Vieques: Worth Every Bit of Struggle 2005
Distributed by Filmakers Library, 124 East 40th Street, New York, NY 10016; 202-808-4980
Produced by Natalia Munoz and Mary Patierno
Directed by Mary Patierno
VHS, color, 55 min.
Sr. High - Adult
Latin American Studies, Environmental Studies, Military Studies
Date Entered: 09/27/2005
Reviewed by Brian Falato, University of South Florida Tampa Campus LibraryVieques is an island east of Puerto Rico that is administratively part of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. For over 60 years, the United States Navy occupied a majority of the island, storing weapons, testing bombs, and conducting military training with live ammunition. The struggle by Vieques residents to get the Navy to stop these practices is the focus of Vieques: Worth Every Bit of Struggle.
The Navy first expropriated 21,000 acres on Vieques in 1941 through a declaration of national emergency. The idea then was to provide a naval base for Great Britain during World War II if Germany succeeded in occupying that country. After the war, the Navy decided to make Vieques a testing and training facility and took an additional 4,000 acres. Residents of Vieques were left with only 23 % of the island’s land on which to live.
The Navy also allowed private defense contractors and military from NATO-member countries to test weapons and conduct training exercises. In 1978, fishermen protested when a planned NATO exercise would have meant the fishermen could not work for 28 days. Their demonstrations stopped the planned bombing then, and 38 more times over the next five years.
The death of a civilian security guard in 1999, killed by a bomb dropped by an off-course pilot, escalated the civil disobedience demonstrations. Between 1999 and 2003, more than 1500 were arrested, with some spending up to a year in federal prison. The U.S. government was spending $11 million in security costs during these years.
On May 1, 2003, the residents of Vieques achieved a measure of victory when the Navy decided to leave the island. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took over some of the land the Navy owned, turning it into a wildlife refuge, despite the fact that residue from weapons testing still existed in the soil. These residues have affected the health of Viequans as well. Residents test positive for high amounts of heavy metals in their blood, and the cancer rate is 27% higher than in the rest of Puerto Rico.
The story is told (mostly in Spanish with subtitles, although there is also some English) by Vieques residents, with English-language narration providing background information. There are no interviews, either current or archival, with any U.S. military or government official. It would have been interesting to hear the justifications for their actions, but the video is still worthwhile.