US territories are a cautionary tale for Greenland, according to decolonization advocates

By Jayvee Vallejera

President Donald Trump’s desire to annex Greenland as a U.S. territory is drawing comparisons between the United States' treatment of its territories and Greenland's advantages under Denmark's rule.

Robert Underwood, chairman of the Pacific Center for Island Security, suggested an exchange deal. “Why don't Denmark give Greenland to the United States, and the United States can give Guam to Denmark?” he said in jest. “I was actually very envious of what goes on in Greenland."

The former Guam delegate to the U.S. Congress was joined by speakers from American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico at Friday's panel discussion that examined what Greenlanders should know about being a U.S. territory and what people in U.S. territories can learn from Greenland’s relationship with Denmark.

The forum, hosted by Right to Democracy, touched on many aspects of territorial governance and their impact on the everyday lives of 3.6 million people in U.S. territories.

The overall picture shows a class of people in U.S. territories with very limited say in how they are governed, how their resources are extracted, which federal laws apply, and who appoints the justices of the High Court of American Samoa.

Underwood said Guam, the CNMI and American Samoa seem to suffer from some kind of “historical delusion” about their relationship with the United States, which makes them think they are insulated from the federal government's erratic policies.

American Samoa relies on the Deed of Cession as a protective shield. The CNMI has its Covenant, while Guam has its Organic Act. 

Underwood said that some believe these supposedly “unique” political arrangements make them distinct from other territories.

This "collective delusion" is not necessarily bad, Underwood said, suggesting that the three Pacific territories could come together and coalesce on their historical delusions “so that we understand it.”

Otherwise, he added, “many of us will continue to advocate and articulate from our own particular history, instead of understanding that these historical delusions really empower federal officials."

What Underwood called "historical delusions" is known in the U.S. Virgin Islands as "colonial amnesia," according to Hadiya Sewer, a panelist from

the Caribbean territory.

In the U.S. Virgin Islands, Sewer said, the United States isn't often framed as a colonial power.

The United States is investing approximately $8 billion to develop an integrated air and missile defense system on Guam.

Yet if the Chinese were to attack Guam, U.S. forces would be unable to defend the island, Underwood said. Hence, the second island chain defense arc, which consists of Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, and Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia.

Even that plan has now been upended by the erratic nature of the Trump administration, he said.

“First, we're important. Then, it seems Latin America is more important. Now it seems like the Caribbean is more important,” he added. “And then now Greenland is even more important.”

Underwood said that, despite billions of dollars being invested in Guam, the people of Guam remain vulnerable.

“In Taiwan, in Okinawa, they are building bomb shelters in case of a conflict. In Guam, billions of dollars are being spent, and then if you ask the federal government, ‘Are you building bomb shelters?’ ‘Oh, no, that's not our job’ or ‘That's Homeland Security, or ‘That's somebody else's job,’” he said.

This makes Guam and its residents vulnerable in the event of a conflict with China, Underwood said. “Now they're telling us, ‘We will defend you because you're part of 'the U.S. homeland.’ And I'm thinking, really? Yeah, we've heard that story before,” he added.

American Samoa has a different story.

While it may have its own constitution, the territory falls under the plenary authority of the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, said Charles Ala’ilima, a panelist from American Samoa.

Ala’ilima said that some American Samoans subscribe to a distorted view that the territory's unincorporated status and the inapplicability of certain constitutional provisions confer a semblance of autonomy.

However, he said, the DOI's decision to double the seabed area of American Samoa that the federal government wants to lease for deep-sea mining serves as a rude wake-up call.

Although American Samoa opposes deep-sea mining, it lacks veto power.

"The plenary authority that you've given to the Secretary of the Interior includes the ability to say, ‘We don't care what you think. You're going to do what we want.’ And I think that's what's happening now,” Ala’ilima said.

The DOI's ultimate authority over American Samoa extends even to its high court, where the chief justice and associate justices are appointed by the Secretary of the Interior.

Sheila Jack Babauta of the Northern Mariana Islands noted that it is also a common refrain in the CNMI that its relationship with the United States is unique because it is governed by a negotiated document, the Covenant.

“I have realized that we're all constantly trying to clarify this relationship that we have with the United States,” Babauta said.

She said the existence of the Covenant has not stopped the federal government from taking unilateral actions impacting the lives of commonwealth residents.

“Now we have the deep-sea mining issue at our front doors," she added.

Eva Prados, the panelist from Puerto Rico, attributed the Caribbean territory's distressed economy partly to the incompetence of local elected officials and partly to their limited authority to make decisions across many aspects of its economy.

Such a predicament has led to a staggering public debt and, eventually, to bankruptcy. Puerto Rico tried to dig itself out of that debt hole, but that effort was stopped by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Our intent to restructure our own debt was declared unconstitutional,” Prados said.

In 2016, the U.S. Congress approved the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act, commonly known as Promesa, which created the Puerto Rico Financial Management and Oversight Board. Its members are appointed by the U.S. president and confirmed by Congress.

But what was designed as an oversight body has become a control board that makes every major government decision, Prados said.

“The people of Puerto Rico do not decide who is part of the board, and that is a really big issue because the board has the power not only to control our budget, but they are also the ones that represent us in the bankruptcy process," she said. "They make every proposal on every plan of debt adjustment and they also negotiate with the bondholders."

The Promesa board’s overarching powers extend to the local legislature. “They decide our budget. They decide what laws can be approved and what laws can't be approved. They have huge power over so many daily decisions of our public agencies,” Prados said.

In setting the stage for the conversation, Neal Weare, co-founder of Right to Democracy, noted that Greenlanders have their own local government and representation in the Danish Parliament, which decides who the next Danish prime minister will be.

They have an express right to self-determination, including the ability to have a referendum on independence at any time they choose.

Greenlanders have full decision-making power and enjoy autonomy over economic strategies. They have control over mineral resources and mineral extraction and all associated revenues go to Greenland, not to Denmark, Weare said.

Denmark provides approximately $10,000 per resident in support to the local government, whereas Greenland residents pay no taxes.

“So, it's a very different relationship than the one that the U.S. territories have with the United States,” said Weare.

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