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INTRODUCTION ................. 3

CULEBRA: A HISTORY .............. 4

A GUIDE TO THE PENTAGON'S 13% . . . . 5

CULEBRA: WHY DO THE PEOPLEWANT THE NAVY OUT? . . . 1

CULEBRA: THE REAL ISSUES . .8

On September 18, 1970, the San Juan daily ElMundocarried an article by Eladio Rodriguez Otero, President ofthe Puerto Rican Atheneum, called "Puerto Rico: NuclearAircraft Carrier".

The burden of the article was that the entire island hasbeen converted into a major military complex and thus aninevitable prime target in the event of nuclear war. Andthat Puerto Rico, unlike any other nation or colony oreven state of the U.S., would necessarily be totallydestroyed in a first nuclear strike. It is a nation program-med for extinction.

Whether the genocide of Puerto Rico comes in amushroom cloud or through attrition by developmentalistprograms, the presence of the U.S. military has been aconstant problem since the country was first "liberated"in 1898.

The response of Puerto Rican youth to the immoraland unjust military conscription system has already beendescribed. Even so, few Americans-even draft resistersand others who oppose this form of involuntary servi-tude—realize that Puerto Rican independentistas havewritten the most brilliant chapter in the anti-conscriptionstory. Because of their togetherness and their tenacity infighting court judgments against them, not one indepen-dentista has been forced to join rthe death machine.American pacifists can't claim that good a record, andcertainly not such an effective political challenge to thewhole system.

But an even more important symbol of the-attemptedmilitary conquest of Puerto Rico has emerged in the last

few years. It impinges on the popular consciousness morethan the draft, more than the Chocolate Soldier antics ofROTC which has already caused armed confrontation anddeaths, more even than the fact that the Yellow Sub-marine has been converted into a nuclear aircraft carrier.

That symbol is the tiny island of Culebra which,together with its sister island of Vieques, has erupted intothe forefront of the battle between the people and themilitary.

Years ago, the great patriot Albizu Campos decried theU.S. efforts to eradicate the historic meaning of Vieques,which "was always a strong point in the defense of ourHispanic personality. It was here that the great Leguilloustopped the second British attempt to conquer ournational territory."

Vieques, Albizu Campos declared, was able with itsown resources to maintain its whole population. It hadcattle, fruit, vegetables and 20,000 tons of sugar products.It was a province unto itself. But why, Albizu Camposasked, "why has the United States chosen Vieques torepeat in the broad daylight of contemporary civilizationthe crime of genocide; that is, the deliberate destructioneither physically or culturally of a people?"

The question of Vieques is, today, far from solved,even in the sense of a "final solution". We shall be hearingmore about this tiny island off the East coast of PuertoRico. But at this moment the focus is on its even smallersister island, Culebra.

In the articles that follow, something of the meaning-and the complexity-of the Culebra struggle emerge.

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CULEBRA: A HISTORY

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The island of Culebra is located 17 miles from theEastern coast of Puerto Rico. Even though the island wasan integral part of the Spanish colony of Puerto Rico, itwasn't colonized until the latter part of the 19th Century.After a period of uncertainty and a lack of organizationregarding the best way of colonizing the island, thenknown as San Hdefonso de la Culebra, Cayetano Escuderoarrived there on October 27, 1880 with ten men to beginthe colonization. As an incentive the Spanish OverseasMinistry offered free lands, tax exemption, transporta-tion, some material help, two lots—one urban and onerural, and a free port.

A process never clarified, and which constitutes one ofthe juridical aspects of the conflict caused by the militarypresence of the U.S. Navy in Culebra, is that ofurbanization and the distribution of lands. Colonizationbegan on the deserted island, once an adequate urbaniza-tion map was drawn up, but the land distribution wasprovisional. The island was divided into several zones,some of which the State reserved for its use, i.e. publiclands, mangrove plantations, lands for war use, and somebeach areas.

