Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

Author: Ruben Arvizu

  • Vieques, The Paradise that We Can Recover

    Vaya aquí para la versión española.

    Lost among the news of wars and destruction that monopolize the reports on TV and the headlines of newspapers, the official announcement of the closing of the US Navy base on the island of Vieques does not have to go unnoticed. This is an enormous triumph for Puerto Rico that for decades had an unequal fight to recover its rights for this beautiful island and to remove the inherent dangers of military bases.

    In November of 1999 I had the opportunity to visit the island, as an observer of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. We received the invitation from several NGO’s, among them the Committee for Rescue and Development of Vieques and Pax Christi. Nearly without exception Puerto Rico was united in their demands for closing the U.S. Naval Station Roosevelt Roads in the town of Ceiba.

    Governor Sila Calderón joined the jubilant celebrations of the islanders this past May first and said: “This is a moment of great happiness and profound emotion, together, we achieved the end of the bombing.”

    But this initial joy cannot hide a very serious problem that Vieques has inherited, the enormous contamination that the Navy left after more than 60 years of naval and aerial military exercises. It will require a lot of time, effort and money so that the beautiful beaches can be used by the thousands of visitors eager to enjoy the beauties which, in a previous article I called “a lost paradise or a paradise to be lost.”

    The remains that pile up in the shallow waters of the shores represent a serious danger; bombs not exploded, twisted irons and innumerable chemical polluting agents. Also, lost in the middle of the dense vegetation lie thousands or perhaps hundreds of thousands of unexploded shells and live ammunition. Among them are the remains of Depleted Uranium projectiles used in exercises in March of 1999 that the US Navy has admitted using. In that same year the Puerto Rican government at the request of the Vieques Municipal Assembly and the Committee for Rescue and Development of Vieques prepared an epidemiological study to investigate why Vieques suffers a 27% higher cancer rate than the rest of Puerto Rico.

    This is the pitiful heritage that we humans leave on our blue planet that houses us all: Remains of instruments for death tested on a site full of life. The names continue piling with each new conflict: Iraq, Bosnia, Chechnya, Vietnam, Afghanistan. Every year thousands of children and adults are killed or dismembered in accidental encounters with live ammunition and mines that lie in holes or ravines, in shallow waters of rivers and lakes, waiting to catch new victims.

    The government of Puerto Rico will have to be very attentive to verify that the EPA and the Department of Interior add Vieques to the Superfund list of contaminated sites intended for cleanup and to eliminate the dangers that the Navy leaves after its long stay.

    Let us celebrate this symbolic triumph of a small island that reminds us that our common home, the Earth, must be loved and protected instead of hated and destroyed.
    *Ruben Arvizu is Director for Latin America of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

  • Vieques, el Paraiso que Podemos Recuperar

    Click here for the English version.

    Enmedio de las noticias de guerras y destrucción que acaparan los noticieros de la tv y los encabezados de los diarios, el anuncio oficial del retiro de la Marina norteamericana de la isla de Vieques no debe pasar desapercibido.

    Este es un enorme triunfo para el pueblo de Puerto Rico que durante décadas ha librado una lucha desigual por recuperar sus derechos en esa hermosa isla y alejar los peligros inherentes a las bases militares.

    En noviembre de 1999 tuve la oportunidad de visitar la isla, como observador de la Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, atendiendo la invitación de varias Organizaciones no Gubernamentales, entre ellas el Comité Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques y Pax Christi. Casi sin excepción Puerto Rico estuvo unido en sus demandas por el cierre de la Base Naval Roosevelt de la Marina norteamericana localizada en el pueblo de Ceiba.

    La gobernadora Sila Calderón encabezó el pasado primero de mayo las jubilosas celebraciones de los isleños y dijo: “Este es un momento de enorme felicidad y profunda emoción, Juntos logramos el fin de los bombardeos.”

    Pero esta inicial alegría no oculta un gravísimo problema que Vieques ha heredado; la enorme contaminación que deja la Marina tras más de 60 años de prácticas militares navales y aereos.

    Pasará un buen tiempo, muchos esfuerzos y dinero para que las hermosas playas puedan ser utilizadas por los miles de visitantes que quieren ya disfrutar las bellezas de lo que, en mi reportaje anterior llamé un paraíso perdido o un paraíso por perderse.

    Los desechos que se apilan en el fondo marino no muy lejos de la costa representan un grave peligro; bombas sin explotar, hierros retorcidos e innumerables contaminantes químicos. Igualmente, perdidos entre la densa vegetación yacen de miles o tal vez cientos de miles de casquillos y municiones aún sin explotar. Entre esos restos se encuentran proyectiles de uranio empobrecido utilizados en prácticas en marzo de 1999 y cuyo uso fue admitido por fuentes oficiales de la Marina americana. En ese mismo año la asamblea de la municipalidad de Vieques y el Comité Pro Rescate y Desarrollo había solicitado al gobierno de Puerto Rico un estudio epidemológico ante el hecho de que la población de Vieques sufre casi un 30% más de cáncer que el resto de los pobladores de Puerto Rico.

