defended us against invaders and freed us from their tyranny. Like a mother she treated us with love and affection. She milked She us with nutriments that made our bodies healthy and strong. taught us moral values and ethical conduct that made us good citizens of the world. And like children who go through stages of growth and development with its joys and sorrows, peaks and valleys reach adulthood prepared to face the world independently. Guam has grown and matured and has political threshold that she is now ready to leave the American family and assert her self determination. achieved the economic, social, and Do not fear for your genre for America has bestowed in her genes the imprint of democracy: in her heart the love of freedom and liberty and in her body the permanent hunger for peace and justice. Give to your child what is her inalienable right of self determination and the pursuit of happiness. have your our veins. Listen to your sons and daughters as we present our petition. Please do not treat us like little children though we economic, social, and political blood flowing within But give to us your encouragements and blessings that we may become, just as America has since it cut the umbilical cord of the "Mother Country" and declared her independence, equal peoples of the earth. Si Yuus Maase, Thank you very much and God Bless all of us. 132 Capitan Reyes St., Barrigada, Guam; Tel.: 671-734-3234 Mr. DE LUGO. I want to thank all of you for your presentations here. Ladies and gentlemen, we are now going to break for lunch for a half hour. We will return at 2:30. When we return at 2:30, we will have a panel representing the Organization of the People for Indigenous Rights, and that panel will have 20 minutes at the request of the delegate from Guam, Delegate Blaz. Without objection, that will be the order. Then we will hear from the administration. [Whereupon, at 12:00 noon, the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene at 2:30 p.m. the afternoon of the same day.] [AFTER RECESS] Mr. DE LUGO. Can we bring the people into the auditorium and close the doors? The Subcommittee on Insular and International Affairs hearing on H.R. 98, the bill to create the Commonwealth of Guam, is hereby reconvened. As we said before we broke for lunch, the leadoff witness will be Mr. Ron Rivera. We had both Mr. Ron Rivera and Mr. Ron Tian of the Organization for Indigenous Rights scheduled at this time, but Mr. Tian has yielded his time to Mr. Ron Rivera, who has 20 minutes. Mr. Rivera, your entire statement will be made part of the record. We look forward to receiving your testimony. Welcome to the subcommittee hearing. STATEMENT OF RON RIVERA, ORGANIZATION OF PEOPLE FOR INDIGENOUS RIGHTS Mr. RIVERA. Senor de Lugo, Senor Blaz, Hafa adai todos hamyo. Guahu si Ron Rivera yan para bai hu presenta giya hamyo i pusision i OPIR put este na asuntu i estao pulitikat para Guahan. I am Ron Rivera and I am here to present to you the position of the Organization for Indigenous Rights, the only organization devoted to the protection and eventual exercise of the Chamorro peoples right to self-determination. Since the inception of our organization in 1981, we have had the opportunity to present our position in a variety of forums including the United Nations, government bodies on Guam and, on occasion, in front of United States agencies and instrumentalities. We are very proud of our activities and our statements. Over the years we have been consistent, direct and honest in our position. We are also particularly proud of the growing understanding and support of the right of the Chamorro people to self-determination by all segments of the population on Guam. In the very beginning of our organization, many political leaders on Guam avoided us and scoffed at our movement. Over the years, this skepticism has turned to understanding and finally, full support. We are heartened by this trend and we want you to understand its characteristics so that Chamorro self-determination is not misunderstood, misrepresented or misinterpreted by the Congress of the United States. The principle of Chamorro self-determination is a simple one. It holds that the political status of Guam is in the hands of the Cha morro people. It maintains that the discussion of Guam's political status is in reality a discussion of sovereignty. It firmly believes that the right to exercise self-determination and the sovereignty it implies is an historical right borne of the direct denial of Chamorro control of their homeland caused by the exchange of colonial systems between Spain and the United States in 1898. All that has occurred since then has not confronted squarely the issue of Chamorro self-determination. At certain times since the advent of America rule, the United States has behaved irresponsibly, responsibly, generously and capriciously. But the ultimate question before us is not to assess the good and bad points of America as a colonial power. The question is, how do we decolonize Guam and resolve the political status issue? OPIR believes, as do an increasing number of people on Guam, that we need to confront the issue of sovereignty and the relationship of the Chamorro people to their homeland in this question. To not confront and resolve this issue now is to avoid the fundamental issue underlying the debate that we are all bearing witness to. To undermine Chamorro self-determination is to give life to imperialism at a time when we are celebrating its demise in other parts of the world. American officials may find it easy to support the cause of Estonian, Lithuanian or Latvian self-determination, but find glib reasons to oppose Chamorro self-determination in a part of the world where they have the full authority and responsibility to decolonize a colonial area. We don't think this to be hypocritical as some harsh critics of federal policy on Guam may maintain. We prefer to think of it as a blind spot upon which we hope to shed some much needed light. Over 4,000 years ago, the Mariana Islands were settled by a group of people who came to be known as the Chamorros. Their existence was discovered by Europeans in 1521 and they were colonized by Spain in 1668. The Chamorro people have the unfortunate distinction of being the first group of Pacific Islanders to be colonized by the West. In the ensuing 300 years, the Chamorro people have been subject to other nations without their consent. These nations have occupied Guam to further their own interests and pursue the extension of their political and/or economic power. Spain, Japan and the United States have all used Guam to further their own objectives. Without exception, none has demonstrated serious regard for the right of the Chamorro people to engage in self-determination. Instead, there has been a process which has reduced the social and political power of the Chamorro people through in-migration. The Chamorro people today comprise approximately 50 percent of the total population of Guam. Through U.S. policy and laws which control Guam, the demographic