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In September, 1889 a Royal Order extended thedeadline for a colonist to cultivate his total land in orderto acquire a land title from six months to four years. Theprocess was interrupted in 1898 when the U.S. Navyinvaded Puerto Rico as a consequence of the so-calledSpanish-American War,

GUNS KEEP POPULATION STABLE

According to the census of 1899, the population of theisland was 704. There were 206 urban inhabitants and 498rural. It is interesting to note that at the present timethere are 743 inhabitants on its 7,000 acres. After 71years of Northamerican domination the population ofPuerto Rico has grown but not that of Culebra. And itisn't because they have found an effective means of familyplanning! The reason? Last year directed missiles werefired during 228 days, there were air strikes during 13days, navy gunning during 123 days and other kinds offiring during 114 days.

After the invasion the Navy evicted the inhabitantsfrom the original town of San Hdefonso and forced them

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to move either to rural areas or to other lots on what isnow the only town, Dewey. Even if the Treaty of Paris ofDecember 10, 1898 were considered to be valid, thisaction by the Navy violated the rights of the inhabitantsof Culebra. The document mentioned, written withoutthe consent of the Puerto Rican people, cedes Puerto Ricoas war booty and transposes its national partimony to thesovereignty of the United States.

"... all buildings, docks, barracks, forts, businesses,public roads and other real estate, which by right ispublic property, belong as such to the Spanish Crown.Therefore, it is declared that the cession referred to inthe above paragraph, may in no way interfere with therights to property according to law, of the peacefulprovider of goods of all kinds in the provinces,municipalities, public or private enterprise ... and allindividuals whatever their nationality."

NAVY VIOLATES RIGHTS

Independently of the affront suffered by the people in1898, by the treatment to their persons as well as to theirproperty, it is necessary to mention here that this treatywas not respected by the Navy in its attempts to evict thepeople of Culebra. In 1902 the Navy arrived and removedthe people from San Hdefonso. It continued in 1936 whennaval training was initiated on the peninsula of Flamenco,obliging the residents to move and abandon their farmingtasks. It took on juridical character in 1941 whenPresident Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued executiveorder number 8684, placing in the person of the Secretaryof the Navy or his representative complete control overthe territorial waters of Puerto Rico and the air spaceabove the Island. It was intensified in 1960 when theNavy extended its radius of operations over most of theisland to the dismay of the inhabitants and with disregardfor their lives.

As a result of this abuse sanctioned by the Metropoli-tan Congress and by those charged with governing theisland, the residents of Culebra have organized themselvesand mobilized public opinion in order to search for waysto get the Navy out of their island. A recent study madeby the Commission on Civil Rights lists the following 6areas affected by military operations and especially by

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a. Transportation to the Island by the sea route iscause of great risk and suffering even in those shipsgiven to the Free Associated State by the Navy.

b. The control of the air access is also a source ofdanger, limiting and isolating the inhabitants.

c. The prolongation of military training exercises hascreated an atmosphere of tension and fear becauseof the danger and noise it creates.

The fishing industry has been doubly affected sincethe shelling has destroyed both the fish and the netsplaced by the fishermen.

e. The data gathered about student life confirms thatthere are educational deficiencies which can only beattributed to the atmosphere or continuous fear inwhich it is carried out.

f. Industrial and tourist development, as well asinvestments, cannot prosper since every plan mustbe subordinated to the programs and plans of theNavy.

"The Chief of Naval Operations is opposed to anyproposal for the independence of Puerto Rico that doesnot guarantee the keeping and future expansion of ourbases there as well as the acquisition of new ones.

"The United States must be the only judge of itsmilitary needs in the area."-Capt. G. D. Parks, USN, in testimony before Tydingshearings in mid-30's.

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RAMEY AIR BASEOnly Strategic Air Command base in Latin America. Hascomplement of B-52 bombers and guided missiles. Bothcarry nuclear weapons. Used in the Dominican interven-tion of 1965 to transport troops, food and Americandiplomats to the headquarters of the Dominican Army,San Isidro Air Base.

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ROOSEVELT ROADSLargest naval base of the southern hemisphere. Has threedeep water harbors. Home base of the Southern AtlanticFleet. Large air field handles squadrons of Navy bombersand fighter aircraft. Headquarters for combined navaloperations with Latin American naval units (the "Spring-board" exercises use 40,000 men each year). "Enterprise"trained here before going to Vietnam. Naval units fromhere took part in the Cuban missile crisis blockade.

