Puerto Rico Update Archives

"The Last Drop"*
Environmental Justice and Nonviolent Resistance in Vieques, Puerto Rico

Report of the International Delegation for Demilitarization and Economic Conversion of Military Bases

Photo: Nancy Bennett

August 12-20, 2000 - "Paz para Vieques," the plea of Viequenses and human rights advocates around the globe, was the rallying cry which drew fifteen activists to participate in an International Delegation for Demilitarization in Puerto Rico, August 12 to 20, 2000. The delegates were united in their desire to learn about the situation in Vieques, to stand in solidarity with Viequenses suffering from the militarization of their island, to share any useful knowledge or experience they might have, and, finally, to bring the story of Vieques back to their home communities. The delegation was coordinated by the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) and the Caribbean Project for Justice and Peace, and co-sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee.

Vieques is a beautiful island-municipality, located six miles to the southeast of the main island of Puerto Rico. Eighteen miles long and 3.5 miles wide, it is home to 9,300 people known as Viequenses. The U.S. Navy and other military forces have used the eastern end of Vieques since 1941 to bomb, test weapons and train troops for U.S. military interventions from the Bay of Pigs to Iraq. The Navy uses 8,000 acres on the western side of the island to store munitions and for the newly installed and widely-opposed ROTHR radar system, leaving Viequenses to live on 8,000 acres in the middle third of the island. Training on Vieques has included the use of napalm and the illegal firing of depleted uranium, facts conceded by the Navy after repeated denials that they were true.

Viequenses have a long history of resistance to this occupation. But after a Marine pilot missed his target and hit an observation post in April 1999, killing a local civilian guard and injuring four others, Puerto Rico experienced a kind of nonviolent insurgency. Viequenses and others peacefully occupied the Navy firing range for more than a year, building houses, chapels and schools and effectively preventing the Navy from bombing. Instead, it conducted training operations in Florida, North Carolina and Scotland.

Our delegation visited Vieques and Puerto Rico at a critical moment. In May, the civil disobedience camps in Vieques were evicted, with federal agents removing more than 200 protesters, including fishermen, teachers, students, bishops, Congressional Representatives, and Puerto Rican legislators and mayors. In the following months, more than 500 more people committed civil disobedience and were arrested on the Navy-controlled lands in Vieques. A church-led survey of more than 2000 Vieques residents in June showed that 88.5% want the Navy to end bombing on the island immediately.

In the face of this overwhelming popular sentiment, the Navy has responded with renewed bombing -- which the delegation heard during our stay there -- as well as propaganda aimed at discrediting their opponents and winning the referendum on the Navy's presence, expected in 2001. The Puerto Rican government has cooperated with the Navy by installing a dramatically increased presence of anti-riot police in Vieques, contributing to an intense polarization of the conflict.

The International Delegation met with government officials, including: representatives of the U.S. Navy; the Commissioner of Vieques and the mayors of Vieques and Ceiba; with experts in the fields of environmental pollution and public health; with fishermen from Vieques, Ceiba, Fajardo and Naguabo; and with members of a variety of religious, civic, and human rights organizations. These individuals presented a wealth of information and shared their perspectives on many issues.

Two activities of the international delegation were of particular significance. One was a heavily attended five-hour public hearing on a Land Use Plan for Vieques. This hearing was billed as the "final" hearing to approve the plan. But, despite a presidential directive which allows Viequenses to order the removal of the Navy entirely by 2003, this Land Use Plan aims to "incorporate the U.S. Navy into the municipality's plans for growth and physical and economic redevelopment," in the Plan's own words. It made no reference to cleanup of contamination, nor to future land uses of the eastern end of the island where bombing now takes place, nor to the proposals made by Viequenses themselves for future uses. Dozens of attendees spoke against the plan.

Outside the municipal building where the hearing was held, a large crowd gathered in nonviolent protest. One middle-aged man walked within the circling picket line, proudly carrying a Puerto Rican flag. His three children, one just a few inches shorter than the next, walked behind him eagerly chanting for an end to the bombing. Behind them followed two middle-aged women with a banner that read "El Pueblo NO se vende" (The People are NOT for sale). Dozens and dozens of other citizens picketed with them.

At the end of the evening Vieques' Mayor Manuela Santiago made a surprise announcement that she would draw up a new plan, which will exclude the Navy. The tabling of the plan was a victory for the organized opposition even though the Mayor is a "lame duck" who leaves office in January.

Also extremely significant to delegation members was a community meeting held at the Vieques' Museum of History. During the course of the meeting many Viequenses gave their testimony, which were both very enlightening and extremely moving. In unforgettable detail, they personalized the realities of land expropriations, military occupation, environmental contamination and the resulting suffering of the people.

Delegates also witnessed a massive vigil outside the federal prison where twenty peace activists who had entered the Vieques firing range were being held. These events left no question about the unified determination of Viequenses to halt all military action on Vieques and to rid the island of military presence.

