without warrants. The U.S. military has deployed Marines in Camp Garcia, ready to back up the cops.
With few exceptions, Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress rejoic
ed at the May 4 eviction of people’s encamp ments from the naval base. For
more than a year after the death of David Sanes, protesters had prevented the Pentagon from dropping bombs there.
President Bill Clinton’s Jan. 31 directive–for a referendum on the terms
and conditions of the Navy’s continued occupation of Vieques–is being discussed in Washington. The House and Senate differ on some issues, but in the end, they want exactly the same thing: a permanent military presence in Vieques and practice with live ammunition.
Why is Vieques so important? The Navy says there is no place like it. It’s
true there’s not much commercial traffic in the area–but that holds true for many other places. Washington does not like to substitute one military base for another. In its imperialist greed, the military prefers only to add more.
Vieques is part of the whole U.S. militarization of Puerto Rico. Thirteen
percent of the arable land in P.R. is occupied by various branches of the
U.S. military. This huge apparatus is part of a complex network of military facilities that spans the Caribbean and Atlantic.
It is, in short, an essential part of the U.S. aims for domination of the
Caribbean, Central America, and South America. The Pentagon presence is a
constant threat to Cuba and progressive and revolutionary movements in the
region. Right now the potent ROTHR military surveillance radar in the
western part of Vieques is aimed at Colombia.
Both Democrats and Republicans act as if they speak for the Puerto Rican masses. Clinton–in order to gain support from Gov. Pedro Rossell¢ for his directive on Vieques–has stated that P.R. needs to define its status.
The compliant Gov. Rossell¢ stated: “The U.S. Congress is the only one who can determine which are the valid options that will be considered in a future consultation on the status of the island of Puerto Rico.” So much for self- determination.
But the Puerto Rican masses will not decide their future when and how Washington wants them to. They will decide their status when and how they
see fit.
An enormous jump in political consciousness has been developing in P.R.
over the last few years. The high cost of living, unemployment, the impact of privatization, and neoliberal measures and political repression have impacted the people in many ways. So many contradictions exist in so many areas that they have become an unstoppable motor in the process of generating new political consciousness. A greater sense of nationhood has flourished.
This upsurge of nationalism was the subject of a recent poll taken by the
well-known U.S. firm Standard and Poors. It reported that “there is an emerging nationalism within the Puerto Rican population that could turn into a source of instability and political risk in the future.”
This sense of nationhood translates into suffering in one area being felt by the majority all over P.R. When telephone workers were confronted with privatization of the national phone company, this insult was felt as a
personal injury by the masses. The cruel incarceration of the pro-independence political prisoners was an affront to all Puerto Ricans.
The struggle of Vieques is no different. It has further united all sectors
of society.
As Ismael Guadalupe of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques remarked on a recent visit to New York: “Just as Albizu Campos said in the 1940s when the U.S. was appropriating Vieques’s lands, Vieques is a national demand and its struggle is one of self-determination. Vieques is part of our Puerto Rican land.”
Informe de Vieques – 28-5-00 – Vieques Report
(Scroll down for English)
Informe de Vieques 28-5-00
Companeros solidarios con la lucha del pueblo viequense.
Saludos calurosos y solidarios desde Vieques. Aqui nuestra comunidad sigue
desarrollando las acciones de denuncia contra la presencia militar. Ademas
de las entradas a la zona militar del 13 de mayo, en la que 54 personas fueron arrestadas, todos los dias se dan incidentes con los vehiculos militares en las calles de nuestro pueblo – las personas les gritan, les tocan bocina y en algunos casos paralizan momentaneamente el paso de los
militares. Aqui, frente a la entrada de la base – Camp GarcÌa – mantenemos
una presencia de 24 horas vigilando el movimiento de los vehiculos, personal y equipo militar y desarrollando actividades de protesta.
El sabado, 27 de mayo, mas de 250 personas de Vieques y algunas docenas de
la Isla Grande, participaron en la Vigilia que celebramos todos los
sabados por mas de un ano frente al portÛn de Camp Garcia. Esta vigilia se
dedico a los 58 arrestados – los 54 del 13 de mayo, los cpros. Ruben Berrios y Jorge Fernandez del PIP y los hermanos Cacimar y Pedro Zenon. Varios de los arrestados participaron anoche y hablaron de la accion y se comprometieron a volver a ser arrestados si fuese necesario. Varios de los arrestadas, senalaron que estaban aquÌ en abierta violacion del orden del tribunal que les prohibia regresar a la Isla Nena.
Radames Tirado, pasado alcalde de Vieques (1976-80), ofrecio una fuerte critica al gobierno de Puerto Rico por haber asignado la Fuerza de Choque a ayudar a la Marina en la represion del pueblo cuando la Marina es – segun Tirado – el verdadero criminal que viola los derechos del pueblo viequense.
La profesora Glorimar Ojeda, maestra de arte de la Esc. Elemental Eugenio
Ma. de Hostos aqui, entrego – junto a un grupo de ninos viequenses – copias de algunos de los dibujos de sus estudiantes que forman un exhibicion titulada – LOS NI—OS QUEREMOS LA PAZ – con la encomienda de que los policias entregaran los dibujos a sus hijos para que pudieran entender porque estamos en protesta. A cada uno de los aproximadamente treinta
miembros de las Fuerza de Operaciones Tacticas estacionadas frente al porton de la base durante la vigilia, se le entrego una flor, simbolo de nuestra posicion de que los agentes puertorriqueÒos de la policia, enviadas en una mision inmoral, no son el enemigo del pueblo viequense –
que nuestra lucha es una por la paz y por la desmilitarizacion.
Mientras se llevo a cabo la vigilia, con varias rondas de piquete militante, una docena de militares armados y acompanados de perros, se mantuvieron en todo momento vigilandonos desde el otro lado del porton. Un miembro del grupo Veteranos Viequenses Unidos por la Paz, les advirtio a los militares que pronto tendrian que lidiar con un numero de veteranos viequenses que planifican una entrada a la zona restringida.
Companeros de organizaciones solidarias de Mayaguez y otros pueblos del area oeste, pasaron el dia de ayer y pernoctaron en el Campamento Justicia
y Paz para participar en la vigilia y dialogar con algunos de nuestros
lideres sobre proyectos de apoyo.
Durante la vigilia se se senalo que la Marina ha anunciado que llevara a cabo proximamente actividades peligrosas en aguas cercanas a Vieques. En una advertencia a los pescadores, fechada 24 de mayo, informan que desde martes 29 de mayo hasta el viernes, 2 de junio, de 2 a 4 de la tarde, sus actividades pondran en peligro a nuestros pescadores, sus lanchas y equipo de pesca.
En documento aparte, de la Oficina del Gobernador, Junta de Planificacion,
fechada 9 de mayo y recibido por el Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de
Vieques este pasado jueves, se inidica que la Marina solicita Certificacion de Compatibilidad Federal con el Programa de Manejo de la Zona Costanera de Puerto Rico. El proyecto de la Marina ñ lo que quieren certificar como compatible con el plan de manejo de la zona costanera del
Gobierno de Puerto Rico ñ consiste en lo siguiente: recertificacion Ö de
una embarcacion y unos pocos aviones de la Marina. La actividad consiste
en disparar un total de menos de 50 balas de 5 pulgadas desde una embarcacion y lanzamiento de menos de 50 bombas inertes desde aviones.
El domingo, 28 de mayo celebramos una Caravana por la Paz y la Salud y
para denuncia las anunciadas maniobras militares. M·s de 200 carros llenos
de gente del pueblo recorrieron todos los barrios de Vieques, terminando con una concentracion en el Campamento Justicia y Paz, frente a los portones de Camp GarcÌa. AllÌ el companero Ismael Guadalupe explico la importancia de aumentar la presion a traves de las acciones de desobediencia civil, entrando en la zona militar con grupos cada vez mayor.
La Marina ha anunciado sus maniobras inmorales de destruccion y de muerte
ñ este pueblo, y el pueblo puertorriqueÒo en general, han anunciado su determinacion y compromiso de seguir luchando en defensa de su dignidad y
por la Paz de Vieques.
El lunes, 29 de mayo, Dia de la Recordacion, una delegacion de los
Veteranos Viequenses Unidos por la Paz, participar· con los Veteranos por la Paz de la Isla Grande en una ceremonia ante el monumento al veterano en el lado sur del Capitolio en San Juan. Durante la actividad, los veteranos colocaran sus medallas en una caja para ser enviada al Presidente Clinton como denuncia por las horribles consecuencias de la presencia y actividad de la Marina de Guerra de EU en Vieques.
La lucha continua. Exhortamos a todas las personas y organizaciones solidarias con el pueblo viequense a que sigan con los proyectos de protesta en sus comunidades. Es importante seguir inundando las lÌneas
telefonicas de Casa Blanca en Washington y sus representantes en el Congreso con llamadas, faxes y correo electrÛnico a favor de la paz de Vieques que es posible unicamente al lograr el cese inmediato y permanente de toda actividad militar aqui.
Robert L. Rabin Siegal Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
Apartado 1424 Vieques, PR 00765
(787) 741-0716 cel. 375-0525
¡FUERA LA MARINA DE VIEQUES!
UPDATE FROM ROBERTO RABIN FROM VIEQUES!!
FUERA LA MARINA DE VIEQUES!
Report from Vieques 28 May, 2000
Friends in Solidarity with the People of Vieques.
Warm greetings of solidarity from Vieques. Our community continues its
actions to denounce the military presence. Besides the incursions into
military lands on 13 May, in which 54 people were arrested, every day there
are incidents on the civilian roads here involving military vehicles – our people yell at them, honk their horns, and in some cases temporarily stop convoys. Here, in front of the Navy base, Camp Garcia – we maintain a 24 hour presence keeping track of Navy vehicles, personnel and equipment and carrying out constant protest activity.
On Saturday, 27 May, over 250 Viequenses and a couple dozen friends from the main island, particpated in the Saturday Night Vigil we have held in front of the gate to Camp Garcia. This particular vigil was dedicated to the 58 people recently arrested – the 54 on 13 May; Ruben Berrios and Jorge Fernandez of the Puerto Rico Independence Party; and the Zenon brothers – Cacimar and Pedro. Several of those arrested participated spoke at last
nights vigil of their commitment to be arrested again if necesarry. Several
mentioned they were in Vieques in open violation of the court imposed restriction on their returning to Vieques.
Radames Tirado, past mayor of Vieques (1976-80), offered a strong criticismo of the Government of Puerto Rico¥s decision to assign Puerto Rico police to help the Navy repress our struggle – the same Navy, Tirado said, that is the real criminal who violates the rights of the people of Vieques.
Vieques art teacher, Glorimar Ojeda together with a group of Vieques children, handed to the approximately 30 Riot Police stationed in front of the gates to Camp GarcÌa — copies of here students drawings from an exhibit entitled THE CHILDREN WANT PEACE – with the expressed hope the policemen and
women would give the drawings to their children so they might know why we are protesting. The police agents also received flowers as a symbol of our
position that the struggle of Vieques is directed at the US Navy, and not these Puerto Ricans who have been ordered to fulfill an inmoral mission by their superiors.
During the vigil it was mentioned that the Navy had announced a few days earlier they would soon be carrying out dangerous activity in Vieques waters. In a warning to fishermen, dated 24 May, the Navy informed that from 29 May until 2 June and from 2 to 4 in the afternoon, their activities would be dangerous for fishermen, their boats and equipment.
In a separate document from the Planning Board dated 9 May and received by the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques (CRDV) this past Thursday, we learned the Navy is requesting Certification of Federal Compatibility with the Coastal Zone Management Program of Puerto Rico. The Navy’s project, for which it asks certification, is described as follows: recertification of a ship and a few Navy aircraft. Navy action will include the shooting of less than 50 rounds of 5 inch shells from a shipo and the firing of 50 inert bombs from jets.
On Sunday, 28 May we held a Caravan for Peace and Health to denounce the Navy’s intention to carry out these exercises. More than 200 cars passed through all the barrios of Vieques, ending in a concentration at Peace and Justice Camp in front of the entrance to Camp GarcÌa. Ismael Guadalupe, principle spokesman for the CRDV, explained the need to increase pressure through continued civil disobedience actions, entering into Navy lands in larger and larger groups.
The struggle continues. We urge all those individuals and organiztions in solidarity with the people of Vieques to continue your protest actions in your communities. It’s important to continue to flood the telephone lines at the White House and in Congress with calls, faxes and emails in support of Peace in Vieques, which is only attainable with the immediate and permanent end to all military activity here.
Robert L. Rabin Siegal
Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
Apartado 1424
Vieques, PR 00765
(787) 741-0716, cel. 375-0525
Veterans Return Medals in Protest
Veterans Return Medals in Protest – Veteranos devuelven medallas en protesta
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – About 30 U.S. veterans from the Puerto Rican
island of Vieques turned in their medals on Memorial Day to protest a U.S. Navy bombing range.
“In protest and for peace in Vieques,” the veterans said as they laid their ribbons and discharge papers in a wooden box during a ceremony at the Veterans’ Memorial in San Juan.
Organizers plan to send the box to President Clinton with a letter demanding that the Navy stop exercises on Vieques. On May 4, U.S. marshals arrested more than 200 demonstrators who had camped out on the bombing range and thwarted exercises for nearly a year.
Resentment over the U.S. Navy’s presence on Vieques boiled over in April 1999, when a jet dropped two 500-pound bombs off-target, killing a civilian security guard at the bombing range. Soon afterward, the Navy admitted that it had accidentally fired ammunition tipped with depleted uranium at the island in February 1999, a violation of federal laws.
“The moment I heard of them using depleted-uranium shells, that’s when I
stopped feeling pride for having served,” said Jose Soto, 62, a Vietnam
veteran who served for 20 years in the Navy. He turned in 10 medals on Monday.
The Navy owns two-thirds of Vieques and has used the training ground to prepare for every major armed conflict since World War II. It says Vieques is the only site where its Atlantic fleet can practice shelling, bombing, amphibious landings, ship-to-ship warfare, air attacks and anti-submarine operations at the same time.
After the bombing accident, Clinton agreed to order the Navy out if the
island’s 9,400 residents vote in a referendum to expel them.
Exercises are to continue without explosives until the vote, which is
expected next year. Protesters want the Navy to withdraw immediately, saying they fear a new president may cancel Clinton’s agreement if a military emergency arises.
As U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans can serve in the U.S. armed forces and are subject to the military draft.
RE: REPRESSION INCREASES AS WASHINGTON SCHEMES
This is great, this is exactly what I was talking about in my last post, One side of the story. Rabin’s jeep was rammed?? I pretty sure he pulled his vehicle directly in front of those navy vehicles,,Here we go again spreading rumors that are not true,,shame on you..
Comunicados de Prensa
30 de mayo de 2000
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA
GOBERNADOR ADMITE RELACION ENTRE MARINA Y CANCER EN VIEQUES
Lideres de la lucha contra la presencia militar en Vieques condenaron la
posicion del Gobernador Pedro Roselo de apoyar el bombardeo en la Isla Nena toda vez que Èste admitio la posible relacion entre los ejercicios militares y la alta incidencia de c·ncer entre los viequenses. El Gobernador admitio ayer en Washington, D.C., que el altÌsimo numero de casos de concer en Vieques “.podria tener una vinculacion con los ejercicios militares.” En la misma entrevista, el primer ejecutivo de Puerto Rico senalo que “no sabremos hasta que no se hagan los estudios epidemiologicos.”
“Resulta difÌcil creer que el Gobernador de Puerto Rico admita que en Vieques hay m·s cancer que en todo Puerto Rico, que hay una posible relaciÛn entre la muerte por cancer y las acciones militares, y todavÌa apoya la reanudacion de los mismos ejercicios que podrian causar mas
muerte y sufrimiento para nuestro pueblo. En lugar de defender al pueblo de Vieques, el Gobernador defiende los intereses militares de EU y sus
aspiraciones polÌticas personales,” comento el Dr. Rafael Rivera Castano,
uno de los portavoces del CPRDV.
Seg·n Rivera Castaño, epidemiologo viequense , “como mÈdico, el Gobernador
tiene la responsabilidad de evitar cualquier accion sospechosa de
contribuir a una situacion de salud tan grave como es la exagerada cantidad de casos de cancer en Vieques. Ante la menor duda de una relacion entre el bombardeo y la critica situacion de salud en Vieques, es la responsabilidad del Gobernador – y de cualquier medico – realizar los
estudios necesarios para garantizar el bienestar de la poblacion afectada,” dijo el medico viequense.
Contacto: Robert Rabin (787) 741-0716 o celular 375-0525
Declaracion de Robert Rabin, leida durante la vigilia por la paz frente a
los portones de Camp GarcÌa, Vieques, el s·bado, 27 de mayo de 2000
La Marina ha anunciado que esta semana proxima llevara a cabo actividades
navales peligrosas en las aguas cercanas a Vieques. En una advertencia a
los pescadores de Vieques, anuncio que de martes, 30 de mayo hasta el viernes, 2 de junio, de 2 a 4 de la tarde, sus actividades pondran en peligro a nuestros pescadores, lanchas y equipo de pesca.
En documento aparte, de la Oficina del Gobernador – Junta de Planificacion, fechada 9 de mayo y recibido por el CPRDV este pasado jueves, la Marina solicita Certificacion de Compatibilidad Federal con el Programa de Manejo de la Zona Costanera de Puerto Rico. El proyecto de la Marina – lo que quieren certificar como compatible con el plan de manejo
de la zona costanera del Gobierno de Puerto Rico – consiste en lo siguiente: recertificacion de una embarcacion y unos pocos aviones de la Marina. La actividad consiste en disparar un total de menos de 50 balas de 5 pulgadas desde una embarcacion y lanzamiento de menos de 50 bombas inertes desde aviones …
Nuestra respuesta a la solicitud de la Marina tiene que ser contundente.
Tenemos que utilizar todos los medios disponibles para evitar la continua
destruccion de nuestros recursos naturales, de nuestro ambiente, el cancer
y la muerte de nuestros familires. Que las actividades de la Marina NO SON
COMPATIBLES CON NUESTRO DESEO DE VIVIR EN PAZ. QUE EL BOMBARDEO NO ES ACEPTABLE AL PUEBLO VIEQUENSE. QUE COMO HAN DICHO LOS OBISPOS Y LAS MADRES VIEQUENSES, COMO HAN DICHO LOS MAESTROS Y LOS NINOS DE VIEQUES, COMO HAN DICHO BUENOS HOMBRES Y BUENAS MUJERES CREYENTES EN LA PAZ DE TODOS LOS CONTINENTES DEL MUNDO – EL BOMBARDEO EN VIEQUES ES UNA INMORALIDAD.
Desde el 20 de abril de 1999 y hasta que sea necesario, el pueblo de Vieques estara llevando a cabo maniobras diseñadas a ponerle fin a las practicas y la presencia de las fuerzas militares en nuestra isla. Que todos los dias, durante 24 horas al dia, estaremos en constante lucha en defensa del derecho del pueblo de vivir en paz. Que durante 365 dias al
año, nuestra bandera de Vieques aqui en este campamento – como la bandera roja que ellos antes ponia aqui frente a Camp Garcia para indicar que estaban en maniobras – que nuestra bandera de Vieques estar· continuamente flotando aquÌ en simbolo de un pueblo que no descansa en su afan de vivir en paz; sÌmbolo de una lucha heroica e historica que sin tirar un tiro, armados con la moral y la razon, logro paralizar por mas de un año la fuerza militar mas potente de este planeta.
La Marina ha anunciado sus maniobras inmorales de destruccion y de muerte.
Este pueblo de Vieques y el pueblo puertorriqueño en general, han
anunciado su determinacion y compromiso de seguir luchando en defensa de su dignidad y por la Paz de Vieques.
VIEQUENSES DENUNCIAN PLANES DE REINICIAR DE BOMBARDEO
Este domingo, 28 de mayo comenzando a la 1:00 de la tarde en la Calle Muñoz Rivera del pueblo de Vieques, el Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques (CPRDV) celebrara una CARAVANA POR LA PAZ Y LA SALUD. Portavoces del Comite esperan la participacion de cientos de viequenses preocupados por la grave situacion de salud – altisisima cantidad de casos de cancer, enfermedades respiratorias, problemas de la piel, falta de servicios
medicos – y los planes de la Marina de continuar con su bombardeo y asi aumentar el nivel de contaminacion ambiental.
La Marina anuncio su intencion de reanudar sus pr·cticas esta semana, a
pesar de la existencia de armas radioactivas – proyectiles de uranio
reducido – en la zona de bombardeo. “La posibilidad de que explotara un proyectil de uranio es tan real que los propios cientÌficos militares abandonaron su b·squeda de los cientos de esos proyectiles en marzo de 1999 por el temor de una explosion. La Marina no tiene absolutamente ninguna consideracion por nuestra comunidad. Esta dispuesta a arriesgar nuestras vidas para llevar a cabo sus ejercicios militares,” señalo Nilda Medina, miembro de la Junta Directiva del CPRDV.
Medina explico que las organizaciones comunitarias en Vieques participan
tanto en las acciones de protesta como en los casos legales contra la Marina que han iniciado tres entidades a nombre del pueblo viequense. “Apoyamos todas las acciones que van dirigidas a terminar con esta pesadilla que es la presencia y actividades de la Marina de Guerra de E.U. en Vieques.
Continuaremos utilizando todos los metodos pacÌficis para lograr la paz
para nuestra comunidad ante las amenazas del continuo bombardeo militar,”
expreso Medina. “La caravana de este domingo es parte de nuestra estrategia de ir aumentando cada dia mas la participacion activa de nuestra gente en la denuncia del estado de sitio que vivimos desde el pasado 4 de mayo y el estado de guerra que sufrimos por m·s de sesenta años.”
VIEQUENSES DENUNCIAN PELIGRO MILITAR EN CALLES CIVILES
El ComitÈ Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques (CPRDV) denuncio el movimiento peligroso de vehiculos, personal y equipo militar por las calles de Vieques durante las pasadas dos semanas. Enormes arrastresmoviendo oficinas-mobiles, camiones militares con soldados armados,
camiones-tanques de petroleo, equipo pesado de construccion transitan
continuamente por las calles del sector civil, poniendo en peligro a los
transuentes y los vehÌculos de nuestra gente.
Miembros del CPRDV han hecho un llamado a la Alcaldesa de Vieques, a la policia de Puerto Rico y a los oficiales militares, para que paralicen el movimiento de personal y vehiculos militares en nuestras calles. No solo representa un peligro para la comunidad, sino la presencia de militares en las calles de Vieques es una provocacion en ya que la abrumadora mayoria de los viequenses han manifestado su deseo de ver el fin de la presencia militar aquÌ. Este nuevo ataque militar agudiza el ambiente de hostilidad
que surgio a raiz de los arrestos del 4 de mayo y con la asignacion de un grupo de las Fuerza de Operaciones Tacticas de la Policia de Puerto Rico para vigilar el porton de Camp Garcia.
Portavoces del Comite Viequense anunciaron la celebracion de una gran
caravana de carros el proximo domingo, 28 de mayo comenzando a la 1:00 en la Calle Muñoz Rivera del pueblo de Vieques. “Por nuestra salud, por la paz y para continuar la lucha por lograr el cese de todas las actividades de la Marina de Guerra de E.U. en Vieques, llevaremos a cabo una Caravana por la Paz con la participacion activa de todos los sectores de nuestra comunidad,” señalo Ismael Guadalupe, veterano luchador viequense.
Contacto R.Rabin, 741-0716
°FUERA LA MARINA DE VIEQUES!
RE: RE: REPRESSION INCREASES AS WASHINGTON SCHEMES
Hey, resident of PR, are you Puerto Rican?
COMUNICADO DEL CPRDV ANTE EL DESFILE BORICUA EN NY
Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA DEL CPRDV ANTE EL DESFILE BORICUA EN NUEVA YORK
El Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques (CPRDV) anuncio que varios de sus integrantes viajar·n esta semana a Nueva York para participar en el Desfile Boricua en esa ciudad y en varios eventos relacionados con Vieques que se llevar·n a cabo en Nueva York desde el jueves 8 de junio hasta el domingo 11 de junio.
La delegacion del CPRDV que participar· de los eventos por Vieques en Nueva York est· compuesta por Ismael Guadalupe, Robert Rabin, Nilda Medina, Norma Morales, y Flavio Cumpiano, representante del CPRDV en Washington, DC. Tambien viajaran a Nueva York integrantes de otras organizaciones de Vieques, tales como Miriam Sobu y Judith Conde de la
Alianza de Mujeres Viequenses, y la Familia Zenon, entre otros.
