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August 1999

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Puerto Rico Under the Gun -
A Nation in Struggle

Report of an International Delegation to Puerto Rico
August 21-29, 1999

Introduction
From August 21 to 29, 1999, a group of 17 people from six different nations visited Puerto Rico, under the auspices of the Caribbean Project for Justice and Peace, Fellowship of Reconciliation, United Church Board for Homeland Ministries, and the American Friends Service Committee. The delegation sought to learn about the impact of militarism and colonialism on the island of Puerto Rico, and to express solidarity with sectors of Puerto Rican society who are struggling with those ills. We were specifically interested in the controversy over the U.S. Navy's use of the island municipality of Vieques, the increased military presence on Puerto Rico as a whole, and the campaign to free Puerto Rican political prisoners then being held in U.S. prisons for acts and beliefs in favor of independence for Puerto Rico.

The group brought a diverse range of relevant experience. Delegates from Panama, Honduras, Ecuador, Hawai'i, and the United States have investigated the role of U.S. military bases, both in violating the sovereignty and human rights of Latin American peoples and in contaminating lands and waters with explosives and other wastes. Puerto Rican and U.S. activists in the group have worked for many years to address U.S. colonialism in Puerto Rico and for the release of Puerto Rican political prisoners. A Dutch researcher living in Bolivia has documented the fallacies in the military drug war that rationalizes U.S. military operations in Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the region. Other activists have focused on the military's recruitment of Puerto Ricans and other communities of color, getting information to potential recruits to counter the military's sales pitch, and on campaigns for nuclear disarmament and an end to U.S. bombing in Iraq, Yugoslavia and elsewhere. The group included people from Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and other spiritual traditions, and of Latino, Pacific Islander, White, African-American and Asian-American ethnicities. We ranged in age from 23 to 67.

Ho'okupu to La Isla Nena
by Kyle Kajihiro

Terri and I felt that we should bring a ho'okupu — a sacred offering — to help heal Vieques. We brought sea salt (a symbol of Kanaloa, the Native Hawaiian god of the sea), ti (a leaf used for healing and purification and a symbol of Lono, god of plants, life and agriculture), and fresh water from Waikane stream (a symbol of Kane the god of life and renewal). We planned to offer these symbols of resistance and renewal to the 'aina (the land) in a simple ceremony.

Leaders from Vieques directed us to make the offering in the impact area near the chapel that was built. This area has come to be regarded as a sanctuary for all — a pu'uhonua. There Terri identified a tree that felt right, a lone tree, roots exposed, but thriving in the difficult climate. We were told that appropriately, this was one of a few remaining native trees in this area. As we offered the ho'okupu and chants for support, guidance and healing, a small bird called out from the branches above. It was a pitirre that made its home in the tree. This was a good ho'ailona (a sign or omen). We were told that the pitirre is a small bird which fearlessly defends its nest against the attacks of much larger predators like the guaraguao (a hawk-like bird). Because of this, it is a symbol of the Puerto Rican people, resisting the aggression of a much larger colonizer. At that point, we taught the delegation the word "ku'e" meaning "to resist" in Hawaiian. This became the unofficial chant of our group for the rest of the trip.

So goes the saying in Puerto Rico: "Cada guaraguao tiene su pitirre."

Our visit to Puerto Rico came a critical moment, when national pride is palpable. On April 19, 1999, a Navy bomber jet missed its target and dropped two bombs on an observation post in Vieques, killing a civilian guard, David Sanes Rodríguez, and injuring four others. The killing unleashed a growing torrent of opposition to the Navy's activities in Vieques, leading President Bill Clinton to appoint a panel to make recommendations on Vieques. Since late April, citizens of Puerto Rico have established four encampments on the impact area of Vieques, and use of the area was suspended. On the day of our delegation's arrival, the Puerto Rican press reported that Vice-President Al Gore favored the Navy's withdrawal from Vieques, while NATO commander General Wesley Clark said the use of Vieques is essential to military preparedness. This disagreement among U.S. leadership has been inspired by the unity of Puerto Ricans across the political spectrum for the Navy's departure.

Our visit also occurred at a crucial time for the campaign to release 16 Puerto Rican political prisoners, who spent 19 years in U.S. federal prisons, accused of conspiracy related to actions taken for the island's independence. On August 11, President Clinton offered clemency under strict conditions to 13 of the prisoners, of which 11 could be released immediately and two could be released after 5 and 10 more years in prison. Just before our delegation arrived, the FBI released a statement accusing the prisoners of terrorism in an attempt to rescind even the limited clemency offer. Most of our group participated in a massive march of some 25,000 people on August 29, as well as an international conference for the release of the prisoners, organized by Puerto Rico's Committee for Human Rights. On September 10, eleven of the prisoners were released after accepting the conditions set forth in the clemency offer.

