HOME
your socialist home on the internet
ABOUT US
who we are, our politics, and what we do
GET ACTIVE!
joining ysa, getting active locally, making a difference
NEWS & VIEWS
articles, fliers, statements and opinions
THEORY
what is socialism, reading lists and study guides
CONTACT US
our email, snail mail, phone number and club directory
LINKS
socialist, youth, activist, labor, feminist, anti-racist, and other important sites
WHAT'S NEW
listing of what's been recently added
bush forced to respond to vieques protesters
On June 14th, President Bush, responding to heighten protests, announced he
would order an end to the Navy’s bombing on the island of Vieques by May of
2003. The US Navy has used the island off the coast of the Puerto Rican
mainland as a training ground for amphibious assault exercises. The Navy
currently occupies 70% of the 33,000-acre island for its training exercises.
The Navy exercises have included the use of live ammunition and bombs.
Pro-Vieques supporters have denounced Bush’s plan, instead demanding that
the Navy suspend bombing immediately. “We don't want the bombing stopped in
2003 -- we want it stopped now”, said Robert Rabin, a leader of The
Committee for the Rescue & Development of Vieques. “The demands of the
community are immediate and permanent cessation of all military activity,
the removal of all military artifacts and equipment, and the decontamination
and return of all lands to the people of Vieques.”
The 9,300 residents of Vieques have endured harsh poverty and severe health
risks as a result of the bombing on the island. Over 70% of the island’s
population lives under the official poverty line. The island’s two major
industries, fishing and tourism, have suffered as a result of the bombing.
Fishermen are not allowed to fish during Navy exercises and constant bombing
has polluted the water around Vieques.
Vieques residents suffer from extreme health risks associated with the
pollution caused by the use of bombs in Naval exercises. After over a half
century of bombing the soil in Vieques is contaminated by cancer causing
chemicals, including depleted uranium. In 1998 alone, the Navy fired at
least 273 radioactive depleted uranium shells on the island bombing range.
In 1994 when the US Government was preparing for war in Yugoslavia the Navy
dropped 20,000 pound of napalm on the island. The Navy has admitted to
discharging environmental pollutants above legal levels including: arsenic
6.6%; lead, 105%; and cadmium, 240%. Vieques residents are 27% more likely
to develop cancer then other Puerto Ricans. Certain forms of cancer have
increased by 300% over the last twenty years. Vieques residents also have
higher rates of scleroderma, lupus, thyroid deficiencies, asthma, and high
blood pressure. Despite this, the Navy and the US Government continue to
deny any connection between the bombing and health risks.
The Navy has used the island as a bombing range for over six decades.
For years activists associated with the Puerto Rican independence movement
have called for an end to the bombing. The movement in solidarity with
Vieques broadened to all sectors of the Puerto Rican population in reaction
to the killing of David Sanes in April of 1999. Sanes, a resident of
Vieques, was killed when a Navy bomb was misfired and hit a security post.
Sanes’s death set off a series of mass demonstrations demanding an immediate
end to the bombing.
One day after Sanes’s death, protesters headed by the Puerto Rican
Independence Party entered the bombing range and set up camps forcing the
Navy to suspend bombing. Mass protests, including a rally of 85,000 in San
Juan, erupted across Puerto Rico and the United States. The protesters
managed to suspend the bombing for over a year. In May of 2000 Federal
agents forcibly removed and arrested over 200 protesters who refused to
leave the bombing range including Puerto Rican politicians, priests, nuns,
and activists. The Navy resumed bombing in June of 2000.
Protests continued, periodically disrupting bombing on the range. After
the Navy resumed bombing after a two month suspension in March and April of
2001 128 people were arrested including prominent politicians and activists
for trespassing on the Navy’s property. In late May 100,000 Cubans rallied
in solidarity with the people of Vieques in front of the US Interest Section
in Havana. The Cuban government also sponsored a UN resolution that passed
in the UN Committee on De-colonization calling on the US Government to stop
the bombing immediately.
In response to these protests, Bush made his announcement “promising” to
suspend the bombing in “a reasonable period of time.” Bush’s announcement
is identical to a deal brokered by President Clinton in the Spring of 2000
with the pro-Statehood Governor that would set a referendum on the island
with the option of allowing the Navy to remain on the island or to suspend
bombing for ever by the year 2003. The referendum would in fact have been
non-binding, as it was the result of a Presidential decree that could have
been rescinded in the future. Bush’s announcement differs little from
Clinton’s plan. Bush can take back his “promise” at any time.
Bush’s announcement is a concession to this powerful movement. US rulers
are concerned that the Vieques movement will spill over in to a broader
movement in favor of Puerto Rican independence. Although Bush’s plan does
not insure that the bombing will end, it should be seen as an indication of
the strength of the anti-Navy movement.
The movement has polarized Puerto Ricans, increasing consciousness of the
adverse effects of US imperialism. The Navy’s occupation of the island and
its arrogant disregard for the health of Vieques residents crudely display
the awful effects of US imperialism. The Navy occupation also has
imperialist consequences elsewhere, as the range is used to practice
imperialist war games. The Navy has used Vieques to train soldiers for
invasions of Chile, Cuba, Vietnam, Panama, Iraq, and Yugoslavia, among
others.
Activists plan to continue protesting until the Navy occupation ends once
and for all. Ismael Guadalupe, a leading Vieques protester, announced that
the presidential decision “in no way changes our plans in relation to the
current maneuvers. We will continue the protest, the international
denunciation and the civil disobedience actions in order to defend our
people against the dangers of bombing and other US Navy activities.”
In order to be victorious, the Vieques movement must continue to mobilize
people in Puerto Rico in the United States. Only a broad movement, based on
independent mass mobilizations, will force the Navy out of Vieques
permanently.
US NAVY OUT OF VIEQUES!
STOP THE BOMBING NOW!
