• Subject: Nuclear officials, activists clash over depleted uranium in Vieques
  Date:     Fri, 9 Jun 2000 00:33:04 EDT
  6.11 p.m. ET (2222 GMT) June 6, 2000
  By Chris Hawley, Associated Press
  
  SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Environmental activists clashed with a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission official Tuesday over cleanup plans that could leave buried some of the radioactive depleted uranium rounds mistakenly fired on the Navy's Vieques bombing range.
  
  For the rest of the article, click on: Uranium.

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This is a late posting, but in records a significant event.

CONVERSATION WITH DR. DOUG ROKKE
MILITARY SCIENTIST, SPECIALIST IN DEPLETED URANIUM

VIEQUES, DEPLETED URANIUM WEAPONS AND MILITARY CONTAMINATION

WEDNESDAY, 7 JUNE, 2000
7:30 PM
FOUNDATION MANRIQUE CABRERA
MUÑOZ RIVERA AVE. # 602
HATO REY
(FRONT OF JUDICIAL CENTER)

FOR MORE INFO CALL CARIBBEAN PROJECT FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE 722-1640

¡FUERA LA MARINA DE VIEQUES!

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6 June, 2000
Press Release

The struggle of the people of Vieques received an important message of support from the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Buddhism. The message came in response to a petition for support from Hector Rosario, a Puerto Rican graduate student at Dartmouth in New Hampshire in coordination with the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques. The text of the short message reads as follows:

"******************

H.H. the Dalai Lama

MESSAGE

I am concerned by the terrible effects on people, animals and plants of Vieques, an island in the archipelago of Puerto Rico, as a result of the military exercises conducted on the island. I am told that because of the pollution from these military exercises the cancer rate in Vieques is much higher than on the main island. I therefore support the action of the people of Vieques in protesting against such military exercises.

May 8, 2000

This important message of solidarity from the maximum leader of the Buddhist world, adds to a long list of religious leaders representing all the spiritual tendencies that have expressed support for the struggle for peace on Vieques and for the action of all Puerto Ricans to end the military presence on the Island of Vieques.

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Vieques Report
Tuesday, 6 June, 2000

Last week was one of constant action against the Navy presence in Vieques. Last Monday, Memorial Day, 30 Viequense Veterans United for Peace, turned in their war medals before the Veterans Monumento at the Capitol building in San Juan, as part of a protest ceremony organized by the Puerto Rico chapter of Veterans for Peace.

In the early morning hours of Thursday, 1 June, 26 people - mostly women from Vieques - headed toward the Navy´s bombing range. They arrived in fishing boats at a beach on the North coast and walked for two until reaching the Yayi beach area, where the ecumenical chapel - part of the civil disobedience camps - was located. There the women placed 13 black crosses in memory of Vieques women who died of cancer or other sicknesses related to the environmental contamination produced by US Navy activities. Directed by Nilda Medina, founding member of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques and leader of the Justice and Peace Camp, the group, together with 6 members of the Puerto Rican press, fulfilled their mission, passing undetected into the Navy restricted zone, penetrating the bombing range, carrying out a protest ceremony before finally being arrested.

The action was carryed out to denounce Navy plans (announced in the press) to detonate, that very day, an undetermined quantity of burried and dispersed unexploted ordnance.

That day the Navy did not even detonate a firecracker!

Over half of the group was comprised of Viequense women. The expedition also inclueded Lolita Lebron and Rosa Meneses Albizu Campos. During a celebration at Justice and Peace Camp that night, after the protester were liberated at Navy Station Roosevelt Roads in the town of Ceiba (the group had been transferred to NSRR early in the morning following their arrest on Vieques) - several Vieques women expressed their desire to return soon to the restricted zone to continue the process of relcaiming what belongs to the people of Vieques by natural right.

Tito de Jesús (known as Tito Kayay) was the only member of the group not liberated from detention because he refused to offer any information during the legal process. Yesterday, 5 June, Tito was released.

