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American Morning

Vieques Protests to Military Exercises Continue

Aired April 27, 2001 - 11:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to start, though, on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, where bombing exercises are expected to resume in just a few moments. They had restarted earlier this morning, but stopped abruptly when protesters ventured into the security zone around the range. Some were detained.

Our John Zarrella is joining us now. He is live from Vieques this morning -- John, good morning.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

That's exactly correct. The bombing did stop -- and has been stopped for the last hour-and-a-half or so. They do expect to resume within the next 15 minutes or so. Security forces went out to a small island called Lai Ya Yee (ph), which is just off the coast here, and detained eight protesters.

And they are going to be brought back here to Camp Garcia, which is behind me, for processing. They also say -- the U.S. military, that is, says that about five other protesters were found and detained on the grounds during the overnight hours. They, too, have been processed or are about to be processed. And right here outside of the entrance to Camp Garcia right now, the protesters are in a moment of silence.

You can see that many of them are holding hands -- silent prayers. The feeling, of course, here is that they want the bombing stopped. Two years ago, a civilian security guard was killed when an errant bomb fell on him. And we are also told that that security guard's sister -- his sister is one of the protesters, who, among 50, 60, perhaps up to 70, we are told, are out there somewhere on the grounds of Camp Garcia behind me.

Now, when the bombing does resume, it will be not aircraft. It will be ship bombing, ship-to-shore, from two destroyers that are off the coast there. We could see them earlier this morning. We can no longer see them now. Now, the protesters here say, as soon as another group of them arrives, they are planing acts of civil disobedience. They are saying that the fence behind me, they are going to try and cut the wire there, cut the barbed wire, cut through the fence and push their way into Camp Garcia.

The security forces here right now, there's only about two dozen of them. They are changing shifts as we speak. And -- but, of course, they can reinforce that fairly quickly if they have to. But, so far, everything here, at least, has been very, very calm -- the people saying that, for the most part, they want this to be a peaceful demonstration, although they are threatening this act of civil disobedience at some point during the course of today.

We will, of course, keep everyone apprised as the situation continues to change. And it has been changing. And we have no doubts that that is going to be the case throughout the remainder of today.

This is John Zarrella, reporting live from Vieques Island in Puerto Rico.

KAGAN: John, obviously, the protesters feel quite strongly about why they don't want the bombing to take place. Remind us again why the military says it's so important for their operations to get the chance to practice on Vieques.

ZARRELLA: I'm sorry, Daryn, I missed the last part of that question.

KAGAN: If you could remind us why the military feels it's so important for them to have the opportunity to practice on Vieques.

ZARRELLA: Correct. They've been doing for about 60 years. And the location of this island, the fact that there is deep water off of the island, the topography that you can see here of the island, makes it an ideal training spot in the Caribbean. That's why they've been doing it for so long.

In fact, I've down here on numerous occasions covering training that included Marine amphibious landing. The beachheads here are excellent for that kind of training. And that is another reason why this spot is so perfect. It is very ideal for any kind of Naval assault training, Marine amphibious landing training landing, and, of course, as a bombing range here in the Caribbean. And, of course, back in the 1980s, during the Reagan years, during the Caribbean Basin Initiative, and following the Granada invasion, it became a source of great interest here.

And there were many war games practiced here, as the U.S. flexed its muscle in this part of the world to demonstrate its strength. So it has been a pivotal place for many, many years -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And, John, I don't know if you can hear anything where you are or if you can see it, but we are getting word back here at CNN in Atlanta that they have resumed the bombing on Vieques. Are you able to see any signs of that?

ZARRELLA: We can -- the only thing we can see now -- I can see a small boat in the distance. And I don't know if that's a Coast Guard cutter that is cutting across or perhaps another infiltrator's boat trying to make it across. But, clearly, they are within the camp's grounds. It could be Coast Guard, which is always trying to keep people out. They are working with the U.S. Navy.

But from our vantage point, we cannot hear or see anything. And as -- I can see very far in the distance, perhaps one of those destroyers that is supposed to start the bombing. But because these are inert bombs, you won't have the giant concussion. They are dummy bombs. They are not using live ammunition. So that may be one factor as to why here, at our vantage point, we cannot hear or see anything at this point -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, John Zarrella in Vieques, Puerto Rico, we will cut you loose. Maybe you can talk to some officials there and get us some more information. Thank you very much.

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