Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- In a message dated 29/07/01 19:44:53 Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: << Vieques Libre - http://www.viequeslibre.org [Bajar para español] Vieques Vote to Get the Navy Out Sunday, July 29, 2001 viequeslibre.org With a participation of the 80.5% of the electorate, the Vieques’ Anti-Navy Movement won the referendum with an overwhelming majority. 68% of the electorate voted for option 2, which called for the “Immediate and permanent termination of the military exercises and bombings of the Navy in Vieques. Withdrawal of the Navy from Vieques and cleaning and return of viequense lands to its citizens.” From the early evening hours, people started to conglomerate in the Town Square to celebrate their victory. Various grassroots leaders have stated that today’s victory will help to further legitimate their historical claims. An official act of the Vieques’ local government will take place tomorrow, Monday, July 30, in which an eviction notice will be handed out by the Vieques’ major to the military personnel at Camp García. In face of the resumption of the bombing planned by the Navy for August 1st, leaders have vowed to once again engage in Civil Disobedience in case that the Navy refuse to accept the democratic will of the people. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010729/wl/vieques_vote_7.html Sunday July 29 6:09 PM ET Vieques Residents Vote to End Bombing By MICHELLE FAUL, Associated Press Writer VIEQUES, Puerto Rico (AP) - Residents of Vieques voted overwhelmingly Sunday for the U.S. Navy to immediately stop bombing on this Puerto Rican island. The referendum is nonbinding, but the Puerto Rican government hopes it will influence Washington. Sixty-eight percent of voters supported an end to the bombing and the Navy's withdrawal from the island that is home to its prized Atlantic range. About 30 percent voted for the Navy to stay and resume using live munitions, according to the electoral commission. President Bush's plan to pull the Navy out of Vieques in 2003 and allow training with inert bombs to continue in the interim mustered less than 2 percent - 81 votes. Islanders celebrated what they called ``a victory for peace in Vieques'' with whoops of joy, blaring car horns, and the waving of Puerto Rican and Vieques flags. Puerto Rico Gov. Sila M. Calderon has said the results have no legal standing but do carry ``moral force'' that she hopes will influence the U.S. government. But after the results were announced, the Navy said it would continue its training, due to resume on Vieques on Wednesday, and keep looking for an alternative for when it leaves the island in 2003. ``The outcome of this referendum, organized by Gov. Sila Calderon, will have no impact on the Navy or our focus,'' said Lt. Cmdr. Kate Mueller, a Washington-based Navy spokeswoman. Dozens of people lined up outside polling stations that opened at 8 a.m. and 75 percent of the 5,900 registered voters had cast ballots within four hours, the electoral commission said. Calderon's referendum was called to give islanders the option of asking for an immediate stop to the bombing that began six decades ago. A federal referendum scheduled for November only allows them to choose between the Bush plan and the Navy remaining indefinitely and resuming live bombing. ``From the time I was old enough to know what they were doing to my island I wanted them to leave,'' said Candido L. Felix, a carpenter, handyman and mechanic born in 1940, the year the Navy came to Vieques and appropriated two-thirds of the 18-mile-long island. Felix blamed the Navy exercises for his poverty, Vieques' undeveloped fishing and tourism industries and the resulting split in families whose young members go to the mainland to find work. ``We want peace for Vieques and that means the Navy has to go,'' said Geraldo Vegerano, a construction worker who has to commute to neighboring Culebra island to work. Decades of simmering resentment over the Navy's presence exploded in anger and protests after civilian guard David Sanes was killed in 1999 by two off-target bombs on the prized range. On Sunday, not all of the Sanes' family voted to stop the bombing. ``People are afraid to come out here,'' Maria Sanes, a cousin of the victim, told the pro-Navy rally. ``But many of them are going to vote for'' the Navy to stay, she said. The Navy says the Atlantic bombing range, which takes up one-tenth of the island on the eastern tip and is 10 miles from the biggest town, provides essential training that saves lives in combat. Efforts to find an alternative have produced proposals for a patchwork of different sites for different types of training on the mainland all with one big drawback: nobody wants bombs dropping in their backyard. Two weeks ago the Navy announced a program of compensation that would pay fishermen $100 for each day that bombing exercises prevent them working, and grants of up to $25,000 to start small businesses. Many say that's too little, too late. ``If they gave me $100,000, I wouldn't take it,'' Felix said. ``All these years they never gave us anything but problems. Now they want to give us money? It's like trying to buy us.'' Anti-Navy activists say the bombing has damaged the environment and the health of islanders who say they have higher-than-normal cancer and infant mortality rates. The Navy denies causing health problems. Supporters of the bombing warn that an anti-Navy vote could imperil relations with Washington and jeopardize $14 billion in annual federal aid. ==================================== Vieques Vota para Botar la Marina Domingo, 29 de julio de 2001 ViequesLibre.org Con la participación de 80.5% del electorado, el movimiento anti-marina en Vieques ganó el referéndum con una mayoría abrumadora. 