[00:06.32]On Thursday,about three hundred American law enforcement agents
[00:13.37]raided the small Puerto Rican island of Vieques.
[00:18.23]The agents removed 216 demonstrators who had been camped
[00:24.66]at a United States military base for almost a year.
[00:30.09]No one was hurt in the action.
[00:34.22]American Attorney General Janet Reno directed the operation
[00:39.86]to remove the protesters.
[00:42.92]Ms Reno said the protesters would not be charged with crimes
[00:49.06]unless they became violent or tried to re-enter the Bieques navy base.
[00:55.69]Among those seized were two members of the United States House
[01:01.73]of Representatives and several Puerto Rican legislators.
[01:07.08]The demonstrators were protesting the use of the small Caribbean island
[01:13.51]of Vieques as a United States navy training center.
[01:18.76]They especially object to bombing exercises carried out there.
[01:24.90]The demonstrators began their protest after a misdirected navy bomb
[01:31.95]killed a Puerto Rican civilian security guard last year.
[01:37.80]The navy suspended exercises at Vieques after the accidental death
[01:45.53]In January,President Clinton and the Governor of Puerto Rico
[01:51.86]Pedro Rossello,resched a new agreement about future training.
[01:57.89]They agreed the navy could carry out limited training until 2003
[02:06.33]However,only non-explosive bombs could be used in the exercises.
[02:13.67]The people of Vieques are to decide by vote
[02:19.10]whether the navy trining center should remain on the island.
[02:24.54]Vieques has a population of more than 9,000 people.
[02:30.86]They are American citizens as are all other Puerto Ricans.
[02:38.69]Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth of the United States.
[02:43.55]The people who live there receive some services
[02:48.91]from the American federal government.
[02:52.25]However,they cna not vote in Ameican presidential
[02:58.29]or congressionsl elections.
[03:01.73]About sixty years ago,the United States navy
[03:07.48]bought two-thirds of Vieques.
[03:11.11]The Navy has used the area to train
[03:16.08]for every major conflict since World War Two.
[03:20.70]There always has been some tension between the navy
[03:26.55]and the citizens who live on the island.
[03:30.49]The navy argues there is no other place like Vieques for trainning.
[03:38.33]It is close to the eastern coast of the United States.
[03:43.97]Pilots and naval gun operators can train easily with United States marines
[03:52.93]as they land on the island's beach.
[03:57.06]The navy says pilots who train at Vieques learn to drop their bombs
[04:04.51]with much more exactness than pilots who do not train there.
[04:10.54]Opponents say the bombing exercises have damaged the environment
[04:17.88]and the health of the people on Vieques.
[04:22.11]Protesters say Vieques is not the only place for such trainning.
[04:29.27]After the raid,the United States navy announced that new bombing exercises
[04:37.81]with non-explosive bombs will start again on Vieques later this month |