A coworker of mine was from Puerto Rico, had worked on Vieques.
He said that the locals on the island like the Americans, since it provided jobs and local revenue. It was the nationalists who wanted the US military out, as well as the anti-military people from the mainland who wanted to take away the only beach/tropical island/bombing range combo the US had.
I’ve been to Vieques. It is awesome. The beaches on the former military reservation are the most beautiful and pristine I have ever seen.
I recommend it.
They have little wild ponies you can pet. We surfed off a defunct nuclear power plant. Cigars are cheap.
Lots of open coke dealing though. No one had marijuana, but we were offered cocaine for sale several times. It’s a trafficking hub, apparently.
I got to surf off a defunct nuclear power plant.
Some folks did not like white people though.
The cool thing is we did not have to go through customs, and I mailed myself several interesting tropical plants via USPS that are doing great in my back yard, and some neat shells/conchs.