Solidarity with Vieques from Guam

Tue, 24 Oct 2000 14:39:31 EDT
This is a letter of solidarity from Guam.
Sent from: trinitt@netpci.com
2000

Mr. William Clinton, President of the United States of America,
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
FAX: 202-456-2461

ATTENTION:

Dear Mr. President:
SUBJECT: Request for U.S. Military presence to stop in Vieques
Hafa adai from Guam! Greetings!
As you know, the U.S. military is conducting military trainings with friendly countries in Vieques, Puerto Rico. They are using bombs in their training maneuvers. These bombs, live or not, when they shatter, they bring great destruction to marine life, big and small animals, fish, sharks, mollusks, and particularlythe corals. The fishermen also get hit with the shattering metalscoming down like little raindrops, but with more deadly force!
I was in Vieques in May 2000 for a conference in Puerto Rico, and I met and talked to the Vieques people and their leaders around Camp Garcia.
The original landowners of Vieques have suffered long enough without their lands, which they depend on for their survival. Where else will these Viequenses go? They are just simple folks who depend on the land for their living. Democracy leaves a lot of room for improvements, but people cannot bring about improvements in their lives, if they are oppressed and are constantly being suppressed from voicing their concerns. There are too many people in Vieques struggling and protesting against the U.S. Military presence on their lands that it is too obvious for one not to notice that something is drastically wrong!
Mr. President, compassion and sensitivity--and a lot of good sense--needs to come from our leader for these Vieques people. You ARE the leader of the most powerful country. Please listen to their voices and learn about their plight.
May God Bless you.

Si Yu'os maase, Trini Torres, a Chamorro Woman, Representing the Colonized Chamorro Coalition of Guam:
The Ritidian Families, The Organization of People for Indigenous Rights (OPI-R), Familian Felisa, and Chamorro Nation.
22 October, 2000
PRESS RELEASE

Hundreds of protesters take down Navy fence in Vieques

Hundreds of Viequenses tore down enormous sections fo the military fence in the area of gate to Camp Garcia, entrance to the bombing zone in Vieques, during a protest against the U.S. Navy presence on the Baby Island.
According to leaders of the community struggle, the Second Human Chain was organized to continue the process of taking down the fences that separate the people from their lands.
During the month of October, the Navy carried out the largest maneuvers since the death of David Sanes on April 19th, 1999. Tens of thousands of troops, a large number of warships from the U.S. and NATO countries, bombed intensely the Eastern part of the island last week. In the middle of the bombing practice, nine Viequenses entered the impact area and remained in the bombing zone for twenty four hours until being arrested.
The process of taking down the military fences has been continuous, with small brigades working in different areas of the base perimiter. Today´s protest, however, was the first organized action in which hundreds participated in the project of taking down the Navy´s fence, symbol of military control of the lands the people of Vieques want back.
Church leaders, merchants, fishermen, elderly people, children and representatives of the diverse groups that struggle for an end to the military presence on the island municipality all participated in the Human Chain.
Fri, 20 Oct 2000 14:32:27 EDT
Vieques Libre - http://www.viequeslibre.org

Call-in and Write for Peace in Vieques, Puerto Rico

More than 31,000 troops from the US Navy, and forces from NATO countries Canada, France, Denmark, Germany, and Great Britain, initiated bombing on Monday from land, sea and air in and around Vieques, Puerto Rico, as well as amphibious invasions by troops on the coasts of Vieques. Over 30 ships will participate in these exercises, which are to last until October 28.
After bombing in Puerto Rico, the ships are destined for the Persian Gulf. Early Tuesday morning Vieques activists went onto the bombing range and are remaining there as 'human shields' to prevent the Navy from bombing.
As of Wednesday October 18, the U.S. Navy continued to bomb from ship to shore, even as Viequenses who entered the bombing range still remained there.
Among those who entered the range Tuesday morning were a former mayor of Vieques; a Deacon of the Catholic Church in Vieques; a leader of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques; the owner of the principal supermarket in Vieques; a veteran and retired teacher; and a viequense whose wife, like so many other viequenses, died of cancer.
Please voice your support for peace and justice in Vieques, and your opposition to the military exercises, by contacting your Congressional Representatives, the White House, the consulates of the NATO countries, and news media. Please also forward this message to others.
When you contact your Congressional representative, urge her or him to sign a 'Dear Colleague' letter to President Clinton circulated by Reps.
Luis Guitierrez and Sam Farr in support of Vieques.
If you live in the New York metropolitan area, participate in the Vieques Alliance march and rally on Saturday, October 21, which will gather at noon at Columbus Circle, 59th St. and Central Park West. For information, contact the Vieques Alliance, 212-591-1103 or http://www.ViequesAlliance1021@hotmail.com
Please take time to communicate your opinion at this critical moment for Vieques. Contact: For the latest information on the bombing and on civil disobedience in Vieques, go to http://www.viequeslibre.org or contact the Fellowship of Reconciliation at 415-495-6334.
Draft findings of International Tribunal in Puerto Rico against the USA
November 21, 2000

INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL ON VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

THE PEOPLE OF PUERTO RICO vs. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

INDEX

I.PRECEDENTIAL BACKGROUND

In January of 1989, a special session of a Permanent People's Tribunal was convened in Barcelona, Spain to determine whether the U.S. government was in violation of human rights treaties and obligations under international law in relation to Puerto Rico and its people. After considering three days of testimony from experts, and reviewing numerous documents on varied aspects of the U.S.-Puerto Rico relations and their effect on the lives of the Puerto Rican people, the Tribunal-- found that the U.S. government was denying the People of Puerto Rico their most fundamental human right: the right to self-determination.
In arriving at this legal conclusion, our colleagues of the Barcelona Tribunal issued the following verdict. Based on the factual and legal foundations presented, the Permanent People's Tribunal DECLARES In returning their verdict, our predecessor Tribunal called upon the U.S. government to take the following steps to ensure the self-determination rights of the People of Puerto Rico:
To implement through all political, economic and administrative means available to them, the conditions that would make possible for the Puerto Rican People to exercise their self-determination right, and especially to:

II.FINDINGS

III.THE VIOLATIONS OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE OF VIEQUES


