Governor, leaders had retracted leaked letter

New details have emerged about a strongly worded four-page letter Gov. Benigno Fitial and political leaders on Saipan gave to White House staff during a conference earlier this week on the Bush administration’s proposal to establish a marine monument in the CNMI’s northern islands, details that reveal they later retracted the letter after the talks and it no longer represents their full position on the issue.

In an interview Friday, Charles Reyes, the governor’s spokesman, said that Fitial, Senate President Pete Reyes and House Speaker Arnold Palacios did distribute the Oct. 22 letter to White House Council on Environmental Quality chief James Connaughton—leaked to the news media on Thursday—to attendees at a conference on the monument plan this week and that it played a key role in the discussions. The letter expresses strong opposition to the proposal and blasts the Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-profit organization, for its efforts to rally local support for it.

However, Reyes said that after talks with Connaughton, the leaders’ stance on the issue shifted and they retracted the letter, asking White House staff to return it. While the letter still conveys the leaders’ position on the monument issue accurately, Reyes said, they are now more open to the possibility of a monument if the plan comes with definite benefits to the CNMI.

“I think the letter is still accurate in terms of our position,” said Reyes. “But, after the meetings, the tone of the talks had changed.”

Rep. Stanley Torres (R-Saipan), a long-time opponent of the monument proposal, on Thursday gave copies of the letter to local news media, including the Saipan Tribune, during a CNMI House session.

On Friday, Torres, who attended the conference where the leaders gave the letter to White House staff, said he had left prior to the point when the letter was withdrawn because he found Connaughton’s efforts to convince the governor and lawmakers to back the proposed monument upsetting. Torres said he was unaware the letter was later retracted.

“I left early, before they shook hands to depart,” said Torres, adding it became clear that Connaughton was “standing tight on his position” in favor of establishing the monument during the talks. “The insistence of Chairman Connaughton was kind of disturbing to me, so I kind of got up and walked away.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Pete Reyes (I-Saipan) expressed frustration over the leak of the letter, saying officials at the meeting had reached a “consensus” to recall it and not release it publicly.

“I don’t really appreciate this,” said Reyes. “It’s real disturbing that someone in our group would betray that trust. It’s so disturbing that it makes me sick to my stomach.”

The proposed national marine monument would place a vast swath of ocean water around the islands of Maug Asuncion and Uracus under heightened federal protection. President Bush is expected to issue a decision on whether to move ahead with the plan in the coming months.