On Saturday, 3 June, we received a delegation of the 54 arrested on 13 May. We marched together from the dock to the Public Square to hold a press conference. Graciany Miranda Marchan (ex President of the PR Bar Association), one of the 54, said the group had travelled to Vieques to openly challenge the court order prohibiting them from returning to Vieques.

That Saturday night, during the vigil that´s held every Saturday, the activity was dedicated to all those arrested - the 21 in 1979, the more than 200 this past 4 May, the 54 on the 13th of May and the 26 arrested on 1 June - as well as the many who will be arrested in the following days, weeks and months. Over 250 people participated in the vigil that inclued a series of militant piquets in front of the gates to Camp García.

Sunday, June 4th, on the morning ferry we recieved Ramón Figueroa who brought a gigantic Vieques flag that will travel to NY to participate in the 11 June parade in the Big Apple. About 50 people from Vieques and the main island marched with the flag to the town square to hold a ceremony and the blessing of the flag by the Parrish Priest and the Pastor of the Methodist Church. A 4 foot tall Virigen of Peace for Vieques, sculpted in wood (cedro) by Puerto Rican artesan, Celestino Avilés, also received the blessing of the church officials and was warmly received by the people of Vieques during the ceremony.

The people of Vieques are on constant alert and in constant protest. Our actions inside the Navy´s restricted zone are the topic of a constant process of conspiration and dialogue amongst the grass roots organizations here.

We are all clear in our belief that
GOD DID NOT BRING US HERE TO TURN BACK,
S-HE BROUGHT US HERE
TO TAKE POSSESSION OF THE LAND S-HE GAVE US

Robert L. Rabin Siegal

¡US NAVY OUT OF VIEQUES!

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• Subject: Veterans return medals in protest for bombings in Vieques
  Date:     Thu, 01 Jun 2000 13:22:54 -0700
  From:     Claudia K White
  

• Subject: Vieques Communique
  Date:     Thu, 1 Jun 2000 06:48:53 -0100
  June 1, 2000
  Press Release
  
  Viequense Women enter Navy restricted zone
  
  Serious concerns for the health of their families and the high incidence of cancer in Vieques motivated a delegation of Viequense women to enter the U.S. Navy restricted zone just before dawn this morning. The group entered the bombing zone in order to paralyze the bombing practices that had been announced by the Navy in recent days. The Viequense women, accompanied by several women from the main island of Puerto Rico and men from both Vieques and the main island, denounced the threats to the health of all Viequenses that result from the detonation of explosives on the eastern part of the island.
  
  "As Puerto Rican women, and primarily women from Vieques, our consciences do not allow us to sleep peacefully in our houses while the Isla Nena is being tortured and bombed. How can we rest when the dust that we gather today can sicken and kill our children?" stated the group's spokespersons.
  
  "Today we are on land that belongs to the people of Puerto Rico and to our Viequense families in order to remember our Viequense sisters whose deaths we directly and indirectly blame on the activities of the U.S. Navy. The spirit of the struggle, strength and commitment of our sisters, mothers and grandmothers is within us and we cannot be silenced. We denounce the unjust, unnecessary suffering to which our people have been submitted to ever since our beaches and seas were usurped by the Navy of the United States."
  
  "Vieques is our home and it is being attacked. We stand before the aggressor and say NO MORE ABUSE! No more violations of our rights! No more poisoned dust! No bullets -- live or inert! For once and for all - US NAVY OUT OF VIEQUES!"
  
  "We call to all Puerto Ricans, especially to Puerto Rican women to join us in prayer, in remembrance and in peaceful protest until we gain the peace that we cherish for everyone."
  
  Contact: Lula Tirado - Robert Rabin Telephone (787) 741-0716 Cel. 375-0625
  
  ¡FUERA LA MARINA DE VIEQUES!

• Subject: Informe de Vieques – Vieques Report
  Date:     Sun, 28 May 2000 23:05:35 -0100
  Report from Vieques 28 May, 2000
  
  Friends in Solidarity with the People of Vieques.
  