Robert Rabin dijo: “El Pueblo Viequense agradece profundamente la dedicatoria de los organizadores del Desfile Boricua en Nueva York a Vieques, maxime en este momento tan critico para la lucha de nuestro Pueblo para lograr el cese de las actividades militares de la Marina de
Guerra de los Estados Unidos en Vieques y la salida de la Marina de la Isla Nena. Agradecemos tambien la solidaridad de la comunidad puertorriqueña en Estados Unidos, y en otras partes del mundo, con la lucha por la paz en Vieques, y el apoyo de otros hermanos y hermanas no
puertorriqueños que se han unido a nuestra lucha.”
Rabin expreso: “Nuestro Pueblo reafirma su compromiso de lucha por lograr
el cese inmediato y permanente de todas la actividades belicas de las
fuerzas militares estadounidenses en Vieques, por lograr la salida inmediata de todo su personal, equipo y aparatos de la Isla Nena, y lograr la devolucion de todos los terrenos ocupados por cualquier rama o departamento de sus fuerzas militares al Municipio de Vieques.
Reafirmamos nuestro derecho a continuar la resistencia pacÌfica para lograr nuestros objetivos de paz y justicia para Vieques. Como parte de nuestra resistencia pacifica, continuaremos entrando a los terrenos ocupados por los militares para lograr diversos propositos, entre ellos: crear nucleos de escudos humanos para detener el bombardeo; provocar arrestos para asi aumentar la atencion al caso de Vieques y asegurar la constante divulgacion de nuestros reclamos y la cobertura de nuestra lucha a traves de los medios de comunicacion; obligar el uso de recursos de la Marina para la b·squeda y arresto de los manifestantes; y permitir una
participacion cada vez mas amplia en la lucha directa de viequenses y de puertorriqueños de la Isla Grande, adem·s de otros que residen en el exterior pero viajan a Vieques para participar en estas y otras iniciativas.”
Por su parte, Cumpiano añadio: “Exhortamos a todos los que anhelan la paz para Vieques a que continuen denunciando las directrices de Clinton sobre Vieques, y el referÈndum allÌ propuesto, y que exijan, a travÈs de todos los medios de presion politica disponible, que Clinton emita una Orden
Ejecutiva ordenando el cese inmediato y permanente de todas la actividades
belicas de la Marina en Vieques y la salida de la Marina de Vieques. El
pueblo de Puerto Rico en general, y el pueblo de Vieques en particular, ya
tomo una determinacion en torno al futuro de Vieques: La Marina se debe ir sin tirar una bomba m·s, de ningun tipo. Lo que el Presidente tiene que hacer es respetar la voluntad del pueblo. Los eventos en Nueva York esta semana contribuir·n a diseminar los reclamos del pueblo viequense, a coagular fuerzas y a afinar estrategias.”
Entre los eventos en Nueva York en los que participar·n los miembros del
CPRDV habr· un foro y cena la noche del jueves 8 de junio en honor al CPRDV, organizada por la organizacion War Resisters League. La actividad sera a las 6:30PM en el Park Avenue Christian Church, 1010 Park Avenue en la Calle 85 (Info: 212-228-0450/800-975-9688). Ismael Guadalupe tambien ofrecera varias charlas sobre la lucha por la paz en Vieques durante su estadia en Nueva York. Para m·s informaciÛn sobre el Desfile Boricua en NY y otros eventos relacionados, favor de accesar: http://www.nyboricua.com, y para mas informacion sobre Vieques favor de accesar: http://www.viequeslibre.org.
fast for vieques
On Wednesday, June 14th, a group of people will start an indefinite water-only fast in front of the White House. We are demanding that President Clinton agrees to meet with Vieques community leaders to hear directly from them the reasons for opposing the Navy’s bombing of their land. We will be making public the letters of support we’ve recieved from H.H. the Dalai Lama and Rev. Roy Bourgeois (SOA Watch). Some of us vow to fast until Clinton agrees to meet with them or we pay the ultimate consequences of restraining from nourishment. We expect Buddhist monks to join us and many religious leaders from different faiths. We also expect to make public new letters of support from internationally recognized religious leaders as they are recieved. We encourage people to support this event and to invite your senators and representatives to meet with us. In addition, please contact the media about this act of resistance.
If you would like to join the fast or help in any other way, you may contact me or Freddie Marrero at 603-653-0027 or 212-923-0387.
In the spirit of ahimsa,
Hector Rosario
H.H. the Dalai Lama
What follows is a copy of the text of a letter written by H.H. the Dalai Lama sent to me on behalf of the people of Vieques. I will be reading it in front of the White House when we start our water-only-fast on June 14, together with the letters of support from various religious and civic leaders from around the world. Join us.
Hector Rosario
603-653-0027
212-923-0387
718-726-5068
P.S.
You may send a letter of suport to
Hector Rosario
c/o Freddie Marrero
92 Pinehurst, 3-L
New York, NY 10033
******************
H.H. the Dalai Lama
MESSAGE
I am concerned by the terrible effects on people, animals and plants of Vieques, an island in the archipelago of Puerto Rico, as a result of the military exercises conducted on the island. I am told that because of the pollution from these military exercises the cancer rate in Vieques is much higher than on the main island. I therefore support the action of the people of Vieques in protesting against such military exercises.
La semana pasada fue una de constante accion contra la presencia de la Marina en Vieques. El lunes pasado, Dia de la Recordacion, un grupo de 30 Veteranos Viequenses Unidos por la Paz, entregaron sus medallas de guerra ante el monumento del veterano frente al Capitolio en San Juan, como parte de un acto de protesta organizdo por los Veteranos Por la Paz, Capitulo de Puerto Rico.
En la madrugada (3:30 AM en punto), del jueves, 1 de junio, salieron 26 personas – mayormente de Vieques, mayormente mujeres – hacia el area de tiro. Llegaron en lanchas de pescadores a una playa en la costa Norte y luego caminaron por dos horas hasta llegar a al zona de tiro – especificamente a la Playa Yayi, lugar donde estuvo ubicada la capilla
ecumenica de los campamentos de resistencia desalojados el 4 de mayo.
AllÌ las mujeres sembraron trece cruces negras a la memoria de las muchas
mujeres que han muerto de cancer y otras enfermedades relacionadas con la
contaminacion producida por la Marina. Bajo la direccion de la compañera
Nilda Medina, miembro fundadora del Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de
Vieques y lider del Campamento Justicia y Paz, los 26 viequenses y compañeros de la Isla Grande – junto a seis reporteros de distintos medios – cumplieron su mision de burlar la vigilancia militar, penetrar la zona de bombardeo, llevar a cabo una ceremonia y finalmente ser arrestados por los militares.
La accion se llevo a cabo para denunciar los planes de la Marina (publicados en la prensa del pais) de detonar, ese mismo dia, una cantidad no determinada de bombas enterradas y dispersas en la zona de tiro.
°ESE DIA LA MARINA NO DETONO NI SIQUIERA UN PETARDO!
Mas de la mitad de los integrantes de esa accion fueron mujeres viequenses. La expediciÛn conto con la destacada participacion tambien de la compañera Lolita Lebron y la Lcda. Rosa Meneses Albizu Campos. Durante una celebracion en el Campamento Justicia y Paz por la noche del jueves, despues de la liberacion de los integrantes quienes habian sido detenidos temprano en la mañana, y trasladados a la Base Naval Roosevelt Roads en Ceiba – varias de las compañeras viequenses expresaron su deseo de regresar a la zona restringida a la brevedad posible para seguir el proceso de reclamar la tierra que les pertenece por derecho natural.
El compañero Tito de Jesus (Kayak), fue el unico integrante del grupo que no salio de la carcel por negar cualquier participacion en el proceso legal. Ayer, lunes 5 de junio, Tito salio de prision.
El sabado, 3 de junio, recibimos una delegacion de los 54 arrestados el 13
de mayo. Marchamos hasta la Plaza Publica donde se llevo a cabo una conferencia de prensa y acto politico. El Lcdo. Graciany Miranda Marchand,
uno de “los 54”, señalo que el grupo habia viajado a Vieques para violar,
abiertamente, la orden del tribunal de que no podian regresar a Vieques despues de haber sido arrestado el 13 de mayo.
Por la noche del sabado, la vigilia de todos los s·bados se dedico a todos
los arrestados – los 21 de 1979, los 200 y mas del 4 de mayo, los 54 del 13 y los 26 del 1 de junio y todos los arrestados que vienen en los proximos dias, semanas y meses. Igual que las dos semanas anteriores, aproximadamente 250 personas participaron en la vigilia que conto con
varias rondas de piquete militante frente al porton de Camp Garcia.
El domingo, 4 de junio, llego a Vieques en la lancha de la mañana, la bandera gigantesca de Vieques que nos preparo el compañero Ramon Figueroa, que se llevarara al Desfile Puertorriqueño en NY el 11 de junio. Se marcho con la bandera del muelle hasta la Plaza Publica donde se llevo a cabo una ceremonia de entrega al pueblo viequense y la bendicion de la
bandera por los oficiales eclesiasticos. Se recibio tambien una precisosa VIRGEN DE LA PAZ DE VIEQUES, tallada en cedro, de aproximadamente cuatro pies de alto, obra del artesano orocoveÒo, Celestino Aviles.
El pueblo de Vieques se mantiene en alerta y en constante accion de protesta y denuncia. Las acciones de entrada a la zona restringida de la Marina son el tema de un continuo proceso de conspiracion y dialogo entre las organizaciones de base. Todos estamos claros que
“DIOS NO NOS TRAJO AQUI PARA VOLVER ATRAS, NOS TRAJO AQUI A POSEER LA TIERRA QUE NOS DIO.”
Robert L. Rabin Siegal
°FUERA LA MARINA DE VIEQUES!
Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques
Last week was one of constant action against the Navy presence in Vieques.
Last Monday, Memorial Day, 30 Viequense Veterans United for Peace, turned
in their war medals before the Veterans Monumento at the Capitol building
in San Juan, as part of a protest ceremony organized by the Puerto Rico
chapter of Veterans for Peace.
In the early morning hours of Thursday, 1 June, 26 people – mostly women
from Vieques – headed toward the Navy¥s bombing range. They arrived in
fishing boats at a beach on the North coast and walked for two until
reaching the Yayi beach area, where the ecumenical chapel – part of the
civil disobedience camps – was located. There the women placed 13 black
crosses in memory of Vieques women who died of cancer or other sicknesses
related to the environmental contamination produced by US Navy activities.
Directed by Nilda Medina, founding member of the Committee for the Rescue
and Development of Vieques and leader of the Justice and Peace Camp, the
group, together with 6 members of the Puerto Rican press, fulfilled their
mission, passing undetected into the Navy restricted zone, penetrating the
bombing range, carrying out a protest ceremony before finally being
arrested.
The action was carryed out to denounce Navy plans (announced in the press)
to detonate, that very day, an undetermined quantity of burried and
dispersed unexploted ordnance.
That day the Navy did not even detonate a firecracker!
Over half of the group was comprised of Viequense women. The expedition
also inclueded Lolita Lebron and Rosa Meneses Albizu Campos. During a
celebration at Justice and Peace Camp that night, after the protester were
liberated at Navy Station Roosevelt Roads in the town of Ceiba (the group
had been transferred to NSRR early in the morning following their arrest
on Vieques) – several Vieques women expressed their desire to return soon
to the restricted zone to continue the process of relcaiming what belongs
to the people of Vieques by natural right.
Tito de Jes·s (known as Tito Kayay) was the only member of the group not
liberated from detention because he refused to offer any information
during the legal process. Yesterday, 5 June, Tito was released.
On Saturday, 3 June, we received a delegation of the 54 arrested on 13
May. We marched together from the dock to the Public Square to hold a
press conference. Graciany Miranda Marchan (ex President of the PR Bar
Association), one of the 54, said the group had travelled to Vieques to
openly challenge the court order prohibiting them from returning to
Vieques.
That Saturday night, during the vigil that¥s held every Saturday, the
activity was dedicated to all those arrested – the 21 in 1979, the more
than 200 this past 4 May, the 54 on the 13th of May and the 26 arrested on
1 June – as well as the many who will be arrested in the following days,
weeks and months. Over 250 people participated in the vigil that inclued
a series of militant piquets in front of the gates to Camp GarcÌa.
Sunday, June 4th, on the morning ferry we recieved RamÛn Figueroa who
brought a gigantic Vieques flag that will travel to NY to participate in
the 11 June parade in the Big Apple. About 50 people from Vieques and the
main island marched with the flag to the town square to hold a ceremony
and the blessing of the flag by the Parrish Priest and the Pastor of the
Methodist Church. A 4 foot tall Virigen of Peace for Vieques, sculpted in
wood (cedro) by Puerto Rican artesan, Celestino AvilÈs, also received the
blessing of the church officials and was warmly received by the people of
Vieques during the ceremony
The people of Vieques are on constant alert and in constant protest. Our
actions inside the Navy¥s restricted zone are the topic of a constant
process of conspiration and dialogue amongst the grass roots organizations
here.
We are all clear in our belief that
GOD DID NOT BRING US HERE TO TURN BACK,
S-HE BROUGHT US HERE
TO TAKE POSSESSION OF THE LAND S-HE GAVE US
Robert L. Rabin Siegal
°US NAVY OUT OF VIEQUES!
RE: fast for vieques
There is a group from the Catholic Church Diocesis of Caguas who are carrying out a similar activity in front of the Capitol in San Juan. Throughout the world all justice seeking people support the struggle of the people of Vieques. Solidarity forever. Paz para Vieques. Analibre
Vieques’ Activists Chain Themselves in Wall Street
PRESS RELEASE
For Release 12:25 a.m. EDT June 07, 2000
Act of Civil Disobedience at the Bull in Bowling Green, Manhattan, NY
(the Wall Street area)
In support and solidarity with all the people struggling for an end to the
United States military practices in the municipality of Vieques, Puerto Rico. US Navy Out of Vieques Now!
From: Welfare Poets & Sisters in the Struggle
Date: Wednesday, June 7, 2000
Time: 12:30 PM
Place: Famous Statue of the Bull in Bowling Green, Manhattan, NY
At noon today, a group of Puerto Rican artists from the Welfare Poets and
Sisters in the Struggle have joined in solidarity with the people of Vieques, Puerto Rico, in an act of civil disobedience at the famous statue of the Bull in Bowling Green, Manhattan, NY.
We are protesting 60 years of US Military maneuvers that have caused severe environmental pollution, economic underdevelopment, and even death among its population. We are protesting the fact that despite proof that there are still viequenses in civil disobedience within the bombing range, the Navy has bombed and plans to resume bombing. These military practices are in direct violation of the United Nations Charter of Human Rights, of which the US is a signatory. In addition, US citizens should be aware that their tax dollars are being spent to do military practices on an inhabited island, dropping upwards of 250 depleted uranium bombs per year.
Puerto Rico has been a military-industrial colonial complex of the United
States for over 100 years. We, as conscientious artists, stand in
solidarity with the courageous people of Vieques who have been suffering cancer, unemployment, and psychological torture for too long. We demand that there be “NO MORE BOMBS IN VIEQUES!” In relation to attempts by the US Government to consult with the people of Vieques, we affirm that human rights are not ever to be put to a vote by way of a so-called referendum.
We have chained ourselves to the Bull in an overt act to call the attention of the World community over the extreme plight of the people of Vieques. In this way, we hope to exacerbate perturbation in the hearts and consciences of the American public in regards to what already is for
almost 10,000 viequenses an intolerable situation. We intend to demonstrate that it is trough the funding and genocidal speculative finances of the Stock Exchange in Wall Street that the immense military bases in Puerto Rico are kept open. These bases include Roosevelt Roads, the US largest naval military facility in the Western Hemisphere.
We invite you to join this anti-war, anti-environmental destruction, and
pro-human rights struggle. US Navy Out of Vieques Now!
Sincerely,
Hector Luis Rivera, Welfare Poets // Stacey Toro, Sisters in the Struggle
Protests Continue in Puerto Rico
Friday May 5 4:51 PM ET
Protests Continue in Puerto Rico
By EILEEN MCNAMARA, Associated Press Writer
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – College campuses closed, militants protested
and the National Guard shielded U.S. installations and public utilities
Friday following a federal raid that dislodged 216 protesters from the
Navy’s bombing range on Vieques Island.
On Vieques, an anti-Navy activist claimed that seven people were hiding on
the range. The Navy said it knew of no holdouts and was planning to rapidly resume training – a year after its Atlantic fleet bombing range was occupied.
Protests against the raid also were announced on the U.S. mainland,
including one by political activists outside a Navy recruiting office in
Philadelphia.
“It has unified the Puerto Rican people like nothing I have ever seen in my life,” said Philadelphia City Councilman Angel Ortiz.
“All of the resentments about the colonial situation are being exhibited
through Vieques.”
The 4 million American citizens who live on the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico can serve in the military but cannot vote for president or Congress. They receive $13 billion a year in U.S. aid but pay no federal taxes.
In Puerto Rico, police increased security at Army and Navy bases, federal
courts in San Juan and at U.S. military recruiting and post offices. Hundreds of protesters briefly scuffled with police at the U.S. Army base at Fort Buchanan on Thursday.
Gov. Pedro Rossello ordered enhanced security at public utilities. National Guard troops stood watch at power plants, including one at San Juan’s international airport, said utility spokesman Freddy Marrero.
Nearly 5,000 members of the electricity workers union staged a four-hour protest Friday against the Vieques raid.
In historic Old San Juan, hundreds of flag-waving protesters demonstrated
peacefully outside a newly-renovated federal courthouse hours before it
was to be dedicated by judges and local officials.
Protests by students – and in some cases their professors – shut down classes at colleges in the cities of Ponce and Bayamon and disrupted many classes at the University of Puerto Rico’s main campus in San Juan.
On Vieques, where about 300 federal agents peacefully removed 216 protesters from the bombing range Thursday – including religious leaders and two U.S. members of Congress – an activist claimed that some had eluded the raid.
Carlos Zenon, head of the Vieques Fishermen’s Association, said seven
people, including two of his sons, were at two “secret camps” in the hilly zone. Zenon said he had spoken with son Casimar by radio Friday.
“If they find them, they’ll surrender peacefully,” Zenon said. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Mark McDonald, a spokesman at the Joint Information Center at Roosevelt Roads, said military personnel were patrolling the range but had no information on any holdouts.
Protesters occupied the Navy’s 60-year-old Atlantic fleet range in April 1999 after a civilian Navy guard was killed in an accidental bombing. They stood in the way of a Jan. 31 accord between President Clinton and Rossello allowing the Navy to resume limited training with inert bombs until 2003, with a Vieques referendum to decide whether the Navy can stay longer and use live ammunition.
The Navy argues Vieques is vital to national security because it is the
only place that air, land and sea forces can train simultaneously with live munitions before deploying abroad.
Despite Thursday’s detentions – all protesters were released without
charge – many Puerto Ricans celebrated the outcome because it attracted
international attention to the plight of Vieques’ 9,300 civilians.
“They got us out, but it is a disgrace for the nation that calls itself the architect of democracy that it had to use warships with more than 1,000 soldiers, armed with all of their equipment, to remove a few people who are demanding peace,” said Vieques fisherman Carlos Ventura.
The need for a long-term strategy
Certainly protesting and re-entering the site from which we have been ousted will prevent the Navy from doing its maneuvers. But what else. I think the support of workers on the island was also important. If the Navy attempts to begin bombing, there should be a nationwide strike on the island until they stop.
Let’s make sure it doesn’t
Let’s make sure it doesn’t. The Navy is the reason there is such a high rate of cancer and they must be stopped. If indeed there is consensus in Puerto Rico, then the Navy must go now! One can’t compromise on health–our health has already been compromised!
I would like to see all labor show their support for Vieques by striking. And all the students on the island should likewise strike in a coordinated effort to paralyze the country.
RE: White Ribbons
N Dallas,
What’s your email? Puerto Rico and the American Dream is putting together an email list as we build our online community. We would like to put you on our list. Please email us at
info@prdream.com. Thank you.
truth about arrests
Officially the Navy has declared that they started bombing with “inert” bombs, although they know that we still have 17 protestors inside of the range. If you think that “inert” bombs are not that bad, imagine a 500-lb rock falling on top of your head from 5,000ft above sea level. The U.S. also offically declared a state of war and they are not letting the fishermen go to the waters. They are using all their might against humble people that only want to live in peace and who are stricly using non-violent tactics to oust the military from Vieques. Also, the press reported that the arrests were carried out peacefully. Read the following message from a friend from Vieques. The question no is, what do we do next? How much longer can we continue to fight non-violently before they kill us all. Obviuosly the US government has no respect whatsoever for most people around the world. At least, I hope that much is clear.
more shocking truth about arrests
— Forwarded Message from xxxxx —
just got back from vieques. what a diference from the media show.
once the desobedientes where out of camera range the story was very
different. lolita lebrón and the nuns where foddled by these apes. women where handcuffed. yes, they where plastic, but very tight and if they complained, well, they where made tighter. you should see their wrists, red and swollen. and then if you further complained, you got to use metal handcuffs. they were kept on those metal boats for four hours, in the water, under the sun, with no drinking water. while they showered themselves in drinking water. vieques is in a state of siege, helicopters all over the place, surrounded by warships and speed boats. fishermen can not go out to fish, people from the community in front of camp garcía are forced to walk to their homes, four miles for some of them, if they happen to be so unlucky not to have cars. parents or friends o públicos are not allowed in. it actually was a very sad scene. these are actually very
humble and nice people. the humiliation. but they will get over the shock and empire will see how audacious locals can be. fuera la marina.
LA MARINA REANUDA LA INMORALIDAD
Vieques Libre – http://www.viequeslibre.org
“LA MARINA REANUDA LA INMORALIDAD CONTRA LOS VIEQUENSES”
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA/MENSAJE URGENTE
CAMPAMENTO MONTE DAVID
VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO
Contacto: Carlos Zenon (Tel. 787-741-8315)
8 de mayo del 2000-
Carlos Zenon, Presidente de la Asociacion de Pescadores de Vieques y
dirigente del Campamento Monte David en la zona de tiro en Vieques, denuncio hoy el anuncio de la Marina y del Gobernador interino Angel Morey de que la Marina habia reanudado el bombardeo en Vieques.
Zenon, cuyos hijos Pedro y Cacimar se encuentran junto a varias personas
escondidos aun en la zona de tiro, dijo que la Marina contin·a con su guerra psicologica contra el pueblo de Vieques, tal como lo hizo recientemente con los constantes informes de la “inminencia” de los arrestos.
Zenon senalo: “La reanudacion de los bombardeos en esta isla, aun cuando
no queden personas en la zona de tiro, es inmoral. Pero bombardear cuando
mis hijos y otras personas se encuentran allÌ en la zona de tiro, es evidencia m·s de que la vida de los viequenses vale poco para la Marina. Si se atrevieron a bombardear hoy, sabiendo de la presencia de seres humanos en el ·rea y sabiendo que hay cientos de casquillos de uranio y cientos de bombas vivas que pueden explotar al ser impactadas por las.bombas inertes, el mensaje que esta enviando la Marina es que su intencion
verdadera es continuar abusando del pueblo de Vieques como les de la gana,
independientemente de la farsa de las directrices de Clinton sobre Vieques”
Zenon expreso: “Rossello y Clinton bien saben eso. Ya ver·n ustedes como su gente va a ir corriendo ante el Congreso para llevarles con alegria el mensaje de los arrestos y el anuncio de los bombardeos. A estas alturas a nadie le puede quedar duda de que las directrices de Clinton sobre Vieques son pro-Marina y anti-Vieques.”
Por ·ltimo, Zenon comento: “Esta falta total de consideracion por parte de
la Marina contra la vida, la salud y el bienestar de los viequenses es harto conocida por nosotros. La semana pasada dije que de la Marina de Guerra se puede esperar cualquier cosa, pero que ni ellos se atreverian a tirar una sola bomba si queda un solo ser humano en esa zona de tiro. Si en realidad tiraron bombas hoy, sabiendo que quedan varios seres humanos en el area, entonces tenemos que decir que de la Marina de Guerra se puede esperar cualquier cosa, por m·s inmoral que sea. Cosas como esta le dan urgencia a nuestra lucha por la paz.”
