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  1. Flares Fired At Navy Helicopter
  2. Little Time To Repeal Referendum
  3. Calderon Says Navy Should Leave Vieques
  4. Bush Wants To Cancel Referendum
  5. PIP Holds Calderon Responsible For Navy's Advancement
  6. PIP Criticizes Governor For Her Stance On Vieques(2001/10/11)
  7. Calderon: `Unreal' To Request Cease Of Bombings In Vieques(2001/10/10)
  8. Justice Department To Appeal Vieques Federal Referendum Ruling(2001/10/07)
  9. Vieques Prepares Protests For Next Round Of Navy Exercises(2001/10/04)
  10. Calderon Denies Allegations That She Threatened Vieques Leaders(2001/10/11)
  11. 'Lies, Lies, Lies': Calderon And Vieques(2001/10/05)
  12. Terror Attack Leaves Lawmaker Torn On Vieques Issue(2001/10/04)
  13. Congress Postpones Vieques Issue(2001/10/18)
  14. Referendum Decision Reversed(2001/10/17)
  15. Terrorist Attacks Delay Status Discussion(2001/10/17)
  16. Governor Disagrees On Inability To Hold Referendum(2001/10/16)
  17. U.S. Navy Pushes Back Vieques Vote Until Jan. 25(2001/10/26)
  18. Referendum Day May Come Without Congress Decision(2001/10/22)
  19. LULAC Asks For Truce To Demands To Oust Navy(2001/10/21)
  20. Serrano Calls Navy Bombings On Vieques Terrorism(2001/10/21)

Flares Fired at US Navy Helicopter

October 4, 2001
Copyright c 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

VIEQUES, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Protesters on two small boats fired flares at a Navy helicopter during training exercises off the Puerto Rican island of Vieques Thursday, the Navy said.
Two flares were fired at the SH-3 Sea King helicopter as it chased the boats in a restricted area off the island, said Lt. Cmdr. Katherine Goode, a Navy spokeswoman.
The flares missed, and no one was hurt. There were no arrests, Goode said.
Current exercises began Sept. 24 and some protest groups have stayed away since the Sept. 11 terror attacks on New York and the Pentagon.
Activist Aleida Encarnacion said, however, the two boats involved in Thursday's activities carried at least six protesters. She said her husband, anti-Navy activist Carlos Zenon, directed the protest action.
Meanwhile, about 200 Vieques residents marched to demand the Navy's withdrawal from Vieques as part of a one-day strike, disrupting some businesses, government officies and schools.

Congress Has Little Time To Repeal Federal Referendum

October 4, 2001
Copyright c 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

SAN JUAN (AP) - The conference committee of the U.S. Congress in charge of deciding whether to keep the directive to hold a federal referendum on the future of the military practices in Vieques is faced with a true run against time, since there isn't much left before the referendum takes place Nov. 6, according to published reports.
Legal advisors of the Armed Forces Committee in Congress admitted the possibility of not being able to reach a consensus on the bill that authorizes the defense budget, in which the Vieques debate was included, before Nov. 6.
"We don't have much time," said Mike McCord, Democratic advisor for the U.S. Senate Military Preparation Subcommittee, whose members are in charge of the Vieques issue in the conference at the House of Representatives.
McCord said the traditional conference to work on a bill of allocations for the Department of Defense may last a month, and the bill would then have to be converted into law by President George W. Bush.

Governor: Navy Should Leave Vieques

October 2, 2001
Copyright c 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Puerto Rico 's governor insisted Tuesday that the Navy must stop training on its Puerto Rican bombing range no later than 2003, despite a pending House bill that would allow the Navy to stay longer.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to Washington, Gov. Sila Calderon said she supports President Bush's decision to quash a November referendum that would ask residents of Vieques island whether the Navy should stay or go.
She also urged that a firm date be set for the Navy's withdrawal. Bush said before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that the training would stop by May 2003.
A House defense bill approved last week, however, would let the Navy stay until a comparable site is found. The House and Senate are to work out a compromise law soon.
Calderon said she sees "a real threat" by some in Congress to let the Navy and Marines use Vieques indefinitely. "This is the real danger that is hanging over Vieques , and for us it's unacceptable," she said.
Calderon said all parties recognize the situation has changed for Puerto Rico , a U.S. commonwealth, after last month's terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
"Our position has to be based on a dramatically different reality, which is the national unity against terrorism," she said.
In a nonbinding referendum in July, 68 percent of Vieques voters said the Navy should leave immediately.

