[CPEO-MEF] Vieques

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

[This information came from Joel Feigenbaum, joelf@cape.com]

{PM-US-Puerto Rico,0273}
{Navy postpones sending admiral to Puerto Rico for Vieques talks}
   
WASHINGTON (AP) - In a new setback for the Pentagon's efforts to regain
use of its Vieques bombing range, the Navy has put off sending an 
admiral to Puerto Rico to discuss a resolution of the dispute, officials 
said today.
   Last week the Pentagon announced that it would send Rear Adm. Kevin
Green, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command, to San Juan to
discuss President Clinton's plan for resuming Navy training on Vieques
next spring using "inert," or dummy, bombs only and ending all Navy
operations there within five years.
   Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Rossello quickly rejected the Clinton plan, 
but the Clinton administration said it hoped to resolve the dispute 
through discussions. Green was supposed to be a central figure in the 
discussions, but the Navy decided not to send him this week because the 
Puerto Ricans made no one available for him to meet with, according to 
Cmdr. Brian Cullin, spokesman for Navy Secretary Richard Danzig.
   "This was a practical decision," Cullin said. "It didn't make sense 
to send someone down there if the government feel it doesn't have anyone 
for him to talk to."
   Puerto Rico is insisting that the Navy give up the Vieques bombing
range now and abandon plans for even limited bombing next spring. The 
Navy insists there is no alternative to Vieques as a training ground for 
the ships and aircraft that deploy abroad from East Coast bases. It also 
argues that the use of live bombs in some of that Vieques training is 
indispensable in preparing sailors and pilots for actual combat.

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