U.S. to Limit Presence in Vieques

President Clinton's announcement on Friday to reduce military bombing on Vieques does not go far enough in protecting residents of the Puerto Rican island, say Harvard professors and students who signed a petition last month urging the United States to remove all military personnel from the island.

"The decision is good news but it could have been much better news," said Gutman Professor of Latin American Affairs John H. Coatsworth yesterday afternoon. "It would have been better if President Clinton had promised to stop using the island once and for all."

Under Clinton's plan, bombing on Vieques would resume this spring at a considerably reduced level and with only dummy bombs instead of live ammunition.

For Puerto Rico's part, Clinton offered it $40 million, which includes phasing out all training on the island within five years.

Speaking at a news conference in San Juan on Friday, Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Rossello quickly rejected the plan, telling reporters, "Personally I feel deceived with the position that's been taken because it doesn't faithfully reflect what we have been discussing with the president."

At Harvard, Hans S. Perl-Matanzo '01--a native of Puerto Rico and head of the Global Student Movement for Peace in Vieques Now--said he was equally disappointed with Clinton's decision.

"The decision is totally unacceptable," Perl-Matanzo said. "It constitutes a military presence on the island for at least five years and that goes against the will of the Puerto Rican people that the Navy leave immediately."

"Any decision that goes against the will of the Puerto Rican people is tyrannical in nature," he added.

Perl-Matanzo drew campus attention to the Vieques cause last month, organizing a rally and circulating a petition signed by more than 200 students and nearly 50 professors who argued that the bombings threatened the humanitarian and economic interests of the island's residents.

Among those faculty members who signed the petition were Coatsworth, who is also director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies; Warburg Professor of Economics Emeritus John Kenneth Galbraith; and Tyler Professor of Constitutional Law Laurence H. Tribe '62.

Perl-Matanzo said he would continue to press the Vieques issue until the Navy fully withdraws from the island; a rally in front of a Boston-area Navy recruitment office is currently scheduled for Dec. 15.

"We hope the 50-plus professors who signed the petition don't limit themselves to signing the petition, he said. "They must use their power as Harvard professors to actively denounce and condemn this decision."

Puerto Ricans have long objected to the Navy's practice of bombing on Vieques, but the controversy boiled over after a civilian security guard was killed by an errant bomb in April.

The Navy then suspended training on Vieques but has been seeking a way to resume it.

Activists have since set up residence on the Navy base, using techniques of civil disobedience to impede military activities. According to Perl-Matanzo, the government of Puerto Rico has officially recognized this impromptu town, listing Vieques Libre in their official register of the nation's towns.

Professor Coatsworth said yesterday that the protestors' action would someday yield a result that meets the demands of the Puerto Rican people.

"I'm sure down the road a decision will be taken by this president or the next one to stop using Vieques all at once and all together," he said.