U.S. Navy security forces, federal marshals and the Coast Guard have arrested 128 demonstrators accused of trespassing on Navy property on Vieques in a bid to halt the training, which was intermittently interrupted on Friday and Saturday. It was halted on Sunday to honor of the beatification ceremony at the Vatican of Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, a Puerto Rican layman and patron of the liturgical movement in the Caribbean island.
Beatification is a step toward sainthood.
The exercises, set to resume at midday on Monday, involved 15,000 sailors, Marines and vessels from the USS Enterprise battle group training in Vieques en route to the Persian Gulf. The protesters and Puerto Rico Gov. Sila Calderon say the exercises damage the health of Vieques' 9,000 civilian residents and harm the environment. The Navy rejects the charge and a federal judge refused last week to halt the exercises, ruling the Puerto Rican government failed to show the shelling would case irreparable harm. 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 that, carrying out subsequent training with unarmed shells.