Nuclear Testing on the island of Vieques essays

Nuclear Testing on the island of Vieques essays Vieques is an island off the shore of Puerto Rico. It is controlled by the United States. The population of Vieques is 9,300 people. The United States has used two-thirds of the island for war games and live ammunition target practice since 1941. Which has nearly destroyed the entire ecology of the area. A famous poet and political leader Jose de Diego once wrote over eighty years ago, Puerto Ricans do not know how to say no, the no of the oppressed has been the word, the genesis of liberation of peoples. We must learn to say no. But for the first time Puerto Ricans and many other United States Citizens have said no to the bombing of Vieques. Vieques is an island filled with people who are strong individuals, people who believe in the culture and their pride. An example of this is September 23, 2000, where the people of Vieques came together to fight for their country. They came together marched as one to demand that the United States Navy leave Vieques and perform their live fire training of naval and marine forces. In April of 1999, a man named David Sanes Rodriguez was killed and the bomb injured four others. Because of this incident hundreds of the natives came together to protest the testing site of Vieques. This protest went on for one year; they were determined and wou ld not stop until the people of Vieques got what they wanted. The Navy told them that they would only fire inert munitions to the range ninety days per year and they would also hold a referendum in January 2002 on whether the testing could continue or if it would have to stop and leave by May 2003. In November 2000, governor Sila Maria Calderon of Puerto Rico was working towards the stopping of the United States Navy exercises on Vieques to remove the Navy from the area. United States President George W. Bush announced on June 2001, that the United States Navy would have to end military exercises on Vieques by May 2003....... But tha...