Protesters not backing down on Vieques issue

The U.S. Navy's removal of protesters from the Puerto Rican island of Vieques will not deter future actions, according to two United Methodists who have participated in the protests.

Andres Thomas Conteris, a United Methodist missionary, said in a May 18 interview he expects "people of faith and conscience will continue to take prophetic actions that will eventually lead to the Navy having to leave Vieques and hopefully all of Puerto Rico."

Through the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Conteris has been involved in the efforts to stop the Navy from using part of Vieques as a practice area for bombs and other weapons.  He had served as a missionary in Honduras and currently is on home assignment in Washington.

He arrived on the island on May 3, the night before more than 200 peaceful protesters who had set up camp in the Navy's restricted zone -- including Bishop Juan Vera Mendez, Methodist Church of Puerto Rico - were detained.  Others forcibly removed from the ecumenical camp represented such groups as the Puerto Rico Evangelical Council, Ecumenical Coalition For Vieques, U.S. National Council of Churches, IFCO/Pastors for Peace and Christian Peacemaker Teams.

While federal agents were at first "respectful and courteous" to demonstrators, the group faced threats, intimidation and mistreatment before being released, Vera said during a May 8 press briefing at the United Methodist General Conference in Cleveland.

Conteris was among the protesters who chose to continue the occupation by going into hiding before the Navy arrived.  Apart from the others, he remained on the island for five days before his water ran out.  "It was a very powerful fast and prayer for me," he said.

At the end of that period, he said he turned himself in to the Marines, who detained him for 10 hours and then released him with a "ban and bar letter" stating he will not be allowed to return to Vieques.  Conteris added that he doesn't consider the letter legal.

The Rev. German Acevedo Delgado, an executive with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, criticized the Navy for continuing its bombing practice while some protesters remained hidden.  "Different organizations had stated there were still people in the restricted area," he explained.  "They paid no attention and bombed the area."

Acevedo Delgado also was among the demonstrators detained on May 4.  "Many of us were disappointed that the Justice Department did not press charges," he wrote afterward.  "We were looking forward to having our day in court to expose the U.S. Navy as the real criminals, the ones who pose the real security threat to the inhabitants of Vieques."

Methodists in Puerto Rico have long campaigned against the danger and environmental damage that residents face from Navy operations on the island.  Since 1980, General Conference, the top legislative body for United Methodists, has supported the people of Vieques in their efforts to have the Navy cease its activities there and repair whatever damages it has caused.

After a resident was killed in 1999, the organized protests began to escalate. A number of United Methodists visited Vieques to express solidarity, including a delegation from the denomination's Council of Bishops.

The ecumenical coalition on the Vieques issue - which includes Roman Catholics, Methodists and several other Protestant denominations - is considering various ways to continue its protest of the Navy presence there, according to Acevedo Delgado.

As an immediate step, Catholics will erect a camp on May 19 in front of the capitol in San Juan.  Other denominations support that action, he said.

He added that the Navy has raised the stakes for protesters by declaring the restricted area of Vieques to be a Coast Guard security area, threatening trespassers with a $250,000 fine or up to 10 years in prison.

As a private citizen, Acevedo Delgado wrote to President Clinton on May 14 and noted that "the raising of fines and penalties will not discourage persons that based on their convictions oppose the U.S. Navy bombing and other pernicious practices to the people of Vieques and their environment."

He urged Clinton to work for a "face-saving solution" and to speak with religious leaders who have requested a meeting with him on this issue.