The First Dispatches
- Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 23:24:11
Friends,
Greetings of solidarity from Vieques. We are on alert in all the
resistance encampments. In recent days we have noted an increase in
activity by soldiers and other federal officials in the Navy zone: more
flights by helicopters over the camps in the bombing area and at the gates
of Camp Garcia, flights that are much lower and with different kinds of
helicopters, visits to the area of the gates (Campamento Justicia y Paz) by
federal officials taking photos and doing reconnaissance of the area.
We have received information from people known to be reliable about
possible actions against the resistance encampments in the coming days.
We are on alert and we will inform you – inasmuch as possible – about
events here in the trenches.
Any assistance in these moments is crucial: coordinate travel to the
camps, send economic contributions o provisions, send letters to the
President, to local newspapers, call in to radio programs in support of the
camps.
It is especially important that all solidarity organizations be developing
their strategies on actions they will take on the Isla Grande and/or
mobilizations to Vieques.
WE DO NOT WANT TO WASTE ENERGY OR RESOURCES. WE AWAIT THE CORRECT MOMENT
TO ACT. NOW, AT 7:52 AM ON TUESDAY, MARCH 14, THERE HAVE BEEN NO CONCRETE
ACTIONS AGAINST THE CAMPS. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU BE ATTENTIVE TO THE
CALLS BY ORGANIZATIONS AND LEADERS OF THE CAMPS IN VIEQUES – NOT TO RUMORS
NOR SENSATIONALIST INFORMATION IN THE MEDIA.
It is important that you do not heed rumors nor half-truths. You should
verfy any information about arrests with people in Vieques related to our
struggle. Here are some contacts:
Coordinadora Justicia y Paz para Vieques (Robert Rabin, Nilda Medina)
787 741-0716, 741-1717 o celular 375-0525
beeper 1800 759-1255 un 516-8097
Comité Pro Rescate y Dessarrollo de Vieques (Ismael Guadalupe)
787 741-2304 beeper 1800 759-1255 un 516-8086
Alianza de Mujeres (Judith Conde or Miriam Soba)
787 741-1068, 741-2293 or celular 484-0078
Monte David (Carlos Zenón)
787 741-8315
Iglesia Católica de Vieques (Padre Nelson López)
787 741-2241
Iglesia Metodista de Vieques (Pastora Lucy Rosario)
787 741-1473
IN PUERTO RICO
Proyecto Caribeño de Justicia y Paz (Wanda Colón, Coordinadora)
787 754-7343
Colegio de Abogados (Lcdo. Fermín Arraiza, Lcdo. José Juan Nazario)
787 759-0315 celular 505-8083
787 721-0330
Congreso Nacional Hostosiano (Dr. Héctor Pesquera, Lcda Wilma Reverón, Lcdo. Alejandro Torres)
787 269-0933, celular 616-8194
277-0670
767-7911, celular 317-7958
Coordinadora Todo Puerto Rico con Vieques (Che Paralitici)
787 758-5947, celular 309-5290
En lucha, en solidaridad,
Robert Rabin, para el Comité Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
[translated by John Lindsay-Poland]
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Task Force on Latin America & the Caribbean
*Please note our new street address since January 15:
2017 Mission St. #305, San Francisco, CA 94110
Tel: (415) 495-6334 Fax: (415) 495-5628
E-mail: forlatam@igc.org
Web: www.nonviolence.org/for
- Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2000 02:43:19 -0200
Robert Rabin - Nilda Medina
Comité Pro Rescate y Dessarrollo de Vieques
Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques
Vieques. 6 PM, Abolition of Slavery Day, March 22, 2000.
Dear Friends in Solidarity with Vieques,
Warm
and fraternal greetings from "La Isla Nena." We remain alert to
continuous information received during the past week concerning possible
actions against our camps by Puerto Rican riot police and/or U.S. military
forces. In the past three days we have seen military troops practicing
moving people between helicopters and vans all of this on the grounds of
Camp Garcia, visible through binoculars from our Peace and Justice camp in
front of the gate of that base. Since last week the Navy has sent military
police to the area near the gate to harass the Peace and Justice camp and
add to the climate of anxiety.
