Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 08:39:28 -0400
From: Macarie <106624.1204-AT-CompuServe.COM>
Subject: Re: The trouble with nations WAS Re: Is the US postcolonial?


        Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyane, Réunion and Saint Pierre et
Miquelon , are "départements", ie they are part of the French territory,
people have French passports, the same laws are enforced, etc..(Incidently
Aimé Césaire was a promoter of the idea of "départementalisation").  
Administratively, politically speaking they are not different from any
other metropolitan "départements". There are DOM ( Départements d'Outre
Mer)
        New Caledonia, Tahiti and the surrounding islands are TOM-
Territoires d'Outre Mer, and they fall in another category. They do not
send deputies to the French parliament, there are some legal
differences.This is the theory, but  there are real differences between the
TOM and the DOM, on the paper.
        Now, on the other hand, the fact that for nearly 50 years now,
there has been a "Secrétaire d'Etat/Ministre des TOM DOM", implies that in
the mind of some both could be lumped together, and there is no need to 
say that the DOM are or have been made to be totally dependent on the
metropole as far as the economy is concerned.

Regards
G. Macarie


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