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Who We Are
The delegation consisted of fifteen participants from Panama, Ecuador, Korea, and Puerto Rico, as well as Hawai'i, California, Florida, and New York. Many of the delegates had had considerable experience confronting situations in their own communities similar to that in Vieques. Two of the delegates are native Hawai'ians who are committed to the reclamation of Kaho'olawe, an island which for fifty years was bombed by the U.S. Navy. One of the Hawai'ian delegates has been involved in civil disobedience in Kaho'olawe since the 1970s. The other is a third generation activist working on removal of ordnance. Three other delegates, all African Americans, are active in the San Francisco Bay Area dealing with toxins in their communities and with environmental racism. Two Navy installations are among their primary concerns - the Naval Shipyard at Hunter's Point and the Point Mulate Naval Fuel Depot.

FOR Photo

Anti-riot police at front gate of Camp Garcia in Vieques.

The delegates from Panama, Ecuador and Korea also brought exceptionally valuable experience to the delegation. The delegate from Panama is the director of a human rights group focused on the effects of the now closed U.S. military firing ranges in Panama. The delegate from Ecuador is the director of a human rights group focused on the new U.S. base in Manta, Ecuador. The young delegate from South Korea is a member of Green Korea United, a group intent on closing the U.S. bombing range in Mae-hyang-ri, South Korea. Other members of the delegation included two young Puerto Rican activists from the New York area, a couple from Miami involved in efforts to close the U.S. Army School of the Americas, and a young woman from an intentional peace community in Troy, New York.

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The Navy's Impact on the Environment and Health
The International Delegation found serious negative impacts on the environment and the health of local residents by the Navy's bombing range. A study conducted in February and March 2000 by Arturo Massol and Elba Diaz, researchers from Mayaguez University, found high levels of lead, cobalt, nickel and manganese in violin crabs and in plants near the Vieques impact area. Massol points out that these toxic heavy metals are "biomagnified" and accumulate in the food chain, and that they are highly carcinogenic.

Nearly half of Vieques residents are contaminated with mercury, other researchers found in a June 2000 study. They also found that 13% of those tested were contaminated with lead, and 4 percent with cadmium. A study for the period from 1985 to 1989 showed that Viequenses had a rate of cancer 26.9% higher than the rest of Puerto Rico.

Many people believe that at least some of these effects on health come through dispersion of contaminated dust from the eastern bombing area to the populated center of the island. Prevailing winds on Vieques go from east to west. Studies of soil in the impact area, carried out by Jorge Fernández Porto, Lirio Marquez and other researchers when the Navy had ceased bombing between April 1999 and May 2000, show high levels of arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, lead, nickel, tin, vanadium, zinc, and cyanide. Munitions used by U.S. and NATO forces in Vieques contain many of the same heavy metals.

International law requires that "nations have the responsibility of ensuring that their activities do not cause damage to the environment of other nations." (Principle 21 of the 1972 Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment) History shows and professional research confirms that the United States has failed and continues to fail to fulfill this responsibility in Vieques.

In 1999, the International Grassroots Summit for United States Military Base Cleanup drew up an Environmental Bill of Rights, a detailed set of guidelines considered fundamental for the cleanup and preservation of the environment and ratified by participating representatives from 12 countries. Such guidelines contrast sharply with current US military policy overseas, including Puerto Rico. Ultimately, it is this U.S. military policy deficiency that makes possible the devastation of the environment and the widespread destructive effects on the island's population of over fifty years of bombing.

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The Navy's Impact on Vieques' Youth and Families
At the Justice and Peace Camp, Yabureibo Zenon told how both his brothers had participated in civil disobedience encampments that culminated in arrests on May 4, 2000. Both are talented graduates of universities on the main island, where they had been forced to find employment because of lack of opportunity in Vieques. The Navy's presence in Vieques affects not only the environment, but the social structure itself. The result is a stagnant economy that cannot offer any opportunities for progress even to the island's brightest talents. All are therefore forced to leave their families in the pursuit of better opportunities on the main island.

As Yabureibo was speaking, a Navy ship dropped several bombs, making a boom that echoed off the distant shoreline of a beach within Camp Garcia.

"That's nothing," Yabureibo said. "When other areas are bombed you can feel the ground shake." Though the bombing in August was limited, a June 25 Associated Press report confirms such allegations. The report cited 32-year-old painter Sandra Reyes, who lives in sight of the range, and whose children "came running into the house screaming after the start of the exercises."

"My house is shaking, the doors, shake, things on the table shake, my ear drums hurt," Reyes said. "We all feel very frustrated, impotent, violated and harassed."