68% votó por la opción número 2, que exige la “Terminación inmediata y permanente de las prácticas militares y bombardeos de la Marina en Vieques. La salida de la Marina de Vieques la limpieza y devolución de las tierras viequenses a sus ciudadanos.” Desde tempranas horas de la tarde, cientos de personas comenzaron a aglomerarse en la Plaza Pública para celebrar su victoria. Varios lideres comunitarios han expresado que la victoria de hoy ayudará a legitimar aun más sus reclamos históricos. Un acto oficial del gobierno municipal de Vieques tomará lugar mañana, Lunes 30 de julio, en el cual el alcalde le entregará una carta de desahucio a los militares del Campamento García exigiendo la salida inmediata de la Marina. Ante los planes de reanudar los bombardeos por parte de la marina (este miércoles 1ro de agosto) varios líderes han anunciado que nuevamente incurrirán en Desobediencia Civil si la Marina opta por obviar la voluntad democrática de todo un Pueblo. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Triunfa la opción a favor del cese de las maniobras de la Marina domingo, 29 de julio de 2001 El Nuevo Día VIEQUES (EFE) – La mayoría de los residentes de la isla puertorriqueña de Vieques desean que la Armada de los Estados Unidos cancele sus ejercicios militares y abandone la isla de inmediato, según los resultados definitivos de un referendo celebrado este domingo. La Comisión Estatal de Elecciones anunció que, una vez escrutados los resultados de los 22 colegios electorales de la isla, la opción "dos", que exige el cese inmediato de los entrenamientos y retirada de la milicia obtuvo 3,230 votos, lo que equivale al 68 por ciento de los sufragios válidos emitidos. Mientras, la opción "tres, que pide la continuación indefinida de las maniobras militares, obtuvo 1,427 votos, equivalentes al 30 por ciento. La opción "uno", que propone la retirada de la Marina estadounidense de Vieques en mayo de 2003, como lo ordenó el ex presidente estadounidense Bill Clinton y recientemente el presidente George W. Bush, obtuvo sólo 81 votos, que suponen el 1.7 por ciento. La Armada utiliza la isla como campo de tiro desde hace 60 años, pese a la oposición de la mayoría de los residentes, quienes responsabilizan a la milicia por todo tipo de contaminación, y anormales índices de enfermedades graves, como el cáncer, y de mortalidad infantil. Un total de 4,744 personas votaron en la consulta, de 5.893 electores inscritos, lo que equivale a una tasa de participación electoral del 80.6 por ciento. Aunque esta consulta no es vinculante legalmente al gobierno de EE.UU., le precede a otra aprobada por el Congreso, que se realizará en noviembre, y que obligaría a la Armada a acatar su resultado, pero que no ofrece entre sus opciones una salida inmediata de la milicia de Vieques. Sin embargo, el futuro de esa consulta de noviembre parece incierto, pues tras el resultado adverso para la Armada en este referendo, algunos círculos políticos en Washington preferirían no permitir que los civiles decidan sobre asuntos militares. La jornada electoral transcurrió en calma, aunque bajo torrenciales lluvias y vientos producidos por una onda tropical, que ha dejado a la isla incomunicada por aire y por mar. El único incidente digno de resaltar se registró a una hora del cierre de los colegios electorales, cuando el fuerte viento que sopla en la isla provocó un apagón en el centro de operaciones electorales, donde se hizo el recuento de los votos. El apagón duró tres minutos y hubo que recurrir a un generador eléctrico, mientras brigadas de la Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica trabajaron en la reparación de la avería. Aunque la jornada electoral transcurrió sin incidentes, un centenar de policías vigilaron desde primeras horas de la mañana diferentes barrios de Vieques, tras registrarse varios hechos violentos previos a la jornada electoral. Unos 75 letrados del Colegio de Abogados permanecieron toda la jornada electoral como observadores del proceso, así como tres miembros del Partido Demócrata estadounidense, filial de Puerto Rico. La Comisión Electoral de Elecciones certificará mañana, lunes, los resultados finales de este referendo y se los entregará al secretario de Estado, Ferdinand Mercado, quien a su vez se los hará llegar al presidente Bush. Vieques Libre - http://www.viequeslibre.org >> ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [email protected] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