Today
we saw members of the Riot Police in Vieques probably in reaction to
today's activity planned by the Socialist Front and we received news of
the arrival of more military personnel to Camp Garcia via
helicopter. According to other sources, the military brought a gate built
in Roosevelt Roads Naval Base in Ceiba to block access to the buffer zone
where the Peace and Justice Camp is located. This information contains a
great deal of speculation; nonetheless, we remain alert and take necessary
precautions in preparation for a possible intervention.
We are in constant communication with the resistance camps in the bombing
range. So far all is calm. We are requesting all of you to keep informed
through the community organizations Vieques Rescue and Development
Committee, Vieques Women's Alliance, etc. or via contacts with people from
the encampments.
DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO RUMORS ABOUT ARRESTS!!
Today a delegation of 50 teachers, parents and students from the Ramon E.
Betances School in Cayey, visited the Peace and Justice Camp and donated 20
boxes of provisions. This school has been operating an educational program
in solidarity with Vieques for the past few weeks.
The Socialist Front held an activity to commemorate Abolition of Slavery
Day, in recognition of the work of the Peace and Justice Encampment, and
some fine picketing went on in front of the gate to Camp Garcia.
This past week we had the pleasure of hosting a delegation from the United
Church of Christ, USA, including the president and other officials of their
national organization, which has 1.5 million members in the United States.
We are very grateful for all of your expressions and actions of solidarity
during these many months of civil disobedience, and through long years of
struggle for peace in Vieques.
In struggle, in solidarity,
Robert Rabin
Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques
(This message is available in Spanish.)
- Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2000 02:43:19 -0200
Friends in solidarity with the struggle of Vieques.
Fraternal greetings from Vieques. The constant rumors about possible
interventions by military and-or police forces against the civil
disobedience camps during the past two weeks created an environment of
tension in the community. However, today, the UTIER (Electrical Workers
Union of PR) held there 9th Annual Family Bycicle Day here at Camp. Jutice
and Peace, in front of the gates to the Navy base - Camp García. Around two
thousand people participated in the activity that was dedicated to the
struggle for Peace in Vieques.
Danny Rivera, the music group Así Somos, a chorus from a Vieques elementary
school and the local merengue and salsa group, Yarey, headed up a great
festival in frent of the Navy base. In the parking lot of an adjacent
factory, a children´s amusement park was set up with rides and plastic
slides for little kids.
Last night, Danny Rivera sang with Tito Auger (Fiel a la Vega), during the
vigil held every Saturday night in the Peace and Justice Plaza, area know
before as the entrance to the Navy´s Camp García. Aprox. 500 people
participated in the vigil that ended at midnight with the changing of the
number on the special bill board that indicates the number of days here
without bombing, days of peace. Today we celebrte y appreciate 342 days
without bombing, thanks to the sacrifice and constant work of the men and
women in the civil disobedience camps in the bombing area.
New rumors indicate the most recent military-police strategy is to close
off the roads leading to our camp from both directions, arrest us and
install a new gate that was transported to Vieques last week, retake the
buffer zone that has been, since 3 December, 1999, the camp of the Peace
and Justice Coordinating Committee. These new rumors suggest arrests could
take place in the middle of this coming week.
We are ready
LOOK FOR INFO. FROM VIEQUES COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS OR FROM CONTACTS IN THE
RESISTENCE CAMPS TO KNOW WHAT´S HAPPENING HERE.
Thanks for your constant support for the Vieques struggle.
Robert Rabin
Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques
- Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2000 14:36:29 -0100
Friends in solidarity with Vieques. Today we carried out a historic
CARAVAN FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE, with the participation of more than 425
vehicles and over 1600 people from Vieques, according to police estimates.
