SOLIDARIDAD
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SOLIDARIDAD CARIBEÑA EN LA CÁRCEL FEDERAL*
Ramón Antonio Centeno Maldonado fue el “sastre” prisionero de la unidad 1A de la cárcel federal de Guaynabo. Trabajaba en una máquina de coser industrial ubicada en un a salita de la unidad, donde hacia los ruedos de los pantalones de los presos y preparaba ropa para aquellos de tallas especiales. Ramón mencionó con cierto orgullo que preparó un mameluco para la Senadora Norma Burgos- aunque no tuvo que ver con el tamaño, sino con la falta de mamelucos en el momento. También fabricó un mameluco de tamaño extra grande para nuestro Pedro Colón Almenas.
Aprendió a coser mientras trabajaba en Filadelfia en un taller que hacía cortinas para restaurantes y otros negocios (awning signs). Había salido de la República Dominicana para echar pa’lante, progresar, nos contó. Llegó a Puerto Rico en una yola de 45 pies de eslora junto a 137 dominicanos en 1996. Estuvo dos años en Filadelfia entes de su arresto. Pasó dos días en Aguadilla, veintidos en San Juan y se fue pa’ Nuyol, donde todo es mejor…En Nueva York trabajó en un loundry, planchando ropa, hasta salir de la Gran Manzana hacia Filadelfia.
Nos dijo Ramón que, “lo de coser ropa lo aprendí aquí en esta prisión. Desde los 13 años en la República Dominicana, yo trabajaba en talleres de mecánica inustrial, con soldadura, como herrero y con pintura en Hato Mayor,” Al llegar a la cárcel en Guaynabo, no había sastre. “No habia nadie que supiera preparar la ropa para los presos. Yo lo hago voluntario. A veces el BOP (Buro de Prisioneros) me da un bono, la gente me regala cualquier cosa por los trabajos, café refrescos, etc…”
Como muchos otros presos, Ramón pasa mucho tiempo haciendo ejercicios con pesas, y tiene una impresionate musculatura que combina con una personalidad sumamente humilde y “bonachona”. En múltiples ocasiones, Ramón Antonio expreso su solidaridad con los desobedientes pro Vieques, tanto en términos humanísticos como en relación con la situación sociopolítica en Vieques.
Mientras Ramón nos narraba su historia de movimientos entre la República Dominicana, Puerto Rico y los Estados Unidos, recordamos dos momentos importantes en la historia viequense que nos unen con las luchas quisqueyanas por la justicia y la paz.
En los siglos XIX y XX, Vieques se vio involucarado en los procesos libertadores de la República Dominicana. En ambas ocasiones, el poder colonial-primero España y luego EEUU-utiliza a Vieques para reprimir e invadir a los dominicanos que luchaban por la soberanía nacional.
Entre 1862 y 1865, veinticinco prisioneros de guerra dominicanos fueron encarcelados en el Fuerte de Vieques. Documentos de las Actas del Ayuntamiento de la Isla Española de Vieques y de los Libros de Defunciones de la Iglesia Católica del pueblo, describen a los prisioneros quienes fueron traídos por el ejército español de la Guerra de las Restauración que se libró en la isla caribeña en la década de 1860.
El Fuerte Conde de Mirasol se construyó entre 1845 y 1855 para albergar las tropas espñolas y servir de “presidio”. Según los documentos históricos, los 25 presos dominicanos, entre las edades de 16 y 80 años, fueron trasladados a Vieques y obligados a trabajar en los caminos del pueblo. Todos murieron-sin que indicaran los documentos la manera de sus defunciones-entre el 5 de diciembre de 1864 y el 22 de marzo de 1865.
Entre los encarcelados en el Fuerte se enconteraron: Juna Berroa de la Cryuz, de 50 años, soltero, natural de Higuey, Santo Domingo, muerto en Vieques el 1 de enero de 1865; Felipe Gul de Sanana, soltero de 30 años muerto el 10 de enero del mismo año, natural del Seybo, Santo Domingo; Juan Evangelista del Rosario, muró el 15 de enero a la edad de 80 años, natural de Macón, Anto Domingo. En febrerod e 1865 murieron Anastasio Espíritu de los Santos (34) Gregorio Pérez (65), Gregorio Trinidad Hernández (30), Justo Mercado (60), Juan Candelario Requiera (66), Narciso Mejías (40), y en el mes de marzo fallecieron Manuel Méndez (63), Pedro Jiménez (60), Cecilio Herrera (40), Anastasio Mejías(80) y Matías Durán, de 60 años de edad, natural de Monte Plata, Sto. Domingo, casado con Antonia Abad Cayetana. La cusa de las muertes es un misterio. Algunos especulamos que el Gobierno militar español del moment, una vez completadas las tareas de trabajo forzoso de los presos dominicanos, dejop de atender sus necesidades básicas de vida, como la alicmentación y la salud. Posiblemente, una enfermedad contragiosa-que en las condiciones deplorables del encarcelamiento, fácilmente pudo haberse regado entre ellos-fue la responsable por su muerte. De todos modos, ese sacrificio máximo de ofrendar la vida por la libertad se su país, se hizo realidad entre las murallas del Fuerte de Vieques.
Temprano en el siglo XX, Washington comentzó una serie de invasiones a los países del carige y de Centroamérica, en funciónd e su Marina de Guerra que necesitaba estaciones carboneras yd e su política exterior de dominación en esa zona. Vieques se utilizó ampliamente en la segunda mitad del siglo como área de entrenamiento y plataforma para lanzar las agresiones militares contra Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panamá, Granad, Haití y la República Dominicana.
