Vieques, Puerto Rico
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| Nickname: "Isla Nena (Baby Girl Island)" | ||||||
| Gentilic: "Viequenses" | ||||||
| Location | ||||||
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| Government | ||||||
| Founded | {{{founded}}} | |||||
| Mayor | Damaso Serrano López | |||||
| Political party | PPD | |||||
| Senatorial district | 8 - Carolina | |||||
| Representative district | 36 | |||||
| Geographical characteristics | ||||||
| Area | ||||||
| Total | 348.15 km² | |||||
| Land | 135 km² | |||||
| Water | 213.15 km² | |||||
| Population | ||||||
| Total (2000) | 9,531 | |||||
| Density | 69.5 persons/km² | |||||
| Time zone | AST (UTC-4) | |||||
| Official website: http://www.viequesrenace.com | ||||||
Vieques is an island-municipality of Puerto Rico. It is located to the east of the Puerto Rican mainland. Vieques is divided into seven wards and Isabel Segunda, the downtown area and the administrative center of the island.
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[edit] History
Studies show that Vieques was first inhabited by Native Americans who came from South America about 1,500 years before Christopher Columbus set foot in Puerto Rico in 1493. However, a fossilized skeleton of a 10,000-year-old man was discovered in the late 1980s near a cluster of boulders on a southern slope on the south side of the island's mid-section, indicating much earlier human habitation.
After a brief battle between local Indians and Spaniards, the Spaniards took control of the island, turning the locals into their slaves.
In 1811, Don Salvador Meléndez, then governor of Puerto Rico, sent military commander Juan Rosselló to begin what later became the take-over of Vieques by the people of Puerto Rico.
In 1816, Vieques was visited by Simón Bolívar.
Teófilo José Jaime María Le Guillou, who is recognized as the founder of Vieques as a town, arrived in 1823, marking a period of economic and social change for the island of Vieques.
By the second part of the 19th century, Vieques received thousands of black immigrants who came to help with the sugar cane plantations. Some of them came as slaves, and some came on their own to earn extra money. Most of them came from the nearby islands of St. Thomas, Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Croix and many other Caribbean nations. Ever since, black people have formed an important and essential part of Vieques' society.
During the 1940s, the United States military purchased 60 percent of the land area of Vieques including farms and sugar plantations from locals, who in turn were left with no employment options and many were forced to emigrate to mainland Puerto Rico and to St. Croix to look for homes and jobs. After that, the United States military used Vieques as testing grounds for bombs, missiles, and other weapons.
There have been claims linking Vieques' high cancer rate to these tests, especially after the US Navy admitted to use of depleted uranium at least on one occasion in 1999. Dr. Nayda Figueroa, an epidemiologist for Puerto Rico's Cancer Registry, claimed that research showed Vieques' cancer rate (latest available is for 1995 to 1999) was 31 percent higher than for the main island. Dr. Michael Thun, head of epidemiological research at the American Cancer Society, cautioned that the variations in the rates could be attributed to chance, given the small population on Vieques. [1]
[edit] Navy-Vieques protests
On April 19, 1999 Vieques native David Sanes was killed by a bomb dropped by a military jet during bombing exercises. A civilian employee of the Navy, Sanes was on duty at a military Observation Point when two bombs fell 1½ miles (2½ kilometres) away from their designated target; one of them fell 30 feet (10 metres) away from Sanes and exploded, killing him instantly. [2] Native Viequenses and non-native pacifists seized upon this event as the flashpoint for ending military exercises there. Young Milivi Adams, a Vieques native who was a cancer patient, became the protester's symbol child in their quest to liberate the island of the bombings (On the morning of November 17, 2002, she died). Soon after, Puerto Ricans from all over mainland Puerto Rico as well as from the United States travelled to Vieques to protest the bombings and military exercises by holding rallies in the civilian half of the island and setting up civil disobedience camps in the target bombing zone. Acting as human shields, these numerous individuals forced the Navy to stop its bombing for over a year. People from all over Latin America joined the struggle, which became known as the Navy-Vieques protests. Many Latino celebrities, including the Independentista leader Rubén Berríos, singers Danny Rivera, Robi "Draco" Rosa and Ricky Martin, boxer Félix Trinidad, Mexican-American actor Edward James Olmos and Guatemala's Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú have protested, as did Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Al Sharpton, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. A number of Puerto Ricans served time in jail for illegally entering the bombing ranges. Sharpton and Kennedy also served jail time; while serving his prison term in Puerto Rico, Kennedy's wife Mary gave birth to the couple's sixth child, a son they named Aidan Caohman Vieques Kennedy. The Movimiento Socialista de Trabajadores (MST) held a series of incursions into the bombing ranges to halt the bombing without being arrested, and a few of them were successful in that second objective.
