Conservative politicians jump on the Vieques bandwagon as arrests and bombings continue

By MC17

The U.$. government appears to be willing to arrest and imprison the entire population of Puerto Rico as well as a substantial section of the united $tates if that is necessary to allow the Naval operations in Vieques to continue. The arrests are becoming embarrassing, even for the imperialists who are used to news reports of atrocities that they have engineered or backed. Conservative political figures who generally support imperialism are starting to change sides and join the anti-navy bandwagon.

Many Puerto Rican conservative activists belong to the comprador bourgeois class, which serves as local puppets for Amerikan imperialism. At the same time, they live among their people and must react to the national liberation struggle when it becomes particularly strong. For u.$. politicians this struggle in Puerto Rico has become a way to try to gain Latino votes and avoid the wrath of the those who oppose the bombing.

Even the bourgeois media is beginning to report favorably on the anti-bombing activists as the protest movement spreads.

A U.$. federal judge, claiming jurisdiction over Puerto Rico, sentenced Vieques protesters to unusually harsh sentences in July. The protesters, who attempted to block u.$. Navy bombing in Vieques at the end of April, included Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., son of the assassinated u.s. Senator, who was sentenced to 30 days in jail. He was represented by former New York state governor Mario Cuomo.(1) Mario Cuomo's son Andrew is married to Kennedy's sister and Andrew is a candidate for governor. At the same time New York's Republican governor, George Pataki, has publicly expressed strong sympathy with the Vieques protests.(4) There is a large Puerto Rican population in New York whose support both men hope to win.

The Navy, not caring about political battles going on back home, carry on the tradition of good 'ol imperialist brutality on the island of Vieques. Kennedy and two other men who were arrested with him say they were treated like dogs by Navy police -- literally. They were put in dog kennels overnight. The Navy also deprived them of counsel on the grounds that they were not arrested, only "detained."(4) Peaceful protesters are being brutalized and stories are even making it back to Washington where politicians are worried about the impact on Bush's ability to get the Latino vote. Another prominent politician who went to Vieques to protest the bombing, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Democrat from Illinois, was kicked around by Navy policemen even though a video shows him following all orders. One officer put a foot on the congressman's neck and told him to put his face in the dirt. When some protesters told the guard that Gutierrez was a congressman, the guard laughed.(4)

Another unusually harsh sentence issued in July went to Puerto Rican senator Norma Burgos (of the conservative New Progressive Party) who was sentenced to 40 days in jail after the judge told her she "should be a lawmaker not a lawbreaker." When she said that the Navy should be on trial, not the protesters, the judge increased her sentence to 60 days.(1)

At the end of June more well-known political figures were arrested for civil disobedience at the Vieques bombing site, including Puerto Rican nationalist leader Lolita Lebron and Ponce mayor Rafael Cordero Santiago. Lebron, now 81, was part of an armed attack on the u.s. congress in 1954 and served 25 years in u.s. federal prison. Bail for her was set at $30,000, which she refused to post. New York State Assembly member Adam Clayton Powell III was also arrested. His father was a well known Black congressman in the 1960s and his great grandfather was mayor of San Juan in the 1940s. Jacqueline Jackson, wife of Reverend Jesse Jackson, was sentenced to 10 days in prison and kept in solitary confinement because she refused to submit to body searches.(2)

Alberto de Jesus Mercado received the longest sentence for protesting the u.s. Navy bombing of Vieques. On probation for civil disobedience in Vieques, De Jesus was one of the protesters who hung the Puerto Rican and Vieques flags on the Statue of Liberty in November of 2000. Federal Judge Hector Laffitte revoked De Jesus' probation on June 20 and sentenced him to a year in prison. Asked if he had anything to say, De Jesus held up a ripped T-shirt that read "Vieques or Death." Laffitte ordered psychiatric treatment for De Jesus.(2)

In the united snakes protesters are being arrested as well. Reverend Al Sharpton remains in federal prison in Brooklyn serving a 90 day sentence (since May 23). He staged a hunger strike taking only liquids starting on May 29 and lasting until June 28.(2) Seven people were arrested at an anti-Navy protest in Hartford Connecticut, including State Representative Evelyn Mantilla. The protesters were engaging in peaceful civil disobedience in front of the U.S. Armed Forces Recruitment Center demanding an immediate end to Naval military activities on the island of Vieques.(3)

Of course, a number of Amerikan politicians continue to spew their old lies about the helpless idiots in the Third World who need the u.s. imperialists to occupy, exploit, and oppress them. The worst example this month comes from Representative James V. Hansen (R-Utah) in an interview on NPR. He said that Puerto Ricans should not get any special treatment because "They sit down there on welfare and very few of them paying taxes, got a sweetheart deal."(4) Yeah, having the Navy steal your land, bomb your island, contaminate and destroy your environment, and decimate your economy by destroying key industries (fishing, agriculture, cattle-ranching) sure is a sweetheart deal. Perhaps we could move the u.$. bourgeoisie to Vieques when we give back the land of the united $tates to it's rightful original owners and let them enjoy the luxury of cleaning up the toxic waste for the Puerto Rican people.

Notes: 1. Weekly News Update on the Americas, Issue 597, July 8, 2001. Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York, wnu@igc.org 2. Weekly News Update on the Americas, Issue 596, July 1, 2001. Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York, wnu@igc.org 3. Vieques Libre - http://www.viequeslibre.org, June 27, 2001. 4. The Washington Post, July 1, 2001; Page B01