Paz para Vieques

by Minnie McMahon

One year from today, on March 2, 2012, Puerto Ricans will celebrate 95 years of American citizenship.  Before Puerto Rico came under the control of the U.S. in 1898, Puerto Ricans came to the United States in waves. Today, they are one of the many (now) migrant groups to the US that bring a history of environmental and human rights activism.

The people of Puerto Rico and of the Diaspora fight for environmental justice in their homeland and in the mainland US. In one chapter of Puerto Rican history, land that is currently off- limits to people on the small Puerto Rican island of Vieques, was once an active bomb and missile target range of the US Navy.

Beginning in 1999, Puerto Ricans engaged in protesting against this violent practice that, since its inception in the 1940s, was making Viequenses ill, and was decimating the natural ecology of the region.

The protesting, which led to the revelation that the cancer rate on Vieques was 27% higher than that of mainland Puerto Rico (PR Health Dept. study), prompted the May 2003 Navy withdrawal from the base. Today, the former military land is split use - some land has been returned to Vieques and the rest has become the domain of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

But what is appealingly named “the Vieques Wildlife Refuge” by the Department of the Interior, has been declared a superfund site by the EPA because of contamination by toxins like arsenic and heavy metals like lead.

Puerto Ricans protested for over four years to bring justice to the people and to the soil of Vieques, and though their work has paid off, their island of Vieques is forever degraded. One can only imagine the health effects on the people and the land had the protesters not persevered.

In the mainland US, Puerto Rican groups similarly act to make their communities healthy and their environment safe. In Holyoke, MA, members of the Puerto Rican population founded Nuestras Raíces, an environmental-stewardship and human justice grassroots group that works to protect and improve the natural environment. In Holyoke, as in Vieques, the community knows that the health of the soil and of the rivers are linked to the health of the people.

The Puerto Rican population is also represented in National efforts within the United States to fight climate change and its scientific and social consequences. The National Latino Coalition on Climate Change (NLCCC) is a joint venture of the National Puerto Rican Coalition and two other Hispanic groups. The NLCCC’s public education campaigns, research, and direct action further its aim of engaging Latinos in the solutions to climate change.

Let’s celebrate, this week of the 94^th anniversary of Puerto Rican citizenship of the United States, the historical and the continuing environmental and humanitarian efforts of Puerto Rican communities. Let’s acknowledge, support, and uphold the values of the diverse groups that populate this nation.