The Press Conference
Stop the Bombing
By Bruce K. Gagnon
11th November 1999
On November 4-8 a delegation of four Floridians traveled to Puerto Rico at
the invitation of Victor Rodriguez , a leader of the Global Network affiliate
called Comité Contra las Experimentaciones Ambientales. The four persons
were Joe McIntire (Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice), Don & Matt Lockard
(St Augustine) and Bruce Gagnon (Global Network).
The Comité Contra las Experimentaciones Ambientales is the organization that
led the protests against NASA in 1998-99 that forced cancellation of the
Coqui Two rocket launches in the town of Vega Baja. The Coqui Two were a
series of atmospheric experiments by NASA. The rockets released chemicals
into different layers of the atmosphere in order to test their effects on
communications and radar signals. Protests forced NASA to close down the
operation after eight tests even though 11 had been scheduled.
(See GN reports from March 1998, April 1998 and March 1999)
Navy Out
No Weapons in Space
Upon arrival in Puerto Rico our four-person delegation met with several key
Puerto Rican activists to discuss the content of a news conference that we
would be speaking at the following day. The news conference, held at a
beautiful cultural center in San Juan, featured representatives from the
Comité Contra Las Experimentaciones Ambientales, el Proyecto Caribeño de
Justicia y Paz, Misión Industrial de Puerto Rico, the FCPJ, and the Global
Network. The content of the news conference covered the existence of nuclear
weapons in Puerto Rico despite denials by the U.S. Navy and the plans to put
weapons in space by the U.S. Space Command. The largest paper in Puerto Rico
"El Mundo" covered the event and ran a good story with color picture the next
day. The top ranked TV station in Puerto Rico, TPR also featured the news
conference and ran the story two days in a row.
The next day our delegation, plus a large group from the Congreso Nacional
Hostosiano, took the one-hour ferry ride from Fajardo to Vieques. Hundreds
of people were on the ferry, some going to a baseball game on the island,
other just visiting, but many going for protests against the Navy bombing on
the beautiful island. I sat next to New York City Councilwoman Olga Mendez
who was part of a 75 person New York political delegation going to Vieques
Also on the ferry was an old man named Carmelo who was born on the island and
remains one of the leaders in the struggle to stop the 50-year naval bombing
of Vieques. He told me how he has trained wasps to attack Marines when they
invade Vieques on maneuvers and how he disperses poison ivy dust, which gets
into the troops' clothes and drives them crazy.
The Navy controls about ¾ of Vieques. The people live near the center of the
small, elongated island with the military bombing ranges on both sides of
them. From the port in Vieques we took a 30 ft. fishing boat with two 200
horsepower engines on the 20- minute rough ride to the camps inside the
occupied zone. Along the short journey we passed 3-4 other fully loaded
boats heading back to the port with Puerto Rican flags flying and people
waving to us.
My first reaction when we landed on the beach was awe at the sheer beauty of
the water and the rock cliffs and mountains. My second reaction was disgust
to see the evidence of bomb parts in the water and on the land. But the most
remarkable thing was to see the Puerto Rican flags flying each direction I
looked: up on top of one hill where there was a camp; down the beach at
another camp; on a far away mountain top, another. People were taking over
the island. The Navy must be going crazy!
I was to stay in the new "school" recently built by the Congresso Nacional.
The chickee-style shelter with a tin roof was just next door to the small
chapel, also newly erected. Immediately after we arrived people began
installing the solar electric system that they had carried over from San
Juan. Within a couple of hours three compact florescent light bulbs were
working.
I learned that day that the U.S. is now saying that it will send in 350
Spanish speaking federal marshals in December to arrest those now occupying
Vieques in opposition to Navy bombing. N.Y. Councilwoman Mendez had told me
on the ferry that she would return to do civil disobedience if this happened
even though she had never before believed in CD as a political tactic.
Just down the beach a camp had been set up by a group of teachers from the
village on Vieques. They were cooking fish and offered me food and drink.
They told the story about Angel Rodriquez Cristóbal who had been hung just 20
years ago in a Tallahassee, Florida jail after having been arrested for
non-violent civil resistance on Vieques. Twenty-one people had been arrested
on that occasion, among them a Catholic bishop.
I also learned that 67% of Puerto Rican people receive food stamps. At the
same time K-Mart, Sears and JC Penney stores sell more product in Puerto Rico
than in 30 other states. It was so clear that the colonization process has
had a staggering affect on the people and the environment of the
"commonwealth". Puerto Ricans have been made to be dependent on the U.S. and
our corporate masters. But in spite of that, the spirit for independence
remains strong. The resistance on Vieques is but one example.
Our friends Victor and Juan Rosario showed us around old San Juan that,
except for the cars and the paint on the buildings, reminded me of Havana in
Cuba. One huge fountain with several statues of people and nature was a
striking symbol of Puerto Rican nationalism. The statue and fountain had
been commissioned as a celebration of 500 years since the Columbus discovery.
We were told the story about how the artist had revealed that the centerpiece
of the statue, a woman on a rock with arms raised to the sky and holding two
eagle feathers, was really a celebration of her taking the feathers off the
U.S. eagle. Signs of that pesky spirit of independence once again.
I was asked to do a presentation at the school on Vieques about the GN's work
on space. With Joe McIntire ably translating, I spoke about U.S. plans for
control and domination in space and showed the 20 people present the Vision
for 2020 brochure and the poster of a space-based laser weapon with the U.S.
flag flying overhead. I talked about the connections between space and
Vieques, saying that the U.S. intends to make the whole earth and space above
a colony like we have done to Puerto Rico. I later learned that this
workshop was the first such event in the school on Vieques. It was an honor
to have helped christen the school.
The next day was unforgettable. Victor took our delegation on a long hike,
up the mountain top to one camp and then down the beach to another. We
visited the camp of a national congress senator from the Puerto Rican
independence party who has been on Vieques for the last six months. As we
walked here and there we saw the enormous evidence of years of destruction on
the island. Bombs -- exploded and unexploded - were everywhere. Wetlands
were drained and bombed. Trucks, tanks, and planes were scattered everywhere
as targets. One tank is now being used to hold up a tarp for shelter at one
hill-top camp. As we looked out over the beautiful ocean beyond Vieques we
saw a U.S. navy submarine in the near distance probably sending a warning to
the occupiers.
When it was time to leave the island to return home our fishing boat anchor
got caught on a bomb on the ocean floor. Our captain very carefully worked
the anchor free and you could see the fear on the faces of the passengers.
We saw bombs sticking up out of the water near the shore and we saw tiny
islands just off Vieques that had been blasted to bits. In fact, endangered
coral reefs are being destroyed all around Vieques from the years of bombing
by the Navy.
Our friends in Puerto Rico are urging activists from all over the world to
join them on Vieques as soon as possible to help block any attempts to remove
them from the island. It is very easy to get there and once there all you
need is a sleeping bag and some food and water to share. You will be made to
feel most welcome on this otherwise tropical paradise. Be sure to bring your
bathing suit!
If you'd like to go to Vieques just fly into San Juan and take a bus to the
port of Fajardo and then for $2 take the ferry to Vieques. Once in Vieques
there are regular fishing shuttles to the camps in the occupied zones. Call
first and let Robert Rabin from the local Vieques committee know that you are
coming. His phone is (787) 741-1717 or (787) 741-8651.