The caravan was organized by the Committee for the Rescue and Development
of Vieques with the help of Camp Justice and Peace, which maintains a
blockade of the gate to the Navy´s Camp García facilities.
Throughout the "barrios" and streets of Vieques, the
caravan was received with great enthusiasm.
Screams of NAVY OUT were heard from balconies of houses and from groups
of neighbors on street corners where the caravan passed.
"This was our referendum. Our people demonstrated the committment to the
theme, NOT ONE MORE BOMB, NOT ONE MORE MINUTE. The caravan was a strong
show of solidarity with the men and women in the civil disobedience camps
inside the bombing range," said Ismael Guadalupe, spokesman for the CRDV,
before hundreds who gathered after the caravan in Justice and Peace Square,
known before as the entrance to the Navy's Camp Garcia.
This activity culminated a week end of constant action of struggle.
Saturday, 180 members of the Teamsters union of PR visited in solidarity.
They held their monthly assembly at the Fort Museum in town with an
orientation from Ismael Guadalupe, Carlos Zenón, Héctor Olivieri, Sara
Peish and this writer, on the current situation of the struggle.
Later the group moved to Justice and Peace Square for a cultural
and protest event with hundreds of Vieques residents.
At night, during the Vigil that´s been held every Saturday night for
the past nine months, hundreds of Viequenses and visitors from the
main island participated in piquetes to the sound of Plena music by
the Bonano-Pérez family and listened to the great music of Tony
"Mapeye" Rivera, cuatro player "Guiso" Pérez from Comerío, and troubador
Roberto Silva from San Lorenzo.
This incredible rythm of solidarity activity has a powerful and
positive impact on our energy levels. We remain alert
to possible military-police intervention. We are preparing for
several activities during Holy Week, also the week we conmemorate the
anniversary of David Sanes´ death (19 April, 1999), anniversary of the
beginning of the civil disobedience actions in the bombing area.
We will keep you all posted from here. IN STRUGGLE, IN SOLIDARITY,
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!
- Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 15:46:57 -0100
Subject: US Military in Puerto Rico
From: John Lindsay-Poland)
From Testimony of General Charles E. Wilhelm, Commander of the U.S.
Southern Command, before the Senate Armed Services Committee, March 4,
1999:
"When MCC [Multinational Counterdrug Center] negotiations [with Panama]
were terminated we were faced with the task of rapidly identifying sites
for key commands within the AOR [Area of Responsibility], negotiating
access to those sites and obtaining the funding needed to support unit
relocations. At this point we have made substantial progress, but there
remain pieces of the puzzle not yet in place.
Puerto Rico will replace Panama as our main operating hub in the region.
United States Army South (USARSO) is in the process of relocating its
headquarters to Fort Buchanan. Once reestablished, this force of 1,382
active and reserve component soldiers and civilians will undertake the
missions previously carried out by a contingent of 3,868 in Panama. To
compensate for reduced manning, URARSO will rely heavily on the more than
16,000 Army and Air Force Guardsmen and Reservists on Puerto Rico. In a
great many ways this is an ideal marriage. Puerto Rican guardsmen and
reservists are bilingual making them equally effective whether conducting
engagement activities with members of English-speaking militaries in the
Eastern Caribbean, or with Spanish-speaking counterparts in Central and
South America.
Special Operations Command South (SOCSOUTH) is our most heavily committed
component. Each year the soldiers, sailors and airmen of our theater
Special Operations Command conduct nearly 150 deployments into the AOR, and
the command provides the quick reaction forces we need to respond to crises
and other fast-breaking developments. To perform these demanding missions
the troops must be close to the action and keep a sharp edge on their
language and cultural skills. Congress has been notified that we intend to
relocate approximately 350 members of SOCSOUTH to Naval Air Station,
Roosevelt Roads, this summer. We are also finalizing basing arrangements
for selected command and control and intratheater airlift assets on Puerto
Rico. Collocation of ground and air forces is imperative for precise
planning and rapid execution of crucial missions."
