wfn.org | Vieques protesters bring cause to nation's capital

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Feb.17, 2000	News media contact: Joretta Purdue·(202)546-8722·Washington
10-21-32-71BP{078}

NOTE: This report is accompanied by a sidebar, UMNS story #079, and a
photograph

WASHINGTON (UMNS) - A Methodist minister was part of a delegation from the
Puerto Rican island of Vieques bringing a non-violent but defiant message to
the U.S. government Feb. 16.

The diverse group held a press conference at the United Methodist Building
on Capitol Hill before meeting with officials. The priests, teachers,
fishermen, politicians and others concluded their visit with a rally in
front of the White House.

In English and in Spanish, the message was a resounding, "No! No more
bullets, no more bombs." For more than 60 years, the U.S. Navy has used a
substantial part of Vieques as a firing and bombing range.

Last April, a civilian security guard was killed and four others were
injured by a stray bomb. That became a catalyst for island residents and
other Puerto Ricans, who rallied to get the U.S. Navy to give back the land.

The Puerto Ricans have established several squatters' camps on the part of
the island formerly used for bombing and gunnery practice.

In January, President Clinton announced an "agreement" reached with Gov.
Pedro Rossello that would allow the Navy to resume using the firing range
with inert bombs, would give back a part of the island by the end of the
year, and would allow a referendum about the remaining land in a few years.
The Puerto Ricans, who have seen previous promises broken, are denouncing
the agreement, which included the governor's dropping the court action to
oust the Navy.

The Rev. Lucy I. Rosario Medina represented one of the camps and its parent
group at the press conference. The Evangelical Council of Puerto Rico has 10
member denominations, including the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico as well
as Baptists, Disciples of Christ, Lutherans, Presbyterians and others.  

Rosario, pastor of the Iglesia Metodista "Samuel Culpeper" in the Vieques
town of Isabel II, spoke through an interpreter. She said the churches are
involved in an act of civil disobedience as an act of religious obedience
and "as a testimony of faith in accordance with the laws of Christ's
kingdom." What the Navy and U.S. government have been doing in Vieques is a
"crass violation of human rights," Rosario said.

"We're here in support of people - not only in our prayers but also with our
presence in the restricted areas," Rosario said.  She explained that the
protesters are using their bodies as human shields against further
environmental damage and economic destruction. Religious people are called
to fight injustice, she declared.

The Catholic Church is sponsoring another camp, and others have been set up
by a variety of groups, including the teachers' union, a political party
seeking independence from the United States and local fishermen.

Peace will be achieved only if the Navy leaves, Rosario said. "We are united
and sustained in spirit," she said. She concluded with the refrain of the
day: "Not one more bullet. Not one more bomb."

Flavio Cumpiano, the Washington representative of the Committee for the
Rescue and Development of Vieques, said the recent "moratorium" announced by
President Clinton allows the Navy to go on dropping bombs indefinitely and
has been rejected by everyone in Puerto Rico except government officials.
The announcement by President Clinton "ignores the will of the people of
Vieques," he declared. 

Carlos Zenon, president of the Vieques Fishermen Association, accused the
Navy of contaminating the island. The cancer rate of both adults and
children on the island is much higher than that of all other Puerto Ricans,
he said. 

People in the encampments have used their time to mark undetonated bombs and
shells ranging in size up to 500 pounds, Zenon said. He reported more than
100 of these on a hill named Mount David. If they are hit by inert bombs,
they will explode, and even inert bombs would shower the local residents
with contaminated dust, he complained. Other protesters noted that inert
bombs and ammunition can injure and kill.

The civilian population controls only the middle portion of the island, and
the Navy has both ends. The representatives of the teachers' union told of
the disruption to schooling, and the fishermen complained that the military
was ruining the fishing grounds.

"For me, Vieques is an issue of life and death," said U.S. Congressman Luiz
Guiterrez, D-Ill.  The life, he said, relates to care for the environment
and a desire to have civil rights respected; death refers to contamination
and increased rates of cancer, a crippled economy and the violation of human
rights. He accused the president of evading his responsibilities as head of
the armed forces and leaving the people of Vieques and the
military-industrial complex to fight it out in an unequal struggle.

Manuel Rodriguez Orellana, a member of the Puerto Rico Senate, said there is
no accord. Rather, he said, there was a directive from the U.S. president
and an act of submission by the Puerto Rican governor. He called for the
Navy's departure "after they clean up the mess."

Carmen Valencia of the Vieques Women's Alliance displayed a greeting card
for the president that was drawn by an 11-year-old boy and signed by the
children of Vieques, she said. The happy children on the cover and the
tranquility of flowers and nature represented the children's hope for peace,
she explained.

A march is planned in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on President's Day, Feb. 21,
the group reported, and daily protests are under way in front of the new
armed forces recruiting station in Times Square, New York.

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United Methodist News Service
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