SALINAS RESERVE TRAINING AREAAnti-guerrilla training for Army and Marine units as wellas National Guard. Air Force target practice area.

LUQUILLO RAIN FORESTTraining area for "Green Beret" anti-guerrilla units intropical jungle conditions. Large radar and radio installa-tions of undefined purpose, suspected to be used forintelligence purposes.

SAN JUAN NAVAL STATIONHeadquarters of Caribbean Sea Frontier and CommandantTenth Naval District. Both of these administrative divi-sions are admiral rank and cover the whole SouthernAtlantic and the Caribbean area.

VIEQUESThis is an island off the eastern tip of Puerto Rico. Of itstotal of 33,000 acres the Navy has expropriated 26,000for use as a training area and arsenal. Huge militarytraining operations go on here regularly. The civilianpopulation has declined from 10,000 in 1940 to less than7,000.

CULEBRAAnother small island to the northeast of Puerto Rico. It isused as a firing range, and sea traffic is restricted. Thisgreatly limits and hampers the 700 people that live theresince fishing is the main economic activity.

CULEBRA: WHY DO THE PEOPLE WANT THE NAVY OUT?

a) Excerpts from US. Senate Hearings by Senator CharlesGoodell (R-NY), July 9, 1970

In 1940, a child died as the result of the detonation ofa shell; there have been other such incidents in whichresidents have been injured. On May 24, six mortar roundswere fired into a bathing area on Flamingo Beach, landingwithin 200 yards of seven children and an adult. There isdanger of serious injury or death resulting from futurebombardment. Several weeks ago, an errant Navy shellnearly killed the Governor of Puerto Rico, who happenedto be sunning himself on a supposedly safe yacht in thecove off Flamingo Beach.

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I have noticed the Navy's recent statement before aHouse Armed Services sub-committee and particularly, itsassertion that there are no alternatives to the island forfulfilling the weapons training function. It has maintainedthat all safety precautions possible are being taken toinsure the safety of the citizens of Culebra.

I am unconvinced that the Navy has carefully exploredthe availability of alternative target sites. The continuingdanger to the Culebrans from accidental weapons misfir-ing speaks for itself on the inadequacy of the Navy'ssafety precautions.

We must be concerned about the economic well-beingof all American citizens. The Navy's continuing bombard-ment has had a serious impact upon the island's cattleproduction. Its ships destroy lobster traps and fishingnets, and with them the potential development of aprosperous fishing industry on Culebra.

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The beaches of Culebra are unparalleled in theirbeauty, but the continuation by the Navy of its bombard-ment activity has prevented the development of its naturalresources.

ECOLOGY THREATENED

We have been much concerned in recent months withthe challenge to preserve the quality of our environment.The Navy now threatens to destroy the ecological balanceof Culebra. The detonation of explosive shells continuesto kill fish, lobsters, and birds in large numbers.

On one occasion in 1967, in fact, 15 tons of dead fishwashed up on the Culebran beaches.

In 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt designated thekeys off Culebra as national wildlife refuges. And yet, inMay 1968, the Navy lodged a massive bombardment

against 'TMnf- ROC^ 'one of those* Ibird refuges, andthousands of nesting marine birds were killed.

The will of the people of Culebra and of Puerto Ricohas been clearly expressed, and it is about time that theNavy began to heed it.,

SCHOOLCHILDREN AFFECTED

Carmelo Feliciano, who has been a schoolteacher atEscuela Nueva (New School) in Culebra for thirteen years,testified as follows in the recent Culebra Hearings:

"Teaching in Culebra is an extremely difficult job. Thecontinuous flow of air traffic at low altitudes over theschool, helicopters, jets and propeller planes, make aninfernal noise, creating a state of tension and anxiety andrendering it virtually impossible to hold the attention ofthe students.

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"When bombs and shells are exploding the schoolbuildings tremble with every explosion. You can see fearin the children's eyes. They sit in school in a peculiar wayas if ready to run at a moment's notice. During theperiods of heavy night bombing, students fall asleep inclass. They look sleepless and teachers there know whythis is so. Bombing is carried out far past midnight everyday and these kids are kept awake by the noise andtremor caused by the bombs until early morning hours.. .

