May 2, 2003

DALLAS - Methodist leaders are applauding the withdrawal of the U.S. Navy from the Puerto Rican island of Vieques.

"This is a very special day for me and for the people of Vieques and Puerto Rico," Bishop Juan Vera Mendez of the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico told members of the United Methodist Council of Bishops. "This morning (May 1), at 12:01 a.m., 64 years of struggles, fear, suffering and domination on Vieques have ended."

Vera, whose joyful comments drew strong applause during the council's semiannual meeting in Addison, Texas, called the withdrawal "a celebration of the triumph of just peace over the power of military might."

For the Rev. German Acevedo-Delgado, a United Methodist Board of Global Ministries executive who was detained in a federal prison for five days in 2001 after being arrested in a protest on Vieques, the occasion of the withdrawal was "a great day" for all of Puerto Rico. "I'm not physically in Vieques, but my heart is there with the people who at this hour are rejoicing and celebrating," he told United Methodist News Service.

Although the Navy had conducted bombing exercises on Vieques for decades, opposition to that practice grew steadily after a civilian was killed in 1999. Concerns also have been raised about the environmental damage and health risks attributed to the bombing.

Religious representatives were among the frequent protesters on the island. In October 2001, for example, Acevedo-Delgado and the Rev. Lucy Rosario-Medina, a Methodist pastor on Vieques, were found guilty of trespassing at the Navy's Camp Garcia during a protest. Both received a year's probation and Rosario-Medina also was sentenced to five days in jail and 150 hours of community work.

The United Methodist General Conference, the church's top legislative body, has been on record as opposing the Navy's use of the island for bombing practice since 1980. Opposition also has been voiced by the denomination's Board of Global Ministries, Board of Church and Society and Council of Bishops, as well as the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico.

Vera, who spoke to the 2000 General Conference after being arrested during a protest on Vieques, expressed his gratitude to the Council of Bishops for its support on that issue.

In June 1999, the Council of Bishops sent a three-person delegation to Vieques at Vera's request. One participant was Bishop Charlene Kammerer of Charlotte, N.C. Her son, Christopher, happened to be serving on a ship in the aircraft carrier battle group that was practicing in the area two months earlier when two bombs from a Navy jet went astray, killing David Sanes, an island resident and civilian security guard.

When the delegation visited Vieques, Kammerer expressed the conflict she felt between her love for her son and the fact that a military group brought harm "to any of God's people" but stressed she believed "God sent me here."

On May 1, she led the Council of Bishops in giving thanks to God and praying that the U.S. government will keep its promises to return the land, restore it and clean up toxins left by military activity.

The Rev. Robert Edgar, a United Methodist pastor and chief executive of the National Council of Churches, visited the island as part of an NCC delegation in 2000 and calls the Navy's withdrawal long overdue. "The people of Vieques have suffered and I hope the United States doesn't forget the cleanup of that area," he added.

Acevedo-Delgado noted that faith played a role in the outcome on Vieques. "Three years ago, a friend was telling me that it was impossible to stop the mighty U.S. Navy from doing their military maneuvers in Vieques," he said. "Faith and the commitment to justice is a wonderful thing. You join other people even when you know that all the odds are against you. This is a victory of all the people who in one way or the other supported the struggle for peace in Vieques."

But he pointed out that the Vieques dilemma is far from over. "The people still face the hard work of pushing the U.S. government to free the land and the water from the toxic pollutants, including depleted uranium shells, and the hundreds of unexploded bombs," he explained.

Still on the agenda, he added, is the return of the Navy land to the people of Puerto Rico and conversion of its use for sustainable development purposes. The Navy turned over its 15,000 acres of land on eastern Vieques to the U.S. Department of Interior, according to the Associated Press.

United Methodist News Service