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265 Economic Setbacks and Political Status Stalemate After the shock of Ricky Bordallo’s death, the 1990s on Guam started off with considerable optimism. The economy was booming with tourists flocking in from Japan. The U.S. military presence rose in 1991 in support of another distant war, this time against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq for invading Kuwait. Japan’s ebullient economy (called Japan Inc. in the media) was being lauded as an example of government –private enterprise cooperation, which appeared to be the path to prosperity. Commonwealth with greater local self-government for Guam still seemed attainable, and the pro-business, pro-Cha­ mor­ ro-rights Republican administration of AdaBlas was confident of the future. For the citizens of the island, living conditions in 1990 were better than ever: employment was at an all-time high; every family had one or more vehicles, mostly Japanese-made cars and pickup trucks; live television with CNN news and sports events came by satellite from the U.S. mainland; and the island’s favorite traditional sport, cockfighting, could be enjoyed (and bet upon with much drinking of beer) at two big arenas (the Dededo Game Club, owned by former senator Ed Charfauros, and the Mangilao King’s Court) and at village cockpits every weekend . Hotels and condominiums in Tumon and Agana Bay were crammed with prosperous Japanese tourists, many of whom came to Guam just to play golf or, for young couples, to be married in elaborate Western-style weddings at chapels built at hotels for that purpose. Along with the business boom, Cha­ mor­ ro political activism continued to grow as a consequence of the treatment of Ricky Bordallo, who became an icon for indigenous self-determination. The OPI-R was still influential, particularly with the reconstituted Commission on Self-Determination and efforts to gain Washington’s approval of the draft commonwealth act. The old Guam Landowners Association remained a presence through the persistent agitation (for return of land by the U.S. military ) of Tony Artero, a U.S. Navy retiree and son of Antonio Cruz Artero (George Tweed’s savior in World War II), much of whose family land had been appropriated by the military after the war. Cha­ mor­ ro activism became more militant when a new group, the Chamoru Nation (Nasion Cha­ moru), emerged in 1991 with Angel Leon Guerrero Santos as spokesman. A former air force noncommissioned officer, he became an aggressive advocate for Cha­ mor­ ro rights and a hostile opponent of further immigration to Guam. He shaved his head except for a black ponytail like precontact Cha­ mor­ ros and imparted a grassroots dynamism to indigenous rights as a low-status manak‘papa movement in contrast to the OPI-R, which was led largely by acaCHAPTER 16 Recession 1990–2003 266 Chapter 16 demics, business people, and others with much of the old elite manak‘kilo and taotao ge‘hilo‘ image. Angel Santos led several protests against military blockages of private property, and in 1992 the Chamoru Nation, represented by attorney Michael F. Phillips, won a case against GovGuam that required implementation of the 1974 Guam Land Trust Act for the return to Cha­ mor­ ros of GovGuam land obtained from the military. However, the process bogged down because of tangled property claims and political interference. The publicity generated by Santos and the Chamoru Nation showed the value of direct action through street protests and class action suits against perceived repression of Cha­ mor­ ros. Santos went on to be elected to the Guam Legislature and would eventually, but unsuccessfully, run for governor. His popularity strengthened the uncompromising stance of Governor Ada, and later of Governor Carl Gutierrez, against changes in the commonwealth act by Washington officials, or the “Feds” as they were often called. In cultural matters, heightened Cha­ mor­ ro consciousness was expressed by playwright Peter Onedera, who wrote and directed dramas in Cha­ mor­ ro as well as in English. Onedera, as head of the Chamoru Language Commission, would in the coming years lead in the development of a new indigenous orthography that in 1994 would officially change the spelling of Cha­ mor­ ro words and names of villages and towns (notably Hagåtña in place of Agana in both English and Cha­ mor­ ro). Popular new musicians Jesse Rios and Ruby Santos joined older artists like Jimmy Dee, Johnny Sablan, and “J.D.Crutch” Duenas not only in performing but also in recording their music with Cha­ mor­ ro...

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