Methodists participate in huge march for Vieques

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (UMNS) -- A march organized by religious leaders in San Juan, Puerto Rico, became a peaceful and powerful indicator of opposition against the U.S. Navy presence on Vieques, according to Methodist officials.

"I'm very satisfied and happy.  This was a beautiful and extraordinary event," said Bishop Juan Vera of the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico. Vera and other religious leaders sponsored the march.

The Rev. Franklin Guerrero, who participated in the first part of the Feb. 21 march, said it was the most significant protest called by religious leaders there since 1972.  "It was just a march for the peace and justice and welfare of the people of Vieques," added Guerrero, with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries in New York.

The march drew crowds estimated from 80,000 to more than 100,000.

"This is the largest public demonstration we've had in the history of our country," Vera said.  "It sends a clear message to President Clinton that political decisions are not written in stone and can thus be changed.  We want him to reconsider his decision and not renew bombing on Vieques, whether with live munitions or inert bombs.  We don't want one more bomb to fall on Vieques."

Children, youth and women were among the many who turned out to protest an agreement reached last month between Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Rossello and President Clinton that would allow the U.S. Navy to resume limited training exercises with inert bombs on the island of Vieques.

The agreement also called for a referendum, mostly likely in 2001, letting Vieques residents choose whether to allow the Navy to resume training with live bombs or end its presence there by May 1, 2003.

The Rev. German Acevedo-Delgado, with the Board of Global Ministries, said the extraordinary response of Puerto Ricans to the march was evidence that the Clinton Administration will have to reconsider the terms of that agreement.

He noted that the religious community in Puerto Rico insists on the holding of a referendum before any training resumes, with an option of ending the Navy presence immediately, not in three years.  The vote on such a referendum also would have to be legally binding, he said.

The Board of Global Ministries will continue supporting the position of the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico and the people of Vieques and expects to send another delegation to a protest camp on the island in March.  "We will be doing that as long as it is needed to be in solidarity with the people of Vieques," Acevedo-Delgado said.

Vera, who headed the march with two Roman Catholic bishops and almost a dozen leaders of Protestant and evangelical denominations, said the event marked "a new moment" for ecumenism in Puerto Rico.

"For the first time in our country, all religious sectors have come together.  We're Catholics, Pentecostals, evangelicals, Protestants, all united in an embrace of solidarity, all wanting as Christians to defend life, all demanding peace for Vieques," Vera said.

The struggle for Vieques "is building a new ecumenical unity," said Eunice Santana, a leader of the Disciples of Christ and director of the Caribbean Institute for Ecumenical Action and Training.  "Never before have we had such a wide consensus among churches in Puerto Rico.  The struggle for peace on Vieques offered the churches a kairos moment, and they've responded well."

Gov. Rossello, who had called on church members to practice

religious disobedience" and boycott the march, paid no attention to the demonstration, a spokesperson said.

"If they're paying attention, this march was a good way to take the pulse of the people of Puerto Rico," Santana declared.  "The march was a concrete act demonstrating the will of the people of Puerto Rico."

Encouraged by the turnout, religious leaders said they would meet Feb. 22 to consider future actions.

"The group will responsibly study the next steps to take in order to achieve peace on Vieques," said Roberto Gonzalez, Roman Catholic archbishop of San Juan.  "This is a great moment of hope.  We've managed to demonstrate the great consensus that lives in the heart of the Puerto Rican people, a consensus that there be justice and peace on Vieques."

*  Jeffrey is a United Methodist missionary based in Honduras. Linda Bloom, news director of United Methodist News Service's New York office, contributed to this report.