It is not, however, just the Navy's presence that affects the youth of Vieques, but the 24 hour, 7 days a week occupation by a Puerto Rican police force whose job is to act as a human barrier. The police patrol the entrance of Camp Garcia, closely police all protests (such as the Land Use Plan hearing), and serve as escorts for military vehicles that often travel on municipal roads. Their presence, largely unwelcome by the Viequenses, has resulted in an atmosphere of tension that often culminates in the use of unnecessary force against civilians, particularly young males. This, according to Yabureibo, is another one of the effects of the Navy's continued use of Vieques as a training facility.

Photo: John Lindsay-Poland

Ismael Guadalupe, activist of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques.

We met with a wide range of Viequenses who came to a public meeting at El Fortin - Vieques' Museum of History (see sidebar). Among them was 73-year-old Pablo Hernández López, a veteran of the Korean War, whose family was evicted from their home on the western end of the island in June 1943; he was then only 16 years old. I had learned about Don Pablo when a portrait of him holding that same expropriation notice appeared on the news page of a popular internet search engine just days before the May 4 arrests.

"You will be required to vacate this property within the next ten days... the house and land which you occupy... was acquired by the United States under judgement of the Federal Court... " read the notice.

Several of Don Pablo's family members have already died of cancer, and he now has a scar running down from his chest to his abdominal area resulting from an operation to remove a cancerous tumor in his body.

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The Presidential Directives and the Navy's Public Relations Offensive
Under intense pressure from the Navy to dislodge the civil disobedience camps and facilitate a return to bombing of the impact area in Vieques, President Clinton on January 31 issued two directives. Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Rosselló -- who like Bill Clinton leaves office in January 2001 -- agreed to the directives, but he did not consult anyone in Vieques or in Puerto Rican civil society before doing so. Three weeks after the directives were issued, the Puerto Rican church led more than 120,000 people in a peaceful march for the Navy's departure from Vieques, the largest protest in the island's history. For the first time in Puerto Rican history, the churches have unified in one voice on an issue, working together for the military's departure from Vieques.

The directives called for an appropriation of $40 million to the municipality of Vieques once bombing resumed. They established a referendum in Vieques, on a date to be set by the Navy, the terms of which were: a) the Navy to leave in 2003, and minimal cleanup of the contaminated lands, or b) the Navy to stay indefinitely and train using live fire, in which case the White House would seek $50 million more for Vieques. In either case, the Navy is to limit itself to using "inert" weapons before the referendum, which can be held anytime between August 2000 and February 2002. The directives also called for transfer of 8,000 acres of lands occupied by the Navy on the western end of Vieques to Puerto Rico by December 31, 2000. The directives are administrative, without the force of law, and can be changed by future legislation or directives.

The international delegation sought a meeting with Admiral Kevin Green, charged with overseeing Navy forces in Puerto Rico and the rest of Latin America. Admiral Green has been a frequent commentator in the Puerto Rican press, openly advocating the Navy's interests to readers of the San Juan Star. We believed that a group with such diverse and extensive experience in dealing with the cleanup and conversion of U.S. naval bases would have something meaningful to contribute to Admiral Green's understanding, and that the Navy's perspective was vital to our own understanding. For several weeks after requesting a meeting we heard nothing. When delegation organizers called the Navy's public affairs officer, Lt. Jeff Gordon asked "what do we get out of a meeting?" As the international delegation arrived in Puerto Rico, the delegation organizers made our invitation to Admiral Green public, and on the next weekday, the Navy's public relations consultant, Tom Burgess, returned our call. We met with Burgess; his assistant; Navy attorney Lt. Commander Mark Hunzecker; and José Negrón, a Puerto Rican civilian who serves as Admiral Green's senior environmental advisor.

Burgess, who runs a public relations outfit based in Virginia called Blue Stone Communications, was hired by Admiral Green in June 2000, after local Puerto Rican public relations firms declined to represent the Navy. It was clear from our meeting with these personnel that the Navy is focusing all its public efforts on winning the referendum that will take place in Vieques. His firm is conducting a series of seven surveys of Vieques residents about their priorities for economic development. This presumably will shape how the Navy spends the $40 million appropriated by Congress before the referendum.

Except for Negrón, Navy officials showed scant knowledge of environmental laws and standards for cleaning up munitions and ranges. If the transfer of the western end of Vieques serves as a model for what happens on the impact area of the eastern end, it is a mixed prospect. According to Negrón, the Navy will erect fences and keep custody of the lands that are contaminated in NASD -- identified as 400 acres that include unexploded ordnance from an old dump used for detonating dud munitions.

The Navy's public relations campaign has intensified, and is using "hot language," in Burgess' words. Shortly before our meeting with Navy officials, U.S. Navy South spokesman Lt. Jeff Gordon unaccountably called those committing civil disobedience in Vieques a "band of thugs." In the eastern town of Fajardo, we came across a pair of newsletters called Orientador Viequense: Viequenses Pro-Marina. The unsigned newsletter featured acrimonious attacks on Independence Party president Rubén Berríos and asked why a group of medical doctors had committed civil disobedience in Vieques. Wouldn't it have been better if they had come to offer their service to the people of Vieques? the newsletter asked.

