A rchive Date
[ 01-05-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.S ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/04/30/76608-ap.html
After 60 years of bombing, U.S. navy leaves the island of Vieques
By MICHELLE FAUL
Wed, April 30, 2003
VIEQUES, Puerto Rico (AP) - Islanders celebrated as the U.S. navy withdrew Wednesday from the Puerto Rican island where they have practised bombing exercises for nearly 60 years.
The navy handed over 6,000 hectares of land on the eastern end of Vieques to the U.S. Department of the Interior, the military said in a statement. After an extensive cleanup, the property will become a wildlife refuge. "We are here today to mark the beginning of a new era in peace and prosperity for Vieques," Gov. Sila Calderon said Wednesday to the thunder of applause.
"It is a moment of great joy for we have achieved our dream."
Pulling large wire cutters out of their knapsacks, activists rushed to help U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service workers dismantle a chain-link fence Wednesday.
President George W. Bush announced in 2001 that the navy would stop using the island this year.
The eastern third will be administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, forming the largest federal wildlife refuge in Puerto Rico, along with 1,250 hectares from a munitions warehouse on Vieques' western end.
But activists say that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service risks being perceived as another intruder.
"These lands are ours," said Ismael Guadalupe, who has protested for years to oust the navy from Vieques. "We don't recognize the right of the Fish and Wildlife Service to administer the land."
Guadalupe said activists will continue to stage invasions, in an attempt to reclaim the land.
In the 1940s, the United States bought 10,100 hectares - about two-thirds of the Puerto Rican island - to create the bombing range. The families and farmers had to leave.
Some in Vieques now hope the land could be turned over to Puerto Rican authorities for development projects that would stimulate tourism and create jobs. Unemployment runs about 12 per cent in Vieques.
"What's to celebrate? This is no victory," said Severina Guadalupe, 75, who described how her family was given 24 hours to pack their belongings in 1940 before a bulldozer ripped down their wooden farmhouse. "We still don't have the land."
Tensions between the navy and residents have been high since 1999 when two errant 225-kilogram bombs killed a civilian guard. Protesters stormed the range and occupied it for a year before federal marshals forced them out. The exercises resumed, but only with dummy bombs.
Protesters continued invading the navy land to thwart the exercises. Hundreds were arrested and jailed for trespassing, including celebrities like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Rev. Al Sharpton and actor Edward James Olmos.
Sharpton, who arrived in Puerto Rico on Wednesday to join the celebration, said he felt vindicated after spending 90 days in prison in 2001 and said Bush "did a good thing by finally listening to the people."
Protesters say the bombing has fouled the environment, stunted an economy limited to fishing and tourism and damaged the health of the 9,300 islanders, who suffer an abnormally high rate of cancer and infant mortality. The navy denies its practices have been harmful.
The Department of Defence announced the land handover in a statement posted Wednesday afternoon on a navy Web site. It said the navy will retain responsibility for the cleanup; the final cost has not been determined.
The navy announced this month it was laying off or reposting nearly half its 6,300 employees at the sprawling Roosevelt Roads Naval Station on the main island of Puerto Rico.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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