With the U.S. military's withdrawal from Panama by the end of 1999 under the terms of the Canal Treaties, Puerto Rico is becoming the Pentagon's "regional hub" for military training and operations in the hemisphere. As such, what happens there should be of interest to activists working to demilitarize U.S. policy at home and abroad. But Puerto Rico's resurgence of national identity and pride, as evidenced in the struggle for Vieques and the political prisoners, and in the general strike against privatization carried out in 1998, is ample cause for solidarity in its own right. The wrongs of colonialism are being matched by a consciousness and resistance that continue to grow.

This report is an attempt to convey our impressions and analysis, and to further the aims of demilitarization and decolonization in Puerto Rico — because Puerto Rico's freedom from guns and domination will bring greater freedom for the rest of us as well.

Puerto Rico's Colonial Status
After four centuries of colonization by Spain, Puerto Rico in 1898 was occupied by the United States during the Spanish-American War. The United States imposed martial law and established sugar as a local monoculture, ruining local agriculture. In 1917, the Jones Act made Puerto Ricans U.S. citizens and subjected them to military conscription, in time for service in World War I, but without voting rights. The U.S. governor prohibited the use of the Puerto Rican flag in 1921.

In this context the Puerto Rican nationalist movement grew during the 1930s, under the leadership of Pedro Albizu Campos, and faced repeated repression, including the massacre in 1937 of 18 people who were part of a peaceful protest in the southern city of Ponce.

The United States continues to exercise colonial power in Puerto Rico. The United Nations Decolonization Committee has passed 18 resolutions recognizing Puerto Rico's right to decolonization. The Puerto Rican constitution, ratified in 1952, prohibits the death penalty. According to Fermín Arraiza, an attorney and active member of the Puerto Rican Bar Association, the United States is seeking to impose the death penalty for Puerto Ricans, claiming that it does not violate Puerto Rico's constitution if prisoners are executed in the United States.

The Bar Association has established two minimum conditions under international law for a legitimate plebiscite on Puerto Rico's status: the release of Puerto Rican political prisoners, and the withdrawal of U.S. military forces on the Puerto Rican archipelago.

Foreign Troops, Guns and Police
The island of Puerto Rico is strategically occupied by the United States military. In fact, Puerto Rico suffers from one of the most intense (if not the most intense) concentrations of United States armed forces and armed law enforcement personnel in the world.

Puerto Rico has a population of 3.7 million persons who live in a land area (including the island of Vieques and Culebra) of only 3,427 square miles. This territory is smaller than the area of any single state in the United States except Rhode Island and Delaware. The island is occupied by about five thousand active-duty U.S. soldiers, sailors and Air Force personnel on several large U.S. military bases, plus thousands more reservists, National Guard members and civilian employees. The influx of thousands of new U.S. military personnel has been accelerated by the transfer of armed forces from Panama to Puerto Rico, where Fort Buchanan in San Juan has become the new headquarters of U.S. Army South following the closing of U.S. military facilities in Panama earlier in 1999, in compliance with the terms of the Panama Canal Treaty.

A major U.S. naval base is Roosevelt Roads, located on the eastern end of the island. This strategic base is a nuclear submarine facility for the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and also serves as a base for some 350 Special Forces troops and an air base for 66 military transport planes that will be used to transport U.S. troops in the event of intervention in other Latin American nations. Roosevelt Roads' control extends to the island of Vieques, where the Navy occupies 27,000 of 33,000 acres of land (see below). Ramey Air Force Base in Aguadilla, which had reverted to civilian use, is now being used as a base for militarized anti-drug trafficking operations. There are 20 military armories in locations throughout the island, and also a major base in Salinas (Camp Santiago) for the Puerto Rican National Guard (whose 11,260 soldiers will serve as an auxiliary U.S. force for armed intervention in Latin America and for internal military deployment within Puerto Rico). Numerous electronic surveillance facilities are located on Puerto Rico, including Relocatable Over-the-Horizon Radar (ROTHR) used to track aircraft suspected in narcotics trafficking. Thirteen percent of Puerto Rico is occupied by military bases and installations.