"Due to all this noise caused by Navy aircraft andboats bombing and shelling, and also because they live inconstant fear of losing their lives, the students' work atschool is very poor. There has not been an honorsgraduate in Culebra in more than three years. Intelligencetests show a far below normal IQ for Culebran students. Ihave observed that many of these students have movedout and attend school in the main island of Puerto Ricoand their grades are considerably higher at these otherschools. The ones that return to Culebra fall back waybelow in their school work."

An indication of the intensity of the air traffic alone isprovided by the Navy's "Culebra Utilization Data," whichstates that in 1969 the Culebra targets were used by 6,101aircraft making a total of between 35,000 and 40,000target runs. This, of course, excludes helicopter as well asnon-target overflights.

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b) Excerpts from An Island in Transition: Culebra 1970,A Staff Report on the Environment, to the Governor'sSpecial Commission on Culebra

Punta Flamenco. This peninsula has an extensive areaof reef type "2". Large massive heads of corals, especiallybrain corals and Montastrea, are very abundant, providinga fairly irregular bottom with great boulders of corallinegrowth reaching nearly to the surface from depths of15-20 feet. The presence of many sea fans and other softcorals as well as a large variety of and abundance oftropical fish enhances the beauty of the extensive coralformation.

During the investigator's visit to this area, the results ofordnance disposal by the U.S. Navy were observed.According to Navy officials, ordnance, ranging from100-pound to five-inch shells, has been accumulating onthe bottom in the littoral zone surrounding the peninsulafor a period of about 30 years. As a result of disposalactivities, many dead fish were collected following ablasting on December 2. The following morning, frigatebirds (Frigata magnificensis] were feeding upon dead fishwhich presumably rose to the surface during the night asthey began to decompose. A quick survey revealed at least20 more medium size specimens (groupers, snappers,parrot fish, and others) still trapped on the bottom byCarolline debris.

Here a total destruction of the corraline mass wasobserved over an area of about 50 feet in diameter,cutting through a calcareous deposition of about 10 feetthick down to the sandy basement. Partial destruction was

evident over a radius of about 200 feet, where large piecesof corals, particularly Acropora palmata, were brokendown.

Sedimentation and silting were evident in this areawhere the loose sandy substrate had been exposed to thewave action. This may present a threat to the corallineadjacent to the damaged area. Corals here are growing incrystal clear water where coralline secretions have stabi-lized the substrate. Now, with the loose substrate ex-posed, silt and coarser particles could be picked up by thewave action and bury the adjacent corals, extending theactual damage. The rapid erosion of the exposed corallinerock will also increase sedimentation and these watersmay no longer be clear.

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minimized if all ordnance deemed safe to remove wastransferred to bare sandy bottoms devoid of corals beforedemolition.

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In addition, great consternation was expressed at thedestruction of valuable living coral reefs, which haverequired centuries to develop to their present state, by themethods of ordnance disposal in use by the U.S. Navy.Although the continuation of military activities willdepend on requirements for national security, much oftheir impact could be reduced by -exclusively usingdummy bombs and shells.

c) Excerpts from Culebra, Overview and Analysis, April 1,1971', DOD Study

ECOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

1. Culebra has some unique and valuable features:

a. The shallow water coral reefs around Culebrita, LuisPena and the Flamenco Peninsula are the best oftheir kind under U.S. control anywhere in theworld.

b. Bird rookeries on the Northwest Peninsula andoutlying keys are one of only two areas remaining inthe Caribbean where the birds have not beendepleted. (The sooty tern colony is the largest in theworld.)

c. The virgin forests on Ml. Resaca and Luis Pena are

the only such natural growths remaining in theworld. (They include thirty unique plant forms anda number of rare varieties of orchids.)

d. The Flamenco, Resaca, Brava, and Culebrita beachesare unspoiled and among the most beautiful sandybeaches under U.S. control, being superior to anybeach in CONUS.

2. All of these assets have been under U.S. Navy controland except for the recent demolition of unexplodedordnance against the coral reefs south of FlamencoPeninsula, the Navy has not damaged these resources.