Vieques Libre - http://www.viequeslibre.org [Bajar para espa�ol] Vieques Vote to Get the Navy Out Sunday, July 29, 2001 viequeslibre.org With a participation of the 80.5% of the electorate, the Vieques� Anti-Navy Movement won the referendum with an overwhelming majority. 68% of the electorate voted for option 2, which called for the �Immediate and permanent termination of the military exercises and bombings of the Navy in Vieques. Withdrawal of the Navy from Vieques and cleaning and return of viequense lands to its citizens.� >From the early evening hours, people started to conglomerate in the Town Square to >celebrate their victory. Various grassroots leaders have stated that today�s victory >will help to further legitimate their historical claims. An official act of the >Vieques� local government will take place tomorrow, Monday, July 30, in which an >eviction notice will be handed out by the Vieques� major to the military personnel at >Camp Garc�a. In face of the resumption of the bombing planned by the Navy for August 1st, leaders have vowed to once again engage in Civil Disobedience in case that the Navy refuse to accept the democratic will of the people. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010729/wl/vieques_vote_7.html Sunday July 29 6:09 PM ET Vieques Residents Vote to End Bombing By MICHELLE FAUL, Associated Press Writer VIEQUES, Puerto Rico (AP) - Residents of Vieques voted overwhelmingly Sunday for the U.S. Navy to immediately stop bombing on this Puerto Rican island. The referendum is nonbinding, but the Puerto Rican government hopes it will influence Washington. Sixty-eight percent of voters supported an end to the bombing and the Navy's withdrawal from the island that is home to its prized Atlantic range. About 30 percent voted for the Navy to stay and resume using live munitions, according to the electoral commission. President Bush's plan to pull the Navy out of Vieques in 2003 and allow training with inert bombs to continue in the interim mustered less than 2 percent - 81 votes. Islanders celebrated what they called ``a victory for peace in Vieques'' with whoops of joy, blaring car horns, and the waving of Puerto Rican and Vieques flags. Puerto Rico Gov. Sila M. Calderon has said the results have no legal standing but do carry ``moral force'' that she hopes will influence the U.S. government. But after the results were announced, the Navy said it would continue its training, due to resume on Vieques on Wednesday, and keep looking for an alternative for when it leaves the island in 2003. ``The outcome of this referendum, organized by Gov. Sila Calderon, will have no impact on the Navy or our focus,'' said Lt. Cmdr. Kate Mueller, a Washington-based Navy spokeswoman. Dozens of people lined up outside polling stations that opened at 8 a.m. and 75 percent of the 5,900 registered voters had cast ballots within four hours, the electoral commission said. Calderon's referendum was called to give islanders the option of asking for an immediate stop to the bombing that began six decades ago. A federal referendum scheduled for November only allows them to choose between the Bush plan and the Navy remaining indefinitely and resuming live bombing. ``From the time I was old enough to know what they were doing to my island I wanted them to leave,'' said Candido L. Felix, a carpenter, handyman and mechanic born in 1940, the year the Navy came to Vieques and appropriated two-thirds of the 18-mile-long island. Felix blamed the Navy exercises for his poverty, Vieques' undeveloped fishing and tourism industries and the resulting split in families whose young members go to the mainland to find work. ``We want peace for Vieques and that means the Navy has to go,'' said Geraldo Vegerano, a construction worker who has to commute to neighboring Culebra island to work. Decades of simmering resentment over the Navy's presence exploded in anger and protests after civilian guard David Sanes was killed in 1999 by two off-target bombs on the prized range. On Sunday, not all of the Sanes' family voted to stop the bombing. ``People are afraid to come out here,'' Maria Sanes, a cousin of the victim, told the pro-Navy rally. ``But many of them are going to vote for'' the Navy to stay, she said. The Navy says the Atlantic bombing range, which takes up one-tenth of the island on the eastern tip and is 10 miles from the biggest town, provides essential training that saves lives in combat. Efforts to find an alternative have produced proposals for a patchwork of different sites for different types of training on the mainland all with one big drawback: nobody wants bombs dropping in their backyard. Two weeks ago the Navy announced a program of compensation that would pay fishermen $100 for each day that bombing exercises prevent them working, and grants of up to $25,000 to start small businesses. Many say that's too little, too late. ``If they gave me $100,000, I wouldn't take it,'' Felix said. ``All these years they never gave us anything but problems. Now they want to give us money? It's like trying to buy us.'' Anti-Navy activists say the bombing has damaged the environment and the health of islanders who say they have higher-than-normal cancer and infant mortality rates. The Navy denies causing health problems. Supporters of the bombing warn that an anti-Navy vote could imperil relations with Washington and jeopardize $14 billion in annual federal aid. ==================================== Vieques Vota para Botar la Marina Domingo, 29 de julio de 2001 ViequesLibre.org Con la participaci�n de 80.5% del electorado, el movimiento anti-marina en Vieques gan� el refer�ndum con una mayor�a abrumadora. 