Bush Wants To Cancel Referendum

October 1, 2001
Copyright c 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

WASHINGTON (AP)--As the nation gears up for war, military training on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques remains a concern for the Bush administration, which dislikes what both the House and Senate are trying to do about it.
The administration is insisting on canceling a planned November referendum of Vieques citizens on whether the military can continue to train there past 2003, and it wants the freedom to set the standards for alternative training sites.
President George W. Bush on June 14 ordered the Navy to pull out by May 1, 2003. Even so, the White House wants to block the November vote on whether the Navy should stop training that year, or stay and pay $50 million for public works projects.

PIP Holds Governor Responsible For Navy's Advancement

September 30, 2001
Copyright c 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

SAN JUAN (AP) - For the leaders of the Puerto Rican Independent Party (PIP) everything now seems to show that the decision to oust the U.S. Navy from Vieques will be up to the United States.
PIP Sen. Fernando Martin, who is the party's executive president, said the change in the current circumstances is greatly due to "the weakness with which the government of Puerto Rico has been communicating by not using the results of the July 29 referendum, thus encouraging the Navy" to stay.
Martin added that "the governor will wind up in a worse position than the one she inherited" from former Gov. Pedro Rossello, who had agreed with former U.S. President Bill Clinton on a definite date for the ousting of the Navy.

PIP Criticizes Governor For Her Stance On Vieques

October 11, 2001
The Associated Press

SAN JUAN (AP) - The Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) executive president accused Gov. Sila Calderon on Thursday of discarding the achievements reached in the fight to immediately oust the U.S. Navy from Vieques.
Calderon recently said "it was acceptable" for her government for the Navy to leave the island by May 2003.
"It is almost pathetic and profoundly deceiving that the governor and the Puerto Rican government have publicly surrendered on the Vieques issue," Fernando Martin said in press conference.
The legislator said the argument that the national crisis due to the terrorist attacks perpetrated a month ago on the United States makes it impossible to make the petition to President George W. Bush is "pathetic."
Martin also accused the governor of bending the arms of the Vieques leaders to accept her position, when they are the Navy's "victims," and urged Calderon to use her force against Bush and high ranking military officials.
"The Vieques people have been the victims. They had acted with the courtesy and generosity that the governor does not deserve. I'm convinced that they feel profoundly deceived, frustrated, and abandoned by the governor," Martin said.

Calderon: `Unreal' To Request Cease Of Bombings In Vieques

October 10, 2001
The Associated Press

SAN JUAN (AP) - For the first time during her tenure, Gov. Sila Calderon admitted Tuesday that the request to immediate cease bombings in the municipality of Vieques "is unreal at this moment," coinciding with Resident Commissioner Anibal Acevedo Vila's previous expressions.
The governor now defends the U.S. Navy bombing exercises until May 2003, when the Navy should leave the island municipality, as established by the January 2000 agreement between former President Bill Clinton and former Gov. Pedro Rossello.
"Of course it is unreal at this time," Calderon said in press conference at La Fortaleza after a meeting with Vieques leaders.
Calderon attributed her government's new position on the issue to the Sept. 11 attacks.
"They are two different things. At this moment we have to refocus our way of doing things because we have priorities. The priority now is to achieve the cancellation of the referendum and substitute it with a congressional law that establishes the date on or before May 2003," insisted Calderon.
She said Bush's position on the May 2003 date remains intact and was reiterated 13 days after the terrorist attacks.

Justice Department To Appeal Vieques Federal Referendum Ruling

October 7, 2001
The Associated Press

PONCE (AP) - Justice Secretary Anabelle Rodriguez said Saturday that she was confident the Puerto Rico government would win the case in which 12 Viequenses challenged the constitutionality of the Nov. 6 federal referendum.
But if the case turned out against the government, the Justice Department will appeal it in the Circuit Court of Appeals, Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez was reacting to the most recent decision of San Juan Superior Court Judge Sonia Velez Colon, who handed down a temporary injunction late Friday afternoon in the suit brought by the group of Vieques residents.
Velez Colon issued her ruling late Friday afternoon as a "provisional measure," which prohibits the use of public funds, State Elections Commission (SEC) equipment, and SEC personnel to implement the law that makes the referendum feasible.

