Puerto Rican activists urged students to protest the U.S. Navy's exploitation of the Puerto Rican island Vieques, in a panel discussion last night.
"We've been fighting for our lives, our health," said Carmen Valencia, a Puerto Rican community organizer and panelist.
"We are not there just because we like to protest," she said, but because the U.S. military's presence on the island, dating back to the 1940s, has been destructive to the island's natural resources and economy, as well as the health and human rights of its people.
Other panelists included Puerto Ricans Raul Noriega, a sociologist and television magazine producer, and Carmelo Ruiz, a newspaper journalist.
All panelists emphasized that the current political debate and protests over Vieques are not a sudden outburst, but the result of an exploitive military presence by the U.S. on their island for over 60 years.
In the 1940s, the U.S. established a military base on Vieques. By the 1970s, according to Spanish professor Agnes Lugo-Ortiz, the discussion's moderator, social protest against the U.S. military's presence began in earnest.
Since then, the struggles and protests have gradually intensified, Lugo-Ortiz said, while at the same time the U.S. government has worked to repress the Puerto Rican people and their protests.
These protests climaxed after April 19, when a Puerto Rican was accidentally killed by a U.S. Navy bomb. Protesters began camping out on the military base to stop future bombing from occurring, according to Ruiz.
Currently, there are over 14 camps of protestors on the military base, including groups organized by labor unions, religious organizations and college students, Ruiz said.
President Clinton has proposed a referendum throughout Puerto Rico on the continuation of the U.S. Navy's presence.
However, the only options available would be for the U.S. Navy to stay, or to stay under restricted conditions.
Both of these options most Puerto Ricans find unacceptable, all panelists agreed, and the only move they support is the unconditional removal of all military presence and the return of the land to them.
"Why is the Navy obsessed with shooting on this island?" asked Noriega.
The Navy maintains that Vieques is the only island in the world where they can have shooting practice and other military tests, Noriega said, but he cannot understand why this must be so.
Vieques' children cannot learn if planes are flying overhead and the threat of an accidental bombing is always present, Noriega said.
The island suffers from an unusually high cancer rate, Lugo-Ortiz said, caused by the military's use of uranium depleted weapons.
According to Lugo-Ortiz, the Caribbean is an area with its own history, culture and people who deserve to make their own lives without the daily constrictions imposed by the U.S.'s overbearing presence.
Through its actions, the U.S. Navy has violated environmental acts, human rights declarations and local Puerto Rican laws, Ruiz said.
"As American citizens and taxpayers," Noriega said, "you should do something" to end this colonial-like military presence on Vieques.
"We're going to be there [to work to reclaim our land], and we want you to be there with us," he said.
Students can contact their Congressmen and other government representatives, help Vieques support groups, or join in non-violent protest reactions themselves, Valencia suggested.
"If everyone does that ... it'll be a very good help showing solidarity for Vieques," Valencia said last night.
