Some leaders predict there will also be protests in New York and New Jersey, where hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans live. Vieques seems an unlikely spot for a high-profile showdown. It is only about 15 miles from Roosevelt Roads, a large U.S. Navy base where any eviction operation might be based. In recent years, the island has enjoyed a tourism boom, with several small guesthouses and hotels opening. The snorkeling and diving are excellent, and there are miles of deserted beaches.
Narrow roads criss-cross the island's center, with cows and horses grazing on the shoulders.
There are no high-rise condominiums or casinos, and most of the hotels lack televisions or telephones in the rooms, catering to visitors seeking to get away from it all. The bombing range dates back to World War II, when the military condemned two-thirds of the island's 33,000 acres. Farm workers and landowners were moved off their plots on the east and west ends of Vieques to the island's center, concentrated in the small villages of Esperanza and Isabel Segunda. Today, about 9,000 people live on Vieques. The Navy property on the two ends of the island is cut off from the island's populated center by high metal fences that stretch from the south coast to the north coast.