Vieques Prepares Protests For Next Round Of Navy Exercises

October 4, 2001
PuertoRicoWOW News Service
By Proviana Colon Diaz

Congreso Nacional Hostosiano (CNH) Co-Presidents Hector Pesquera and Alejandro Torres condemned Thursday the latest round of U.S. Navy practices in Vieques, which are scheduled to continue until next week, and announced that civil disobedience will be reinstated during the next round of exercises which will begin Nov. 28.
Torres said the people of Vieques are getting ready to face the next round with multiple exercises of civil disobedience to interrupt and prevent the practices.
Pesquera described the next round of military practices, scheduled to take place Nov. 28 until Dec. 17, as very complex and harmful since they combine ship-to-shore bombing by land, sea, and air.

Calderon Denies Allegations That She Threatened Vieques Leaders

October 11, 2001
PuertoRicoWOW News Service
By Proviana Colon Diaz

Gov. Sila Calderon denied fisherman Carlos Zenon's allegations that she threatened Vieques leaders to express themselves in favor of the Nov. 6 federal referendum or she would leave them alone.
Zenon, who is one of the 11 Vieques residents in the case before San Juan Superior Court Judge Sonia Velez, requested the court to overrule the local law enabling the referendum. Late Friday, Velez ordered the State Elections Commission to stop organizing the federal referendum in Vieques.
Following an hour-long meeting with Calderon on Tuesday, all the leaders except Zenon agreed with the governor in that eliminating the referendum without the certainty of a language that establishes a date for the departure of the U.S. Navy is unacceptable at the moment.
On Wednesday, Zenon denounced that the rest of the Vieques leaders' change of thought was due to more than 40 minutes of "arm-and-leg twisting" by Calderon in favor of the referendum.
"That is absolutely false," Calderon said.
When the question was rephrased to ask if she was caving into the interest of the Navy, Calderon denied the allegation anew.
"I said it was false," the governor said.
Despite the open difference between Zenon and the rest of the Vieques leaders over Calderon's position regarding the referendum, the governor does not think that such controversy will divide the anti-Navy movement.
On the contrary, Calderon thinks the people of Puerto Rico are untied in their desire of "peace for Vieques," but that they are also united in solidarity with the American nation following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"We as American citizens must understand that the priority at the moment is the campaign against terrorism, and in that I am in total solidarity with President George W. Bush," Calderon said.
In fact, Calderon said she was pro-Navy.
"I am not anti-Navy, and neither is my government. I am anti-live bomb practices in Vieques," Calderon said.
In related matters, Calderon recently described all Puerto Ricans who lobby in Congress in favor of the continuation of military practices in Vieques as "traitors," though she denied to identify them.
Being that House New Progressive Party Minority Leader Edison Misla Aldarondo left the island Wednesday for Washington D.C. to lobby in favor of several issues, including the continuation of military practices in Vieques until 2003, Calderon was asked if he was one of such traitors.
After a long pause, Calderon declined to identify him as such but added that all those who "are showing their faces with positions" other than the one expressed by Bush, who has said he would like the Navy to leave Vieques on or before May 2003, "will have to assume their responsibility."
"I am not a person that characterizes anyone with a name and a last name, and I won't enter any controversy. Vieques is a theme that should unite us, and it should not be a theme for political policy," said Calderon, who has been accused by the opposition of taking advantage of the Vieques issue to win the electoral race of 2000.

