Calvo: Guam is prepared

Many pooh-poohed yesterday the escalating tension between North Korea and the United States but, just in case, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres created a working group that will respond to a nuclear threat.

Torres said the creation of the Nuclear Threat Working Group is in the “best interest of the people of the CNMI.”

Torres signed Executive Directive 2017-003 yesterday to form the Nuclear Threat Working Group after multiple news outlets reported that North Korea is weighing a plan to pre-emptively hit the neighboring island of Guam with a nuclear attack in response to U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s comment that North Korean threats to the U.S. “will be met with fire and fury like the world has ever seen.”

According to the Torres directive, the working group will be composed of representatives of the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Public Health, the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality, and the governor’s authorized representative and would be headed by the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. It would be working with regional and federal partners to update the All Hazards Response Program to include the addressing of nuclear threats.

The working group would address “potential nuclear threats to our region,” the directive states.

A statement from the Torres administration yesterday quoted Joint Region Marianas Rear Adm. Shoshana Chatfield as saying that “no imminent threat exists for both Guam and the NMI” and that the community would be informed by both the U.S. Department of Defense and the Guam government “as this situation develops.”

NMI keeps an eye out

Although Torres assured that no imminent threat is present for both Guam and the CNMI, the Commonwealth government is keeping an eye out, just in case.

Special assistant for Homeland Security and Emergency Management Gerald Deleon Guerrero and his office is monitoring the situation “closely” while keeping communications with both the Guam Office of Homeland Security and Civil Defense and the Mariana Regional Fusion Center.

“We continue to be in close coordination … on any potential courses of action in order to prepare for such threats,” said Deleon Guerrero in the Torres statement.

The Torres administration urged the “community to remain calm and to continue going about their daily activities.”

“I will remain in close contact with our military officials, the federal government, and our local emergency first responders. We will continue to prepare for anything, and we will continue to keep our loved ones in Guam in our thoughts.”

‘Deeply troubling’

A statement by Guam Delegate Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-GU) stressed that Trump should work “in partnership with the international community to de-escalate the growing tensions in the region and prevent North Korea from advancing its nuclear program further.”

“While the recent sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council were an effort to demonstrate to [North Korean leader Kim Jong Un] that his actions will not go unanswered, President Trump must show steady leadership as these sanctions are carried out.”

The recent sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council last Aug. 5, 2017, included bans on North Korea’s export of coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore, and seafood, costing Pyongyang more than $1 billion in income annually.

According to Bordallo, North Korea’s “escalatory actions are an international problem” and that efforts must be continued to “bring a peaceful resolution to the North Korean threat,” before reiterating that “Guam remains safe.”

“… I am confident in the ability of U.S. defenses to protect our island and allies in the region,” she said.

‘America will be defended’

A statement by Guam Gov. Eddie B. Calvo yesterday said, “Guam is prepared for any eventuality.”

According to Calvo’s statement, he reached out to the White House yesterday morning.

“An attack or threat to Guam is an attack or threat [to] the United States. [The White House] has said that America will be defended,” reads part of the statement.

In addition to ongoing regional and federal communications, Calvo assured that there is no immediate threat to the CNMI or Guam. He added that, according to Guam Homeland Security adviser George Charfauros, “several levels of defense are all strategically placed to protect [Guam] and our nation.”

“I am working with Homeland Security, the rear admiral [Chatfield], and the United States to ensure our safety,” said Calvo.