There is also a heavy concentration of both North American and Puerto Rican armed police and security guards on the island. The Drug Enforcement Administration has 156 agents assigned to Puerto Rico, and the FBI has 176 (with FBI regional offices in Fajardo and Ponce). The local Puerto Rican police presence has also dramatically increased in the last seven years, from 12,000 in 1992 to 18,000 in 1999. Finally, there are an estimated 40,000 private security guards on the island. All told, there are some 400,000 "legal" weapons in Puerto Rico.

Unfortunately, despite requests a month in advance of our visit, both Navy and U.S. Army South refused to meet with our delegation — a decision made, at least in the case of the Army, by the chief of staff. We also sought a briefing from Special Operations Command South (SOCSOUTH), which was not possible. Despite promises to do so, SOCSOUTH did not respond to written questions submitted after our visit.

On August 27, the International Delegation went to the gates of Fort Buchanan to request a meeting one last time. With no response, we conducted a peaceful vigil at the base entrance, and were joined by Puerto Rican activists as well.

Puerto Ricans and Overseas Wars
Despite being denied either full United States citizenship or the right to full independence, Puerto Ricans have been subject to conscription into the U.S. military and they have suffered disproportionate casualties in U.S. wars. Two hundred thousand Puerto Ricans served in the U.S. military during the past century (including World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the war in Indochina). These numbers do not include the more than two million Puerto Ricans living in the United States who have served, or Puerto Rican troops who took part in U.S. military actions in Panama, Grenada or other places.

Some 348 Puerto Rican troops were killed in World War I, 743 were killed in Korea, and 1,300 died in Indochina. 17,855 Puerto Ricans served in the First World War. It has been estimated that 52% of the Puerto Rican troops who returned from the Vietnam War experienced some form of social or mental functioning problems as a result of war-related trauma.

Today, Puerto Rico is a glaring example of economic conscription, known as the "poverty draft," which primarily targets youth of color from low-income areas, urban and rural. With unemployment twice the U.S. average and low wages, the island is fertile ground for the military's deceptive recruiting practices. Some three thousand Puerto Rican youths are recruited into the armed forces each year, making Puerto Rico the area of more military recruitment than any U.S. state. According to the Army Times, "The San Juan and Aguadilla [recruiting] companies averaged nearly 900 Regular Army and Army Reserve recruits in 1998, and nearly 800 in 1997." To offer perspective, the average for the Army's other recruiting companies was half of these totals.

Vieques: Land of Hope amid Destruction
Vieques is a small island on the eastern end of Puerto Rico, known as La Isla Nena, with a land area of 33,000 acres. A beautiful place with crystal clear water, Vieques is home to 9,300 viequenses. It has become the scene of a drama that is global in its political scope and of profound spiritual dimensions.

The Navy uses the eastern end of Vieques as a bombing range — both from ships and the air — and as an amphibious landing maneuver area. On the western side of Vieques, the Navy maintains an ammunition dump and is installing a powerful radar (the ROTHR transmitter), for use in the drug war, that is widely opposed in Vieques. Special Operations forces recently moved to Puerto Rico from Panama plan to use Vieques for training of their own troops. The Navy employs only about 80 people from Vieques, giving the lie to typical arguments about the military's economic benefits.

The Navy assumed control of more than three quarters of Vieques in 1941 through an act of "eminent domain," leaving viequenses in the middle of the island sandwiched between Navy activities. The prices the Navy paid for the land were "ridiculous," residents told us — a fraction of what their value would be on the market. Viequenses make their livings from government employment, tourism, small industry, and the fishing industry, but the municipal government estimates that the island experiences a 50% unemployment rate. "Many people from Vieques have had to emigrate and from there they send money to their families living in Vieques," according to community leader Ismael Guadalupe. "As they leave the family begins to come apart," he said. Parents told us that when their children graduate from high school, pride in their children is tinged with sadness, because it means the children will leave home.

"We are slaves and prisoners on our own island," says community leader and teacher Alba Encarnación. Dr. Rafael Rivera Castaño, a native of the island who has conducted epidemiological studies on Vieques, pointed out that Vieques has a cancer rate 27% higher than the rest of Puerto Rico, most likely caused by heavy metals and chemicals released into the soil, air and groundwater from explosive impacts. The 16 metals found in the soil include arsenic, mercury, lead and cadmium. He noted the case of a woman who lives near the impact area and had just received lab results of an analysis of her hair, showing an excess of eight heavy metals.

