FEEJEE

hannoir · Black Bloc

So, earlier in the week Fiji saw its fourth military coup in 20 years. Frank Bananarama (yes, I know thats not correct) the military chief has seized power from the government, claiming that they hadnt done enough to sort out the issues resulting from the 2000 coup, in which Bananarama helped Qarase (the PM) into power after a racially motivated coup which was started by a businessman.

Now, a bit of background. Fiji is about have indigenous Fijian, half Indian. In the lovely days of the Empire, the Brits shipped the Indians over to work on the sugar plantations. Now its a bit different - the Indians are the more wealthy of the two groups, and whilst relations are usually good, sometimes, as in now, they aren't. For example, one of the parlimentary bills that sparked this all off was one about restoring seabed ownership to native fijians, meaning that the indians (or NZers or Aussies) would find it harder to develop hotels there.

But that isnt really the key issue here. Bananarama has placed the govt under house arrest (they were democratically elected earlier this year) and NZ, Australia, the US, EU and the UK have all withdrawn aid to the country in protest at this. But China have said they may fill the gap. This is all very well, but considering the economic situation is very fragile, this is totally going to screw the country and the people over, not Bananarama and chums. Yup, the EU and US subsidise sugar growing there (a big export) and tourism is the only other big industry. And suprisingly enough, that is declining too!

So, seems as though its a no win situation. Either continue the aid and encourage martial law, or pull it and screw over the innocent citizens.

Thoughts?
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