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| International |
| Those Who Live in Glass Houses Shouldn’t Throw Stones |
| 2003-03-16 |
| For many years, the indigenous Kanak population of New Caledonia has been seeking independence from France, which colonised the country in 1853. After violent clashes in the mid-1980s, people in New Caledonia have negotiated new agreements which delay a vote on independence, but increase powers for the local government. The transition to independence in New Caledonia may influence other colonies in the Pacific, and similar autonomy programs are being debated in Bougainville and West Papua. NOTE: New Caledonia is a major nickel producer Nickel Mines: Bienvenue, Goro, Koniambo, Kouaoua, Nakety, SLN Mines, SMSP Mines, SMT Mines Nickel Smelters: Doniambo, Koniambo Nickel Companies: Argosy Minerals Inc., Eramet, Falconbridge Limited, Inco Limited, JC Berton Mines, Nickel Mining Corporation, Nisshin Steel Co Ltd, SMT, Societe MiniÚre du Sud Pacifique In 1988, clashes between opponents and supporters of independence ended with the signing of the Matignon and Oudinot agreements, negotiated by the French government, the Kanak independence movement Front de Libération Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS) and the conservative settler party Rassemblement Pour la Calédonie dans la République (RPCR). These agreements set out a ten-year transition with a vote on the future of New Caledonia scheduled for 1998. Many Kanaks accepted the ten-year transition in the expectation that the 1998 referendum would lead to political independence for New Caledonia. However, the proposed referendum on self-determination and independence was deferred again for at least fifteen years, following the negotiation of a new agreement in May 1998 - the Noumea Accord. The Noumea Accord includes constitutional changes to New Caledonia's status within the French Republic, creating "shared sovereignty", a new citizenship for New Caledonians, and ending the previous status as a territoire d'outre-mer (overseas territory) of France. The Accord includes measures to recognise indigenous Kanak culture and identity (highlighted by a preamble to the Noumea Accord which acknowledges the "shadows" of the colonial period). A new cultural centre, named after the Kanak leader Jean Marie Tjibaou, has been built in Noumea, the capital of the country. Other independence movements in the overseas Departments of France are Tahiti's leading independence party, Tavini Huiraatira (Polynesian Liberation Front), Movement for Independent Guadeloupe, Christian Movement for the Liberation of Guadeloupe or KLPG and Martinique Independence Movement or MIM. This brings to mind Carl Bernststein's article in Time (2/24/92) about Bill Casey's destabilization of the Soviet Empire in the early 80s focusing on it's point of weakness in Poland."Tons of equipment-fax machines (the first in Poland),printing presses, short wave radios, video cameras, computers, word processers...-were smuggeled into Poland..." by secret channels. If for any reason we should want to raise the temperature in the Frog Pond a few degrees (Centigrade, of course),it can been done by merely sending a couple of old Casey hands to the Caribbean and South Pacific with some small-to-moderate sized brown envelopes in their attache cases (figuratively, of course: the intrament of choice is non-tracaceable electronic money) and a bit of help from a Tech Rep at Blog*Spot. |
| Posted by:George H. Beckwith |
| #2 Just for the record : the 1988 "clashes between opponents and supporters of independence" were actually a full-scale hostage-rescue situation; the 22 april, 4 gendarmes were killed and 24 taken hostages by dozens of FNLKS (independence mvt) members. The situation was very tense, mainland France being right in the middle of the presidential election which opposed its conservative prime minister, and its socialist president. The 5 may, a few days before the election, the conservative prime minister, low in the opinion polls, opted for a military option. The GIGN, DGSE paramilitaries and Hubert naval-commandos launched an assault on the Ouvéa cave, where the group was hiding (location was partly found through brutally rounding up suspects & roughing them up ?). 19 hostages takers were killed (4 of them after they surrendered ?), as well as two gendarmes; alas, despite this and a shadowy (read "ransom") well-timed lebanon-hostages release, the conservative prime minister was defeated, to be elected in 1995 only. As you already guessed, his name was Jacques chirac. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-03-16 12:06:42 |
| #1 The various movements in the South Pacific are driven by large scale immigration to the region since WWII. Some island populations have moved closer to economic centers of activity. Some islands have had East Asian and Chinese immigration take over the commerce in the area. The original population was overtaken by events because of its primitive nature and lack of adaptibility to change. Islands are not conducive to migration, to begin with, because of limited land area and the economic restrictions imposed by the ocean. Add to that immigrants with a more advanced culture and differing world view, and the original inhabitants get left behind. And that ticks them off. The solution, for many of them, is the same that the African nations chose. Drive out the foreigners and everything will be better. "We'll all be richer and powerful." Of course, when the immigrants leave, so does the money, and the labor force that kept the money flowing. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-03-16 11:31:12 |