Rebecca

          **Navy-Vieques Protests**

  ** Introduction **

During the 1940's the United States purchased about 2/3 of Vieques by                    " compensated land expropriation" ( taking posession of property from its owner for little or no compensation regardless of the wishes of the owner). They purchased the land from various farmers leaving them with no employment forcing many to move from Vieques. They used the land for various bombing excercises and other military training including USMC ( United States Marine Corps ) beach and helicopter infiltration excercises. 

**Contents** 


 * 1)     Questions
 * 2) <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">      <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">    Effects on the islanders
 * 3) <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">    Reasons for protesting
 * 4) <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">    Protesting methods
 * 5) <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">    What was achieved?
 * 6) <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">    References
 * 7) <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">    External Links

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif"> **Questions**
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">  How did the U.S. bomb testing affect the islanders?
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">  Why did they protest aganist the U.S.?
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">  What methods did the protestors use?
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">  What was achieved by protesting?

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif"> In April 1999, a civilian guard on the practice grounds, David Sanes was killed when two bombs from a USMC jet went 2.5km off course during training. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">The high cancer rate in Vieques may be caused by the U.S. having used DU ( depleted uranium ) ammunition up until April 1999 which has a high toxicity level. Scientists agree with this theory but the U.S. Navy say that even several hundred DU shells would not consitute a health hazard. Scientists say they have found evidence of DU shelling going back at least a decade. Even people who have never been on the bombing range have high levels of uranium in their bodies. 3000 of the islanders suffer from cancer or other rare diseases. Large numbers of Viequense people suffer from heart disorders caused by exposure to dangerous chemicals. Studies showed that the sonic booms from shelling are linked to thickening of the heart walls in Vieques inhabitants
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; COLOR: #080a5e; FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">Effects on the islanders **

**<span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">Reasons for protesting **

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">I think the reasons the protests occured are because the islanders wanted to put a stop to what the U.S. were doing because they believed it posed a serious health hazard and because they were angry at the way the U.S. had treated them and their ancestors for the last 50 years or so. This was a way to tell the U.S.A. and the rest of the world how they felt about their treatment.


 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; COLOR: #080a5e; FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">Protesting Methods **

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">The most common protest method employed by the protestors was to practice civil disobedience by camping in or outside the bombing range. They also set up camp on a Vieques beach which they called Camp Garcia ( shown on map ).After the death of David Sanes in 1999 protestors set up camp inside the range preventing excercises for over a year until they were removed by U.S. Marshalls and Marines on the 5th of May, 2000. The first people to do this were mainly Puerto Rican but people from all around the world supported the cause. On May 9th hundreds of protestors and supporters from all over the world entered the practice grounds. Amongst the people who were arrested ( on a charge of trespassing on U.S. Military territory ) most were realeased a few hours after being put in jail, some were realeased a few days later and the small remainder were sentenced to between one and six months prison.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">**What was Achieved? **

The aim of the protests was for the U.S. Military to stop their practices on the island and for them to move their base off the island. The military began moving out of Vieques in 2003. The official military leave took place on the 1st of May, 2003, 12:01 AM EST.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">** References **
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif"> http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/may2001/vieq-m03.shtml  <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif"> http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/may2000/vieq-m05.shtml
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif"> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navy-Vieques_protests
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 90%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">EPIC history database
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif"> http://www.neohumanism.org/n/navy/navy_vieques.html

<span style="COLOR: #080a5e; FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">** External Links ** <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif"> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navy-Vieques_protests <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif"> http://knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Navy-Vieques_protests/ <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif"> http://www.neohumanism.org/n/na/navy_vieques_protests.html <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif"> http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/vieques/vieques.html <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">   [|http://www.wsws.org]     <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">       <span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; COLOR: #174cd9; FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif">search "vieques" in search bar