PUERTO RICO AND US IMPERIALISM-Clearing Out without Cleaning Up: The U.S. and Vieques Island http://www.coha.org/clearing-out-without-cleaning-up-the-u-s-and-vieques-island/#more-12688

The island of Puerto Rico, a U.S. commonwealth, has long been known for its beauty and its distinct culture, which are unique to the island. The name of the island itself means “rich port” in Spanish, indicating that for years Puerto Rico has served as an economic asset for Spain and the U.S. and, more recently, as a tourist paradise in the Caribbean. The commonwealth of Puerto Rico historically has been subjected to abuse by foreign powers intent on exploiting its rich resources, including a small stretch of land off the island’s east coast called Vieques.

The U.S. Navy made extensive use of Vieques for weapons testing up until 2003, when it abandoned the island without cleaning up the traces of years of gunnery practice and test bombings, which were capriciously left behind. The consequences of these bombings continue to surface as cancer rates and incidents of ecological damage begin to mount. U.S. Congressman Steve Rothman has said that, “The injustice toward the people of Vieques, Puerto Rico must end. The time for the U.S. government to right this wrong is long overdue.”1 This is a sentiment shared by thousands of Puerto Ricans who today seek to rectify the past wrongs.

In his book Vieques, the Navy and Puerto Rican Politics, Amilcar Antonio Barreto describes how, in order to make this dream of a Caribbean naval base into a reality, the U.S. military “amassed large land holdings in Puerto Rico, dispossessing thousands of landless peasants in Vieques. Vieques was a perfect spot to practice war, and, with Puerto Rican residents not allowed to vote in national elections, political fallout would be minimal.”3 Not only did U.S. military planning displace thousands of people from their homes, but they also left them without a way of supporting themselves. The majority of the families on the island earned their living by harvesting sugar cane, a struggling industry in Puerto Rico at the time.

The U.S. Navy’s expropriation of thousands of acres of land from large farm holdings left many of the poorer workers with no choice but to move to the main island. “Families that resettled on other parts of Vieques found they were prevented from claiming legal title to their new homes. Without titles, the military could readily relocate them again.”4 These relocations and massive land grabs resulted in the U.S. military ultimately owning about two-thirds of the island, while the local inhabitants were forced onto the remaining one-third.

[ALSO SEE...Puerto Rico is a Colony By Jose R. Bas García http://www.independencia.net/ingles/pr_is_a_colony.html Puerto Rico « United States Imperialism http://vivirlatino.com/tags/vieques  Vieques, Puerto Rico Calls for Peace in Palestine http://vivirlatino.com/2009/01/16/vieques-puerto-rico-calls-for-peace-in-palestine.php