War In Vieques
Why is the US Navy at Vieques, Puerto Rico? Puerto Rico: From Spanish Colony to American Military Bastion After 400 years of Spanish colonial rule, Puerto Rico became a possession of the United States as a direct result of the Spanish-American War of 1898. Right after the invasion the US established a military government, which lasted up to 1900; thereafter, the Foraker Act of 1900 authorized the President of the United States to appoint a civilian governor. In 1917 the Jones Act granted US citizenship to all island residents. In 1948 Puerto Ricans were allowed to elect their own home-grown governor for the very first time. Today, after 101 years of direct economic, political and ...
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of over two thirds of the island’s most arable land, thereby displacing thousands of families and seriously jeopardizing their basic means of subsistence. The Navy arbitrarily set the price for the expropriated land giving the island residents very little say, if any, in the matter. Resistance became an exercise in futility, for the Navy issued the following ultimatum: Either you accept the price set by the Navy or prepare to be evicted, by force, if necessary, within 24 hours. The net effect of these policies was the clustering of the entire civilian population of Vieques into a small strip of land right in the middle of the island. Thus the US Navy took control of over 75% of this tiny island. 2. Legacy of the US Navy in Vieques: Economic Stagnation Vieques has a population of approximately 9,400 inhabitants. It has an unemployment rate of almost fifty percent (50%) by most conservative estimates. General Electric, which is one of the few large companies in Vieques, will ...
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military target practices. Furthermore, these bombings and military maneuvers lead to serious contamination of the environment due to toxic residues. In an article published in 1988, engineer and environmental consultant Rafael Cruz-Pérez identified three ways in which the military's bombings pollutes the environment in Vieques: (1) Chemicals in the Missiles’ explosive payloads, (2) Dust and rock particles released into the air as a result of the impact and/or explosion of missiles, and (3) Metallic residues left by missiles after they detonate, and the junk and scrap heap they use for target practice. "According to information provided by the Navy, this material is never ...
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War In Vieques. (2004, October 16). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/War-In-Vieques/15969
"War In Vieques." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 16 Oct. 2004. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/War-In-Vieques/15969>
"War In Vieques." Essayworld.com. October 16, 2004. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/War-In-Vieques/15969.
"War In Vieques." Essayworld.com. October 16, 2004. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/War-In-Vieques/15969.
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