Revolt in a colonialist
NEW CALEDONIA the government with the only weapons left to them by the colonial system. Most of the Kanaks are rural people consigned to native reservations. Their actions have, therefore, been directed at challenging the occupation of lands by the white
"paradise"
the "Caldoches."
colonists,
Blockades have been erected on the country roads, isolating the "white" towns.
The development of French Caledonian society has been a continual attack on
Kanaks form 42 percent of the population of New Caledonia which is currently a French colony. Most of them live on native reservations whilst the ruling white population grows fat from what were once tribal
Three days after the November 18 elections of the new government of the territory which is dominated by whites, Kanaks fighting for inde pendence and led by the FLNKS (the Front for National and Socialist Liberation for the Kanaks), announced the establishment of a provisional
This, they declared, was "to lay the basis for a future state of Kanaky." They also stepped-up their campaign involving the occupation of white-dominated lands, the blocking off of roads and the seizing of the sub-prefect, Jean-Claude Demar. All attempts by the government in Paris to do a deal with the Kanaks have failed and divisions have opened up within the French establishment on how to resolve the problem in a way which will protect French imperialist interests.
In the following article Rouge, Fourth International went on to analyse the events of the last few weeks.
paper of the French section of the retreats - accepting the possibility of a dissolution of the Territorial Assembly and of holding a referendum in 1986.
population - theft of their land, rampant racism, and even assassination, for example, the murder of independence forces leader Pierre Declerca, in September 1981.
Despite the determination of the press to portray them as a band of savages on the war path, the FLNKS activists have demonstrated a high degree of responsibility in minimizing violence in the occupations and in taking officials into cus-
While the situation is not insurrectionary in the strict sense, it is no less true that the authorities do not control some rural areas. On the other hand, the question of political power will be decided ultimately in Noumea, the capital, and main town.
The argument most used to deny the
The Kanaks dealt a severe defeat to Kanak people the sole right to determine
The determination of the Kanaks was reinforced by the success of the boycott
STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY of the territorial elections (about 80% of the Kanak population stayed away from
Meeting in Quimper, Brittany, on November 23, the following organizations expres the polls).
sed their solidarity with the Kanak people's struggle for independence and de
Behind this action was the manded that the French state cease its repression in New Caledonia and abandon all
FLNKS.
It has, therefore, kept the initiative.
Herri Batasuna [The People United, the major revolutionary nationalist polit-
The Front's activity turns around two ical organization in the part of the Basque country that is in the Spanish state], major axes - campaigning for the release
EKIN [a Basque human-rights organization], the Ligue Communiste Revolutionof the activists imprisoned during the naire [French section of the Fourth International], Emgann [Victory, a Breton na election period and to force the governtionalist organization], the Union Democratique Bretonne, the Parti Communiste ment to back down and declare the elec-
Marxiste Leniniste, Kuzhul an Dieubidigezh [Liberation Council, a Breton nationaltions null and void.
ist organization], Skol an Emsav [School of the Revival, a Breton nationalist cul-
The FLNKS' hand has been strength-
The statement was delivered to the Quimper Prefecture on November 24, and ened in this regard because it was the copies were sent to the FLNKS and the USTKE [Union Sindicale des Travailleurs mobilization that it organized that forced
Kanaks et Exploites - Union of Kanak Workers and Exploited].
the Lemoine government to make its first
NOUVELLE-CALEDONIE oubatche
: Kouma hienghène
• Voh
Poya
50
100 km.
Nelle Calédonie
International Viewpoint 10 December 1984 colonialist or neocolonialist policies.
tural organization].
SEQUESTRATION
DU SOUS-PREFET
JEAN-CLAUDE DEMAR
FILE OUVÉA
- Ouevéa
ILE LIFOU
CILE TIGA
ILE MARE
OCEAN PACIFIQUE
• NOUMEA
ILE OUEN
MILE DES PINS - the future of their country is that they are in a minority. If this is true, it is and changes nothing with respect to the "inherent right of the Kanaks to their land."
The position of the FLNKS has been deliberately ignored in order to suggest that it is racist. The founding congress of the Front clearly stated that "the country will remain open to all those who accept Kanak sovereignty." What is more, it should be noted that the FLNKS includes white activists, and that Pierre Declereq himself was white.
The nub of the problem both for the government and the right is that the independence forces are challenging the imperialist interests represented by the Caldoche population, and that is what the authorities want to portray as a racist reaction.
In demanding that only Kanaks be - allowed to participate in a referendum on self-determination, the FLNKS is only
13
for an elementary right, but one that undermines the legal status of the French presence in all the colonies.
The colonial administration has always used religion and local customs to induce the Kanaks to respect the framework and
CHILE -