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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Puerto Rico 's delegate to Congress
has warned Attorney General Janet Reno that any effort to forcibly
remove protesters from a military training ground in the U.S.
territory would be a "dangerous" mistake that could
lead to violence.
Delegate Carlos Romero Barcelo made the statement in a letter
made public Sunday. The letter was sent to Reno last week.
"You must be aware that the situation would rapidly become
very confrontational and dangerous if such attempts were to be
made," Romero Barcelo said in the letter.
Protesters have occupied the U.S. Navy bombing range on the
outlying island of Vieques to press Puerto Rico 's demands that
the military leave. Opposition to the Navy flared after an errant
bomb killed a civilian security guard at the training ground
in April.
President Clinton appointed a panel to consider Puerto Rico
's demands and is expected to make a decision on the matter in
the next few weeks. Protesters fear they could be arrested if
Clinton decides against them.
"Such an action would play into the hands of those who
are using Vieques as a tool to try to create a confrontation
with the U.S. Navy and the United States," Romero Barcelo
said in his letter.
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NEW YORK - U.S. Vice President Al Gore supports pulling the
U.S. Navy off the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, according to
a column published Tuesday by the El Diario-La Prensa
newspaper.
The U.S. naval base, which has occupied a major part of the
island since 1941, must look for another place to conduct its
operations, Gore is quoted as saying in New York's leading Spanish-language
newspaper.
In his column, the newspaper's acting editor, Gerson Borrero,
said that Gore offered his comments during a meeting last week
with New York state senators.
"I agree, they (the Navy) should be out of there,"
Gore said in response to a question posed by veteran Puerto Rican
Sen. Olga Mendez at the meeting last Tuesday at a Manhattan hotel,
according to Borrero.
"We must look for another base for the Atlantic Fleet,"
said Gore, the Democratic presidential frontrunner at this point
for the 2000 election.
Until his comment, the vice president did not enjoy the support
of Sen. Mendez, who in 1978 became the first Puerto Rican elected
to a state legislative post.
For years the residents of Vieques have battled to get the
U.S. Navy to vacate the island. Their efforts intensified after
the death of David Sanes last April.
Sanes, a security guard at the naval base, was killed by a
bomb dropped on his work station during military maneuvers by
U.S. and other Allied nations warships.
Protests by Puerto Ricans , also supported by Gov. Pedro Rossello,
prompted President Bill Clinton to appoint a committee to assess
the situation and report their findings before a decision was
made on the future of base located in Puerto Rican territory.
The Puerto Rican government named a committee, with representatives
from the island's three parties, concluded that the U.S. Navy
should leave Vieques . This report was forwarded to President
Bill Clinton and Gore.
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