Additional documentation thanks to Freedom Archives
Puerto Rico is perfectly situated for military strikes against other Caribbean islands and Central America. In the 1980’s, funding for US military bases and activity in Puerto Rico increased to a record $404 million. This was more than double the funding given to the entire region, including El Salvador and Nicaragua, where the US was funding wars against their national liberation fronts. Thirteen percent of all Puerto Rico’s arable land is taken up by US military bases. Roosevelt Roads, the largest naval base outside of the US, was used as the staging ground for the invasion of the island of Grenada in 1983. The US Navy used the inhabited islands of Culebra and Vieques for live ammunition target practice in the 1980-90’s, destroying both islands’ ecosystems and fishing industry. In 1998, after a decades long struggle of demonstrations which were disrupting maneuvers, the Navy finally stopped using the island of Vieques for bombings practice.
