NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

My trip to Spain took me through South Korea, where I spent seven hours in the Incheon Airport in Seoul. In the same way that Guam and Okinawa have been connected for years now because of US military plans, so too have Guam and South Korea become connected as well. Guam has been a potential target for North Korea for many years now, as it is one of the most prominent US bases in the region. But over the past year the danger to Guam has become far more pronounced, from both sides of the Pacific. Late last year, North Korean rhetoric became more focused around Guam, far more than it ever had before. The year before that, Donald Trump was elected President of the US, and his foreign policy approach hasn't been very ideologically based, but seems to be rooted in impulsive Twitter tirades. Both of them combined mean that people on Guam have no idea what to think or even worry about next. North Korea is portrayed as a tin pot regime, simply full of bluster one moment, and

My testimony from earlier today at the Guam Legislature. I made it a point to write and deliver my testimony gi Fino' Chamorro. Crafting this testimony was difficult in Chamorro as these are all ideas and concepts I am used to articulating in English, but rarely in Chamorro. I figure though that for each time some important issue is discussed at the Legislature in a public hearing, I should try my best to testify in Chamorro and hopefully others will follow suit, even if just mixing Chamorro and English together or saying part of their remarks in Chamorro. It was very inspiring to see so many people gathered for a resolution sponsored by Senator Telena Nelson calling for a halt to the construction of the firing range at Litekyan. I was fortunate to be the second person to speak, as others waited for hours. ************* --> Buenas yan Håfa Adai, I na’ån-hu si Michael Lujan Bevacqua. Hu tutuge’ este na tinestigu-hu komo taotao gi kumunidåt. Ti hu kuentusisiyi i i

The past few days have been quite hectic due to the threat to Guam by North Korea and President Trump's shocking response. I am trying to catch up on my posts on this blog, and so we'll see if I'll be able this month. Here are a few articles on the initial threat from North Korea to Guam.  ******************* --> North Korea Claims It’s Planning to Fire Missiles Near Guam 8/10/17 SEOUL/GUAM (Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it was completing plans to fire four intermediate-range missiles over Japan to land near the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam in an unusually detailed threat that further heightened tensions with the United States. North Korea’s army will complete the plans in mid-August, when they will be ready for leader Kim Jong Un’s order, state-run KCNA news agency reported, citing General Kim Rak Gyom, commander of the Strategic Force of the Korean People’s Army. The plans called for the missiles to land in the sea only 30-

The local media coverage of possible conflict on the Korean peninsula seems to be paradoxically vapid and obsessive. It is a constant for the media to cover, as it is a threat to our very life on the island and also something which provides an outlet for US military commanders to speak in strong terms about defense, stability and deterrence. The media seems to adore these moments, just like they love it when there are war games or large-scale training exercises in the region, as you get to play dress up for a day, and take rides in helicopters or an armored transports. When North Korea is saber rattling your average journalist in Guam seems excited to escape the tedium of local news coverage and regurgitate some exciting Department of Defense talking points. But for something that is covered so much, it is fascinating and frustrating, at how little is actually discussed. How little the media actually contributes to people understanding the relationship between Guam, the US and potent

I would never want to be the Ti Mambobota na Kongres para Guahan in the US Congress. First of all, so much in Congress works on seniority, and so by starting off you would be as one elder told me "i mas takpapa' na gå'ga'." Second, your status as a non-voting delegate and not a full member of Congress means that while you get the perks, you do not get the rights. Third, your status depends so much on whichever party controls the US House. When the Democrats have controlled the house for a short period in the 1990s and during the 2000s, the non-voting delegates from Guam and other territories received symbolic voting rights, meaning they could vote as part of the whole, with their vote counting, only if their votes did not affect whether a bill passed or failed. When the Republicans are in power, this symbolic power disappears and all the symbolic excitement associated with it. Fourth, as for most of the Federal government (and much of the US) Guam's

This editorial is written from Maine, by longtime peace and demilitarization activist Bruce Gagnon. I first met Bruce in 2010 during a solidarity tour to South Korea. I learned so much from him, as he is so much more involved in international peace and demilitarization work than I am. The stories he shared of his struggles, his travels, the victories that movements he's participated in have garnered were both so educational and inspiring to me. In this editorial he poses something which Guam, as the Tip of America's Spear, as Fortress Guam, as a strategically important base to the US should consider, but rarely does. What if the massive amount of money that the US invests in bases and weapons, was used for something else? Something that didn't destroy, attack or defend, but provided stability in a more direct sense? In Guam we have become so accustomed to the variety of militarism that exists in the US, we constantly forget to ask questions about its nature, and whether t

Guaha na biahi mangguife yu' put i Korean Peninsula. Ti siguru yu' sa' hafa taiguigui i guinife-hu siha. Hu bisita i tano' Korea un biahi ha', gi 2010. Gi ayu na tiempo mampasehu ham yan otro na activists kontra fina'militat gi diferentes na lugat giya South Korea, put hemplo i Islan Jeju. Gi unu na puenge manmata'chong ham yan "reunification activists" para un sena giya Seoul. Ante di ayu, taya' maolek hiningok-hu put iya North Korea. Sigun i media gi sanlagu yan guini giya Guahan, i ma'gas i tano' gof kaduku yan i taotao guihi manmahokse'. Ayu na activists, ti ma chanda todu i hiningok-hu, lao ma na'lakabales i tiningo'-hu put i tano' Korea. Ma sangani yu' put taimanu na umadespatta i dos na patte. Sigun unu na bihu, ilek-na na i media gi sanlagu yan gi sanhaya mamparehu todu. Ma aguiguiyi i gayun-niha pulitikat. Ma sapotte yan ma hatsa i gobetnamenton-niha, achokka' gi ayu ti ma attette