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CULEBRA:THE>:<'* t-l, *-/*'.i '* J^'"^ "

REAL ISSUES

Ivan Gutierrez del Arroyoti*i. &-:':;>'•.:

On January 18, 1971, a week after an agreement wassigned between the United States Navy and the colonialgovernment of Puerto Rico, 75 persons began to constructa chapel on Culebra's Flamingo Beach, in the Navy'starget area. The demonstrators were made up of peoplefrom Culebra, the Puerto Rican Independence Party(P.I.P.), the Puerto Rican Clergy Committee to RescueCulebra, and North Americans from A Quaker ActionGroup (AQAG).

Three days afterward, on January 21, 1971, U.S.marshals handed those of us within the chapel aninjunction from the federal district court in San Juanordering us to leave the chapel before 9:00 A.M. Sixpersons representing the groups involved decided to stayin the chapel. At that time we did not feel that the arrestof more than six people could make a special contributionto our struggle for independence. On Friday evening,January 22, 1971 the men who had remained in thechapel were arrested by U.S. marshals and flown byhelicopter to San Juan. During the weeks immediatelyfollowing the first arrests, demonstrators repeatedly wentinto the target area in an effort to stop the Navy's"Operation Springboard". Ten more demonstrators, mostof them Culebrans were also arrested for contempt ofcourt. The trial was held in the US. District court in SanJuan on February 18, 1971. The demonstrators werefound guilty of contempt. Thirteen have served threemonths sentences in the Puerto Rican Penitentiary in RioPiedras. Two minors were released. One man did not showup in court.

ENTER TARGET AREA

Nine more people, including two women were arrestedduring the following week. For the first time since thestart of "Operation Springboard" members of the ProIndependence Movement (P.I.M.) were also arrested, someon February 24th and two others the next day. OnFebruary 25, 1971, the last day of manuevers members ofthe P.I.M. led by secretary general Juan Mai Bras stoppedthe shooting for several hours when they entered thetarget area in two motorboats.

This is a brief summary of the latest events in ourstruggle to liberate the island-municipality of Culebra,where 743 Puerto Ricans are victims of constant exploita-tion, oppression, and humiliation by the US. Navy. My

purpose in writing this is to try to analyze for NorthAmericans the political implication of these events in ourstruggle for Independence and Socialism. Another impor-tant purpose is to point out the responsibility that NorthAmericans have for the liberation of Culebra and of therest of Puerto Rico as well.

AQAG JOINS STRUGGLE

A Quaker Action Group is the third group of NorthAmericans to join us in our struggle for liberation. Thefirst group was the "American League for the Indepen-dence of Puerto Rico" which was active during thenineteen forties and fifties. Their main job was to presentour struggle to the United States government, to theUnited Nations, and to the American public. RuthReynolds, the League's secretary, was sentenced to sixyears in prison for participating in the Nationalist uprisingof 1950. She was later freed by a decision of the U.S.Supreme Court. She mentioned something in her defensethat would be good to remember today: "No nation willbe free as long as it holds another one in colonialism." Asecond group, Peacemakers, have also protested in PuertoRico against the US. government.

In the spring of 1970, AQAG began to explore in detailthe possibility of a joint action in Puerto Rico with thePuerto Rican Peace Center. I have been in contact withAQAG since 1968 when I attended a conference by BobEaton at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. BobEaton was the captain of the sailboat "Phoenix", which in1967 took medical supplies to North Vietnam thusviolating the law against "trading with the enemy." BobEaton and AQAG became symbol for me of militantnonviolent revolutionaries.

The first action of AQAG came at a Conference Aboutthe "Progress and Democracy" of Puerto Rico in Oswego,New York when Joyce Barr and some Puerto Ricansdisrupted the conference by exposing one example of thelack of progress and democracy in Puerto Rico: US.Navy's hold on Culebra. Negotiations with regard to anaction proejct on Culebra began in October. In earlyDecember an advance-man for AQAG came to PuertoRico for ten days. There was some misunderstanding inthe beginning because it was very difficult for even AQAGto grasp fullily the political implications of their participa-tion in our struggle. They thought that they could remain

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apolitical and at the same time help liberate Culebra andthe rest of Puerto Rico.

