From the Worldwide Faith News archives www.wfn.org


Puerto Rican women join Vieques' struggle for peace


From NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>
Date 15 Feb 2000 14:30:43

Feb. 15, 2000 News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York
10-21-32-71B{070}

By Paul Jeffrey*

VIEQUES ISLAND, Puerto Rico (UMNS) - Seventy-five Methodist women from
throughout Puerto Rico traveled to Vieques on Feb. 12 to support a struggle
to drive the U.S. Navy off the small Caribbean island.

"If Jesus were here, he would be standing with the people of Vieques. Since
we are the hands and feet of Jesus in the world, we have to stand with the
people of Vieques if we're going to be obedient to the Gospel," declared
Milagro Martinez of Arecibo, president of the Methodist Women of Puerto
Rico.

Since 1941, the Navy has used Vieques for bombing practice and munitions
storage. After the accidental death of a civilian guard on the bombing range
last April, a wide-based opposition movement has emerged. More than a dozen
protest camps - including two church-sponsored camps - have been set up in a
restricted zone, effectively preventing the Navy from resuming its
activities.

In the sanctuary of the Methodist Church in Isabel II, one of two towns on
Vieques, the Methodists listened to a panel of local women describe their
decades-long struggle against Navy control of two-thirds of this
21-mile-long island.

Judith Conde, a leader of the Vieques Women's Alliance, told visitors how
island women had struggled to overcome fear, "finally gaining the strength
to put aside our brooms and mops and struggle to achieve our right to live
without bombs, to live in peace."

The visiting women also traveled to the main gate of the Navy's Camp Garcia,
where they talked with protesters camped there. The Methodist women tied
white ribbons on the gate, symbolizing their support for the islanders'
struggle for peace.

Bishop Juan Vera, Methodist Church of Puerto Rico, accompanied the women. He
said the Methodist Church has accompanied the people of Vieques for almost
100 years, providing pastoral care, education and health services.
	
"We were also the first church in the country to pass a resolution, in 1970,
demanding that the Navy leave Vieques," Vera added. "We're a church with a
social creed and social principles that are very clear. The Navy's presence
here is a clear violation of the environment, of the health of the people,
of the right to life and economic development that the people of Vieques
possess."

The bishop reaffirmed the church's commitment to civil disobedience, saying
the Methodist presence in the protest camps would continue until the Navy
decides to leave Vieques.
	
"We believe firmly in civil disobedience when other forms of protest have
been exhausted," Vera said. "It's a last resort, a dramatic step to make our
voice felt. Our civil disobedience is peaceful and nonviolent, as Gandhi and
Martin Luther King Jr., practiced it."
	
He dismissed comments made Feb. 9 by Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Rossello, who
called on Puerto Ricans to practice "religious disobedience" and ignore the
call of their church leaders to oppose the Navy.
	
"The comments of the governor were unfortunate and lamentable. I think he
was poorly advised," Vera said. "None of us church leaders and bishops have
obligated anyone to commit civil disobedience. We're not forcing anyone to
do anything. It's a voluntary act. It's the people and the pastors who want
to do it."

# # #

*Jeffrey is a United Methodist missionary based in Honduras.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://www.umc.org/umns


Browse month . . . Browse month (sort by Source) . . . Advanced Search & Browse . . . WFN Home