In the 1940’s the U.S. Navy expropriated much of the small island of Vieques, Puerto Rico and constructed a weapons testing and training site. For over sixty years the citizens were left wedged on only 23% of the island, sandwiched between a weapons depot and a bombing range.

For years, a small group of activists protested the Navy’s regular bombing tests and their experiments with new weapons systems on Vieques. But the struggle against the Navy didn’t attract widespread attention until April 19, 1999 when David Sanes Rodríguez, security guard on the base, was killed when two misfired 500-pound bombs exploded on his post. The death of Sanes galvanized a movement against the military and ignited the passions of Puerto Ricans from all walks of life.

Vieques: Worth Every Bit of Struggle documents the David and Goliath-like story of the residents of Vieques and the peaceful transformation of a community against enormous odds.