Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Social Struggle Against the U.S. Navy in Vieques, Puerto Rico

2005; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 33; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/0094582x05283515

1552-678X

Katherine T. McCaffrey,

Anthropology: Ethics, History, Culture

The grassroots struggle against the U.S. Navy in Vieques transcended highly divisive colonial politics to build unprecedented political solidarity in Puerto Rico. The success of the recent Vieques movement in shutting down a U.S. Navy live-fire training facility contrasts with the experience of an earlier grassroots struggle in the 1970s. Whereas cold-war politics impeded the earlier activists from forging the alliances and formulating the vision that might advance their cause, a changed political context in the 1990s opened up a new space for protest to develop. Activists’ new focus on peace was crucial to strengthening, expanding, and internationalizing the Vieques movement.