Word: caledonia
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...meant as a soothing dose of diplomacy for a strife-torn territory--and an antidote to criticism at home. French President Francois Mitterrand last week made a sudden visit to the French Pacific-island territory of New Caledonia, where at least 18 people have been killed since November in an increasingly bitter struggle over independence. After announcing the trip in a nationally televised interview, Mitterrand said he was going to the troubled territory to "express what I believe to be reason" and to show support for French Special Envoy Edgard Pisani, author of a controversial independence plan for the islands...
...President's visit came five days after France had dispatched 1,000 extra gendarmes and paratroopers to New Caledonia. The contingent had been sent to reinforce the territory's 2,280-man French security force after confrontations two weeks ago between native Melanesians, known as Kanaks, and predominantly French settlers, called caldoches, left three people dead, prompting Special Envoy Pisani to declare a state of emergency...
Just when the French Pacific island territory seemed finally to be edging toward independence, violence erupted. Once again a sudden burst of fury set New Caledonia's French settlers (caldoches) against the native Melanesians (Kanaks), who are struggling for independence after 131 years of French rule. Sporadic clashes between the two groups have resulted in 18 killings over the past two months. The latest outbreak was sparked by the shooting death of a 17-year-old French settler some 40 miles northwest of the capital, Noumea. Within only a few hours, more than 1,000 people, most of them caldoches...
...disturbances came just four days after the island had received a long- awaited independence proposal from the French government. In a television address, French Special Envoy Edgard Pisani outlined a plan under which New Caledonia would become a sovereign nation, yet remain bound to France by a special "treaty of association." The proposal was a compromise over a vexing issue: although the Kanaks were the original inhabitants of the territory, 930 miles east of Australia, they represent only 42.5% of the current population of 145,000. In their fight for independence, the militant Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front boycotted territorial...
...with nothing less than complete sovereignty. The caldoches continue to argue that the Pisani plan would lead to a Kanak takeover. Pisani declared a state of emergency throughout the territory, including a dawn-to-dusk curfew. In Paris, where Premier Laurent Fabius dispatched 1,000 fresh troops to New Caledonia, a political uproar was brewing. Right-wing opponents of President Francois Mitterrand's Socialist government joined the island's French community in denouncing the Pisani plan...