10-01-2017, 11:40 PM
*** 2-Oct-17 World View -- Cameroon police shoot and kill English-speaking protesters on Sunday
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Cameroon police shoot and kill English-speaking protesters on Sunday
****
![[Image: g171001b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g171001b.jpg)
Cameroon police with riot shields in the Anglophone region on Sunday (AFP)
With separatist movements growing in Spain's Catalonia region and in
Iraq's Kurdistan region, activists in the marginalized Anglophone
(English-speaking) regions of Cameroon are demanding independence for
Ambazonia, the name that the separatists give to the Southern
Cameroons, the home of most of the Anglophone people of Cameroon.
Cameroon's majority Francophone (French-speaking) government has
responded by sending in troops to into the Southern Cameroons to stop
the protests with force. Over the weekend, soldiers shot and killed
at least seven people and wounded dozens others in several cities in
the confrontations.
Unrest began late last year when Anglophone lawyers protested that the
legal and court systems are biased toward Francophones, with many laws
passed without even being translated into English. Anglophone
teachers also went on strike last year, protesting that all courses in
the schools had to be taught in French, and that any use of English
was forbidden.
The police and the army violently dispersed the demonstrators at that
time. Several people were severely beaten, dozens of others were
arrested and at least two people were shot dead, leading to riots.
On December 8, a pro-government rally was organized in the Anglophone
regions, leading to violent clashes with local Anglophones. Four
died, several were wounded and around 50 arrested. Demonstrators set
fire to a police station, government buildings and vehicles. The
government responded to the demonstrations by placing the region under
military control. The violence continued with further incidents in
January and February. Now violence is rapidly increasing once more.
The Southern Cameroons were originally a British colony ("British
Cameroons"), while the remainder of the country was originally a
French colony ("French Cameroun"). In 1961, after a bloody internal
war, Cameroon became an independent country, containing both regions,
under an agreement under which Anglophones and Francophones would
would be equal. However, the Francophone majority has failed to keep
many promises it made at that time, and they've increasingly made the
Anglophones a disadvantaged and marginalized minority,
According to a recent report by the International Crisis Group and
published two months ago:
<QUOTE>"If a lasting solution is not found, the next
resurgence of the Anglophone problem could be violent. The haughty
attitude and cynicism of senior government officials, notably when
they say that “as long as the Anglophones do not take up arms, the
current strike does not worry [us] unduly”, could promote
instability. ... “What can the Anglophones do? If they don’t
want to go to school, so much the worse for them”, added a senior
official. ... They are mistakenly relying on the strike losing
impetus and the emergence of divisions among strikers, because
although the campaign has weakened since May and even if it
fizzles out, the fundamental problem will remain and people will
continue to feel dissatisfied."<END QUOTE>
In the two months since the report was published, there has been a
resurgence of the problem, and it has been violent.
The description of the "haughty attitude and cynicism of [Francophone]
senior government officials" towards the Anglophone people reminds of
the attitudes of the French towards the English during the Napoleonic
period and during the War of the Spanish Succession. France and
England were united against Germany during the two world wars, but
over the centuries they never really have gotten along very well. The
crisis in Cameroon seems more and more to reflect this ancient
difference between the English and French cultures. AFP and BBC and International Crisis Group (2-Aug) and Crux Catholic News
Related Articles
****
**** Catalonia's leader says the region has 'won the right to statehood' from Spain
****
Spain's national police resorted to substantial violence on Sunday to
prevent citizens of Catalonia from casting a vote in the poll for the
independence referendum. Police smashed their way into polling
stations, and used force to remove people from the buildings. Video
showed people being kicked and thrown and women pulled by their hair
away from the polling stations.
Catalonia's government is claiming that 90% of those who were
allowed to vote were in favor of the referendum. Live interviews
with Catalan people indicated that some who were opposed to the
referendum voted in favor of it anyway, as a protest against
the Madrid government's violent treatment of ordinary people who
were simply trying to vote.
In a televised address, Catalonia's leader Carles Puigdemont said,
"With this day of hope and suffering, the citizens of Catalonia have
won the right to an independent state in the form a republic."
Left-wing activists and labor unions are planning a widespread
strike on Tuesday. This crisis is far from over.
BBC
Related: Catalonia referendum poised to go ahead despite Spain's harsh repressive measures (01-Oct-2017)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Cameroon, Southern Cameroons,
Anglophones, Francophones, British Cameroons, French Cameroun,
Ambazonia, Liberation Movement of Southern Cameroons
Spain, Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Cameroon police shoot and kill English-speaking protesters on Sunday
- Catalonia's leader says the region has 'won the right to statehood' from Spain
****
**** Cameroon police shoot and kill English-speaking protesters on Sunday
****
Cameroon police with riot shields in the Anglophone region on Sunday (AFP)
With separatist movements growing in Spain's Catalonia region and in
Iraq's Kurdistan region, activists in the marginalized Anglophone
(English-speaking) regions of Cameroon are demanding independence for
Ambazonia, the name that the separatists give to the Southern
Cameroons, the home of most of the Anglophone people of Cameroon.