The lack of health services on Vieques puts residents at precarious risk in cases of emergency. (There is no regular ferry service after 4 p.m.) For lack of such services, women have not given birth on Vieques since 1985. "They have taken from us the privilege of having native-born viequenses," says Alba Encarnación. "The people of Vieques have a serious problem with the Navy, but we also have a serious problem with the government of Puerto Rico which attacks our quality of life. Until now they have never represented us. Just the opposite: they use us, they take our money and nothing comes back."

The Navy, for its part, recently admitted that it fired napalm onto Vieques in 1993, a charge it had long denied. The Navy also illegally fired depleted uranium (DU) projectiles onto Vieques in February 1999. DU was used intensively during the Persian Gulf War because of its ability to penetrate armored tanks. Inhalation of the dust generated by DU's impact is believed to have contributed to health problems of Gulf War veterans as well as Iraqi civilians.

The eastern end of Vieques "used to be a wetlands complex, it was very easy for species to go from one side to the other, and for people as well," environmentalist Lirio Márquez told us. However, the constant bombing of lagoons in the area, as well as the construction of a road that cut them off from the sea, have destroyed the lagoons. "They don't care if they killed the lagoon, that's not their problem. They just killed it," said Jorge Fernández Porto, an ecologist who has extensively investigated the Navy's impact on Vieques.

This devastation has not passed without a sustained history of resistance in Vieques, especially in the 1970s. In 1978, fisherman Carlos Zenon and others responded to an attempt by the Navy to bar fishing from all waters around Vieques by occupying an area where warships were to carry out their maneuvers and pulling a chain into the ships' rotors, freezing them in place and effectively canceling the maneuvers. The following year, Ismael Guadalupe was one of 21 Puerto Ricans arrested on the beach of Vieques. He spent six months in federal prisons, where another protester, Angel Rodríguez Cristóbal was killed. "Cristóbal was killed in a jail in Tallahassee for the crime of stepping on a Puerto Rican beach," Guadalupe declared. In 1993 the Vieques struggle received a new impulse with the founding of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, which coordinates most activism in Vieques around the Navy.

On April 19, 1999, an FA-18 Navy jet pilot, in training for bombing missions in Yugoslavia, missed his target by nearly two miles and hit the Navy's observation post, killing David Sanes Rodríguez, a viequense working as a guard, and wounding four others. The errant bombs — which were not the first to miss their targets in Vieques — gave rise to a movement that swept Puerto Rico. Four civilian encampments have been established in the impact area, recalling the title of a book recently published in Puerto Rico, "Invading the Invader." Our delegation visited three of the camps, including a hill baptized Monte David after Sanes Rodríguez, and invoking the battle of David vs. Goliath. A cross on Monte David declares: "Not one more death." The Navy suspended all live firing on Vieques on April 21, when the first camp was set up. We met with Senator Rubén Berríos of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, who has been present in the impact area since early May. Vegetation is beginning to grow back in some areas. A camp initiated by teachers is offering classes to people who visit. A chapel has been built.

Many of us noted that visiting the impact area is completely different from seeing photographs. It must be seen to be believed. The beauty of the landscape and sea, together with the utter destruction wrought by the Navy, and the hope expressed by the people of Vieques occupying the area — even members of our group who are not Christians had a sense of resurrection. We observed an unmovable commitment by the viequenses to free their island of the military's presence, and a profound hope in their own self-determination.

Even pro-statehood Governor Pedro Rosselló, who invited U.S. Army South to Puerto Rico, is actively working for the Navy not only to end the use of live munitions on Vieques, but to withdraw from the Isla Nena. Subsequent to our visit, Governor Rosselló asked Senator Frank Murkowski (Alaska) to introduce legislation which will turn the island over the government of Puerto Rico.

President Clinton appointed a panel to make recommendations about the future of the Navy in Vieques. But in July, while the panel was studying the issue, Clinton wrote a brief memo about Vieques saying: "This is wrong. I think they don't want us there. That's the main point. The Navy can find a way to work around it."

Holding the Military Accountable
The experience of communities undergoing base closure and clean-up in the United States indicates that the movement to free Vieques should not allow the military to leave without clear agreements for clean-up, and without a regulatory mechanism for holding the military accountable. There are different legal mechanisms for triggering a closure and clean-up of a site like Vieques. While most U.S. base closures are governed by the Base Relocation And Closure Act (BRAC) or by administrative closure procedures, there may be advantages for the people of Vieques to seek a separate legislative solution which includes adequate funding and regulatory oversight, similar to the clean-up of Kaho'olawe Island in Hawai'i.

