Justice for Vieques Now

Vieques, ¿futuro minado?

Publicado:24 may 2024 13:21 GMT

The following is the English translation of the RT Television article :

An island bathed by the Caribbean Sea is supposed to be a peaceful and safe place, with fabulous beaches to relax on. Instead, the apparent paradise of Vieques in Puerto Rico, an island supposedly protected by the Stars and Stripes flag, is riddled with unexploded explosives and dangerously contaminated with heavy metals from the incessant bombing it endured for decades as a testing ground for the US Navy Who protects the Viequenses from their ‘protectors’?

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The small Puerto Rican island of Vieques, located just over 10 kilometers from the big island, served as a testing ground for the US Navy, which occupied 75% of its territory from 1941 to 2003, launching dozens of thousands of bombs and committing countless abuses against the population.

Although more than 20 years have passed since the Americans officially abandoned the place, the people of Viequen still live with the constant threat of thousands of buried and unexploded explosives, while witnessing the increase of heavy metals in their bodies and diseases. .

RT correspondent Helena Villar traveled to this Caribbean corner to discover the effects of militarization on the lives of its inhabitants, who continue to fight for recognition of the years of abuse, to prevent their suffering from being forgotten and, more important, to recover its contaminated territory and its tranquility.

Limited territory

After the occupation of the island, the Navy divided the territory into three: in the center lived the civilian population, on one side they established a shooting practice area where access is currently restricted due to the danger of encountering dangerous ammunition, and on The other was their arsenals in concrete bunkers that are still installed on the island.

Now, this area is almost completely abandoned and unused, raising suspicions for some and fear that the US Government could return to the site at any moment, since, despite having withdrawn, the 66 % of the territory still belongs to the US.

Much of the island’s territory remains off-limits to residents, but not to the US Administration. Environmental Sciences student Andrea Malavé expressed her frustration with the limitations: “I have grown up knowing that there is a limit that I cannot cross and with the fear that if you cross that limit a mine, a bomb could explode […] I cannot see my land, my beaches, […] I have not had the privilege of being able to visit them”.

The Viequenses are dying

For more than 60 years, the Navy dropped more than two million kilos of ammunition annually on the island and the water around it, releasing substances and polluting agents that are poisoning the inhabitants. Jorge Colón, professor of Inorganic Chemistry, explains that the presence of bomb components, such as lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium, has been found. In addition, tests were carried out on the island with napalm, agent orange and reduced uranium bombs.

And there are still thousands of unexploded munitions, whose deactivation by the US Government consists of exploding them in the open air, which continues to contaminate the island. With its latest promise, the Government assures that the cleaning of bombs will last at least until 2032. .

For its part, the United States has always denied that the effects of extreme militarization on the island are or have in any way affected the health of the population; however, the people of Viequens are dying. The island is a hotspot for cancer, kidney disease and asthma. A series of independent investigations have found that residents of the island are 27% more likely to suffer from cancer than those in the rest of Puerto Rico.

sexual abuse

Another outrage against the Viequenses was the sexual abuse of women by the military, stories that have been silenced for years. US Army veteran Monisha Ríos, who was abused, said she felt identified when discovering Vieques’ story. “That helped me connect all the dots and realize that no, the US is nothing like it claims to be. It doesn’t stand for anything it claims to be, in fact, it’s the complete opposite,” she said.

In 2005, a class action lawsuit filed by Vieques residents against the Navy was not accepted before the US Supreme Court. However, in 2013, the Viequenses Women’s Alliance decided to try again, this time before the Inter-American Court. of Human Rights, where it was admitted. Although it is a very complex case, as defense lawyer Annette Martínez explains, the people of Vieques will continue to fight against the occupation and for their island to experience freedom and obtain justice and reparation.

Ponencia por Kathy Gannett sobre Proyecto 1557 para Regular Alquileres de Corto Plazo

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