From: | bieke@coqui.net |
Date: | Fri, 8 Dec 2000 15:58:41 -0800 (PST) |
Reply: | cpeo-military |
Subject: | [CPEO-MEF] Vieques Digest for 12/8/00 |
Vieques Digest: 1. Viequenses reject negotiations with Federal Court 2. Vieques at Japan Peace Conference 3. Vieques vs. ATSDR #1. Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques P.O. Box 1424 Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765 Tel. 787 741-0716 Fax. 741-0358 Email: bieke@coqui.net 7 December, 2000 Press Release Viequense Civil Disobedients Reject Offer to Drop Cases Dozens of civil disobedientes from Vieques meeting at the Peace and Justice Camp, rejected an offer from Federal Attorneys in Puerto Rico to drop their cases. Lawyers for the Viequenses arrested for protest actions in the US Navy`s restricted zone on Vieques, told their clients of an offer to file the cases of the Viequnenses arrested, while the civil disobedientes from the Main Island of Puerto Rico and from other countries would have to pass through judicial processes and pay fines. "The Federal Court and the Navy want to separate the Viequenses from the rest of the Puerto Ricans. We will no allow that. We will not accept any special treatment that divides us from the Puerto Ricans on the Main Island. Vieques is Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico is Vieques." That was the declaration of Ismael Guadalupe, spokesman for the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, the prinicipal community organization in the struggle for demilitarization. Unanimously, the Viequenses reaffirmed their strong sense of solidarity with the civil disobedients from the Main Island that have made great sacrifices in defense of the Vieques cause. Without exception, the Viequenses arrested rejected the offer to have their cases dropped without the same treatment applied to those from the Main Island. "When we entered the restricted zone on the 7th of August with the companeras from the Main Island, we entered together. When we get out of this, we`ll all leave through the same door. We will not negotiate with the Federal Court or with the Navy. If they want to file the cases, let it be the cases of all the Puerto Ricans those who live on the Main Island and the Puerto Ricans who live on Vieques," expressed Norma Torres, a Viequense woman who coordinated the August entrance of 31 women from Vieques and the Main Island. Contact: Robert Rabin, CRDV 787 741-0716 #2. Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques P.O. Box 1424 Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765 Tel. (787) 741-0716 Fax. 741-0358 Email: bieke@coqui.net Friday, 6 December, 2000 Press Release Organizers from Okinawa and Puerto Rico share strategies at the Japan Peace Conference Ismael Guadalupe, from the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques and Maria I. Reinat Pumarejo, from the Institute for Latino Empowerment, were part of an international delegation that met in Okinawa for the Japan Peace Conference from the 28th of November to the 4th of December. This magnum conference brought together thousands of Japanese antimilitary organizers and an international delegation to the capital city of Naha. The Puerto Rican activists met with their Okinawan counterparts to share strategies and strengthen even more the bonds of solidarity established through previous visits by others from Puerto Rican. There are many similarities between the countries. Among the outstanding events of the conference we mention the following: the visit by the international delegation to the vice Mayor of the city of Nago, that faces the threat of a new military base (a heliport)supported by the local government against the will of the people expressed in a 1996 referendum; meetings with several grass roots organizations fighting militarism; interviews with several news media from Japan and Okinawa; and special participation in the international symposium where not only were shared diverse aspects of the struggle against the U.S. Navy in Vieques, but also heard were activists about their particular situations of struggle against US military bases in Japan, Okinawa, South Korea, Italy and the United States. Many other activities were programmed to promote joint efforts between Okinawa and Puerto Rico against the imposed U.S. militarism. The group issued a joint declaration to be transmitted world wide in which it expressed that "the solution to the problem of the bases is now part of an international agenda" and the will exists to eliminate these bases as a common effort amongst the different nations of this planet. Contacts: Ismael Guadalupe 741-2304 MarEDa I. Reinat Pumarejo 732-5077, 649-6559 #3. Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques P.O. Box 1424 Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765 Tel. (787) 741-0716 Fax 741-0358 Email: bieke@coqui.net December 8, 2000 Press Release Don't Play with the Health of our Children The Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry (ATSDR), is visiting Vieques to investigate about health and toxic substances. It is a federal agency that intervenes in communities with high levels of toxic contamination. But this agency has a long and negative history of bad relations with affected communities. Hiding behind a facade of "science", the ATSDR does not conduct scientific studies. Its procedures are limited to interviewing a few people in the affected area, ask the contaminator (in this case, the US Navy), or other governmental agencies for information about toxics in the environment, and later conclude that there is no "scientific" way to prove causal relationship between the contamination and terrible health problems. We know what to expect from this agency in Vieques. Admiral Kevin Green has already announced publicly that ATSDR will exonerate the US Navy for any responsibility related to health problems suffered by the people of Vieques. The Vieques community has heard testimony from people who have suffered from the machinations and trickery of this federal agency, like the case of the ex residents of Christian City in Humacao, Puerto Rico. Several experts in health and environment told about ATSDR intervention in Puerto Rico and the United States and all gave identical testimony: ATSDR carries out incomplete studies, manipulates and twists information, and in almost all cases, has exonerated the contaminator of being the cause of the health crisis in the communities. Several Vieques doctors asked ATSDR for economic help so health professionals on the island municipality could carry out medical studies and laboratory analisis necessary to diagnose and provide treatment to Viequenses exposed to the toxic substances of the US Navy. But ATSDR does not provide resources for this tipo of study nor does it do medical exams for residents, so it is not clear how the agency will use and/or manipulate the healt data available. Individuals, community organizations and professionals in Vieques and in Puerto Rico must sound the alert and energetically protest the lies and deceit planned by ATSDR against the people of Vieques. Our struggle for real, for peace and for the health of this and future generations of Viequenses. ATSDR OUT OF VIEQUES! Contactos: Nilda Medina, Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques 741-0716 Dra. Dulce Maria Albandoz, Medico de Vieques 741-2288 Lisandro Rivera, Colectivo Cayo La Yayi Dr. Jorge Colon, Grupo de Apoyo Tecnico Para el Desarrollo Sostenible de Vieques 640-7694 Sarah Peisch, Centro de Accion Ambiental 250-8551 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can find archived listserve messages on the CPEO website at http://www.cpeo.org/lists/index.html. If this email has been forwarded to you and you'd like to subscribe, please send a message to: cpeo-military-subscribe@igc.topica.com ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A http://www.topica.com/t/17 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics | |
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