Navy Conducts More Bombing Practice on Puerto Rico Island

The Navy launched a second round of bombing exercises at Puerto Rico’s Vieques Island on Thursday as four activists protesting the war games were detained inside the Navy range.

Independence Party Sen. Manuel Rodriguez Orellana, local Rep. Victor Garcia San Inocencio, Presbyterian minister Luis Acevedo and Trujillo Alto mayoral candidate Jaime Negron were taken to a Navy base on Puerto Rico to appear before a U.S. magistrate, Navy Lt. Jeff Gordon said.

Independence Party vice president Fernando Martin said the four were protesting what he called “cruelty and madness” by U.S. authorities in arresting more than 100 party members during Navy exercises in June.

The Harry S. Truman Battle Group, including 15 ships and 12,000 sailors, began air, surface vessel and submarine training at Vieques and the surrounding waters, Gordon said. The exercise--to prepare for a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf--concludes Aug. 24.

About 30 people demonstrated outside the Navy facility on Vieques, an island 7 miles east of Puerto Rico. The bombing zone is on the eastern tip of Vieques, about 8 to 10 miles from inhabited areas.

Activists, civilians, local churches and politicians of all political stripes have demanded that the Navy abandon its training ground after a bombing accident killed a civilian security guard on the range last year.

Decades of live bombing have stunted development and tourism, severely damaged the environment and caused health problems, critics claim. The Navy says Vieques is essential to preparing U.S. forces for combat.

More than 200 people were arrested for trespassing and nine sailors were injured during training exercises by the George Washington Battle Group in June.