The blow to the left side of her head was so powerful that it caused injury to the right side, not from a fall, but from the contusion itself, requiring emergency surgery. That is horrible enough. Worse is the possibility that she was raped, for no crime short of murder is more heinous. But beyond that lies another horror: the woman may have been the third victim of a serial rapist, whose two prior attacks were hushed up.
Let Me give you some context here: Vieques proper is about the size of some suburban tracts in the U.S. of part of A., for although 21 miles long and 5 miles wide, two closed areas on the western tip and eastern half of the island are closed off, halving the island's civilian zone. Just look at the map and you'll see that the civilian area--the township itself--is quite tiny. Population: about 9,600, give or take a few hundred visiting for Spring Break or Holy Week or some other pagan ritual.
So why hide the fact that two other women were attacked, one raped?
Politics. With maybe a soupçon of equally disgusting and hypocritical economics thrown in.
Rape is a violent crime that thrives when covered up. Sadly, disgustingly, Our """society""" often blames the victim rather than the perpetrator, a nauseating reversal that says too much much about Us and all of it bad.
For those of you who don't get it (mostly men who are morally and intellectually retarded, but also some stupid women), imagine someone comes up and beats the living shit out of you. Pounds you like beating a mule. (Simile intended and the shoe fits, so shut up.) Barely leaves you alive. Now imagine that YOU--YOU--get blamed for the beating because you were in the wrong place or were wearing the wrong clothes or simply because whoever beat the shit out of you gets treated with more respect than you and your broken bleeding body.
Still think it's fair? If you do, then I hope My example becomes your reality in the next 5 weeks.
Two women were attacked in Vieques prior to this third attack. Even without charges, the attacks themselves would have to be publicized to alert other women and the community that some deranged animal is on the loose. Covering up this information was not done to protect the community: it was done to protect the image of Vieques. Specifically, the political image related to tourism.
If you think the economic image to tourism is the salient factor, rather than the political, think about this: other attacks against tourists in Puerto Rico--rare, but they do happen here, just like the do around the world--are mentioned quickly and openly. The Vieques' attacks were not. So what happened in these attacks?
July 15, 2011: A man described as "thin, with dark skin," leaps out from behind a rock and strikes a young (about 27) woman several times in the head. Despite the blows, the woman fights back, screams and gets the attention of her two girlfriends who were walking further ahead. The woman was hurt, but chose to leave Vieques immediately.
December 27, 2011: A 15-year old girl goes back to the hotel to get a snorkel. Her return takes so long that her parents search for her, but don't find her. She eventually appears, "beaten, delirious and bleeding". The family leaves Vieques and days later the girl indicates she was raped.
In neither case were charges filed by the persons involved, directly or indirectly. That happens all-too-often in a society that treats rape victims like criminals; no, worse, because the """legal system""" eviscerates the victim to coddle the criminal. But the police knew about each case. They had the injury reports and testimonies. The Vieques police knew that two women were attacked, one was raped, and yet the Regional Commander, Antonio López, said "he didn't know" about the two previous attacks and "defended" the police's inaction by stating that "(T)here have been no reported rapes in Vieques since 2003."
Now here's the objective take: (1) It is entirely possible that the Regional Commander didn't know about two specific cases of essentially assault and battery in one small township of his area, even though that township is a high-profile hotspot for tourism and drug intervention; and, (2) It is entirely possible that there have been no reported rapes in Vieques since 2003.
But here's My non-objective take, aimed straight at Tony "Lip Service" López: There are times when the facts are on your side and there are times when sticking to the facts makes you an asshole. And in this case, "Lips On Ass" López, you are being an asshole.
Your job--cough-chuckle-retch--is "To Serve and Protect." Under your command, three women, one of them a minor, were attacked and beaten, almost certainly raped in two cases, and your response is basically a politically-farted, shit-for-brains version of "I don't know and I don't care."
Over three years ago, a pregnant woman was abducted and brutally murdered while vacationing here--in Ceiba, part of your command area, "Loose Lips" López. Just before her murder, terrified and anguished in the trunk of a car, the woman called her fiancé. What that must have been like for both of them staggers reason. The crime received a great deal of press and a Tourism Company executive--a woman, no less--had the unmitigated gall to say that the crime was a tragedy because it stained the tourism reputation of the Island.
Yes, crimes do stain a country's reputation, particularly for tourism. Just ask Mexico. But stupidity, product of a smelly, self-serving blend of ignorance and arrogance in the form of puke-inducing statements, does just as much damage.
Partially-lost in this mess is that local officials moved quickly to help the most-recent victim's mother arrive here within hours and have provided accommodations for them both and the victim's friends, also here on vacation. It's truly the least that could be done.
But Let's get some things straight, right now:
---Crime happens. Sometimes to tourists. But regardless of who gets hurt--tourist or resident--stop covering up the crimes for political """gain"""". To the Vieques police and anyone involved in hushing up the noted attacks and any other danger the community should be alerted to: Fuck you.
---I read comments, some from women, that these attacks and rapes happened because the victim's were "walking where they shouldn't be walking" or bullshit to that effect. In other words, they are saying that by "going there," they "invited" the crimes perpetrated against them. These women were on a tiny island where security could be enforced with relative ease. But that's beside the point. Glance up to My example again. The crime is committed because the perpetrator chooses to commit it, not because the victim """""chooses""""" it. If you can't understand that, you should be sterilized.
At a time when Our government's statistics on crime are complete, total and pestiferous hogwash, slamming cases into courts to "up" numbers and hiding crimes to "down" others, it seems obvious to anyone with a higher IQ than a turd that the energy involved in hiding the facts can be put to better use. Not that it will be, simply that it can be.
Because when it comes to facts and fibs, facts are the only ones that help Us all, while fibs only serve the fucking liars.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