___________________________________
(English version)
“US NAVY RESUMES IMMORALITY AGAINST VIEQUENSES”
PRESS RELEASE/URGENT MESSAGE
CAMP MOUNT DAVID
VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO
Contact: Carlos Zenon (Phone# 787-741-8315)
May 8, 2000-
Carlos Zenon, President of the Vieques Fishermen’s Association and leader
of Camp Mount David in the live impact area in Vieques, denounced today
the announcement by the U.S. Navy and by acting Governor Angel Morey that
the U.S. Navy had resumed bombing in Vieques.
Zenon, whose sons Pedro and Cacimar are still in the live impact area
along with several other people, said that the Navy continues with its
psychological warfare against the people of Vieques, as it recently did
with the constant reports about the “imminency” of the arrests.
Zenon said: “Resuming bombing on this island, even if there were no one
left in the live impact area, is immoral. But bombing when my sons and
others are there in the live impact area, is further evidence that the
lives of Viequenses are worth very little to the Navy. If they had the
audacity to bomb today, knowing full well about the presence of several
human beings in the area and knowing full well that there are hundreds of
depleted uranium shells and hundreds of unexploded live bombs that could
explode upon impact by the inert bombs, then the message the Navy is
sending is that its true intention is to continue abusing Vieques and
doing whatever they please to the people of Vieques, regardless of the
charade of Clinton’s directives on Vieques.”
ZenÛn stated: “RossellÛ and Clinton know this full well. You’ll now see
how their people go running to Congress to gleefully share the news of the
arrests and the resumption of bombing. At this stage, no one can have any
doubts that Clinton’s directives on Vieques are pro-Navy and anti-Vieques.”
Finally, Zenon said: “This total disregard of the Navy towards the lives,
health and well-being of the people of Vieques is well known by us. Last
week I said that one can expect anything from the Navy, but that even they
would not dare drop one single bomb if there is even one human being in
the live impact area. If they actually dropped bombs in the area today,
knowing as they do that there are several people in the area, then we have
to say that one can expect anything from the Navy, however immoral it may
be. Things like these make our struggle for peace more urgent.”
Party Leader Detained in Vieques
Party Leader Detained in Vieques
By Ismael Torres
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, May 10, 2000; 7:00 p.m. EDT
VIEQUES, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico’s independence party leader slipped past Marines guarding the Navy’s Vieques training ground and was arrested Wednesday, hours before a Navy destroyer shelled the range using non-explosive ordnance.
Ruben Berrios and activist Jorge Fernandez Porto entered the island bombing range before dawn and were stopped at 9 a.m. by Marines.
Berrios and Fernandez were charged with trespassing on federal property, a misdemeanor, and released from the federal courthouse in San Juan on their own recognizance. U.S. Magistrate Jesus Castellanos warned them they could face contempt of court charges if they re-enter the base.
Berrios who insisted he didn’t recognize the court’s jurisdiction could face six months in jail and a $1,000 fine on the trespassing charge. No trial date was set, said Rosa Emilia Rodriguez, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“I refuse to accept any condition from the court,” Berrios told about 100 supporters outside. “If I want to, and if we decide to go to Vieques, we go but first, the trial.”
At 11 a.m., the USS Stump fired non-explosive rounds in the first ship-to-shore shelling at the Atlantic fleet range in more than a year. The shelling, which lasted roughly two hours, complied with a presidential order allowing the Navy to resume limited operations on Vieques using non-explosive ordnance, said Navy spokesman Bob Nelson. Puerto Rico’s government was notified at least 15 days ago of the event.
“Today’s training was completed safely, professionally and without incident,” Nelson said.
Two Navy A-4 Skyhawks dropped 12 “dummy” bombs at the ground Monday, fulfilling a Navy pledge to resume operations despite protesters’ claims that some colleagues were still on the range.
Berrios, 60, had camped on the range for nearly a year, helping lead protests against Navy training before he and 223 others were removed in a federal operation that began May 11.
The detainees were released without charges, but anyone entering now faces tough penalties: up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine under a new order issued by President Clinton.
Berrios “is violating the imperialist law in order to comply with the law of his fatherland,” said Independence Party Senator Manuel Rodriguez Orellana.
Protesters occupied the range in April 1999 after a civilian security guard was killed by stray bombs. They say decades of bombing have harmed their health and the environment and stunted tourism.
The Navy disputes those arguments and says Vieques is the only place where the Atlantic Fleet can hold simultaneous air, land and sea training. Clinton and Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Rossello agreed in January to let the Navy resume limited training with inert ordnance and, in exchange, let Vieques residents vote probably next year on whether the Navy should leave by 2003.
In San Juan, a U.S. magistrate issued arrest warrants for two activists who, protesters claim, are inside the range. Brothers Casimar and Pedro Zenon are accused of assault for allegedly throwing rocks at Navy and contract personnel at the range on March 18. One civilian was hit.
Vieques fishermen, meanwhile, said they would try Saturday to run a 3-mile-wide no-entry zone around the range that they say has robbed them of their fishing grounds. The Coast Guard is enforcing the zone.
Vieques Alert Guideline
Vieques Alert Guideline
1. What’s the latest news?
On Thursday, May 4, 2000, federal authorities removed 215 people that were
conducting Civil Disobedience in Vieques, defending the island against
renewed occupation and bombing by the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Government’s
response to the demands for respect of basic Human Rights of the people of
Vieques was a military invasion of Vieques that was met with no violent
resistance by protestors who, from the outset, had vowed to engange in
non-violent Civil Disobedience. In spite of this military/police show of
force (there were over 1,000 U.S. Marines in the perimeter) the Federal
Government was incapable of removing all of those who were protesting at the target range.
Close to a dozen activists (and counting!) have remained hidden in secret encampments. At least three of those activists have been caught and
removed, but the rest remains at the target range. And more are coming
back to the range by the day.
The presence of human beings inside the target zone, of which the U.S.
Government is fully aware, has not been sufficient to detain the resumption of bombing of Vieques. The military began to bomb Vieques once again while they know that there are civilians right there in the bombing range. More civilians are getting back inside the target range to serve as human shields against the bombings. Among those getting back was Ruben Berrios, former Senator and President of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, and José Fernandez Porto, environmentalist and member of the Puerto Rican Independence Party. They were arrested on May 10, 2000 and taken to a federal magistrate, who released them and set a court date. In the midst of all the Vieques-related news, it is important to bear in mind that every single day, every single hour there are human beings at the bombing
range and, though the U.S. Navy knows this, it has kept on bombing.
2. What can be done to help the people of Vieques?
You or your organization should call and fax President Clinton to let him know that what he has done is a travesty that brings shame to this nation and that the U.S. Government is been looked at by many Americans and the international community as an imperialistic bully that decided to brutalize those who defend the Human Rights of the 9,400 people who live in Vieques. Tell him and his staff that his outrageous decision to arrest
and resume the bombing of the Island will continue to be met by protests,
civil disobedience, and peaceful resistance in Vieques, Puerto Rico, in
the U.S., and in other parts of the world. Also call the media to demand
fair coverage and to underscore the importance and urgency this story has.
Call or fax:
Maria Echaveste – White House Deputy Chief of Staff
Phone – 202- 456-6594
Fax – 202-456-6703
3. How do I plan a protest in my area?
To select the ideal site take this into consideration: the ideal site would be a Federal or Military facility, but keep in mind that you would like to protest in a public place with passers-by. Therefore, if there are no well-located facilities a public plaza or square will be a good place. This will ensure the visibility to the public, will allow you to hand out flyers and inform the public, and it will also decrease the chances of any illegal action from authorities. Remember to call the media for the event and bring cameras and these chants [ http://www.micronetix.net/virus/Chants.htm ] with you! And don’t forget: The Puerto Rican Day Parade in NYC this year will be dedicated to Vieques. It’ll be held in Manhattan on Sunday June 11th. Mark your calendars!
4. How can I contact the media to bring the attention to this?
Call, e-mail, and fax the media in your city. If you have contacts, great.
If you don’t, it doesn’t matter. You should still contact the media, provide them with relevant information and urge them to cover what’s happening in Vieques. Use this site to send Press Releases to local and national media:
http://congress.nw.dc.us/cgi-bin/media.pl?dir=wnd
5. What are the important issues that I need to mention?
http://www.micronetix.net/virus/activist.htm contains documents which
provide background information on various aspects of the struggle for
Vieques. If you access the articles, press releases, etc., you’ll have
more than enough information on the environmental and ecological
devastation in Vieques, the abnormally high rate of illnesses such as cancer, and other aspects. Depending on the target audience, media outlet or organization, you can cull information from these sources and tailor it
accordingly.
6. What is the general position of the people of Vieques?
The general position of the people of Vieques is the same position as the
great majority of the people of Puerto Rico and millions of others in the
U.S. and elsewhere: The people of Vieques have suffered the abuse of the
U.S. Navy for too long and the U.S. Navy must leave and halt the bombing of the Island. The following documents present the position of the people of Vieques:
http://viequesvive.com/public_html/html/ultimatum-e.htm
http://www.micronetix.net/virus/comunicados.htm
Acces the News archive in http://www.viequeslibre.org for recent press releases, resolutions, public letters and policy statements.
7. How can I inform others about what is happening?
The best policy is not to assume that others are going to inform others.
Vieques activists have an incredibly busy workload, especially these days,
and the more people can help out by taking the initiative to write and
submit something on Vieques for a newspaper, organizing a vigil, protest,
demonstration, march, lobbying drive, etc., the better.
Send e-mails, faxes, make phone calls. The more people you contact the better. Attend the Vieques events in your cities and tell others about them. Bring banners, poster, flags, bullhorns, flyers etc. to those events. Visit this site for Vieques activists that contains helpful resources, including logos and cartoons for your flyers: [http://www.micronetix.net/virus/activist.htm]
Join the ViequesLibre listerve by sending a message to subscribe@viequeslibre.org to receive updated information.
If you organize a Vieques event in your community, send a detailed description with contact info to Viequeslibre@viequeslibre.org.
Congress Blocks Clinton’s Orders
Congress Blocks Clinton’s Orders
United Press International News
House panel blocks Puerto Rican compromise
Wednesday, May 10, 2000 6:35:19 PM EST
By PAMELA HESS WASHINGTON, May 10 (UPI) — Thumbing its nose at Defense
Secretary William Cohen, a powerful House committee says the Navy must use
explosive munitions at the Navy’s Vieques training range, undermining
months of painstaking negotiations between the U.S. Navy and the governor
of Puerto Rico.
After more than a year, the Navy was allowed to use the Vieques range
again this week, albeit with inert bombs. Military police just days ago
cleared the beach of the last of hundreds of protestors who have been
occupying the land since an errant bomb killed a civilian Puerto Rican
guard on April 19, 1999.
The incident dramatically affected the Navy: Vieques is the only range in
the western Atlantic where entire battle groups, including submarines and Marine amphibious assault units, can rehearse battles together in what is known as “combined arms training,” according to the Navy. Consequently, two battle groups went to sea without critical training.
The Navy and Puerto Rico in January hammered out a compromise that would
allow the service to use the vital range again: the Navy would use only inert munitions; it would use the range only 90 days a year; it would give $40 million to Vieques for economic development; and it would conduct a
vote to determine whether it could continue using the range beyond 2003
and whether it could ever use live munitions again.
“That agreement allows us to address the concerns of the citizens of Vieques and gain their necessary support for the training mission which must be accomplished at Vieques,” wrote Cohen in a May 10 letter asking the committee to accept the compromise.
But today the House Armed Services Committee adopted language in its
fiscal year 2001 defense authorization bill that could abrogate that entire agreement: It prohibits the Navy from transferring any of the 8,700 acres of Vieques it has promised to Puerto Rico unless the commonwealth also allows the service to resume using live munitions on the training range.
It also prohibits the Navy from using any of the $40 million it has earmarked for Vieques to run the referendum. And no matter what the result of that vote, it prohibits the transfer of any part of the eastern end of the island – where the live impact area is located – back to Puerto Rico. Not only that, the committee says the 8,700 acres the Navy has already pledged to transfer to Puerto Rico can only be used as a conservation zone. It may not be commercially developed.
Moreover, it would allow the Navy to use the range for a full 180 days, half with live ordnance.
Cohen enjoined the committee from adopting the restrictions in his May 10
letter, warning that it could derail the delicate state of affairs on Vieques and put the Navy even further behind in training.
“The continued cooperation of the government of Puerto Rico is critical to
achieving the goal which you and I seek; i.e. resumption of the full range
of training exercises at Vieques. If legislation which abrogates the
agreement is adopted, the opportunity to achieve that goal will be set back, if not lost altogether. I urge that the committee reject any language that would undermine our efforts to achieve that goal,” Cohen wrote.
“Altering provisions of the agreement would eliminate crucial components
of the delicate balance that has been worked out with the government of
Puerto Rico. The significance of those components cannot be overstated.” An administration official close to the issue agreed with that assessment,
saying if the Navy uses live ordnance it would likely start the protests all over again.
However, the House Armed Services Committee bill will go to the full House
for consideration this summer and the Vieques provisions could face stiff
opposition. The House defeated similar language in a 232 – 183 vote taken
last month.
“We just have to take the battle to the House floor,” the administration
official said. “This obviously strikes at the heart of the agreement.” The
Senate Armed Services Committee version of the authorization bill supports
the terms of the Navy agreement, so the House language will also have to
survive a compromise conference in order to be enacted.
The Senate also turns up the heat on Puerto Rico by directing the General
Accounting Office to study the costs and benefits of closing the Army’s
Fort Buchanan on Puerto Rico and moving its operations to the Navy’s Roosevelt Roads facility, a proposal only likely to be made if the Puerto Rican referendum rejects the Navy’s use of Vieques after 2003.
Vieques Update
: Hector.Rosario@Dartmouth.EDU (Vieques)
Subject: vieques update
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Sender: owner-prolibertad@beaconschool.org
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Here are two updates from people in Puerto Rico. Also, last night I spoke to Eduardo Morales Coll, President of the Ateneo Puertorriqueño, who was in Vieques, and he told me that the Navy now has a double fence and that just last night the police motorists to use the road that leads to the gate of Camp Garcia. The road had been blocked since the protestors were removed last week. –Hector
Ruben Berrios Martinez, head of the Puerto Rican Independence Party is back
inside the firing ranges on Vieques.
Vieques fisherman are defying the Navy today by fishing in Puerto Rican
waters.
Update: Rev. Estrada asked the fishermen to postpone till Saturday, in deference to negotiations he is carrying on with Adm. Green regarding lifting of restrictions for specific work periods. Estrada told Green he needs an answer before Friday. Fishermen met last night to consider this, and although hard pressed, decided to allow Estrada to conclude his negotiations. They are planning to work in the north on Saturday, and the south on Sunday or Monday.
Delegation to Vieques and Puerto Rico
Disarming the Naval Colossus
in Puerto Rico
National Delegation to Vieques and Puerto Rico
August 12 – 20, 2000
Sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Caribbean Project
for Justice and Peace
The populated island of Vieques on the eastern end of Puerto Rico has been
bombed by the U.S. Navy since 1941 as part of training for war. NATO forces have also trained on Vieques. For the last year, Puerto Rico has experienced an unprecedented movement to recover the land and waters of Vieques for civilian use. More than a dozen civil disobedience encampments in the Vieques impact area prevented the Navy from bombing for more than a year. Other groups are investigating environmental cleanup of the explosives and economic conversion of the island. Puerto Rican civil society has played a leading role.
The Navy’s firing range in Vieques is part of a complex that includes
Roosevelt Roads, the largest U.S. naval base outside the United States. Roosevelt Roads also hosts hundreds of Special Forces troops who train Latin American armed forces, aircraft conducting drug war surveillance,
and U.S. Navy South. Some Congressmen have said that if Vieques closes,
Roosevelt Roads will also close.
This delegation will visit community groups in Vieques and Puerto Rico,
meet with church and civic leaders in San Juan and the communities around
Roosevelt Roads, and explore the prospects for environmental cleanup and
economic conversion of U.S. military bases in Puerto Rico.
We seek individuals with experience in base cleanup, economic conversion
and community organizing to be delegates. Translation to English will be provided. Cost of $550 covers all food, lodging, and transportation in
Puerto Rico. Please apply by June 30.
For more information and application, contact:
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean
2017 Mission St. #305,
San Francisco, CA 94110
Tel: 415-495-6334 Fax: 415-495-5628
E-mail: forlatam@igc.org
The FOR is an interfaith pacifist organization founded in 1915. The
Caribbean Project for Justice and Peace, in San Juan, works for demilitarization and a culture of peace in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean region. For a report from the 1999 delegation to Puerto Rico co-sponsored by the Caribbean Project, FOR and other groups, contact the FOR office.
Ex-President of Panama in Solidarity with Vieques
Ex-President of Panama in Solidarity with Vieques
Panama, may 10th, 2000
H.E.
William J. Clinton
President of the United States of America
White House
Washington, D.C.
U.S.A.
Dear Mr. President:
As former President of the Republic of Panama, I will like to express my
solidarity with the people of Puerto Rico that have stated his concern about the military maneuvers developed by the U.S. Army in the tiny island of Vieques.
At the present times, when the entire world is preoccupied in preserving
for us and future generations the forest, wildlife, rivers, lakes and
seas, it seems an unwise practice to jeopardize the ecology with weaponry.
As you should remember, after the delivery of the Canal to Panama, the
U.S. Army has departed without removing the military devices used for many
years in the bases they occupied. That is a claim the government of Panama
will file to obtain the reparation of the lands and waters almost destroyed by so many potentially hazardous artifacts still left in such areas. For this similarities we are capable of understanding and sharing attitude of puertoricans.
Ruben Berrios, leader of the independentist Party of Puerto Rico, have been imprisoned in Vieques. I really hope that this graduate from Yale
University, as you are, will be freed as soon as possible. His only crime had been to act against the activities of the most powerful army of the world that will devastate one of the smaller islands of the earth unless they stop using live ammunition.
Trusting once more in your wisdom and sense of justice, I remain with my
best wishes,
Aristides Royo
Ex-President of Panama
Solicitud de Ayuda
Solicitud de Ayuda: Amigos de Vieques y Colectivo Cayo la YaYis
Mensaje: Solicitud de Ayuda
Por: Amigos de Vieques y Colectivo Cayo la YaYis (Dos de los Campamentos de Desobediencia Civil)
Saludos solidarios a todos nuestros hermanas y hermanos
Ante los hechos acontecidos y atropellos morales y sicologicos que estamos
viviendo TODOS por mantener viva la esperanza de un pueblo que ha sido
historicamente maltratado, atropellado y olvidado por 60 años, un pueblo que lucha para vivir y poder tener las mÌsmas oportunidades y derechos como cualquier ser humano en el mundo, por todos nuestros amigos y familiares que hoy est·n dando sus vidas por conseguir la paz y el respeto que se merece el pueblo de la Isla Nena, ahora mas que nunca necesitamos de ti.
!Tu mas que nadie sabe como puede aportar a la lucha por la paz de Vieques!
Este mensaje es solo para dejarles saber que si no puede estar fÌsicamente en el area de tiro con nosotros, existen otras alternativas sumamente atiles y necesarias en este momento. Dejanos saber de que forma puedes ayudarnos:
1. Venta y compra de Camisas
2. Venta de stickers
3. Donacion a los campamentos: Amigos de Vieques y Colectivo Cayo la Yayis
4. Ofreciendo charlas y presentando el documental “Taller de Desobediencia
Civil” hecho por Amigos de Vieques.
Direccion donde puede enviar las donaciones:
Amigos de Vieques y Colectivo Cayo la YaYis
Calle Lirio # 495
Mansiones de Rio Piedras
Cupey Bajo, 00926.
Campamento Amigos de Vieques
Coord: Mia y Gazir Sued: msued@sunites.upr.clu.edu, gazir@caribe.net
Hector Olivieri – Cayo Yayi
Tel. – 787-741-2692
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA – PRESS RELEASE
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA – PRESS RELEASE
[Scroll Down for ENGLISH]
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA
COMITE PRO RESCATE Y DESARROLLO DE VIEQUES
Apartado 1424
Vieques, PR 00765
Contacto: Flavio Cumpiano
Tel.: 202-721-4688
jueves 11 de mayo del 2000
Washington, DC.- El representante del ComitÈ Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de
Vieques en Washington, Lcdo. Flavio Cumpiano, denunciÛ hoy la reanudaciÛn
del bombardeo por parte de la Marina de Guerra de los Estados Unidos en Vieques como “un cruel acto de prepotencia e inmoralidad”.
Cumpiano dijo: “La ultima bomba que arrojo la Marina en Vieques mato al
viequense David Sanes RodrÌguez el 19 de abril del 1999. Poco m·s de un año después, la Marina ha reanudado el bombardeo a sabiendas de que hay seres humanos en la zona de tiro. Eso es inmoral y criminal.”
Cumpiano añadio: “Antes de ocupar la zona de tiro a la fuerza, la Marina
usaba el eufemismo de que no habia sido un +buen vecino+ en Vieques. Ahora que ha vuelto a ocupar forzosamente la zona este de Vieques, deja esa retorica hueca a un lado y ha comenzado inmediatamente a actuar con un menosprecio total por la vida humana.”
Cumpiano exhorto al pueblo de Puerto Rico, de los Estados Unidos y a la
comunidad internacional, a que estÈn conscientes y denuncien el hecho de
que cada dÌa que pasa, cada minuto que transcurre, hay seres humanos en la
zona de tiro en Vieques cuya vida puede ser cegada en cualquier momento por las bombas que esta arrojando la Marina en Vieques.
Mas aun, Cumpiano tildo como “el colmo de la ironia” el que las autoridades federales hayan emitido ordenes de arrestos contra los hermanos Pedro y Cacimar Zenon, hijos del lider de los pescadores viequenses Carlos Zenon, por alegadamente haberle tirado piedras a unos marinos en Vieques en marzo, cuando la Marina est· lanzando bombas desde
aviones y barcos sobre el mismo lugar en donde la propia Marina sabe que se hayan escondidos Pedro, Cacimar y otras personas. “Las ordenes de arresto o allanamiento no se diligencian con bombas”, dijo Cumpiano.
“Este es uno de los muchos ejemplos en donde la Marina utiliza lo metodos
represivos a su alcance para intentar aplastar la voluntad de un pueblo,
desde impedir que los pescadores de Vieques puedan salir a pescar, hasta
lograr que la Guardia Costanera imponga un estado de sitio, hasta conseguir que las autoridades federales continuen amenazando con penas excesivas contra personas cuya meta es defender vidas. Hagan lo que hagan, la Marina de Guerra no lograra detener la lucha por la paz en Vieques”, señalo Cumpiano, quien participo hoy en una vigilia por Vieques
frente a la Casa Blanca.
======================================
PRESS RELEASE/URGENT MESSAGE
Contact: Flavio Cumpiano
Tel.: 202-721-4688
May 11, 2000
Washington, DC.-
The representative of the Committee for Rescue and Development of Vieques,
in Washington, Flavio Cumpiano, condemned the continuance of the bombing
in Vieques by the United States Navy by saying “it is a cruel act of arrogance and immorality.”
Cumpiano said, “The last bomb that the Navy let go in Vieques killed David
Sanes Rodriguez on April 19, 1999. A little more than a year later, the Navy has began to bomb again knowing that there are human beings in the zone. This is immoral and criminal.”
Cumpiano added, “Before occupying the zone by force, the Navy used the
euphemism that they hadn’t been good neighbors in Vieques. Now they have
returned to occupy by force the east zone of Vieques, they put that empty
rhetoric to the side and have immediately begun to undervalue human life.
Cumpiano urged the Puerto Rican community in the United States and the
international community, to denounce the acts that are occurring. Everyday, every minute they occur, there are human beings in the zone in Vieques whose lives can be taken at any moment by the bombs.
Furthermore, Cumpiano accentuated the irony that the federal agents would
have given orders to arrest the brothers Pedro and Cacimar Zenon, sons of the Leader of Fishermen from Vieques Carlos Zenon, for allegedly throwing rocks at one of the Navy men in Vieques in March, when the Navy is throwing bombs from airplanes and ships over the same place where the Navy knows Pedro, Cacimar, and others are hidden. “An arrest warrant in not carried out using bombs,” said Cumpiano.
“This is one of many examples as to how the Navy uses repressive methods to crush the will of a nation, from not allowing fishermen to fish, to having the Coast Guard impose a state of siege, to threaten with excessive penalties those people who are defending and protecting lives. Whatever they do, the Navy will not succeed to stop the struggle for peace in Vieques,” said Cumpiano, who participated today in the Vieques vigil in front of the White House.