The stakes in Vieques are high. The Navy and its supporters claim that an end to bombing on Vieques "will harm America's combat readiness." Navy officials say some ships headed for the Persian Gulf will not be qualified to shoot their 5-inch guns unless they can return to Vieques by December.

As witnesses to the devastation wrought by "America's combat readiness" in Panama, Iraq, Kosovo, and elsewhere, we believe that is precisely the point. Perhaps, if the Navy and its military allies cannot train by destroying Vieques' ecology and human health, the United States will not unilaterally impose its will in conflicts in Latin America, the Middle East and Europe. Perhaps the United States will be required to negotiate on terms of greater equity instead of the threat of overwhelming violence.

"Vieques has been shackled with iron," Miguel Angel Bonano told us. "Thanks to God, Vieques is freeing itself of these shackles, thanks to good people, thanks to people who have some love in their hearts."

"What I ask of you," artist Myrna Pagan said to us, "is that when you leave our shores, that you concentrate on us, think deeply about us, and pray with us."

Puerto Rico's Right to Human Dignity
by Rev. Alfonso A. Román

From August 26 to 30, most members of the delegation participated in the Conference on Behalf of the Amnesty Petition for Puerto Rican Political Prisoners. The symposium's theme was: Freedom for our brothers and sisters in jail! It is time to bring them home! There were three purposes for the conference, which was planned prior to the conditional amnesty offered by President Clinton. First, to coordinate the international effort on behalf of the prisoners. Second, to prepare strategies to assist the prisoners as they become integrated into society. And third, to understand the similarities of world-wide actions with regards to political prisoners. The symposium was organized and chaired by Dr. Luis Nieves Falcón, Coordinator of the Human Rights Committee for the Political Prisoners.

Among the international participants were representatives of solidarity movements from Northern Ireland, Spain, India, Chile, Canada, South Africa, and Mexico, in addition to our delegation. We had the opportunity to listen to messages of solidarity from England, Japan, Argentina, France, Dominican Republic, Spain, Guatemala, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Fiji, Malaysia, Italy, Nicaragua, Brazil, Scotland, Cuba, Peru, Costa Rica, Haiti and the Czechoslovak Republic. There was also a video presentation from the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Mr. Jose Ramos Horta of East Timor.

The program included an update and analysis on efforts in the U.S. to liberate the prisoners, the Puerto Rican ecumenical movement toward that effort, and reflections by relatives of the prisoners on the impact of incarceration in their lives. There were also eight workshops facilitated by international leaders on: Human Rights and the Right to Self-Determination; Economy, Dependence and Human Rights; Dis-information and Political Prisoners; Political Prisoners, Human Dignity and Human Rights; the Strategy of Political Repression in Puerto Rico; Resistance and Survival in the Prison Setting; and Readjustment after the Prison Experience.

Highlights of the conference included a PBS documentary, "The Double Life of Ernesto Gómez Gómez," that describes the story of Guillermo Morales, son of Dylcia Pagan, one of the prisoners released. There were also edifying cultural activities reflecting strong Puerto Rican nationalism, and inspirational emotional experiences with the prisoners' relatives present. The most exciting experience was the Great March for the Freedom of all the Political Prisoners: It is Time to Bring Them Home. The number of participants — tens of thousands —, the religious leaders' solidarity, and the general spirit of togetherness among everyone, independent of their political views about Puerto Rico's status, was something I have never seen in my country.

The Symposium adopted a resolution that affirmed support for the prisoners' unconditional release, committed participants to expose the violations of international law regarding United Nations resolutions on human rights and self-determination, and recognized that the prisoners' liberation is crucial for the process of reconciliation and to find a solution to the status question of Puerto Rico.

Participants also affirmed the prisoners' decisions to accept the conditions imposed by President Clinton and to continue their support once they returned to freedom. Both Dr. Nieves Falcón and Jan Susler, the leading lawyers working for the liberation of the prisoners, committed themselves to visit each one to provide information and to help them make a prudent decision.

Sequence
Subsequent to the Symposium everything moved very fast. President Clinton forced the prisoners to make a decision by the end of the following week. The "clemency" decision that he rendered — really a parole procedure — was censured by both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. It has been used as an issue in New York's political race between Ms. Clinton and Mayor Giuliani, both probable candidates for a Senate seat, and incited Congress to an investigation of the documents utilized for the President's decision. What has been more deleterious has been the FBI campaign to undermine the process by continuing to portray the political prisoners as terrorists, implying that those who accepted the release offer were going to repeat their armed activities.

