Carlos Delgado is not only a great hitter, he’s also a great guy. In today’s issue of the Toronto Star, Geoff Baker discusses Delgado’s fight for justice on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques.

For more than a year Carlos Delgado has been staging his own private protest. Its origins are rooted on the tranquil shores of this picturesque island, until recently a testing site for bombs and missiles used by the United States in Iraq.

When “God Bless America” is played during major league baseball games in some U.S. cities, the staunchly anti-war Blue Jays first baseman refuses to stand outside the dugout.

“I never stay outside for `God Bless America,’” Delgado said. “I actually don’t think people have noticed it. I don’t (stand) because I don’t believe it’s right, I don’t believe in the war.”

Imagine that… a baseball player whose conscience extends beyond the foul lines. I’m sure there are dozens more ballplayers with similar beliefs about the invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, but Delgado is the only one to take such a visible stand. The heart of his protest, however, is not the Middle East but rather his home country of Puerto Rico.

Delgado was the first high-profile athlete to speak out against the U.S. Navy’s six-decade presence in Vieques, where it used the lush green hillsides and pristine beaches as the prime testing facility for the weapons of the entire Atlantic Fleet.

The Jays slugger had heard some of the island’s 9,300 residents complaining about how uranium-depleted shells used in the tests were causing abnormally high rates of cancer and other serious illnesses. By the time the Navy finally did pull out of Vieques on May 1, 2003, it left behind a community terrified by health concerns, dealing with unemployment close to 50 per cent and facing unresolved development and cleanup issues.

Small wonder that Puerto Rican native Delgado shows little patience today for the flag-waving, pro-military pageantry seen at major league games since the Sept. 11 terror attacks and U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

While the conflict in Iraq and the problems confronting Vieques are separate issues, they are also intertwined. That’s because the fishermen, farmers and shopkeepers of this island unwillingly paid a huge price so the U.S. could certify the weaponry used in Iraq.

Delgado was already “anti-war” before being involved in Vieques and now has some choice opinions about U.S. foreign policy and the Iraq conflict.

“It’s a very terrible thing that happened on Sept. 11,” Delgado said. “It’s (also) a terrible thing that happened in Afghanistan and Iraq. I just feel so sad for the families that lost relatives and loved ones in the war.

“But I think it’s the stupidest war ever,” he said. “Who are you fighting against? You’re just getting ambushed now. We have more people dead now, after the war, than during the war. You’ve been looking for weapons of mass destruction. Where are they at? You’ve been looking for over a year. Can’t find them. I don’t support that. I don’t support what they do. I think it’s just stupid.”

Agreed on all accounts.

I got a chance to learn quite a bit about the Vieques Base during this year’s debate season. One of the core topic areas involved the U.S. Navy’s use of Low Frequency Active SONAR (LFAS), a technology that uses sound waves to detect enemy submarines. In the process, however, the powerful sound injures and even kills marine mammals like whales, dolphins, and dugongs. One of the areas where the technology was tested (arguably illegally) was in the Caribbean. The base of operations for the tests? That’s right, Vieques.

Another area discussed in debates was the U.S. Military’s use of Depleted Uranium. Again, the prime testing site for the nuclear weapons (and despite what the military might tell you, that’s exactly what they are) was Vieques. And like Delgado argues, the war in Iraq relied upon that very testing to certify the country’s weaponry.

The whole situation is a travesty, a sham, and a mockery… its a traveshamockery. The military finally left, but the damage they did to the island is staggering and they have no plans to clean it up.

“You’re dealing with health, with poverty, with the roots of an entire community, both economically and environmentally,” he said. “This is way bigger than just a political or military issue. Because the military left last year and they haven’t cleaned the place up yet.”

Delgado isn’t just a talking head, either. He’s making tangible efforts to improve life on the island.

Delgado can’t make such pain vanish with his money. He instead focuses on the personal ways he can make a difference, like visiting a school, or hiring a helicopter to fly him from Aguadilla to Vieques each January for a special Three Kings Day celebration. At this year’s event, he handed out gifts to children and ran a baseball clinic.

“You’ll need millions and millions of dollars to clean Vieques up,” Delgado said. “So, we try to make (the money) as effective as we can. We make it work for kids. I can’t clean up Vieques by myself. It’s going to take a lot of people.”

Talk about an honest-to-goodness role model. Kudos to you, Carlos Delgado. And shame on the American Military and the citizens that blindly worship the flag before every game, ignorant of the situation in Vieques and content with their nation’s imperialism. If even one person learns something from Delgado’s activism, he will have done more for the people of Vieques than their benevolent protectorates from the United States will ever do.