  Warm greetings of solidarity from Vieques. Our community continues its actions to denounce the military presence. Besides the incursions into military lands on 13 May, in which 54 people were arrested, every day there are incidents on the civilian roads here involving military vehicles. Our people yell at them, honk their horns, and in some cases temporarily stop convoys. Here, in front of the Navy base, Camp García we maintain a 24-hour presence keeping track of Navy vehicles, personnel and equipment and carrying out constant protest activity.
  
  On Saturday, 27 May, over 250 Viequenses and a couple dozen friends from the main island particpated in the Saturday Night Vigil we have held in front of the gate to Camp García. This particular vigil was dedicated to the 58 people recently arrested, the 54 on 13 May; Rubén Berríos and Jorge Fernández of the Puerto Rico Independence Party, and the Zenón brothers, Cacimar and Pedro. Several of those arrested participated spoke at last night's vigil of their commitment to be arrested again if necesary. Several mentioned they were in Vieques in open violation of the court-imposed restriction on their returning to Vieques.
  
  Radamés Tirado, past mayor of Vieques (1976-80), offered a strong criticismo of the Government of Puerto Rico´s decision to assign Puerto Rico police to help the Navy repress our struggle the same Navy, Tirado said, that is the real criminal who violates the rights of the people of Vieques.
  
  Vieques art teacher, Glorimar Ojeda together with a group of Vieques children, handed to the approximately 30 Riot Police stationed in front of the gates to Camp García copies of her students' drawings from an exhibit titled, "THE CHILDREN WANT PEACE", with the expressed hope the policemen and women would give the drawings to their children so they might know why we are protesting. The police agents also received flowers as a symbol of our position that the struggle of Vieques is directed at the US Navy, and not these Puerto Ricans who have been ordered to fulfill an inmoral mission by their superiors.
  
  During the vigil it was mentioned that the Navy had announced a few days earlier they would soon be carrying out dangerous activity in Vieques waters. In a warning to fishermen, dated 24 May, the Navy informed that from 29 May until 2 June and from 2 to 4 in the afternoon, their activities would be dangerous for fishermen, their boats and equipment.
  
  In a separate document from the Planning Board dated 9 May and received by the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques (CRDV) this past Thursday, we learned the Navy is requesting Certification of Federal Compatibility with the Coastal Zone Management Program of Puerto Rico. The Navy´s project, for which it asks certification, is described as follows: recertification of a ship and a few Navy aircraft. Navy action will include the shooting of less than 50 rounds of 5 inch shells from a ship and the firing of 50 inert bombs from jets.
  
  On Sunday, 28 May we held a Caravan for Peace and Health to denounce the Navy´s intention to carry out these exercises. More than 200 cars passed through all the barrios of Vieques, ending in a concentration at Peace and Justice Camp in front of the entrance to Camp García. Ismael Guadalupe, principle spokesman for the CRDV, explained the need to increase pressure through continued civil disobedience actions, entering into Navy lands in larger and larger groups.
  
  The struggle continues. We urge all those individuals and organiztions in solidarity with the people of Vieques to continue your protest actions in your communities. It´s important to continue to flood the telephone lines at the White House and in Congress with calls, faxes and e-mails in support of Peace in Vieques, which is only attainable with the immediate and permanent end to all military activity here.
  
  Robert L. Rabin Siegal
  Comité Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
  Apartado 1424 Vieques, PR 00765
  (787) 741-0716       cel. 375-0525

• Subject: Declaración_de_R.Rabin_20-5-00
  Date:     Mon, 22 May 2000 17:41:19 -0100
  Declaration by Robert L. Rabin Siegal during Vigil for Peace Camp Justice and Peace, Vieques In front of the gate to Camp García, May 20, 2000
  
  For more than half a century the US Navy has violated the rights of the people of Vieques daily with its presence and military activities. The US Navy is the fundamental problem of our community. The Navy brings cancer and other sicknesses; the Navy controls ¾ of our lands, our natural and cultural resources; the Navy blocks our fishernmen and our economic development; the Navy controls the natural and shortest route that connects us to the main island of Puerto Rico. The Navy practices genocide against the Puerto Rican people on Vieques.
  