'Lies, Lies, Lies': Calderon And Vieques

October 5, 2001
The San Juan Star
By Arturo J. Guzman

History has shown that abhorrent tragedies and calamities tend to bring forth the very best and the worst of human nature. Valor, heroism, and selflessness become as evident as greed and opportunism at times of national crisis. Despicable acts range from those of scam artists who seek illicit profit from the victim's predicaments, to those who are opportunistic and try and utilize them as scapegoats for their own failures. As repugnant to us as they may be, not all of these acts are illegal but all of them are immoral.
I no longer harbor youthful innocence and understand that opportunism and politics are almost synonyms, but one must try to identify and make the distinction of acts that are so transparent and overt that challenge truth, credibility, and sincerity. One such distinction must be made in the conduct and expressions of Governor Calderon before and after these recent acts of terrorism.
The same person who leads, or misleads according to viewpoint, a party and an administration intent on proving that we just "friends and allies" of the United States choosing to ignore the constitutional and statutory fact that Puerto Rico is a territory "appertaining" (belonging) to the U.S., all of a sudden found the need to command the publishing of national advertisements properly addressing them to "our fellow citizens".
While Calderon was busy in New York making the rounds with "fellow traveler" Pataki, and playing the part of a compassionate American governor coming to assist at a time of need, the likes of her Senate majority leader Faz-Alzamora was bitterly denouncing the absence of the Puerto Rican flag at a Canadian conference and insisting that Puerto Rico was a "Latin American nation", and others like "Churumba" Cordero and Celeste Benitez were making statements on the subject of the attack that are so despicable and lowly that they deserve no further exposure for they have already brought immeasurable shame upon all of us.
These typically contradictory attitudes of Calderon, her administration (pardon the euphemism), and her now separatist political party, were not lost on the genial sense of humor of the Puerto Rican people as evidenced by a perfunctory joke that was making the rounds in town last week: "What gift did Sila bring Pataki during her visit to New York? A framed picture of Osama bin Laden so that they could both thank them nightly for resolving the issue of Vieques".
The cruel paradox becomes inevitable: Pataki who jointly with Calderon lobbyist Charlie Black, and Carl Rove at the White House, did so much to weaken the national defense system in the case of Vieques, suffered in his home state the most devastating foreign terrorist attack in the course of human history.
Furthermore, upon Calderon's later departure for Washington and in what was sure to qualify as the temper tantrum of the week (and may yet qualify as the temper tantrum of the month) she tried to deny allegations that she was intent on negotiating the permanence of the U.S. Navy in Vieques for yet another tax crutch for the failing colonial economic system. "Lies, lies, lies!" exclaimed an unsettled Calderon before the press and media.
Well, while I do not dispute the fact that someone is lying I have a difference as to who the culprit is by reminding you that as far back as December 30, 2000 (The Star , "Welcome to our cozy tropical apartheid") I was intimating that even before the election information from Washington revealed lobbying efforts on Calderon's behalf expressing her willingness to enter into such a deal as a fundamental reason for the Navy and the "military-industrial complex" to support her candidacy.
It doesn't end there. It was within the week of the terrorist attacks that Calderon was using the tragedy as subterfuge for Puerto Rico's dismal economic climate and performance. I also beg to differ: Osama bin Laden was not mayor of San Juan, when the confidence of private sector investors was seriously compromised by yet another of her tantrums when she stopped development of the "Condado-Trio" at all costs, simply because she had not gotten her way. It was Calderon who set the nefarious precedent.
It was not Osama who paralyzed the economy and virtually stopped all public works in progress using an exaggerated and seemingly non-existing budgetary deficit as an excuse to re-issue and substitute contracts that would benefit his political friends and cronies. And it was not Osama, whose anti-American rhetoric and attitudes expressed on Vieques, the nature of the current colonial status, or other local issues that made stateside investors loose their confidence on the political-economic future of Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans. And it is not Osama that goes begging for corporate welfare demonstrating an insensitive, inconsiderate, and ill-timed sense of priorities at a time when hundreds of thousands of fellow Americans who pay taxes have lost their jobs.
But the governor should not despair. There will be justice in her accusations, because indeed it will be Osama and the consequences brought upon all of us as citizens and nationals of the United States by his barbaric acts, that have united us with the rest of the nation to contrast with Calderon's true separatist, conflictive, and conflicting nature in seeking another bit of fiscal charity by which to preserve the grasp of colonialism and the rule of the oligarchy.