Coincidentally, during our meeting with Navy officials, they asked almost exactly the same question about the disobedient doctors. We then pulled out the newsletter, remarked on the similarity, and asked if they knew who published it. The Navy spokesman's face dropped.

In fact, Lt. Gordon told a U.S. delegation of Christian Peacemaker Teams in March 2000 that the Navy had $80 million in Navy funds available to it -- apart from the $40 million appropriated by Congress -- to win the referendum.

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On Maria Ortiz Hill: Commissioner of Vieques
Maria Ortiz Hill was appointed by Governor Pedro Rosselló in May 2000 after the legislature of Puerto Rico approved a law to create an official office for the Special Commission for Vieques. The misunderstanding of her role as commissioner of Vieques by a significant number of people on the island, and her failure to fulfill some of the measures prescribed by the law has no doubt contributed to an increased sense of resentment and frustration in the conflict of Vieques.

Under an executive order issued on May 11, 1999, Puerto Rican Governor Rosselló named a Special Commission for Vieques responsible for issuing a report on the living conditions, and a list of recommendations and strategies addressing those issues. This commission's final report to the Governor on June 25, 1999 discussed the impact of military operations on Vieques. The document's recommendations, adopted by the Governor, represented Puerto Rico's official position regarding the Navy in Vieques. (see below)

Photo: Mariza Rosado

The Special Commission recommended: the immediate and permanent end to all Navy activities on the island of Vieques; the transfer of lands held by the Navy to Vieques; creation of a task force to promote Puerto Rico's position on Vieques among civil society; that Vieques' people develop a land use policy, including a conservation plan and emphasis on the fishing industry; and holding the Navy responsible for cleanup of lands and waters contaminated with explosives, among other goals. It also called for the establishment of a Vieques Commissioner to carry out this official policy.

The law that created the Commissioner's office requires her to ensure that all the governmental bodies involved in the Vieques conflict implement the recommendations and strategies outlined by the first Special Commission for Vieques. The Commissioner is responsible for keeping the municipality of Vieques informed about the progress made by government agencies in implementing these recommendations. In addition to this intermediary role, the Commissioner is responsible for gathering from public and private sectors all information regarding Vieques in one centralized location, and ensuring that studies regarding health, environmental, and socioeconomic development are being conducted.

On the evening of the Land Use hearings of the western territory of Vieques on August 15, Maria Ortiz Hill, hurried out of the municipal building escorted by a force of police in riot gear under a clamor of insults hurled at her by the protestors outside of the building. Puerto Rico's Natural Resources Secretary Daniel Pagan, who declared his total support for the land use plan, was also booed as he left the hearing. Much of the resentment from the crowd stemmed from the fact that Ms. Ortiz Hill has no experience of Vieques. She is viewed as an outsider who is not in a good position to represent the voice of the people in Vieques. From the people's perspective, after much distrust and frustration with the bureaucracy of Puerto Rican government, she is perceived as another puppet.

During our visit to her office, Commissioner Ortiz Hill stressed that she does not see herself as a spokesperson for Vieques or for the government, but rather as a coordinator. Ms. Ortiz Hill subsequently emphasized in an interview with El Nuevo Dia that her position regarding the referendum is neutral, and though this position might be difficult for the people of Vieques to accept, she argued that it would be in their best interest for resolving the conflict in Vieques.

More disturbing was her claim that she has been the subject of a death threat from an individual in Vieques, and that this was why she was reluctant to address the people of Vieques directly. Consequently, because of her stated "neutrality" on the Navy's presence in Vieques and her lack of communication with the people, her relationship with them is tense. When she told us of the threat against her, we urged the Commissioner to denounce it publicly, which she later did.

Throughout her account of her experience working on Vieques, it became clear that there was a severe lack of communication between her office and the people of Vieques. Some grassroots organizations in Vieques told us that she had declined to meet with them, and when we asked her about this allegation, she assured us that she was planning to visit Vieques and spend more time talking to its residents and meeting with diverse community groups.

It is moreover important to consider her publicly expressed position as "neutral." We ask: How can someone whose mission is to ensure implementation of the recommendations of the first Special Commission ever be neutral in the conflict of Vieques? One of the report's first recommendations is the permanent cessation of the bombing, yet although Ms Ortiz is mandated to ensure that such a recommendation is implemented, she has supported the presidential directives which allow for bombing at the very least until 2003.

The only way forward for Maria Ortiz Hill is that, she, as the commissioner of Vieques promote Puerto Rico's democratic consensus as represented by the Vieques Special Commission. If she does so, she will work for the total cessation of Navy activities on Vieques, and she will not feel threatened by the people whose interests she presumably represents. If she in fact supports the Navy's argument to remain in Vieques, then she is morally obliged to resign from her position, and turn over the post to someone who will ensure that the recommendations and strategies of the first Special Commission be implemented as public policy in Vieques.

