Vieques has a very interesting history of US naval presence between 1941 and 2003. The island was divided in three parts, where only the middle one, one third, was accessible to Vieques residents, and the other two used for naval training and bomb training / testing. After massive protests from locals, the navy left the island. Some of the land was given back to the people, but most of it was turned into natural reserves that you cannot visit. “Not really what we signed up for when we wanted the navy out – we didn’t get our island back” said our rental car guy, “but nature is better than bombing”. Others say that the reserve is just a cover up, since the bombings and ammunition stored on the island included a lot of contaminants, like heavy metals and uranium. Debate is still ongoing around increased cancer risk on the island because of the navy trials. Also, a lot of unexploded ammunition is left. B’s surf guide said the navy leaving was just bad, because they took away jobs for the locals, and now many Vieques residents are on welfare. Every story has many sides. Us, we decided to go look at some of the military remains, where access is now allowed.
Old guard post on the former border to the previous military zone
Some parts are still not accessible
Mosquito pier – a construction initiated by the US navy during World War II to connect Vieques to main island Puerto Rico to restrict access as part of the defense of the Caribbean and especially of the Panama Canal. It was never finished, hence it is a pier today
Old military storages
Abandoned and “certified empty”
One now used as a TV graveyard
Passing through the land that was given back to Vieques in 2001 you see it divided into slots and slowly being built. It looked like small vacations homes.
After a lot of driving one’s got to run off some ants in the pants, and a visit to the play ground was appropriate
And to cool off with a nice bath – with no real bath tub the cooler in the shower works just as well.
And – of course this post is made especially for my dad!
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar