Ceiba
Naval Station Roosevelt Roads made Ceiba economically dependent on $400 million annual military spending from 1943 until 2004 closure devastated the region. After two decades pursuing alternative development including a 2024 spaceport proposal, the base unexpectedly reactivated in November 2025 for Caribbean operations—restoring but also repeating the dependency pattern.
Ceiba is named for the silk-cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra), sacred to the Taíno who inhabited this northeastern Puerto Rican coast before Spanish arrival in 1508. But for six decades, this municipality's identity centered on a different kind of presence: Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, the largest U.S. naval base in the world outside the continental United States. At its peak, the base employed 2,500 military personnel and 2,500 civilians while pumping $300-400 million annually into the eastern Puerto Rican economy. Ceiba wasn't just hosting a military installation—it was economically fused to one.
The closure came in 2004 after the Navy departed Vieques following years of protests against live-fire training exercises. Roosevelt Roads, which had operated since 1943 as a cornerstone of Caribbean defense, went dark. The economic shock reverberated through Ceiba, Fajardo, Naguabo, and Luquillo. That $400 million in annual spending migrated to Florida, captured by politicians who saw the opportunity to redirect military resources to their districts.
For two decades, the Local Redevelopment Authority struggled to find new uses for 8,600 acres of former naval infrastructure. Various proposals emerged: a commercial airport, industrial parks, a spaceport. In July 2024, the LRA issued RFPs for a mixed-income residential development with golf course on 3,400 acres. In December 2024, another RFP sought developers for a vertical space launch facility—leveraging Ceiba's near-equatorial latitude and existing runway infrastructure.
Then November 2025 changed everything. As U.S. military posture toward Venezuela intensified, the Pentagon reactivated Roosevelt Roads. The Puerto Rico Ports Authority granted military use of the airport for $5 million. Soldiers returned to a base that hadn't seen operational activity in 21 years.
By 2026, Ceiba faces a profound identity question: embrace renewed military dependency or continue pursuing aerospace and commercial development? The municipality that lost its economic anchor two decades ago may find it restored—but this time understanding how quickly such dependence can evaporate.