No new detonations at Vieques says governor

By THE STAR STAFF

Governor Jenniffer Aidyn González Colón rejected this weekend the allegations of the secretary general of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), Juan Dalmau Ramírez, about alleged detonations of new munitions in Vieques and stated that the information she has points to cleaning work.

“There is no movement of any kind in that sense, none, there is nobody,” González Colón told reporters.

The governor maintained that the federal documents released in recent days are part of annual updates on decontamination efforts on the island municipality and reiterated that neither Vieques nor Culebra should be used for new military exercises. She added that her administration is awaiting a presentation from the National Guard regarding the recent advisories related to airspace in Salinas.

The issue gained public attention after it was revealed that in January an additional disposal of explosives was authorized beyond the remaining material from the old shooting range, a matter that raised questions about transparency and oversight of operations in Vieques.

Last week, Dalmau Ramírez, along with the PIP’s legislative spokeswomen, María de Lourdes Santiago and Denis Márquez, demanded that all authorizations allowing the use of Vieques for the disposal of munitions or military activities unrelated to cleaning be revoked, and warned about what he described as an escalation of military presence in Puerto Rico, including exercises in Salinas and recent movements in Ceiba and Arroyo.