Cameroon's majority Francophone (French-speaking) government has
responded by sending in troops to into the Southern Cameroons to stop
the protests with force. Over the weekend, soldiers shot and killed
at least seven people and wounded dozens others in several cities in
the confrontations.
Unrest began late last year when Anglophone lawyers protested that the
legal and court systems are biased toward Francophones, with many laws
passed without even being translated into English. Anglophone
teachers also went on strike last year, protesting that all courses in
the schools had to be taught in French, and that any use of English
was forbidden.
The police and the army violently dispersed the demonstrators at that
time. Several people were severely beaten, dozens of others were
arrested and at least two people were shot dead, leading to riots.
On December 8, a pro-government rally was organized in the Anglophone
regions, leading to violent clashes with local Anglophones. Four
died, several were wounded and around 50 arrested. Demonstrators set
fire to a police station, government buildings and vehicles. The
government responded to the demonstrations by placing the region under
military control. The violence continued with further incidents in
January and February. Now violence is rapidly increasing once more.
The Southern Cameroons were originally a British colony ("British
Cameroons"), while the remainder of the country was originally a
French colony ("French Cameroun"). In 1961, after a bloody internal
war, Cameroon became an independent country, containing both regions,
under an agreement under which Anglophones and Francophones would
would be equal. However, the Francophone majority has failed to keep
many promises it made at that time, and they've increasingly made the
Anglophones a disadvantaged and marginalized minority,
According to a recent report by the International Crisis Group and
published two months ago:
<QUOTE>"If a lasting solution is not found, the next
resurgence of the Anglophone problem could be violent. The haughty
attitude and cynicism of senior government officials, notably when
they say that “as long as the Anglophones do not take up arms, the
current strike does not worry [us] unduly”, could promote
instability. ... “What can the Anglophones do? If they don’t
want to go to school, so much the worse for them”, added a senior
official. ... They are mistakenly relying on the strike losing
impetus and the emergence of divisions among strikers, because
although the campaign has weakened since May and even if it
fizzles out, the fundamental problem will remain and people will
continue to feel dissatisfied."<END QUOTE>
In the two months since the report was published, there has been a
resurgence of the problem, and it has been violent.
The description of the "haughty attitude and cynicism of [Francophone]
senior government officials" towards the Anglophone people reminds of
the attitudes of the French towards the English during the Napoleonic
period and during the War of the Spanish Succession. France and
England were united against Germany during the two world wars, but
over the centuries they never really have gotten along very well. The
crisis in Cameroon seems more and more to reflect this ancient
difference between the English and French cultures. AFP and BBC and International Crisis Group (2-Aug) and Crux Catholic News
Related Articles
- Cameroon's army to force English-speaking children to attend school (31-Aug-2017)
- Cameroon: One person killed in English-speaking vs French-speaking civil unrest (23-Nov-2016)
- Cameroon's president finally caves in, restores internet to English speakers (21-Apr-2017)
- Cameroon shuts down internet for English-speakers protesting French-speakers (15-Feb-2017)
****
**** Catalonia's leader says the region has 'won the right to statehood' from Spain
****
Spain's national police resorted to substantial violence on Sunday to
prevent citizens of Catalonia from casting a vote in the poll for the
independence referendum. Police smashed their way into polling
stations, and used force to remove people from the buildings. Video
showed people being kicked and thrown and women pulled by their hair
away from the polling stations.
Catalonia's government is claiming that 90% of those who were
allowed to vote were in favor of the referendum. Live interviews
with Catalan people indicated that some who were opposed to the
referendum voted in favor of it anyway, as a protest against
the Madrid government's violent treatment of ordinary people who
were simply trying to vote.
In a televised address, Catalonia's leader Carles Puigdemont said,
"With this day of hope and suffering, the citizens of Catalonia have
won the right to an independent state in the form a republic."
Left-wing activists and labor unions are planning a widespread
strike on Tuesday. This crisis is far from over.
BBC
Related: Catalonia referendum poised to go ahead despite Spain's harsh repressive measures (01-Oct-2017)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Cameroon, Southern Cameroons,
Anglophones, Francophones, British Cameroons, French Cameroun,
Ambazonia, Liberation Movement of Southern Cameroons
Spain, Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
