Military

DATE=04/01/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=U-S NAVY/VIEQUES

NUMBER=2-288224

BYLINE=MICHAEL BOWMAN

DATELINE=MIAMI

INTERNET=YES

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: For the first time this year, the U-S Navy has held bombing exercises on the tiny Puerto Rican island of Vieques. V-O-A's Michael Bowman reports that so far the operation is provoking less of an outcry from local residents than similar exercises generated last year.

TEXT: Early Monday, ships and planes from the U-S-S George Washington battle group began shelling and bombing the 375-hectare firing range on the eastern half of the island.

Navy spokeswoman Lieutenant Commander Katherine Goode says, so far, protests have not impeded operations.

/// GOODE ACT ///

We did have five trespassers this morning that were detained by naval personnel and turned over to U-S marshals. So far, it's been quiet, but this was just the first day. We hope that it stays quiet.

/// END ACT ///

The protesters belong to Puerto Rico's pro-independence party, which wants the Navy to leave Vieques entirely. But observers say the level of anger directed at the Navy has abated in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

Lieutenant Commander Goode says the training exercises will run for three weeks, and that the first day has gone well.

/// GOODE ACT ///

We are doing air-to-ground bombing of the range today, using inert ordinance, and so far everything is going off without a hitch (going well) and we are able to train our sailors.

/// END ACT ///

Polls have long shown a vast majority of Puerto Ricans oppose the periodic bombing of Vieques. Protests grew fierce after an accident in 1999 in which bombs landed off-target and killed a civilian guard who worked on the range. The Navy has used inert bombs, which do not explode, since then. President Bush has said bombing exercises will cease altogether on Vieques by next year. (SIGNED)

NEB/MCB/KPD