Thousands of people rallied outside the U.S. prison in the San Juan suburb of Guaynabo where dozens of leaders and members of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) have been jailed since June 30.

Meanwhile, 8,000 marched and rallied in the southern city of Ponce. The demonstration, called by the coalition "All the South with Vieques," was addressed by Ismael Guadalupe, a leader of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, and Carlos Zenón, a leader of the Vieques fishermen. It was supported by the mayor of Ponce, Rafael Cordero, of the pro-Commonwealth Popular Democratic Party. Guadalupe called for the immediate end of U.S. bombing practice on the island and the withdrawal of the U.S. military.

The protests accelerated in the last week of June when the U.S. Navy resumed the first large-scale use of the bombing range in over a year. Ships and planes from the battle group of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington dropped more than 1,000 rounds on the firing range.

On June 25, a group of Vieques youth on horseback entered the U.S. military restricted zone in the early morning hours. "The resumption of the bombings threatens the safety, health, and lives of Vieques residents," said Harry Félix Matta, one of the protesters.

A similar group of 16 youth, mostly students from the law school at the University of Puerto Rico, briefly entered the Navy zone July 3 before they were arrested. A student assembly had voted to organize the protest.

Since May 4, when U.S. marshals, FBI agents, and Marines evicted protesters on Vieques territory used by the Pentagon for naval bombing practice, a total of 600 Puerto Ricans--trade unionists, fishermen, students, environmental activists, and others--have been detained for "trespassing" there. The numbers increased in the last week of June, with more than 180 who were arrested and released on condition they post $1,000 bail within a few days.

PIP members have defied the bail requirement. On June 30, judge Jesús Castellanos ordered them rearrested and held until their trials, due within 60 days. U.S. marshals fanned out across Puerto Rico on the weekend before July 4, detaining more than 120 PIP leaders and activists, including many of its candidates in the upcoming elections. The first to be rearrested were PIP vice-president Fernando Martín and Vance Thomas, the party's candidate for mayor of San Juan.

"We do not recognize any moral authority nor the legitimacy of the U.S. court in this matter," said senator and PIP leader Manuel Rodríguez Orellana.

The first two to have been tried so far are PIP president Rubén Berríos and Jorge Fernández, who were sentenced to token sentences of six and four hours, respectively.

Of the initial 200 protesters who were detained and removed from Vieques on May 4, none was charged with a crime. The hundreds who have entered the bombing range since then have been charged with misdemeanor trespass, which carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $500 fine. The requirement of $1,000 bail represents another escalation in Washington's offensive against the anticolonial movement.

In New York on July 4, in the midst of a big naval procession staged on the Hudson River to celebrate the U.S. independence day, dozens demonstrated in front the USS Intrepid Museum to demand the U.S. Navy get out of Vieques and expose Washington's colonial rule over Puerto Rico. The action was sponsored by the Vieques Support Campaign and other New York groups.

Martín Koppel contributed to this article.  
 
 
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