En 1965, cien años después del asesinato de los parisioneros de guerra quisqueyanos en el fuerte de Vieques, la Marina de Guerra estdounidese usó la base militar que había desarrollado en Vieques para agredir, con 17 mil infantes de marina, al pueblo dominicano, por el “crimen” de haber electo democráticamente a la presidencia, al Dr. Juan Bosch.
Regresamosa nuestro entrevistado aquí en MDC Guaynabo, Ramón Antonio tiene cinco hijos en Santo Domingo, 2 varones, y tres hembras. Tiene ocho hermanos, dos de los cuales están en EEUU. Su mamá, doña Romelia Jiménez Ramos, murión 1985 y la madre de sus hijos murión EEUU en los últimos días de la sentecia de Ramón, víctima de cáncer. Aramón fue deportado a finales de julio. Auque le gustaría volver a algún momento a vivir en EEUU, nos contó que le gusta mucho la idea de regresar su país. Sobre la cárcel federal en Guaynabi, nos rlató lo siguiente:
“No soy tipo estudioso, peri, e las tres prisiones federales donde me han tenido, ésta es la peor…estuve en Nueva Cork, Pensilvania y Virginia (me metieron en una institución estatal en Virginia por falta de espacio en las federales) y luego me dieron un “transfer” para Puerto Rico. Legué aquí en julio de 2001 y llevo 20 de los 37 mesesd e la sentecia acá”.
Nos informó Ramón, que a los presos de dominicanos no se les permitía pearticipar en los programas de CED (diploma de Escuela Superior) ni e los programas de inglés, aunque dijo que esta situación está cambiando ahora. “Todo por que nos consideran extranjeros; no cualificamos para la media casa, programas de trabajo, de rehabilitación de drogas, muchas veces esperamos largos periodos de tiempo para la deportación, después de haber terminado con nuestras sentencias. No es igual el trato para los ämericanos” (refiriéndose a los boricuas).” Continuó Ramón con relación a MDC Guaynabo:
“…esta prisión es buena para sentencias cortas…te da tiempo para meditar, conocerte a ti mismo…ésa es como una pequeña universidad de la vida…un cuñado mío en Santo Domingo la lla: un cementario de hombres vivos”, porque uno tiene seguro la fecha de entrada, pero no sabes cuando sales. Aquí no trabaja como debe…en EEUU, las cosas corrían bien…aquí no hacen bien los trabajos…dejan todo para lo último…las visitas, los papeles y tú detrás de ellos páque preparen los papeles…no resulten las cosas.
Así Ramón Antonio describe lo que hemos denunciado públicamente desde la cárcel, como una falta de organización y supervisión administrativa, situación que resulta en un ambiente de ansiedad y conflicto tanto para los presos como para el personald e la institución.
Sobre los desobedientes civiles y Vieques, señaló que ve la lucha como algo muy positivo. “Como ser humano, no sabía mucho, pero hora que me han explicado sobre la lucha, entiendo y apoyo cien por ciento…la llegada de los de Vieques fue como una salvación, trajeron mucha alegría, una luz divina…uno los ve llegar y se van rápido… Esto es favorable para nosotros, parece que tu sentencia se te acaba, está corriendo el tiempo. Como el caso de Damaso y sus cuatro meses. Yo lo veo salir y dije que a mí también me han pasao cuatro meses…cosas como la de Norma Burgos…de no dejar que le pelaran las nalgas…esa lucha contra la humillación...esa lucha siempre existe…ustedes son muy positivos…con su llegada y salida, son como un calendar io para nosotros. Rubén usó mi cuarto…me sacaron para Rubén y otro…sacaron a la gente de los cuartos, pero no hubo resistencia, problemas…incluso, limpié bien el cuarto...para ellos.”
La solidaridad que se vive en la cárcel entre presos dominicanos y de otras partes del Caribe y los desobedientes civiles de Vieques, se vive también en la lucha. Múltiples son las manifestaciones de apoyo a al lucha por la paz de Vieques de organizaciones sindicales, estudiantiles, ambientales, políticas y religiosas de Cuba, Haití, Jamaica, Trinidad y Tobago, St. Kitts, Islas Vírgenes, Venezuela, Colombia, México y la República Dominicana, entre otros paises de Centro y Sur América.
Desde Vieques y todo Puerto Rico, extendemos un fuerte abrazo solidario a l@s prisioner@s en MDC Guaynabo y simultáneamente a las luchas de los pueblos caribeños-americanos por la justicia y la paz
*Artículo escrito durante la sentencia de seis meses (abril-octubre 2002) en la cárcel federal de Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, que cumplió el autor por su participación en la campaña de desobediencia civil pacífica a favor de la paz en Vieques
PORTUGUES
SOLIDARIEDADE CARIBENHA NA PRISÃO FEDERAL
por Roberto Rabin, diretor do Arquivo Histórico de Vieques
Ramón Antonio Centeno Maldonado foi o “alfaiate” da unidade 1ª da prisão federal de Guaynabo. Trabalhava numa máquina de costura industrial localizada numa salinha da unidade, onde fazia as barras das calças dos presos e preparava roupas para os que usavam tamanhos especiais. Ramón mencionou com certo orgulho que preparou um macacão para a Senadora Norma Burgos – embora isso não tenha tido nada a ver com o tamanho, mas com a falta de macacões no momento. Também fabricou um macacão de tamanho extra grande para o nosso Pedro Colón Almenas.
