Members of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques (CRDV) and the Peace and Justice Camp (PJC) wish everyone great happiness and the strength to continue the struggle for peace and justice througout the world. We take this opportunity to thank you all for your support and solidarity during this past year of intense struggle and we ask for your continued efforts in the upcoming events to end the Navy presence in Vieques.
Last Saturday, December 30, we held a Christmas and New Year/New Century/New Millenium Party at the PJC, in front of the entrance to the Navy's bombing range of Camp Garcia. Around 500 people, mainly Viequenses, participated in the party with messages about the struggle, a militant picket in the street in front of the entrance to the base, a concert by the Latin American music group, TEPEU and by our guerrilla/contractor/carpenter/singer/song writer, Noel Hernandez.
The night began with the Peace Caravan through the neighborhoods of Vieques from 6 to 8 PM. A float decorated with a large, wooden Peace Dove and anti-bombing symbols, moved through all the neighborhoods of Vieques with the Rubén Bonano Trio. The song of the night was PEACE FOR VIEQUES, sung for two hours with the participation of our people in the streets who came out to greet the CRDV Christmas Peace Caravan.
Three local merchants donated and roasted two large pigs at the PJC beginning early in the day, while women from the camp and the Comité prepared lots of rice and beans, arroz con dulce (rice dessert), cakes and other treasures of the holiday menu.
While Noel Hernández sung classics from the Puerto Rican protest song movement, Alberto "Tito" de Jesús (Tito Kayak), appeared suddenly atop a nearby lightpost, installing a Vieques flag in a gesture of solidarity with the Vieques struggle.
On the 31st, another pig was roasted at the Camp, this one brought from the town of Santa Isabel by Zayda and Oscar, of the Don Pedro Committee in Solidarity with Vieques from the South Coast area of Puerto Rico. Minutes before midnight, we began a ceremony at the PJC simultaneously with others at Monte Carmelo and the Luisa Guadalupe Camp. The ceremony - a candle lit for peace on Vieques- was suggested by friends from the Caguas diocese of the Catholic Church. With candles lit, we spent time reflecting on the struggle, our individual and collective participation and our strong desire to see an end to the military presence here. In a specially prepared fire, papers with messages about things we´d like to see disappear were burned.
On several occasions during the night people at the PJC felt the effects of pepper gas, released from inside the military zone of Camp García, just across the street. Between 10 PM and midnight and on three specific moments, people meeting peacefully at the camp felt the burning in the eyes and throat and the coughing generally associated with the use of pepper gas, a favorite tactic of the PR Riot Police and the Military Police of Camp García. People at the camp noted the presence of a military vehicle upwind from the camp, close to the Navy fence, each time people felt the effects of the gas.
At a special meeting of the CRDV last week, plans were made for the next civil disobedience actions to take place in repudiation of the Navy´s announcement about military maneuvers here beginning on January 17th. We will carry out the Third Embracing of the Navy Fence during the weekend of Martin Luther King commemorations, from the 13th to the 15th of this month. In addition to the Embrace, a series of CD actions are being coordinated to denounce and block Navy exercises schedule for the next two months.
Since the establishment of the Luisa Guadalupe Camp, in the area where the Navy attempted to build a new road using civilian lands, the Navy has not tried to reinitiate the project. A constant, 24 hour a day vigilance has been set up to warn the community in the event the Navy tries to start up construction in the zone. During the first three weeks of the camp, members of the Peace and Justice Camp and the CRDV as well as dozens of people from the community keep the LGC running.
Military personnel on the other side of the fence that separates Camp Garcìa from the LGC, have not stopped their harrassment with vulgar expressions and throwing stones. Several nights ago, people at the camp heard a series of gunshots and noted projectiles falling at the camp.
Our people maintain a firm defense of the right to use peaceful protest against the imminent dangers that result from the Navy`s activities here.
On Wednesday, January 3rd, Tony "Mapeye" Rivera and his group brought a beautiful Christmas parranda (concert) to the LGC as an expression of solidarity and love for the struggling people of Viequese.
We now prepare for the long fight ahead to end the presence of the most powerful military force in the history of humanity. We hope to have the support of our new government and Governor. However, we must keep clear what we have constantly stressed - we cannot trust the politicians, because history does not allow that! It will not be the mayors, governors, congresspeople nor the presidents that get the Navy out of Vieques. This is the resonsibility of the people of Vieques and all the people of Puerto Rico committed to peace on this "Isla Nena" (child island). We hope to enjoy the support of our elected officials who work for us and whose responsibility is to use the PR police not to protect the entrance to the Navy base, but to arrest those military criminals who for decades have practiced genocide against the Puerto Rican people on Vieques.
We remind all those interested in participating in civil disobedience actions that this is the moment to make the sacrifice. The Navy plans to bomb here during the next two months. Call us at the Peace and Justice Camp to include your name in the list of our forces of peace for Vieques!