Dis-information has abounded: about the lack of evidence for the prisoners' incarceration, the unfairness of the length of their sentences, the silence about the connection between their struggle to end the colonial situation of Puerto Rico and the continuous harassment by the U.S. government of those who are committed to that struggle, the hypocrisy of the United States in its defense of other countries seeking liberation, and the rejection since 1997 by the prisoners of the use of military weapons as a means toward the independence of their country.

Eleven of the political prisoners are out of the prison now, but still in a very restricted situation. Nine decided to return to Puerto Rico, and they were received as patriots and heroes by many Puerto Ricans. Alejandrina Torres and Alberto Rodríguez returned to Chicago, where they were acclaimed by the community and Alejandrina was received by her church as a faithful Christian. Her son, Carlos Alberto Torres, is one of the four who were not granted clemency. The other three are Oscar López Rivera, who declined a reduction in sentence to ten more years, Juan Segarra Palmer, who accepted a reduction of his sentence, and Antonio Camacho Negron, who will soon complete his sentence. José Solís, who was convicted for a bombing admittedly carried out by an FBI agent, and Haydée Beltrán, also considered political prisoners, are also still in jail.

The symposium's lessons about dis-information and how to support released political prisoners are critical now. Solidarity groups are urged to continue their commitment in these new circumstances. La lucha sigue.

Puerto Rico, Latin America and Hawai'i
The Parallels with Other Nations
Delegates found many similarities between militarism in Puerto Rico and Vieques and that of their own countries. As they exchanged information with one another, they also came to new realizations about the role of militarism in maintaining a vast U.S. empire.

There is a direct connection between the militarization of Panama and Puerto Rico. The closure of military bases in the Panama Canal Zone in preparation for the final transfer of the canal zone to Panama at the end of 1999 has meant the relocation of the SOCSOUTH to Puerto Rico.

The closure of military bases in Panama is a mixed blessing for the people of Panama. According to delegation member José Ramón García, a leader with the (movement for the defense of sovereignty in Panama), the U.S. military destroyed and contaminated more than 8,000 acres of land in the former Panama Canal Zone. Because the United States has neglected Canal Treaty provisions for U.S. clean-up of sites it had used, the Panamanian people are left with dangerously contaminated lands. Some may be too costly to clean up for reuse any time in the near future. Unexploded ordnance (UXO's) have claimed the lives of 21 Panamanians. García's advice to the Viequenses was to ensure that the U.S. military is held responsible for the clean up and restoration of the lands they have used.

Panama also played a key role in the period of U.S. imperial expansion in the early 1900s. With the annexation of territories in the Pacific and the Caribbean in 1898, U.S. military planners saw the Panama Canal quite literally as a keystone that connected the Caribbean and the Pacific branches of the U.S. empire.

Militarizing the War on Drugs: Bolivia, Ecuador and Honduras
With communism fading as a viable enemy of convenience for the United States, the military has had to conjure up other plausible threats in order to justify the enormous military spending and the massive force it now has deployed throughout the world. In Latin America, the new "enemy" has become drugs. A new wave of militarization in Latin America has taken place under the pretext of the "war on drugs." Puerto Rico, as the new home to U.S. Army South, SOCSOUTH, and ROTHR radars, is the center of U.S. military drug interdiction efforts in the region.

Delegation member Theo Roncken of the Bolivian-based group Acción Andina, has documented in a report the false claims of the United States regarding the need for and effectiveness of the militarized drug interdiction in Latin America. He found that despite the intensification of military activity in drug interdiction, the production of and flow of cocaine into the United States has not been reduced. This, he explained, exposes the real purpose of the U.S. military in Latin America: to use covert military force in order to maintain U.S. hegemony in the region and suppress insurgent movements.

The militarization of the drug war has also manifested itself in Ecuador, where the U.S. is building a new military base in coastal city of Manta. Silvia Haro explained that the same anti-drug rhetoric is being used to justify this expansion.

The U.S. military presence in Honduras has declined since the end of the war in Nicaragua, when the United States used military bases in Honduras to train and arm Nicaraguan Contra rebels. However, according to delegation member Merly Eguigure, of the feminist human rights organization Visitación Padilla, the military base at Palmerola houses 500 U.S. troops and is now justified as part of the regional anti-drug effort.

