On fancy restaurants, on modest homes, on wooden shacks. The flags, the residents say, represent the desire for Paz para Vieques, Peace for Vieques. While the protesters continue their civil disobedience, and lobbying continues in Puerto Rico and the United States, life goes on in Vieques. The island's largest town, Isabel Segunda, belies the storm it lives in. Women with strollers lull in the plaza and bicycles are more common than cars.
Restaurants dot the area and music blares from windows.
The pink-colored public housing is on a hill with a magnificent view of the ocean, surrounded by swings. Everyone seems relaxed. But one quickly picks up an undercurrent of worry. Viequenses say they constantly fear for their livelihood, especially now. They say they are scared that the bad publicity since the bombing accident is hurting the already fragile island economy, which depends on ecotourism and suffers from the inability to expand into the restricted areas.