A small community of 9,000 American citizens are getting sick at an alarming rate due to decades of Naval testing on the land that they live. The residents of Vieques, a small island just a few miles to the east of the main island Pueto Rico, are presenting with a host of problems. These include cancer, especially in young children, hypertension affecting a large population, and 80 percent of the residents test positive for heavy metals like lead, mercury, and arsenic in their hair.
Video Courtesy of CNN.com
Some weapons that are known to have been tested on the island include napalm, depleted uranium - heavy metal used in armor-piercing ammunition, and Agent Orange - used in Vietnam and later linked to cancer and other illnesses in veterans.
Although they lack the right to vote, all the citizens of Vieques, and Pueto Rico, are United States Citizens by birth. Residents of Vieques are suing the U.S. Government to return to their Island to clean up the mess they left behind (The Navy left in 2003 after mounting public pressure). In addition, they are also asking for they medical treatments to be paid for.
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