68% vot� por la opci�n n�mero 2, que exige la �Terminaci�n inmediata y permanente de las pr�cticas militares y bombardeos de la Marina en Vieques. La salida de la Marina de Vieques la limpieza y devoluci�n de las tierras viequenses a sus ciudadanos.� Desde tempranas horas de la tarde, cientos de personas comenzaron a aglomerarse en la Plaza P�blica para celebrar su victoria. Varios lideres comunitarios han expresado que la victoria de hoy ayudar� a legitimar aun m�s sus reclamos hist�ricos. Un acto oficial del gobierno municipal de Vieques tomar� lugar ma�ana, Lunes 30 de julio, en el cual el alcalde le entregar� una carta de desahucio a los militares del Campamento Garc�a exigiendo la salida inmediata de la Marina. Ante los planes de reanudar los bombardeos por parte de la marina (este mi�rcoles 1ro de agosto) varios l�deres han anunciado que nuevamente incurrir�n en Desobediencia Civil si la Marina opta por obviar la voluntad democr�tica de todo un Pueblo. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Triunfa la opci�n a favor del cese de las maniobras de la Marina domingo, 29 de julio de 2001 El Nuevo D�a VIEQUES (EFE) � La mayor�a de los residentes de la isla puertorrique�a de Vieques desean que la Armada de los Estados Unidos cancele sus ejercicios militares y abandone la isla de inmediato, seg�n los resultados definitivos de un referendo celebrado este domingo. La Comisi�n Estatal de Elecciones anunci� que, una vez escrutados los resultados de los 22 colegios electorales de la isla, la opci�n "dos", que exige el cese inmediato de los entrenamientos y retirada de la milicia obtuvo 3,230 votos, lo que equivale al 68 por ciento de los sufragios v�lidos emitidos. Mientras, la opci�n "tres, que pide la continuaci�n indefinida de las maniobras militares, obtuvo 1,427 votos, equivalentes al 30 por ciento. La opci�n "uno", que propone la retirada de la Marina estadounidense de Vieques en mayo de 2003, como lo orden� el ex presidente estadounidense Bill Clinton y recientemente el presidente George W. Bush, obtuvo s�lo 81 votos, que suponen el 1.7 por ciento. La Armada utiliza la isla como campo de tiro desde hace 60 a�os, pese a la oposici�n de la mayor�a de los residentes, quienes responsabilizan a la milicia por todo tipo de contaminaci�n, y anormales �ndices de enfermedades graves, como el c�ncer, y de mortalidad infantil. Un total de 4,744 personas votaron en la consulta, de 5.893 electores inscritos, lo que equivale a una tasa de participaci�n electoral del 80.6 por ciento. Aunque esta consulta no es vinculante legalmente al gobierno de EE.UU., le precede a otra aprobada por el Congreso, que se realizar� en noviembre, y que obligar�a a la Armada a acatar su resultado, pero que no ofrece entre sus opciones una salida inmediata de la milicia de Vieques. Sin embargo, el futuro de esa consulta de noviembre parece incierto, pues tras el resultado adverso para la Armada en este referendo, algunos c�rculos pol�ticos en Washington preferir�an no permitir que los civiles decidan sobre asuntos militares. La jornada electoral transcurri� en calma, aunque bajo torrenciales lluvias y vientos producidos por una onda tropical, que ha dejado a la isla incomunicada por aire y por mar. El �nico incidente digno de resaltar se registr� a una hora del cierre de los colegios electorales, cuando el fuerte viento que sopla en la isla provoc� un apag�n en el centro de operaciones electorales, donde se hizo el recuento de los votos. El apag�n dur� tres minutos y hubo que recurrir a un generador el�ctrico, mientras brigadas de la Autoridad de Energ�a El�ctrica trabajaron en la reparaci�n de la aver�a. Aunque la jornada electoral transcurri� sin incidentes, un centenar de polic�as vigilaron desde primeras horas de la ma�ana diferentes barrios de Vieques, tras registrarse varios hechos violentos previos a la jornada electoral. Unos 75 letrados del Colegio de Abogados permanecieron toda la jornada electoral como observadores del proceso, as� como tres miembros del Partido Dem�crata estadounidense, filial de Puerto Rico. La Comisi�n Electoral de Elecciones certificar� ma�ana, lunes, los resultados finales de este referendo y se los entregar� al secretario de Estado, Ferdinand Mercado, quien a su vez se los har� llegar al presidente Bush. Vieques Libre - http://www.viequeslibre.org _______________________________________________________________________ Powered by List Builder To unsubscribe follow the link: http://lb.bcentral.com/ex/manage/subscriberprefs?customerid=11843&subid=4951F79DC4CE9CCE&msgnum=704
