Church Leaders Ask Bush to Remove U.S. Navy from Vieques

CHICAGO (ELCA) The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and 10 other church leaders from across the country are urging President George W. Bush to put an end to U.S. military training on Vieques, an island east of Puerto Rico.
In an April 18 letter to Bush, Anderson and other religious leaders asked the president to "reconsider completely the U.S. presence" on Vieques. Other leaders include the Rev. Robert Edgar, general secretary, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.; the Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold, presiding bishop, Episcopal Church U.S.A.; and the Rev. John H. Thomas, president, United Church of Christ.
"The majority of the people of Puerto Rico have demonstrated that they do not want Vieques to be a site for war exercises. Puerto Rico's churches including Catholics, Protestants and Pentecostals have joined forces in an unprecedented ecumenical coalition against continued use of Vieques for U.S. military exercises. Their unanimous message is, 'Not one more bomb in Vieques.' We are fully in support of our Puerto Rican ecumenical partners in this position, and many of us have traveled to that island to demonstrate this solidarity through action," they wrote.
The religious leaders have also asked Bush to meet with Pro Vieques, an ecumenical coalition of Puerto Rican religious leaders, "to hear their concerns."
The leaders wrote, "We urge you to hear their plea and implore you to use the power vested in you by the citizens of the United States to order an end to all military practices and training on the island as soon as possible. Additionally, we hope that you will also consider what can be done to encourage economic growth and poverty reduction measures for the local community and to repair the environmental damage our military presence has caused."
Anderson led a delegation of ELCA bishops, clergy and staff to Puerto Rico on March 22-24.
The delegation's trip to Vieques on March 23 included a visit to Camp Garcia, the U.S. Navy's live-ammunition training ground, and the Museum of Vieques' Art and History, Fort Count Mirasol, where the ELCA delegation learned about how residents of Vieques are working to defend their human rights, to regain control over their own economy and social growth, and to better their health, education and environment.
"It's clear that the people of Vieques feel they are, in a sense, caught in their own island in a way that they are not able to live as freely as they would like and as they see the rest of our country living," Anderson said in an interview on Vieques.
Members of the ELCA Caribbean Synod, with offices in Dorado, Puerto Rico, plan to bring forth a resolution about the U.S. Navy's presence on Vieques for the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly to vote on this summer. The resolution will be designed to reflect the synod's position to have the U.S. Navy immediately cease their occupation and military training on Vieques.
In 1999, the ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted a resolution that called on the U.S. government "to seek reasonable solutions" that will end all U.S. military operations on Vieques. The resolution asked that the land be returned to the people of the island "while not compromising our nation's security."
The Rev. Pablo Quinones, Iglesia Luterana Reconciliacion, Levittown, Puerto Rico, believes the church has conditioned the removal of the U.S. Navy by inserting "without compromising our nation's security" into the text of the 1999 resolution. In an interview, Quinones said clergy and lay leaders of the Caribbean Synod will work to develop a new resolution that will illustrate "advocacy for the people of Vieques" without conditions.
The ELCA Caribbean Synod is made up of 6,783 Lutherans in 34 congregations on Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html