She used the Vieques issue to position herself with the island's left, but I think the closing of Roosevelt hurt her politically. She (and they) thought there would be no consequences for forcing a shutdown at Vieques.
My impression is, correct me if I'm wrong, there isn't a lot of employment on Vieques, the Navy pulling out hurt the locals. The hippie types would like to turn it into a tourist destination, but if the developers take over how does that help the little guy?
But they're just a few, so who cares?
But Roosevelt closing killed a lot of jobs on the big island, and that must have had a direct political impact.
The actors and academics who made Vieques a cause don't have to live with the outcome, though. Working people do.
Sila Calderon's party won the governor's mansion again, so what political costs are you talking about?
Christy Todd Whitman ran down to Puerto Rico and threw hundreds of millions of EPA dollars around and there were hundreds of millions spent on assisting businesses and workers adjust to the loss of Navy jobs and purchases.
Bush and our other pandering politicians made sure Puerto Rico didn't lose a dime.
"My impression is, correct me if I'm wrong, there isn't a lot of employment on Vieques, the Navy pulling out hurt the locals"
Not only that, but even the Puerto Rico government has all but abandoned Vieques. The little island's anti-everythings are now taking aim at tourism developers and foreigners (meaning anybody who's not a Viequense, main-islanders included) who are trying to do something positive there. Their main complaint is that locals are selling their properties like hotcakes to the outsiders.
And you may or may not be aware that the main instigator is one who calls himself Roberto Rabín, who's really a Bostonian with the real name is Robert Rabinovich. The sorry commie wants the island for himself.
And btw, Rosey is making a comeback as a Joint Armed Forces Installation. The feds will be turning over to the local government a small beach and some wetlands. The hospital might be privatized, the Ofstie Field might become a mixed civilian/military airport. But the rest of the base will be reactivated, I gather from good sources.