Puerto Ricans and their supporters Tuesday launched a new push for an “immediate and permanent end” to Navy bombing practice on the island of Vieques.
Arguing that military training has destroyed people’s health, the economy and the island’s environment, representatives in Congress began circulating a letter urging President Bush to halt the practice.
Meanwhile, Gov. Sila Calderon of Puerto Rico met senators on Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon and other officials in her quest to evict the Navy from the range it has used for 60 years.
“This is not a national security issue; it’s a health and human-rights issue,” said Anibal Acevedo-Vila, Puerto Rico’s Democratic delegate to the House.
Lawmakers signed a letter to Bush suggesting toxins from ammunition are responsible for a mortality rate among residents of the island near San Juan that is 40 percent higher than that of Puerto Rico as a whole.