25 people to face trial
Agence France Presse:
25 people to face trial over Vieuqes
Agence France Presse
May 16, 2000, Tuesday 5:15 AM, Eastern Time
by Martin Delfin
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, May 15
Twenty-five people will have to go to trial in US District Court on misdemeanor trespassing charges on a Navy target range in Vieques after federal authorities arrested them along with another group over the weekend, a federal judge said Monday.
The 25 appeared before the magistrate who ordered them not to return to Vieques as a condition of their release. But the protesters defied another judge’s order by holding a noisy rally outside the federal building after they were released.
This was the second time that protesters have been arrested since federal agents undertook a massive operation to remove scores of demonstrators from Camp Garcia in Vieques on May 4.
US warplanes resumed bombing practice at the target range one week ago, after federal agents forcibly ended the protesters’ year-long occupation to fight the resumption of testing.
Last week, Puerto Rican Independence Party president Ruben Berrios and environmentalist Jorge Fernandez Porto were charged with misdemeanor trespassing after they were arrested when they tried to re-enter Camp Garcia.
Interim US Attorney Guillermo Gil has declined to use President Bill Clinton’s executive order to charge the protesters with felony trespassing.
“We don’t want to use justice to deal with them but they’re forcing us to do it,” said an exasperated Gil after leaving a trial. “I’m not going to be using the full force of the law to deal with them. We’re here to deal with real crime.”
A total of 54 were arrested on Saturday, including former Puerto Rico Bar Association president Graciany Miranda Marchand and members of a Christian pacifist organization.
Twenty-five were held until Monday because they had refused to give their names and addresses to federal authorities at the time of their arrests. The remainder had been released on Sunday.
After receiving notices of violations from US Magistrate Judge Jesus Castellanos, the protesters marched out of the federal building screaming political slogans against the US Navy.
The noisy crowd purposely trampled on the grassy areas in front of the building, chanting as they marched pass the courtroom windows of US District Judge Hector Laffitte.
On Friday, Laffitte issued a controversial order prohibiting loud demonstrations in front of the federal building and adjacent courthouse during working hours or while the court is in session.
Federal assault and resisting arrest charges were filed against another individual, who was working as a contract newspaper photographer, for allegedly trying to bite a government employee as he was being transported from Vieques.
He was released on 5,000 dollars bail, which was paid for by the El Nuevo Dia newspaper.
JUDGE REMOVES HERSELF IN VIEQUES CASE
Vieques Libre – http://www.viequeslibre.org
FEDERAL JUDGE INHIBITS SELF IN A VIEQUES CASE; PROTESTERS RE-ENTER PRACTICE BOMBING ZONE
May 14, 2000
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO, HWP News Service — In an act yesterday’s edition of the Spanish-language newspaper El Nuevo Dia described as without precedent, U.S. District Judge Carmen Consuelo Vargas de Cerezo on Friday inhibited herself “motu proprio” from presiding at the trial of Puerto Rico Independence Party President Ruben Berrios, whose case was assigned
to her court the previous day.
The ex-chief judge of the federal court in Puerto Rico, Vargas de Cerezo,
declared in a dramatic written statement she will have nothing to do with the case. She indicated in her statement her strong support for the Vieques cause, and by implication her support for the highly publicized efforts of Berrios to prevent a resumption of U.S. Navy bombing practice there.
Units of the U.S. Armed Forces, normally the Marines and Navy, and military units of other nations with ties to the U.S. that reportedly pay to participate, have routinely carried out practice bombing on the eastern one-third of the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, since 1941.
Following a one-year hiatus since the accidental killing of David Sanes, a
civilian security guard, by two bombs dropped by U.S. Navy F-18s April 19
last year, practice bombing was resumed last week with inert bombs and artillery shells. At least three protesters, including one woman, remained at large in the bombing zone after the sweep by authorities May 4, and were reported to be in the target area when inert munitions were first dropped by aircraft, then fired by Naval artillery, in last week’s resumption. The woman for a time took shelter in a burned-out tank. The bombing zone and the island’s surrounding nearshore waters are strewn with unexploded ordnance and wreckage that includes submerged drums of
chemicals in the vicinity of at least one sunken vessel.
Oddly, though there were no deaths on that occasion, a guardhouse in the same immediate area of Vieques as the one hit last year was reported to have been mistakenly hit by one or more bombs from U.S. military aircraft a few years ago, resulting in injuries.
El Nuevo Dia quoted U.S. District Judge Vargas de Cerezo in Spanish as saying in relation to the Berrios case, “Vieques is a silent prayer for peace and renewal before the Holy Sacrament. So it has been, will be, and will continue to be. The undersigned recuses herself from any
participation in this case.”
The 18-mile-long stringbean-shaped island of Vieques lies about nine miles
off the southern part of Puerto Rico’s east coast, aligned east-to-west.
Nearly three-fourths of Vieques’ land area was confiscated from the Puerto
Rico government and from the smaller island’s residents in an action tied to U.S. WWII military needs.
An effort at that time, nearly six decades ago, by authorities to move the
18,000-plus residents of Vieques to the island of St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, was halted. Residents of Vieques have since been obligated to live in the middle third of their long thin island, and the population of that island has fallen to roughly half that in 1941. The U.S. Navy, whose sprawling Roosevelt Roads Naval Station is located across Vieques Sound on the east coast of the main island of Puerto Rico, maintains a military munitions dump on the western one-third of Vieques.
Berrios, 60, a tenured professor at the University of Puerto Rico law school, and for many years an at-large senator who repeatedly garnered overwhelmingly more votes in general elections than any other Puerto Rico senator, re-entered the Vieques bombing zone accompanied by the Puerto Rico Independence Party environmental adviser, undetected by U.S. Marines guarding the area, by an undisclosed route before dawn Wednesday, May 10, and was taken into custody some hours later by Marines.
The former senator, who holds a law doctorate from Oxford, and a law degree from Yale, where President Clinton studied, had previously been detained on Vieques Wednesday, May 4. On that day U.S. Marshals staged a coordinated sweep involving the FBI and Marines that began before dawn, in which they detained more than 200 protesters. The Independence Party leader had been camped on the beach in the bombing zone near the eastern tip of the stringbean-shaped island for nearly a year, since May 8, 1999.
While camped on the beach, Berrios resigned his at-large senate seat because of his inability to attend legislative sessions.
Late the afternoon of May 10, after his arrest, Berrios was taken by helicopter from Vieques to the Federal Court in San Juan’s Hato Rey sector. Though it had previously been announced that President Clinton had invoked by executive order a law tied to national security raising the maximum penalty for trespassing on land claimed by the U.S. Navy to 10
years of imprisonment plus a fine of $250,000, it has since been reported
Berrios was charged only with the misdemeanor of trespassing.
U.S. Magistrate Jesus Castellanos informed Berrios in court at the
arraignment May 10 that he would have to accept special conditions for his release on his own recognisance. Berrios asserted he would accept no conditions. Despite this, the judge shortly afterwards ordered Berrios released without bail on his own recognisance, pending trial.
Yesterday, Saturday, May 13, a group of some 45-50 people led by Ismael
Guadalupe, a fisherman, entered the bombing range and were detained by
U.S. Marines at about 8:00 p.m. Two of those detained were released today,
and Magistrate Castellanos is reported to have ordered all but two of the
others remaining in custody to be processed for release. The two who will
apparently remain in custody longer are said to be charged with assault of
a military official.
Among those yet to be released was Graciani Miranda Marchand, a former
president of the Puerto Rico Lawyers Association. Others include religious
leaders. One of the two protesters released ahead of the others is Jose
Chegui Torres, a prominent New York City community leader, well known as a
professional boxer.
Protests have been staged intermittently over the nearly six decades since
the Vieques lands were confiscated for use by the U.S. military. There were arrests in 1972, when there was a surge of protests. Though charged only with the misdemeanor of trespassing, Angel Rodriguez Cristobal, one of those arrested on that occasion, was found hanged with a bedsheet in his cell shortly before completing his six-month prison term.
Prison authorities say Rodriguez Cristobal hanged himself in his cell.
However, Rodriguez Cristobal’s friends and colleagues, among them some who
visited him in prison, described his state of mind as sound, and claimed
he was not likely to have hanged himself, certainly not so soon before his release. They believed authorities failed to adequately investigate the
circumstances surrounding Rodriguez Cristobal’s death.
In San Juan, Sunday afternoon, rumors circulated as this dispatch was being prepared that more protesters were moving into restricted U.S. military areas in Vieques.
Vieques Update: Sunday 11 pm
Vieques Update: Sunday 11 pm
VIEQUES_LIBRE(English Text Below)
Más de 50 manifestantes entraron a la base y fueron detenidos ayer a las 10
de la noche.
Hoy a las 7 de la noche salieron los últimos que permitieron que salieran,
entre ellos José Escoda, Miguel Santiago, Rafael Bernabe, Javier Córdova, se quedó detenido Saturnino de Cayey y Sarah Peisch.
Sarah dio información telefónica que quedaron 10 compañeras arrestadas, y
varios compañeros arrestados, entre ellos Graciani Miranda. Mañana tienen
vista, los que quedaron detenidos van a la carce federal de Guaynabo, tienen
todos vistas en el edificio federal en la calle Chardón mañana.
Manifestación en el tribunal federal al mediodia.
Las siguientes compañeras todavía siguen detenidas:
Nidia Rodriguez
Maria Renard
Tania Hernandez
Rvda. Margarita Sánchez
Marianne Grady
Ambrosia Brown
Mimite Vieves (Viequense)
Marlene (sin apellido)
Sarah Peisch
Arlene Casanova
¡Manifestación militante mañana en la corte federal en San Juan a mediodía!
¡Libertad para los emisarios de la paz detenidos por el gobierno federal!
¡Fuera la Marina de Vieques¡
**************************************
More than 50 demonstrators entered Navy grounds in Vieques and were detained
yesterday at 10 pm.
Today, Sunday, at 7 pm, the last ones freed from detention came out, among
them José Escoda, Miguel Santiago, Rafael Bernabe, Javier Córdova.
Saturnino from Cayey is still detained and so is Sarah Peisch.
Sarah relayed through telephone that 10 women are still detained, and an
undetermined number of men, among them Graciani Miranda. They have a hearing tomorrow, it seems all the detained will be moved to the federal prison in Guaynabo, they all have hearings tomorrow in the federal court in Chardón Street.
A demonstration is being called at noon at the Federal Court.
The following compañeras are still detained:
Nidia Rodriguez
Maria Renard
Tania Hernandez
Rvda. Margarita Sánchez
Marianne Grady
Ambrosia Brown
Mimite Vieves (Viequense)
Marlene (no last name)
Sarah Peisch
Arlene Casanova
Picket tomorrow in the Federal Court.
¡Freedom for the emissaries of Peace for Vieques detained by the federal
government!
¡Fuera la Marina de Vieques¡
Agreden a un fotoperiodista
Agreden a un fotoperiodista – Federal Authorities Attacked Photojournalist
Vieques Libre – http://www.viequeslibre.org
[Scroll down for ENGLISH version]
Agreden a un fotoperiodista
lunes, 15 de mayo de 2000
Por Julio Ghigliotty
El Nuevo Dia
CEIBA – El fotoperiodista Freddie Toledo, que cubrÌa actividades contra la
Marina en Vieques, fue acusado de delito grave este domingo por las autoridades federales en el incidente en que detuvieron m·s de 50 personas que entraron al Campamento GarcÌa el sabado por la noche.
Segun testigos de la detencion del grupo de manifestantes, Toledo fue agredido por personal de seguridad de la Marina que intentaron entorpecer su labor de fotoperiodista mientras detenian a los manifestantes y a pesar de que este se identifico debidamente como miembro de la prensa y mostro sus credenciales.
Juan Vera, quien ha estado involucrado en las investigaciones sobre el daño ambiental causado por las practicas militares en Vieques, dijo que vio desde el otro lado de la verja como los marinos “le estaban dando un trato diferente al que le daban a las otras personas en la actividad”.
“El se identificÛ desde un principio que era prensa acreditada”, dijo Vera, quien aÒadiÛ que los militares mantenÌan a Toledo rodeado y trataban de agarrar la c·mara. “…l protegÌa su equipo”, dijo Vera, quien hizo llegar a El Nuevo Dia los rollos de fotografÌas tomadas por Toledo.
Una vez detenidos, los manifestantes y Toledo fueron transportados en camiones militares a un antiguo edificio que sirviÛ de celda para todos ellos. Luego de varias horas, los montaron en una barcaza que los transporto desde el muelle Mosquito en la zona oeste de la Marina hasta Roosevelt Roads en Ceiba.
La primera mujer en ser liberada relato que cuando llegaron a Roosevelt Roads los marinos empujaron a Toledo de la guagua y Èste cayo al suelo. “En defensa de Èl fue que los compañeros empezaron a protestar y ahi fue que se dio la situacion del gas pimienta y las macanas”, dijo la mujer.
Robert Nelson, portavoz de la Marina en la base Roosevelt Roads, nego que los detenidos hayan sido maltratados.
***************
Photographer Freddie Toledo, who covered activities against the US Navy in
Vieques, was accused of serious crime Sunday by the federal authorities in
an incident in which they stopped more than 54 people that entered the Navy firing range on Camp Garcia late Saturday night.
According to witnesses, Toledo was attacked by Navy security personnel.
The Navy secruity personnel tried to obstruct the photographer’s work while they were intervining with the demonstrators. The Navy did this even though Toledo was properly identified as a member of the press and showed his credentials.
Rev. Juan Vera, who has been involved in the investigations on the environmental damage caused by the military practices in Vieques, said
that he saw from the other side of the fence how the sailors “were treating Toledo different from how the Navy treated the other people in the activity.” From the begining Toledo identified himself a a memeber of
the credited press, “the military maintained Toledo surrounded and tried
to take away his camera. Toledo protected his equipment,” said Vera. Vera gave the rolls of film taken by Toledo to his newspaper.
Once prisoners, the demonstrators and Toledo were transported in military
trucks to an old building that served as cell for all of them. After several hours, they were put on a Navy barge that transported them from the Mosquito in the western zone of Vieques to
Roosevelt Roads in Ceiba.
The first woman released stated that when the demonstrators arrived at
Roosevelt Roads Navy sailors pushed Toledo from a bus and this made him
fell to the ground. “As a reaaction to this and in Toledo’s defense demonstrators began to protest. The navy answered with night sticks and pepper spray,” the woman said.
Robert Nelson, Navy spokesman on the base Roosevelt Roads base, denied that the prisoners have been mistreated.
Informe desde Vieques por Robert Rabin
Informe desde Vieques por Robert Rabin
16 de mayo del 2000
Compañeros solidarios con la lucha del pueblo viequense por la Paz:
La lucha por la paz de Vieques continua, tanto en Vieques como en Estados Unidos y en otros piÌses. Los arrestos del sabado pasado y las continuas entradas a la zona restringida de la Marina son solo una parte de las estrategias trazadas por las organizaciones comunitarias viequenses y los lideres de los campamentos.
Las entradas a la zona militar tienen propositos variados: crear nucleos
de escudos humanos para bloquear el bombardeo; provocar arrestos para asÌ
dramatizar el caso de Vieques y asegurar la constante divulgacion de noticias sobre la lucha en los medios de comunicacion; explorar el posible
establecimiento de nuevos campamentos de desobediencia civil en la zona de
bombardeo; obligar el uso de recursos de la Marina para la busqueda y arresto de los manifestantes; permitir una participacion cada vez mas amplia en la lucha directa de viequenses y de puertorriqueños de la Isla Grande.
Los trabajos del Campamento Justicia y Paz, frente al porton de Camp Garcia, continuan. En tres predios directamente frente al porton, residentes de Vieques mantiene una presencia las 24 horas para vigilar los movimientos militares por ese espacio. El Campamento Justicia y Paz mantuvo bloqueado al transito militar por ese porton desde el 3 de
diciembre hasta los arrestos-secuestros del 4 de mayo. Un contingente de
la Fuerza de Choque de la Policia de PR llego en la madrugada del 4 de mayo para ofrecerle apoyo a la Marina en el area del porton de Camp Garcia, y no se han ido todavia. Esta presencia represiva tiene el proposito de asegurarle a los militares el flujo de tr·nsito por el porton o “gate” de la base. Sin embargo, tan pronto salga la policia del area, los integrantes de Justicia y
Paz aseguran que bloquearan de nuevo cualquier movimiento vehicular militar por el porton.
El Campamento Justicia y Paz sigue como punto de reunion de personas de nuestra comunidad para reuniones de planificacion de estrategia, la
celebracion de talleres de desobediencia civil y otros temas relacionados
con la lucha. Sigue en funcion el sistema de comunicaciones con sede en
la oficina del Campamento y que mantiene el flujo de informacion entre el sector civil y los luchadores que se encuentran en la zona restringida, asi como con otros integrantes de la lucha en Vieques y en la Isla Grande.
La viglia que se ha celebrado frente a la entrada de Camp Garcia por mas
de un año, continuo este pasado sabado con una enÈrgica participacion de
mas de doscientos viequenses representativos de todos los sectores de
nuestra poblacion. Se ha contstruido una nueva tarima para las actividades frente al porton de la base y se logro – tras dialogo con los oficiales de la Fuerza de Choque – el uso de la mitad de la carretera que pasa por la zona, para la celebracion de los piquetes que se han convertido en actividad obligatoria para cientos de viequenses todos los
s·bados por la noche.
En coordinacion con los grupos religiosos, sindicales, ambientales,
organizaciones de mujeres y estudiantiles en Puerto Rico y en Estados Unidos, el Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques (CPRDV) sigue -junto a los otros grupos que forman la Coordinadora Justicia y Paz de Vieques –
planificando una gran variedad de acciones diseñadas a imposibilitar el
funcionamiento militar en Vieques.
Este viernes, residentes de Vieques participar·n con el Obispo de Caguas,
MonseÒor Alvaro Corrada del Rio, en una ayuna por la paz, en las escalinatas del Capitolio en San Juan. Un grupo mayor de catalicos y otros religiosos planifican una actividad similar para el Capitolio en Washington, DC en el mes de junio.
El CPRDV participa tambien en dos acciones judiciales – una demanda
exigiendo el cese y desista contra la Marina sometida por la Comision de
Vieques del Colegio de Abogados de Puerto Rico, y otro esfuerzo en Estados
Unidos con la oficina del abogado ambientalista Robert Kennedy, hijo,
quien estuvo en Vieques recientemente.
Asi que, podemos garantizarles a todos que la lucha contin·a y continuara
hasta lograr nuestros objetivos de paz para un Vieques Libre de la Marina
de Guerra de Estados Unidos.
Como punto final de este informe, expresamos desde ac· nuestro profundo
agradecimiento por los enormes sacrificios y esfuerzos de tantos
compañeros en la Isla Grande de Puerto Rico, en los Estados Unidos y en
el exterior que forman parte de esta gran jornada en pro del derecho del
pueblo viequense a vivir en paz.
En lucha, en solidaridad,
Robert Rabin Siegal
Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
relato de sucesos
Este relato es del compañero Rafael del Comité de Hartford, quien fuera arrestado en Vieques hace unos días, beruff Disfrútenlo. –Héctor
*********************
Gracias a la intervencion rapida de
miles de puertorriquenos, incluyendo =
alguaciles federales, fuimos liberados del arresto ilegal por parte de =
la marina estadounidense. Los que piquetearon, llamaron a la corte =
federal y se movilizaron, no saben en realidad que quizas nos salvaron =
la vida. Por mas de 24 horas fuimos mantenidos como prisioneros de =
guerra sin que se respetaran ningunos de nuestros derechos basicos. Se =
nos nego el derecho a asistencia legal y se nos maltrato fisicamente.Tan =
obvia fue la cosa que el personal boricua de la oficina de alguaciles =
federales se nego a ser complice de lo que los militares hacian y , una =
vez intervienen, les llamaban la atencion a los marines sobre nuestros =
derechos, pues el NAVY sostenia que como prisioneros del NAVY no = teniamos derechos civiles basicos.
Brevemente esto fue lo que sucedio. A eso de las 8:10 de la noche = del sabado, un contingente de 59 puertorriquenos de todas las edades =
entraron por tres puntos en el territorio restringido. Estos companeros = fueron interceptados por militares que procedieron a arrestarlos a eso = de las 10 PM. Luego fueron traslados a una vieja edificacion donde la = marina tenia tres jaulas de cyclone fence alumbradas por focos de luz de = los que se usan en los parques de beisbol. Alli hubo registro de = personas y a muchos se les traslado esposados en el piso de=20 vehiculos militares. El personal militar de bajo rango era etnicamente =
diverso: dominicanos, afro-americanos, boricuas, blancos del sur de = Estados Unidos, y muchos de descendencia centroamericana. Los oficiales =
eran en su mayoria blancos y se pasaban haciendo comentarios como = “fucking-clowns”, etc.
A eso de las 2 AM del domingo aparecio un grupo de alguaciles =
federales blancos. Estos ofrecieron liberar a la gente a cambio de =
firmar un papel prometiendo no volver al area restringida. Nadie acepto. =
Los alguaciles entonces nos devolvieron a la custodia de los marines. =
Chegui Torres, quien necesitaba insulina de emergencia, fue separado = del grupo y liberado con la mentira de que nos dejaban salir a todos en = seguida. Alli empezo otra odisea.
Como a las 5 AM del domingo, la marina traslado a todo el mundo a =
Roosevelt Roads en lanchas y helicopteros. El personal militar que nos = recibio estaba en actitud hostil. Aparentemente, el NAVY le prohibio a =
los marines de bajo rango el comunicarse con sus madres, aunque fuera = por telefono, hasta que se resolviera el asunto de nuestra = detencion.Esto fue hecho para que se encojonaran con nosotros pues = empezaron a culparnos de haberles jodido el dia de las madres.=20
En Roosevelt Roads todo el mundo fue trasladado a la carcel militar =
y ubicados en areas abiertas verjadas por cyclone fence. Los marines =
empezaron a hostigar, pues obligaban a todo el mundo a permanecer = exactamente en el centro del area de confinamiento sin permitir que la = gente se moviera. Habia un sol que picaba. Alguna de la gente fue = fisicamente atacada cuando los bajaban de los camiones militares. Cuando = se exigio que no golperan a la gente, un grupo de marines entro al area = verjada y empezo a amenazar, empujar y atacar a Ismael Guadalupe. Al = hijo de Ismael, quien yo considero casi como mi hijo propio, lo tenian = en el suelo esposado y maltratandolo. Tambien usaron pepper spray en la = cara de la gente. Alli permanecimos hasta las 5 PM del domingo sin que = se permitiera hacer llamadas, etc.
A las 5 PM del domingo hubo una vista frente a un magistrado. =
Algunas personas aceptaron ser liberados con la promesa de no violar = ciertas condiciones. Otros exigimos asistencia legal. Se nos nego y se = nos dejo encarcelados de nuevo con los marines. Alli siguo el = hostigamiento. Permanecimos en RR hasta las 8 PM del domingo.
A eso de las 10 PM del domingo fuimos trasladados a la carcel =
federal en Guaynabo. Los alguaciles federales eran ahora boricuas y nos =
dijeron que elllos no fueron notificados del problema hasta las 3 PM del =
domingo y no sabian de la intervencion de los alguaciles blancos la = noche anterior. Ellos nos prometiron que no seriamos en adelante = maltratados fisicamente y cumplieron su palabra.
Estuvimos en la carcel federal hasta el lunes a las 10 AM que se nos =
tralado a la corte federal en Hato Rey. En adelante, no me encontre con = un puertorriqueno que no estuviera orgulloso de nosotros, incluyendo los =
empleados boricuas de la corte federal. La vista preliminar se condujo = en espanol, lo que nunca habia pasado en la corte federal en Puerto Rico = y a lo que objeto la marina que estuvo presente alli. Una gran cantidad = de los mejores abogados de Puerto Rico estaban alli para representarnos = de gratis.
Cuando nos liberaron salimos para ser recibidos por la prensa, = cientos de gente piqueteando y la senora LOLITA LEBRON. Lo demas es = historia conocida. Estamos en libertad condicional y se nos radicaron = cargos criminales. Gracias a todos los que nos brindaron su apoyo. =
Gracias. Se les quiere de verdad.