Aprendeu a costurar enquanto trabalhava em Filadélfia numa oficina que fazia cortinas para restaurantes e outros negócios (letreiros de toldos). Contou-nos que tinha saído da República Dominicana para se estabelecer, progredir. Chegou a Porto Rico uma canoa de 45 pés de comprimento, junto com 137 dominicanos, em 1996. Ficou dois anos em Filadélfia antes de ser preso. Passou dois dias em Aguadilla, vinte e dois em San Juan e foi para Nuyol, onde tudo é melhor. Em Nova York trabalhou numa lavanderia, passando roupa, até sair de lá para Filadélfia.
Ramón nos disse que “isso de costurar roupa eu aprendi aqui, nesta prisão. Desde quando tinha 13 anos, na República Dominicana, eu trabalhava em oficinas de mecânica industrial, com soldas, como ferreiro e com pintura em Hato Mayor”. Quando chegou à prisão em Guaynabo, não havia alfaiate. “Não havia ninguém que soubesse preparar a roupa para os presos. Trabalho como voluntário. Às vezes o BOP (Bureau de Prisioneiros) me dá um bônus, a gente me dá algo pelo trabalho, café, refrescos, etc.”
Como muitos outros presos, Ramón passa muito tempo fazendo exercícios com pesos e tem uma musculatura impressionante, que combina com uma personalidade sumamente humilde e “bonachona”. Em muitas ocasiões, Ramón Antonio expressou sua solidariedade para com os desobedientes civis a favor de Vieques, tanto em termos humanistas como em relação à situação sóciopolítica em Vieques.
Enquanto Ramón nos contava a história de sua movimentação entre a República Dominicana e os Estados Unidos, recordamos dois momentos importantes na história viequense que nos unem com as lutas dos dominicanos por justiça e paz.
Nos séculos XIX e XX, Vieques se viu envolvido nos processos libertadores da República Dominicana. Em ambas as ocasiões, o poder colonial, primeiro da Espanha e depois dos EUA, usou Vieques para reprimir e invadir os dominicanos que lutavam pela soberania nacional.
Entre 1862 e 1865, vinte e cinco prisioneiros de guerra dominicanos foram encarcerados no Forte de Vieques. Documentos das “Actas del
Ayuntamiento (Prefeitura) de la Isla Española de Vieques” e dos “Libros de Defunciones” (registro de óbitos) da Igreja Católica do povoado descrevem os prisioneiros que tinham sido traídos pelo exército espanhol na Guerra da Restauração, que se travou na ilha caribenha na década de 1860.
O Forte Conde de Mirasol foi construído entre 1845 e 1855, para abrigar as tropas espanholas e servir de presídio. Segundo os documentos históricos, os 25 presos dominicanos, entre 16 e 80 anos de idade, foram trasladados a Vieques e obrigados a trabalhar nos caminhos do povoado. Todos morreram – sem que os documentos indiquem de que modo foi – entre o dia 5 de dezembro de 1864 e 22 de março de 1865.
Entre os presos no Forte se encontravam: Juna Berroa de la Cruz, de 50 anos, solteiro, natural de Higuey, Santo Domingo, morto em Vieques em 1/1/1865; Felipe Gul de Sanana, solteiro de 30 anos, morto em 10/1/1865, natural de Seybo, Santo Domingo; Juan Evangelista Del Rosário, morto em 15/1, com oitenta anos, natural de Macón, Santo Domingo. Em fevereiro de 1865 morreram Anastásio Espíritu de los Santos (34), Gregório Trinidad Hernández (30), Justo Mercado (60), Juan Candelario Requiera (66), Narciso Mejías (40), e no mês de março morreram Manuel Méndez (63), Pedro Jiménez (60), Cecílio Herreras (40), Anastasio Mejías (63), e Matias Duran, de 60 anos, natural de Monte Plata, Santo Domingo, casado com Antonia Abad Cayetana. A causa das mortes é um mistério. Alguns de nós especulamos que o governo militar espanhol do momento, uma vez completadas as tarefas de trabalho forçado dos presos dominicanos, deixou de atender a suas necessidades básicas de vida, como alimentação e saúde. Possivelmente uma doença contagiosa, que nas condições deploráveis da prisão poderia facilmente ter se espalhado entre eles, tenha sido a responsável por sua morte. De todo modo, esse sacrifício máximo de oferecer a vida pela liberdade de seu país se fez realidade entre as muralhas do Forte de Vieques.
No início do século XX, Washington começou uma série de invasões nos países do Caribe e da América Central, em função de sua Marinha de Guerra, que precisava de abastecimento de carvão e de sua política exterior de dominação nessa zona. Vieques foi usada amplamente na segunda metade do século como área de treino e plataforma para lançar as agressões militares contra Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicarágua, Panamá, Granada, Haiti e a República Dominicana.
Em 1965, cem anos depois do assassinato dos prisioneiros de guerra dominicanos no forte de Vieques, a Marinha de Guerra dos EUA usou a base militar que tinha desenvolvido em Vieques para agredir, com 17 mil soldados da marinha, o povo dominicano, pelo “crime” de ter eleito democraticamente o dr. Juan Bosch como presidente.