Don Pedro Albizu Campos, the greatest Puerto Ricanof this century had predicted long before that Americanliberalism would not be able to face up to the realities ofUS. colonialism in Puerto Rico. Albizu Campos wastelling the Quakers in advance that they would have todecide to side with the forces of colonialism andimperialism or with the forces of freedom and justicewhich have been struggling for our independence and forsocial justice since the beginning of the 19th century.Albizu's comment puts in proper perspective the liber-alism of men like Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, Fulbrightand Jackson and the others who claim that they respectthe self-determination of our people while they remainsilent about the injustice perpetrated by their governmentin Puerto Rico. Ruth Reynolds did the same thing in ahearing on a Bill to Amend the Organic Act of PuertoRico in 1948. She said that Congress should decide to actdespotically or within the framework of liberty andjustice.

HUMAN DIGNITY AT ISSUE

This background is important because our colonialadministrators wanted to solve the problems of Culebrawithin the present colonial relationship. They did notwant our people to view this problem in terms of theproblem of our independence. This corrupt leadership hasinsisted that the problem of Culebra is not a political onebut a problem of human dignity: this is to say, theAmerican citizens of Culebra were not being treated asfull American citizens with equal rights. AQAG couldhave been fitted into this scheme very easily: goodAmericans from the mainland would come to help theirfellow Americans on Culebra to get equal rights as citizensof the US. This would only have ratified and deepenedthe colonial mentality of our people because this time theoppressors would not be the Navy, the Army or the bigmonopolistic corporations but good and humble Ameri-can pacifists who were against and were resisting the sameinjustices as the Culebrans.

The independence forces view the problem of Culebrarather as a consequence of the invasion of Puerto Rico byUS. military and economic interests with the result thatbasic human rights cannot exist. The island-municipalityof Culebra is the most dramatic example of United Statesdomination of Puerto Rico. It is also the best example ofthe old but still present manifest destiny policy toward allof Latin America. U.S. militarism is the safeguard for theeconomic exploitation of third world countries.

The background of the signing of the so-called agree-ment of January 11, 1971 is very interesting because it

shows very precisely how the United States governmenthas worked in Puerto Rico since the invasion of July 25,1898. It shows too how the United States has worked toproduce an impotent leadership which could accept thestatus of "colony by consent" on July 25,1952 and ratifythe "bombing by consent" of Culebra on January 11,1971. Curiously enough January 11th is precisely the daythat our people set apart to commemorate the birthday ofEugenio Maria de Hostos, one of the most outstandingmen in the struggle for the Independence of Puerto Ricoand for the Confederation of the Islands of the Antilles inthe Caribbean.

So the stage was set for a major confrontation with theNavy. The government of the United States through twoAmerican lawyers and the colonial leadership decided tojoin their efforts to safeguard the colonial structure thatwas being challenged successfully by the forces ofindependence and by the patriotic conscience of themajority of our people. The week AQAG representativeswent to see the mayor of Culebra about final details withregard to the upcoming protest, an agreement was signedbetween the Navy and the colonial administrators. Themain objective of the agreement was to confuse theresidents of Culebra and of Puerto Rico, those citizens ofthe United States who have heard about our struggle, andinternational public opinion. Just as in 1952 the UnitedStates government wanted to have a document which itcould show other nations to demonstrate that our peoplehad consented to the use of the western peninsula ofCulebra as a target area for the US. Navy and its guests.For example during this year's Operation Springboardnaval units of seven other countries (Canada, Holland,England, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, andColumbia) paid for the privilege of bombing Culebra. Theaim of the agreement of January 11, 1971 was to nullifythe challenge of the independence forces.

'RECONSTRUCTION' BEGUN

The events that followed the signing of the agreementshow very clearly the beginning of the bankruptcy of theUnited States domination of Puerto Rico and at the sametime the beginning of the reconstruction of our future byour own people.

