CPTnet
February 24, 2001
CPT Sending Emergency Delegation to Vieques

A CPT emergency delegation has been assembled to go to Vieques, Puerto Rico
in early March to support the people of Vieques as they engage in a series
of direct actions against the US Navy which is scheduled to begin training
maneuvers including bombing at that time.

In January 2001 CPT sent a delegation of twenty-seven people to Vieques to
continue working with the peace community in Vieqeus and Puerto Rico. As a
result of that delegation CPT received an invitation to be present on
Vieques in March when the Navy begins practicing war maneuvers.

Vieques Island (pop. 9,400) is twenty-one miles long by five miles wide and
lies about eight miles east of the main island of Puerto Rico. The U.S. Navy
occupies the eastern and western sections of the island and has in the last
sixty years has evicted over 3,000 residents from their lands. Both the land
and the ocean waters on the eastern third of the island are seriously
contaminated with the remains of the armaments exploded in tests over the
last sixty years. This is the second emergency delegation CPT will have
assembled to support the people during Naval maneuvers.