Regressemos a nosso entrevistado aqui em MDC Guaynabo: Ramón Antonio tem cinco filhos em Santo Domingo, 2 homens e 3 mulheres. Tem oito irmãos, dois dos quais estão nos EUA. Sua mãe, dona Romelia Jiménez Ramos,morreu em 1985 e a mãe de seus filhos morreu nos EUA nos últimos dias da sentença de Ramón, vítima de câncer. Ramón foi deportado em fins de julho. Embora tivesse gostado de voltar a morar nos EUA em algum momento, ele nos contou que gosta muito da idéia de regressar a seu país. Sobre a prisão federal em Guaynabo, ele nos relatou o seguinte:
“Não sou do tipo estudioso, e das três prisões federais em que me prenderam, esta é a pior. Estive em Nova Cork, Pensilvânia e Virginia (me meteram numa instituição estadual em Virginia por falta de espaço nas federais) e depois me deram transferência para Porto Rico. Cheguei aqui em julho de 2001 e passei 20 dos 37 meses da sentença aqui”.
Ramón nos informou que aos presos dominicanos não era permitido participar dos programas de CED (diploma da Escola Superior) nem dos programas de inglês, embora tenha dito que essa situação está mudando agora. “Tudo porque nos consideram estrangeiros: não somos qualificados para a meia casa, programas de trabalho, de reabilitação de drogas; muitas vezes esperamos longos períodos para a deportação, depois de ter cumprido nossas sentenças. O tratamento dos americanos (naturais de Porto Rico) não é igual”. Ramón continuou, falando sobre a prisão MDC Guaynabo:
“Esta prisão é boa para sentenças curtas, dá tempo para a gente meditar, conhecer-se a si mesmo; esta é como uma pequena universidade da vida. Um cunhado meu em Santo Domingo a chama de ‘cemitério de homens vivos’, porque a gente tem certeza da data de entrada, mas não se sabe quando vai sair. Aqui não se trabalha como se deve. Nos EUA as coisas iam bem. Aqui não fazem bem os trabalhos, deixam tudo para os últimos dias, as visitas, os papéis e você atrás deles para que preparem os papéis. As coisas não dão certo”.
Assim Ramón Antonio descreve aquilo que denunciamos publicamente da prisão, como falta de organização e supervisão administrativa, situação que tem como conseqüência um ambiente de ansiedade e conflito tanto para os presos como para o pessoal da instituição.
Quanto aos desobedientes civis e Vieques, comentou que vê a luta com algo muito positivo. “Como ser humano eu não sabia muito, mas agora que me explicaram sobre a luta, entendo e apoio cem por cento. A chegada dos de Vieques foi como uma salvação. Trouxeram muita alegria, uma luz divina. A gente os vê chegar e vão embora rápido. Isso é bom para nós. Parece que a nossa sentença está acabando e que o tempo está correndo. Como no caso de Damaso e seus quatro meses. Eu o vejo sair e disse que para mim também passaram quatro meses. Coisas como o que aconteceu com Norma Burgos, de não deixar que lhe despissem as nádegas, essa luta contra a humilhação... essa luta sempre existe. Vocês são muito positivos, com sua chegada e saída, são como um calendário para nós. Rubén usou meu quarto, me tiraram para colocar Rubén e outro. Tiraram a gente dos quartos, mas não houve resistência nem problemas. Eu até limpei o quarto para eles”.
A solidariedade, que se vive na prisão entre presos dominicanos e de outras partes do Caribe e os desobedientes civis de Vieques, se vive também na luta. Há múltiplas manifestações de apoio à luta pela paz de Vieques, por parte de organizações sindicais, estudantis, ambientais, políticas e religiosas, de Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad y Tobago, St.Kitts, Ilhas Virgens, Venezuela, Colômbia, México e República Dominicana, como de outros países da América Central e do Sul.
De Vieques e de todo Porto Rico enviamos um forte abraço solidário aos e às prisioneiras e prisioneiros em MDC Guaynabo e simultaneamente às lutas dos povos caribenhos-americanos pela justiça e pela paz.
Artigo escrito durante sentença de seis meses (abril-outubro 2002) na prisão federal de Guaynabo, Porto rico, que o autor cumpriu por sua participação na campanha de desobediência civil pacífica em favor da paz em Vieques
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Tradução do espanhol por Lília Azevedo
Email < liliazevedo@uol.com.br >
São Paulo Brasil, agosto 2006
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ENGLISH*
Caribbean solidarity in the federal prison
Article written during a six months sentence (April-October 2002) served by the author in the federal prison in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, because of his participation in the civil disobedience campaign in favor of peace in Vieques
Robert Rabin, director of Vieques Historical Archives
Ramón Antonio Centeno Maldonado was the “tailor” prisoner of the 1A unit of the Guaynabo federal prison . He worked in an industrial sewing machine located in a small parlor of the unit, where he made the hems of the prisoners’ trousers and prepared clothes for those who needed special sizes. Ramón said with a certain pride he had prepared an overall for Senator Norma Burgos – even though this had nothing to do with the size but the lack of overalls at that moment. He also prepared an extra large overall for our Pedro Colón Almenas.
He learned to sew while working in Philadelphia in a shop that made curtains for restaurants and other businesses such as awning signs.
He told us he had left the Dominican Republic to better himself, to improve his life. He arrived at Puerto Rico in a 45 feet long boat together with 137 other Dominicans in 1996. He spent two years in Philadelphia before being arrested. He spent two days in Aguadilla , twenty two in San Juan and went to Nuyol, where everything is better. In New York he worked at a laundry, ironing clothes, until leaving the “Big Apple” for Philadelphia .
Ramón told us: “I learnt how to sew here in this prison. Since I was 13, in the Dominican Republic , I worked in industrial mechanic workshops, with welding, as an ironmonger and painter, in Hato Mayor”. When he arrived at the Guaynabo prison there was no tailor.
