Statement of The Honorable Lolo Matalasi Moliga
Governor of American Samoa
delivered by
Talauega Eleasalo Ale
Attorney General
United Nations Caribbean Regional Seminar
on Implementation of the Third International Decade
for the Eradication of Colonialism
Managua, Nicaragua
May 19 to 21, 2015
Mr. Chairman,
Members of the Committee,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Talofa Lava.
Thank you for the opportunity to offer this statement on behalf of our Governor, the Honorable Lolo Matalasi Moliga, regarding American Samoa’s experience as a Territory of the United States of America. Overview:
Under Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter, the administering nations have accepted as a sacred trust the obligation to promote to the utmost, the well-being of the inhabitants of non-self-governing territories, and to this end, to ensure, with due respect for the culture of the peoples concerned, their political, economic, social, and educational advancement, their just treatment, and their protection against abuses.
And further, under Chapter XI, the administering nations have committed to
develop self-government, to take due account of the political aspirations of the
peoples, and to assist them in the progressive development of their free
political institutions, according to the particular circumstances of each territory
and its peoples and their varying stages of development.
In my view, much of what Chapter XI encourages has already occurred with
respect to American Samoa’s relationship with the United States of America.
Indeed, by any measure, our union with the United States has resulted in
substantial benefits to the people and government of American Samoa.
But
despite the many benefits of our relationship, it is my firm belief that American
Samoa’s current political status as an unincorporated and unorganized territory
of the United States is neither sustainable nor economically secure. Moreover,
it lacks appropriate vestiges of self-governance as required by the UN Charter.
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