NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

As I wrote a few months ago, the last colony to be formally removed from the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories that is monitored by the United Nations was Timor Leste, formerly known as East Timor. Timor Leste isn't very far away from Guam, only a little more than 2,000 miles away gi minagahet. Our political fates were intertwined for a while, although the history of East Timor was far more violent. The Portuguese left the colony in 1975 and it moved to become independent. With United States backing and weapons the Indonesian government moved in to forcibly seize the island. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people were killed in the invasion and occupation that lasted more than 20 years. In 1999 the people there, with the eyes of the world finally paying attention, voted to become independent and were renamed Timor Leste as a result. The image is from the year 2000, when INTERFET, a UN-authorized force made up of primarily Australian troops had

There are currently 17 entities on the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories that the United Nations keeps track of and is mandated to help see through to self-government and decolonization. Although there was a great deal of activity around decolonization in previous decades, both within the United Nations and without, but lately, especially at the level of the United Nation's, fairly little has happened. The last territory to be de-listed, meaning it went through a legitimate and recognized process of decolonization is Timor Leste or as it was known as a colony, East Timor.  East Timor had been a colony under the Portuguese until 1975. A small civil war followed the Portuguese releasing of their colony, in which the neighboring country of Indonesia helped to instigate the conflict. On December 7, 1975, Indonesia invaded East Timor, killing more than a hundred thousand people in just two years. They occupied East Timor for more than two decades despite international efforts t