characteristics of Guam have shifted significantly. Tragically, under the same policies and laws, nearly all have been allowed to participate in Guam elections on political status. It is a miscarriage of justice to allow military personnel and new residents to participate in a political status process which was intended only for the Chamorro people. The relationship of the Chamorro people with the United States began with the Spanish-American War near the turn of the centu ry. As a result of that war, the Chamorro people of the Mariana Islands were divided. In the Treaty of Paris of 1898, Spain ceded Guam to the United States and sold the remainder of the island chain to Germany. It is instructive to note that the Treaty of Paris contained the provision, "the civil rights and political status of the native inhabitants of the territories hereby ceded to the United States shall be determined by Congress." Germany subsequently lost the Northern Marianas to Japan, which obtained the islands as a League of Nations mandate as a result of being on the side of the Allies in world War I. Following World War II, the Northern Marianas were placed under the International Trusteeship System created by Chapter XII and XIII of the United Nations Charter. This system was to cover territories detached from enemy states as a result of World War II, territories held under mandate and territories voluntarily placed under the system by states responsible for their administration. On the other hand, as a possession of the United States, Guam was voluntarily placed by the United States under the Declaration Regarding Non-Self-Governing Territories created by Chapter XI of the UN Charter. In the United Nations publication entitled "The New Nations," the non-self-governing system is described in the following, “As a counterpoint of the trusteeship system, the charter in Chapter XI embodied a commitment by the members controlling non-self-governing territories to accept as a sacred trust the obligation to promote to the utmost . . . the well being of the inhabitants of these territories." Further, to achieve this goal these members agreed "to develop self-government, to assist in the progressive development of free political institutions, and to transmit regularly to the Secretary General, information on the economic, social and educational conditions of these territories." As a signatory to the United Nations Charter, the responsibilities of the United States are legally binding. Article VI (cl.2) of the United States Constitution makes it clear that all treaties are to be treated as the law of the land. The United Nations Charter is a treaty of nations. To date, despite the Treaty of Paris, the democratic traditions of the United States and the UN Charter, the Chamorro people remain in political limbo. However, the United States continues to report annually to the UN in response to its responsibilities. The early reports clearly indicate that the people being discussed for political status changes were the Chamorro people. This has been clouded by the thousands of non-Chamorros who have migrated to Guam under U.S. laws and policies. The new residents, while fine and upstanding citizens, were never promised a right to self-determination-a process which belongs to people whose status is in question. This right is inalienable and should not be transferred or given away to others. Self-determination is not a right of American citizenship. If it were, we would have periodic political plebiscites in the 50 States. It is the right of people to whom history has not been kind. If there were no Chamorros, no native inhabitants on Guam, there would be no serious discussion of self-determination. As a point of comparison, it would be ludicrous to presume that Wake Island has an inherent right to self-determination. The only persons that are there now are those brought in by the United States. They have no right to self-determination, because they had no prior existence as political, social or cultural beings and no commitment had been made for them. The Guam Commonwealth Act before you deals with the issue of Chamorro self-determination. However, it must be made emphatically clear that it is a document which was created based on the status choice of U.S. citizens and not one based on Chamorro selfdetermination. As you may recall, every eligible U.S. citizen (as determined by the U.S.) was allowed to vote in past plebiscites. While OPIR maintains that only the indigenous people have the right to change Guam's ultimate political status, we are not opposed to an interim federal-territorial relations act as outlined by the Guam Commonwealth Act. We are not opposed because it increases the political and economic autonomy of Guam while it recognizes Chamorro self-determination. The legislation before you can serve as a significant prelude to the eventual exercise of self-determination. What is it, yes or no, to our freedom? We hope that you will support the document as it is currently drafted and that you endorse Chamorro self-determination. This will guarantee a future with dignity for Guam and its people. If the U.S. Congress does not see fit to support Chamorro self-determination through elimination of any reference to its exercise, we are prepared to defeat the Act in any future election. We know that the vast majority of Chamorros support our position and an increasing number of non-Chamorros support our position as well. We are fearful that opponents of Chamorro self-determination may wish to delay matters in the hope that continued immigration will eventually silence the legitimate aspirations of the Chamorro people. Given the opposition of the Federal Interagency Task Force, in spite of the historical wrongs which they clearly acknowledge, and the attempt by some Guam officials to soft pedal Chamorro self-determination, we have begun to re-think our position and our approach to Chamorro self-determination during the past few months. It has become clear in the discussion of the Commonwealth Draft Act that years of waiting, redrafts of fundamental positions, some waffling by a few of our political leaders, are all in the offing. Just as clear, it is obvious that further delays only serve to cloud the issue and strengthen the federal position on this issue. To delay this resolution of Guam's political status while the demographics of Guam change is to complicate the exercise of Chamorro self-determination. To delay the legislation while keeping the legislative process open will only serve to dissipate the collective energy which has been demonstrated to you today. In short, the delaying of this legislation and, in particular, Chamorro selfdetermination would become a conscious strategy to frustrate the entire movement of Guam towards more autonomy. We have no reason to believe that this is currently the base, but we do know that the Federal Government has no advantage to gain by speeding up this process. We also know that the congressional process is by nature a lengthy one. But most importantly, we know |