U.S. Navy Resumes Bombing on Vieques, Puerto Rico

The U.S. Navy resumed military exercises at its prized range on Vieques island Friday, dropping 500-pound dummy bombs in defiance of protesters who cut through fences and breached the zone by boat.

Eight protesters forced a temporary halt to the exercises about a half hour after they began. Navy spokesman Jeff Gordon said they were spotted on a small island some 300 feet northwest of the target zone where the bombs were dropped shortly after 9 a.m., and just before a ship was to begin shelling.

"They're risking the lives of our people by dropping bombs," said Robert Rabin, one of the protest organizers.

The intruders were not in the direct line of fire but "close enough to the range to suspend the exercise," Gordon said.

They and six others arrested Thursday and Friday would be prosecuted for trespassing on federal land, he said.

About 1 1/2 hours later, puffs of smoke appeared from the destroyer USS Peterson, and the Navy confirmed the ship had started shelling.

It was unclear how many other people might remain in the restricted area, but Navy spokesmen said the firing range itself was free of protesters.

Scores of other demonstrators who say the bombing harms islanders' health bowed their heads in prayer during vigils that lasted into the early morning, seeking divine intervention.

The exercises began Friday with five Navy A-4 fighter jets dropping nine 500-pound dummy bombs on the range on the eastern tip of the island, a Navy spokesman said.

A day earlier, a federal judge turned down a last-minute complaint by the Puerto Rican government aimed at blocking the naval maneuvers.

"This is a sad day for Vieques," Roman Catholic priest Nelson Lopez said as he led a prayer in the town of Isabel Segunda.

Lopez said he was hopeful: "If the Berlin Wall fell, so can the U.S. Navy."

Navy guards sprayed pepper spray during the night at a group of protesters that tried to cut through fences.

"My dog will bite you!" one Navy guard yelled.

Overnight, some violent protesters hurled stones at a Navy vehicle, shattering the windshield, and others set ablaze a field of grass in the military zone, the Navy said.

Navy officials ¡ª who insist training on Vieques does not harm the island's 9,400 people and is vital for the national defense ¡ª was bolstered by U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler's ruling Thursday.

But reservations expressed by the judge in Washington also buoyed protesters. Kessler said she found disturbing aspects, including "an implied promise" from Navy officials to postpone the drills until the Department of Health and Human Services completed a review of studies linking the noise to islanders' heart problems.

The complaint, against the Navy and its top officials, contended the bombing could harm islanders' health and would violate a new local law against noise pollution.

Before the exercises resumed, Puerto Rico's Gov. Sila Calderon said attorneys would press on, adding "I have no doubt that we will prevail."

In San Juan, the capital, more than 6,000 people waving blue-and-white Vieques flags held a peace rally on Thursday. Then about 400 traveled by car in a caravan to the eastern port of Fajardo and boarded a ferry to Vieques, where they arrived to chants of "Navy Out!" after midnight.

Cars and trucks sporting slogans such as "Peace" circulated on the island with flags flapping out windows.

Among protesters reported on the training ground were prominent opposition Sen. Norma Burgos and Myrta Sanes, sister of security guard David Sanes, whose April 1999 death by bombs fired off-target on the range provoked an explosion of public anger and anti-U.S. sentiment.

Protesters invaded the range after the security guard's death, preventing exercises until they were forcibly removed by U.S. marshals in May 2000.

Under an agreement with the White House, scaled-back exercises resumed using only inert ammunition.

But opposition swelled again after the popular Calderon won elections in November, repudiated the agreement and demanded an immediate end to the bombing.

About 15,000 sailors and Marines were to participate in the exercises, which involve the Norfolk, Va.,-based aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and about a dozen cruisers and destroyers.












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