Resort Opens on Puerto Rico's Vieques

Newsday.com ^ | 2/25/03 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

VIEQUES, Puerto Rico -- A new 256-room hotel opened on Vieques Monday, establishing a business projected to become the Puerto Rican island's largest employer.

Until now, the island of 9,100 people has had only small hotels and inns.

The U.S. Navy's pledge to abandon its bombing range on Vieques by May 1 contributed to the decision to open the Wyndham Martineau Bay Resort & Spa, the owners and managers have said.

[AF68]

Business is booming from vacationers who like to dig up unexploded ordnance.

[appeal2]

I think the place will bomb.

[Mike Darancette]

What is the attraction collecting brass and avoiding unexploded bombs and shells?

[PA Engineer]

There was one other attempt at a resort on Vieques and that one failed. Spent seven days on the island and left two days early for San Juan. I promise never to go there again. They have some of the most beautiful beaches on the south shore, but the culture can best be described as entitled. The biggest mistake according to locals that are honest was when the US failed to remove all of the inhabitants from the island in WWII. I like PR, but Vieques is a lesson in all that is wrong there.

[holyscroller]

The perfect place for people who would give an arm and a leg to go on vacation.

[4Freedom]

After the Navy leaves, the largest employer on Vieques will be the drug smuggling industry, if it isn't already.

Here's a caption that was under a photograph in The San Juan STAR from 2/24/2003.

Fishing boats anchored on the shore of the Esperanza beach in Vieques. While the government seeks to strengthen the fishing industry, local and stateside agency officials agree that the new generation of fishermen is using its vessels to transport drugs.

[4Freedom]

Here's an article that details the degree of corruption that our federal agencies are experiencing in Puerto Rico now that we're putting Puerto Ricans in charge. If drug smugglers spread (and there are many as big as Tun Tun in Puerto Rico) around enough money, federal investigations into their operations are dropped.

Our federal agencies aren't taking the 3rd-world out of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico is 3rd-worldizing our federal agencies.

Michael Vigil, former head of the DEA in the Caribbean

Acting U.S. Attorney H.S. "Bert" Garcia

Justice Secretary Anabelle Rodriguez

This is what 'affirmative action' hiring in Puerto Rico gets us. Three fools in charge and the agencies full of their cronies that then scratch their collctive heads and say, 'What drug smugglers? What murders? Lo siento, agency policy doesn't allow us to talk about that.'

Puerto Rico: Drug kingpin faces life sentence in N.J.

[4Freedom]

"...the culture can best be described as entitled."

The culture can better be described as corrupt.

Most of those young guys pretending to be fishermen on Vieques, that are hostile to tourists, are drug smugglers.

Tourists and Naval personnel are potential witnesses to the crimes they're committing.

That's the dirty little secret that the media and our government is allowing to leak out through the press, now that our Navy has been forced to leave.

History will record that the mightiest Navy the world has ever known was handed its greatest defeat at the hands of a few drug smugglers and terrorists, without ever firing a single shot in anger in return.

This giant give-a-way of 36,000 more U.S. Taxpayer owned acres and billions of dollars worth of infrastructure, on two Naval bases in Puerto Rico, will justify efforts to mark Bush down as one of this country's greatest failures as President.

Bush jr.'s name will be right there alongside his father's and Jimmy Carter's.

And, to paraphrase John Paul Jones, Bush "has only just begun to give the American Taxpayer's stuff away!"

[RushLake]

Not to be too conspiratorial, but you don't suppose that this hotel operation sent in an advance team to stir up a rent-a-mob to stop us from trying out our ordnance so they could have another "Island Paradise" destination do you?

[4Freedom]

It took a lot of money to build and staff permanent protester's camps on Vieques.

If you follow the money trail from these groups of anti-Navy activists back to its source, I wouldn't be surprised to see as much of it originate from real estate developers as drug cartels like the "Tun Tun" gang.

[RushLake]

Its a risk worth taking. Spend the money up front to run off the US, open up a swinging resort complex (ala Club Med or Sandals type operation), allow the unwashed local masses just enough access to keep the clients in dope and happily spending money on the high priced amenities. The locals are happy because they are doing their part in the drug trade and scrubbing toilets. The resort probably makes back its upfront investment in 3 to 5 years.

[4Freedom]

Bingo!

Don't forget the money that was wisely spent greasing the palms of every greedy politician that can help you steal billions in assets from the U.S. Taxpayers, including those in the Bush family.

[RushLake]

It would be interesting to see a comparison of the billions the Bush family got versus the billions that say the Clinton family (and its caporegimes) have gotten in these type of transactions. It would be interesting to see the sources of those billions as well. Can you help with any credible numbers and sources? thanks.

[4Freedom]

You can take a look at both the Clinton's and the Bush's reports on their sources of campaign contributions. They're a matter of of public record.

You'll see that the Bush family has been collecting campaign contributions in Puerto Rico for the past 20 years or more.

Jeb Bush picked up a cool $150,000 one of the last times he was there.

The largest, single donation Bill Clinton received in 1996 was from a resident of Puerto Rico in the amount of $250,000.

There's plenty of blame to go around, but the lion's share of blame for the Vieques give-a-way belongs to Bush.

He had the final say-so.

[RushLake]

Oh, well thanks, I thought maybe you had the information at hand. I'll get busy and request that information right away. I guess we'd be better off with Clinton, Gore, or Daschle as commander in chief rather than those crooked Bushes.

[4Freedom]

Oh well, you're welcome, the information I gave you is correct and you can verify it where I said you could.

I said Bush could step aside for Cheney. What are you talking about?

[RushLake]

I'm not questioning your integrity at all friend. That's why I thanked you for pointing out the specific information source so I could go research it myself. I didn't see a reference to Cheney, but I'm sure you're aware that some feel that he benefited unfairly as a part of his last job before assuming the vice presidency?

[4Freedom]

Maybe Cheney could govern from the 'right' of Bush and Gore, until he's brought up on actual charges. ;^)