    Es la huella casi indeleble que los humanos dejamos en el planeta azul que nos alberga a todos. Restos de instrumentos para la muerte que fueron probados en un sitio pletórico de vida. Los nombres se acumulan con cada nuevo conflicto, llámese Irak, Bosnia, Chechenia, Vietnám o Afganistán. Todos los años miles de niños y adultos pierden la vida o miembros de sus cuerpos al encontrarse accidentalmente con municiones vivas que yacen en agujeros o surcos, en aguas poco profundas de rios y lagos, esperando cobrar una nueva víctima.

    El gobierno de Puerto Rico tendrá que estar muy atento para comprobar que la Agencia de Protección al Medio Ambiente y el Departamento del Interior cumplan con su promesa de limpiar en todo lo posible a Vieques de los contaminanrtes y peligros que deja la Marina después de su larga estadía.

    Celebremos este simbólico triunfo de una pequeña isla que nos recuerda que nuestra casa común, que es la Tierra, debe ser amada y protegida en lugar de odiarla y destruirla.

    *Rubén Arvizu es Director para América Latina de la Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

  • Thank You, Dear President Bush

    Thank you, President Bush;

    For creating an atmosphere proper to develop again the perils and Apocalyptic Doomsday of the Cold War.

    For taking decisions unilaterally or coaxing other countries to accept aggression instead of diplomacy.

    For dividing the nation and bringing feuds, bias and hatred among our citizens.

    For saying that your administration disregards the opinion of the world like you did with world opinion opposed to war against Iraq.

    For alienating billions of people worldwide who see the US as the a bully nation that acts for the sake of its own interests only.

    For leaving me speechless when trying to explain to my sobbing young daughter why humans are acting like cavemen in what you have called “the First War of the 21st Century.”

    For letting us know that the use of “tactical nuclear weapons” are possible and that Hiroshima and Nagasaki could be reenacted again.

    For bringing xenophobia to the “land of the free.”

    For making us act like imperialists who still want to rule the world.

    Thank you, thank you so much!
    *Ruben Arvizu is Director for Latin America of Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

  • The Uneasy Road to Peace Instead of War When the Unthinkable is Again ThinkableThe Uneasy Road to Peace Instead of War When the Unthinkable is Again Thinkable

    The history of humankind could be summarized cynically as a constant war with some intervals called peace.

    The advances in technology and science have overwhelmed the ancestral teachings of philosophy. Socrates’ “Know thyself “; Confucius’ wise quotes or Jesus’ “turn the other cheek” remain to be fulfilled. The Roman’s motto IF YOU WANT PEACE PREPARE FOR WAR is better applied than LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. The mind continues its domain over the heart.

    We entered with firm steps into the Third Millennium applying the same “solutions” used by Homo erectus with stones and ox jaws to solve disputes and impose dominance. The big difference is that since 1945 the possibility exists that humankind could become extinct by its own hand.

    Enormous interests move the geopolitics of the planet. The convenient allies of yesterday are today’s enemies. Alliances that only a few years ago were acceptable due to the Cold War are now unnecessary and even punishable.

    No one could deny the evil that moves Saddam Hussein’s actions. This is nothing new. His criminal record goes back more than 30 years. But it was evil also that allowed and promoted his rise to power. Seems like it was okay to look the other way meanwhile Saddam slaughtered the Kurds with arms of mass destruction. At that moment Iraq was at war with Iran and the Ayatollah Khomeini, the enemy of the U.S. Germany, France, the U.S.. , England and many Asian nations supplied Saddam with the necessary ingredients to build the weapons that are now the REASON for a possible war against the Iraqi regime.

    How can we argue that to avoid the POSSIBILITY that Saddam builds a nuclear weapon, the United States is willing to use tactical nuclear weapons? Will it be possible to avoid in the future that India or Pakistan might launch among themselves a “preventive” nuclear attack? The same could happen with China against Taiwan or Israel against an Arab nation. We are opening the most terrific Pandora’ s box.

    Can Condolezza Rice, National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Collin Powell assure the world that the radiation of those “tactical” weapons will not cross over the borders to Iraq’s neighbors? Are the smart bombs intelligent enough to distinguish between military targets and civilian populations? Or are we going to continue piling collateral damage?

    The United Nations and its inspectors in Iraq, with all their human frailties are a better option that starting a fuse that could unleash our worst nightmare.
    *Rubén Arvizu is Director for Latin America of Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

  • Vieques: A Lost Paradise or Paradise Lost?