“There was nobody who knew how to prepare the clothes for the prisoners. I work as a volunteer. Sometimes the BOP (Prisoners Bureau) gives me a bonus, people give me something for my work, coffee, sodas etc.”
As many other prisoners, Ramón spends much time exercising with weights and he has an impressive musculature that matches a very humble and easygoing personality. Ramón often expressed his solidarity with the civil disobedients in favor of Vieques, both in human terms as in relation to the socio-political situation in Vieques.
While Ramón told us the story of his movements between the Dominican Republic , Puerto Rico and the United States , we recalled two important moments in the history of Vieques that unite us with the Dominican struggles for justice and peace.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, Vieques found itself involved in the processes for the liberation of the Dominican Republic . In both occasions, the colonial power – first Spain and then the USA – used Vieques to repress and invade the Dominicans who struggled for their national sovereignty.
Between 1862 and 1865, twenty five Dominican prisoners of war were imprisoned in the Fort of Vieques. Documents from the “Actas del Ayuntamiento de la Isla Española de Vieques” (Acts of the Municipality of the Spanish Island of Vieques) and the “Libros de Defunciones” (Register of Deaths) of the Catholic Church of the village, describe the prisoners who had been brought by the Spanish army from the Restoration War waged in the Caribbean island in the 1860 decade.
The ‘Conde de Mirasol’ Fort was built between 1845 and 1855 to lodge the Spanish troops and serve as a prison. According to historical documents, the twenty five Dominican prisoners, aged from 16 to 80 years old, were sent to Vieques and obliged to work in the village’s roads. All of them died – the documents do not indicate the cause of their deaths – between December 5th 1864 and March 22nd 1865 .
Some of the prisoners in the Fort were: Juna Berroa de la Cruz, 50 years old, single, born in Higuey, Santo Domingo, died in Vieques on January 1st 1865; Felipe Gul de Sanana, single, aged 30, died January 10th same year, born in Seybo, Santo Domingo; Juan Evangelista del Rosario, died January 15th aged 80, born in Macón, Santo Domingo. In February 1865 died: Anastasio Espíritu de los Santos (aged 34), Gregorio Pérez (65), Gregorio Trinidad Hernández (30), Justo Mercado (60), Juan Candelario Requiera (66), Narciso Mejías (40), and in March died Manuel Méndez (63), Pedro Jiménez (60), Cecilio Herrera (40), Anastasio Mejías (80), and Matías Durán, aged 60, born in Monte Plata, Santo Domingo, married to Antonia Abad Cayetana. The cause of these deaths is a mystery. Some of us speculate that the Spanish military Government of the moment, once the forced labor tasks of the Dominican prisoners were completed, stopped taking care of their basic life necessities, such as food and health. A contagious illness – which in the deplorable conditions of the imprisonment could easily have spread among them – was possibly responsible for their deaths. Anyhow, this greatest sacrifice of offering their life for the freedom of their country became a reality inside the walls of the Fort of Vieques.
Early in the 20th Century, Washington started a series of invasions of Caribbean and Central American countries, because of it’s War Navy that needed coal stations and of it’s foreign policy based upon domination, in this zone. Vieques was largely used during the second half of the century as a training area and platform for the launching of military attacks against Guatemala , El Salvador , Nicaragua , Panama , Granada , Haiti and the Dominican Republic .
In 1865, a hundred years after the murder of the Dominican prisoners of war in the Fort of Vieques, the United States War Navy extensively used the military base it had established in Vieques to attack the Dominican people with 17,000 marines for the “crime” of democratically electing Doctor Juan Domingo Bosch as President.
Getting back to our interview here in MDC Guaynabo: Ramón Antonio has two sons and three daughters in Santo Domingo . He has eight siblings, two of whom are in the USA . His mother, Ms. Romelia Jiménez Ramos, died in 1985 and the mother of his children died in the USA in the last days of Ramón’s sentence, a victim of cancer. Ramón was deported in the end of July. Even though he would like to live again in the States at some moment, he told us how much he enjoyed the idea of going back to his country. About the federal prison in Guaynabo he told us the following:
“I am not an intellectual type, and of the three federal prisons were they have kept me, this is the worst. I stayed in New Cork, Pennsylvania and Virginia (they put me in a state institution in Virginia because there was no space in the federal ones) and soon they gave me a “transfer” to Puerto Rico . I arrived here in July 2001 and have served 20 of the 37 months of the sentence here”.
Ramón informed us that the Dominican prisoners were not allowed to participate in the CED programs (University Level Diploma) neither in the English language programs, even though he said that this situation is changing now. “All because they consider us foreigners, we are not qualified for the “half house”, work programs, drug rehabilitation; often we wait for long periods for deportation, after we have finished our sentence. The Americans do not receive the same treatment” (referring to the Dominicans).
Ramón continued, talking about MDC Guaynabo:
“… this prison is good for short sentences, gives you time to meditate, to get to know yourself. This is like a small university of life. A brother in law of mine in Santo Domingo calls it a ‘cemetery of living men’, because one is sure of the entry date but you never know when you are going to leave. Here we don’t work as we should. In the USA things went well, here they don’t work well. They leave everything for the last minute, the visits, the papers and you have to be after them for them to prepare the papers. Things don’t get done.”
So did Ramón Antonio describe what we have publicly denounced from prison, a lack of organization and administrative supervision, a situation that results in an environment full of anxiety and conflict for the prisoners as well as for the personnel from the institution.
