[Letter to Bruce Weber from Jon Cohen]

TO: BRUCE WEBER, ARTICLES EDITOR, MAGAZINE

FROM: JON COHEN
3445 17TH ST. NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20010
202-332-9564 or 202-387-7517
April 29, 1991
Dear Mr. Weber,
By way of re-introduction, I earlier queried you about surfing
and AIDS vaccine research. This is a trouble-in-paradise story
about the Republic of Palau and the Old World Order.
I am faxing this query because the material is topical. I would
appreciate a response as quickly as possible so that I can shop
the story elsewhere if you are not interested.
After World War II, the United Nations created 11 trust
territories. Palau, an island group in Micronesia, is the only
one of these territories that has yet to become independent or
part of an independent country. Palau's overseer is the United
States, which effectively rules the country through the
Department of the Interior. Palaun officials cannot legally
communicate with any U.S. agencies or foreign governments without
Interior's blessing. Interior can veto any law passed by the
Palaun legislature. Interior must approve any public contract
larger than $250,000.
The U.S. would gladly grant Palau a "compact of free association"
if the island group would change its 1980 constitution, which
declares Palau a nuclear-free nation and prohibits a foreign
entity from claiming eminent domain. Palauns charge that the
U.S., scared of its naval bases closing in the Philippines,
simply wants Palau for military reasons.
American dollars keep the Palaun economy afloat (60 percent of
the population works for the government), and a few of its
presidents have backed the constitutional changes the U.S. has
demanded. But the traditional leader of Palau, Paramount High
Chief Yutaka Gibbons, and the local governors have refused to
budge. The debate, which has wound through Palaun courts, has
- torn the country apart. One president, amid GAO allegations of
corruption, committed suicide. Another president was mysteriously
assassinated. Mobs have rioted. Homes have been fire bombed.
Today, Gibbons and his allies filed suit in federal court in
Washington, D.C., to free the islands from the Department of
Interior. Next week, Gibbons and his attorney will be making the
rounds on Capitol Hill to plead the Palaun's case. I have been
- invited along.
Thanks for your consideration. JC.