Nuclear Testing on the island of Vieques

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 stron

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The United States Navy says that this exercise is important because if the soldiers are trained properly they will be ready and able to take on missions. But that still was is not enough for us and the people of Vieques, the military exercises to stop immediately.

The military exercise in Vieques is called, “Unified Spirit,” which encompasses fifty vessels, including the USS Harry S. Bush announced on June 2001, that the United States Navy would have to end military exercises on Vieques 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. 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. This protest went on for one year; they were determined and would not stop until the people of Vieques got what they wanted.

The ecology of Vieques has been in the making for since the beganing of time,. 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. It is also the largest military presence on Vieques since April 1999. In April of 1999, a man named David Sanes Rodriguez was killed and the bomb injured four others.

Approximate Word count = 477
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

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