About the civil disobedients and Vieques he said he sees the struggle as something very positive. “As a human being I didn’t know much, but now that they have explained about the struggle to me I understand and support a hundred per cent. The arrival of those who came from Vieques was a deliverance, they brought much joy, a divine light. One sees them come and they go away quickly. This is very good for us, it seems our own sentence is ending, time is running. Like Damaso and his four months. I saw him leave and told myself that to me also four months had passed. Like Norma Burgos who did not let them bare her buttocks. This struggle against humiliation… this struggle always exists. You are very positive. With you arrivals and departures you are like a calendar for us. Rubén used my room. They took me away for Rubén and one other. They took us from the rooms, but there was no resistance, no problems. I even cleaned the room… for them.”
The solidarity lived inside the prison between Dominican prisoners and those from other parts of the Caribbean and the civil disobedients from Vieques is also lived in the struggle. There are many manifestations of support to the struggle for peace in Vieques, from trade union, student, environmental, political and religious organizations, from Cuba , Haiti , Jamaica , Trinidad y Tobago, St.Kitts, Virgin Islands, Venezuela , Colombia , Mexico and the Dominican Republic , among other countries from Central and South America .
From Vieques and all of Puerto Rico , we send a warm hug full of solidarity to the prisoners in MDC Guaynabo and at the same time to all the struggles of the Caribbean-American people for justice and peace.
………………………………
*Translated from Spanish by Lilia Azevedo
Scroll down for english
7 de enero de 2008
Comunicado de Prensa
Viequenses solidarios con jovenes citados por el Gran Jurado
El Comité Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques (CPRDV) envió una carta a las oficinas del F.B.I. en Puerto Rico y a la División de Derchos Civiles del Departamento de Justicia Federal en la cual repudia el uso del Gran Jurado contra el movimiento independentista de Puerto Rico. En particular, la misiva expresa la solidaridad de los viequenses con un grupo de jóvenes puertorriqueños radicados en Nueva York citados por el Gran Jurado con el fin de obligarles a identificar a personas con supuestos vínculos a los Macheteros.
El 23 de septiembre de 2005, el F.B.I. asesinó al líder de los Macheteros, Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, en el pueblo de Hormigueros, Puerto Rico. En el operativo, agentes federales hirieron a Ojeda Ríos temprano en la noche pero no permitieron que recibiera atención médica hasta la próxima mañana cuando ya se había desangrado.
La carta del CPRDV repudia “… el asesinato de Filiberto y los actos de represión contra el independentismo en estos años …”. El grupo viequense, que jugó un papel prominente en la lucha contra la Marina de Guerra de EU en la isla municipio, envió la carta como manera de reciprocar ‘la magia de la solidaridad’ con los jóvenes boricuas amenazados por el Gran Jurado.
“Tania Frontera, diseñadora gráfica; Christopher Torres, trabajador social; y el cineasta Julio Antonio Pabón, hijo, tres jóvenes profesionales puertorriqueños dignos y activistas en las luchas por un mundo mejor, merecen todo nuestro respaldo,” señaló Nilda Medina, portavoz del CPRDV. Medina agradeció a las tres víctimas de la represión federal, por su aportación a la lucha por la paz de Vieques, y exhortó a la comunidad en general a participar en las actividades en repudio al Gran Jurado.
Contacto: Nilda Medina 787 206-0602; 375-0525
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English
The Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques (CRDV) sent a letter to the office of the FBI in Puerto Rico and the Civil Rights Division of the US Justice Department in Washington, DC, in which it repudiates the use of the Grand Jury against the Puerto Rican independence movement. In particular, the note expresses the Viequenses' solidarity with the group of young Puerto Ricans in New York contacted by the Grand Jury to force them to identify suspected associates of the Macheteros.
On 23 September, 2005, the FBI assasinated Machetero leader, Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, in the Puerto Rican town of Hormigueros. In the action, federal agents wounded Ojeda Rios early in the evening but did not allow him to receive medical attention until the next morning, after he had already bled to death.
The CRDV letter repudiates "...the assasination of Filiberto and the acts of repression against the Independence Movement in recent years...". The Vieques group that played a prominent role in the struggle against the US Navy on the island municipality, sent the letter as a means to repay the "magic of solidarit?" with these young Puerto Ricans threatened by the Grand Jury.
“Tania Frontera, graphic designer; Christopher Torres, social worker; and filmaker, Julio Antonio Pabón, Jr., three young Puerto Rican professionals and activists in the struggle for a better world, deserve all our support," stated Nilda Medina, spokesperson for the CRDV. Medina thanked the three victims of federal repression for their contribution to the struggle for peace on Vieques and urged the community in general to participate in activities to denounce the federal Grand Jury.
Contact: Nilda Medina 787 206-0602; 375-0525
Compañer@s: Tania Frontera Christopher Torres Julio Antonio Pabón, hijo:
Desde Vieques expresamos nuestro más enérgico repudio a la represión desatada contra el Movimiento Independentista Puertorriqueño tanto en el archipiélago como en la diáspora durante los pasados dos años y en este Nuevo Año que comienza.
El asesinato del Comandante Filberto Ojeda Ríos, líder de los Macheteros y las acciones contra individuos y oficinas vinculados al indepententismo puertorriqueño en estos años, ponen de relieve la naturaleza represiva de los organismos policiacos federales en Puerto Rico, en particular, el F.B.I.