In 1941, 75% of the land in the island of Vieques "26,000 acres" was expropriated by the U.S. Navy for military maneuvers in the eastern part of the island and munitions depots in the western part.
The Vieques expropriations impacted most severely tenant farmers and poor people who, under coercive conditions, were paid $12 to $25 for their homes.
For years, the U.S. Navy conspired to force Viequenses off the remaining lands, in order to occupy the whole island for their war games. Viequenses, who numbered 20,000 to 25,000 inhabitants at the time of the expropriations, have been reduced to 9,300 inhabitants, with more than 15,000 people forced to migrate to the nearby islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix. Many others now live in the main island of Puerto Rico, or the United States.
As stressed by former Governor of Puerto Rico Luis MuF1oz MarEDn in a letter dated December 28, 1961, to President of the United States John F. Kennedy, in response to a U.S. plan to expropriate the remaining part of the island:
The project involves the destruction of a community, which is a political and juridical entity to which people have strong emotional attachments. The people of Vieques regard themselves as Puerto Ricans, but they also regard themselves as especially identifiable on the basis of residence in Vieques. Obviously, the political and human dismemberment, which the project involves, will be a fundamental shock. We know of no truly comparable action in American history. I believe that it is the kind of action which arouses instinctive disapproval.
After 1975, when the U.S. military stopped its maneuvers in the island municipality of Culebra, maneuvers in Vieques were intensified. The U.S. military and its NATO allies use the eastern part of Vieques, known as the Live Impact Area, and its adjacent waters for their military practices and weapons testings. Moreover, the U.S. has rented the firing range to the private sector and other countries for testing most conventional and non-conventional weapons. Such arrangements generate 80 million dollars annually for the U.S.
Extensive contamination of the land, waters and air of Vieques has resulted from the U.S. military practices and maneuvers, including a large submarine wasteland of ordnance, exploded and unexploded and ammunition depots in western Vieques, causing an ecological disaster.
Some areas have been bombed for so long and often that there is no soil there. What is left is the underlying rock, which is being broken down in to small pieces by the persistent bombing. Thus, unexploded bombs and shrapnel are buried deeper every time as they hit the loose rock. Some of the offshore keys have been bombed into disappearance, and the hillsides facing the Caribbean Sea are crumbling. This causes erosion and sedimentation of the seagrass beds and coral reefs, which facilitates the entry of toxic substances into the food chain.
After having denied for years that it was using depleted uranium in Vieques, the U.S. Navy was forced to admit the use of such toxic materials. In its letter, the Navy confirmed the use of depleted uranium in Vieques. Heavy metals, cyanide and explosives have been found in the Vieques soil.
Under natural conditions, heavy metals should not be present in these soils, yet, laboratory analyses indicated high concentrations of heavy metals; substances that could only be explained by human activities occurring in the area. The metals found include: arsenic (metalloid), barium, cadmium, cobalt, copper, chromium, lead, nickel, vanadium, and zinc, all of which are highly toxic and most carcinogenic. Many accumulate in the food chain and the fish, mollusks, birds and humans.
The spread of these toxic substances by the Navy explosions, including depleted uranium and other radioactive and chemical materials, have caused serious health problems including cancer, breathing and nervous system disorders to the Viequense population.
The People of Vieques have a substantially poorer health than the rest of the Puerto Ricans. In 1997, the mortality rate for the people of Vieques was 141% in relation to the rest of Puerto Rico. This rate has been steadily increasing.
It is indisputable that the right of the people of Vieques to life, to a wholesome environment and to health, as well as to economic, social and cultural development is threatened by the military presence and activities of the U.S. Navy.
The situation of the people of Vieques created by the U.S. Government and particularly, the U.S. Navy, is the result of the intention to destroy in whole or in part the inhabitants of this island, that have caused death, serious bodily and mental harm.
The Tribunal heard moving testimony from women who had suffered harassment, rape, abusive treatment and who lived in fear under conditions of great hardship for many years since the occupation of the Island by the U.S. Navy.

IV. VERDICT


The above findings of fact constitute multiple and gross violations of the human rights of the People of Puerto Rico and particularly the population of the Island of Vieques. See International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights, Articles 1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 17, 24, 26, 47; GA/ SPD/ 30, October 11, 1994, 1994, GA/ 8841, A/ AC.109/2039, August 21, 1995; G.A. Res. 2105 (XX), p. 12; G.A. Res. 2023 (XX); Teheran Proclamation, May 13, 1968; the Declaration of Algiers of Universal Rights of People; G.A. Res. 1803 (VIII); the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965), Preamble and Articles 1, 5, 6, 15; the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Articles 16, 13 y 14; the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Articles 2, 3, 5, 13, 22, 23, 25, 26 and 28; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
According to the evidence presented before this Tribunal through direct testimonies, expert witnesses, this Tribunal concludes that the United States has committed systematic violations of human rights regarding Puerto Rico's right to self-determination; has persecuted opponents to United States colonial policies; has increased militarization on the islands and, thereby, threatened peace in the region; has continued the economic exploitation; has forced the displacement of much of the population of Vieques; has caused the economic and political repression of Puerto Ricans in the diaspora; has caused a general degradation of the environment; has committed abuses against women and against the cultural rights of the population.
This Tribunal urges that the United States of America take the following steps without any further delay. Only in this manner will the People of Puerto Rico be in a situation to fully exercise their right to self-determination and freely pursue their economic social and cultural development.



November 21, 2000
San Juan, Puerto Rico
In Vieques and San Juan, Puerto Rico, November 21, 2000.
Dr. Dennis Brutus
President
Dr. Manuel Ramon Alarcon Caracuel
Vice-President
Attorney Aderito de Jesus Solares
Vice-President
Dr. Rainer Hulhe
Vice-President
Dr. Grahame Russell
Vice-President
The Most Rev. Walter F. Sullivan, Bishop
Vice-President
Dr. Antonia Pantoja
Vice-President
Chief's Designee F. Ryan Malonson
Vice-President





Clinton: Free PR political prisoners

INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL on VIOLATIONS of HUMAN RIGHTS in PUERTO RICO and VIEQUES by the UNITED STATES of AMERICA
November 20, 2000
Honorable Bill Clinton
President of the United States
The White House
1601 Pennsylvania Ave
Washington DC 20500


Dear Sir:
Greetings again from the island of Vieques [la Isla Nena], off the coast of Puerto Rico.
We have just completed the above-mentioned Tribunal. In due course, we will send you our findings and recommendations.
We write now to request that you complete what you correctly began with respect to the Puerto Rican political prisoners. Without getting into the details of the whole story, that we believe you know quite well, we ask that you give the appropriate orders to immediately release from prison: Carlos Albertos Torres, Oscar Lopez Rivera, Juan Segarra Palmer, Antonio Camacho Negron, Hayde Beltran Torres and Jose Solis Jorden.
We believe that you do know and agree with us that the sentences they were given were abusively long, relative to the crimes for which they were convicted. The time is long overdue that they should be unconditionally released.

Please act now.
Don't hesitate to contact us with any questions or comments you might have.

Thank-you.