Entran mas personas al area de tiro
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA
Miercoles, 17 de mayo de 2000
Aumenta la Desobediencia Civil en Vieques: Entran mas personas al area de tiro
(English language summary: More people entered the bombing range in the eastern part of Vieques today, joining others who have been hiding in the range, acting as human shields against further bombing. For more information, please contact the persons whose names and phone numbers appear below)
Contacto:
Amigos de Vieques
RÌgel Lugo ñ787-741-0716
FÈlix Aponte ñ787-445-2129
Gazir Sued ñ787-634-0021
VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO ñ Un grupo de personas pertenecientes al Colectivo
Amigos de Vieques, al Colectivo de Resistencia Cayo La YayÌ y al Monte
Carmelo, penetraron hoy en la madrugada la Zona Restringida del Campamento
Garcia rumbo a la punta Este de la Isla Nena.
El grupo busca aumentar la presencia de manifestantes en el area de tiro
para servir como escudos humanos que impediran cualquier futura reanudacion de los bombardeos. La intervencion federal del 4 de mayo, no logro remover a todos los desobedientes. Varias personas quedaron apostadas en campamentos secretos que se encuentran en el ·rea de tiro.
Durante la pasada semana Carlos Zenon ha reportado consecuentemente que sus hijos Cacimar Zenon y Pedro Zenon aun permanecen en el ·rea de tiro, entre otras personas.
Luego de haber estado incomunicado y haber sido reportado desaparecido por
m·s de 60 horas, el activista Tito De Jes·s, conocido como Tito Kayak,
logro ayer tarde llegar hasta el campamento secreto en donde permanecen
los hermanos Zenon. Tito se unio asi al grupo de manifestantes que aun permanecen en el ·rea de tiro.
Regalado Miro, joven viequense que logro entrar hoy a la zona restringida
indico, ìcon nuestros actos de hoy buscamos que no quede duda alguna de
que existen personas en el area de tiro. Sumamos nuestros cuerpos y nuestras voluntades a los grupos que han permanecido adentro desde antes del 4 de mayo y a los que hemos ido entrando desde entonces. Vieques ya ha sido libre y no dejaremos que nos la vuelvan a arrebatar.”
Por su parte, Gazir Sued expreso, “Hoy volvemos a reafirmar que al desobedecer las leyes que permiten el bombardeo de la Isla Nena, cumplimos con el sagrado deber ciudadano que es defender la vida y la dignidad de quienes nos rodean.” “La permanencia militar en la Isla Nena y las amenazas de reiniciar los bombardeos, a sabiendas de que habemos personas en el area de tiro, es una afrenta no sÛlo contra los viequenses, sino contra todo aquel que valora la salud, la paz y la dignidad humana,” añadio.
Harry Felix Matta, hijo del veterano luchador Viequense, Carmelo Felix
Matta fue otro de los que se adentraron a la zona de bombardeo en el dia
de hoy. Sobre los actos Felix Matta indicÛ: “Entramos y salimos cada vez
que tengamos que hacerlo… Si la democracia es la voluntad del pueblo y nuestro pueblo ha dejado saber una y otra vez que no permitiremos ni una bomba mas,pues entonces los desobedientes son ellos que pisotean y desobedecen la voluntad de todo un pueblo.”
Upset about the news blackout
It’s upsetting that none of this is being covered in the American press.
U.S. Hands Off Vieques!
U.S. Hands Off Vieques!
In the early morning of May 4, 2000, U.S. Marshals and FBI agents – backed up by thousands of Marines stationed on two nearby warships – brutally arrested and removed 216 peaceful protesters from Navy-controlled areas in Vieques, Puerto Rico.
Among those detained were long-time nationalist leaders Juan Cancel Miranda and Lolita Lebron, Puerto Rico Independence Party leader Rubén Berrios, Vieques leaders Robert Barin and Ismael Guadaloupe, and 42 religious leaders. Puerto Rican members of the U.S. Congress Nydia Velasquez and Luis Gutierrez were also detained, along with well-known leaders of the trade union, student and community movements.
While the Pentagon claimed that the “detentions” were not arrests, the demonstrators were threatened with up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines if they attempt to enter the training grounds again.
Vieques has been under U.S. Navy control since 1951. Its 9,300 residents have been confined to a three-mile-wide strip down the island’s center, fenced in between military outposts. Consequently, a majority of the residents regard themselves as “prisoners of war of sorts.”
The struggle to get the U.S. Navy out of Vieques entered a new phase on April 19, 1999, when a Navy fighter jet – during one of the “readiness” exercises conducted year round with live ammunition – dropped two 5,000-pound bombs on a military observation post situated on Vieques. A civilian, David Sanes, was killed and four other people were wounded.
A “Special Commission on Vieques,” appointed by Governor Pedro Rosselló, found that the Navy was using uranium-laced bullets and napalm as part of its training activities. The Commission also concluded that Navy operations violate the civil rights of Vieques residents and lack safeguards to ensure their safety. It also called for an epidemiological study to determine whether military activities are responsible for the cancer rate on Vieques, which far surpasses that of any of Puerto Rico’s 78 townships.
Outraged by the terrorist assassination of Puerto Rican civilian David Sanes, marches and vigils were organized continuously to demand that the Navy withdraw from Vieques and that the land be returned to the people. A People’s Encampment was then set up on Vieques. For 381 days it prevented the Navy from continuing its war “tests” on the island.
These developments in Puerto Rico are of the utmost importance, especially in the context of the 1998 militant general strike against the privatization of the publicly owned telephone company.
Puerto Ricans have been mobilizing in growing numbers. For two years in a row, there have been general strikes. The 1998 struggle against the privatization of the telephone company sparked widespread protests and shut down the island.
When a U.S. Navy ship docked at a civilian port in San Juan recently, it was greeted by thousands of angry protesters. They stormed the ship, tore down the U.S. flag, and replaced it with the Puerto Rican flag. These unarmed protesters took on the police and the vessel’s crew.
Then there is the issue of political prisoners. Independence fighters have served more time in jail than most U.S. citizens convicted of murder, armed robbery, rape, or kidnapping.
September 23 traditionally marks a key date in the ongoing struggle. On that day, Puerto Ricans hold the annual “Grito de Lares” (Cry of Lares) celebration in the town of Lares. This pro-independence event commemorates the 1868 rebellion against Spain by several hundred women and men in Lares. Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances and Segundo Ruiz Belvis, who at the beginning of 1868 had founded the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico (Comité Revolucionario de Puerto Rico) from their exile in the Dominican Republic, led the rebellion, which was immediately crushed by military forces.
The bravery of those who gave their lives in Lares is honored every year.
This is a historic moment for Puerto Rico, and the Puerto Rican people and the people of Vieques deserve the solidarity of all working people around the globe.
On February 11-14, 2000, the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights took place in San Francisco. One of the conference participants, Soriel Cruz Ramirez, a leader of the the National Independent Telephone Workers Union and of the Socialist Front of Puerto Rico, presented the following resolution – which was adopted unanimously by the 560 conference participants from 56 countries.
The Resolution stated:
“Given the report which has been distributed to all the conference participants on the issue of the U.S. military occupation of Vieques, Puerto Rico, the Open World Conference affirms our most steadfast opposition to this occupation.
“The struggle for Vieques is our struggle because this struggle is not just about Vieques. This is a struggle for the dignity of our peoples, for the self-determination of Caribbean nations, for the protection of the environment, for demilitarization and to ensure that the material wealth generated by the people may be used for the benefit of the people.
“We demand that the government of the United States and its military allies respect the will of the people of Vieques and Puerto Rico and turn over the lands in Vieques that were robbed 50 years ago and were misused for decades.”
(report prepared by Ed Rosario, co-coordinator of the Open World Conference)
RE: Upset about the news blackout
Clara,
Like you, I’m extremely dismayed and disappointed by the lack of news coverage that Vieques is receiving in the U.S. press. I’m not surprised, however. If the U.S. doesn’t care for us now, what makes the pro-statehooders believe that the U.S. will care for us later???????? Especially in light of the fact that the FBI recently released hundreds of classified files that were kept on pro-Puerto Rico independence supporters.
Go to the NY Times website and run a search of Puerto Rico under its subject search vehicle. Stories with a mention of or about Puerto Rico normally are listed.
JBaez
Some Vieques Coverage
Clara,
I found this article in the online edition of the Miami Herald. I religiously check the various newspaper websites everday for news on Vieques and Puerto Rico. With the web administrators permission, I’d like to post some of the articles I find.
JBaez
Activist sues to stop bombs
NEW YORK — (AP) — Environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. initiated legal
action Wednesday to stop the Navy from bombing its range on the populated
Puerto Rican island of Vieques, charging there was no reason for the military
exercises to continue.
“The Navy is breaking the law in Vieques,” Kennedy said after a Manhattan news
conference. “We feel certain that we will win the lawsuit.”
According to Kennedy, a letter of intent to sue within 60 days was filed with the
Navy, with a copy sent to the U.S. District Court in San Juan. Within the next two
weeks, Kennedy hopes to ask the court there for a temporary restraining order to
halt the bombing.
“The reason the Navy is dropping bombs on Vieques is because the Navy likes to
drop bombs,” Kennedy said. “There is no military reason. I come from a Navy
family, and what the Navy has done is unconscionable.”
He said the suit will allege that the bombing is a violation of various environmental
and civil rights laws.
Kennedy, a senior counsel for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the
Navy was getting away with environmental violations it could never commit on the
mainland.
A Navy spokesman said they would not comment on any pending litigation.
U.S. Congress & Vieques
Protesters in Vieques cling to principles
By Ivan Roman
San Juan Bureau
Published in The Orlando Sentinel on May 15, 2000
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The anti-bombing activists in Puerto Rico couldn’t believe their ears.
Some called it the “utmost in cynicism.” Those who were a little kinder said it was “blame the victim” syndrome.
It has been just more than a week since federal agents removed more than 200 protesters from the restricted Navy grounds and target range on Vieques. The Navy began bombing exercises in an area they say is clear of people, but protesters who have been hiding keep
popping up. The Navy said Sunday that guards had detained 55 more protesters, including former light-heavyweight boxing champion Jose Torres.
Others who went back, such as Puerto Rican Independence Party president Ruben Berrios, were arrested and hauled to federal court while fishermen and Vieques residents filed a lawsuit down the hall. A federal judge recused herself from cases relating to Vieques.
Catholic leaders are starting a fast this week.
Amid all this, two congressional committees in Washington passed amendments that essentially gutted
President Clinton’s directives designed to solve the standoff over the Navy’s presence in Vieques. Angel Morey, Puerto Rico’s secretary of state and chief of
staff, blamed protesters for the actions of pro-Navy Republican conservatives in Congress.
“If we were to go to Congress all united behind the presidential directives, bolstered by the Navy’s and the White House’s position, there wouldn’t be a problem with this,” Morey said.
As proof, Morey handed to the media letters from Secretary of Defense William Cohen and Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig urging the House Armed
Services Committee not to pass legislation or amendments that alter the presidential directives. Those directives, which have proved unpopular in Puerto Rico since they were issued Jan. 31, allow another three years of training with dummy bombs until Vieques
voters, via referendum, decide the Navy’s fate there.
House committee members apparently didn’t pay much attention. They blocked the $40 million in economic-development aid for Vieques and transfer to Puerto Rico of 8,000 acres of land.
No federal money would be used on the Vieques referendum, under their amendment, and the $50 million in aid Vieques would get if voters decided the Navy could use explosive bombs after May 2003 vanished. The Senate Armed Services Committee was kinder to Clinton’s proposal but warned that ultimately military bases in Puerto Rico could be closed.
Until the referendum, Morey said, the Puerto Rico government and the Navy are on the same side. But Cohen’s and Danzig’s letters and previous statements
indicate they see the directives as part of a “long-term resolution” that will bring back live bombs.
“The responsibility lies where it’s always been, with the people in the administration who signed onto an
agreement behind the people’s back,” said San Juan Mayor Sila Maria Calderon, gubernatorial candidate for the opposition Popular Democratic Party.
Officials in Washington and San Juan say they still think the directives can survive intact from the rest of the appropriations process, particularly when the matter gets to the full House. But Jeffrey Farrow, co-chair of the
White House Working Group on Puerto Rico, seemed to echo Morey’s words last week.
Days before the mass eviction from the range, he had warned that critics needed to join forces with the government to fend off those in Congress who want to
make things as they were before the fatal accident in April 1999 that provoked the showdown.
“That’s the real danger to the people of Vieques,” Farrow said.
VIEQUES LEADER ROBERT RABIN BRUTALIZED BY POLICE
URGENT! VIEQUES LEADER ROBERT RABIN BRUTALIZED BY POLICE
Contact:
Pepo Belardo, Rangie de Leon and Kathy Gannett
Camp for Justice and Peace of Vieques, Vieques, P.R.
Tel. 787-741-0716 and 787-741-0358
May 18, 2000
Vieques, P.R.- At about 9:15 pm on Thursday, May 18, 2000, a convoy of about seven Navy vehicles lined up inside the gate of Camp Garcia. At that time many people were present in Camp for Justice and Peace in Vieques, both in the house iacross the street from the gate and in the adjacent camp to the
north of the house.
The convoy passed through the gate and took a right onto the road.
Robert Rabin, leader of the Camp for Justice and Peace in Vieques and of the
Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, was already heading North on the same road in a red jeep. The Navy convoy pulled up behind him and the first vehicle bumped Bob’s jeep on the fender right in front of the camp. Many people saw this happen and the events that follow below.
After Bob’s jeep was hit, 4 policemen (“Fuerza de Choque”) who had been
standing in front of the gate, ran to the jeep. They opened his car door and
then grabbed him and pulled him out of the car. These 4 policemen repeatedly
beat up on Bob him with their nightsticks. They pushed him to the ground. They kicked him many times. Then they put handcuffs on him. They brought him to sit on the ground in the entrance to Camp Garcia.
We were able to take photos of this senseless brutality against Bob with
disposable cameras. We plan to make these photos available to the media as
soon as possible.
About 11 policemen stood in a line along the street with Bob sitting behind
handcuffed. People from the Camp gathered on the other side of the street to observe what would happen to Bob. Then many more police cars and police
arrived and joined the police line.
By the time that Bob was taken away at about 10:15 pm, there were about 35
policemen guarding him and about 7-8 police buses parked around the area. Bob
was able to report to us that he was in great pain, most likley his back and
his kidneys. Then police took him to the local hospital (Jesusa Centeno). At
about 11:00pm, because of his condition, they had to transport him by plane to the emergency room of San Pablo hospital in Fajardo.
At 10:20PM or so – after Bob had been taken from the scene where he was beaten, the 30-plus police moved their line to block the road (instead of
blocking the gate) – leaving the entrance to the gate open to the road from the south. At 10:30 a convoy of about 10 cars arrived from the south (from the direction of Esperanza) at fast speed and entered Camp Garcia. Only one or two were military vehicles, the other 7-8 appeared to be civilian cars
carrying military personnel. After they entered the gate was closed again.
Perhaps the first military convoy leaving the base was intended to divert
attention from the convoy that arrived to the base from the south later.
We denounce this senseless and unprovoked brutality against one of the great leaders of the peaceful movement to get the U.S. Navy out of Vieques.
VIEQUENSES APOYAN A HERMANOS ZENON
(Scroll down for English summary)
Coordinadora Justicia y Paz para Vieques
Magnolia 471
Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765
Telefax (787) 741-0716
E-mail: bieke@coqui.net
18 de mayo de 2000
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA
VIEQUENSES APOYAN A HERMANOS ZENON
Las organizaciones comunitarias de Vieques, agrupadas en la Coordinadora
Justicia y Paz para Vieques (CJPV), se solidarizaron con los jovenes viequenses Cacimar y Pedro Zenon, quienes burlaron la vigilancia de la Marina y se mantuvieron hasta ayer en la zona de bombardeo al este de la Isla Nena. Como un “acto de gran valentÌa en defensa del derecho del pueblo viequense a vivir en paz,” describio Nilda Medina, portavoz de la Coordinadora, la gesta de los hermanos Zenon.
La semana pasada, el Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques, organizacion que forma parte de la Coordinadora, acuso a la Marina de intento de asesinato al saber que habian lanzado algunas bombas en la zona de tiro aun con personas en esa area.
Los hijos de Carlos Zenon y Aleida Encarnacion, veteranos luchadores
contra la presencia militar en Vieques, se presentaron voluntariamente ayer ante un magistrado federal en San Juan en relacion a cargos en su contra por sus acciones.
La CJPV felicito a Cacimar y a Pedro por su ejemplo de valor y sacrificio en pro de la paz de Vieques ante la agresion militar que desde el pasado 4 de mayo intento desalojar a todo los manifestantes de la zona de bombardeo. La presencia de Cacimar y Pedro, junto a un nucleo de personas que permanece en el area restringida, obstaculiza la reanudacion de las maniobras que la Marina quisiera llevar a cabo aqui.
“Acciones como la de Cacimar y Pedro sirven de ejemplo y estimulo para
continuar con esta lucha historica y heroica del pueblo viequense. Ellos
representan la nueva generacion de defensores de la dignidad de Vieques y
de Puerto Rico, y por eso los reconocemos como verdaderos heroes,” dijo Medina.
Contacto: Robert Rabin 787-741-0716 cel. 787-375-0525
(English summary):
The people of Vieques, assembled under the Coordinating Committee for Peace and Justice for Vieques (an organization comprised of the Puerto Rican Independence Party and the Commonwealth Party in Vieques, former-Statehood Party Mayor Radames Tirado, the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, the Viequense Women’s Alliance, the Viequense Youth Alliance, various civil disobedience camps and several churches and civic and community organizations) wholeheartedly support young Viequenses
Cacimar and Pedro Zenon, who remained in the bombing range in Vieques after the May 4th raid on Vieques and have acted as human shields against further bombing. The Coordinating Committee strongly denounces the U.S. Navy’s criminal act of dropping bombs on the bombing range in Vieques knowing full well that Pedro and Cacimar and several others were there. The presence of others on the bombing range increases every day.
NASW supports the immediate end to the bombing
NASW, with more than 150,000 members, supports the immediate cessation of bombings in Vieques
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the largest membership
organization of professional social workers in the world, with more than
150,000 members, publicly supports the immediate cessation of bombings on
the island of Vieques and publicly supports the civil disobedience
movement in order to achieve that goal.
The text of a letter from the NASW Board of Directors to President Clinton
appears below. For more information on NASW, please access
http://www.socialworkers.org.
February 18, 2000
The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Clinton:
At its January meeting, the National Board of Director of the National
Association of Social Workers (NASW) discussed the plight of the people of
the Island of Vieques, located at the northeastern coast of the Island of
Puerto Rico. As a 150,000- member organization with 55 chapters in the
United States and abroad, we are concerned about the quality of life in
all of our communities. The 9,300 United States citizens on Vieques have
endured daily live-ammunition bombings by the U.S. Navy for almost six
decades. The entire population lives in fear as a result. The bombings
have also degraded one of the island’s most precious natural resources
–its beaches.
The fears of the people of Vieques turned into nightmare last April, when
a bomb accidentally killed David Sanes, a civilian guard, and injured four
others.
Mr. President, enough is enough. The Navy has bombed, shelled and strafed
the eastern edge of Vieques for 60 years. We, the National Board of NASW,
support groups who have set up civil disobedience camps in the bombardment
zone in protest.
The recent report by the special commission named by Governor Rossello
recommended the immediate conclusion of all military exercises in Vieques.
Knowing that you, as we, defend the right of all human beings to live in
peace and harmony, we urge you, Mr. President, to support this recommendation. We call on you to issue an Executive Order requesting immediate cessation of the bombings and withdrawal of armed forces from the Island of Vieques within five years.
The suffering of the people of Vieques must end.
Sincerely,
(signed)
Ruth W. Mayden, MSS, LSW
President
NASW National Board of Directors
Springfield City Council approves resolution
Springfield, Massachusetts City Council unanimously approves pro-Vieques
(English version below)
La Asamblea Municipal de la Ciudad de Springfield, Massachusetts, como otras ciudades en Estados Unidos, aprobo por unanimidad una Resolucion en apoyo de la meta Viequense de que la Marina de Guerra se vaya de Viequesmsin tirar un tiro m·s ni una bomba mas. El texto de la Resolucion aparece abajo.
The Springfield, Massachusetts City Council, as have other cities in the
U.S., unanimously approved a Resolution in support of the goal of the Viequenses of having the U.S. Navy leave Vieques without dropping one more bomb or firing one more bullet. The text of the Resolution appears below.
RESOLUTION BY THE CITY COUNCIL, SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS ON THE ISSUE OF VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO
WHEREAS, City of Springfield residents are concerned about the environmental injustice and human rights violations of the U.S. Navy in Vieques, Puerto Rico; and
WHEREAS, the City of Springfield houses a large population of Hispanics
and Puerto Ricans in Massachusetts, and many of them are concerned about the ecological damage and human harm resulting from military operations in
Vieques; and
WHEREAS, City of Springfield businesses have established commercial relations with Puerto Rico for over 100 years, and many businesses are interested in the economic conversion of military to civilian uses; and
WHEREAS, the City of Springfield has many Puerto Rican and Hispanic
organizations and they are concerned about the well being of Puerto Ricans
in Springfield and Puerto Rico; and
WHEREAS, the City of Springfield has many descendants from the island of
Vieques and they are concerned about the lives of their relatives in Vieques, Puerto Rico; and
WHEREAS, since 1941, the United States Navy has operated a training facility on two-thirds of the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico; and
WHEREAS, the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico is populated by more than 9,000 Puerto Ricans, US citizens, who are submitted to the disgrace of seeing its territory bombarded by land, air and sea; and
WHEREAS, the US Navy’s presence and activities violate the natural right
of the people of Vieques to enjoy their natural resources; and
WHEREAS, for more than half a century, the US Navy has thwarted the healthy development of Vieques’ economy forcing the people of Vieques to emigrate in search of work and well being, resulting in family disintegration; and
WHEREAS, the US Navy has used depleted uranium, napalm bombs, and other chemical and toxic weapons that have an adverse impact on the public health and the environment; and
WHEREAS, the US Navy’s war practices has contributed significantly to the
pollution of air, water and land and has contributed to high cancer levels in Vieques; and
WHEREAS, the US Navy’s presence in Vieques has contributed to the
psychological damage of the children on the island; and
WHEREAS, in 1993, a Navy FA-18 fighter jet missed its target by approximately 10 miles, dropped five 500 pound live bombs one mile from civilians living in the town of Isabel Segunda; and
WHEREAS, in 1998, Navy and National Guard exercises accidentally fired live bullets to municipal vehicles, including school buses and public works vehicles, forcing civilian employees to run for their safety; and
WHEREAS, on April 19, 1999, a resident of Vieques and citizen of the United States, was killed and four persons injured as a result of a routine war exercise conducted by the US Navy; and
WHEREAS, on May 11, 1999, the Governor of Puerto Rico issued an Executive Order appointing a Special Commission on Vieques to Study the Existing Situation on the island Municipality of Vieques with Regard to the Activities of the United States Navy; and
WHEREAS, on June 25, 1999, the Special Commission issued its report which
included in its recommendations a demand that the United States Navy immediately and permanently cease all military operations on Vieques and transfer all property controlled by the Navy on Vieques to its people; and
WHEREAS, the people of Vieques have unanimously demanded that the US Navy
cease its bombings and leave the island; and
WHEREAS, Puerto Ricoís civil society unanimously support the immediate
withdrawal of the Navy from Vieques; and
WHEREAS, the Government of Puerto Rico adopted as public policy the recommendations of the Special Commission of Vieques and the will of the residents of Puerto Rico;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Mayor and the City Council of the
City of Springfield, Massachusetts calls upon the United States Navy to relocate from the island of Vieques and return the land to the Municipality of Vieques for civilian uses; and, be it further:
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution be sent to President William J. Clinton, Vice-President Albert Gore, Attorney General Janet Reno, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen, Navy Secretary Richard Danzig, Senators Edward F. Kennedy and John F. Kerry, Congressional Representative for the City of
Springfield Richard Neil, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus
Representatives Carlos Romero Barcelo, Jose Serrano, Nydia Velazquez, and
Luis Gutierrez, and Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Rossello.
(signed)
MAYOR MICHAEL J. ALBANO
FYI
This message is for normal everyday “net-surfers”. Be carefull of what you read on this message board! Most of the postings of Pro-Indepent driven, So of course they will make the situation seem far worse than what it is.
