Vieques aims to be known for beaches

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- For years Vieques has been known for bombs and protests, but hoteliers now hope to make the Puerto Rican island famous for its beaches.

A 156-room luxury resort is scheduled to open Feb. 24 after years of delays, its owners and managers said Monday. The U.S. Navy's pledge to abandon its Vieques bombing range by May 1 contributed to the decision, majority owner Roberto Cacho said.

"The Navy's leaving. The horizon seems to be less cloudy," he said.

The Wyndham Martineau Bay Resort & Spa looks out over untouched beaches on the Caribbean island's north shore and offers two restaurants, tennis courts and a pool-side bar.

The resort is to employ about 200 people, making it Vieques' largest private employer. Until now, the island has had only small hotels and inns.

Dallas-based Wyndham International announced its agreement to manage the resort two days after the Navy concluded its last planned training on the island east of Puerto Rico. Room rates will start at $295 a night, spokeswoman Kathleen Casper said.

The Navy says it will withdraw by May 1, turning over the island's eastern third to the U.S. Department of the Interior and moving training to spots in Florida and elsewhere in the U.S. mainland.

The Vieques bombing range, located nine miles from the nearest homes, has been used by the Navy since 1947. The latest exercises assumed particular importance as thousands of troops prepared for possible war with Iraq.

But the training has been widely criticized in the U.S. territory since off-target bombs killed a civilian guard on the range in 1999. Since then the Navy has used only inert ammunition, while protests have attracted international attention.

Many in Vieques say that with the Navy leaving, they hope tourism will bring economic progress. Unemployment among the 9,100 residents is officially above 12 percent and much higher according to islanders.

Because the Navy has owned large tracts for six decades, expanses of dry forest and brush remain. Wild horses roam through the hills, and beaches are often deserted.

With so much undeveloped land, Cacho said, "Vieques is almost like the Caribbean used to be 50 years ago."

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