Por medio de este comunicado, el Comité Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques manifiesta su repudio a las acciones recientes por parte del Gran Jurado federal contra jóvenes independentistas puertorriqueñ@s en la ciudad de Nueva York (…un cineasta, una diseñadora gráfica y un trabajador social- son personas que han apoyado la lucha de Vieques y la excarcelación de los presos políticos, pero no son conocidos como miembros de organización política alguna…)
Vieques conoció la grandeza de la solidaridad en nuestra lucha por terminar con la horrorífica presencia y actividad bélica de la Marina de Guerra de EU. Aprovechamos esta oportunidad para reciprocar la magia de la solidaridad al enviar un fuerte abrazo de cariño y apoyo a l@s puertorriqueñ@s en Nueva York arriba mencionad@s ante la amenaza a su libertad que plantea el Gran Jurado.
En lucha, en solidaridad
Sus amigos en Vieques
(Firma miembros del CPRDV y otros de la comunidad viequense)
Stop US Navy bombing in the world! Let's put an end to the military madness!
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FROM THE SAIPAN TRIBUNE:
Thursday December 27, 2007
Local
Thursday, December 27, 2007
'Stop live fire bombings at Farallon'
By Agnes E. Donato
Reporter
Lawmakers have raised concern about the environmental impact of military exercises on one of the islands north of Saipan.
Representatives Ray N. Yumul and Stanley T. Torres recently wrote a joint letter to the U.S. Naval Forces Marianas to express concern about the continued use of Farallon de Mendinilla as a live fire bombing range.
They said they were concerned the island had lost a significant amount of land mass due to the bombing exercises.
“[We are] requesting that you should immediately stop all live fire exercises on FDM until a thorough analysis is conducted,” Yumul and Torres told Rear Admiral William D. French, commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Marianas.
Farallon de Mendinilla has been used a live fire range since 1976, pursuant to a lease agreement between the U.S. and CNMI governments. The lease is for 50 years with a possible 50-year extension.
The pair noted that under the terms of the Covenant, the CNMI had leased approximately 83 hectares. Based on “certain” government reports, the land mass is now evaluated as being only 72 hectares. The lawmakers did not specify the government reports they cited.
“[We are] gravely concerned that because of a prior lawsuit against the continued use of FDM as live fire bombing range resulted in a limited use of the area to prevent the loss of migratory birds, this has resulted in the destruction of one-fourth of the island's lass mass which is where the concentration of live fire is now conducted. How then does the Department of Defense through the Department of the Navy and Air Force plan to mitigate the permanent loss of land mass to FDM when the lease expires to the CNMI?” Yumul and Torres asked.
They asked the Navy to provide the CNMI Legislature all FDM-related data prepared since 1976, including aerial photos taken of the island and annual assessments done by and for the Navy.
They also asked for copies of annual reports on the total number and types of ordnances that have been dropped or fired upon FDM since 1976.
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Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques sends message of solidarity and congratulations to groups that struggel against US militarism in Vicenza...
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OpEdNews
Original Content at http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_david_sw_071217_italians_block_const.htm
December 17, 2007
Italians Block Construction of US Military Base
By David Swanson
By David Swanson
The people of the northern Italian city of Vicenza, with help from activists around Italy, the rest of Europe, and even in the United States, are continuing to block the proposed construction of a new U.S. military base on their soil. When a company laid underground fiber-optic cables at the site of the proposed base, activists fill a junction box with cement. When another company tried to begin the work of removing World War II era U.S. bombs from the site, activists camped out in the cold for three days and nights while allies in Florence and a small town near Naples conducted simultaneous protests in front of the company's offices. The company backed off and has suspended the work. And a small town outside Vicenza has now refused to allow the United States to construct a residential village for troops.
Recently, Italy's foreign minister assured Condoleezza Rice, and Italy's president assured George W. Bush - not for the first time - that the base will be built. And the U.S. Congress, unbeknownst to the American people, has approved the funding. But there is a reason for these repeated public assertions that everything is on track. It isn't.
Saturday, December 15th, 2007, was predicted to be the coldest day Vicenza had seen. It snowed lightly in the morning. And even without the weather factor, organizers had hopes of only about 20,000 people turning out for a long march through the city and yet another rally against the construction of a base at a location called Dal Molin. But as the march proceeded for hours through the streets of Vicenza, the sun melted the snow, and word came that the back end of the march had not yet left the starting place, it became clear that, without any advertising, and with negative or nonexistent media coverage, over 80,000 people had turned out in this conservative city with no university and no protest tradition. And there was no counter-protest whatsoever.
At the end of the march, the crowd poured into a piazza to hear speeches from playwright Dario Fo, Catholic priest Don Gallo, event organizer Cinzia Bottene, American Code Pink activist Desiree Fairooz (famous around the globe for holding blood-colored hands up to Condoleezza Rice) and others. Desiree was wonderful despite being moved to tears by the thought of whose fault it was that Italians and others around the world must hold these protests.
When it was my turn to speak, I described the situation in the United States, expressed solidarity with the Vicentini, and encouraged the American soldiers already stationed in and near Vicenza to refuse illegal orders to go to Iraq. I also noted that some clown named Edward Luttwak does not speak for the American people, despite appearing as an American military expert (and cheerleader) in every Italian television news story about the U.S. military.
Naturally, I also mentioned the movement for impeachment, and it was nice to hear a crowd of Italians join in with a chant of "Impeach! Impeach! Impeach!" Someone later told me "You know, there are a lot more than 80,000 people who want Bush impeached." At a conference the next day in the "Presidio Permanente" (a major activist camp on property adjoining the base site) I asked the audience if they knew that the continuation of funding for the occupation of Iraq and the failure to begin impeachment were the work of a woman of Italian descent. Several people shouted "Nancy Pelosi!" I asked everyone to send her Emails.
