An associate professor at the University of Guam says discussion over the planned military build-up is a battle of conflicting messages.
For six years the United States has discussed its plans to transfer thousands of marines from Japan to Guam and the number to be moved was recently put at about five-thousand.
Although many on Guam have welcomed the promised economic benefits of the move there has also been widespread concern over the impacts of an increased military population on the territory's infrastructure and environment.
Evelyn Flores says while many people oppose the build-up it is too straightfoward to say they are all against it.
"Because it's a battle between discourses. The military machinery is pumping out the messages that it's going to be good for Guam but the studies that have been done by the federal government itself have questioned that. So it's just a matter of trying to get people to go beyond the talk to the facts."
Evelyn Flores says Guam's young activists are doing a great job of sorting through all of the information around the build-up.