Also analyze all the facts before choosing a side. For example, when the “Vieques” issue first came to light, many persons talked about official reports stating that ground water in Vieques was contaminated and this was a factor in the high cancer rate. Well fact number one, drinking water is piped in from the main island (from Humacao). Fact number two, ground water in Vieques flows in a North-Easterly direction, and the range is on the North-East tip. Also I would like to point to another well quoted statement “the bombing shatters windows” well anyone who has lived or had an extended stay knows that most homes in PR don’t have windows. Also I want to quote an article in the San Juan Star, the tuesday after the Navy resumed bombing, a resident of Vieques when asked what she thought of the Navy resuming bombing she replied “I don’t believe it, I didn’t hear a thing” The key phrase is “I didn’t hear a thing” because you can’t. This whole issue is basicly about drumming up support for the Independence party. It is sad to say that if anything of what they said is true, then where have they been for the last 50 years?
Veterans return medals in protest for bombings
Veterans return medals in protest for bombings in Vieques
(Scroll down for English version)
VETERANOS BORICUAS DEVOLVERAN MEDALLAS EN PROTESTA POR BOMBARDEOS EN VIEQUES (PUERTO RICAN VETERANS WILL RETURN THEIR MEDALS TO CLINTON IN PROTEST FOR BOMBINGS IN VIEQUES)
Contacto:
Luis R. Mendez,
Veteranos por la Paz,
CapÌtulo de Puerto Rico
Tel. 787-767-2936 (oficina)
Tel. 787-798-8086 (residencia)
24 de mayo del 2000-
Los veteranos puertorriqueños han decidido devolverle al Presidente
Clinton las medallas que recibieron una vez por haber defendido a los Estados Unidos, en protesta por la decision de Clinton de autorizar el reinicio del bombardeo en Vieques y en reclamo de que cesen permanentemente los bombardeos de la Marina en la Isla Nena.
Entre las condecoraciones que devolveran se incluyen varias medallas purpuras (“Purple Heart”) que se le otorgan a soldados que sufrieron lesiones en el campo de batalla. Los veteranos que enviar·n sus medallas al Presidente participaron en la primera y segunda guerra mundial, Korea, Vietnam, Granada, el Golfo PÈrsico, Somalia y Kosovo.
Luis Mendez, portavoz del grupo Veteranos por la Paz, dijo hoy, en rueda de prensa en San Juan, que el acto de devolucion de las distinciones National Defense Service Medal tendra lugar el proximo lunes, 29 de mayo, dia de la Recordacion, a las 10:00 de la mañana en el Monumento al
Veterano frente al Capitolio en San Juan.
Veteranos por la Paz es una filial de la organizacion estadounidense Veterans for Peace, con sede en Washington, DC, y tiene caracter consultivo ante la Organizacion de las Naciones Unidas.
Mendez exhorto a todos los veteranos y veteranas de la isla a unirse a ese
acto que “simboliza nuestra posicion de que la seguridad y la salud del pueblo de Vieques no son negociables, y que el concepto de defensa nacional lo que significa es la defensa de los intereses economicos del complejo militar industrial de los Estados Unidos”.
Por su parte, el veterano Ruben Lind dijo que “en este momento no existe ningun enemigo que atente contra la seguridad de los Estados Unidos. Como veteranos nosotros conocemos el dolor y la destruccion de la guerra. No queremos mas juegos de guerra en Vieques. Los viequenses tienen el derecho a la vida y a la salud”.
Para m·s informacion sobre el acto de devolucion de medallas el lunes 29
de mayo, y sobre futuros eventos de los Veteranos por la Paz en torno a Vieques, favor de llamar a Luis R. Mendez al 787-767-2936 o al 787-798-8086.
Lea el texto de la declaracion de la Campaña de Vieques Libre de los Veteranos por la Paz, en: http://www.veteransforpeace.org/vieques.htm
__________________________________
(English version):
PUERTO RICAN VETERANS WILL RETURN THEIR MEDALS TO PRESIDENT CLINTON IN PROTEST FOR BOMBINGS IN VIEQUES
Contact:
Luis R. Mendez,
Veterans for Peace,
Puerto Rico Chapter
Tel. 787-767-2936 (office)
Tel. 787-798-8086 (home)
May 24, 2000-
Puerto Rican war veterans have decided to return to President Clinton the medals and condecorations they once received for defending the United States, in protest for Clinton’s decision to authorize bombing to resume in Vieques and in support of the demands that the U.S. Navy permanently stop bombing Vieques.
Among the condecorations that will be returned are several Purple Heart medals bestowed upon soldiers who were wounded in battle. The veterans who will send their medals back to the President fought in World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, the Persian Gulf, Somalia and Kosovo.
Luis Mendez, spokesperson of the Puerto Rico Chapter of the organization Veterans for Peace, announced today during a press conference in San Juan, that a ceremony will be held on Memorial Day where Puerto Rican veterans will have the opportunity to voluntarily turn in their National Defense Service medals in support of the struggle of the people of Vieques and in
response to the federal government assault on the civil disobedience camps
at the Navy bombing range in Vieques. The ceremony will be held on Monday, May 29, 2000 (Memorial Day) at 10:00AM at the Veteran’s Monument in front of the Capitol Building in San Juan.
Veterans for Peace is a national organization structured around a national
office in Washington, DC and comprised of members across the U.S. and Puerto Rico organized in chapters or as at-large members. Veterans for Peace is an official Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) represented at the United Nations.
Mendez urged all Puerto Rican veterans to join in this ceremony which “symbolizes our position that the safety and health of the people of Vieques are not negotiable, and that the concept of national security is now being used to mean the defense of the economic interests of the military and industrial complex of the U.S.”
Veteran RubÈn Lind added that “at this time there is no enemy that’s threatening the security of the United States. As veterans, we know first-hand the pain and destruction of war. We don’t want any more war games in Vieques. Viequenses have a right to life and to health.”
For more information on the ceremony on Monday May 29, and on future events of Veterans for Peace with regard to Vieques, please contact Luis R. Mendez at 787-767-2936 or at 787-798-8086.
For the text of the statement of Veterans for Peace’s Vieques Libre Campaign, please access: http://www.veteransforpeace.org/vieques.htm
RE: FYI
“Resident”,
And the PR gov’t isn’t pushing it’s pro-statehood propaganda and will on the Puerto Rican people??? Don’t be naive. Regardless of where the water comes from, why should the U.S. have the right to go into someone else’s land and violate it? Oops…I forgot….Rosello and his cronies are puppets of the U.S. gov’t. Therefore, their only purpose is to protect the interest and property of the U.S.. Thus, Vieques isn’t Puerto Rico’s property, it’s a U.S. commodity.
If you want to talk about being careful about what you read and the source, let’s talk about El Nuevo Dia in Puerto Rico. The largest and most influential newspaper in Puerto Rico is published by the Ferre family — whom happen to be huge supporters of Pro-Statehood.
(And if you think the news is reported objectively, you have a lot to learn. I was a journalism major in college and practised briefly. Objectivity in journalism is an ideal that’s NEVER practised.)
Here’s the facts — Commonwealth hasn’t worked. Statehood will never work; the U.S. will have to pump more money into our economy, deal with the ever growing welfare population, confront the issue of language, and WON’T be able to justify Vieques! Independence is the only solution.
Under independence, no foreign gov’t can dictate what to produce, how much to produce, who to trade with, etc……. There’s no fear of losing your culture and language. A sense of pride is further deepened.
Let me stress that pro-independence is not Anti-America! The Puerto Rican gov’t would be foolish to severe ties with the U.S. All pro-independence asks for is the opportunity to take care of our home as we see fit. Imagine if I went into your home with my arms swinging trying to dictate when you eat, who cleans, when you can leave, so on and so forth.
We have to do for ourselves what Spain and the U.S. could not do — and that’s take care of our affairs AS WE SEE FIT!
JBaez
EL PRESIDENTE PUEDE TRAER LA PAZ PARA VIEQUES
EL PRESIDENTE PUEDE TRAER LA PAZ PARA VIEQUES, QUIÉRALO O NO EL CONGRESO
por Flavio Cumpiano*
Jeffrey Farrow, copresidente del llamado “Grupo Interagencial de Puerto Rico en la Casa Blanca”, dijo recientemente que no hay diferencia entre una directriz presidencial (como las que emitió el Presidente Clinton en torno a Vieques el 31 de enero) y una orden ejecutiva. También dijo Farrow que el Presidente no puede ordenar que no se tire una bomba más en Vieques sin el aval del Congreso. El señor Farrow sabe, o debe saber, que
dichas aseveraciones son falsas.
Una directriz presidencial no es lo mismo ni tiene el mismo peso que una orden ejecutiva. La directriz presidencial es básicamente un memorando del Presidente a una o más agencias del Ejecutivo. Casi todas comienzan con “I hereby direct the following…” En el caso de las directrices presidenciales sobre Vieques, Clinton simplemente le ordenó a la Oficina federal de Presupuesto y Gerencia y al Departamento de Defensa que acudan
al Congreso y le soliciten lo que se menciona en las directrices (la
asignación de los $40 millones de dólares, la transferencia de ciertas
tierras al oeste de Vieques, etc.). El Congreso tiene la potestad de aprobar, modificar o rechazar esa solicitud por parte de dichas agencias federales. Y con la mera solicitud al Congreso formulada por las agencias por instrucciones de Clinton, la Casa Blanca y la Fortaleza consideran que el Presidente habría “cumplido su compromiso”, independientemente de la
actuación que pueda tomar el Congreso.
Aunque el nombre no hace la cosa, quizás una manera de hacerles ver su error a aquellos que pretenden equiparar la directriz presidencial con la orden ejecutiva es la siguiente. Las llamadas “directrices presidenciales”, o “Presidential Directives” en inglés, han tenido distintos nombres bajo distintos Presidentes. Se les llamaba “National
Security Action Memoranda” bajo Kennedy y Johnson, “National Security Decision Directives” bajo Reagan, “National Security Decision Memoranda” bajo Nixon y Ford y “National Security Directives” bajo Bush. Es bajo el Presidente Clinton que por vez primera se le llaman “Presidential Directives” a estos memorandos. El cambio de nombre no alteró su esencia.
Por otro lado, la orden ejecutiva, o “Executive Order” en inglés, es un
mandato con la fuerza coercitiva del poder presidencial. La orden ejecutiva, a diferencia de la directriz presidencial, no solo tiene fuerza
de ley, sino que no necesita aval o aprobación previa por parte del Congreso. Su poder es tan superior al de una directriz presidencial, que incluso ha sido críticado por algunos observadores que consideran que el mecanismo de la orden ejecutiva le confiere demasiado poder al Presidente. Aun así, la validez constitucional de la orden ejecutiva nunca ha sido impugnada exitosamente. Su base constitucional emana del Artículo II de la Constitución de los Estados Unidos, el cual confiere al Presidente “poder ejecutivo” y dispone que el Primer Ejecutivo debe velar por el fiel
cumplimiento de las leyes. De ese lenguaje, y de los llamados “poderes
implícitos” del Presidente, emana el poder del Primer Ejecutivo para emitir órdenes ejecutivas.
Si esta distinción entre los poderes del Presidente para emitir órdenes ejecutivas y los del Congreso para legislar es algo confusa, ello es consecuencia natural del sistema de balance de poderes entre las ramas de gobierno. Ese choque o fricción jurisdiccional no es provincia exclusiva
de la rama ejecutiva y la legislativa. A manera de ejemplo, para ilustrar la fricción entre la rama legislativa y la judicial, pensemos en aquellas ocasiones en que se le acusa a un juez o a un tribunal de “legislar judicialmente”, cuando su dictamen se asemeja más a una legislación que a la resolución de un caso y controversia aplicando el derecho vigente a los hechos del caso. Esas acusaciones surgen precisamente porque en el sistema de pesos y contrapesos la delimitación constitucional de funciones
de las ramas de gobierno no es una ciencia perfecta y, en última instancia, su éxito depende de la deferencia, respeto y autolimitación ejercida por los seres humanos que componen dichas instituciones en un momento dado.
Irrespectivamente de las delimitaciones de los poderes constitucionales de las tres ramas de gobierno, lo que es meridianamente claro es el poder del Ejecutivo para emitir órdenes ejecutivas. ¿Qué el Presidente no debe emitir órdenes ejecutivas en circunstancias en donde el Congreso es quien debe legislar? Sin duda. Pero si hay un área en donde el ejercicio de este poder del Presidente y Comandante en Jefe de las Fuerzas Armadas es indiscutible es precisamente en lo militar.
El Congreso tendrá poder constitucional para asignar fondos y mantener las Fuerzas Armadas. Pero es el Presidente el que tiene el poder constitucional para ordenar el cese inmediato y permanente de los bombardeos. Así lo hizo el Presidente Ford con relación a Culebra, a
través de la Orden Ejecutiva Núm. 11886 del 17 de octubre de 1975. El Presidente Clinton no lo ha hecho con relación a Vieques, no porque no ha podido (como dice Farrow), sino porque simplemente no ha querido.
¿Necesitó Clinton de aval congresional para ordenar la paralización de
bombardeos en Vieques en abril de 1999 y para ordenar la reanudación de los bombardeos en mayo del 2000? No. Como no le convenía, Farrow nunca argumentó eso y, como argumentar eso no pasa la prueba de la risa, ni siquiera Senadores como Warner e Inhofe lo hicieron.
Pero, como venimos denunciando hace ya casi un año, a pesar de que pudo haber traído la paz para Vieques a través de una orden ejecutiva, la estrategia de Clinton y Rosselló siempre fue que Clinton emitiese una directriz pasándole la papa caliente de Vieques al Congreso Republicano en un año eleccionario. Eso fue lo que ocurrió. Por ello ahora Jeffrey Farrow, cocausante de tantas penurias del pueblo viequense, dice que una directriz presidencial es lo mismo que una orden ejecutiva y que el
Presidente no puede ordenar que no se tire una bomba más en Vieques sin el
aval del Congreso.
Cuando pronto veamos el destino final de las directrices presidenciales sobre Vieques ante el Congreso, no perdamos de perspectiva que aún nos quedan más de seis (6) meses para lograr que este Presidente y Comandante en Jefe ordene el cese inmediato y permanente de todas las actividades bélicas de la Marina en Vieques, sin necesidad de aval congresional.
*El autor es abogado, y representa en Washington, DC al Comité Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques.
Carta abierta
Carta abierta a la desobediencia civil puertorriqueña
Estimados amigos:
Antes de comenzar esta pequeña crítica quiero felicitar política y humanamente a todos los desobedientes que se han enfrentado sistemáticamente a las fuerzas de la marina norteamericana. Pero creo, por otro lado, que ha llegado la hora de darle la espalda a ese seudo diálogo que los desobedientes realizan con el Presidente yanqui y con su esposa antipuertorriqueña, porque verdaderamente no hemos de sacar nada suplicando, pidiendo y exigiendo delante de esa gente que jamás nos ha oído y jamás nos oirá. Lo que hay que hacer ghandistamente es desarrollar nuestra propia política de liberación enfrentándonos valientemente a lo que tenemos que hacer. Pero este
enfrentamiento no puede ser individual, no puede ser el elogio a la personalidad de nadie, sino un movimiento real de la misma gente que sufre y que padece en carne propia el infierno colonial que nos han vendido demokráticamente por más de un siglo. Quizás sea bueno señalar aquí que el caso de Vieques no es un caso aislado, sino que Vieques es parte del problema colonial que padece el pueblo puertorriqueño. Esto que le parecerá una
perogrullada a los radicales es el silencio que los conservadores y los
reaccionarios no quieren asumir ni vital ni políticamente. Y es precisamente
de aquí de donde nace la traición del gobernador Roselló a la lucha
viequense. Porque lo que estos “liberales” temen (Calderón, Barceló, Burgos, Mundo, Misla, María Rosa Ortiz, etc.)1 es que el mundo pueda pensar y decir que los puertorriqueños somos antiyanquis. Pero mientras los yanquis estén en Vieques, en Puerto Rico, los puertorriqueños seremos antiamericanos. Por eso se organizan actividades como Regata 2000, no sólo para desviar la atención mundial sobre Vieques, sino también para arrebatarle el entusiasmo
nacionalista a los puertorriqueños en relación a Vieques.
—Pero no se confunda nadie: ¡Los puertorriqueños somos antiamericanos!
¡Los puertorriqueños somos antiracistas! ¡Los puertorriqueños somos anti-“English only”!
En Vieques hemos decidido defender no sólo el español que somos, sino la
cultura que somos. La herencia que somos no se defiende pasiva ni electoralmente. En una época de crisis como la nuestra, la tradición que somos se transmite y se defiende revolucionariamente. Si la desobediencia civil quiere ser la contestación a nuestra época, quiere ser la contestación a la globalización y al posmodernismo, tiene que tornarse revolucionaria. Tiene que se capaz de transformar la realidad que somos. Porque esta realidad que nos circunscribe es el proyecto imperialista de los “demókratas”-liberales en donde los puertorriqueños hemos pagado un precio
excesivo. Esta realidad abstracta no es otra cosa que el proyecto de la clase
colonial que yace mortuoriamente en el poder. Por eso no se trata ya de ser
anexionista, o popular, o independentista, de lo que se trata ahora es de ser puertorriqueño. Esta es la pregunta que hay que resolver internamente: ¿Quieres o no quieres ser puertorriqueño? ¿Quiéres o no quieres hablar español? Todas las demás cosas caerán pro su propio peso.
Otra cosa que hemos estado descubriendo y que se desprende de la praxis misma
de los desobedientes civiles, y de la infinidad de “emails” que hemos estado
recibiendo semanalmente, es que la mayoría de las personas que se cantan
líderes o seguidores de la desobediencia civil no han leído ni una sola letra
de los libros de M. Gandhi, y quizás muy poco del reverendo Martin Luther King. Lo que se hace crítico aquí es que estos compañeros, estos amigos, jamás se han cuestionado qué implica verdaderamente ser un “agitador”, un simpatizante, o un militante de la desobediencia civil y al no haberse planteado verdaderamente estas preguntas reaccionan automáticamente dejándose arrastrar por el nuevo furor nacionalista que nos rodea. Esto de por sí no es negativo. Pero lo que tenemos que entender aquí es que la paradoja que voy a señalar ahora se ha ubicado precisamente en esta situación: entre
el-furor-nacionalista-que-genera-la-lucha-de-Vieques-y-la-“pasividad”-de-la-de sobediencia-civil. El problema que salta a la luz, en esta praxis de la
desobediencia, es que esta desobediencia se ha convertido o se convirtió durante un año en la reacción pasiva de los puertorriqueños. No hicimos otra cosa que esperar que las tropas norteamericanas nos invadieran nuevamente. Los desobedientes aguardaban, aguardaban, y aguardaban sin tener un plan político de provocación y de desafío que impidiera que los imperialistas tuvieran el tiempo necesario para pensar lo que iban hacer. Le dimos todo el tiempo que necesitaban para reorganizar su estrategia y, por otro lado, nosotros no hicimos (en el tiempo precioso de la espera) casi nada. Esto que estoy diciendo sé que ha de mortificar a muchas personas que me lean, pero alguien tiene que tomar la responsabilidad política de decirlo. No digo esto para aparecer como el Ricky Martin de la cultura, aunque sé que soy más bello que él a pesar de mi artritis, a pesar de mi catarata, a pesar de mi posible muerte, y esto lo saben mejor que yo los posmodernos, sino para adquirir una conciencia radical de lo que viene sucediendo políticamente en Puerto Rico.
Fuera de la neoinvasión norteamericana, fuera de la traición de Roselló y de
los berrinches melodramáticos de Barceló y de Norma Burgos, fuera de la enfermedad de Berríos, de los “arrestos” y de una que otra manifestación en Nueva York, en Puerto Rico, en Los Angeles, Chicago, en el Yankee Stadium, etc., lo que estamos comenzando a descubrir es que en Vieques no ha sucedido absolutamente nada.
Cuando el imperio descubrió que en Vieques no iba a suceder nada que los
pudiera perjudicar, fuera de esas escaramuzas de una noche de verano que
suceden shakespearemente en Nueva York, en Los Angeles o en Chicago, decidieron invadirnos una vez más, porque ellos saben, mejor que nadie, cómo manejar a esa prensa y esa televisión que les sirve lacaya, ideológica y demokráticamente bien. No bastaba y no basta, entonces, con estar en contra de la invasión (como esa seudo carta de “protesta” que firmaron algunos escritores puertorriqueños), no bastaba con votar “no” en las encuestas que realizó el periódico El Nuevo Día, o CNN en español (como hicimos todos nosotros), no bastaba con enviar “emails” pacifista y tontamente al Presidente yanqui de la Gestapo del Congreso, no basta tampoco decir, como yo digo narcisamente, que “no hemos hecho absolutamente nada”, porque de lo que se trata aquí, si no se nos ha hecho tarde, es de movilizar todo el liderato, de jugarnos todo el liderato de la desobediencia, de desobedecer todas las leyes que estén relacionadas con Vieques. De preparar una vez más ese equipo de abogados fantasmas, ese equipo de enfermeras mártires, etc., y de marchar contra el área de tiro de la marina (de los invasores) mañana, tarde y noche. Las marchas contra las zonas de tiro restringidas por la marina yanqui deben ser infinitas. ¡Hay que marchar infinitamente contra ellos! No es el
licenciado Rubén Berríos, no es la señora Lolita Lebrón, no es el arzobispo
puertorriqueño, sino que tienen que ser cientos, miles, millones de puertorriqueños los que marchen espejista, cristiana, alucinadamente contra las tropas invasoras. No se trata sólamente de los cincuentaiseis pacifistas que han sido arrestados recientemente, no se trata sólamente de esos pastores y de esos sacerdotes de un valor vertical incuestionable, no se trata tampoco de la paliza que recibió el amigo Roberto Rabin a manos de la policía, sino que de lo que se trata es de esa marcha sublime de la nación entera contra sus hostigadores.
De lo que se trata aquí es de reorganizar la desobediencia civil a la luz de este desafío. No se trata, entonces, de sembrar ni de crear casetas de campaña como si estuviéramos en un “picnic” veraniego. De lo que se trata aquí es de convertir a la desobediencia civil en un delirio humano contra los marinos norteamericanos, contra la policía del país, y para que la prensa internacional nos sienta esquizofrénicamente vitales. Si no nos volvemos “locos” por Vieques, no nos volveremos jamás locos por Puerto Rico. ¿Por qué, entonces, no se ha llamado aún a un boicot contra los Burger King’s y contra los MacDonald’s norteamericanos que abundan imperialistamente en el país? ¿Por qué no se le ha hecho un llamado a la policía puertorriqueña, a la Guardia Nacional, aunque parezca “utópico”, para que se sumen a la desobediencia civil? Pero para que ese boicot que venimos proponiéndole a los desobedientes hace más de un año tenga sentido, y para que la policía y la
Guardia Nacional de Puerto Rico pueda sumarse a la desobediencia civil, ésta
tiene que ser totalmente dramática, ésta tiene que ser espectacular, esquiza,
aterradora en el mejor sentido de la palabra.
Lamentablemente, hemos convertido a la desobediencia civil en un “dime y direte” con los invasores. Se han hecho algunos sacrificios “inútiles”, algunos líderes han perdido su trabajo, otros han perdido su tranquilidad, otros han tenido que apartarse de sus familiares pero, dime tú, lector: ¿por qué entonces el Partido Independentista no movió la semana del 1ro. de mayo a todos sus simpatizantes a Vieques? ¿Por qué los ministros y los sacerdores no movilizaron su feligresía a Vieques para esa semana “santa” de la
confrontación? De esto es de lo que se trata la desobediencia civil: de tener
un sentido dramático de la política. No se trata de jugar judía o cristianamente a ser Cristo, ni se trata tampoco de jugar psicológicamente a ser los crucificados de la paz, sino de realizar una política dichosa para la libertá del cuerpo y del espíritu. Creo que los religiosos, a pesar de su buena intención, se equivocaron al pretenden hablar con la marina de tú-a-tú sin haber creado esa atmósfera real que les garantizará el diálogo efectivo que llegará algún día sísifamente por sí solo. “Dios” es más importante que
la ley. “Dios”, independientemente de lo que “Dios” signifique para ti (la moral, la belleza, la salvación) es más importante que la ley demokrática de
los invasores y que la ley demokrática de los lacayos.
