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news:
CSULB to hold
Vieques conference
By Priscilla Gutierrez
Summer Forty-Niner
A conference will
be held June 30 at Cal State Long Beach to introduce the history
and background on the issue of the U.S. Navy's presence on
Vieques, an island off the coast of Puerto Rico.
The Navy has been
present in Vieques for 60 years, expropriating two-thirds
of the land as a military range for combat maneuvers involving
bombing and shelling, and has said that it is the only suitable
place to conduct this crucial training. Protestors want the
bombings to end and the Navy to leave the island, claiming
that it has caused health problems, is ruining the environment,
and is putting the residents in physical jeopardy.
"A lot of
people in this area have [media]images but they don't have
a [background] for why this is such an important issue for
Latinos and obviously for the United States," said Victor
M. Rodriguez, associate professor in the Chicano and Latino
Studies department. "Around the world people know
about what is happening and the image of the United States
is being tarnished."
The conference
will be conducted by Rodriguez, a native of Puerto Rico, and
sponsored by the Chicano and Latino Studies department and
the Puerto Rican Alliance, an organization devoted to raising
awareness of Puerto Rican issues.
It will address
the competing perspectives concerning the Navy's role on the
island, discussing why the Navy considers Vieques so important
for its training and why residents of the island are opposed
to its presence and to the bombings that are taking place
there.
A film explaining
the tactics and methods used in civil disobedience by the
anti-Navy protestors will be shown along with the discussion.
An increasing number
of newly interested people have become involved in the last
few years, Rodriguez said. Latinos groups throughout the United
States., as well as celebrities and public figures such as
actor Edward James Olmos, Rev. Jesse Jackson's wife and Rev.
Al Sharpton, have appeared in Vieques in support of the protesters.
"The politics
of Latinos in the United States are being affected by the
images that are being represented through the media,"
Rodriguez said. "And increasingly Latinos are becoming
interested in what is happening down there."
The conference
will be in Lecture Hall 150 from 2-4 p.m. Additional
information may be obtained by calling (562) 985-8560.
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