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Para ver esta página en español, oprima aquí. Bishop Crusades Against BombingMisla Warns On AgreementHansen Threatens To Nullify ReferendumP.R. Asks Navy For Noise DocumentsLocal Referendum Bill FiledGiuliani: Vieques 4 Belong In JailCuban Slams TestsShips Going Back To Vieques***** Bishop Crusades Against Bombing DEBORAH MARTINEZ June 4, 2001 Albany Puerto Rico 's archbishop of San Juan, the Most Rev. Roberto O. Gonzalez, comes to the Capital Region today with a message from his countrymen: New York, support the campaign to end the U.S. Navy bomb tests in Vieques . During his visit, the archbishop will explain the Catholic Church's position in support of an end to the bombing of Vieques . He'll also address the state Assembly and meet with Republican and Democratic leaders on the matter before heading to St. Patrick's Church in Manhattan, where he'll deliver an evening lecture titled "The Moral Foundation of Our Support for Vieques ." Gonzalez is widely regarded as a powerful and charismatic leader who invigorates the Catholic communities he serves. His grassroots leadership in Puerto Rico brought together in February one of the largest peace demonstrations against the bombings. ***** Misla Warns Of Possible Threat To The Presidential Agreement By Proviana Colon Diaz June 4, 2001 House New Progressive Party (NPP) minority leader Edison Misla Aldarondo warned Gov. Sila Calderon on Monday that holding a local referendum in Vieques posses a great threat to the federal law enabled by the presidential agreement regarding the island municipality. "The referendum will be reduced to a sympathy contest that has a great problem because it is contrary to the presidential agreement," Misla said. With this concern in mind, the veteran legislator filed a letter to Calderon on Monday alleging that the actions of her administration to hold a local referendum in Vieques "could end up in the overruling of the federal law that resulted from the directives." "The derogation of the law opens up the door for the Navy to practice indefinitely with real fire for 180 days a year," said Misla. ***** Hansen Threatens To Null November's Referendum June 3, 2001 SAN JUAN (AP) - Responding to the government of Puerto Rico's initiative to celebrate a local referendum on the U.S. Navy presence in the island municipality of Vieques, Republican Congressman James Hansen threatened to present an amendment to the federal law that established the celebration of another referendum in November. Bill Johnson, aid to the congressman said if the purpose of blocking the November referendum is achieved, the Navy could resume their military exercises without limitations. "Is now very clear Gov. Sila Calderon broke the Clinton-Rossello agreement and sealed and alliance with the anti-patriotic forces, there will be no federal referendum," the congressman aid said. ***** Government Asks For Navy's Documents On Noise Levels June 3, 2001 SAN JUAN (AP) -The attorneys representing the government of Puerto Rico in the lawsuit against the U.S. Navy requested the military to produce all the documents concerning the studies they have conducted on noise levels and the armaments used on the exercises in the municipality of Vieques. The government also asked for "every report, records or any other documentation where the reasons to schedule the next exercises on Vieques in June 13 are discussed, including, but not limited to, any document in which the decision not to include ship to shore exercises is discussed," stated the request, according to published reports. Department of Justice Secretary Anabelle Rodriguez is convinced that the exclusion of this type of exercises in the next round of exercises is based on the fact, that the Navy knows the local Noise Prohibition Law signed by Gov. Sila Calderon is applicable to the military exercises. ***** Justice Dept. Files Bill For Local Referendum On Vieques June 2, 2001 SAN JUAN (AP) - The Justice Department announced Friday that it had filed the bill that would allow for the celebration of a local referendum July 29 to decide on whether the U.S. Navy should stay on the island municipality of Vieques. The referendum will cost $600,000 and will offer the voters four options, said Justice Secretary Anabelle Rodriguez in a press conference. The options to appear on the ballot are the immediate and permanent cease of military bombings and exercises; the resumption of the practices with inert bombs until May 1, 2003, the permanent resumption of the exercises with live ammunition, or none of the above. As legal representative of the government, Rodriguez acknowledged that the proposed bill does not obligate the U.S. Congress or the U.S. President to act on the results of the referendum. ***** Giuliani: The Vieques 4 Belong In Jail June 2, 2001 NEW YORK (AP) - Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said the New York politicians sent to jail for protesting in Puerto Rico belong behind bars, the Daily News reported Saturday. Giuliani who said he agrees that the Navy should stop using the Puerto Rican island of Vieques for bombing exercises said, "And part of civil disobedience is you go to jail to make whatever point you want to make, correct or incorrect. So, I think the judge did the right thing - put them in jail." ***** Barred From Puerto Rico, Cuban Slams Vieques Tests. By Andrew Cawthorne June 1, 2001 HAVANA - Ricardo Alarcon, head of the National Assembly and President Fidel Castro's point man on U.S. affairs, protested on Friday against Washington's decision to deny him an entry visa for a solidarity visit to Puerto Rico and called military tests on that U.S. commonwealth's Vieques Island "imperialist arrogance." The visit would have underlined Cuba's support both for its Caribbean neighbor's internal independence movement and for a campaign to prevent U.S. Navy tests on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. ***** Norfolk-Based Ships Going Back To Vieques DALE EISMAN THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT May 31, 2001 A group of Norfolk-based ships will return to Puerto Rican waters next month for an exercise on the Navy's controversial Vieques bombing range, defense officials confirmed Wednesday. The aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and ships in its battle group will use the range as part of the Atlantic Fleet's annual Composite Unit Training Exercise. Carrier-based aircraft are expected to drop non-explosive bombs, but the exercise will not include gunfire from destroyers and cruisers; Puerto Rican authorities contend noise from past firings has harmed the health of Vieques residents. The exercise will begin around June 13 and could last 18 days, according to a formal notice sent by the Navy to Puerto Rican authorities.
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