¿Es qué somos, acaso, la paradoja perdida? Cuando hayamos aprendido que la
injusticia es la ley del mundo y cuando hayamos aprendido que la muerte es el
premio de éste, entonces, no nos preocupará ni la cárcel, ni el manicomio, ni la muerte. La libertá nacerá de esta indiferencia y de este no-deseo. El
hombre libre, el hombre del renacimiento, nacerá de este abandono. ¿Quién podrá tocar o lastimar a este hombre? Desengañado de todos los estados marchará libertaria y alucinadamente contra todos los estados. Lamentablemente, repito, hemos comenzado por el final. Aun así, y a pesar de mi crítica, deseamos felicitar a ese pueblo que está haciendo sus primeras incursiones en esa postura tan difícil que es la desobediencia civil
gandhista. Hay que entender, entonces, que nuestra crítica está en el mejor
sentido de la solidaridad y de la empatía. Nuestro amor hacia los
desobedientes (cristianos, ateos, agnósticos, budistas–reales o falsos–) es incondicional. Nuestra crítica está ubicada en el mejor deseo de la realización política y, sobre todo, en el mejor deseo de la independencia de Puerto Rico.
Muchos de ustedes se estarán preguntando: ¿cómo se logrará ese diálogo efectivo? Se logrará, pues, cuando la desobediencia civil ponga en jaque al sistema colonial que Estados Unidos ha creado en Puerto Rico. Entonces, y sólo entonces, tendrá sentido el sentarnos a dialogar con los invasores. Pero lo que hay que preguntarse aquí no es cómo se logrará ese diálogo apriori, sino cómo se logrará esa praxis alucinante de los desobedientes. Lo que hay que preguntarse ahora es si estamos preparados espiritual y políticamente para ir presos; si estamos preparados espiritualmente para comenzar huelgas de hambre en grupos (en las universidades del mercado, en las escuelas arruinadas, en las iglesias del aburrimiento espiritual, en las plazas vacías del miedo, en las oficinas mediocres del gobierno, en la legislatura corrupta de la drogadicción, etc.), al mismo tiempo que se piquetea felizmente, al mismo tiempo que se reorganiza una nueva legislatura libertaria al margen de
la que está funcionando burguesamente en el país. Un nuevo gobierno radical
dentro del país al margen del gobierno establecido que no funciona a menos
que no sea como traición. Mientras no estemos de acuerdo en crear este tipo
de situación política y social, mientras no estemos de acuerdo en crear esta
atmósfera de crisis, la desobediencia civil será, a pesar nuestro, tan inútil
como si estuviéramos asistiendo a un concurso de Miss Universo para derrocar
la colonia, o como si hubiéramos decidido enfrentarnos militarmente, sin estar preparados, contra los gorilas de la marina norteamericana. Creo que los religiosos, los pipiolos, lo viequenses y los puertorriqueños en general deberíamos de replantearnos la situación de resistencia “pasiva” a la luz de esta crítica del amor y ver cómo podemos ponerla a funcionar efectivamente.
No creo que es cuestión de ponernos a la defensiva con los clichés de siempre
(desde Nueva York es fácil; desde la Cochinchina es fácil, etc.), porque hace
más de dos siglos que ser puertorriqueño no es fácil en ningún lugar del planeta. Ser puertorriqueño se ha convertido en una de las aventuras violentas más insólitas de lo político (del ser y de lo metafísico). Pero esta “cosa insólita” que somos también nos ha enriquecido, nos ha llenado de perspectivas, de pluralidades, de imaginación, de literatura, de poesía, pero también nos ha llenado de colaboradores, de traidores, de posmodernos y de
oportunistas. Ahora el problema estriba en que si dejamos pasar este momentum, si dejamos pasar este instante de la eternidad política que somos (si lo enfriamos malignamente, si lo vendemos cretinamente, si lo manoseamos, lo prostituimos, si lo abstraemos), lo vamos a pagar individual y colectivamente con nuestra propia desaparición de lo histórico. Porque lo que estamos tratando de hacer latinoamericanamente es de aparecer (de fenomenologizar políticamente en los marcos de la historia). Estamos, por lo tanto,
haciendo un llamado a ese liderato que ha estado luchando (a esos pescadores,
a esos religiosos, a esas mujeres, a esos trabajadores, a esos estudiantes–a
los pipiolos, a los socialistas, a los independentistas, a los anarquistas, a
los anónimos, a la infrahistoria–) como la radicalidad que es. Una vez más los puertorriqueños estamos no sólo delante de la historia, sino que estamos dentro de la historia misma. Desde el “98”, desde la Huelga Nacional, el mundo se ha solidarizado con nosotros. Desde la liberación de algunos de los presos políticos el mundo está pendiente de todo lo que hagamos nosotros. Porque en Vieques se ensayan todas las tácticas y todas las técnicas militares que luego se usarán en Asia, en el Mediano Oriente, en Africa, en el resto de Latinoamérica. Ha llegado el momento, entonces, de tirar por la borda la colonia demokrática. Ha llegado el momento de deshacernos de la
“ciudadanía” de la Morgue yanqui y de crear radicalmente la-democracia-puertor
riqueña. ¡No retroceda nadie! ¡La historia todavía está clamando por nosotros!
******
21 de mayo del 2000
Nueva York
La Resistencia Continua – The Resistance Goes On
La Resistencia Continua – The Resistance Goes On
[English summary]
***The Resistance Goes On… On May 17 a group entered the so-called restricted zone and headed towards the bombing range at the east of Vieques. Authorities were unable to arrest them as they spend more than ten hours inside and placed a Puerto Rican flag where the encampment of
“Friends of Vieques” had been established. They took several pictures
posted on:
http://www.micronetix.net/virus/fotos_mayo17.htm
=========================================
La Resistencia Continua
Este texto se encuentra en linea:
http://www.micronetix.net/virus/vieques_resistencia.htm
El 17 de mayo de 2000, un grupo de jovenes penetro las facilidades del
Camp Garcia rumbo a la zona de tiro en la parte Este de Vieques. Los jovenes, miembros de Amigos de Vieques, Colectivo Cayo YayÌ y Monte Carmelo, estuvieron por m·s de diez horas en los terrenos restringidos por la Marina, y en varias ocasiones fueron perseguidos por las autoridades militares por tierra y por helicÛpteros, pero lograron replegarse
exitosamente sin ser atrapados.
Como parte de su mision de resistencia el grupo llego hasta donde se encontraba el campamento de Amig@s de Vieques y colocaron la bandera de Puerto Rico y tomaron varias fotos que documentan su historica gesta.
A continuacion una reflexion escrita por uno de los participantes, luego de concluido el evento.
REPRESSION INCREASES AS WASHINGTON SCHEMES
REPRESSION INCREASES AS WASHINGTON SCHEMES TO KEEP VIEQUES BASE
By Berta Joubert-Ceci
IAC – Philadelphia
25 May 2000
On May 18, four riot police brutally beat Robert Rabin, a leader of the Committee for the Rescue and Devel op ment of Vieques. A convoy of U.S. Navy vehicles rammed Rabin’s jeep outside the gates of Camp Garcia, the U.S. military training ground in Vieques, Puerto Rico. Immediately the riot cops ran to Rabin’s vehicle, pulled him out of the jeep, clubbed him to the ground with nightsticks, and kicked him.
While people gathered round, police buses brought more riot cops. They formed a line in front of Rabin, preventing anybody from stopping the assault. The activist had to be taken to the emergency room in a hospital on the Big Island, since there are no adequate medical facilities on Vieques.
This violent act of repression is the Machiavellian articulation of the
“good neighbor policy” the U.S. Navy vowed to implement to convince the
people of Vieques that the Pentagon should stay there.
Using their lackey, the P.R. government and police, the Navy and U.S. government have transformed Vieques into a hostage island under siege. Riot police stop residents in the streets and search their houses without warrants. The U.S. military has deployed Marines in Camp Garcia, ready to back up the cops.
With few exceptions, Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress rejoic
ed at the May 4 eviction of people’s encamp ments from the naval base. For
more than a year after the death of David Sanes, protesters had prevented the Pentagon from dropping bombs there.
President Bill Clinton’s Jan. 31 directive–for a referendum on the terms
and conditions of the Navy’s continued occupation of Vieques–is being discussed in Washington. The House and Senate differ on some issues, but in the end, they want exactly the same thing: a permanent military presence in Vieques and practice with live ammunition.
Why is Vieques so important? The Navy says there is no place like it. It’s
true there’s not much commercial traffic in the area–but that holds true for many other places. Washington does not like to substitute one military base for another. In its imperialist greed, the military prefers only to add more.
Vieques is part of the whole U.S. militarization of Puerto Rico. Thirteen
percent of the arable land in P.R. is occupied by various branches of the
U.S. military. This huge apparatus is part of a complex network of military facilities that spans the Caribbean and Atlantic.
It is, in short, an essential part of the U.S. aims for domination of the
Caribbean, Central America, and South America. The Pentagon presence is a
constant threat to Cuba and progressive and revolutionary movements in the
region. Right now the potent ROTHR military surveillance radar in the
western part of Vieques is aimed at Colombia.
Both Democrats and Republicans act as if they speak for the Puerto Rican masses. Clinton–in order to gain support from Gov. Pedro Rossell¢ for his directive on Vieques–has stated that P.R. needs to define its status.
The compliant Gov. Rossell¢ stated: “The U.S. Congress is the only one who can determine which are the valid options that will be considered in a future consultation on the status of the island of Puerto Rico.” So much for self- determination.
But the Puerto Rican masses will not decide their future when and how Washington wants them to. They will decide their status when and how they
see fit.
An enormous jump in political consciousness has been developing in P.R.
over the last few years. The high cost of living, unemployment, the impact of privatization, and neoliberal measures and political repression have impacted the people in many ways. So many contradictions exist in so many areas that they have become an unstoppable motor in the process of generating new political consciousness. A greater sense of nationhood has flourished.
This upsurge of nationalism was the subject of a recent poll taken by the
well-known U.S. firm Standard and Poors. It reported that “there is an emerging nationalism within the Puerto Rican population that could turn into a source of instability and political risk in the future.”
This sense of nationhood translates into suffering in one area being felt by the majority all over P.R. When telephone workers were confronted with privatization of the national phone company, this insult was felt as a
personal injury by the masses. The cruel incarceration of the pro-independence political prisoners was an affront to all Puerto Ricans.
The struggle of Vieques is no different. It has further united all sectors
of society.
As Ismael Guadalupe of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques remarked on a recent visit to New York: “Just as Albizu Campos said in the 1940s when the U.S. was appropriating Vieques’s lands, Vieques is a national demand and its struggle is one of self-determination. Vieques is part of our Puerto Rican land.”
Informe de Vieques – 28-5-00 – Vieques Report
(Scroll down for English)
Informe de Vieques 28-5-00
Companeros solidarios con la lucha del pueblo viequense.
Saludos calurosos y solidarios desde Vieques. Aqui nuestra comunidad sigue
desarrollando las acciones de denuncia contra la presencia militar. Ademas
de las entradas a la zona militar del 13 de mayo, en la que 54 personas fueron arrestadas, todos los dias se dan incidentes con los vehiculos militares en las calles de nuestro pueblo – las personas les gritan, les tocan bocina y en algunos casos paralizan momentaneamente el paso de los
militares. Aqui, frente a la entrada de la base – Camp GarcÌa – mantenemos
una presencia de 24 horas vigilando el movimiento de los vehiculos, personal y equipo militar y desarrollando actividades de protesta.
El sabado, 27 de mayo, mas de 250 personas de Vieques y algunas docenas de
la Isla Grande, participaron en la Vigilia que celebramos todos los
sabados por mas de un ano frente al portÛn de Camp Garcia. Esta vigilia se
dedico a los 58 arrestados – los 54 del 13 de mayo, los cpros. Ruben Berrios y Jorge Fernandez del PIP y los hermanos Cacimar y Pedro Zenon. Varios de los arrestados participaron anoche y hablaron de la accion y se comprometieron a volver a ser arrestados si fuese necesario. Varios de los arrestadas, senalaron que estaban aquÌ en abierta violacion del orden del tribunal que les prohibia regresar a la Isla Nena.
Radames Tirado, pasado alcalde de Vieques (1976-80), ofrecio una fuerte critica al gobierno de Puerto Rico por haber asignado la Fuerza de Choque a ayudar a la Marina en la represion del pueblo cuando la Marina es – segun Tirado – el verdadero criminal que viola los derechos del pueblo viequense.
La profesora Glorimar Ojeda, maestra de arte de la Esc. Elemental Eugenio
Ma. de Hostos aqui, entrego – junto a un grupo de ninos viequenses – copias de algunos de los dibujos de sus estudiantes que forman un exhibicion titulada – LOS NI—OS QUEREMOS LA PAZ – con la encomienda de que los policias entregaran los dibujos a sus hijos para que pudieran entender porque estamos en protesta. A cada uno de los aproximadamente treinta
miembros de las Fuerza de Operaciones Tacticas estacionadas frente al porton de la base durante la vigilia, se le entrego una flor, simbolo de nuestra posicion de que los agentes puertorriqueÒos de la policia, enviadas en una mision inmoral, no son el enemigo del pueblo viequense –
que nuestra lucha es una por la paz y por la desmilitarizacion.
Mientras se llevo a cabo la vigilia, con varias rondas de piquete militante, una docena de militares armados y acompanados de perros, se mantuvieron en todo momento vigilandonos desde el otro lado del porton. Un miembro del grupo Veteranos Viequenses Unidos por la Paz, les advirtio a los militares que pronto tendrian que lidiar con un numero de veteranos viequenses que planifican una entrada a la zona restringida.
Companeros de organizaciones solidarias de Mayaguez y otros pueblos del area oeste, pasaron el dia de ayer y pernoctaron en el Campamento Justicia
y Paz para participar en la vigilia y dialogar con algunos de nuestros
lideres sobre proyectos de apoyo.
Durante la vigilia se se senalo que la Marina ha anunciado que llevara a cabo proximamente actividades peligrosas en aguas cercanas a Vieques. En una advertencia a los pescadores, fechada 24 de mayo, informan que desde martes 29 de mayo hasta el viernes, 2 de junio, de 2 a 4 de la tarde, sus actividades pondran en peligro a nuestros pescadores, sus lanchas y equipo de pesca.
En documento aparte, de la Oficina del Gobernador, Junta de Planificacion,
fechada 9 de mayo y recibido por el Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de
Vieques este pasado jueves, se inidica que la Marina solicita Certificacion de Compatibilidad Federal con el Programa de Manejo de la Zona Costanera de Puerto Rico. El proyecto de la Marina ñ lo que quieren certificar como compatible con el plan de manejo de la zona costanera del
Gobierno de Puerto Rico ñ consiste en lo siguiente: recertificacion Ö de
una embarcacion y unos pocos aviones de la Marina. La actividad consiste
en disparar un total de menos de 50 balas de 5 pulgadas desde una embarcacion y lanzamiento de menos de 50 bombas inertes desde aviones.
El domingo, 28 de mayo celebramos una Caravana por la Paz y la Salud y
para denuncia las anunciadas maniobras militares. M·s de 200 carros llenos
de gente del pueblo recorrieron todos los barrios de Vieques, terminando con una concentracion en el Campamento Justicia y Paz, frente a los portones de Camp GarcÌa. AllÌ el companero Ismael Guadalupe explico la importancia de aumentar la presion a traves de las acciones de desobediencia civil, entrando en la zona militar con grupos cada vez mayor.
La Marina ha anunciado sus maniobras inmorales de destruccion y de muerte
ñ este pueblo, y el pueblo puertorriqueÒo en general, han anunciado su determinacion y compromiso de seguir luchando en defensa de su dignidad y
por la Paz de Vieques.
El lunes, 29 de mayo, Dia de la Recordacion, una delegacion de los
Veteranos Viequenses Unidos por la Paz, participar· con los Veteranos por la Paz de la Isla Grande en una ceremonia ante el monumento al veterano en el lado sur del Capitolio en San Juan. Durante la actividad, los veteranos colocaran sus medallas en una caja para ser enviada al Presidente Clinton como denuncia por las horribles consecuencias de la presencia y actividad de la Marina de Guerra de EU en Vieques.
La lucha continua. Exhortamos a todas las personas y organizaciones solidarias con el pueblo viequense a que sigan con los proyectos de protesta en sus comunidades. Es importante seguir inundando las lÌneas
telefonicas de Casa Blanca en Washington y sus representantes en el Congreso con llamadas, faxes y correo electrÛnico a favor de la paz de Vieques que es posible unicamente al lograr el cese inmediato y permanente de toda actividad militar aqui.
Robert L. Rabin Siegal Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
Apartado 1424 Vieques, PR 00765
(787) 741-0716 cel. 375-0525
¡FUERA LA MARINA DE VIEQUES!
UPDATE FROM ROBERTO RABIN FROM VIEQUES!!
FUERA LA MARINA DE VIEQUES!
Report from Vieques 28 May, 2000
Friends in Solidarity with the People of Vieques.
Warm greetings of solidarity from Vieques. Our community continues its
actions to denounce the military presence. Besides the incursions into
military lands on 13 May, in which 54 people were arrested, every day there
are incidents on the civilian roads here involving military vehicles – our people yell at them, honk their horns, and in some cases temporarily stop convoys. Here, in front of the Navy base, Camp Garcia – we maintain a 24 hour presence keeping track of Navy vehicles, personnel and equipment and carrying out constant protest activity.
On Saturday, 27 May, over 250 Viequenses and a couple dozen friends from the main island, particpated in the Saturday Night Vigil we have held in front of the gate to Camp Garcia. This particular vigil was dedicated to the 58 people recently arrested – the 54 on 13 May; Ruben Berrios and Jorge Fernandez of the Puerto Rico Independence Party; and the Zenon brothers – Cacimar and Pedro. Several of those arrested participated spoke at last
nights vigil of their commitment to be arrested again if necesarry. Several
mentioned they were in Vieques in open violation of the court imposed restriction on their returning to Vieques.
Radames Tirado, past mayor of Vieques (1976-80), offered a strong criticismo of the Government of Puerto Rico¥s decision to assign Puerto Rico police to help the Navy repress our struggle – the same Navy, Tirado said, that is the real criminal who violates the rights of the people of Vieques.
Vieques art teacher, Glorimar Ojeda together with a group of Vieques children, handed to the approximately 30 Riot Police stationed in front of the gates to Camp GarcÌa — copies of here students drawings from an exhibit entitled THE CHILDREN WANT PEACE – with the expressed hope the policemen and
women would give the drawings to their children so they might know why we are protesting. The police agents also received flowers as a symbol of our
position that the struggle of Vieques is directed at the US Navy, and not these Puerto Ricans who have been ordered to fulfill an inmoral mission by their superiors.
During the vigil it was mentioned that the Navy had announced a few days earlier they would soon be carrying out dangerous activity in Vieques waters. In a warning to fishermen, dated 24 May, the Navy informed that from 29 May until 2 June and from 2 to 4 in the afternoon, their activities would be dangerous for fishermen, their boats and equipment.
In a separate document from the Planning Board dated 9 May and received by the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques (CRDV) this past Thursday, we learned the Navy is requesting Certification of Federal Compatibility with the Coastal Zone Management Program of Puerto Rico. The Navy’s project, for which it asks certification, is described as follows: recertification of a ship and a few Navy aircraft. Navy action will include the shooting of less than 50 rounds of 5 inch shells from a shipo and the firing of 50 inert bombs from jets.
On Sunday, 28 May we held a Caravan for Peace and Health to denounce the Navy’s intention to carry out these exercises. More than 200 cars passed through all the barrios of Vieques, ending in a concentration at Peace and Justice Camp in front of the entrance to Camp GarcÌa. Ismael Guadalupe, principle spokesman for the CRDV, explained the need to increase pressure through continued civil disobedience actions, entering into Navy lands in larger and larger groups.
The struggle continues. We urge all those individuals and organiztions in solidarity with the people of Vieques to continue your protest actions in your communities. It’s important to continue to flood the telephone lines at the White House and in Congress with calls, faxes and emails in support of Peace in Vieques, which is only attainable with the immediate and permanent end to all military activity here.
Robert L. Rabin Siegal
Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
Apartado 1424
Vieques, PR 00765
(787) 741-0716, cel. 375-0525
Veterans Return Medals in Protest
Veterans Return Medals in Protest – Veteranos devuelven medallas en protesta
[Articulo en EspaÒol abajo]
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000529/wl/puerto_rico_veterans_protest_1.html
Monday May 29 2:25 PM ET
Veterans Return Medals in Protest
By RICARDO FIGUEROA, Associated Press Writer
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – About 30 U.S. veterans from the Puerto Rican
island of Vieques turned in their medals on Memorial Day to protest a U.S. Navy bombing range.
“In protest and for peace in Vieques,” the veterans said as they laid their ribbons and discharge papers in a wooden box during a ceremony at the Veterans’ Memorial in San Juan.
Organizers plan to send the box to President Clinton with a letter demanding that the Navy stop exercises on Vieques. On May 4, U.S. marshals arrested more than 200 demonstrators who had camped out on the bombing range and thwarted exercises for nearly a year.
Resentment over the U.S. Navy’s presence on Vieques boiled over in April 1999, when a jet dropped two 500-pound bombs off-target, killing a civilian security guard at the bombing range. Soon afterward, the Navy admitted that it had accidentally fired ammunition tipped with depleted uranium at the island in February 1999, a violation of federal laws.
“The moment I heard of them using depleted-uranium shells, that’s when I
stopped feeling pride for having served,” said Jose Soto, 62, a Vietnam
veteran who served for 20 years in the Navy. He turned in 10 medals on Monday.
The Navy owns two-thirds of Vieques and has used the training ground to prepare for every major armed conflict since World War II. It says Vieques is the only site where its Atlantic fleet can practice shelling, bombing, amphibious landings, ship-to-ship warfare, air attacks and anti-submarine operations at the same time.
After the bombing accident, Clinton agreed to order the Navy out if the
island’s 9,400 residents vote in a referendum to expel them.
Exercises are to continue without explosives until the vote, which is
expected next year. Protesters want the Navy to withdraw immediately, saying they fear a new president may cancel Clinton’s agreement if a military emergency arises.
As U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans can serve in the U.S. armed forces and are subject to the military draft.
RE: REPRESSION INCREASES AS WASHINGTON SCHEMES
This is great, this is exactly what I was talking about in my last post, One side of the story. Rabin’s jeep was rammed?? I pretty sure he pulled his vehicle directly in front of those navy vehicles,,Here we go again spreading rumors that are not true,,shame on you..
Comunicados de Prensa
30 de mayo de 2000
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA
GOBERNADOR ADMITE RELACION ENTRE MARINA Y CANCER EN VIEQUES
Lideres de la lucha contra la presencia militar en Vieques condenaron la
posicion del Gobernador Pedro Roselo de apoyar el bombardeo en la Isla Nena toda vez que Èste admitio la posible relacion entre los ejercicios militares y la alta incidencia de c·ncer entre los viequenses. El Gobernador admitio ayer en Washington, D.C., que el altÌsimo numero de casos de concer en Vieques “.podria tener una vinculacion con los ejercicios militares.” En la misma entrevista, el primer ejecutivo de Puerto Rico senalo que “no sabremos hasta que no se hagan los estudios epidemiologicos.”
“Resulta difÌcil creer que el Gobernador de Puerto Rico admita que en Vieques hay m·s cancer que en todo Puerto Rico, que hay una posible relaciÛn entre la muerte por cancer y las acciones militares, y todavÌa apoya la reanudacion de los mismos ejercicios que podrian causar mas
muerte y sufrimiento para nuestro pueblo. En lugar de defender al pueblo de Vieques, el Gobernador defiende los intereses militares de EU y sus
aspiraciones polÌticas personales,” comento el Dr. Rafael Rivera Castano,
uno de los portavoces del CPRDV.
Seg·n Rivera Castaño, epidemiologo viequense , “como mÈdico, el Gobernador
tiene la responsabilidad de evitar cualquier accion sospechosa de
contribuir a una situacion de salud tan grave como es la exagerada cantidad de casos de cancer en Vieques. Ante la menor duda de una relacion entre el bombardeo y la critica situacion de salud en Vieques, es la responsabilidad del Gobernador – y de cualquier medico – realizar los
estudios necesarios para garantizar el bienestar de la poblacion afectada,” dijo el medico viequense.
Contacto: Robert Rabin (787) 741-0716 o celular 375-0525
________
ComitÈ Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
Aparatdo 1424 Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765
Tel-Fax (787) 741-0716 E mail: bieke@coqui.net
Declaracion de Robert Rabin, leida durante la vigilia por la paz frente a
los portones de Camp GarcÌa, Vieques, el s·bado, 27 de mayo de 2000
La Marina ha anunciado que esta semana proxima llevara a cabo actividades
navales peligrosas en las aguas cercanas a Vieques. En una advertencia a
los pescadores de Vieques, anuncio que de martes, 30 de mayo hasta el viernes, 2 de junio, de 2 a 4 de la tarde, sus actividades pondran en peligro a nuestros pescadores, lanchas y equipo de pesca.
