Vieques Protests Lose Momentum
VIEQUES, Puerto Rico (AP) - The hundreds of protesters are down to 20, and noisy demonstrations that captured the world's attention have given way to quiet prayer sessions.
The terrorist attacks against the United States have blunted the movement to halt U.S. Navy bombing exercises on Vieques, slowing its momentum and creating disunity.
``The terrorist acts are the best excuse that those who aren't very committed to this fight have found to paralyze it,'' said Sixto Perez, the leader of one anti-Navy group on the Puerto Rican island.
The camp protesters have put up outside the gates of the Navy's Camp Garcia was unusually quiet Sunday after the first week of bombing exercises since the Sept. 11 attacks. About 10 people were there.
At the protest camp's busiest moment on Saturday, about 20 people bowed their heads in prayer. One woman shouted ``Navy Get Out!'' across the chain-link fence, but no one echoed her.
During previous training exercises, hundreds turned out to shout anti-Navy slogans and break through Navy fences. Hundreds have been arrested and jailed for trespassing since 1999, when a Puerto Rican guard was killed by errant bombs on the range the Navy uses for target practice.
Most protest groups agreed not to break into Navy land after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, partly for security and partly in solidarity with victims of the attacks, which killed dozens of Puerto Ricans.
Some protesters, including Perez, disagree with that decision.
But Puerto Rico's newspapers, usually filled with Vieques coverage, have been paying scant attention. And the U.S. territory's Gov. Sila Calderon, who opposes the Navy bombing, has said little.
About 12,000 sailors are participating in the exercises, which include jets dropping non-explosive bombs and ships firing inert shells at the Caribbean island's range. The Navy switched to inert ammunition after the guard's death.
No protesters have been arrested since the attacks, although some cut a section of fence Friday, Navy spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Katherine Goode said. Increasing security, the Navy posted sailors with a machine gun across the fence from the protest camp.
``People are afraid because after the attacks there are armed people at the entrance, and since there's an agreement that no one should enter, why go?'' said 38-year-old schoolteacher Ana Lopez.
The Navy has bombed the eastern tip of Vieques for six decades, training sailors for conflicts from World War II to the Persian Gulf War. Opponents say the bombardment harms the environment and health of Vieques' 9,100 residents - accusations the Navy denies.
In a nonbinding referendum in July, 68 percent of Vieques voters said the Navy should leave immediately.
A binding federal referendum scheduled for November would ask islanders whether the Navy should leave in 2003 or stay and pay $50 million for public works projects.
President Bush said before the attacks that the Navy should leave by May 2003. But last week, the House of Representatives approved a defense bill to cancel the referendum and let the Navy stay until a comparable site is found. The House and Senate are to finalize the wording in coming weeks.
Originally published September 30, 2001.