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Recommendations of the Special Commission on Vieques

1. That the Navy immediately and permanently cease and desist from all military actions on Vieques. Given the gravity of the finding of this Special Commission, the Commission also recommends the orderly and expeditious transfer of the lands held by the Navy to the people of Vieques, for their use and enjoyment.

2. That a working group be created to promote and advance the official position of the Government of Puerto Rico before the people of the United States, Congress, the White House, and any other appropriate forum. The government working group must identify and involve groups linked to the cause of Vieques, especially in Puerto Rican and Hispanic communities, and in environmental and civil and human rights protection groups. It must also be provided with the necessary funds and human resources, including specialists in this matter, to continue the investigation the Special Committee has been conducting.

3. It is imperative, in anticipation of the return of the lands by the Navy, that the people of Vieques decide on the type of economic development it wants and that, based on that vision, they establish a Land Management Plan. This plan will incorporate the use of marine resources, with special emphasis on the fishing industry, and a conservation plan for their natural, archaeological and cultural resources.
   
   

4. The return of the lands to the people of Vieques for their use and enjoyment must be done in an orderly manner, taking the necessary measures to protect the citizens from explosives. Under the supervision of the Government of Puerto Rico, the Navy will be held responsible for cleaning up and decontaminating all land, superficial or underwater, and all bodies of water and aquifers.

5. That the lands be protected against illegal occupation; against the destruction of natural, historic and cultural resources; and against the possibility of damaging and pillaging of archaeological artifacts, and to ensure that Vieques is not used as a link for drug trafficking.

6. That the 1983 Memorandum of Understanding be discarded for failing to be an effective mechanism for defending and protecting the interests of the people of Vieques vis-à-vis the Navy's activities.

7. That an epidemiological study be conducted of the alarming incidence of cancer in the population of Vieques, aimed at establishing the causal agents and associations thereof, and that the necessary urgent measures be taken to treat those already affected.

8. That an inspection be conducted of the whole island to determine the presence of archaeological sites, given the unique wealth of its archaeological resources.

9. That a study be made to the best route between Vieques and Puerto Rico in order to cut travel time and the cost of transportation and thus increase travel to facilitate a greater flow of goods and services.

10. That an employment substitution program be established to provide work for those residents of Vieques who were employed by the Navy, including a work retraining program.
    
    
11. Increase and direct available resources to take advantage of the opportunities Vieques offers due to its unique circumstances, such as archaeology; beekeeping; agriculture; tourism, with an emphasis on ecotourism; boating activities; biology; aquaculture; sea-farming; and fishing.
    
    
12. That state agencies be organized and that steps be taken so that federal and municipal agencies conduct comprehensive studies in the areas covered in this report.
    
    
13. That an Office of the Commissioner of Vieques be created by law, as an interagency mechanism for the effective coordination of the work of all the agencies that must, within the scope of their duties, contribute to the prosperity and well-being of the people of Vieques. This government endeavor would be known as the Vieques Project.

This report was unanimously approved by the members of the Special Commission on Vieques in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on June 25, 1999. (Norma Burgós, President; Charlie Rodríguez; Aníbal Acevedo Vilá; Víctor García-San Inocencio; Carlos Ventura; Manuela Santiago; Sila Calderón; Mario Gaztambide; Roberto González)

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The Impact of Roosevelt Roads Naval Station
The Navy range in Vieques is organizationally part of a huge 3,000-acre naval base in eastern Puerto Rico called Roosevelt Roads. Contrary to the common perception of the economic benefits provided by the Navy from Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, civil representatives described the burden the Navy represents for Ceiba, the town bordering the base. Ceiba mayor Gerardo A. Cruz Maldonado, told us that when Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) told Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Rosselló that Roosevelt Roads benefits the local economy, "I wanted to throw something at him!"

Graphic: Miami Herald

U.S. military installations in Puerto Rico.

Five hundred Ceiba residents, of a population of 19,000, are employed on the Navy base -- out of a civilian work force of about three thousand. Because of income from the Navy base, the town does not qualify for funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. But a house that rents in nearby Fajardo for $450, according to Mayor Cruz, rents in Ceiba for $650 because it can be rented so easily to the Navy.

Moreover, despite a Puerto Rican law that requires that the public have access to all beach, Ceiba is the only coastal municipality in Puerto Rico that has no civilian access to beaches, because the beaches are all controlled by the Navy. If the Roosevelt Roads base were ever closed, as Senator Inhofe has threatened in the case of closure of the range in Vieques, Ceiba could develop the port to compete with Fajardo's port and ferry. "The Navy has retarded our socioeconomic development," Mayor Cruz told us. "If it closes, bienvenido. We won't die of hunger."

Vieques residents Emma Nieves and Myrna Pagan sing in solidarity.