Terror Attack Leaves Lawmaker Torn On Vieques Issue

October 4, 2001
The Record, Bergen County, NJ
by MIGUEL PEREZ

When you talk to him nowadays, you can actually feel how he is torn between conflicting interests.
As a New York State assemblyman from the Bronx, Jose Rivera cries, mourns, and seeks justice for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. But as a Puerto Rican who seeks independence for the island of his birth, he still wants the U.S. Navy to get out of Vieques ASAP.
That small Puerto Rican island has been used to train U.S. sailors for some 61 years from World War II to the Persian Gulf war. But ever since a Puerto Rican guard was killed by errant Navy bombs in 1999, many have been protesting the military exercises. Some protesters have served jail sentences for trespassing on the range.
Rivera still sports the white beard he grew during the 40 days he spent in a Brooklyn jail for trespassing on the Vieques bombing range.
He vows not to shave the beard until the Navy is out of Vieques, which may take a little longer now that it's uncertain whether the federal government will hold a binding referendum in November. Vieques residents were to have had the option of seeing the Navy leave by May 1, 2003.
Yet now, with his loyalties divided, not only is the tone of Rivera's voice a little different, but you can feel his anxiety as he looks for the right words to explain himself.
"Should the bombing continue on Vieques?" Rivera said, repeating my question.
"I know that our tempers our hot," he said. "I know that there are many people, including me, who would like to take some kind of revenge.
But the truth is that the struggle for Vieques, after 61 years of bombings . . . is not finished."
He chooses his words carefully, telling you that since Sept. 11 he has been consoling the victims of terrorism and that he is proud that his fellow anti-Navy protesters in Vieques have called a moratorium on civil disobedience to show solidarity with the terror attack victims in New York.
He tells you that the people who have been exposed to the environment of southern Manhattan in the last three weeks may now be facing the same health hazards as the people of Vieques. He tells you that he went to a service for the victims, but that while leaving the church, he spotted a young woman carrying a sign that said "Peace for Vieques."
Yet Rivera's fellow protesters are a bit more militant than he is.
In a statement released from Vieques, they say their "solidarity is directed toward the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks and not toward the militaristic actions of the U.S. government." They say they are already planning new rounds of civil disobedience to stop Navy exercises on Vieques.
The United States hasn't even lit a firecracker and already the Vieques protesters are saying they "could never support or applaud the terrorism of aircraft carriers launching missiles against hospitals, schools, against populated cities, in the name of vengeance and of a democracy that in Vieques is stepped upon by the U.S. Navy."
They say they "energetically reject terrorism, war, and any type of violence as a means to resolve conflicts in our world." They say they "do not want to be used for preparing wars in the 21st century."
As a New York politician, Rivera takes a different, more diplomatic approach.
"I find it very strange that we are still thinking that the only place these military exercises can be conducted is in Vieques," Rivera said. "It's not true. There are islands off the coast of Florida where the Navy could do it."
Puerto Rico Gov. Sila Maria Calderon, who supports the current commonwealth relationship between Puerto Rico and the United State, has been able to maintain a moderate balance between those who want independence for Puerto Rico (and most adamantly demand the Navy get out of Vieques) and those who want Puerto Rico to become the 51 state of the Union (and are most likely to support the Navy).
But now that there is a possibility the Navy might stay in Vieques after 2003, even Calderon is sounding like Rivera, choosing her words carefully, but still calling for an exit date.
"Our position has to be based on a dramatically different reality, which is the national unity against terrorism," Calderon told reporters in Washington. She said she sees "a real threat" that some lawmakers will want to let the Navy stay in Vieques indefinitely an option she finds unacceptable.
Rivera said he always felt the Navy would try to find an excuse to stay in Vieques. And now there is a great excuse, an attack on his hometown, on some of Rivera's own constituents.
"The problem is that in the past, promises have not been kept," Rivera said. "We are convinced that it doesn't matter what the Puerto Ricans do. Whether we hold elections or referendums, whether we say the Navy should leave or stay, nobody pays attention.
"Who suffers?" he said rhetorically. "Democracy, which is convenient for those in power to make a point, but inconvenient when the people of Vieques express themselves."
Torn between two causes, Rivera still knows how to defend himself.

