The Cold War and the second expropriations of the Navy in Vieques

The 1941 expropriations in Vieques did not seal the military future of the island and did not have to do with target practice. This outcome issued from a second, decisive wave of Navy expropriations in Vieques in 1947 8. The success of this second wave of expropriations linked to the initiation of the Cold War, was hardly predetermined, but rather resulted from a complex interplay between power and negotiation under rapidly changing world conditions. In this process, major forces beyond the Pentagon played an important role: the Island s sugar quota, the project for an elected governor, the economic clout of the Navy presence in Puerto Rico, and local conflicts around largescale, state-owned economic enterprise in Vieques. After 1948, the agricultural economy of Vieques was practically destroyed, severely constricting the ability of Viequenses to make a living. Periodically, thousands of troops came to Vieques for maneuvers and then left. A new type of service economy serving the troops developed, which provided some income to the commercial sector in Vieques, but deprived Viequenses of other economic opportunities. The impact of the expropriations continued to be felt for the next 55 years, until the withdrawal of the Navy in 2003.