  Our people struggle to end the terrible military presence, to take back our lands occupied by the Navy for 60 years and begin a new era of Pax Viequense. For over a year our people, together with thousands of Puerto Ricans from the main island and other places, in peaceful struggle, have been victorious over the most powerful navy in the history of humanity. Without firing a shot, without the least agression against those who besiege us, we have paralized more than 30 thousand soldiers and 30 warships, including aircraft carriers and submarines.
  
  I have had the honor of participating, during these past 20 years, in this struggle of the heroic people of Vieques. As a foreigner, I recognize the enormous privilege I have been awarded - the honor to live, work, learn and struggle together with this humble community of people in struggle, example of valor and sacrifice that characterize noble peoples.
  
  Regarding the Puerto Rico police we have in front of us, stationed here at the gate to Camp García, it is necesarry to make the following statement in the wake of the recent incident in which I was brutally attacked by several members of the Police Riot Squad.
  
  FIRST - I DO NOT HOLD ILL FEELINGS TOWARD THEM. I FORGIVE THEM FOR WHAT THEY DID TO ME, AND I WILL FORGIVE THEM IF THEY ATTACK ME AGAIN.
  
  A year ago I would have taken a different position toward those who attacked me: hate and the desire for vengeance would have motivated me to answer back by lowering myself to their level of violence. However, during this long process of non violent civil disobedience, often times physically and emotionally difficult, I have enjoyed the example of our parish priest, Father Nelson; Pastor Lucy Rosario of our Methodist Church; bishops and lay people and so many humble men and women of diverse religious groups - Puerto Ricans and others dedicated to peace and to life. I have witnessed the sacrifice of many men and women risking their lives in the bombing zone in favor of Peace for Vieques. I have learned more about the meaning of peace as a way of life, a way of seeing and approaching others. I am eternally greatful to the people of Vieques for this opportunity at spiritual growth and for allowing me to participate in this vital struggle.
  
  I ask everybody to help us spread this message of peace. I implore all to direct toward the US Navy any indignation that results from the violence we suffer. THE PROBLEM OF VIEQUES IS THE NAVY AND NOT THE PUERTO RICO POLICE.
  
  I take this opportunity to denounce the deplorable conditions in which these Puerto Rican policemen and women are forced to work here. They work outside day and night, on long shifts with inadequate sanitary and eating facilities. They are away from their families for long periods, causing emotional pressures for them and family members. They are also victims of many injustices.
  
  They are here not by choice, but because they have been ordered to participate in an immoral action, providing security for the US Navy - the very Navy that is responsible for the death of our people - placing the police in contravention to the feelings of the great majority of our people, placing them in a very uncomfortable position among the Viequense community.
  
  This does not justify the acts of brutality and aggression that we have experienced recently. But it is necesarry to reflect on their presence here and about our reaction to their presence. We must remain on the moral high ground of peace and not lower ourselves toward agression.
  
  The Puerto Rican police are here because the Navy ordered Police Superintendent Toledo to send them as an instrument of repression and intimidation, to create more tension and provoke violence. We must not give them that satisfaction. We must answer the Navy´s violence with our strength based on hope for peace. In the face of police brutality we must dedicate ourselves more firmly to peaceful civil disobedience, focusing our energies on the struggle for peace on Vieques - which means getting the US Navy out of Vieques!
  
  WE CANNOT EVEN THINK ABOUT TURNING AWAY FROM PEACEFUL ACTIONS. NOT EVEN FOR A MINUTE SHOULD WE THINK OF CHANGING OUR USE OF PEACEFUL CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AS THE PRINCIPAL INSTRUMENT IN THE STRUGGLE FOR PEACE ON VIEQUES.
  
  Violence against us will not change our course on the road to peace for Vieques.
  
  Robert L. Rabin Siegal
  Comité Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
  Apartado 1424 Vieques, PR 00765
  (787) 741-0716 cel. 375-0525
  
  ¡FUERA LA MARINA DE VIEQUES!

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click on: April / May

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