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Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the June 1, 2000
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------Latina/o gay group:
‘Feel pride through Vieques struggle’
By Leslie Feinberg
LLEGÓ, the National Latina/o Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Organization, representing over 150 community-based social, cultural, and AIDS service organizations across the U.S., issued a statement in solidarity with the people of Vieques on May 5. This was a day after the U.S. forcibly removed campers from the island.
The statement read in part: "Given the [U.S.] Armed Forces' unrelenting use of their island for bombing target practice, LLEGÓ demands that the territorial sovereignty of Puerto Rico be acknowledged, and the wishes of the people of Vieques be respected."
"As a Puerto Rican woman, I feel indignation at the abuse, but also pride in that, through the Vieques struggle, we are reaffirmed as a nation," commented Olga I. Orraca Paredes, co-chair of LLEGÓ's national board of directors and a resident of Puerto Rico.
She adds, "The LGBT communities in Latin America are familiar with violations of basic human rights, we are familiar with injustice, we are familiar with violence. As Latin Americans we have experienced the forms of oppression that endanger our health, our welfare and our quality of life. That is why we can join in solidarity with the people of Vieques and say, 'No more bombs.'"
"No one wants a bombing range in their back yard," declared Martín Ornelas-Quintero, executive director of LLEGÓ. "The Navy's occupation of Vieques is too reminiscent of an empire's oppression of a colony. We stand by the defenders of peace who have been removed and their constitutional right to protest and defend their homes."
LLEGÓ joined several protests taking place across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and has encouraged its nationwide membership to participate in protests against the bombing of Vieques in their respective cities.
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