Friday April 27 6:50 PM ET
U.S. Navy Bombing Drill Begins in Vieques

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - About 50 demonstrators were arrested after breaching a fenced-off U.S. Navy camp on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques where the Navy began controversial bombing and shelling exercises on Friday.

Navy spokesman Lt. Jeff Gordon said the demonstrators were arrested Friday afternoon near the front gate of Camp Garcia, a federal property.

More than a dozen other demonstrators were arrested earlier Friday and Thursday but several more, including Vieques Mayor Damaso Serrano and a local senator from the U.S. territory, were hiding on the Navy property, acting as ``human shields'' against the bombing and shelling exercises.

The arrested protesters will be turned over to federal marshals and the U.S. Justice Department will decide whether to charge them with trespassing.

Navy spokesman Bob Nelson said he did not know how many protesters may be hiding in Camp Garcia but that none was on the bombing range where the military exercise took place.

He said aircraft from the USS Enterprise battle group began dropping dummy 500-pound bombs on the Vieques practice range ''right on schedule'' Friday morning. The range was also pounded with ship-to-shore dummy shells.

The exercise involving 1,300 military personnel including those from the aircraft carrier group and those providing security on the ground would continue for several days, Nelson said.

The United States has used Vieques, a 33,000-acre island off the east of the U.S. territory in the Caribbean, as a practice bombing and shelling range for more than 50 years.

Angry protests swept Puerto Rico after the death of a civilian security guard during a botched bombing run two years ago. The Navy stopped using live ammunition after the accident, carrying out subsequent training with unarmed shells.

Health Risk

Puerto Rico said the shelling was a health risk to Vieques' 9,000 residents and sued to halt the exercises. It sought to force Navy compliance with a new law intended to block ship-to-shore shelling by setting a maximum noise level of 190 decibels, a level routinely exceeded during the exercises.

A U.S. federal judge ruled on Thursday the Puerto Rican government failed to show irreparable harm would be caused by the shelling, and ruled the exercises could begin.

Hundreds of protesters rallied outside San Juan late on Thursday, denouncing the maneuvers and vowing to travel to Vieques to show solidarity with local residents.

At the Navy's request, the U.S. Coast Guard established a temporary security zone in the sea and land areas adjacent to the naval installation on Vieques, to bar unauthorized vessels from entering. Those entering without permission risked arrest and up to 10 years in prison.

The Vieques mayor and Sen. Norma Burgos, of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, were among the protesters hiding in the restricted area in hopes of halting the exercises. Their supporters claimed as many as 50 protesters were hiding the property and disputed the Navy's claim that no one was on the bombing range.

Mayor Serrano phoned a radio station early Friday and said, ''I am in the middle of the bombing range, the impact area....We will hold the Navy responsible for whatever happens.''

Navy officials criticized the efforts of the Puerto Rican Police Department to provide security around the camp's perimeter, something they had agreed to do.

``They just let them through,'' Gordon said.

Police Superintendent Pierre Vivoni defended his officers, saying the demonstrators who breached the fence were on federal property and ``We cannot intervene in federal territory.''

``If it's possible for me to intervene I will do so. We are fulfilling our security responsibilities,'' Vivoni said. ``I am making a public a call for calm and peace. Violent acts like this don't help at all.''

U.S. actor Edward James Olmos arrived in San Juan with environmental attorney Robert Kennedy, Jr., who is suing the Navy over the environmental damage its training is allegedly causing on Vieques.

``We are ready to engage in civil disobedience if necessary. We are here to stop this,'' Olmos said at a news conference in San Juan before traveling to Vieques.

Puerto Rico Gov. Sila Calderon canceled plans to travel to the Vatican for Sunday's beatification ceremony of Puerto Rican-born Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, who will become the Caribbean island's first saint.

She wrote a letter to Pope John Paul II apologizing for her absence, saying ``I ask you as Apostle of Peace to send a prayer to the Almighty Lord for Vieques and Puerto Rico.''

-----