U.S. Military Out of Puerto Rico!

Transfered from old site

On September 3, the U.S. Navy unleashed another terrorist assault on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. This was the start of 23 days of non-stop bombing and wargames. By their hundreds of thousands the people of Puerto Rico, Cuba and those worldwide have adamantly opposed this state terrorism of the U.S. and demanded that the Navy get out of Vieques now. As the U.S. moves to place Puerto Rico into its Northern Command (Northcom) structure, for use against the peoples of Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the U.S., the struggle to remove all U.S. military from Puerto Rico is intensifying.
 

 
The people of Vieques, along with many hundreds from across Puerto Rico, the U.S. and around the world are vigorously opposing this latest assault. The current war games being carried out on the island by the 10 ships, two attack submarines and some 80 planes of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Battle Group are widely recognized as preparation for war on Iraq. They no doubt are also part of Northcom preparations.
 

 
Daily and nightly demonstrations have been held at the Navy's base, Camp Garcia, and have continued unabated despite brutal attacks from Navy security forces and at least a dozen arrests. Activists continue their courageous acts of civil disobedience by infiltrating the range and putting themselves directly in harms way, acting as "human shields" against the bombing. Most recently, two priests, aged 58 and 77, were arrested and imprisoned for infiltrating the base. Numerous demonstrations of support have also been held in many places.
 

 
The response of the U.S. Navy and the U.S. government to the heroic resistance of the people is to carry out more state terrorism and violence and make dissent by the people a crime. Hundreds gathered outside Camp Garcia have been attacked by tear gas and rubber bullets. Those who have been arrested have been subjected to brutal treatment and arbitrarily high sentences. For example, Robert Rabin, a long-time organizer in Vieques, is currently serving a six-month sentence at the federal prison at Guaynabo. He has twice been kept in solitary confinement, once arbitrarily before his trial and a second time when he led protests in the prison and made statements to the press about violations of prisoners' rights.
 

 
U.S. state terrorism has not stopped the people from stepping up their battle to get the Navy Out Now! The struggle has emerged as an important manifestation of the fight of the Puerto Rican people for human dignity and self-determination from U.S. colonial rule. As the call for a September 3 demonstration in New York City said, "No one knows better than the Puerto Ricans what the aims of the U.S. warmongers are. Puerto Rico is a completely controlled country under U.S. colonial rule. Like the people of Vieques who have suffered health epidemics as a result of the U.S. Navy occupation on that island, all the people of Puerto Rico have been denied the right to decide matters concerning their economic, social and political life."
 

 
The struggle of the Puerto Rican people for their rights is an important contribution to all peoples of the world. Forcing the military out directly contributes to all those fighting against U.S. imperialist aggression. Training exercises on the island have functioned as a launching pad for U.S. aggression the world over, from numerous invasions in Latin America and the Caribbean, to testing Agent Orange and napalm for use in Vietnam, and more recently, preparing battle groups on their way to the U.S. war against Afghanistan.
 

 
The people of Vieques and Puerto Rico will stop at nothing less than removal of the Navy now. Canadians join them in opposing the use of their land and resources by the U.S. military.
 

 
Puerto Rico for the Puerto Ricans!
 
U.S. Military Out of Puerto Rico!
 

 
From cpcml.ca (Canadian Communist Party- Marxist Leninist)