accompanying his father on a mission to take food to protestors camped out along the beaches
and hillsides of Vieques Island, the boy asked why there were no birds and fish in the crater-filled
zone. “That's the question all of us are asking,” responded Pablo Connelly.
Within an hour, Urayoan and his father were under arrest by U.S. Navy security guards,
charged with trespassing on the island where they live. The pair was released seven hours later.
While Urayoan wasn't charged, Pablo Connelly faces a U.S. Federal Court appearance that could
cost him six months in jail. He's not afraid. “It would just demonstrate to the world who really has
strength,” Connelly said. “There's no sacrifice too big in defending the life and health of my
children. My kids want me at home, but I would prefer to have healthy fatherless children than to
live in a situation where we are all sick.”
Although dozens of protestors have been camped out in prohibited zones of Vieques since
a civilian security guard was accidently killed April 19 (see LP May 17, 1999), Connelly was the
first to be arrested. After the April incident the Navy had initially threatened to drag off all the
trespassers, yet the islanders' movement, rejuvenated by the guard's death, has garnered support
from all corners of Puerto Rican society. The Navy has been forced, at least temporarily, to back
down. Amid the craters and bomb debris of Vieques, today it is strangely quiet.
Ever since the Navy seized the island in 1941, the people of Vieques–restricted to less
than one-third of their island–have struggled to close the bombing range and munitions storage
facilities that occupy opposite ends of the 21-mile long island. Lead by Vieques fishermen, the
movement drew worldwide attention in the 1970s. But the arrest of 21 activists, 13 of whom
were jailed in the U.S., as well as partisan squabbles between Puerto Rico's alphabet soup of
political parties, contributed to diminished activism here and less interest abroad.
It may be different this time around. Within minutes of Connelly's detention, people on
Vieques were spreading the news on the Internet. And new allies abound; although traditional
political activists are present, including independence leaders like Senator Ruben Berrios, so are
leaders from unions, churches, and environmental groups.
“The problem for the Navy is that there's consensus about Vieques for the first time
among Puerto Ricans. It's no longer just a theme for the political parties,” said Oscar Amador, a
retired attorney on Vieques.
“It's no longer a cause of the independents, of the communists, or the socialists, but of all
Puerto Ricans, even the archbishop and the people in favor of statehood,” said Connelly. “And it's
become an international movement. The Navy has lost of lot of space in which to maneuver.”
The new consensus was symbolized by a May 30 protest along Yayí Bay on the island's
north coast. Union activists built a small chapel at the edge of a bombing range. The building was
dedicated by church leaders in an ecumenical service; more than 300 people committed civil
disobedience by coming to Yayí Bay to pray.
“Tomorrow they may tear down this chapel, but our struggle for life will go on,” declared
Hilario Sanchez, a Catholic priest who gave the homily. “We in the church are clear: the Navy
must leave Vieques!”
The Catholic bishop whose diocese includes Vieques, Alvaro Corrada del Rio of Caguas,
sent Sanchez as his personal representative to the May 30 protest.
“It should remain clear that the diocese will not abandon its peaceful protest until military
activities cease and the land of Vieques is returned to its people,” said Corrada in a May 19
declaration. The prelate has promised support for civil disobedience if the Navy resumes shelling
the island.
Others are adding their voices. “There's more support now for Vieques among
environmentalists and other groups that didn't get on board in the seventies,” said Neftali Garcia,
an environmental scientist from San Juan. Garcia has been studying the Navy's effect on Vieques
flora and fauna for more than 20 years. Accompanied by environmentalists from San Juan and the
U.S., he spent May 30 gathering soil and water samples from craters and lagoons in the bombing
range.
Garcia said parts of the island have suffered severe damage from decades of military
activity. Reefs have been shattered, lagoons dried up. Yet Garcia said the the halt in bombing
following the April 19 accident has given signs of environmental hope. “The fishermen have
reported seeing seven turtles laying eggs along the beaches of the bombing range,” Garcia said.
“As long as the maneuvers continued, the turtles stayed away.”
Another sign of new political potency is the Alianza de Mujeres Viquenses, a group of two
dozen women formed in May. “It's been mostly the men of Vieques who have spoken out. We
wanted to increase the participation of women in the struggle,” said social worker Gladys Rivera.
“Vieques is our home, and as housewives we play a strong role in defending our home and
keeping order in our home. We can begin to clean up and instill order in our home by demanding
that the Navy leave.”
Rivera said many militant fishermen have asked their wives to join the Alianza as a way of
broadening support. It's a growing movement. “In the 70s the movement grew cold because of
internal conflicts,” said Rivera, “but today we're all speaking with one voice. And we're speaking
loudly.”
- From Vieques, Paul Jeffrey
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