December 15, 2025

The Honorable Peter Hegseth
Secretary
Department of Defense
1400 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1400

Via E-mail

Re: Urgent Action to Halt Military Exercises and Plans in Puerto Rico

Dear Secretary,

We, Boricuas Unidos en la Diáspora, along with the organizations below which collectively represent thousands of everyday Puerto Ricans and American allies, urgently call on the U.S. government to halt the ongoing militarization of Puerto Rico and to immediately end all plans to expand military operations on our archipelago. We unequivocally condemn these operations, which are directly linked to illegal U.S. regime-change efforts in Venezuela and to extrajudicial killings carried out in the Caribbean and the Pacific under the false pretext of fighting “narco-terrorism.”

Puerto Rico is being drawn—without public debate, transparency, or consent—into a dangerous escalation of U.S. military activity. This escalation is tied to U.S. strikes against at least 22 boats and to the extrajudicial killing at least 87 civilians, placing our region on a perilous path that could quickly spiral into a forever war. All the while, Puerto Ricans have been waiting for the Navy, since the closure of the Vieques Naval Training Range in 2003 and the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in 2004, to fulfill its responsibility and commitments to fully clean and restore these and all former bombing ranges and military sites in Puerto Rico.

Starting in August 14th of the current year, the U.S. military buildup in Puerto Rico and its waters has consisted of naval and amphibious assault ships, ten F-35B jets stationed to the newly operative Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, approximately 11 warships (destroyers and cruisers) and 5,000 personnel to provide support to an estimated 15,000 troops in the larger Caribbean region, which now also includes the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (CSG). 

This unprecedented buildup has been met with constant opposition from Puerto Ricans because it opens old wounds. The Navy's 60-year use of Vieques as a bombing range resulted in severe environmental damage and disproportionately high cancer rates among its residents. The operation of Naval Station Roosevelt Roads in Ceiba did not translate into economic prosperity for the region during that same time period. In his testimony to Congress (“Economic development and the political status of Puerto Rico,” June 2021), economist José Caraballo Cueto highlighted that the U.S. military operations did not foster sustainable economic development or infrastructure investment in surrounding communities. Furthermore, the territory’s own Labor Department data shows that unemployment rates fell in Vieques (by 3.3%) and Ceiba (by 1.4%) once both military outposts were closed.

Incidence of cancer in Vieques has been historically higher than in the rest of Puerto Rico. The Navy’s legacy of contamination was studied in a 2017 Global Security: Health, Science and Policy peer-reviewed article that showed that Vieques women had a 280% higher lung or bronchus cancer rates compared to other Puerto Rican women, and men had a 200% higher rate. In 2020, another analysis published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health stated that the population had elevated levels of heavy metals, such as aluminum, lead, and arsenic. 

When an errant bomb from a U.S. Navy fighter jet killed a Puerto Rican civilian in Vieques in 1999, Puerto Ricans and allies in the United States launched a massive protest and civil disobedience movement. That movement created a political crisis for the U.S. government, which was forced to cease all operations in Vieques and close down the base after more than six decades. Today, the Puerto Rican people stand ready to take action again if the military reactivation of the archipelago continues.

One hundred and twenty-seven years of U.S. militarization and colonialism has not delivered for Puerto Rico. Instead, it has eroded our environment, undermined public health, and impeded genuine economic development. As a consequence, Puerto Ricans are rightly looking into new paths to solve their problems. On the last plebiscite in November 2024, Puerto Ricans increasingly—41% of the total vote—supported sovereignty and independence as viable paths toward dignity, democratic self-governance, and regional cooperation with the United States.

We urge the Department of Defense to take immediate action on the following demands:

  • Cease at once all military activity in Puerto Rico. Halt all use of Puerto Rican sea, air and land for military trainings and maneuvers in the Caribbean;
  • Terminate all plans to increase the military presence in Puerto Rico to avoid reopening one of the most contentious chapters in recent U.S.-Puerto Rico relations; and
  • Order the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC), and any other military or civilian agency, to assume its responsibility under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP) to fully clean and restore all former bombing ranges and military sites in Puerto Rico.

Eliminating the U.S. military footprint in Puerto Rico would be a bold move that reduces dependence, avoids unnecessary political conflict, and moves Puerto Rico and the United States toward a future built on mutual respect, regional cooperation, and lasting peace.

Respectfully,

Boricuas Unidos en la Diáspora

Cultura Pa'lante
Demand Progress
DSA International Committee
Just Foreign Policy
Madres Contra la Guerra
Plan B: Independencia
Popular Democracy
Power 4 Puerto Rico
VAMOS PR


CC:

 Sen. Roger F. Wicker, Chairman Senate Committee on Armed Services
 Sen. Jack Reed, Ranking Member Senate Committee on Armed Service
 Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and 
Management Support
 Sen. Mazie Hirono, Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and 
Management Support
 Sen. Mike Lee, Chairman Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy
 Sen. Martin Heinrich, Ranking Member Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy
 Rep. Mike Rogers, Chairman House Armed Services Committee
 Rep. Adam Smith, Ranking Member House Armed Services Committee
 Rep. Bruce Westerman, Chairman House Committee on Natural Resources
 Rep. Jared Huffman, Ranking Member House Committee on Natural Resources
 Rep. Nydia Velázquez, Member House Committee on Natural Resources
 Rep. Darren Soto, Member House Committee on Natural Resources
 Rep. Pablo José Hernández, Member House Committee on Natural Resources
 Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
 Rep. Nellie Pou

 

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