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NEWS ÜVERVIEW
Trouble
in Paradise
"Yanks, Come Back!"
Those are slrange
words lo be seen on a
banner being waved by a
group of demonstralors.
But lhe plea is nol so
farfelched lo al leas! sorne
French citizens ot New
Caledonia
This tradilionally serene
South Pacific island,
situated off the northeast
coast of Australia , is a
remnant of France's
colonial past. Renowned
September 1985
areas, and violen! clashes
have taken their loll on
human lives and
property.
Presiden! Mitterrand of
France proposed a
referendum on autonomy for
1989.
The separatists.
however, clamor lo have it
earlier, perhaps in
1986;
parliamentary eleclions are
due in France in
1986,
and
they fear a conservativa
swing could make
¡
independence harder lo
~
achieve. The separatists'
.--l----'
National Liberation Front has
New Caledonia's European
youth on parade. KANAK
/eader Tjibaou beside photo
offall en /eader Machoro.
primarily for its rich nickel
deposits and enticing
beaches, New Caledonia 1s
home lo sorne
140,000
already set up ils own
provisional government.
Many French seltlers
accuse Paris ot planning lo
abandon ils children. They
want no par! of
independence. Washington,
while leaving hands off,
More than rheloric is
involved in claims lhat
" foreign powers" are
behind !he scenes, slirring
things up. Libya's
Muammar Kadafi last year
proclaimed that il is time
lo " liberale the French
colonies, " and he played
hosl lo leaders of !he New
Caledonian independence
movement.
lndependence for New
Caledon1a could help
pro-independence moves
elsewhere in the Soulh
Pacific , as well as in !he
French Wesl lndies. A New
Caledonia "in the wrong
hands," sorne say, would
be destabilizing.
¡
residenls.
has ils eyes on the
situalion.
As a prominenl French
weekly pul il, "Neilher
Australia nor New Zealand
has any desire today lo
have a Cuba at their
doorsleps." •
1
¡
Now civil war belween
pro- and anti-independence
torces looms as a distinct
possibility.
The original Melanesians,
callad Kanaks, constitute
43 percent of the
populalion.
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is from their
ranks that most of the
pro-independence activists
come. Opposing them are
the bulk of
52,000
French
settlers and a minority of
Asians and Pacific
islanders who wish lo
r.emain under the flag of
France.
lncreasing tensions have
caused tourism lo drop.
The island has become an
armed camp in many
Model ofdome ofthe 400- inch (JO-meter) Keck
Telescope. The world's largest opticalte/escope, funded by
a grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation, wi/1 be built atop
Mauna Kea on the island ofHawaii.
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