[CPEO-MEF] Vieques main topic at Texas forum on military toxics

[bieke@coqui.net]

Comité Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques

P.O.Box 1424 Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765

Telefax: (787) 741-0716 e-mail: bieke@coqui.net



10 September,  2001

Press Release

Vieques main topic at Texas forum on military toxics

 Vieques was one of the principle topics in the military toxics conference
held in San Antonio, Texas, the 7th and 8th of this month.  Nilda Medina, of
the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques (CRDV) was the main
speaker at the Vieques Freedom Forum - a Night of Solidarity, a special
activity during the conference organized by the Southwest Workers Union.  At
an intermediate school, more than one hundred residents of the area, mostly
Mexican Americans, participated in the Vieques forum.  The Military Toxics
Project (MTP), a national program that provides support for communities in
the US that struggle aganst military contamination, also helped organize the
week end of presentations.

Medina offered a summary of the US Navy presence on Vieques and the
historic struggle of the community for the demilitarization and return of
their lands.  The participants showed great interest in the civil
disobedience campaign that has forced two US presidents and two Governors of
Puerto Rico to lobby for the cessation of military operations on the island.

The Viequense activist, who has been arrested twice for participating in
civil disobedience acts, spoke as part of a panel with Tara Thornton,
National Director of the MTP and Laura Hunter, from the San Diego based
Coalition for the Environment and Health.  Congressmen Bob Filner (San
Diego) and Ciro Rodríguez (San Antonio) spoke about legislation submitted to
the Congress that would force the military to respect laws related to the
protection of the environment and health of communities close to military
bases.

 The participating community leaders shared information about strategies
used in their respective struggles and established important links of
solidarity and cooperation.  People from other parts of Texas and from other
areas of the Southwestern US, including a large number of journalists,
participated in the talks and workshops during the forum.

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