[On Dec. 1. 1984, proindependence forces in the French colony of New Caledonia proclaimed a provisional government of Kanaky on that Pacific island. The provisional government was set up by the Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), a coalition of 10 organizations. That move followed a FLNKS-organized boycott of the November 18 elections to the island's local assembly.
[Because of the French authorities policy of colonial settlement, the island's 64,000 Kanaks, a Melanesian people, make up only 44 percent of the population. About 35 percent of the population is French. The remainder is composed of some 16,000 natives of other French colonial possessions such as Fiji, Wallis and Futuna, and the Indian Ocean island of Réunion; and by 10,000 Indochinese, mostly Vietnamese.
[The following article appeared in the Dec. 14-20, 1984, issue of Rouge, the weekly newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist League (LCR), French section of the Fourth International. The translation is by Intercontinental Press.]
THIO - The nickel-mining town of Thio, the only community on the east coast of New Caledonia still administered by a European, was under the control of the Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front for nearly three weeks. This mobilization began after the active boycott of the Nov. 18, 1984, elections
Papua
New Guinea
Solomon Is.
Vanuatu
Fiji Is
Now Caledonia NOUMEA
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Pacific Ocean New Zealand and ended with the lifting of roadblocks on December 10 and the opening of negotiations with [the French government's special envoy| Edgar Pisani.
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The ferociously anti-independence mayor of Thio, Roger Galliot, is a perfect symbol of the colonial bourgeoisie. A landowner in the Foa region, owner of a nickel mine, and investor in fishing boats, Galliot has one of the great fortunes in the territory.
Galliot's political trajectory is also indicative of how those who hold local economic power have hardened their views as the Kanak people's demands have taken shape.
Roger Galliot was a member of the Caledonian Union (UC) when it was established. He left that organization when it moved toward the demand for independence and for the recovery of stolen lands.
After running in the 1979 elections on the slate of the Federation for a New Caledonian Society (FNSC), linked to [then French President Giscard's] UDF. Galliot set up the farright National Caledonian Party (PNC) and during the last election made an alliance with the ultraright National Front in France, led by Jean-Marie Le Pen.
The active boycott of the November 18 election was a big success in Thio. Only 10 Kanaks voted, and out of 1,700 registered voters, including 541 Europeans, less than 25 percent went to the polls.
Galliot received only 65 votes, trailing the Rally for Caledonia in the Republic (RPCR), which has ties to the Gaullist RPR in France.
Strengthened by this initial result, the FLNKS organized to shut down the town. The majority of the nine tribes in the region, totalling nearly 2,000 people, took part in the action.
Well-organized occupation
Seven roadblocks and a maritime patrol controlled access to Thio. Traffic was prohibited inside the town. Through meticulous organization and the FLNKS's determination, it was possible to avoid any violent confrontation. thereby ensuring the operation's success and the seif-defense of the proindependence militants.
Economic activity was totally paralyzed. It is estimated that the French-owned Société le Nickel mining company lost more than 28 million Pacific francs [about US$500,000] per day in Thio.
The way this action was organized indicates the progress made by the FLNKS in this area. A local FLNKS committee directed the whole occupation. The seven roadblocks were staffed by teams of militants with their own self-defense systems.
Seizure of the nickel company's vehicles and gasoline stocks and the boats of Roger Galliot's fishing company contributed to the effectiveness of the proindependence mobilization, which was based on real local mass support. Young and old, women and children. everyone had a place in this action.
The danger of a violent confrontation was reduced by the FLNKS's confiscation of several dozen hunting weapons belonging to people in the European community. This action, which was preceded by intensive psychological preparation of that community, also strengthened the defensive potential of the independence forces.
A committee of elders, including one proindependence European, ensured contact with the besieged community. It took charge of health and social problems. As a result, in the village of Petroglyphe the Europeans themselves turned their weapons over to the FLNKS to avoid any reaction to this delicate operation of disarmament. A delegation of them even went to the Thio police station, where 80 police were holed up, to ask them not to try anything since the FLNKS was effectively taking measures to guarantee their security.
In fact, not a single shot was fired against Europeans. The productive apparatus was maintained intact. And the FLNKS prevented a repetition of the looting of stores that took place in the first days. To that end, watch tours and patrols were set up within the perimeter controlled by the proindependence forces.
These weeks of occupation were an unprecedented experience for the local Kanak popula-
Supporters of the FLNKS hoist Kanaky flag at roadblock in Thio.
tion, in terms of scope and duration. The local Kanaks had to ensure supplies for the militant community and its self-defense day and night. This encouraged new experiences of the populations concerned in terms of independent organization, discussion, and action.
Deepening of mobilization
This united regional mobilization of the Kanaks expressed a deepening nationalist and anticolonialist consciousness. It also had an impact on hesitant elements, drawing them closer. Of the 10 Kanaks who voted on November 18, six could be found on the roadblocks within a few days. The local traditional chieftainry associated itself with the movement, even setting up their own blockade.
Immigrants from [the French-ruled Pacific colony of] Wallis and Futuna in Thio also joined this protest action in their majority. This shows the present potential for deepening the unity of all the oppressed and exploited against the reactionary and colonialist right.
The success of this action was not unrelated to the abilities that the local proindependence leaders demonstrated in taking initiatives.
The December 2 neutralization of a company of Mobile Guards brought in by helicopter to take down the roadblocks is a good example of the effectiveness of the independence forces. Having circled the police, the FLNKS members accompanied them to the local police station in Thio without disarming them, "so as not to humiliate them too much." FLNKS leader Eloi Machoro told us.
The roadblocks encircling Thio were lifted December 10, but actions continued in the region. The Thio city hall had already been occupied to prevent the return of the fascist mayor.
The crucial problem of the land can provide other occasions for action. In the Thio district, out of 100,000 hectares of land, 85,000 belong to the state and 12,000 to the European settlers (mainly to three of them), while the 1,700 Kanaks live on only 3,000 hectares. Land occupations have already begun to take place. Preparations by right wing
The FLNKS's objective, which links the demand for land with the struggle for democratic administration of the town of Thio, is to gain increasing control of the terrain. Advancing along this path against a profoundly racist setter community that is attached to its privileges will require a degree of determination and mobilization that the FLNKS seems now to be actively preparing.
The colonialist right, especially since the massacre in Hienghène [on December 5, which killed 10 FLNKS supporters], is arming and preparing for violent confrontations.
While Roger Laroque, mayor of the capital city Nouméa, makes veiled calls for this armed mobilization, the reactionary Europeans in the capital are preparing to lay siege to proindependence sectors of the city. At this time they are still only making lists, gathering information, and setting up anti-independence roadblocks. But no one should have the slightest doubt about the intention of a large segment of the local reactionaries to crush the Kanaks and their allies rather than recognize their right to political power.
The Mitterrand government's stalling for time and its passivity regarding these preparations by the colonialist rightists can only increase the risk that this conflict for independence will have a violent outcome.