Dr. Dennis Brutus, South Africa, President
Dr. Manuel Ramon Alarcon Caracuel, Spain
Dr. Rainer Huhle, Germany
Attorney Aderito de Jesus Soares, East Timor
Chief's Designee F. Ryan Malonson, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head/Aquinnah
Dra. Antonia Pantoja, Puerto Rico, Congressional Medal of Freedom 1996
Attorney Grahame Russelll, Canada
The Most Rev. Walter F. Sullivan, USA

Cc:
Hon. Hillary Rodman Clinton, Senator-elect New York
Hon. Luis Gutierrez, Congressman, Chicago
Hon. Jose Serrano, Congressman, New York
Hon. Nydia Velasquez, Congresswoman, New York

International Tribunal Condemns Navy Violations of Human Rights in Vieques

Mon, 4 Dec 2000 14:04:49 EST
(ENGLISH VERSION)
Robert Rabin, Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques

The Government of the United States of North America, and in particular, the US Navy, is guilty of violating the human rights of the people of Vieques, Puerto Rico, as a consequence of sixty years of Naval practice on this island municipality. That was the final verdict of a panel of judges that listened to several days of testimony during the International
Tribunal about Human Rights Violations in Puerto Rico and Vieques, held in the Count Mirasol Fort in Vieques from the 16th to the 20th of November.
The Committee for Human Rights in Puerto Rico, under the direction of Dr. Luis Nieves Falcón and the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques (CRDV) sponsored and organized the Tribunal. Nilda Medina, coordinator of the Vieques Peace and Justice Camp and member of the CRDV, mobilized a large group from the community to help with the great amount of work related to the Tribunal and to assure the success of this important project of solidarity with the Vieques struggle.
The Tribunal helped denounce internationally the violations of the most basic human rights, violations that result from the colonial situation of Puerto Rico, the repression against those who fight for Independence and the presence of the US Navy on Vieques. Holding the Tribunal in Vieques helped focus attention on the problem of militarization. The participation of judges from Asia, Africa, America and Europe contributed to the international dissemination of information about the Vieques case.
Dr. Denis Brutus, National Poet of South Africa and ex political prisoner with Nelson Mandela under the Apartheid regime, presided over the panel of judges that included distinguished defenders of human rights from Germany, East Timor, Canada, Spain, United States and Puerto Rico. Monsignor Walter F. Sullivan, Catholic Bishop of Richmond, Virginia and national president of Pax Christi in the US (pacifist organ of the Catholic Church) and Dr. Rainer Huhle, founding member of the Latin American Human Rights Documentation and Information Center and the Center for Human Rights of Nuremberg, Germany were also on the panel. The attorneys for the people included outstanding Puerto Rican lawyers, well known for their work in favor of self determination and for their solidarity work toward the demilitarization of Vieques. Lawyers Fermin Arraiza, Jr., JosEJuan Nazario and Pedro Varela, represented the interests of Puerto Rico and Vieques during the proceedings that included the participation of recognized political, religious, feminist and cultural leaders from all parts of the Puerto Rican archipelago and from the diaspora.
Several informal activities allowed the judges and other members of the Tribunal to converse with people from the community and learn about our music, culture and history. The first night in Vieques the judges and lawyers met with a large group of representatives from diverse sectors of the population to speak informally and dance to the music of the Ruben Bonano Trio. Saturday night, approximately fifty participants in the Tribunal joined hundreds of Viequenses in the vigil celebrated each Saturday night at the Peace and Justice Resistance Camp, in front of the gates to the bombing range at Camp Garcia. Sunday evening the judges and their advisors worked while other Tribunal participants shared with members of the community during a cultural presentation by the Vieques plena group, Vieques Libre (Free Vieques). During the weekend people visited the bioluminescent bay and places of archaeological and historic interest on Vieques
The first day of deliberations were dedicated to Self Determination, US Control Over the Local Economy, Militarization, Political Repression, Displacement of the Population, Protest and Cultural Expression. Among the participants were lawyers Juan Mari Bras and Noel Colón Martinez, Dr. Margarita Mergal, Fernando Martin in representation of Ruben Berrios, representatives of Bishop Juan Vera of the Methodist Church and Monsignor Corrada del Rio of the Catholic Church. Testimonies were also presented by high officials of the United Church of Christ of the US.
Several ex political prisoners of Puerto Rico participating in the Tribunal, stayed with Vieques families and had an opportunity to get first hand information about the difficulties caused by the military presence.
Presentations by sisters Lucy and Alicia Rodriguez and Elizam Escobar received great applause from the community. Ex political prisoners Dylcia Pagán, Carmen Valentú‹, Edwin Cortés, Luis Rosa, acted as observers during the Tribunal. Puerto Rican freedom figher and heroin, Lolita Lebron, received a standing ovation after presenting testimony on political repression in Puerto Rico throughout this century.
On Sunday, representatives of diverse sectors of Vieques community - women, fishermen, religious figures and activists - offered testimonies about the terrible consequences of the military presence. Mayor elect, Damaso Serrano, opened the session on Vieques with a fraternal greeting and a message of gratitude to the members of the Tribunal. Cristina Garay and Myriam SobE of the Methodist Church and the Vieques Women's Alliance, respectively, described the abuses committed by Navy personnel against Viequense women in the 1950's and 1960's. Carlos Zenon and his son Yabureibo, talked about the historic and heroic struggle of the fishermen while community organizer, Ismael Guadalupe (CRDV) touched the theme of military and police repression against the local struggle. Vieques fisherman, Carlos "Prieto" Ventura, brought evidence of the military destruction of the marine environment. Ex mayor, Radamés Tirado (PNP 1976-1980) described Navy intervention in the local political arena to promote candidates that favor the military presence on Vieques.
Environmental scientists, Jorge Fernandez Porto and Lirio Márques, described in detail the destruction and contamination with heavy metals, uranium and other harmful chemicals componentes as a result of more than half a century of bombing and other military activities on the Eastern part of Vieques. Dr. Rafael Rivera Castaño (CRDV) and Dr. Cruz Maria Nazario (School of Public Health-UPR) provided extensive evidence about the effects of military contamination on the health and well being of the Vieques population. Robert Rabin, (CRDV) Director of the Vieques Historic Archives, presented a brief testimony in which he accused the Navy of practicing cultural genocide through the destruction of archaeological resources and historical sites located inside the military area.
The judges verdict recognized "the inalienable right of the people of Vieques to life, a healthy environment, social and economic development, rights that have been consistently threatened by the presence and activities of the US Navy. This situation results from the attempt by the US Government and the US Navy to destroy the population of this island, partially or totally, a policy that has resulted in death and serious physical and mental damages."
The Tribunal urged the US Government to order the immediate and permanent cessation of all military activity on Vieques. The judges also recommended the decontamination of Vieques and a just indemnization for damages to the health of the people and the natural resources and to secure the economic recovery of the island.
The International Tribunal contributed to campaign of dissemination and denunciation aimed at discrediting US military policy in Vieques and in other parts of the world where their actions are in direct violation of basic human rights. During the past six months, the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques has sent community representatives to present the Vieques case in international forum in Spain, England, Korea, Japan, Mexico, Cuba and the United States.. For several years, the CRDV has coordinated visits by international delegations for demilitarization and decontamination, along with the Fellowship of Reconciliation (US) and the Caribbean Project for Peace and Justice (PR). The work of the International Tribunal about Human Rights Violations in Puerto Rico and Vieques will be a significant contribution to the struggle for peace on Vieques.
For more information from the CRDV Eincluding the final findings and other documents related to the International Tribunal Eplease contact us by email at bieke@coqui.net. We also suggest you visit the web site of the Committee at Redbetances.com or the web site, www.viequeslibre.org