In 1999, then-Governor Pedro Rosselló began talks with the U.S. government to try to look for a solution to the problem, and in 2001, Governor Sila María Calderón signed an agreement with President George W. Bush that guaranteed the military's vacating of the island in May of 2003.
On May 1, 2003, the military began to vacate Vieques, an event that was covered by the international media. Exuberant celebrants destroyed US$750,000 of facilities and equipment that was turned over to the island's government by the U.S. Navy.
On March 31, 2004, the United States closed its Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. A skeleton staff of 200, down from approximately 1200 civilian and 700 military personnel, stayed on at the facility until the transfer of the property was completed. The closure of the base at Roosevelt Roads resulted in a substantial financial loss to the economy of Puerto Rico that the Navy estimates at $250 million a year. Admiral Robert Natter, commander of the Atlantic Fleet, is on record as saying: "Without Vieques there is no way I need the Navy facilities at Roosevelt Roads — none. It's a drain on Defense Department and taxpayer dollars."
Nevertheless, the government of Puerto Rico is seizing the opportunity and has announced the airport at the base will be reopened, and will become a major Caribbean air cargo hub, relieving Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport and extending its useful life indefinitely without the need for property expansion. It will also be used to centralize general aviation activities now dispersed over several municipal airports, saving the Puerto Rico Ports Authority significant sums of money on maintenance and other costs. Other plans are in motion to make use of other sections of the former base to benefit the local economy. A large portion of the undeveloped land in the property is being set aside for ecological preservation.
Since that time, tensions on the island have been low, tourism is increasing and Vieques is rapidly becoming a popular destination. The lands previously owned by the Navy have been turned over to the U.S. National Fish & Wildlife Service and the governments of Puerto Rico and Vieques for management. The immediate bombing range area on the eastern tip of the island suffers from severe contamination, but the remaining areas are mostly open to the public, including many beautiful beaches that were inaccessible to civilians when the military bases were open. Clean-up efforts of the contaminated areas have commenced.
After the U.S. Navy's departure, land speculation by foreign developers as well as fears of overdevelopment has caused some resentment with local residents.
[edit] Demographics
[edit] Barrios (Districts/Wards)
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Santa Maria Bariada Leguillaw Las Marias El Pilon Billa Borinquen |
[edit] Geo/Topography
Vieques runs 21 miles east-west. It is three miles wide, giving it a land area of 52 square miles. It is located ten miles east offshore of Puerto Rico. The island is served by Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport, with air service to Puerto Rico and other Caribbean points.
The island houses only two towns: Isabel Segunda on the Atlantic side of the island, and Esperanza on the Caribbean.
The highest point on the island is Monte Pirata, 936 feet, and the lowest point is the Caribbean Sea.
[edit] Economic
[edit] Agriculture
- Sugar cane (principal crop), avocados, bananas, coconuts, grains, papayas and sweet potatoes.
[edit] Tourism
Snorkeling is excellent, especially at Blue Beach. Aside from archeological sites, such as La Hueca, and deserted beaches, a unique feature of Vieques is the presence of two pristine bioluminescent bays, including Mosquito Bay.
[edit] Landmarks and places of interest
- Count de Mirasol Bunker
- La Esperanza Beach
- Leguillow Tomb
- Old Nayda Cinema Theater
- Punta Mulas Light House
- Sun Bay Beach
- The Centennial Ceiba
- The Bioluminescent Bay
[edit] Festivals and events
- Cultural Festival - April
- Matron Celebrations - December
- Bilí Festival - November
- Arepa Festival - November
[edit] Transportation
To get to Vieques, you can either take a small commuter plane from either San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport or Isla Grande Airport (20-30 minute flight), or a ferry boat from Fajardo, available several times a day. You can also fly to Vieques from Saint Croix or Saint Thomas.
[edit] Notable "Viequenses"
Jaime Benítez - Educator, politician and humanist
[edit] See also
[edit] Photo gallery
 Sun Bay |
 A view to Navio Beach from a nearby sea cave |
 A view from the malecón in Esperanza towards Cayo Fuera |
 Playa del Corcho (Corcho Beach) |
 Navio Beach |
[edit] External links
- Pictures from the island
- Vieques, Puerto Rico: ATSDR Documents Dealing with the Isla de Vieques Bombing Range
- US Fish and Wildlife Service Photogallery: Vieques Images
- Vieques travel guide from Wikitravel
