Friday, April 28, 2017

Guam governor's backflip on military build-up


A chorus of voices on Guam is questioning the governor's decision to withdraw his support for the military build-up.
The governor is opposed to the United States increasing its military presence on the island unless it allows more foreign workers into the US territory.
Ben Robinson Drawbridge has more. 
Transcript:
The number of US military personnel on Guam is increasing from six to 11 thousand, as troops are relocated from Japan. At the same time the federal government has cut Guam's foreign labour force from 1,300 workers to about two hundred, which the Republican governor Eddie Calvo says has crippled the civilian construction industry and doubled house prices. The leader of the democrat majority in the Guam legislature, Senator Thomas Ada agrees the denial of H-2B worker visas has caused problems but he says the solution can only be achieved through diplomacy. 
"To get to the heart of the problems that we need to resolve it's really best handled more in a diplomatic way as opposed to coming out right almost in a confrontational manner and saying, that's it, I'm quitting this game, I'll pick up my marbles and I'm going to go home. I don't know that's going to change anything because this military build-up is going to go with or without the governor's support."

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