By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Variety News Staff

GUAM activists are seeking international support for their online petition opposing the military buildup on island.
The Coalition for Peace and Justice for Guam, led by I Nasion Chamoru and supported by international activist groups, has submitted their petition to PetitionOnline.com, an international Web site that hosts thousands of signature campaign initiatives for “responsible public advocacy.” It claims to have collected 37 million signatures on all its active petitions.
The petitioners protest the exclusion of the people of Guam from deliberations on the transfer of 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam, which is scheduled to start next year.
“This buildup will have enormous environmental, social, cultural, long-term economic and political consequences for our community,” the petitioners state.
“Currently, a host of issues, including radioactive contamination that has caused record-high rates of cancers and dementia-related illnesses have yet to be addressed by the same military now expanding its presence on Guam,” reads the petition, which can be found at www.PetitionOnline.com.hasso/petition.html.
The activists say the military expansion “calls attention to a harmful power imbalance between the U.S. government and Guam, which must be addressed.”
The Peace and Justice Coalition first launched its online petition on its own Web site last year, but has not gathered a significant number of signatures.
The Marines’ relocation is being supported by the business community and the local government, which are both banking on the military buildup to support the local economy.