Vieques: Struggle and Hope

From December 17 to 21, I camped out in the area where the United States Navy carries out bombing and landing exercises along with other training maneuvers. It is common knowledge that these exercises have been suspended since April of 1999, when two bombs killed Mr. David Sanes Rodríguez and wounded four others. The Navy has not been able to resume military exercises because of the many groups who have set up campsites in the zone designated as restricted in the territory taken from the people of Vieques by the Navy in 1941. One of these camps is the Campsite of the Evangelical Churches for Christian Obedience. I was there with the delegation of three people from the General Board of Global Ministries, along with three others from the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico and one person from the United Evangelical Church, witnessing in favor of justice and peace for Vieques.

The struggle to remove the US Navy from Vieques is not new. It goes back to the 1940's when the Navy took over territory from the people of Vieques, eliminating many homes, sources of employment and schools based in that zone. Up until the time of the painful loss of Mr. Sanes Rodríguez, the US had always been dealing with a Puerto Rico that was seriously divided by politics and even by religious issues. Since the accident in April, a united Puerto Rico has emerged in which the great majority is actively demanding that the military exercises in Vieques be terminated, and that the land used by the Navy be cleaned up, decontaminated, and returned to the people of Puerto Rico.

The admirable phenomenon is not so much the struggle for the rescue of Vieques, which goes back many years, as the surprising unity among the various sectors which make up the people of Puerto Rico. This unity is giving strength to the people in their confrontation with the Navy and the US government. For the first time the vast majority of the various religious groups, all the political parties, women's groups, workers' unions and student groups are united in the demand for justice and peace for Vieques. These groups are in agreement that the Navy has abused the people of Vieques, and has endangered their health and well-being as well as the island's environment. This unity, this consensus that has been forged, brings hope for victory and for a better Vieques and a better Puerto Rico. Let us pray and continue to work for it to be so.

I thank God for the opportunity to have been able to join with those who are taking turns participating in the camps in Vieques to prevent the Navy from resuming its destructive practices. The natural setting is quite beautiful in the area of Vieques where the military exercises were carried out. The zone restricted to the public by the Navy has beaches with clear, tepid waters. The vegetation is a magnificent green in the areas that have not been directly affected by the bombs that contaminate and destroy the environment. I observed many areas where not a single plant has begun to grow even though eight months have gone by since the suspension of these damaging practices: this is the result of the bombs or the chemicals used, such as napalm and radioactive uranium. People who visited this place shortly after the exercises were halted tell me that there were practically no animals or birds in the area, and that most of the zone was dry. One has to be extremely careful walking through this part of Vieques because of unexploded bombs. It has also been discovered that the Navy has sunk a boat and two barges carrying barrels of yet to be identified substances in the waters around Vieques. These substances are thought to be chemicals which are contaminating the environment. Some of the barrels are corroded, and their contents are leaking into the water. It is possible that this is yet another case of environmental racism.

This Christmas, let us wish peace for the people of Vieques from now on, after fifteen years of continuous bombing.

Germán Acevedo Delgado is the Assistant General Secretary for Connectional Relations in the Mission Contexts and Relationships program area, General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church.

December 23, 1999