Congress Postpones Vieques Issue

October 18, 2001

SAN JUAN (AP) - The cancellation of legislative work at the U.S. House of Representatives as a result of the positive cases of anthrax bacteria delayed Wednesday the search for a consensus in the discussion of the future of the military practices on Vieques.
The U.S. Congress Conference Committee had intended Wednesday to hold several meetings regarding the bill that would authorize the expenses of the U.S. Defense Department for fiscal year 2002, which also includes the Vieques issue. At least one of those meetings had been cancelled, according to published reports.
The almost three dozen confirmed cases of anthrax among U.S. Senate employees caused the House to suspend all works until Tuesday morning.
"The solution (of the Vieques case) has been postponed until at least next week," said one of Rep. James Hansen's (R-Utah) advisors. Hansen is in favor of the continuation of military training on Vieques.

Supreme Court Overrules Previous Ruling In Referendum Case

By Proviana Colon Diaz
October 17, 2001
Copyright c 2001 PuertoRicoWOW News Service. All rights reserved.


The Puerto Rico Supreme Court overruled San Juan Superior Court Judge Sonia Velez's determination in the case filed by Vieques fisherman Carlos Zenon and ordered the State Elections Commission (SEC) late Wednesday to "immediately" renew the organization of the federal referendum in Vieques, scheduled for Nov. 6.
The ruling came down 24 hours after the Commonwealth filed appeals before the Puerto Rico Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.
The island's top court issued a certification, meaning that it takes jurisdiction in the case and thus rules out the process of waiting for a ruling by the Court of Appeals.
The judges gave until 4:30 p.m. Friday for appeals to be filed.
Gov. Sila Calderon ordered Justice Secretary Anabelle Rodriguez to appeal Velez's ruling.
The Justice Department said the November referendum is the only viable and lawful mechanism to determine the future of the presence of the U.S. Navy on the island municipality.
The Justice secretary assured that the referendum will be totally funded with federal money, which is a key element to the legal dispute, since the plaintiffs allege that the use of local funds give the referendum a hint of unconstitutionality.
Velez issued her ruling late Friday afternoon as a "provisional measure," which prohibits the use of public funds, SEC equipment, and SEC personnel to implement the law that makes the referendum feasible.
In her 34-page ruling, Velez Colon points out a contradiction in the law, which prohibits local public funds to finance it and the process that the SEC started. The SEC process is financed with money from the Puerto Rico government.
Velez Colon's order was in response to a preliminary injunction filed by anti-Navy leader Zenon requesting a halt to the referendum because it does not include the option of an immediate and permanent end to all military practices and the Navy's exit.

Governor Disagrees With Melecio On Inability To Hold Referendum

By Proviana Colon Diaz
October 16, 2001
Copyright c 2001 PuertoRicoWOW News Service. All rights reserved.


Gov. Sila Calderon disagreed Tuesday with State Elections Commission (SEC) President Juan R. Melecio's statements regarding the inability to hold a federal referendum in Vieques if the orders to do so come after Wednesday.
Following San Juan Superior Court Judge Sonia Velez's order Monday to the SEC to immediately and permanently halt all procedures aimed at organizing and implementing the referendum, Melecio said he would not be able to carry out a proper consultation if a decision contrary to that issued Monday comes later than Wednesday because of the proximity of the event.
"Melecio's statements surprised me very much because the small size of the voting population will make it easy for the SEC to comply with the law. We are talking about an electoral process of 2,000 to 3,000 people. I really don't share his opinion," she said.
Calderon said until President George W. Bush makes it clear that the Navy will leave on or before May 2003, Calderon will defend the federal referendum because it is the only piece of legislation that states a date for the departure.

