Posted on 05/01/2003 4:32:32 PM PDT by sarcasm
VIEQUES, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - Fireworks exploded and chanting erupted but there were also incidents of vandalism as the tiny Puerto Rican island of Vieques held festivities on Thursday to mark the formal end of its six-decade role as a staging area for U.S. Navy war games.
Just hours after the party got under way, a group of young masked protesters overturned and vandalized U.S. Navy vehicles, destroyed a guardhouse and lit a U.S. Fish and Wildlife boat on fire, according to eyewitnesses.
The transfer by the Navy of its bombing range to the U.S. Department of Interior followed four years of protests sparked by the death of civilian security guard David Sanes Rodriguez in a botched bombing practice run in April 1999.
Hundreds of people gathered early on Thursday at the entrance to Camp Garcia, a military base at the eastern end of the island, and to chants of ``Peace for Vieques'' they pushed open the gates.
Some protesters burned a U.S. flag, its stars replaced by skulls and crossbones, as they waved Puerto Rican and Vieques flags in the air.
Vieques Mayor Damaso Serrano condemned the vandalism. ``These acts were an attack on the dignity of the Vieques people,'' the mayor said.
No arrests were reported but Police Superintendent Victor Rivera said police would provide security around the former military base for as long as necessary.
Ardelle Ferrer, a 51-year-old sculptor, called the violence ``a very small part of a huge, beautiful celebration,'' adding, ``Everyone was exhilarated.''
The festivities, including a religious service, drew politicians from all three political parties in Puerto Rico, a U.S. Caribbean territory of 3.8 million people where politics reflect differences over the relationship with Washington.
Since Rodriguez's death, about 1,600 protesters have been arrested for acts of civil disobedience, including intruding on the bombing range, staged to coincide with military exercises.
The U.S. Navy acquired three-quarters of Vieques and displaced thousands of residents in the early 1940s for its range. About 9,000 people now live on the island.
Vieques residents have long suspected that Navy bombing could be harming the environment and their health -- which the military has repeatedly denied. The cancer rate in Vieques is 26 percent higher than that of the rest of Puerto Rico, according to the Puerto Rico Health Department.
The $200,000 farewell party, paid for with donations from businesses and the island legislature, was to last through the weekend, with fireworks, concerts and religious services.
Under the closure terms, 14,000 acres of Navy land will be transferred to the Interior Department and used as a wildlife refuge.
Puerto Rican officials are now turning their attention to the environmental cleanup.
On Wednesday, Gov. Sila Calderon announced in Vieques that she would call for the former military lands to be included on a federal list of the most polluted sites in the United States. ``This is the one place that most merits inclusion,'' she said.
Among those celebrating the Navy's departure was John Arthur Eaves, a Mississippi attorney working on a class action lawsuit against the Navy on behalf of Vieques residents.
``The Navy is leaving today, but the people will continue getting sick from the contamination it leaves behind,'' Eaves said. ``These people knew they were slowly being killed, that's why they protested.''
Utterly false.
I see no reason to subsidize the greed of others who hate us, when so many here could use those precious budget dollars. All aid, all entitlements, all the perks of being a territory of the U.S. should be withdrawn immediately. Let Puerto Rico have Vieques, and let them make a living on Vieques without the Yankee Dollar. I'm sure Al Sharpton will help them...
The island receives in excess of $18.8 billion dollars in cash, services, benefits, jobs and Section 936 corporate federal income tax reductions each year.
They don't deserve the first dime of it.
The U.S. Taxpayers don't receive one single thing of equal value in return from the anti-American residents of Puerto Rico.
But Vieques. Vieques is an entirely different matter. It is the home of Susan Porter, the most beautiful woman ever born on this planet. That alone is worth a star on anybody's flag.
As for statehood, hell no.
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