Resistance in Paradise: Hawai'i and Puerto Rico
The conditions and circumstances of the military presence in Puerto Rico were very familiar to Terri Keko'olani Raymond of 'Ohana Koa / Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific and Kyle Kajihiro of the American Friends Service Committee Hawai'i Area Program, both representatives from Hawai'i. Like Puerto Rico, Hawai'i came under the control of the United States in 1898. Like Puerto Rico, Hawai'i is heavily militarized. Thirteen percent of the land of Puerto Rico is controlled by the U.S. military. Approximately 3.4% of the total land of Hawai'i, including 14% of the island of O'ahu are controlled by the U.S. military. Whereas, Puerto Rico is now the home of the SOCSOUTH, Hawai'i is currently the headquarters of the United States Pacific Command. Like Puerto Rico, Hawai'i is used by the U.S. military as the headquarters from which to police its empire.

There are a number of military training sites in Hawai'i which resemble the situation in Vieques including Kaho'olawe and Makua. Kaho'olawe is a tiny island that was used by the Navy as a target island for over thirty years. Lands were expropriated by the military under similar circumstances. The ecology of the island was destroyed by the years of bombing. Like Vieques, Kaho'olawe is rich with indigenous cultural sites, and is considered sacred for religious reasons. Unlike Vieques, Kaho'olawe is uninhabited.

In the 1970s Native Hawaiian activists began to protest the Navy bombing of Kaho'olawe, organizing illegal occupations of the impact area in order to stop the bombing. These activities were taking place at the same time that resistance from the fishermen of Vieques began to gain momentum.

For Kyle and Terri, meeting Carlos Zenon and Ismael Guadalupe was important for reestablishing of ties between the Kaho'olawe movement and Vieques. Both Carlos and Ismael knew about Kaho'olawe and remembered meeting activists from the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana back in 1979.

The movement to protect Kaho'olawe succeeded in stopping the bombing by utilizing both direct action as well as environmental and cultural preservation laws. Eventually through legislation, the island was designated to be returned to the state as a trust, eventually to become part of the land base for a Native Hawaiian nation when it is established. Four hundred and twenty-eight million dollars were appropriated for the clean-up, and special regulatory mechanisms were set up to insure some community oversight over the clean-up and restoration process. Unfortunately, even these funds will be insufficient for the complete clean-up of Kaho'olawe.

Makua valley on the island of O'ahu has also been used as a live-fire range since the 1920s. Tenants of the valley were evicted by the military during World War II. There is presently a movement for the return and clean-up of Makua. The Hawai'i delegates hope that the stories they bring back from Vieques will help to inspire the movement for the return of Makua.

One contradiction that plagues both Puerto Rico and Hawai'i is each island's economic dependency on militarism. In Hawai'i, the military is the second largest source of revenue. This dependency enables the military to secure its position in Hawai'i. There are similar dynamics in Puerto Rico. In a sense, opposition to the military in Vieques was aided by the fact that the Navy contributed very little to the economy of Vieques. In contrast, opposition to the military bases on the main island of Puerto Rico would be divided because of the economic dependency that has been created. Certain politicians were eager to ride the wave of opposition to the Navy's presence in Vieques, but quickly reassured the public that they supported a strong military presence in Puerto Rico.

Recommendations

1. That President Clinton order the immediate and permanent suspension of all Navy activities on Vieques, and the ordered withdrawal of all Navy personnel.

2. That the Navy's withdrawal plan include an agreement for the cleanup of all lands and waters used by the Navy to a standard that allows for broad public use. The framework established for the cleanup of the former naval bombing range in Kaho'olawe, Hawai'i is the best starting point for such an agreement. We believe that the lands used by the Navy should be converted into a land trust under the authority of the people of Vieques.

3. That the United States commit itself to the orderly withdrawal of U.S. military personnel from Puerto Rico, and the transfer of lands occupied by the Department of Defense to Puerto Rico, as a precondition for Puerto Rico's free choice about its political status, and as a necessary step toward the demilitarization of Puerto Rican society as well as the Latin American and Caribbean region.

4. That the remaining Puerto Rican political prisoners be granted unconditional release; and that members of Congress accept the prisoners' release, as an action completely within the executive's clemency constitutional powers.

Resources

For more information, contact the following organizations:

Caribbean Project for Justice and Peace
P.O. Box 13241, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00908
Tel: 787-722-1640 Fax: 787-724-5789
E-mail: wandac@coqui.net

Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques
Apartado 854, Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765
Tel: 787-741-2304 or 741-8651
E-mail: bieke@coqui.net

Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean
2017 Mission St. #305, San Francisco, CA 94110
Tel: 415-495-6334 Fax: 415-495-5628
E-mail: forlatam@igc.org
Web: www.forusa.org

United Church Board for Homeland Ministries
700 Prospect Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115
Tel: 216-736-3280 Fax: 216-736-3263
E-mail: ikutan@ucc.org

Comité de Derechos Humanos de Puerto Rico
Ca. Rodríguez Serra #8 2-B, El Condado
San Juan, Puerto Rico 00907
Tel/Fax: 787-723-9829

Web-sites:

• http://www.redbetances.com
  An extensive site with information about Vieques, history of independence struggles, political prisoners, and other issues.