This testimony contains much other interesting information about US
military policy in and perceptions of Latin America.
- Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 15:46:57 -0100
Friends in Solidarity with the Struggle for Peace in Vieques:
Warm greetings from Camp Peace and Justice, in front of the gates to the US navy base-Camp García, here in Vieques.
These past days have been filled with activity in all of the resistance camps in the bombing area and here in front of Camp García.
Last weekend, 100 constituents of NY City Councilwoman Margarita López, from the Lower East Side, visited Vieques as a solidarity delegation. Many delegates went out to the resistance camps in the bombing zone and the group spent 3 days here at Camp Peace and Justice. During the Saturday night vigil, the women from the NY delegation gave their Vieques counterparts necklaces symbolizing sisterhood with the agreement that the necklaces would be returned to the New York women once Vieques is freed from the Navy presence.
Also on Saturday, Camp Peace and Justice was one of the stops for the Puerto Rican Biblical Society´s bicycle activity. Around 100 cyclists, led by Rev. Wilfredo Estrada, stopped for water and fruit at the Camp and participated in a ceremony in which Rev. Estrada gave the camp a cross and a bible for the tabernacle soon to be erected here in front of the Navy´s main gate.
We remained on alert during the first days and nights of this week. The NY delegation left on Monday and Tuesday night. Wanda Colón from the Caribbean Project for Peace and Justice offered a great practical workshop on Civil Disobedience with the help of a North American resource person from the War Resisters League. About 50 people from Camp Peace and Justice participated. This same workshop was held the previous Saturday in the camps in the bombing area.
On Monday and Tuesday next week Robert Kennedy, Jr. will be here with us. This solidarity visit is an organized effort by Wilda Rodríguez and Dennis Rivera of the 1199 Health Workers Union in New York. Kennedy will visit the bombing area where he´ll dive to see underwater damage from bombing. At midnight on Monday, Kennedy will participate in the nightly ceremony of changing the moveable numbers on the billboard announcing the number of days without bombing. That night we will celebrate 364 days of peace on Vieques! On Tuesday, he´ll meet with our Technical Group in Support of Vieques (Puerto Rican experts in planning and development convened by the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques last July 9) and with the participation of the Coordinating Committee for Peace and Justice for Vieques and representatives from the community organizations.
According to today´s headlines in the Vocero newspaper of San Juan, Lt. Jeff Gordon of the Navy stated that exercises planned to take place in Vieques with the Aircraft carrier USS George Washington in the month of May HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED! We are analyzing this information before celebrating too much.
Independent of the cancellation of these maneuvers, we will stay on alert and will not lower our guard. We will remain united in struggle against the Navy until there is a clear and concise decision signaling the PERMANENT end to all military activity here. During Holy Week (next week), we will commemorate the first anniversary of the death of David Sanes and celebrate this year of intense struggle with a series of activities of both reflection and action. We will keep you informed.
In struggle and solidarity,
Robert L. Rabin Siegal
Comité Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
Apartado 1424 Vieques, PR 00765
(787) 741-0716 cel. 375-0525
NAVY OUT OF VIEQUES!
- Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 00:19:24 -0100
Subject: Vieques Report
From: Robert L. Rabin Siegal
Friends and Supporters of the Vieques Struggle;
Warm greetings from Vieques to all in this Holy Week, a week of reflection and celebration at the
end of a year of intense struggle, a year of peace without bombing.
It´s been a year of continuous work and sacrifice of the men and women of Veiques, and Puerto
Rico and many other places who have put their bodies between Vieques and the cannons of the US
Navy, the most powerful military force in the history of humanity. It has been 366 days of very hard
and constant tasks, threats of arrests, community organizing, planning, preparations and agitation for
the cause of Peace on Vieques.
