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mittee members felt such a claim was a subterfuge for entrenching the military
presence. After all, they reasoned, it was only in the midst of new efforts to re-
cover western land that the Navy suddenly found new use for the land, which
had lain idle for decades. The radar installation energized the Committee to of-
fer a forceful response. For the first time in the long struggle against the mili-
tary presence, activists framed their response with a focus on health: they would
alert the public to the potential health dangers of the electromagnetic radiation
the radar installation would emit.
Stage III: No Radar!
Anti-Navy activists tapped into the growing concern on Vieques regard-
ing the health effects of the naval presence; such concerns dated back at least
five years, to an article published in a Puerto Rican engineering journal about
high concentrations of explosives in local drinking water (Cruz 1988). For more
than five years, then, concern had been increasing on Vieques not only about
contamination from military explosives, but also about reports of high levels of
certain types of cancer in the community. The secretive nature of military activ-
ity and Viequenses lack of access to information understandably intensified fear
and suspicion of the Navy.
Soon after the Navy s announcement of its radar project, public hearings
took place in Vieques City Hall. The Committee organized a demonstration out-
side the hearings to boycott the meeting, while inside, a handful of anxious lo-
cal residents raised critical concerns including the aesthetic appearance of the
facility on land that locals had hoped to conserve for ecotourism and the health
effects of electromagnetic radiation. The local newspaper described the opposi-
tion to the project as composed of sympathizers from all parties, various reli-
gious groups, municipal assemblypersons and even government employees, many
not considered anti-Navy types (The Vieques Times 1994). Clearly, the Com-
mittee had successfully surmounted locals fears of communist labels and had
organized a demonstration that drew a diverse group of community residents.
After weeks of reflection, the majority of Committee members decided that
118 Katherine T. McCaffrey and Sherrie L. Baver
emphasizing the public health and environmental consequences was the best way
to defeat Goliath.
As a sign of the successful reframing of this issue, a new group joined
the local coalition the Vieques Conservation and Historic Trust (VCHT). The
VCHT was the pet project of some wealthy North American seasonal residents
who were concerned, in particular, about preserving Vieques s bioluminescent
bay. In the past, the Vieques Conservation and Historic Trust not only had re-
fused to speak out against the Navy but were strongly supportive of the mili-
tary presence. Therefore the Trust s statement of unequivocal opposition to the
radar station represented a remarkable change of heart.
Over the next year, Vieques activists merged with activists in Lajas, Puerto
Rico, to fight against the Navy s plans. In Lajas, radar opponents stressed the
theme of agricultural land usurpation, while the Viequenses continued to em-
phasize health concerns. The crucial symbolic link between the two mobiliza-
tions was a group of Puerto Rican Vietnam veterans who focused attention on
the issue of military contamination. In particular, one decorated veteran suffer-
ing from Agent Orange exposure served to undermine the moral credibility of
the Navy s claims about the safety of the proposed ROTHR installation.
The Navy s continued refusal to compromise, coupled with several public
relations failures, led to the October 1995 protest in San Juan against the radar
project. This event represented one of the largest mobilizations in recent Puerto
Rican history. The struggle over ROTHR continued over the next two years, in-
cluding a brief moratorium on the project when the island s Environmental Qual-
ity Board (EQB) demanded detailed information about the health and
environmental implications of the facility. The Navy persisted, however, and in
1996 announced its intentions to go forward with the radar project. The response
in Vieques was a well-attended local protest in February 1997. Importantly, in
this Walk for the Health of Vieques, those organizing the protest were careful
in the framing of their rhetoric. This mobilization was not to be seen as an anti-
colonial action but rather an event to dramatize the community s concern about
perceived high cancer rates and other illnesses stemming from existing envi-
ronmental contamination, as well as about future risks from electromagnetic ra-
diation. Notwithstanding popular opposition, the Navy erected its ROTHR project
in 1998. Ironically, to erect the antennae on Vieques, the military razed one hun-
dred acres of mahogany trees that it had once claimed as one of its own major
contributions to the ecological rehabilitation of the island.
The most important legacy of the 1995 1997 struggle over the radar in-
stallation was that Viequenses became organized and forged a wide coalition
by focusing on health and safety concerns. This experience laid the foundation
for the dramatic mobilization that erupted in April 1999.
Stage IV: The Death of David Sanes
On April 19, 1999, David Sanes, a civilian security guard employed by
the Navy, was patrolling the Vieques live impact range. At one point during
Reframing the Vieques Struggle 119
Sanes s shift, two F-18 jets involved in training exercises dropped their two 500-
pound bombs, but they missed their mark by a mile and a half. The Navy s range
control officer and three security guards inside the training observation post were
injured. Sanes, standing outside the observation post, was knocked unconscious
by the explosion of shattered glass and concrete and bled to death from his injuries.
The Sanes family, while wanting no part in politicizing David s death,
agreed to enter military land with Vieques activists to erect a large white cross
in his memory. After the ceremony, which included christening the spot Monte
David, a well-known, self-proclaimed environmental warrior from Vega Baja,
Albert de Jesus (a.k.a. Tito Kayak ) stole the spotlight. He personally pledged
to camp at the site and block the resumption of military maneuvers. Over the
next year, thousands of supporters from Vieques, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. main-
land set up camps on the target zone and brought further military maneuvers to
a halt. In this way, the encampments moved the Vieques struggle out of the lo-
cal arena and into the national and international political spotlight.
The success of this mobilization is in large measure a result of the ability [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]