Why is the US Navy in Vieques, Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico: From Spanish Colony to American Military Bastion
After 400 years of Spanish colonial rule, Puerto Rico became a possession of the United States as a direct result of the Spanish-American War of 1898. Right after the invasion the US established a military government, which lasted up to 1900; thereafter, the Foraker Act of 1900 authorized the President of the United States to appoint a civilian governor. In 1917 the Jones Act granted US citizenship to all island residents. In 1948 Puerto Ricans were allowed to elect their own home-grown governor for the very first time. Today, after 101 years of direct economic, political and military rule, Puerto Rico continues to be a US colony. Given its geographical position, Puerto Rico has always played a key strategic military role for the United States.
Expropriation of Land for Regional Military Purposes
In 1938 the US Navy began using the island-municipality of Vieques, right off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico, for military practices. In 1941, during the height of WW II, the Navy initiated a campaign of forced expropriation of territory, which ultimately ended in their possession of over two thirds of the island’s most arable land, thereby displacing thousands of families and seriously jeopardizing their basic means of subsistence. The Navy arbitrarily set the price for the expropriated land giving the island residents very little say, if any, in the matter. Resistance became an exercise in futility, for the Navy issued the following ultimatum: Either you accept the price set by the Navy or prepare to be evicted, by force, if necessary, within 24 hours. The net effect of these policies was the clustering of the entire civilian population of Vieques into a small strip of land right in the middle of the island. Thus the US Navy took control of over 75% of this tiny island. Deposture