Coming from Washington DC, where discussions about gentrification are always abound, I was surprised to find a similar discourse hundreds of miles south from home on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques.

As many of us know, Vieques used to be a testing ground for the US Navy between 1941 and 2003. After increasing civil disobedience between 1999-2003, social justice was finally rendered to the inhabitants of this island off the coast of Puerto Rico and tests were stopped. However, after years of struggle the Viequense people may not lose their island to mortars and bombs of the US military, a far more elusive enemy; development and gentrification. 

 

  
© The Vieques coast, Ian Warthin

Today Vieques finds itself in a paradox. To many, Vieques is an untouched tropical paradise, where great deals and beautiful beaches can be found. However, to others Vieques is an opportunity to create a living example of what controlled, sustainable, eco-tourism could look like in the modern day. To the US Government Vieques is a thorn in the side of the Department of Fish and Wildlife - who now controls the majority of the island, the Navy – who’s responsible for the cleanup of the island and the EPA - who’s responsible for monitoring the clean up of this SuperFund site. Stuck in the middle of all of this are the Viequense people.

  

 
© A Navy Bunker on the West side of the island, Ian Warthin

Immediately following the end of military testing on Vieques, an elite group of Puerto
Rican social scientists were assembled to develop The Guide to Sustainable Development for the island of Vieques. These guidelines have subsequently become the blueprint for US Law defining the manner in which Vieques be developed following it’s sixty years of military rule.

 

Plans to decontaminate the island after the Navy’s testing have resulted in an extensive, snail-paced clean up effort, which seems to be keeping at bay any sort of rapid development. The Residents Advisory Board (RAB) and many other Viequense’s are calling for a more rapid de-contamination of the island, even though it could hinder some chances at controlling development. However, as we speak the demographics of property owners on Vieques seems to be changing as New Englanders and New Yorkers replace the native Viequense people.

 
© Mural on the side of the bunkers, Ian Warthin  

What this rapid change in population, and slow clean up efforts may result in is a Vieques more prone to the same environmentally unsound development that we’ve seen in the past because it may be allowed by its change in demographics. In the same way that Hawaii, St. Bard and any number of other tourist hotspots have become ghost towns in the off-season, the Viequense are also fleeing the island and leaving behind the island they for which they had fought.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at ian.warthin@gmail.com.