• http://www.viequeslibre.org/
  A bilingual page with information on history, news and action suggestions.

• http://www.prisionerospoliticos.com
  Information about the 16 Puerto Rican political prisoners that have been held in U.S. prisons.

• www.pip.org.pr/documentos/articulos/art_4-99/galeria.html
  A gallery of photos of the Navy's impact area in Vieques, sponsored by the Puerto Rican Independence Party.

• http://www.viequestimes.com/index.htm/newspape.htm
  The monthly newspaper of Vieques, The Vieques Times.

Delegation Participants

• Gloria Bletter, attorney, New York, New York
• Wanda Colón Cortez, Caribbean Project for Justice and Peace, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Merly Eguigure, Comité Visitación Padilla, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
• José Ramon García, National Movement for the Defense of Sovereignty, Panamá, Rep. of Panamá
• Teresa Grady, massage therapist and activist, Ithaca, New York
• Mario Hardy, Central Committee for Conscientious Objection, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Silvia Haro, Service for Peace and Justice (SERPAJ)-Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
• Aimee Houghton, Center for Public Environmental Oversight, Washington, DC
• Rev. Nozomi Ikuta, United Church Board for Homeland Ministries, Cleveland, Ohio
• Kyle Kajihiro, American Friends Service Committee, Honolulu, Hawai'i
• John Lindsay-Poland, Fellowship of Reconciliation, San Francisco, California
• Harold Locke, retired chemist, Easton, Pennsylvania
• Paul Magno, Peter Maurin Center, Washington DC
• Clayton Ramey (Ibrahim Malik Abdil-Mu-id), Fellowship of Reconciliation, Nyack, New York
• Maritza Ramos, National Committee to Free Puerto Rican POWs and Political Prisoners, Chicago, Illinois
• Terri Keko'olani Raymond , Ohana Koa and Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific movement, Kaneohe, Hawai'i
• Rev. Alfonso Roman, retired pastor, Newark, New Jersey
• Theo Roncken, researcher, Acción Andina, Cochabamba, Bolivia
• Puerto Rican organizational and community members whom the delegation met:
• Prof. Jorge Rodrígez Berúff, University of Puerto Rico
• Alejandro Torres Rivera, Congreso Nacional Hostosiano
• José (Che) Paraliticci, Todo Puerto Rico con Vieques
• Fermín L. Arraiza Navas, José Juan Nazarro, attorneys
• Wilma E. Reveron Collazo, Puerto Decolonization Committee
• Dr. Rafael Rivera Castaño, Ismael Guadalupe, Robert Rabin, Nilda Medina, Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques
• Carlos Zenon, Pedro Zenon, Monte David, Vieques Fishermen's Association
• Jorge Fernández Porto, environmental advisor, Puerto Rican Independence Party
• Rubén Berríos, senator, Puerto Rican Independence Party
• Agustín de Jesús Montero, Frente Socialista
• Dr. Luis Nieves Falcón, Comité de Derechos Humanos de Puerto Rico
• Millie Gil, Journalist — Radio Notiuno
• Carmelo Ruiz, Journalist, CLARIDAD
• Vieques community members: Myrna Pagan, Vieques Conservation; Miguel Angel Bonano, member of Catolicos por la Paz; Padre Nelson López; Prof. Alba N. Encarnación; Dámaso Serrano López; José C. Morales Diaz; Stacy Notine.

Thanks
This report was written by Silvia Haro, Kyle Kajihiro, John Lindsay-Poland, Paul Magno, Clayton Ramey, Alfonso Roman, and Theo Roncken. The organizations and individuals who participated in the delegation express our gratitude to the American Friends Service Committee and to Donald Irish for financial assistance that made possible the delegation and the production of this report.

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Fellowship of Reconciliation
Puerto Rico Campaign
Produced by the Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean
2017 Mission St., #305, San Francisco, CA 94110
Tel: (415) 495-6334, Fax: (415) 495-5628,E-mail: forlatam@igc.apc.org

©2001 Fellowship of Reconciliation