Date: Tue, 16 Jul 96 12:39:13 PDT
From: LCMRCI <global-AT-uk.pi.net>
Subject: Bougainville - the Hidden War in the Pacific



The war over Bougainville is escalating.  Members of the  Bougainville 
Revolutionary Army (BRA) have been waging a war of independence for 7 years. 
They want independence from the rest of Papua New Guinea (PNG). At the end 
of June, the war took a new turn. PNG troops invaded the neighbouring 
Solomons to search out rebel soldiers of the  BRA. They claim the Solomons 
government are harbouring revolutionary soldiers. This latest action has 
earned condemnation internationally. The New Zealand government has offered 
to mediate.  
Class Struggle backgrounds the conflict as a problem created by imperialism 
which imperialism cannot solve . It is necessasry to fight for an 
international workers solution.  

 Solomons Proximity
If the Solomons are involved, it puts in question the claim that the 
Bougainville conflict is a civil war inside PNG.There is strong sympathy in 
the Solomons for the rebels.  The BRA have an office in Honiara,  capital of 
the Solomons.  This time the PNG government forces have taken action against 
the Solomons. In 1992 they blew up a tank on Shortland Island.
Geographically, Bougainville is part of an archipelago, the northernmost 
island in the Solomons chain. The culture, language and physical 
characteristics of Bougainvillians are closer to Solomon Islanders than 
either Papuans or New Guineans. Suggestions that Bougainville be made part 
of the Solomons have re-surfaced during this latest skirmish.
But the Bougainvillians want independence. They do not ask imperialists to 
allocate them another `protector'. Their close relationship to the Solomons 
is a support for their primary aim -  self determination.

Imperialist Creation
The attachment of Bougainville to PNG was an outcome of European imperialism 
in the Pacific. Germany colonised PNG and Bougainville, while Britain 
colonised the Solomons. This arbitrary carve up cut through historic 
connections between Bougainville and the Solomons in pre-European times. 
After the defeat of Germany in World War 1, the League of Nations gave New 
Guinea, including Bougainville, to Australia to administer, while Britain 
kept the Solomons. (New Zealand got trusteeship of Western Samoa at the same 
time.) This has meant that the fate of Bougainville continues to be tied to 
the machinations of imperialism, now to mini-Imperialist Australia.
After the next world war, political independence was on the agenda. 
Australia granted PNG independence in 1975. But Bougainville demonstrated 
its unwillingness to be tied in to PNG, declaring itself independent 15 days 
before the mainland. 
This act of independence could not be tolerated. Prime Minister of PNG, 
Michael Somare, claimed this independence was at risk from the exploitation 
of the Australian company that ran the big copper mine in Bougainville, 
Conzinc Riotinto Australia (CRA). Bougainvillians submitted to Somare when 
he claimed he was rescuing them from CRA.

Profit First; mining giant CRA
Bougainville regretted their compliance as Somare showed himself to be on 
the side of multi-national capital, the mining company CRA, and the 
Australian government.
The CRA and Australian governments have worked in collusion. Initially CRA 
established itself in Bougainville with the support of the Australian 
colonial police in a paramilitary operation to subdue locals. The copper 
mine at Pangua made an enormous hole in the middle of Bougainville. CRA made 
billions from it. They gave generous donations to the Australian Labour 
Party election campaigns. Australian PM Goff Whitlam, in granting 
independence to PNG, was not about to make life precarious for CRA. His 
lackey, Somare, protected them.
Somare's independent PNG was still economically dependent on Australian 
capital. Big Australian companies like Burns Phillip ran the local economy. 
The CRA copper mine was a particularly massive earner of foreign exchange 
for PNG, an essential part of the new PNG state. Somare misled 
Bourgainvillians into believing that he was protecting them from CRA, when 
it was CRA he was protecting.
It was in Somare's interests to protect CRA. He and his mates operated as a 
comprador elite, working to serve imperialism, ensuring CRA and other 
companies ran unrestricted plunder for Australian capital in PNG. In return 
Somare's clique made personal fortunes while the local economy flagged. Even 
the World Bank noted this `excess spending' into the pockets of the 
bureaucratic elite was endemic in a corrupt administration.

Independence from mining
Although  Somare brought in the troops to quell striking miners at Pangua, 
jailing 800 workers just before PNG independence, it was troubles at the 
mine after independence, that triggered the strongest reaction. 
Locals demanded compensation for the damage to the environment that the `big 
hole' CRA mine was causing. CRA have expropriated land by force. Waste from 
the mine polluted rivers and destroyed fishing. It polluted the land the 
locals depend on for their livelihood.
After 24 years of fruitlessly pursuing legal channels for compensation, 
locals began a guerilla campaign of sabotage against the mine. PNG reacted 
with an armed blitz. Despite official Australian non-involvement, PNG forces 
were engineered by Australia. They continue to be backed by Australian 
military hardware and personnel. Australian helicopters and mortar shells 
have not defeated Bougainvillians.
The mine closed in 1989, followed by a declaration of independence from BRA. 
The war continues.

Peasants not workers
Although the Bougainville revolt has erupted over mining, its real purpose is secession. The Revolutionary Army want to end the exploitation of the CRA.  They want to reclaim their traditional lifestyle, and end the connection to PNG.
The BRA are the military wing of the Panguan people, small farmers who are fighting against the loss or damage of their land by CRA. They support traditional Melanesian socialism based on land tenure. They do not see the exploitation of mine workers as their reason for struggle. They reject workin
g class struggle. They do not want to be part of the working class. They are not revolutionaries against capitalism.
Their support in NZ comes from church groups who recognise the justice of their fight for human rights.But as their fight involves a challenge to a multi-national company, they are confronting imperialism, the spread of capitalism internationally. We know that it is impossible for oppressed nation
s to free themselves from imperialism short of a socialist revolution. That is why it is important for workers to support their fight. Only the organised working class can defeat the capitalist system that nurtures companies like CRA.
We can do this by campaigning in our unions to put bans on CRA and the other companies ripping off Bougainville. We can mobilise workers aid for their military struggle, and we can oppose the NZ government deploying its armed forces in Bourgainville, as back-up forces for the Australian military, 
or posing as "peace-brokers.  Only by supporting their right to self-determination can the Bougainville freedom fighters be won to the struggle for international working class revolution.




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