BOOYAH! . . . I SUPPOSE

Looks like the Navy is clearing out of Vieques...

VIEQUES, Puerto Rico - On the eve of the U.S. Navy's departure from the Puerto Rican island they used for bombing exercises, residents celebrated and activists laid claim to the property.

The Navy is handing over 15,000 acres of land on the eastern end of Vieques to federal authorities. After an extensive cleanup, the property will become a wildlife refuge.

"We are here today to mark the beginning of a new era in peace and prosperity for Vieques," Gov. Sila Calderon said Wednesday to the thunder of applause. "It is a moment of great joy, for we have achieved our dream."

Pulling large wire cutters out of their knapsacks, activists rushed to help U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service workers dismantle a chain-link fence on Wednesday.

After President Bush last year approved the Navy's departure, Congress transferred the Vieques land to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The land, along with 3,100 acres from a munitions warehouse on the western end of the island, will create the largest federal wildlife refuge in Puerto Rico.

This is all very good, and a vast improvement over the prior use for the place. However, as with the Maasai in Kenya and local tree farmers in Indonesia, a new split arises between the environmental concern and the, well, the local people concern:

But activists say that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service risks being perceived as another intruder.

"These lands are ours," said Ismael Guadalupe, who protested for years to oust the Navy from Vieques. "We don't recognize the right of the Fish and Wildlife Service to administer the land."

Guadalupe said activists will continue to stage invasions, in an attempt to reclaim the land.

In the 1940s, the United States bought 25,000 acres — about two-thirds of the Puerto Rican island — to create the bombing range. The families and farmers had to leave.

Many hoped the land this year would be turned over to local authorities, for development projects that would stimulate tourism and create jobs. The unemployment rate on Vieques is about 12 percent.

"What's to celebrate? This is no victory," said Severina Guadalupe, 75, who described how her family was given 24 hours to pack their belongings in 1940 before a bulldozer ripped down their wooden farmhouse. "We still don't have the land."

TFM's advice? Take what you got so far, and then build on it. I have the Israeli-Palestinian situation in mind. When Arafat walked away from the table in 2000, that may have been the dumbest single act in a long time there. He had a deal in front of him that many say would have netted him at least 90% of what he and the Palestinian Authority wanted, and he balked. They could have got the other ten percent through other diplomatic means at a later date. Instead, we get the second intifada, we get a platform for a washed-up monster like Sharon to win power in Israel, and we get bulldozed refugee camps and peace activists. In this regard, I say to Vieques activists: take this as a victory, accept that a wildlife refuge is better than a testing range. After that, begin your next campaign. Anyway...

One last thought: As you may remember in 2001, or was it last year? I forget, but Al Sharpton was among those protesting at Vieques, where he was arrested and briefly imprisoned (where he hunger-striked and came out looking pretty fit actually). Could the timing of this -- as the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination heats up -- be a bone from conservatives to Sharpton, their proclaimed new best friend? Probably a coincidence, but hey, it's my blog. (At least until after Laurie's done with finals, hehe.)