Social and colonial news
Following on from the setting up, in Papeete, of the Pacific Experimentation
Centre, we have witnessed the disappearance of local self-sufficient
agriculture and fishing whose rights have been sold to the Japanese factory
boats. Since then we have seen the setting up of a two-tiered society. The
majority of ethnic Polynesians have gained little from the bomb's economic
fallout.
Unemployment and slums are the growing reality. Tourism has created few
jobs. The independance folk want development aid to be diversified so that
local people no longer depend on just one country and one political
programme. No doubt the rioters in Papeete were manipulated. By misery.=
(...)
Over there, like here, the military and the nuclear industry do little to
prevent misery from spreading. On the contrary. However with all that money
to be made...
A Democratic Blank
Things nuclear and democratic don't rhyme. The arrest of syndicalists in
Papeete, the demonstrations banned in Paris, disinformation and lies
consistently prove the point. From the Communists to the Gaullists they are
all for things nuclear and hide behind the banner of the Electricity
Suppliers and the Atomic Energy Industry. As has been said, they want to
find out how stupid the French are by selling them empty arguments and all
the repressive menas along with the media are at their dispossal. We are
reminded of the French customs officers who were going to stop the fallout
from Chernobyl.
At the same time Superphenix power station is going back online
At the same time we continue to send our waste to the Third World.
At the same time Hiroshima's survivors are dying slowly from the effects of
a bomb dropped 50 years ago.
Say no to Nukes!
F=E9d=E9ration anarchiste=20
Sections Contre l'Atome Liquidant le Pacifique (Scalp-Reflex)
GABI, WE'RE BURNING THE TOWN DOWN
Interview with Gabriel Tetiarahi, co-ordinator of the NGO network,
concerning recent troubles in Tahiti.
Who was demonstrating at the airport?
- Young people. Most of them from poor quarters. Of course there were also
anti-nuclear activists and syndicalists, but they wanted a non-violent=
protest.
But buildings were burnt down and shops ransacked...
-Some syndicalists make have had a part to play in all of that but very few.
Most of those responsible came from those sectors of society who have
suffered the most from the economic and social problems the island has
suffered. Most were aged between 15 and 25, unemployed and with no useful
skills. Such folk are uncontrolable.
What was the link with the nuclear tests?
- Ecologists, syndicalists and militant Christians were deeply offended by
Chirac's decision.
And Oscar Temaru's Independance Party?
- I think Temaru was surprised by the direction that events took. The
workers in the region who have been organised into unions and took part in
the General strike Wednesday, didn't ask permission, they simply grabbed the
big engines to block the airports runways.
Has Tahiti ever seen suchs scenes of civil war?
- Of course, during the workers struggles in 1987 at the harbour and in the
town, there was even more destruction. But this time the events were
strongly influenced by the frustration and anger of the young people.
It seems that these people put everything together: protest against the
nuclear tests, demands for independance and social problems.
The demonstrations which were sparked off by the anti-nuclear protest,
express the difficulties confronted by these people. But the people's anger,
faced with this first test, comes from the fact that over the past few
months, everything which they have heard was imply statements, either from
the French government or Greenpeace. The social problems and the sufferings
of the Polynesian people are never mentioned. The feeling of inferiority,
the impression that they don't exist in the minds of others all this came
out in a violent fashion.. I noticed tat the airport that the TV crews were
attacked and that journalists cars were set alight - that's the reason, I'm
sure of it.
Sounds like a criticism of Greenpeace?
- Of course, Greenpeace brought the world's attention to Mururoa, on its own
activities on Mururoa. 'Blood will flow in the streets' a high ranking
official from the evangelical church warned before the riot broke out.
When a few militants from Hiti-Tau came to tell me 'Gabi, we're burning the
town down', I felt I had no right to stop them. The real violence has come
from the French with their bombs. The Polynesians are simply reacting to the
violence being inflicted upon them. We have already made so many non-violent
demonstrations, signed so many petitions and written so many letters, but
the Parisian governments - from De Gaulle to Chirac - have never heard us.
Can these events lead to Independance in Tahiti?
- No. This explosion of violence was only partly linked to the independance
movement. The latter like theanti-nuclear movement is taking advantage of
the change in the wind because it feels it enjoys interntional support. But
the emotions raised will quieten down. We must find a place for these young
people in our society that is what we must fight for. But this kind of
protest could happen again if this feeling of frustration persists.
Interview by Nicola Liebert, Tageszeitung, 13 september 1995.