'Indigo Girl' Emily Saliers and Lourdes Perez in Vieques Dec. 8

Mon, 4 Dec 2000 14:08:19 EST
Vieques Libre - http://www.viequeslibre.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE/PLEASE ANNOUNCE PLEASE FORWARD
Contact: Annette D'Armata, OCTAAV:
octaavmail@yahoo.com or 512-442-5986

SAN SEBASTIAN-BORN, TEXAS-BASED RECORDING ARTIST LOURDES PEREZ AND GRAMMY AWARD WINNER 'INDIGO GIRL' EMILY SALIERS ON HUMAN RIGHTS DELEGATIONS TO VIEQUES PUERTO RICO

AUSTIN, TEXAS - Puerto Rican vocalist/songwriter LOURDES PEREZ is heading up a second human rights delegation to Vieques, Puerto Rico - the epicenter of a massive campaign of peaceful civil disobedience to end U.S. Navy occupation.
This time Perez will be joined by Atlanta-based, Grammy award-winning vocalist/musician/songwriter EMILY SALIERS of the INDIGO GIRLS (U.S.).
From Hato Arriba, San Sebastian, Puerto Rico, Perez emigrated as an adult to the U.S. and began recording in Texas. After seven years of touring the U.S., Mexico and Canada, singing as guest artist of Mercedes Sosa and releasing 2 critically acclaimed CDs, Perez gave an emotional concert debut in her home country last December at Casa Aboy in San Juan. During that homecoming trip, Perez and her collaborator, Annette D'Armata, both longtime human rights activists, also visited the island of Vieques and camped in civil disobedience for 2 days in front of Camp Garcia. Perez made a commitment at that time to use her notoriety to inform people of human rights violations in Vieques and to return with other artists and reporters.
Last week (November 25 - 29), Perez made good on her promise, returning to Vieqeus with D'Armata and a group of five other Texas-based artists and reporters. Among the delegates were U.S. Vietnam veteran and member of Veterans for Peace ALAN POGUE, an internationally recognized photographer who for 30 years has photographed the effects of war and militarization; PHILIPPE VIEUX - U.S. born, Haitian jazz musician/composer who has toured with Eddie Palmieri and Tito Puente; and "El ChicanIndio" poet and Austin community leader RAUL R. SALINAS, who spent many years in federal prison with Puerto Rican nationalist, Rafael Cancel Miranda. The group gathered over 20 hours of audio and video testimony and gave a cash contribution to Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques. Completing the delegation were actress and videographer MICAELA DIAZ-SANCHEZ and writer/reporter CORRIE SUBLETT-BERRIOS.
This FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8TH, Perez will again be in Vieques, this time with 'Indigo Girl' EMILY SALIERS.
Over the course of the last ten years, the Indigo Girls have sold over seven million albums worldwide-including one double platinum disc, three platinum and four gold-and earned six Grammy nominations. But more impressive than the industry accolades and sales figures is that Saliers has used the group's popularity to garner attention and money for environmental, Native American and other human rights organizations throughout the U.S. The Indigo Girls have headlined the Honor the Earth tour for several years, often joined by Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez and others. Saliers' access to the Indigo Girls' large, English speaking audiences in the U.S. provides yet another boost for human rights activists in Vieques. Saliers and Perez have performed together English/Spanish collaborations in several U.S. cities.
This trip marks Saliers' first visit to Puerto Rico.
Info on Vieques and OCTAAV:
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/octaav
Info on Lourdes Perez: http://www.lourdesperez.com
Info on Emily Saliers: http://www.indigogirls.com

Vieques - the tiny island home of 10,000 people and a fragile ecosystem - the epicenter of a massive campaign of peaceful civil disobedience to end U.S. Navy occupation, bombing and weapons experimentation there. The U.S. colonized Puerto Rico in 1898 and appropriated 2/3 of the land of Vieques for use as a military base over 60 years ago. The death of civilian David Sanes Rodriguez in May 1999 by a stray bomb was the "last straw" in a long history of destruction and abuse, giving rise to an unprecedented unity among Puerto Ricans across the islands and abroad in their demand that Clinton issue an executive order removing the U.S. Navy from Vieques immediately.
Thousands of demands for the complete removal of the military from the devastated island have come in from the Dalai Lama, Jesse Jackson and Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu as well as medical, religious and veterans groups.

O C T A A V
Organization of Concerned Texas Artists & Activists for Vieques
tel: 512-442-5986; fax: 512-448-4100; octaavmail@yahoo.com
website: http://www.angelfire.com/journal/octaav
reference: http://www.viequeslibre.org

U.S. NAVY OUT OF VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO! NI UNA BOMBA MAS!

Military Contamination on the Island of Vieques and the People's Response

Tue, 5 Dec 2000 14:15:53 EST
ENGLISH VERSION
4 December, 2000

Dear Friends in Solidarity with the People of Vieques
Greetings from Vieques. Attached is the text of a conference titled, US Military Contamination on the Island of Vieques and the People's Response, presented at a forum held by the Military Toxics Project in San Diego, California this past November. It's a summary of the US Navy occupation of this island municipality of Puerto Rico since the 1940's, the ecological, economic and health disaster that results from Navy bombing and other activity here and the heroic struggle of the people of Vieques in defense of their dignity and right to live in peace. We urge you to share and use this document (for local newspapers, church and school groups, etc.) to help us spread the word about the struggle in Vieques.
We also need someone to translate this document to Spanish and other languages. Our committee is looking for help to translate many other documents from Spanish to English and vice versa. Please let us know if you can help.

¡FUERA LA MARINA DE VIEQUES!
NOTE from ViequesLibre: The text is located at:http://www.micronetix.net/virus/contamination.htm

Military Contamination on the Island of Vieques, Puerto Rico and the People's Response

Robert L. Rabin Siegal, Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques *

Good Evening. I thank the organizers of this event for the opportunity to share with you the experience of struggle on the Island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, beseiged by US Naval activities during the past six decades. I thank the people of Puerto Rico and, in particular, the people of the Island Municipality of Vieques, for allowing me to live and work with the community during these past twenty years and to participate in such an important struggle for peace and justice in such a special place.
I am here in representation of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, a grass roots community organization on Vieques that defends the basic demands of the people of this small Caribbean Island, demands known as the four D´s: demilitarization, decontamination, devolution (or return of the lands) and development.
I will share with you tonight some history of the US military presence and activities on Vieques, the environmental, health and socio/economico consequences of that presence and the historic and heroic struggle of a small community against the mightiest naval force in the history of the world.
Around 7:00 PM (EST) on April 19, 1999, a U.S. Navy pilot launched two five hundred pound live bombs from his FA-18 jet that missed their target at the bombing range in Vieques, Puerto Rico, destroying the Navy's observation post, killing David Sanes, a civilian security guard and injuring several others.
David Sanes' killing was the chronicle of a death foretold. For decades Viequenses have been clamoring for an end to the bombings and shelling on the Island and for an end to the military presence. This was not the first time that the Navy missed its target. Fishermen generally complain about the great number of unexploded bombs in the coastal waters of Vieques and the destruction caused to coral reefs and other elements of the marine environment from the bombing. In October of 1993, another FA-18 fighter jet missed its target by about ten miles, dropping five 500 hundred pound live bombs about a mile from the main town of Vieques.
Luckily, no one was killed in that incident. In November of 1994, during a two week exercise, a Navy air wing dropped 20thousand pounds of live explosives, including Napalm, on Vieques. In 1998, during maneuvers involving Navy and Puerto Rican National Guard troops, bullets broke windows in the Public School Buses parked at the Public Works area of the Municipal Government in the Santa Marú} sector. Several government employees in the area at the time had to take cover until the shooting stopped.
Vieques is an island municipality of Puerto Rico, six miles southeast of the main island. 72% of its population of approximately 9,000 live below the poverty level. The Municipal Government reports over 50% unemployment. Studies by the University of Puerto Rico School of Public Health indicate that Vieques suffers a 27% higher cancer case rate than the rest of Puerto Rico. The mortality rate for cancer on Vieques is 34% higher than in all of Puerto Rico.
The Puerto Rico Legislature ordered an epidemiological study to determine the causes of the higher cancer rate. People on Vieques, environmental and health experts throughout Puerto Rico, relate the abnormally high cancer rate to the environmental degradation caused by U.S. Navy and NATO bombing (the Navy "rents" Vieques to NATO and other countries for bombing practice) on this Island.
Since the 1940's, the U.S. Navy controls 3/4 of Vieques' 33,000 acres. The western end is used as an ammunition depot while the eastern third is a bombing and maneuver area. Military expropriations in the 40's caused a social and economic crisis that lasts to this day. The Navy controls the shortest connecting point between Vieques and the main island (the Puerto Rico Ports Authority must use an 18 nautical mile route instead of the six-mile route controlled by the military). The Navy controls the highest points on the island, the best aquifers and most fertile lands, extensive white sand beaches, and hundreds of archaeological sites.
Large-scale ecological destruction is the result of over half a century of bombing and experimentation with new weapons systems. In his study titled "Vieques: The Ecology of an Island Under Siege", Professor JosESeguinot Barbosa, Director of the Geography Department of the University of Puerto Rico in RúŒ Piedras, explains that "the eastern tip of the island constitutes a region with more craters per kilometer than the moon." Professor Seguinot Barbosa adds "the destruction of the natural and human resources of Vieques violates the basic norms of international law and human rights. At the state and federal level the laws pertaining to the coastal zone, water and noise quality, underwater resources, archaeological resources and land use, among others, are violated."
Chemical engineer Rafael Cruz Pérez, in an article titled "Contamination Produced by Explosives and Residuals of Explosives in Vieques, Puerto Rico" (published in Dimensión, Magazine of the Association of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico, Year 2, Vol. 8, Jan. 1988) points out that " . . .chemicals from the bombing (TNT, NO3, NO2, RDX and Tetryl) are transported by diverse mechanisms toward the civilian area. . .We find that the effective concentration of particles of contaminants over the civilian area of Vieques exceeds 197 micrograms per cubic meter and therefore exceeds the legal federal criteria for clean air." Studies done recently in the bombing area by leading Puerto Rican environmental scientists Dr. NeftalEGarcú} and Jorge Fernández, indicate dangerously high levels of heavy metals and other toxic chemical components related to military activities in the soil and water. The EPA and the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board previously announced their intent to deny the Navy permission to cont
inue bombing activity that results in discharges into bodies of water. However, with the signing of the Presidential Directives, these agencies have abandoned their responsabilities to the environment and the people of Vieques to allow the Navy to continue with its destructive activities here.
The Navy stated in May of 1999 Eafter a Freedom of Information Act Request by the Military Toxics Project helped obtain the information - that 263 Depleted Uranium projectiles were "accidently" fired from a Harrier Jet into the impact area at Vieques during training for the war in Yugoslavia in February of that year. Documents from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission indicate that only 56 DU rounds were retrieved and because of the danger of unexploded conventional ordnance in the area, the search for the rest of the DU was postponed until August of 1999. The Navy has still not publicly stated the status of their "cleanup". Depleted Uranium poses a serious threat to the health of the people of Vieques who suffer an already alarmingly high cancer case rate. We believe the Navy has been using Vieques for practice and experimentation with DU weapons possibly for decades.
Scientific studies carried out over the past two years identified high concentrations of arsenic, barium, cadmium, zinc, cobalt, copper, tin, mercury and silver and lead. Aluminum, chromium, iron, manganese, nickel, and vanadium concentrations were found in some areas. High concentrations of nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, hydrocarbons typical of diesel fuel, and phosphates, that are formed from bomb explosions or are present in other war artifacts, were also found. The metals found in high concentrations are present in explosives, propellants, paints, conventional and uranium bullets, napalm, chaff, flares and other paraphernalia used by the Navy in Vieques.
Metals have been found in plants, violinist crabs, fish, mussels, Thalassia and sea grass beds, and humans in Vieques, which confirm the expected processes of biomagnification. High concnetrations of mercury and lead have been found in hair samples of civilians in Vieques subcontracted by US companies like Raytheon and General Electric to work in the impact areas.
High contentrations of aluminum, antimony, arsenic, bismuth and lead have been found in hair samples of a large number of civilians in Vieques that do not work in impact areas. Other metals found in above normal levels are boron, cadmium, tin, manganese, mercury, silver and vanadium. Uranium in above normal concentrations has been found in stool samples of civilians.
Fishermen have for decades struggled to get the Navy to stop bombing and leave the island. Giant military ships destroy fish traps and bombing and other maneuvers impose severe restrictions on fishermen's entry into some of the best fishing areas around the island. On numerous occasions fishing boats have been damaged by naval gunfire and fishermen have been severely hurt by bombs exploding close to their fishing activities.
After the April 19th killing of David Sanes, groups of Viequenses and supporters from the main island of Puerto Rico occupied several areas inside the bombing zone to block the possibility of renewed bombing and-or maneuvers. Close to the site where Sanes was killed, a giant cross was placed by members of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques (CPRDV), fishermen and others on 22 April. Until the arrests of May 4, 2000,, a group of young Viequense men and women together with university students from Puerto Rico, maintained a permanent vigil at the site of the cross. The area has been renamed Moount David.
The Puerto Rico Independence Party (PIP) set up a protest camp about a mile from Mt. David, also in the bombing range on the 8th of May. On the North coast of Vieques (both Mt. David and the PIP camp were on the South coast of the island) a group of fishermen and other residents of Vieques occupied the Yayi Key while a group of Vieques teachers, with support from the CPRDV and the Congreso Nacional Hostosiano (a coalition of PR Independence groups) held a position directly across from the Yayi Key. All of the protest camps were within Navy restricted zone. Labor groups, the Catholic Church and Protestant denominations, and university students set up other camps.
In front of the entrance to the bombing range at Camp Garcú}, another camp was set up on December 3rd, to block all military vehicles and personnel from entering or leaving the base. This was a project of a coordinating committee made up of church groups, political organizations, the Vieques Womens Alliance, a youth group and the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques.
On 25 June, 1999, a Special Commission on Vieques appointed by the Governor with members from the three major political parties, the churches, Vieques fisherman and the Mayor of Vieques submitted its report in which it supported the position of the community Etotal demilitarization, decontamination, devolution (return of all lands to the people) and development. The Governor of Puerto Rico established Public Policy demanding the immediate and permanent cessation of all military activity on Vieques.