Fishermen from Ceiba and Fajardo painted for us an even more dire picture of the Navy's impact on their lives and work. When bombing occurred in the waters of nearby Culebra -- until 1975 another naval bombing range -- fishermen were often in the areas during bombing. If they ignored the Navy's warnings, the Navy would bomb close to them to scare them. Bombs killed many fish, said Miguel 'Chan' Davila. Another fisherman, Hilario Goméz Cintrón, whose home and animals in western Vieques was 'expropriated' by the Navy for twenty dollars in the 1940s, said that fish with abnormalities have increased over the years.

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Korea's Vieques South Korea currently has 95 U.S. military bases, including a U.S. Air Force bombing range in Mae-hyang-ri. The Korean government has no legal avenues to address the crimes and environmental damage brought by the military bases. In many cases, such as the recent dumping of toxic fluid in Yongsan base, discharging of sewage in Gunsan base, and oil leaks in Osan, investigation was not possible because of the unfair Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that governs the military bases. According to the SOFA, Korea cannot demand any compensation for environmental damages caused by the U.S. military. The U.S. also has no legal obligation to build within their bases any environmental facilities, such as sewage or other disposal systems. In these circumstances, as the U.S. military gradually returns the bases for which it no longer has a use, it is seeking more land to build new bases. And we can only wonder who will be responsible for the cleanup of the damages done. Without environmental provisions in the SOFA, the extremely high recovery cost will fall on the Korean government, and eventually the people will be burdened with the financial and human cost. The experience of Hawai'ians with the ten-year cleanup of Kaho'olawe demonstrates that the cleanup of land contaminated by military operations will take tremendous amounts of money and time. Koreans working to end bombing at Mae-hyang-ri should learn from the experience of Vieques and other communities dealing with bombing areas, such as Kaho'olawe. Mae-hyang-ri and Vieques show striking similarities. For long periods the residents who live near the bases were the primary victims of noise, soil and water pollution. But they are not alone anymore - many people from many nations are with them. Until the gun powdered lands of Maehyangri and Vieques are returned to their beautiful condition, others around the world should do their best to understand and help them in every way they can. It is a fight between David and Goliath, and we still have hope. Peace in Vieques, Peace in Maehyangri! And in California... The situation in Vieques is similar to Richmond, California. There the Navy has failed to provide complete information on the extent of fuel left in underground.

Why We Need to Do It Ourselves
As I reflect on my trip to Vieques, Puerto Rico, I can't help seeing the similarities of the struggle the people of Hunters Point and the people of Vieques have on their hands. The Navy is misleading all of us by hiding behind the process to get funding and approval for their cleanup projects. For instance, in Bayview Hunters Point of San Francisco, the Navy is telling us "we will give the City of San Francisco property that you can develop but just let us leave our waste in your community Superfund site. We will cap the site until 2025, then -- maybe -- we will clean it up." Doesn't that sound a lot like what they are telling the people of Vieques? "We will give you the west side of Vieques but you must leave us on the East side so we can keep up our bombing practice. And not only us, but for all of our allies."

The Navy's botched cleanup projects have resulted in a shocking misuse of funds. For example, after 12 years of alleged studies and cleanup activities and $162 million spent, Hunters Point Shipyard remains as contaminated as it was when the Navy closed it down in 1974. In September 1999, an uncontrollable underground fire proved the Navy's failure.

With the Navy's misuse of funds and their lack of know-how, the people have had to demand the right to clean up their own neighborhood. We in the Hunters Point community are telling the EPA that our property must be cleaned up to the same standards that other communities receive, not to the standard the Navy sets. EPA standards say that the cleanup must be carried out before development of the property can occur, which is what happened in the Army's Presidio, located in the most affluent -- and coincidentally most Anglo -- area of San Francisco. So why is it that on our side of town has the EPA adopted the Navy's plan of leaving the contaminants in place to kill our people?

The Navy's (and military's) job is to kill. They not only kill the enemy, but they are also killing the civilian population by leaving the land contaminated with waste from their war by-products. So how can we the people leave the cleanup to them, an organization whose main directive is to kill? It is up to us, the community, to clean up the contaminated sites left in our backyards.

The Navy is not willing to live up to what the communities are saying. Instead they have produced their own standards for cleanup, all over the world, to leave the contaminants in place. Not only in Hunters Point, but also in Vieques, Hawai'i, Korea and Panama. The reason for this is racism -- we are all people of color, so why do they care?

-Olin Webb, Hunters Point community leader and Vietnam War veteran

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Whose Security?
The so-called "national security" of U.S. economic interests should not come at the cost of the foundations for human security -- the health and environment of those communities that "host" military bases and ranges. Vieques is one of the worst examples in the world of military training and testing, carried out without regard to the health and well-being of the local population. The Navy has violated numerous environmental laws in Vieques, for which it is being challenged in federal court. "The idea that [the Navy's use of Vieques] is an issue of national security is ridiculous," says Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who represents viequenses in their lawsuit against the Navy.

