4th of July 2001
Vieques, PR. - The Resistance Collectives Amig@s de Vieques, Amigos del MAR,
and Horsemen for Peace, in coordination with Vieques' hooded youth, sneaked
today at 5:30 PM into the restricted Navy zone to conduct a manifestation against
the military presence on the Island.
"We have chosen Independence Day for this action, because more than two hundred years ago they (Americans) suffered a similar subjugation as the one suffered today by the people of Vieques, as consequences of a foreign military force," stated Llaima Sanfiorenzo, spokesperson of the collectives, who was arrested for trespassing into the bombing range during last April.
The collectives deployed into the military zone to set two mannequins of the Founding Fathers amid the military road. "These mannequins represent the very principles of justice and liberty that served as a horizon to the emancipation and independence of the United States of America from the oppressive British Empire and its military might. The situation faced by the people of Vieques resembles in many ways the 'long train of abuses and usurpations' of which the Colonies where victims during the revolutionary period," said Freddie Marrero, Doctoral candidate in Sociology from New York, who sneaked into the bombing range during the past maneuvers and got out without being arrested.
While U.S. Soldiers intervened with the mannequins, loudspeakers hidden in the woods broadcasted a version of the Declaration of Independence adapted to the reality faced by the people of Vieques. Each mannequin had a version of said declaration in Spanish and English in its hands.
"By means of this action we want to call upon the historical conscience of the U.S. Soldiers, to appeal to their patriotic sensibility and to remind them of the principles that should guide each soldier actions. We expect them to remember very well, the self-evident truths, 'that all men are endowed with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' They should ask themselves about the encroachment of the life, liberty and happiness of the people of Vieques done by the institutions they serve," added Marrero.
"It's a great contradiction that while they claim to defend noble principles such as liberty, democracy, and human rights; in practice they do such a great harm to those very same precepts. Behind their fatigues there are human beings. That's where we aim our words and action," concluded Sanfiorenzo.
Once they finished their action, the group withdrew from the military fence and promised to continue similar acts to reach the conscience and sensibility of the soldiers that secure the bombing range.
"We are giving them, yet another opportunity to get the hell out of this
Island and leave us in peace. We really hope they take advantage of it,"
said one of the hooded youth for peace in Vieques before disappearing into the
woods.
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitled them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…
...When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same
object evidences a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their
Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards
for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of this colony
and in particular of the island municipality of Vieques; and such is now the
necessity which constrains us to demand the immediate withdrawal of the American
Naval forces and the unconditional return of these lands to its natural and
legitimate proprietors, the people of Vieques.
The history of the present military rule over this island is the history of
repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the progressive
destruction of its natural and vital resources: its people and their territory.
To prove this, let Facts be submitted to the judgment of an impartial world.
1. Before the military aggression in the 1940's the population of Vieques was over 30,000 inhabitants. Today, in the first year of this new millennium its population barely reaches 9,000.
2. The American Naval Forces confiscated over two thirds of the whole island territory, forcing the exodus of the majority of the population and the collapse of its economy and well being.
3. The sustained military exercises have progressively proven very harmful to the health of the people reflected in an infant mortality rate 53% higher than in Puerto Rico.
4. The incidence of lung cancer and other related deceases is 27% higher in Vieques than in Puerto Rico.
5. Ecological damage to the flora, fauna, water resources including beaches and reefs has been intense and its effects in the long run might be irreversible.
6. Poverty and unemployment are much higher in Vieques than in Puerto Rico.
7. Naval practices are particularly harmful to the fishing community and their interests due to their displacement to far off fishing waters.
8. Schools are harassed and interrupted by constant noise during bombing practices and air maneuvers for long periods several times a year.
9. Social unrest hampers normal life of the native community during naval exercises, always fearful of stray projectiles and civil casualties. These have mounted over the years.
10. The military occupation of Vieques has been particularly harmful to its very rich archaeological sites, having been since its remote past the main entrance of migratory groups to the island of Puerto Rico and the western Caribbean.
11. Heavy bombardment has been responsible during the years of the imminent disappearance of numerous species in danger of extinction like the blown pelican, and the sea turtles (carey and tinglar).
12 The lush mangroves, the reefs and lagoons already suffer irreparable damage.
13 The accumulation of toxic wastes throughout the island is already intolerable and threatening to the very existence of human life.
14 The incarceration of hundreds of Puerto Ricans for opposing the continued degradation of the island is mounting and threatening with very serious social upheavals.
15 The open participation of the American Armed Forces in the local political process, the manipulation of local agents and the creation of contra factions to harass navy critics is becoming a classical colonial confrontation rapidly eroding American prestige and sympathies throughout Puerto Rico and beyond.
16 The prejudiced intervention of the Federal Judicial System in favor of the Military has violated the rights of hundreds of American citizens in Puerto Rico and Vieques.
17 The unresolved Status Issue, the intolerance of the American Military Establishment, the mounting repression of critics and the fostering of rightist extremists in the island are elements which could end in Civil War in Puerto Rico and urban violence in American Continental cities where Puerto Ricans are just as alarmed with the Vieques situation.
Faced with this fearful situation we have decided to address the American People and appeal to their sense of Justice. During the past two years representatives of numerous civic, religious, professional and intellectual groups have been responding generously. Many continental Americans are being jailed together with our activists creating in the process bonds well defined by Reverend Jesse Jackson's recent words: "We are Family". As long as American blood, sweat and tears are mixed with ours in a common cause, our course of action will never be un American, and the American flag will never be treated as foreign. Otherwise, we shall hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
Therefore. We, the people that constitute the Moral representatives of the Puerto Rican Nation, gathered to affirm and defend its integrity and territoriality, appealing, first to the Architect of the Universe and second to the World to witness the righteousness of our intentions, solemnly declare:
1 That Vieques is an integral part of Puerto Rico, geologically, historically and culturally. Therefore, any threat, or harm inflicted on her is also done to Puerto Rico.
2. That Vieques, as well as Puerto Rico has an inherent Right to decide what is to their well being without threats, or intimidation of any nature, least of all from a foreign military institution.
3. That based on our inherent Right to determine our political course, Vieques has decided to terminate all relations with the American Naval Forces and demands their withdrawal from its inmediate territory.
4. That Vieques, as well as Puerto Rico claim our right to defend ourselves from aggression or violation of our natural rights by any means at our disposal.
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection
of Divine Providence and the collective confidence in the solidarity of our
people, we risk our lives by becoming human shields during the bombings and
risk our freedoms in acts of civil disobedience, submitting ourselves to the
arbitrariness of their courts and to the perverse will of their judges.