Sanchez, who is a Puerto Rican native, visited Vieques during winter break, and has been actively involved with Perl-Matanzo in the campaign to end U.S. testing there. She attended the protest on Friday and said she plans to camp out at the JFK building this Wednesday night.

"There is absolutely no reason why the Navy should have to conduct live bombing practices on a small, inhabited island," she said. "Viequenses are being taken advantage of and put at risk. Their rights are not being respected."

Several Latino community leaders, as well as Boston City Councillors Charles H. Turner and Charles C. Yancey, spoke at Friday's demonstration, expressing support for the right of the people of Vieques to decide whether the U.S. Navy can continue testing.

In January, President Clinton agreed to allow Puerto Ricans to have a referendum on the issue. The U.S. has agreed to leave by May 1, 2003 if voters reject the U.S. Navy's presence. No date for the referendum has been set.

Protesters said the referendum is not enough, saying they want the navy to leave immediately.

The protesters said they also hope that the continued protests will become an election issue during the 2000 presidential campaign.

"Protests like these send politicians such as Clinton and Gore the message that there are many who care about this issue and are even willing to be arrested in support of their convictions," Sanchez said.

"With election time just around the corner, politicians must pay attention to our demands in order to secure the valuable Latino vote," she added.