Representatives of the CPRDV successfully lobbied to have a clear statement on Vieques included in the final resolution of the UN Committee on Decolonization in July. On behalf of the Vieques committee, a protest was formally introduced to the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the UN at Geneva and a complaint filed with the Organization of American States, citing Navy abuses and violations. On the main island, a national coordinating committee - "Todo Puerto Rico con Vieques" (All Puerto Rico with Vieques), rallied fifty thousand people for a demonstration at the entrance to Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in the town of Ceiba on the 4th of July of 1999.
A Presidential Panel Etwo of the three members from the Department of Defense - appointed to investigate the military presence on Vieques recommended the continuation of bombing for a five year period while the Navy searches for alternatives. This recommendation was universally rejected by all sectors of Puerto Rican society.
In January of this year (2000), the Governor of Puerto Rico made an abrupt turn and signed an agreement with President Clinton authorizing the continuation of bombing for at least three more years. The Presidential Directives, signed by Clinton and Puerto Rican Governor Pedro RosellEon January 31, without the slightest participation of the people of Vieques, gave the green light to the Navy to remove protesters from the civil disobedience camps inside the bombing area and reinitiate bombing shortly thereafter.
The Directives suggested the clean up and return of the eight thousand acres on the Western end of the island and the fifteen thousand acres on the East to the people of Vieques. However, Congress recently passed the Military Appropriations Bill that stipulates only 4 thousand of the 23thousand acres controlled by the Navy will be returned to the people of Vieques. Without community participation in the process, the Navy and the Puerto Rican government work to return lands before carrying out environmental cleanup. The agreement between the Governnor of Puerto Rico and President Clinton was recently changed and approved by Congress, openning the door for renewed use of live weapons, and does not include language about the cleanup of the impact area nor does it discuss the return to the people of Vieques of any of the land on the Eastern third of the Island. It also leaves the Navy´s giant ROTHR Radar functioning with its electromagnetic contamination and the Navy in control of the hightest point on Vieques, Monte Pirata, where it will continue to operate an observation post and communications center.
In Febrary of this year, over one hundred and fifty thousand people marched in San Juan against the Presidential Directives. The march Econsidered by many to have been the largest ever Ewas convoked by Puerto Rico´s most influential religious leaders in support of the position of our community: not one more bomb, not one more minute.
On 4 May of this year, over a thousand Marines and hundreds of federal officials EFBI, customs officials, US Marshalls, among others Earrested over two hundred people in the bombing area, including priests, nuns, pastors and ministers, fishermen, housewives, students, workers, union leaders, grandmothers and great grandmothers. Shortly afterwards, the Navy resumed bombing, with non-explosive projectiles, they say, and only for 90 days a year, according to the Presidential Directives.
Since the May 4 arrests, close to a thousand people have been arrested during a series of civil disobedience actions inside the bombing area and in other parts of the Navy´s restricted zones on Vieques. In small, medium and large groups, by water in fishing boats and by land through the Navy´s perimiter fence, hundreds of Viequenses and Puerto Ricans from the main island have entered the restricted zone to protest and disrupt the continuation of bombing and press for demilitarization.
On 13 May, 54 people entered the restricted area of Camp Garcú} and were arrested. A group of Viequense women directed a team of fifteen people who got through Navy security, made it out to the bombing area on the 1st of June and before being arrested, carried out a ceremony in memory of women who have died from cancer on Vieques. Other groups of women, Viequense university students, labor and religious leaders, a group of Puerto Rican physicians and a group called Artists for Peace on Vieques are among the hundreds who have been arrested over the past six months for participating in civil disobedience actions here.
In June of this year, the Puerto Rican Independence party organized its members for a large scale civil disobedience action aimed at disrupting Navy maneuvers. The President of the Party, Puerto Rican Senator Rubén BerrúŒs, other legislators, mayoral candidates and assemblymen and women from all parts of Puerto Rico participated in the actions led by the PIP. Over one hundred members of the PIP were arrested and many spent over a month in the Federal Prision in San Juan.
During that same period, Vieques fishermen outmaneuverd Navy patrol boats and after leaving several civil disobedients in the bombing area, led the high speed, high tech Navy vessels through shallow waters where they stayed caught up on the coral reefs. The fishermen returned safely to the civilian area.
On the first of October, a coalition of organizations in Vieques and on the main island of Puerto Rico, carried out a march in support of civil disobedience. While approximately five thousand people marched in the Esperanza sector, 70 people entered the restricted area on the Western end of Vieques. Hundreds of people travelled to Vieques that day in private yaughts and fishing boats to participate in the demonstration.
The following Sunday, hundreds of Viequenses blocked the entrance to the Navy´s Camp Garcú} with their cars during a two hour demonstration. On the 22nd of October, hundreds of people from our community tore down large sections of the Navy´s perimeter fence close to the entrance to the bombing area. When Navy security forces approached the protesters from inside the base, they were "attacked" with paint filled balloons and lots of whistle blowing.
This past October 17th, nine people from Vieques entered the bombing zone during large scale NATO maneuvers. Although the Navy was informed of the presence of the group, they nevertheless continued to bomb from ships and jets. Three Viequense veterans, part of the civil disobedience team, were caught in the firing when they tried to get to the observation post after the oldest member of the group E70 year old Korean war veteran, Angel Navarro Esuffered a diabetic shock. Bombs fell within feet of the group as they tried to get Navarro medical attention.
At the same time and close by in the bombing zone, six other Viequenses Eincluding the Deacon of the Catholic Church, Justino López; the ex Mayor of Vieques, Radamés Tirado; retired Viequense teacher and veteran Angel Guadalupe; JosESilva, whose wife died of cancer shortly before the killing of David Sanes; Cedric Morales, leading member of the Vieques Chamber of Commerce; and myself - waited out the bombing from 8:00AM until 11:00 PM, moving from one place to another to stay clear of Naval gunfire. After crossing the entire bombing zone on the second day between 4:00 and 6:00 AM, we were arrested close to the observation post
Every Saturday night for the past year and a half, the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques holds a vigil at the Peace and Justice Camp in front of the entrance to the bombing zone. Last Saturday around 200 people participated and around thirty people spent the night to provide security due to rumors of a possible FBI/PR police intervention against the Camp.
There have been protests and civil disobedience actions for Vieques throughout the US, and in Vieques we are greatly appreciative of all the solidarity activity organized by the Puerto Rican communities and others here. This past Sunday, activitists from Puerto Rico and New York placed a Vieques flag, a Puerto Rican flag and sign for peace in Vieques on the Statue of Liberty, before being arrested.
Members of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques have travelled recently to Korea, Okinawa, England, Mexico and the US to help raise consciousness about the US Navy presence on the island and to learn from other communities that face environmental degradation and repression at the hands of the US military. We maintain contacts with people struggling in Hawaii, the Phillipines and PanamEand have received activits in Vieques from many of these countries during this past year of intense struggle.
From 16 to 20 November, we will celebrate in Vieques an International Tribunal on Human Rights Violations in Puerto Rico and Vieques, with the participation of judges and observers from across the globe.
We now prepare for our - and their Enext maneuvers.
A short note about the development of a Free Vieques.
The CPRDV, together with the Vieques Women´s Alliance, the Vieques Conservation Trust and other community leaders, has begun to articulate a vision for future social and economic development of a Vieques freed from the Navy. For several years the CPRDV worked on the development issue with the UN based Economist Allied for Arms Reduction and Columbia University´s Urban Technical Assistance Program. In July of 1999, a group of highly respected Puerto Rican professionals organized, at the request of the CPRDV, a Multidisciplinary Technical Team in Support of Vieques.
The local grassroots organizations recommend the creation of a community land trust to keep and maintain the lands rescued from the Navy in the hands of the people of Vieques. We also recommend the establishment of a continuing education and training program in order to adequately empower the community of Vieques to fully participate in the development process.
The decontamination of Vieques is crucial to ensure the healthy social and economic development of the island. Our community will continue to struggle for an end to militarization, for the environmental restoration and devolution of the lands that belong, by natural right, to the people of Vieques.
The people of Vieques need your support in this historic moment. We ask organizations and individuals to show solidarity by bringing up the issue of Vieques at the workplace, in schools, at community and religious meetings. The struggle for peace in Vieques, is a struggle for people everywhere who believe that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is worth fighting for, even against the most powerful military forces of our times.
Thank you.