In July 2000, the United Nations Committee on Decolonization issued a resolution recognizing Puerto Rico's status as a colony and calling on the United States to end its military training in Vieques, end its actions against peaceful demonstrators, and clean up the land and return it to Vieques. It was the first time in 28 years that the committee approved a resolution on Puerto Rico by consensus. Moreover, the United Nations condemns colonial rule, to which Vieques is subject, as "a threat to international peace and security" (General Assembly Resolution, Dec. 13, 1966).

Faced with this threat, the people of Vieques have taken up a proportionate means of self-defense: nonviolent civil disobedience -- or evangelical obedience. In this International Year of the Culture of Peace, Vieques offers the world a lesson in unity and consensus in their struggle to defend human security.

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Conclusions

"Once the Navy leaves Vieques, the United States will be a better nation, and the world will be a better world."
-Rev. Wilfredo Estrada, president of Puerto Rico Ecumenical Coalition

"The situation in Vieques is a clear example of environmental racism."
- Fermín Arraiza Navas, attorney

1. The activities and continued presence on Vieques of the Navy and other militaries are harmful to human health, democratic process and the environment. The presence of toxic heavy metals in the soils that blow toward populated areas, in the food chain, and in Viequenses themselves are ample evidence of these health and environmental harms. Credible surveys and the actions of Vieques residents have also shown repeatedly that the Navy's continued stay violates the democratic will of the island's people.

2. U.S. military activity in Vieques impacts not only the residents of Vieques, but all Puerto Ricans and all people who are affected by the combat and bombing for which operations in Vieques are preparation.

3. The January 2000 agreement between Governor Rosselló and President Clinton to resolve the crisis of Vieques has failed. Since the moment they were issued, the directives have been rejected by a majority of Viequenses, who have remained firm in their demands for an end to bombing, environmental cleanup, and the return of their lands. Lands in western Vieques that were to be turned over to Puerto Rico under the terms of President Clinton's directives are to be transferred instead to the federal government's Interior Department. The bombing range will also to be given to Interior under a deal reached by Congressional conferees during the election season.

4. The United States Government designated 420 million dollars for the cleanup of the bombing range in Kaho'olawe, Hawai'i. The principles of environmental justice demand at least as much for Vieques which, unlike Kaho'olawe, is inhabited.

5. The contrast between the experiences with bombing ranges in Panama and in Hawai'i is relevant to the struggle for Vieques. When Hawai'ians negotiated to transfer title for Kaho'olawe Island to Hawai'i, the agreement for transfer was tied to a program for cleanup of the island and to $420 million to effect the cleanup. In Panama, as in many other places, transfer of the bombing ranges occurred without an agreement to remove the explosives from the land and waters, leaving more than 8,000 acres contaminated with explosives. The prospects for an effective cleanup in Panama are much worse than in Kaho'olawe.

6. Lack of communication and limited access to information are obstacles to the peaceful solution of the conflict in Vieques. For example, there is an evident lack of communication between the Commissioner of Vieques, María Ortiz Hill, and the Vieques population. Lack of public access to public documents is also a problem. The Vieques Land Use Plan was available to Vieques citizens at their public library but access was restricted to hours of operation (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and photocopying of this official document was prohibited. In communities in the U.S., the Navy and the state governments have been required by law to distribute documents for public comment and to guarantee citizen participation in the entire process of decision making.

7. Secrecy in the operation of armed forces, weakness of governments in the oversight of military actions, and lack of citizen participation are obstacles to the rectification of the situation in Vieques as they are in many countries.

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Recommendations

The International Delegation for Demilitarization urges:

1. That citizens of the United States and NATO countries respond to the broad movement of Puerto Rican people calling for the Navy's departure from Vieques, inform others of the huge injustice happening there, and hold their governments accountable for the destruction caused by their nations' militaries.

2. That the President issue an executive order for an immediate end to bombing and other military activities on Vieques, consistent with democratic principles and the consensus established by the first Special Commission on Vieques.

3. That the new Puerto Rican administration fulfill the recommendations of the Special Commission on Vieques, which include not only working for the Navy's departure and environmental cleanup, but an epidemiological study, an inventory of archaelogical sites, and a new maritime route between Vieques and the big island.

4. Based on delegates' experience with closed military bases in African-American communities, Hawai'i and Panama, that the people of Vieques, accompany their efforts for an end to bombing with a strong movement to recover the lands occupied by the Navy and restore them to habitable condition. These efforts should build on existing proposals for sustainable development and on Vieques residents' growing experience of democratic participation.

5. That the incoming governments of Puerto Rico and Vieques integrate the return to Puerto Rico of Navy-controlled lands with an agreement by the federal government to restore lands and waters contaminated by Navy activities to habitable conditions, and -- crucially -- establish adequate funding mechanisms for such cleanup. Without such guarantees, these governments should not accept title to the land.

