ISLE OF VIEQUES by GLENN O’BRIEN In prehistoric times the Caribbean isle of Vieques, a small turd shaped island off the Southeast Coast of Puerto Rico, was home to simple people who did not farm or make pottery. They were succeeded by a higher civilization of Indians who farmed and made beautiful, porcelain-like pottery. These Indians were killed, or enslaved, on the orders of the Spanish governor of Puerto Rico, who then allowed the island to be taken over by French pirates. The pirates turned the island to sugar production, which remained its principal occupation until the US Navy arrived in 1941 and bought two thirds of the island, and used it for bombing and invasion practice until 2003 when, after decades of protest, it was given back to the Viequans, a simple people who do not farm or make pottery. Vieques is pretty much your lost tropical island paradise….