U.S. Navy Pushes Back Vieques Vote Until Jan. 25

October 26, 2001
Copyright (c) 2001 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - The U.S. Navy on Friday postponed until January a referendum allowing Vieques residents to decide if bombing exercises should continue on their island or be halted in 2003.
The referendum, established under an agreement between the governments of former President Clinton and former Gov. Pedro Rossello, had been set for Nov. 6.
Gov. Sila Calderon's office released a letter from Navy Secretary Gordon England on Friday in which he ordered the vote to be rescheduled for Jan. 25.
"I am exercising my statutory authority to postpone the referendum," England said. The Navy chief said he might consider discussions on an earlier date if it would be "more convenient."
The referendum has been in question since last month when a House defense bill included a provision to cancel the vote and require the Navy to keep using the island until a comparable training site is found. The House and Senate are to finalize the wording of a law soon.
England said the Congressional turmoil created by the Sept. 11 terror attacks made it "advisable to postpone the currently scheduled referendum to allow time for the U.S. Congress to act."
Residents of the Puerto Rican island were to decide in the vote whether the Navy should leave in 2003 or stay and pay $50 million for public works projects.
President Bush also has said the Navy should withdraw by 2003.
"This postponement does not in any way preclude the Navy plans to cease training on Vieques by May 2003," England said in his letter to the U.S. territory's governor.
"We plan to cease training in May 2003," said Capt. Kevin Wensing, a spokesman for England. "We have a study that's currently ongoing that's looking at alternative sites."
The Navy has bombed the eastern tip of Vieques for six decades, training sailors for conflicts from World War II to the Persian Gulf War. Opponents say the bombardment harms the environment and health of Vieques ' 9,100 residents - accusations the Navy denies.
In a nonbinding locally administered referendum in July, 68 percent of Vieques voters said the Navy should leave immediately.
A group of anti-Navy activists also brought a lawsuit seeking to halt the November vote, saying it wrongly leaves out the option of an immediate Navy withdrawal.

Referendum Day May Come Without Congress Decision

October 22, 2001
Copyright (c) 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

SAN JUAN (AP) - Resident Commissioner Anibal Acevedo Vila said the date of the federal referendum scheduled for Nov. 6 could come without having a decision from the U.S. Congress on the event.
Acevedo said in published reports that he met with Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO) member of the Armed Forces Committee and he assured Acevedo there was no agreement on the issue.
The version approved by the U.S. House of Representatives eliminates any reference to the presence of the U.S. Navy in Vieques or the proposal to oust the Navy by May 2003. Instead, it states that the military forces will decide when to conclude the maneuvers on the island municipality.
Acevedo added that if Congress does not act on the issue by Nov. 6, and the people of Vieques votes to oust the Navy, "I don't see how the Congress could change that."

LULAC Asks For Truce To Demands To Oust Navy

October 21, 2001
Copyright (c) 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

SAN JUAN (AP) - Enrique Dovalina, president of the United Latin American Citizens League (LULAC for its Spanish acronym) said on Sunday that Puerto Ricans and the local government should decree a truce to the demands for ousting the U.S. Navy from Vieques.
"Now is not the time for Vieques, or for anything else, especially in these times of war. Now is the time to unite for the U.S. government," said Dovalina, whose organization has supported in the past the ousting of the Navy from Vieques by 2003.
The leader of Mexican origin compared the demands of the Puerto Rican people to those of four million Mexicans in the U.S. that seek to have the U.S. citizenship.
Dovalina also said it is necessary to wait for a congressional guarantee that will force the Navy to exit Vieques and to clean the lands.
"It's not just to oust the Navy; it's also to clean the island. If there are no funds to remove all the bombs, there won't really be someone who will invest on the island," said Dovalina, who has in the past visited the civil disobedience camps in Vieques accompanied by Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Serrano Calls Navy Bombings On Vieques Terrorism

October 21, 2001
Copyright (c) 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

GUAYNABO (AP) - Incarcerated Vieques Mayor Damaso Serrano called "terrorism" the bombing exercises that the U.S. Navy has been performing on the island municipality of Vieques for the past 62 years.
"These bombings, which are no different from those in Afghanistan or the terrorist attacks against the "Twin Towers" [in New York] have killed beings of flesh and bone," said Serrano in a written message read by his daughter Lizamarie Serrano during a solidarity act called "A hug for Damaso."
In his message, the mayor questioned the difference between the bombs dropped against Afghanistan and "those that during 62 years have taken away the lives of so many Viequenses."
"We could also call this an act of terrorism against Vieques, because [the bombings] have been dutifully planned in dark rooms and perpetrated by the Navy and the incumbent governments with the intention of causing harm and panic to the population in the name of the so-called democracy," added Serrano, who has served 69 days of his four-month prison sentence.
Serrano, who was imprisoned for trespassing on military restricted land on Vieques, said "what is not good for New York, or for any state or country in the world is in no way good for Vieques."
"We have to see the Vieques cause in another perspective: the perspective of justice. It is time that [the federal authorities] understand that Vieques is not the landfill of the United States Navy," he said.

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ISLAND COUSINS NETWORK / OKINAWA