6. That the Puerto Rican and international movement for peace in Vieques continue their joint efforts to hold the U.S. military accountable for the cleanup and transfer to civilian use of militarily occupied lands, be they in Vieques, Hawai'i, the Philippines, Okinawa, Panama, Korea or the mainland United States.

7. That members of the media and academic communities support and carry out greater analysis of the impacts of changes in U.S. military policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean, especially their relation to attempts to expand the drug war and control of regional markets.

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Delegation Participants

• Nancy Bennett, Miami, Florida, librarian
• Dr. Henry Clark, West County Toxics Coalition, Richmond, California
• Wanda Colón Cortez, Caribbean Project for Justice and Peace, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Pablo de la Vega, Human Rights Documentation Center, Quito, Ecuador
• Jorge José Delgado, Garfield, NJ, Seton Hall University
• Manuel Kuloloio, Protect Kaho'olawe Ohana, Maui, Hawai'i
• John Lindsay-Poland, Fellowship of Reconciliation, San Francisco, California
• Attwood Makanani, Protect Kaho'olawe Ohana, Kauai, Hawai'i
• Phoebe McDowell, Rosa House Peace Community/FOR, Troy, New York
• Kim Porter, PhD, Miami, Florida, immigrant advocate
• Mariza Rosado Mangal, Columbia University, New York City
• Celia Sanjur, Center for Social Training, Panama City, Panama
• Luis Torres, Caribbean Project for Justice and Peace, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Olin Webb, Bayview-Hunters Point Commuity Advocates, San Francisco, California
• LaDonna Williams, People for Children's Health and Environmental Justice, Richmond, California
• Lee Yujin, Green Korea United, Seoul, South Korea
• Organizational and Community Members Whom the Delegation Met
• Dr. Jorge Rodrígez Berúff, University of Puerto Rico
• Dr. Luis Collazo, President, Caribbean Project for Justice and Peace
• Fermín L. Arraiza Navas, attorney, Puerto Rico Bar Association
• Lirio Marquez / Jorge Fernández Porto, environmental researchers
• Ecumenical Coalition: Rev. Wilfredo Estrada, President; Rev. Heriberto Martínez Rivera, Executive Secretary, Puerto Rico Evangelical Council; Maria Esther Cruzado, Felix Ortiz Cotto, Church World Service
• Todo Puerto Rico con Vieques
• Jeffrey Glogiewicz, Technical and Professional Support Group for Vieques
• Gerardo A. Cruz Maldonado, mayor of Ceiba
• Juan Cirino Martínez, Fajardo
• Hilario Gomez Cintron, Naguabo fisherman; Miguel ‘Chan' Davila, Fajardo fisherman
• Robert Rabin, Nilda Medina, Ismael Guadalupe, Comité Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
• Carlos Zenon, president, Vieques Fishermen's Association
• Francisco Pimentel, Vieques Youth United
• María Rosa Ortiz Hill, Vieques Commissioner
• Navy representatives: Tom Burgess, Mary Weis, Blue Stone Communications; José Negron, environmental engineer; Lt. Commander Mark Hunzecker, attorney

This report was written by Nancy Bennett, Henry Clark, Wanda Colón Cortez, Jorge José Delgado, Yujin Lee, John Lindsay-Poland, Phoebe McDowell, Mariza Rosado, Olin Webb and LaDonna Williams. The organizations and individuals who participated in the delegation express our gratitude to the American Friends Service Committee, Donald Irish and many other individuals for financial assistance that made possible the delegation and the production of this report.

Photo: Luis Torres

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Resources

For more information, contact the following organizations:

Caribbean Project for Justice and Peace
P.O. Box 13241, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00908
Tel: 787-754-7343
E-mail: wandac@coqui.net

Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques
Apartado 854, Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765
Tel: 787-741-0716
E-mail: bieke@coqui.net
Web: www.redbetances.com/vieques

Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean
2017 Mission St. #305, San Francisco, CA 94110
Tel: 415-495-6334
E-mail: forlatam@igc.org
Web: www.forusa.org

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Web Sites

www.viequeslibre.org
A bilingual page with information on history, news and action suggestions.

www.navyvieques.navy.mil
The U.S. Navy's webpage about Vieques and its presence.

www.cpeo.org
Information about legislation, regulations, and technology for cleanup of military bases.

www.miltoxproj.org
Information from Military Toxics Project on miltiary bases and envioronmental cleanup.

* When Navy bombs killed David Sanes, a local civilian guard, in April 1999, it was "the last drop that made the cup run over," catalyzing resistance to the Navy's operations, according to Rev. Wilfredo Estrada. The phrase also reminds us that water, so necessary for life, is often fouled by careless behavior.

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Fellowship of Reconciliation
Puerto Rico Campaign
Produced by the Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean
2017 Mission St. #305, San Francisco, CA 94110
Tel: (415) 495-6334, Fax: (415) 495-5628, E-mail: forlatam@igc.apc.org