Imperialist Navy resumes bombing Vieques by MC17

April 27 -- After a u.s. Federal District Court denied the 
request for a restraining order from Puerto Rican governor 
Sila Calderon, the Navy began bombing again on the Puerto 
Rican island of Vieques. The u.$. government claims that its 
courts have jurisdiction over Puerto Rico because it is a 
colony of the united snakes. But the people of Puerto Rico 
do not recognize this jurisdiction and they again took to 
the streets (and the bombing range) knowing that the united 
$tates will not voluntarily stop destroying Vieques as long 
as it serves u.$. militarist interests. The bombing 
exercises began again on April 27 while hundreds of 
protesters maintained a vigil outside the main gate of the 
Navy base. Eighty seven people were arrested for entering 
the base over the course of three days surrounding the 
resumption of bombing, successfully delaying bombing on 
April 28. The anti-bombing forces are growing with even 
conservative New York Governor Pataki denouncing the 
exercises after strong protests from the state's large 
Puerto Rican population.(1)

As it becomes clear that the 
Puerto Rican people will not give up on this issue those 
politicians with a support base among Puerto Ricans are 
being forced to come out against the bombing. This led to 
the recent election of an anti-bombing Governor of Puerto 
Rico. The Navy is complaining that Puerto Rican police are 
not stopping protesters from breaking the law. The Puerto 
Rico Police Superintendent said the demonstrators who 
breached the fence surrounding the Naval base were on 
federal property and "we cannot intervene in federal 
territory."(1)

Although MIM only knows the reported details 
of this situation it looks like a good example of the 
national question winning over elements of the reactionary 
police force to the side of the people. The Puerto Rican 
police force serves an imperialist lackey government, but 
they, along with the governor of Puerto Rico, see clearly 
the national oppression and humiliation in serving as the 
dumping ground for u.$. military exercises which destroy the 
environment and the health of the people of Vieques. The 
governor is actively campaigning against the bombing and the 
police are passively resisting stopping the protestors. This 
does not make the police force as a whole an ally overall in 
the anti- imperialist struggle, but the people can take 
advantage of this contradiction. The Navy halted bombing 
temporarily on the third day, a Sunday, which they claimed 
was a mark of respect for Puerto Ricans celebrating the 
beatification of Carlos Manuel Rodriguez. The Navy 
spokesperson said "This is a sign of being a good neighbor 
and respecting the sensitivities of our neighbors in Vieques 
on this important day."(1)

Real respect for the people of 
Puerto Rico would involve halting bombing altogether, paying 
for clean up of the land, returning the island to the people 
of Puerto Rico, and compensating the people of Vieques for 
their health problems resulting from the bombing. Much like 
the tobacco industry's years-long claim that smoking does 
not cause cancer and other health problems, the Navy 
continues to insist that there is no scientific evidence 
that their bombing is harmful to the health of the island's 
9,400 residents. These claims fly in the face of the health 
studies which have shown increased rates of cancer and other 
diseases on the island relative to the mainland, correlating 
these health problems with the bombing.(2) 

The Navy has not 
attempted to carry out any studies of its own to determine 
of their exercises are harming the people. Amerikan 
militarism destroys the land and lives of people on the 
island of Vieques to test its capabilities which it then 
uses to destroy the land and lives of people in countries 
throughout the world to defend imperialist wealth and 
plunder. MIM joins the call by Puerto Rican activists to end 
the Navy bombing and get the u.s. military off of Puerto 
Rico entirely. A campaign to pressure the u.s. government to 
stop the bombing includes a request that people call, write 
and fax the White House to demand an immediate withdrawal of 
the Navy from Vieques. Alongside the many protests and 
educational events being held across the u.s. and Puerto 
Rico, the pressure could force the Navy to withdraw. Send 
your letter of protest to (and send a copy to MIM Notes as 
well):

Andrew Card White House Chief of Staff Phone: (202) 456-6797 
Fax: (202) 456-1907

or

Joshua Bolten White House Deputy Chief of Staff Phone: (202) 
456-6594 Fax: (202) 456-6703

Notes: 1. AP, Saturday April 28, 2001. 2. From 
http://www.viequeslibre.com: " The people of Vieques suffer 
from high levels of cancer and other serious health 
problems. Studies carried out by the Puerto Rico Department 
of Health have shown that from 1985 to 1989 the rate of 
cancer in Vieques rose to 26 percent above the rest of PR. 
Rafael Rivera-Castaņo, a retired professor from the 
University of Puerto Rico's Medical Sciences Campus, has 
documented an increase in extremely rare diseases, like, for 
example, Scleroderma, lupus, thyroid deficiencies, and not-
so-rare ones, like asthma, which is significantly affecting 
Vieques' children. 'How can the children of Vieques get 
asthma if this is such a small island? The winds that blow 
in from the ocean are rich in iodine, which prevents asthma. 
The only possible cause is air pollution. We don't have 
factories here, the only source of air pollution here is the 
Navy,' he has stated."