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NEW YORK--Carrying placards that read "U.S. Navy Out of Vieques" and "Stop Bombing Vieques," interspersed with Puerto Rican flags, around 90 people picketed New York's Office of Federal Affairs in Puerto Rico on April 1. The protest coincided with the resumption of U.S. naval exercises on the Puerto Rican island. On Vieques itself, Navy police handcuffed and detained five protesters.
The Navy claims ownership of two-thirds of the island and has used it as a practice range for more than 50 years. Protests erupted three years ago when a Vieques resident was killed by a bomb. Faced with growing opposition, Washington agreed to evacuate by May 2003, and to halve the number of days spent exercising.
That deal "may be jeopardized by a post-September 11 law requiring the Navy to use Vieques until it finds a suitable replacement," reported the New York Times, adding that "the Navy says there is no other place where it can do what it does on Vieques. Here, simultaneously, planes drop bombs, ships lob shells at the shore and marines practice amphibious landings." Left unmentioned was the special advantage Vieques offers Washington as part of its colonial possession of Puerto Rico.
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