23 Jun 2011

Guam tells United Nations it's not satisfied with treatment by Washington

7:08 pm on 23 June 2011

A speech by the Governor of Guam to the United Nations Decolonisation Commission says for too long Chamorro people have been told to be satisfied with a political status that doesn't respect their wishes first.

The speech was delivered in New York yesterday on behalf of the Governor Eddie Calvo, by his sister Clare.

It says as an internationally-recognised colony, the US territory has had to endure taxation without representation and quasi-citizenship.

The Governor's Deputy Press Secretary Phillip Leon Guerrero says the speech is consistent with Mr Calvo's belief that Guam is left out of a lot of US policies which would be of benefit.

"For instance the United States recently reached an agreement to engage in free trade with South Korea, and for what ever reason, Guam although we are the closest US soil to South Korea, we are not a party to that. And on the converse there are federal mandates that we are a part of that don't necessarily help us economically."

Phillip Leon Guerrero says the US has agreed to help fund an education programme in advance of a plebiscite on self-determination.