|
 |
|
|
|
Para ver este documento en español, oprima aquí. Activists JailedNavy Exercises Protested32 Women Arrested For Trespassing In ViequesGreen: Protests Do No GoodFerre In Stable ConditionU.S. House Committees Join Senate InvestigationPuerto Rican Activists Jailed August 5, 2000 SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Four Puerto Rican independence activists, including two legislators and a Presbyterian minister, were sent to jail Friday for refusing to pay fines for trespassing on a U.S. Navy bombing range on the island of Vieques. The Puerto Rican Independence Party's only two members on the local legislature, Sen. Manuel Rodriguez Orellana and Rep. Victor Garcia San Inocencio, were sentenced along with the Rev. Luis Acevedo of the western town of Mayaguez and Jaime Negron, a candidate for mayor in the northern town of Trujillo Alto. ***** Navy Exercises Protested By Ismael Torres, Associated Press August 7, 2000 SAN JUAN - Chanting ''No to the Navy!'' thousands of Puerto Ricans rallied yesterday to protest new US military exercises on the outlying island of Vieques. About 5,000 protesters marched to a rally at the gates of Fort Buchanan, an Army base in suburban San Juan. There, organizers urged activists to redouble their yearlong effort to force out the Navy. Police said the protest was peaceful. Activists say the military exercises endanger Vieques's 9,400 residents and have stunted economic development. But the Navy called the rally ''part of a multimillion-dollar smear campaign'' directed by groups who want independence for Puerto Rico. ''Most of these people have a political affiliation, and their cause has nothing to do with Vieques,'' said Navy spokesman Jeff Gordon. ***** 32 Women Arrested For Trespassing In Vieques By Proviana Colon Diaz August 8, 2000 Thirty-two women, including single mothers, former politicians and a publicist, were detained around 5 a.m. Monday by military police after they broke into U.S. Navy land in Vieques. The group is the largest all-female team to have engaged in an act of civil disobedience since the May 4 operation to remove protesters who had been camping on Navy land for more than year. Shortly before 6 p.m., the group brought before U.S. Magistrate Justo Arenas, who released them after setting bail at $1,000 for each, giving them a week to pay. He also said members of the group could request that the bail be lowered. ***** Green: Vieques Protests Do No Good August 8, 2000 SAN JUAN - U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Kevin Green said protesters trespassing on Vieques' restricted areas are wasting their time and are not helping the island municipality's well being. "The only things they are getting out of this is a photo taken for the newspapers [to enhance their political image], and a free ride back to the [island of Puerto Rico] to face charges before a U.S. District Court judge. But they are not stopping the [military] operation," Green said in published reports Tuesday. The Roosevelt Road Navy Base commander, said despite his differences with protesters, the Navy makes sure that no one is hurt during military exercises. Green said the Navy won't develop a political campaign for next year's referendum, but will emphasize on educating the public instead to convince the Vieques residents that the Navy's permanence in the island municipality would be beneficial to them. ***** Ferre In Stable Condition August 8, 2000 SAN JUAN (AP) - Former New Progressive Party (NPP) Gov. Luis A. Ferre, 96, was hospitalized Monday night owed to complications of an intestinal disease. His condition Tuesday was stable, and he was comfortable, said a spokesman for the Ferre family. Spokesman Jose Serra said the former governor had bleeding associated with the intestinal illness and was hospitalized as a preventive measure. ***** Two U.S. House Committees Join Senate In Housing Investigation August 9, 2000 SAN JUAN (AP) - At least two U.S. House committees have joined the U.S. Senate panel investigating the alleged corruption scheme at the Puerto Rico Housing Department, according to published reports. Rep. John Mica (R-FL), who presides over the House Criminal Justice Committee, wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to request an updated report on the allegations made by the HUD inspector general Susan Gaffney regarding irregularities found in the Puerto Rico public housing system. [Carlos Romero Barcelo, Puerto Rico's lone delegate to Congress, denounced what he called Gaffney`s "open disdain and prejudice" against the people of Puerto Rico because the island lacks congressional power -- a charge Gaffney rejected. "She does not take into consideration that changes and improvements have been made within the Puerto Rico Public Housing Authority," Romero Barcelo said.] The Housing and Banking Sub Committee will also participate in the investigation.
|