We started this week with the arrival of the Peace Bell, built by petition of union groups in solidarity
with Vieques and to be placed at the new chapel under construction at the civil disobedience camps
in the bombing area. In a historic ceremony at the public square of Vieques, the Bishops of Puerto
Rico´s principal churches, together with labor, community and political leaders, received the bell
among sacred music and prayer for peace and demilitarization on Vieques.
After the ceremony, the Bell was placed in the Methodist Church in town and later it was moved to
the Peace and Justice Camp in front of the gates to Camp García. During the day, the bell was
heard every hour, and the hourly ringing was a special part of the activities that took place at the
Peace and Justice Square the night of the 19th. Hundreds of people participated in a solemn act of
reflection to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of David Sanes Rodríguez. On the 27th
of April, the bell will be brought out to the bombing area for the official inauguration of new chapel,
where it will remain.
On Monday and Tuesday, attorney Robert Kennedy, Jr., came to Vieques. Kennedy denounced
the Navy destruction of the environment and serious violations of federal laws related to
environmental protection. He suggested the Navy has no right to drop any bombs in Vieques and,
that if these actions were taken against Vieques by any other nation, the United States would declare
war; and that what the Navy does in Vieques is not compatible with the practices of a democratic
government. Kennedy also stated that he will use the resources of the environmental organization of
which he is part (the Natural Resources Defense Council) to help the community initiate a legal
action to stop the bombing forever and to achieve the ecological restoration of Vieques.
Kennedy met on Monday for three hours with representatives of the Coordinating Committee for
Justice and Peace for Vieques and with members of the Technical Group in Support of Vieques,
who work with the Vieques community on the topic of future sustainable development for a Free
Vieques. At midnight on Monday, Kennedy participated in a gathering of about 150 Viequenses in
front of the gate to Camp Garcia at the Justice and Peace Square, where there is a daily ceremony
to update the board that displays the number of days without bombing. That night, Kennedy
removed the "4" from "364" and added a "5" to make "365" days without bombs, marking a whole
year of peace.
On Tuesday, Kennedy visited the bombing area and spent time with the people in the civil
disobedience camps, and did scuba diving in that area where he saw with his own eyes the horrible
destruction caused by the Navy by their war practice activities. At 1:00 P.M. Kennedy had lunch
at Camp Justice and Peace before he departed for the airport. Kennedy?s visit was covered by all
of the Puerto Rican and Vieques media.
On Wednesday we held a series of activities in commemoration of the death of David Sanes. At
10:00 A.M., we accompanied Myrta Sanes, David?s sister, to the cemetery. At 12 noon, in the
Public Square, the Peace Bell was rung as part of a prayer circle activity. Shortly afterwards, Myrta
traveled to the bombing area and walked up to the Observation Post with about now hundred
people carrying white crosses. She placed flowers outside the gate to the Observation Post, at a
site close to where her brother was killed last year.
At 8PM we began an activity of reflection at the Peace and Justice Square in front of the gate to
Camp García. More than 300 people participated in the activity together with Father Nelson López
of Vieques´ Catholic Church, Puerto Rican folk singer, Zoraida Santiago and comedian-singer,
Carmen Nydia Velázquez. A delegation from the group, Women for Peace and Justice for Vieques,
from New York, also participated. During a candle light circle of reflection, everyone had an
opportunity to speak about the meaning of this special day commemorating the death of David
Sanes and a year of peace without bombing.
We know that this week, many of our brothers and sisters from solidarity organizations in the
Vieques, in Puerto Rico and in the U.S. will also be conducting various actions in support of
Vieques. We would like to extend our appreciation and deep feelings of gratitude and respect for
their work.
From here we will continue to keep you informed.
In Struggle and Solidarity,
Robert L. Rabin Siegal
Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques
Box 1424 Vieques, PR 00765
(787) 741-0716 cel. 375-0525
To continue with the archived postings from Bob Rabin,
just click on the "folder" below:
Dispatch Archive