*(Founded in 1993, the CPRDV is a grassroots organization dedicated to ending the US military presence on Vieques and promoting the sustainable development of the island. Donations for this struggle can be sent to the CPRDV, Box 1424, Vieques, PR 00765. For more info. bieke@coqui.net)
Saturday, January 13, 2001

Women for Peace and Justice for Vieques block Recruiting Station

Manhattan, NY - Today, at 2:15pm Six women blocked the access to the U.S. Armed Forces Recruiting Station located at the heart of Time Square, 43rd and Broadway, demanding The President of the United States to use his executive power to call for the withdrawal of the military presence in Vieques.Shouting "U.S. Navy Out of Vieques,"the activist women blocked the entrance for half-hour until the NYPD arrested the 6 of them. They were taken to a Midtown S. Police Station located in 35th St. between 8th & 9th Aves.
To Those in NYC: Support the arrested sisters, support Vieques come to 35th St. between 8th & 9th Aves!

Press Release:

Women for Peace and Justice for Vieques, Puerto Rico Mujeres por Paz y Justicia para Vieques, Puerto Rico

Date:Saturday, January 13, 2001
Time:1:30 pm sharp
Place:47th Street and 7th Avenue
Once more, in an act of civil disobedience, we continue our struggle for peace and justice for Vieques, Puerto Rico. We demand the ceasing of all bombardments, military exercises and the immediate withdrawal of the U.S. Navy from the island–municipality of Vieques.
We demand the President of the United States to use his executive power to call for the withdrawal of the military presence in Vieques. We unite our voices with the women, children and men of Vieques to demand the demilitarization, decontamination, development and devolution of lands of Vieques. As our sisters and brothers are doing in Vieques, with this act we render homage to Martin Luther King Jr., defender and leader of civil rights and master of civil disobedience.
Today we denounce 60 years of genocide in the form of military occupation, maintaining the island in a state of war, contamination and environmental racism which has resulted in the high incidence of diseases such as cancer, asthma, uranium, mercury, cadmium poisoning as well as other toxic chemicals. This crime against humanity is a clear example of US colonialism in Puerto Rico.
US Navy Out of Vieques!!!

Puerto Rico Mayors Appeal to Clinton in Person Over Vieques

The following letter by the Honorable William Miranda Marin, President of the Mayors Association of Puerto Rico, was hand delivered to President Clinton at the White House this afternoon by the following mayors: the Hon. Marcos Irizarry, Mayor of Lajas; the Hon. Walter Torres, Alcalde de Peñuelas; the Hon. Isidro Negrón, Mayor of San Germán; the Hon. Martú‹ Vargas, Mayor of Guánica; the Hon. Rolando Ortiz, Mayor of Cayey; and Angel Castillo, Executive Director of the Mayors Association of Puerto Rico.
The Mayor of Vieques, the Hon. Dámaso Serrano, also recently sent a letter to President Clinton stressing the same demand, as did Governor Sila Calderón, President of the Popular Democratic (Commonwealth) Party, Senator Norma Burgos, President of the New Progressive (Statehood) Party, and Rubén BerrúŒs Martú‹ez, President of the Puerto Rican Independence Party.

MAYORS ASSOCIATION OF PUERTO RICO
P.O. Box 9066565
San Juan, Puerto Rico
January 15, 2001

Hon. William J. Clinton
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
Hand Delivered

Dear President Clinton:

I am William Miranda Marú‹, Mayor of the Municipality of Caguas, Puerto Rico and the President of the Mayors Association of Puerto Rico. Our Association comprises 45 municipalities in the island and represents over 50% of our population. I am also a former Chairman of the Puerto Rico Chapter of the National Democratic Party.
As you have but a few days left in the White House, I am writing to stress the critical importance and urgency of your issuing an Executive Order ordering the immediate and permanent cease and desist of all military activities in the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico.
It is plain to see that the success of the struggle of the people of Puerto Rico to have the U.S. Navy stop bombing and finally leave Vieques will be almost insurmountable, unless you issue that Executive Order now. If you fail to do so, the Navy will continue indefinitely to claim that there is no alternative site to Vieques, and its 10,000 U.S. citizens. That would be a gross injustice to our people, especially to the human rights of the children of Vieques, that we trust you will not allow. You have only a few days to address this critical human rights situation.
I urge you to bring peace to Vieques now, through an Executive Order, ordering the immediate and permanent cease and desist of all military activities in the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. If you do so, our people and the world will remember you, forever and ever, as the U.S.A. President that brought peace for the children of Vieques, after almost sixty years of war.

