wfn.org | Bishops stand in solidarity with Vieques residents

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

July 1, 1999    News media contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville,
Tenn.     10-21-32-71BP{361}

NOTE:  Photographs are available with this report.

By Mike DuBose*

VIEQUES, Puerto Rico (UMNS) -- The voyage to Vieques took its toll on United
Methodist Bishop Charlene Kammerer in more ways than one.

The conflict between a mother's love for her son and a bishop's stand for
peace and social justice was clearly evident as a tearful Kammerer prayed
with residents of this tiny Caribbean island, which is at the center of a
growing struggle with the U.S. military.

Her personal conflict parallels the larger issue pitting the needs and hopes
of the island's 9,000 residents against the interests of the U.S. Navy,
which uses two-thirds of Vieques as a training site.

Navy jets practice bombing and strafing targets on the island, which lies
six miles southeast of Puerto Rico's main island. Naval gunnery practice and
ground-based training maneuvers are conducted there as well, leaving the
otherwise pristine beaches and dunes pockmarked with bomb craters and
littered with shell casings and unexploded ordnance.

Kammerer's son Christopher serves as a radioman aboard the destroyer U.S.S.
McFaul. The ship is part of the aircraft carrier battle group that was
practicing in the area April 19, when two 500-pound bombs from a Navy attack
jet went astray, killing island resident David Sanes, a civilian security
guard.

"It is very emotional for me, and I believe God sent me here," Kammerer told
protesters who gathered June 27 at a makeshift chapel in the restricted
area. "As a mother, there are times when God's grace opens doors that were
never expected.

"I am very sorry for what it means for any country or any military group to
bring harm to any of God's people," Kammerer said. "At the same time, I
carry deep in my heart my love for my son."

Kammerer, of the United Methodist Church's Charlotte (N.C.) Area, was part
of a delegation from the United Methodist Council of Bishops that went to
Vieques at the request of Bishop Juan Vera Mendez of the Methodist Church of
Puerto Rico. The delegation also included retired bishops Lloyd Knox and
Herbert Skeete. Skeete led the Puerto Rican church from 1980 to 1988, and it
became autonomous in 1992. Knox, a fluent Spanish speaker, conducted worship
services and meetings in Spanish and served as the group's interpreter.

The bishops endured a bone-jarring boat trip around the island to the
restricted area, where they stood in solidarity with protesters who have
occupied the target range since shortly after Sanes' death. The 45-minute
trip, in an open fishing boat, left the delegation drenched with salt water
and Kammerer in need of medical attention for bruises.

"I can barely speak because my body is so beaten," Kammerer said. "I know
the price of people who come here daily for witness."

The Council of Bishops passed a resolution at its May meeting calling on the
Navy to "cease its military activities, repair whatever damages it has
caused and transfer all the land that is currently occupied to the Puerto
Rico government."

UMNS calls placed to the U.S. Navy for comment had not been returned at
press time. However, Admiral Richard Naughton, an officer on the U.S.S. John
F. Kennedy, told the San Juan Star that the Navy's training had to be done
in a controlled, simulated setting.

"We have to train like we fight," he said, in a June 28 column by the Star's
Robert Becker. "That training includes delivering bombs to targets on land,
performing in good and bad weather and operating in mountainous terrain." 

Vieques is less than four miles wide and about 12 miles long. Viequesens
live on the central portion of the island, sandwiched between the restricted
training areas on either side. Travel to the island by boat from Puerto
Rico's main island requires an 18-mile trip, rather than the six-mile direct
route controlled by the Navy.

Sanes' death brought to a head the long-simmering tensions between
Viequesens and the Navy, which has occupied parts of the island since 1941.

Community leaders and environmental activists who met with the delegation
point to a cancer rate on Vieques twice as high as that on Puerto Rico's
main island and claim the bombing disrupts fishing and tourism.  

"The U.S. Navy has created an ecological disaster area that is difficult to
believe if you don't see it," said Robert Rabin of the Pro Rescue and
Development Committee of Vieques. He spoke to the delegation during a public
meeting at the Methodist church on Vieques' town square.

Easterly trade winds blow clouds of toxins across the island during bombing
runs, Rabin said. "The bombing has a terrible impact on the health of the
people on the island."

Many on the island sounded the theme of social justice. Angeles Abmenas, a
professor at the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico, said students in
her social research class asked: "If the United States fights for peace and
justice all over other parts of the world, then why don't they do it here,
where we are U.S. citizens?"

Bishop Skeete compared the Vieques situation to the civil rights struggle in
the United States during the 1960s. Skeete spent a week in jail during the
Freedom Rides in Mississippi. "The challenge then is the same as we have
here," he said. "It is more than the military. It is a matter of justice.

"We are privileged and blessed that we can stand with you today in the cause
of justice for all people," Skeete said. "We want you to know that you do
not stand alone. Stand up and speak out bravely in God's name. Be strong."

Vera Mendez cautioned that Viequesens must have a vision for the future,
assuming their protests are successful. "Many people talk about when the
Navy goes out," he said. "When they go out , what happens to the island?
What will the church do?"

Vera Mendez sees a role for the church in promoting tourism, health care and
education programs for Viequesens, in a future free from the Navy.

"The final point of this issue is with the U.S. government," Vera Mendez
said. "I think the United Methodist church has a very fundamental role as
interpreter to present a religious viewpoint to the U.S. government and to
tell of the Puerto Rican position."

Political pressure will likely be the next measure employed by the church,
delegation members said. "We can be instruments of change by using our
resources in the U.S. as a voice," Skeete said.

"We are hoping that all of our bishops and pastors will be in touch with
their senators and representatives," Knox added.

Islanders plan to maintain their vigil as long as it takes. Vera Mendez
thanked the bishops for making the trip. "Your visit refreshed our faith,
our hope and our commitment."
# # # 
*DuBose is the photographer for United Methodist News Service in Nashville,
Tenn. 

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