Twenty years ago in Vicenza, if you said you were American it was a bit like saying you were a rock star. Now it's like saying you're Dick Cheney. "Yankee Go Home" and "Americani A Casa" are popular chants and graffiti, although usually said only in reference to Americans in the military. The Vicentini call us their brothers, but don't want us occupying their city. They sometimes shout "Fratelli Americani... A Casa." In fact Italian peace activists, just like American peace activists, are accused of being anti-American, and they reply that they want to be friends with Americans, but not slaves to Americans.
They have a point. Before anyone in Italy was asked, the U.S. military, and congressional committee staff, had laid out the plans for a major new base in the middle of a residential area on the edge of an historic city full of renaissance architecture. Agreeing to build the new base in a "palladian style" has appeased no one.
Instead, citizens maintain a 24-7 presence on the edge of the site in their "permanent" fort, consisting of large white tents and trailers. The tents have heat, electricity, light, a sound system, a kitchen, and a store selling every possible article with the anti-base label "No Dal Molin." A trailer has a radio station. There are not, however, places for large numbers of activists from out of town to sleep. So, in addition to hosting guests in homes, the No Dal Molin movement, in preparation for Saturday's march seized an abandoned Italian military barracks. Activists then contacted the police offering to pay the utility bills for three days and give the place a major cleaning. The police left them alone. Even during the march, the police stayed out of sight, having apparently decided that a visible police presence boosts the movement. When European activists - used to the freedoms of speech and assembly - hear about Americans being arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience, they sometimes assume we must have committed actual, you know, crimes.
But there are also civil disobedience actions in Europe that can lead to arrest. Some of them involve blocking the construction of bases or rail lines, or blocking the passage along rail lines of trains carrying military materials.
For three days, including the Saturday of the march, anti-bases activists from around the continent gathered in Vicenza to share their experiences and plan future joint efforts. There are anti-bases gatherings planned for Germany, Belgium, and the United States in the spring.
The invasion and occupation of Iraq might have been possible without the U.S. bases that dot the face of Europe, but it would have been and would continue to be a very different operation, since so many soldiers are sent to Iraq from these bases and then return to them. These bases were also used to move prisoners to Guantanamo four years ago. And, as in 80 percent of the nations on earth, the presence of U.S. military bases forms a large part of Europeans' perceptions of the United States. Meanwhile, many citizens of the United States have only the vaguest notion of the approximately 1,000 bases and 300,000 soldiers they pay taxes to maintain in other people's countries.
How many Americans have heard this story? Citizens of the Czech Republic learned that a base was being planned in their area. The absurd U.S. line is that this base is needed to protect against attacks from North Korea and Iran. But, in a public vote, 99 percent of residents of the area opposed the construction of a base. A group of town mayors in the area formed an alliance to speak out against the base. It has not been built.
Since the U.S. military is constantly building new bases, when and if it decides to use a location other than one that is being protested, that victory may not be immediately apparent, the way it was in Vieques. And the organizers of the Vicenza protest will not consider that a complete victory. When I asked Cinzia what she would do if they chose to build the base in Romania, she replied "We'll go train the Romanians." But as long as the struggle against the base continues in Vicenza, victories will continue to pile up in the form of a growing Italian and European peace movement, and possibly in changes in Italy's government.
In America we sometimes like to imagine that a third political party would solve our problems, but Italy has some 15 significant political parties, and essentially the same problems we do. They're told that if they don't settle for the current government they'll end up with a worse one. They're told that if they aren't happy with Prodi they can have Berlusconi back. They're told that if they can't be happy with a government that says it is for peace and progress while doing the exact same things the previous government did, well then they can have the previous government back again, or something even worse. And so, as change becomes possible, the activism that could force it is drained away by partisanship and the sensation of being in power for power's sake. Italy even has a new party that goes by the name Partito Democratico.
While our Democratic Party pretends it has to pass a bill in order to end the funding of an occupation that can be ended by refusing to pass any bills, Italy's leftists propose a doomed vote for a moratorium on bases rather than adding the measure to a larger bill and risking the collapse of the current coalitions. And the media, much of it owned by Berlusconi or controlled by Prodi's government, and most of the rest owned by other business interests, is on the side of U.S. empire. Italy's constitution prevents it from going to war, so the occupation of Iraq, and that of Afghanistan which Italy still supports, are called humanitarian missions. The most prominent coverage of Saturday's march was of graffiti that one or more people had written on a wall near a new theater, even though No Dal Molin activists had cleaned it off by the next afternoon.
But the Italian people are not fooled or silenced. They have some newspapers on their side. They have internet organizing. They have an active and aggressive labor movement. And their peace movement, unlike ours, does not directly confront their country's nationalism. In fact, there are right-wing nationalists who oppose the construction of U.S. bases. But, above all, there are many who oppose nationalism and militarism, proudly call themselves leftists, and have dedicated themselves to doing what is needed to achieve peace in the world.
A lot more information on the anti-base struggle in Vicenza can be found at
Authors Website: http://www.davidswanson.org
Authors Bio: DAVID SWANSON is a co-founder of After Downing Street, a writer and activist, and the Washington Director of Democrats.com. He is a board member of Progressive Democrats of America, and serves on the Executive Council of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, TNG-CWA. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications director, with jobs including Press Secretary for Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign, Media Coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as Communications Coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Swanson obtained a Master's degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia in 1997.
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