    The ferryboat departs from Fajardo, a tiny seaport at the extreme Northeast of Puerto Rico. During the trip we can see a great number of fish jumping like trying to fly from the blue waters and then defeated by gravity falling again into the water. Our destination is the island of Vieques, 18 miles from Fajardo. Called “La Isla Nena” (Little Girl Island) or “Isabel Segunda” (Isabel II), Vieques was founded in 1843 by Francisco Saínz. It’s about 21 miles long and about 5 miles across at its widest point. Vieques derives its name from the Taino Indian word for small island (bieques). It was annexed to Puerto Rico in 1854.

    The journey is fast and comfortable and in less than an hour the profile of the island is visible on the horizon. Arawak Indians once lived here and it was an infamous haven for pirates during 17th century. We arrived to a modest dock framed by the typical scenario of the Hispanics coastal towns. The place couldn¹t be more picturesque or beautiful, it is really a lost paradise. But in the middle of so much serenity and peace a terrible menace awaits.

    When the US Navy arrived in 1941, there were 10,362 inhabitants in Vieques and 8,000 tons of sugar was produced that year. The Navy expropriated two thirds of the total land, including most of the land used for farming. La Central Playa Grande did the last milling in 1942. During the first couple of years after the Navy arrived, there were plenty of jobs in Vieques in the construction of the bases. People came from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to work in Vieques. It was an historical moment. World War II was being fought and the place was chosen as training grounds for the Navy. When construction was over the workers left. At the end of 1944 3,000 of the 10,000 inhabitants of Vieques were relocated to St. Croix. The rest were settled in the areas of Santa Maria and Monte Santo in Vieques. There was no sugar and no base construction left to do.

    From that moment the Vieques people started enduring hard times. Bombing practices at all hours caused the loss of sleep for the islanders. Even mortal accidents occurred from time to time. With the end of WW II peace did not arrive to Vieques. Now the Cold War demanded more practices and more bombings and later on the members of NATO were allowed to use the island for their own war games. The consequences to the ecology and the health of the population, the destruction of archaeological sites and the restricted access to the beautiful resources on the bases were part of the problems caused by the continued used of the island for the military practices.

    For decades the people of Vieques accepted stoically these sad conditions of life as their contribution to the fight for a free world. But now, even when the Cold War is over the situation is getting worse. We have been told that without the pressure of a nuclear threat it is not necessary to continue the patrolling of nuclear submarines or practices with nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, in May of this year, the Navy admitted the use of Depleted Uranium projectiles during exercises on Vieques in March of 1999. This information came at a time when the Puerto Rican government at the request of the Vieques Municipal Assembly and the Committee for Rescue and Development of Vieques was preparing an epidemiological study to investigate why Vieques suffers a 27% higher cancer rate than the rest of Puerto Rico. The attested activity of the Trident nuclear submarines on Puerto Rico¹s waters is a flagrant violation of the Tlatelolco Treaty which calls for ” banning tests, use, production or acquisition of any type of nuclear weapons, its storage, installation, delivery or possession in the Latin America and Caribbean zone”. The United States signed the Treaty in 1982 and Puerto Rico was considered in the Latin American zone.

    To add insult to injury, in 1976 the newspaper Newsday from New York reported that Michael Greenwood, a former U.S. military scientist, cited during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing that the Navy accidentally lost a nuclear bomb in waters off the coast of Vieques in 1966. During the 70¹s the Navy used trained dolphins on failed maneuvers trying to pinpoint the nuclear device. The terrible menace of its plutonium to be released due to the water¹s corrosion is a time bomb for the Caribbean Sea.

    The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is supporting the petitions made by NGO¹s like Pax Christi and the Committee for Rescue and Development of Vieques. They are united with many other groups in Puerto Rico who call for the closing of the U.S. Naval Station Roosevelt Roads located in the town of Ceiba to cease the menace of nuclear accidents on the only nuclear free zone in the world. To achieve this task, the countries signatories of the Tlatelolco Treaty and OPANAL (Organism for the Proscription of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean) must endorse the explicit inclusion of Puerto Rico at the next OPANAL General Assembly in Lima, Peru this coming December. Due to its particular political relationship with the United States, Puerto Rico does not have self-representation in OPANAL nor in any other regional or international organizations therefore does not enjoy voting rights.

    During our visit to Puerto Rico, representing NAPF for the Abolition 2000 campaign, we witnessed a united country asking for justice. Puerto Rico hopes that the nuclear nations will listen to them and will eliminate without delay the nuclear weapons, that terrible technology capable of wiping out the miracle of life from our beautiful blue planet.

    *Ruben Arvizu is the Coordinator of NAPF for Latin America. He collaborated with the Cousteau Society as Representative to Latin America and Film Producer. As international journalist he has been awarded with the “Silver Pen” the “Golden Palm” and “Isabella of Spain”. Presently he is working in his upcoming book “Chapultepec, The Clash of the Eagles” with the theme of the Mexican-US War of 1846.