Biography
Alberto 'Tito Kayak' De Jesús Mercado is a Puerto Rican environmental and independence activist famous for spectacular climbing actions, including a 2000 climb of the Statue of Liberty in support of Vieques. He was sentenced to one year in federal custody for repeat trespass on Vieques between 1999 and 2001.
From 1941 to 2003, the U.S. Navy used the inhabited Puerto Rican island of Vieques as a live-fire bombing range. After Navy bombs killed civilian security guard David Sanes in 1999, a sustained civil-disobedience movement of Puerto Rican residents and U.S. solidarity activists repeatedly entered Navy land to halt training. Hundreds were arrested and dozens served federal prison sentences for trespass, conspiracy, and damage to federal property. The Navy finally withdrew from Vieques in May 2003 — the largest victory in U.S. anti-base activism in a generation.
