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Taking a Stand
Photograph by Amy Toensing
University of Puerto Rico students Abderraman Brenes-LaRoche, left, and Ramon Segarra join protesters on Vieques Island to demonstrate against the U.S. Navy's presence on this 21-mile-long (34-kilometer-long) long island off Puerto Rico's eastern coast. They claim that weapons testing here has destroyed the island's reef ecosystem and exposed its 10,000 residents to chemicals such as Agent Orange, raising cancer rates. The Navy denies the allegations and wants its facilities to remain. But in 2001 President George W. Bush ordered the Navy to find a new testing site within two years. Time is almost up. |