On January 18, 1971 a week after the so-calledagreement was signed, a group of about 75 personscelebrated an ecumenical service in the town square ofCulebra before marching to Flamingo beach to defy theNavy. Nobody really knew how our policemen wouldreact to our challenge. One of the points of the so-calledagreement was precisely that the colonial administratorswould use all their power to insure that the Navyoperations could go on without interruption. The United

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States strategy in Puerto Rico has been the same as that ofall traditional colonial powers: to put the natives to fightamong themselves in order to confuse them and topersuade international public opinion that no problemexists between the metropolis and the colony. Thisstrategy failed this time because the Puerto Rican policewere moved by the energetic and challenging words ofRuben Berrios Martinez, the 32 year old president of theP.I .P. This was the second time that "pacific militancy"(our term for militant nonviolence) was used successfullyby the Puerto Rican Independence Party. The first timewas during a hunger strike which lasted for 28 days in themain foyer of the University of Puerto Rico in October of1969 to protest the presence of the ROTC on theuniversity campus.

CHAPEL BUILT IN 3 DAYS

The People's Chapel was built in three days on thetarget area and an ecumenical service was held inside thechapel before the federal marshals came with their orders.The contrast of the fences and the armed marinessurrounding our chapel show very concretely the moraland positive aspects of our action. Six persons wereselected from the various groups to stay inside represent-ing their groups and the will of our people to struggleagainst our invaders. It took three more days for theUnited States government to deci<^ | | fa|fl|.todo with the six patriots inside the chapel who refused toobey the immoral laws of the United States. During thosethree days our brothers were fed with clothes and food bythe people of Culebra. US. Assistant Attorney GeneralRichard Kleindienst just happened to be present in PuertoRico during this time on his way to the Virgin Islands toaddress the Bar Association there on Operation Crime-stop.

The U.S. government always operating in the late hoursof the night took the six to the Federal District Court inSan Juan. Nevertheless, around midnight about 1,000supporters were on hand to greet the six men when theywere released on their own recognizance.

NAVY DOWNS CHAPEL TWICEDuring the weeks after these incidents other demon-

strators, largely residents of Culebra, went inside thetarget area to disrupt Operation Springboard. The Navydestroyed our chapel twice, both times at late hours ofthe night. Apparently the all powerful Navy of the UnitedStates could not stand the powerful symbol of ourpeaceful chapel. Morality was too obviously on our side.They responded like clasically paranoid colonial powers:

.destroying violently that which showed resistance to theirAUTHORITY. When the Navy destroyed the chapel forthe second time, most of the men and women of the townof Culebra went at once to Flamingo beach to expresstheir indignation. They pulled down the ten-foot highcyclone fence, pulled apart the coils of barbed wire,burned the sentry box, and rescued the cross from thechapel. They also threw rocks and some molotov cocktailsat the Navy people who were firing tear gas at them. Thediscipline of pacific militancy had been well observed upuntil this incident in which three sailors were slightlyburned by molotov cocktails.

On February 18, 1971, 14 persons were tried forrefusing to leave Flamingo beach (their land) and fordisobeying the injunction of the U.S. Federal court inPuerto Rico. All of them refused any defense based onany technicality of an immoral law and refused torecognize any legal or moral authority of the U5. Federalcourt over them. They affirmed very strongly that theyhad consciously violated the immoral laws imposed uponus by the U.S. in order to fulfill the moral laws of ourcountry and of their consciences. They also expressed thattheir action was following the tradition of the prophets ofthe Old Testament Isaiah and Daniel, of Jesus, Thoreau,Jose Marti, Martin Luther King, and Mahatma Gandhi. Allof them, including a brother from the United States, weresentenced to three months in jail. They have fulfilled thissentence in a high spirit because, as Thoreau said: "Underan unjust government the place for a just man is in jail".

TRESPASSERS' DETAINED

During the week of February 19-25, 9 persons weredetained for allegedly trespassing on the target area. In thehearing of the first cases only three people were actuallycharged with trespassing; two were released. Two others,members of the Pro Independence Movement, deliberatelyfailed to show up for the hearing because they do notrecognize the authority of the federal court in PuertoRico. They joined the picket line in front of the FederalBuilding and said they recognize "no other tribunal butthe revolutionary will of our people in their struggle toexpel their aggressors." The other is still pending.

'iSi! - ;"Culebra like Vietnam is today a mirror where Ameri-

cans can look at their real selves. The People's Chapel likethe sailboat Phoenix is a constructive symbol for theemergence of a new America, a new Puerto Rico, and anew Man.