Political forces from French overseas territories form ‘Liberation Front’

Almost two dozen movements from the Caribbean, Asia Pacific, and other regions have agreed to unite

Parties and political movements seeking independence for French overseas territories have formed a united “International Front for Liberation of Last French Colonies” after a two-day meeting in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku. They have vowed to join forces in fighting what they call French colonialism.

The political forces hail from a host of territories controlled by France, including the Mediterranean island of Corsica and islands in the Caribbean, Melanesia and Polynesia. The new front also involves a party from the Pacific territory of New Caledonia, where massive riots broke out in May over an election reform pushed by Paris.

The unrest prompted Paris to launch a “major operation” in the archipelago, located to the east of Australia, some 17,000 kilometers away from France.

On Thursday, the movements signed a declaration on founding the liberation front. A website for the project also went online on the same day. The webpage features little information about the initiative so far, and its main page only shows that the “front” includes 15 movements.

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During the meeting, the newly formed front members “condemned France’s policy of racism and repressions” against the indigenous peoples of its overseas territories and set a goal of “harnessing the colonies’ efforts in the process of decolonization.” According to the declaration, other political forces from other “colonies” can join the movement as well.

The front was designed to become a “central platform” in the fight against what its members call French colonialism, according to the Azerbaijani media that covered the meeting. The organization’s members plan to develop a strategy for ending France’s colonial practices and present it to international bodies, the reports said.

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The meeting was supported by the Baku Initiative Group (BIG) – an organization created last year with the stated goal of supporting “anti-colonialist movements” and backed by Azerbaijani authorities. Azerbaijan had already hosted the leaders of French Polynesia’s pro-independence party in May.

The two-day summit was promptly condemned by pro-Paris parties in New Caledonia, which accused the pro-independence figures from the territories of being “in league with a foreign power” and “undermining the fundamental interests of the French nation.”

Tensions between Paris and Baku have risen since Azerbaijan established full control over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenian population of the area has long sought independence from Baku while enjoying support from neighboring Armenia. Since the 1990s, the territory had existed as a self-proclaimed Armenian-backed entity. Last September, Baku reasserted its sovereignty over the region through military action.

Paris has developed closer ties with Armenia in the months since, prompting Baku to accuse it of pro-Yerevan bias.