En documento aparte, de la Oficina del Gobernador – Junta de Planificacion, fechada 9 de mayo y recibido por el CPRDV este pasado jueves, la Marina solicita Certificacion de Compatibilidad Federal con el Programa de Manejo de la Zona Costanera de Puerto Rico. El proyecto de la Marina – lo que quieren certificar como compatible con el plan de manejo
de la zona costanera del Gobierno de Puerto Rico – consiste en lo siguiente: recertificacion de una embarcacion y unos pocos aviones de la Marina. La actividad consiste en disparar un total de menos de 50 balas de 5 pulgadas desde una embarcacion y lanzamiento de menos de 50 bombas inertes desde aviones …
Nuestra respuesta a la solicitud de la Marina tiene que ser contundente.
Tenemos que utilizar todos los medios disponibles para evitar la continua
destruccion de nuestros recursos naturales, de nuestro ambiente, el cancer
y la muerte de nuestros familires. Que las actividades de la Marina NO SON
COMPATIBLES CON NUESTRO DESEO DE VIVIR EN PAZ. QUE EL BOMBARDEO NO ES ACEPTABLE AL PUEBLO VIEQUENSE. QUE COMO HAN DICHO LOS OBISPOS Y LAS MADRES VIEQUENSES, COMO HAN DICHO LOS MAESTROS Y LOS NINOS DE VIEQUES, COMO HAN DICHO BUENOS HOMBRES Y BUENAS MUJERES CREYENTES EN LA PAZ DE TODOS LOS CONTINENTES DEL MUNDO – EL BOMBARDEO EN VIEQUES ES UNA INMORALIDAD.
Desde el 20 de abril de 1999 y hasta que sea necesario, el pueblo de Vieques estara llevando a cabo maniobras diseñadas a ponerle fin a las practicas y la presencia de las fuerzas militares en nuestra isla. Que todos los dias, durante 24 horas al dia, estaremos en constante lucha en defensa del derecho del pueblo de vivir en paz. Que durante 365 dias al
año, nuestra bandera de Vieques aqui en este campamento – como la bandera roja que ellos antes ponia aqui frente a Camp Garcia para indicar que estaban en maniobras – que nuestra bandera de Vieques estar· continuamente flotando aquÌ en simbolo de un pueblo que no descansa en su afan de vivir en paz; sÌmbolo de una lucha heroica e historica que sin tirar un tiro, armados con la moral y la razon, logro paralizar por mas de un año la fuerza militar mas potente de este planeta.
La Marina ha anunciado sus maniobras inmorales de destruccion y de muerte.
Este pueblo de Vieques y el pueblo puertorriqueño en general, han
anunciado su determinacion y compromiso de seguir luchando en defensa de su dignidad y por la Paz de Vieques.
_____________
Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
Apartado 1424 Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765
Tel.-Fax (787) 741-0716 E mail: bieke@coqui.net
27 de mayo de 2000
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA
VIEQUENSES DENUNCIAN PLANES DE REINICIAR DE BOMBARDEO
Este domingo, 28 de mayo comenzando a la 1:00 de la tarde en la Calle Muñoz Rivera del pueblo de Vieques, el Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques (CPRDV) celebrara una CARAVANA POR LA PAZ Y LA SALUD. Portavoces del Comite esperan la participacion de cientos de viequenses preocupados por la grave situacion de salud – altisisima cantidad de casos de cancer, enfermedades respiratorias, problemas de la piel, falta de servicios
medicos – y los planes de la Marina de continuar con su bombardeo y asi aumentar el nivel de contaminacion ambiental.
La Marina anuncio su intencion de reanudar sus pr·cticas esta semana, a
pesar de la existencia de armas radioactivas – proyectiles de uranio
reducido – en la zona de bombardeo. “La posibilidad de que explotara un proyectil de uranio es tan real que los propios cientÌficos militares abandonaron su b·squeda de los cientos de esos proyectiles en marzo de 1999 por el temor de una explosion. La Marina no tiene absolutamente ninguna consideracion por nuestra comunidad. Esta dispuesta a arriesgar nuestras vidas para llevar a cabo sus ejercicios militares,” señalo Nilda Medina, miembro de la Junta Directiva del CPRDV.
Medina explico que las organizaciones comunitarias en Vieques participan
tanto en las acciones de protesta como en los casos legales contra la Marina que han iniciado tres entidades a nombre del pueblo viequense. “Apoyamos todas las acciones que van dirigidas a terminar con esta pesadilla que es la presencia y actividades de la Marina de Guerra de E.U. en Vieques.
Continuaremos utilizando todos los metodos pacÌficis para lograr la paz
para nuestra comunidad ante las amenazas del continuo bombardeo militar,”
expreso Medina. “La caravana de este domingo es parte de nuestra estrategia de ir aumentando cada dia mas la participacion activa de nuestra gente en la denuncia del estado de sitio que vivimos desde el pasado 4 de mayo y el estado de guerra que sufrimos por m·s de sesenta años.”
Contacto: Robert Rabin 741-0716
_____________
ComitÈ Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
Apartado 1424 Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765
Tel.-Fax (787) 741-0716 E mail: bieke@coqui.net
26 de mayo de 2000
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA
VIEQUENSES DENUNCIAN PELIGRO MILITAR EN CALLES CIVILES
El ComitÈ Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques (CPRDV) denuncio el movimiento peligroso de vehiculos, personal y equipo militar por las calles de Vieques durante las pasadas dos semanas. Enormes arrastresmoviendo oficinas-mobiles, camiones militares con soldados armados,
camiones-tanques de petroleo, equipo pesado de construccion transitan
continuamente por las calles del sector civil, poniendo en peligro a los
transuentes y los vehÌculos de nuestra gente.
Miembros del CPRDV han hecho un llamado a la Alcaldesa de Vieques, a la policia de Puerto Rico y a los oficiales militares, para que paralicen el movimiento de personal y vehiculos militares en nuestras calles. No solo representa un peligro para la comunidad, sino la presencia de militares en las calles de Vieques es una provocacion en ya que la abrumadora mayoria de los viequenses han manifestado su deseo de ver el fin de la presencia militar aquÌ. Este nuevo ataque militar agudiza el ambiente de hostilidad
que surgio a raiz de los arrestos del 4 de mayo y con la asignacion de un grupo de las Fuerza de Operaciones Tacticas de la Policia de Puerto Rico para vigilar el porton de Camp Garcia.
Portavoces del Comite Viequense anunciaron la celebracion de una gran
caravana de carros el proximo domingo, 28 de mayo comenzando a la 1:00 en la Calle Muñoz Rivera del pueblo de Vieques. “Por nuestra salud, por la paz y para continuar la lucha por lograr el cese de todas las actividades de la Marina de Guerra de E.U. en Vieques, llevaremos a cabo una Caravana por la Paz con la participacion activa de todos los sectores de nuestra comunidad,” señalo Ismael Guadalupe, veterano luchador viequense.
Contacto R.Rabin, 741-0716
°FUERA LA MARINA DE VIEQUES!
RE: RE: REPRESSION INCREASES AS WASHINGTON SCHEMES
Hey, resident of PR, are you Puerto Rican?
COMUNICADO DEL CPRDV ANTE EL DESFILE BORICUA EN NY
Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
Apartado 1424 Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765
(787) 741-0716 e-mail: bieke@coqui.net
6 de junio de 2000
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA DEL CPRDV ANTE EL DESFILE BORICUA EN NUEVA YORK
El Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques (CPRDV) anuncio que varios de sus integrantes viajar·n esta semana a Nueva York para participar en el Desfile Boricua en esa ciudad y en varios eventos relacionados con Vieques que se llevar·n a cabo en Nueva York desde el jueves 8 de junio hasta el domingo 11 de junio.
La delegacion del CPRDV que participar· de los eventos por Vieques en Nueva York est· compuesta por Ismael Guadalupe, Robert Rabin, Nilda Medina, Norma Morales, y Flavio Cumpiano, representante del CPRDV en Washington, DC. Tambien viajaran a Nueva York integrantes de otras organizaciones de Vieques, tales como Miriam Sobu y Judith Conde de la
Alianza de Mujeres Viequenses, y la Familia Zenon, entre otros.
Robert Rabin dijo: “El Pueblo Viequense agradece profundamente la dedicatoria de los organizadores del Desfile Boricua en Nueva York a Vieques, maxime en este momento tan critico para la lucha de nuestro Pueblo para lograr el cese de las actividades militares de la Marina de
Guerra de los Estados Unidos en Vieques y la salida de la Marina de la Isla Nena. Agradecemos tambien la solidaridad de la comunidad puertorriqueña en Estados Unidos, y en otras partes del mundo, con la lucha por la paz en Vieques, y el apoyo de otros hermanos y hermanas no
puertorriqueños que se han unido a nuestra lucha.”
Rabin expreso: “Nuestro Pueblo reafirma su compromiso de lucha por lograr
el cese inmediato y permanente de todas la actividades belicas de las
fuerzas militares estadounidenses en Vieques, por lograr la salida inmediata de todo su personal, equipo y aparatos de la Isla Nena, y lograr la devolucion de todos los terrenos ocupados por cualquier rama o departamento de sus fuerzas militares al Municipio de Vieques.
Reafirmamos nuestro derecho a continuar la resistencia pacÌfica para lograr nuestros objetivos de paz y justicia para Vieques. Como parte de nuestra resistencia pacifica, continuaremos entrando a los terrenos ocupados por los militares para lograr diversos propositos, entre ellos: crear nucleos de escudos humanos para detener el bombardeo; provocar arrestos para asi aumentar la atencion al caso de Vieques y asegurar la constante divulgacion de nuestros reclamos y la cobertura de nuestra lucha a traves de los medios de comunicacion; obligar el uso de recursos de la Marina para la b·squeda y arresto de los manifestantes; y permitir una
participacion cada vez mas amplia en la lucha directa de viequenses y de puertorriqueños de la Isla Grande, adem·s de otros que residen en el exterior pero viajan a Vieques para participar en estas y otras iniciativas.”
Por su parte, Cumpiano añadio: “Exhortamos a todos los que anhelan la paz para Vieques a que continuen denunciando las directrices de Clinton sobre Vieques, y el referÈndum allÌ propuesto, y que exijan, a travÈs de todos los medios de presion politica disponible, que Clinton emita una Orden
Ejecutiva ordenando el cese inmediato y permanente de todas la actividades
belicas de la Marina en Vieques y la salida de la Marina de Vieques. El
pueblo de Puerto Rico en general, y el pueblo de Vieques en particular, ya
tomo una determinacion en torno al futuro de Vieques: La Marina se debe ir sin tirar una bomba m·s, de ningun tipo. Lo que el Presidente tiene que hacer es respetar la voluntad del pueblo. Los eventos en Nueva York esta semana contribuir·n a diseminar los reclamos del pueblo viequense, a coagular fuerzas y a afinar estrategias.”
Entre los eventos en Nueva York en los que participar·n los miembros del
CPRDV habr· un foro y cena la noche del jueves 8 de junio en honor al CPRDV, organizada por la organizacion War Resisters League. La actividad sera a las 6:30PM en el Park Avenue Christian Church, 1010 Park Avenue en la Calle 85 (Info: 212-228-0450/800-975-9688). Ismael Guadalupe tambien ofrecera varias charlas sobre la lucha por la paz en Vieques durante su estadia en Nueva York. Para m·s informaciÛn sobre el Desfile Boricua en NY y otros eventos relacionados, favor de accesar: http://www.nyboricua.com, y para mas informacion sobre Vieques favor de accesar: http://www.viequeslibre.org.
fast for vieques
On Wednesday, June 14th, a group of people will start an indefinite water-only fast in front of the White House. We are demanding that President Clinton agrees to meet with Vieques community leaders to hear directly from them the reasons for opposing the Navy’s bombing of their land. We will be making public the letters of support we’ve recieved from H.H. the Dalai Lama and Rev. Roy Bourgeois (SOA Watch). Some of us vow to fast until Clinton agrees to meet with them or we pay the ultimate consequences of restraining from nourishment. We expect Buddhist monks to join us and many religious leaders from different faiths. We also expect to make public new letters of support from internationally recognized religious leaders as they are recieved. We encourage people to support this event and to invite your senators and representatives to meet with us. In addition, please contact the media about this act of resistance.
If you would like to join the fast or help in any other way, you may contact me or Freddie Marrero at 603-653-0027 or 212-923-0387.
In the spirit of ahimsa,
Hector Rosario
H.H. the Dalai Lama
What follows is a copy of the text of a letter written by H.H. the Dalai Lama sent to me on behalf of the people of Vieques. I will be reading it in front of the White House when we start our water-only-fast on June 14, together with the letters of support from various religious and civic leaders from around the world. Join us.
Hector Rosario
603-653-0027
212-923-0387
718-726-5068
P.S.
You may send a letter of suport to
Hector Rosario
c/o Freddie Marrero
92 Pinehurst, 3-L
New York, NY 10033
******************
H.H. the Dalai Lama
MESSAGE
I am concerned by the terrible effects on people, animals and plants of Vieques, an island in the archipelago of Puerto Rico, as a result of the military exercises conducted on the island. I am told that because of the pollution from these military exercises the cancer rate in Vieques is much higher than on the main island. I therefore support the action of the people of Vieques in protesting against such military exercises.
May 8, 2000
Informe de Vieques / Vieques Report
Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
Apartado 1424 Vieques, PR 00765 (787) 741-0716 cel. 375-0525
Informe de Vieques
Martes, 6 de junio de 2000
La semana pasada fue una de constante accion contra la presencia de la Marina en Vieques. El lunes pasado, Dia de la Recordacion, un grupo de 30 Veteranos Viequenses Unidos por la Paz, entregaron sus medallas de guerra ante el monumento del veterano frente al Capitolio en San Juan, como parte de un acto de protesta organizdo por los Veteranos Por la Paz, Capitulo de Puerto Rico.
En la madrugada (3:30 AM en punto), del jueves, 1 de junio, salieron 26 personas – mayormente de Vieques, mayormente mujeres – hacia el area de tiro. Llegaron en lanchas de pescadores a una playa en la costa Norte y luego caminaron por dos horas hasta llegar a al zona de tiro – especificamente a la Playa Yayi, lugar donde estuvo ubicada la capilla
ecumenica de los campamentos de resistencia desalojados el 4 de mayo.
AllÌ las mujeres sembraron trece cruces negras a la memoria de las muchas
mujeres que han muerto de cancer y otras enfermedades relacionadas con la
contaminacion producida por la Marina. Bajo la direccion de la compañera
Nilda Medina, miembro fundadora del Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de
Vieques y lider del Campamento Justicia y Paz, los 26 viequenses y compañeros de la Isla Grande – junto a seis reporteros de distintos medios – cumplieron su mision de burlar la vigilancia militar, penetrar la zona de bombardeo, llevar a cabo una ceremonia y finalmente ser arrestados por los militares.
La accion se llevo a cabo para denunciar los planes de la Marina (publicados en la prensa del pais) de detonar, ese mismo dia, una cantidad no determinada de bombas enterradas y dispersas en la zona de tiro.
°ESE DIA LA MARINA NO DETONO NI SIQUIERA UN PETARDO!
Mas de la mitad de los integrantes de esa accion fueron mujeres viequenses. La expediciÛn conto con la destacada participacion tambien de la compañera Lolita Lebron y la Lcda. Rosa Meneses Albizu Campos. Durante una celebracion en el Campamento Justicia y Paz por la noche del jueves, despues de la liberacion de los integrantes quienes habian sido detenidos temprano en la mañana, y trasladados a la Base Naval Roosevelt Roads en Ceiba – varias de las compañeras viequenses expresaron su deseo de regresar a la zona restringida a la brevedad posible para seguir el proceso de reclamar la tierra que les pertenece por derecho natural.
El compañero Tito de Jesus (Kayak), fue el unico integrante del grupo que no salio de la carcel por negar cualquier participacion en el proceso legal. Ayer, lunes 5 de junio, Tito salio de prision.
El sabado, 3 de junio, recibimos una delegacion de los 54 arrestados el 13
de mayo. Marchamos hasta la Plaza Publica donde se llevo a cabo una conferencia de prensa y acto politico. El Lcdo. Graciany Miranda Marchand,
uno de “los 54”, señalo que el grupo habia viajado a Vieques para violar,
abiertamente, la orden del tribunal de que no podian regresar a Vieques despues de haber sido arrestado el 13 de mayo.
Por la noche del sabado, la vigilia de todos los s·bados se dedico a todos
los arrestados – los 21 de 1979, los 200 y mas del 4 de mayo, los 54 del 13 y los 26 del 1 de junio y todos los arrestados que vienen en los proximos dias, semanas y meses. Igual que las dos semanas anteriores, aproximadamente 250 personas participaron en la vigilia que conto con
varias rondas de piquete militante frente al porton de Camp Garcia.
El domingo, 4 de junio, llego a Vieques en la lancha de la mañana, la bandera gigantesca de Vieques que nos preparo el compañero Ramon Figueroa, que se llevarara al Desfile Puertorriqueño en NY el 11 de junio. Se marcho con la bandera del muelle hasta la Plaza Publica donde se llevo a cabo una ceremonia de entrega al pueblo viequense y la bendicion de la
bandera por los oficiales eclesiasticos. Se recibio tambien una precisosa VIRGEN DE LA PAZ DE VIEQUES, tallada en cedro, de aproximadamente cuatro pies de alto, obra del artesano orocoveÒo, Celestino Aviles.
El pueblo de Vieques se mantiene en alerta y en constante accion de protesta y denuncia. Las acciones de entrada a la zona restringida de la Marina son el tema de un continuo proceso de conspiracion y dialogo entre las organizaciones de base. Todos estamos claros que
“DIOS NO NOS TRAJO AQUI PARA VOLVER ATRAS, NOS TRAJO AQUI A POSEER LA TIERRA QUE NOS DIO.”
Robert L. Rabin Siegal
°FUERA LA MARINA DE VIEQUES!
Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques
Box 1424 Vieques, PR 00765 (787) 741-0716 cel. 375-0525
Vieques Report
Tuesday, 6 June, 2000
Last week was one of constant action against the Navy presence in Vieques.
Last Monday, Memorial Day, 30 Viequense Veterans United for Peace, turned
in their war medals before the Veterans Monumento at the Capitol building
in San Juan, as part of a protest ceremony organized by the Puerto Rico
chapter of Veterans for Peace.
In the early morning hours of Thursday, 1 June, 26 people – mostly women
from Vieques – headed toward the Navy¥s bombing range. They arrived in
fishing boats at a beach on the North coast and walked for two until
reaching the Yayi beach area, where the ecumenical chapel – part of the
civil disobedience camps – was located. There the women placed 13 black
crosses in memory of Vieques women who died of cancer or other sicknesses
related to the environmental contamination produced by US Navy activities.
Directed by Nilda Medina, founding member of the Committee for the Rescue
and Development of Vieques and leader of the Justice and Peace Camp, the
group, together with 6 members of the Puerto Rican press, fulfilled their
mission, passing undetected into the Navy restricted zone, penetrating the
bombing range, carrying out a protest ceremony before finally being
arrested.
The action was carryed out to denounce Navy plans (announced in the press)
to detonate, that very day, an undetermined quantity of burried and
dispersed unexploted ordnance.
That day the Navy did not even detonate a firecracker!
Over half of the group was comprised of Viequense women. The expedition
also inclueded Lolita Lebron and Rosa Meneses Albizu Campos. During a
celebration at Justice and Peace Camp that night, after the protester were
liberated at Navy Station Roosevelt Roads in the town of Ceiba (the group
had been transferred to NSRR early in the morning following their arrest
on Vieques) – several Vieques women expressed their desire to return soon
to the restricted zone to continue the process of relcaiming what belongs
to the people of Vieques by natural right.
Tito de Jes·s (known as Tito Kayay) was the only member of the group not
liberated from detention because he refused to offer any information
during the legal process. Yesterday, 5 June, Tito was released.
On Saturday, 3 June, we received a delegation of the 54 arrested on 13
May. We marched together from the dock to the Public Square to hold a
press conference. Graciany Miranda Marchan (ex President of the PR Bar
Association), one of the 54, said the group had travelled to Vieques to
openly challenge the court order prohibiting them from returning to
Vieques.
That Saturday night, during the vigil that¥s held every Saturday, the
activity was dedicated to all those arrested – the 21 in 1979, the more
than 200 this past 4 May, the 54 on the 13th of May and the 26 arrested on
1 June – as well as the many who will be arrested in the following days,
weeks and months. Over 250 people participated in the vigil that inclued
a series of militant piquets in front of the gates to Camp GarcÌa.
Sunday, June 4th, on the morning ferry we recieved RamÛn Figueroa who
brought a gigantic Vieques flag that will travel to NY to participate in
the 11 June parade in the Big Apple. About 50 people from Vieques and the
main island marched with the flag to the town square to hold a ceremony
and the blessing of the flag by the Parrish Priest and the Pastor of the
Methodist Church. A 4 foot tall Virigen of Peace for Vieques, sculpted in
wood (cedro) by Puerto Rican artesan, Celestino AvilÈs, also received the
blessing of the church officials and was warmly received by the people of
Vieques during the ceremony
The people of Vieques are on constant alert and in constant protest. Our
actions inside the Navy¥s restricted zone are the topic of a constant
process of conspiration and dialogue amongst the grass roots organizations
here.
We are all clear in our belief that
GOD DID NOT BRING US HERE TO TURN BACK,
S-HE BROUGHT US HERE
TO TAKE POSSESSION OF THE LAND S-HE GAVE US
Robert L. Rabin Siegal
°US NAVY OUT OF VIEQUES!
RE: fast for vieques
There is a group from the Catholic Church Diocesis of Caguas who are carrying out a similar activity in front of the Capitol in San Juan. Throughout the world all justice seeking people support the struggle of the people of Vieques. Solidarity forever. Paz para Vieques. Analibre
Vieques’ Activists Chain Themselves in Wall Street
PRESS RELEASE
For Release 12:25 a.m. EDT June 07, 2000
Act of Civil Disobedience at the Bull in Bowling Green, Manhattan, NY
(the Wall Street area)
In support and solidarity with all the people struggling for an end to the
United States military practices in the municipality of Vieques, Puerto Rico. US Navy Out of Vieques Now!
From: Welfare Poets & Sisters in the Struggle
Date: Wednesday, June 7, 2000
Time: 12:30 PM
Place: Famous Statue of the Bull in Bowling Green, Manhattan, NY
At noon today, a group of Puerto Rican artists from the Welfare Poets and
Sisters in the Struggle have joined in solidarity with the people of Vieques, Puerto Rico, in an act of civil disobedience at the famous statue of the Bull in Bowling Green, Manhattan, NY.
We are protesting 60 years of US Military maneuvers that have caused severe environmental pollution, economic underdevelopment, and even death among its population. We are protesting the fact that despite proof that there are still viequenses in civil disobedience within the bombing range, the Navy has bombed and plans to resume bombing. These military practices are in direct violation of the United Nations Charter of Human Rights, of which the US is a signatory. In addition, US citizens should be aware that their tax dollars are being spent to do military practices on an inhabited island, dropping upwards of 250 depleted uranium bombs per year.
Puerto Rico has been a military-industrial colonial complex of the United
States for over 100 years. We, as conscientious artists, stand in
solidarity with the courageous people of Vieques who have been suffering cancer, unemployment, and psychological torture for too long. We demand that there be “NO MORE BOMBS IN VIEQUES!” In relation to attempts by the US Government to consult with the people of Vieques, we affirm that human rights are not ever to be put to a vote by way of a so-called referendum.
We have chained ourselves to the Bull in an overt act to call the attention of the World community over the extreme plight of the people of Vieques. In this way, we hope to exacerbate perturbation in the hearts and consciences of the American public in regards to what already is for
almost 10,000 viequenses an intolerable situation. We intend to demonstrate that it is trough the funding and genocidal speculative finances of the Stock Exchange in Wall Street that the immense military bases in Puerto Rico are kept open. These bases include Roosevelt Roads, the US largest naval military facility in the Western Hemisphere.
We invite you to join this anti-war, anti-environmental destruction, and
pro-human rights struggle. US Navy Out of Vieques Now!
Sincerely,
Hector Luis Rivera, Welfare Poets // Stacey Toro, Sisters in the Struggle
// Mari Cruz Badia, Sisters in the Struggle