Sincerely,

(signed)
William Miranda Marú‹,
President

Calderon To Press Clinton on Vieques

Monday January 15 2:22 AM ET

By MARCELO BALLVE, Associated Press Writer

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Puerto Rico's new governor plans to pressure President Clinton to halt Navy exercises on Vieques island before he leaves office on Jan. 20.
Gov. Sila Calderon will cite a new study, requested by the Puerto Rican government, that shows a high rate of a heart-damaging disease among a sample of the island's 9,400 people, said her press secretary, Cecil Blondet.
All but one of 50 people on Vieques examined by doctors showed abnormal thickness in a heart membrane, Blondet said Sunday. A control group of the same number examined in another part of Puerto Rico showed no evidence of the disorder.
The disease can be caused by noise and vibrations associated with jets and bomb explosions, Blondet said.
Navy spokesman Jeff Gordon said he had not seen the study but was familiar with similar research that drew a link between sonic booms from Navy training and medical problems on the island. He said the studies were part of a ``disinformation campaign.''
``We have seen a barrage of intellectually dishonest studies recently,''Gordon said. ``None of them have been able to survive scientific peer reviews, or hold up in court.''
Calderon already has angered federal officials with plans to offer a local referendum that includes the choice of the Navy leaving Vieques immediately.
Her appeal to Clinton comes as the president works franticly in his final days, making changes by executive order. For example, he banned road building and most logging in nearly a third of the federal forest land in 38 states.
President-elect George W. Bush has said he will stand by an agreement that would let residents decide in a Nov. 6 referendum whether the Navy should leave Vieques. The pact, reached after months of negotiations, would delay any Navy withdrawal until May 2003.
Vieques residents live between an eastern Navy training ground and a weapons depot. Decades of resentment over the Navy's presence boiled over in April 1999, when a Navy jet dropped a bomb off target and killed a civilian security guard on the bomb range.
The Navy has since stopped using live bombs. But if islanders vote in the referendum to allow the military to stay, the Navy can resume using live ammunition.
The Navy says Vieques is a vital training ground for its Atlantic Fleet because it provides the opportunity for simultaneous bombing, shelling and beach assaults.

Puerto Rico Presses Case to End Vieques Bombing

Puerto Rican Governor Sila Maria Calderon wants the U.S. Navy training center on the island of Vieques removed. (AP)
By John Marino
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, January 20, 2001; Page A02

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Surrounded by religious and political leaders, Gov. Sila Maria Calderon knelt in prayer Thursday in front of the island's Capitol and called on her God to "give us the light and understanding to see and choose the correct path to achieve the longed-for peace in Vieques."
Dozens of community leaders joined Calderon, while thousands of other Puerto Ricans observed a silent prayer. "The National Prayer for Peace in Vieques" is the latest in a series of actions meant to pressure the U.S. government to order the Navy off its controversial training ground on the offshore island of Vieques before President Clinton leaves office today.
Calderon, armed with preliminary results of a study showing that Navy training could be harming the hearts and other internal organs of Vieques's 9,600 residents, has drawn reaction from President Clinton.
The president hasn't ordered a cessation of activities on Vieques, but the White House has ordered the Health and Human Services Department to analyze the study and deliver a preliminary report on its findings to the White House and the secretaries of Navy and defense by the end of February. The Navy also said it is taking the study "very seriously and will give such reports due attention," said spokesman Lt. Jeff Gordon.
On Friday, Clinton ordered the secretary of defense to find an alternative training site. In a memo, Clinton said that voters in Puerto Rico are likely to reject the referendum that would allow the Navy to use live munitions on Vieques and asked for a report by March 9 on all the training that the Atlantic Fleet will need through May 1, 2003.
Calderon said she was pleased with the White House order, saying it shows "the seriousness of the situation and the importance of clarifying it as soon as possible."
With the commonwealth Health Department reporting a 26.6 percent higher cancer rate through the 1990s on Vieques than on the main island of Puerto Rico, there have long been suspicions that Navy training has been harming the health of Vieques's residents. A number of studies have been undertaken since the April 19, 1999, death of David Sanes Rodriguez in a botched Navy training mission sparked a call for the Navy to end the training it has conducted there for 60 years.
Most studies, however, have focused on whether the contamination is affecting the local environment and the civilian population, which is sandwiched between a Navy bombing range on the island's east end and a Navy munitions storage facility on the west.
A study released Jan. 10, undertaken by researchers at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Campus, says that vegetation and crops in Vieques civilian areas 10 miles from the bombing range showed signs of heavy contamination by metals including lead, cadmium, magnesium and copper.
The study released by Calderon, who was sworn in Jan. 2, focuses on the effects of exposure to shock waves from sonic booms created by Navy ship-to-shore shelling.
Undertaken by local heart specialists Roberto Torres Aguiar, Carlos Rios and Guillermo Tirado, the study indicates that Vieques residents could be suffering from "vibroacoustic disease," a newly discovered ailment caused by exposure to low-frequency noise.
The study showed that among the 50 Vieques fishermen and their families who were examined, 49 showed a thickening of tissues in the pericardium, the heart's outer lining, while 39 showed other heart abnormalities. All had been bathing or swimming in the water during ship-to-shore shelling.
The study compared the findings to a control group of 50 fishermen and their families in Ponce, on Puerto Rico's southern coast. They showed 25 with heart concerns, about normal for the group of that size and age. Only one of the Ponce children showed any sign of heart abnormalities.
The noise-associated disease is believed to impact internal organs, such as the lungs and intestines, as well as the nervous and immune systems.
The study's authors cautioned that this was a "pilot" study, and that several other tests would be required.
The island's first female governor is perhaps best known for her tough stand on the bombing range run by the Navy, and the Vieques issue is likely to dominate San Juan-Washington dealings during her first months in power.
Calderon has clashed with Navy Secretary Richard Danzig, who called on her to commit to an accord on the Navy's future on Vieques brokered by the White House and her predecessor, Pedro Rossello. She has refused.
The accord allows the Navy to train with dummy ordnance, and it establishes a referendum in which residents will vote whether they want the Navy to leave by May 1, 2003, or remain indefinitely for an additional $50 million in economic aid.
Caderon made campaign pledges that Navy officials say break the accord. When Calderon refused to publicly support the accord last month, Danzig said the Navy would hold off on a pledge to transfer its western Vieques land holdings by Dec. 31 and to begin spending $40 million in economic development projects on the island.
On her first day on the job, Calderon said she would remove the Puerto Rico Police Riot Squad guarding the gate to the base, forces that have kept demonstrators from disrupting military activities. But she said she will replace riot officers with a contingent of regular police.
One campaign pledge that undoubtedly would break the accord is enactment of tougher noise regulations to ban Navy ship-to-shore shelling off Vieques, which Calderon said she would do within her first 100 days in office.
She cited as justification the health concerns revealed in the new study. But there is also strategic value in attempting to ban ship-to-shore shelling, since Navy officials argue that Vieques's value is that it is the only place its Atlantic Fleet can have a full range of training.
"The legislation is ready, ready, ready," Calderon said, but she declined to say when -- or if -- she would file it.


c 2001 The Washington Post Company

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