Guadalcanal Island
Guadalcanal, whose native name is Isatabu, is an island located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It is the largest of the Solomon Islands. Its extension is 5336 km². The population is 60,000 inhabitants approximately. The most important city is Honiara, which is the capital of the islands, but it does not belong administratively to the same province as the rest of the island, the province of Guadalcanal, but to the rest of the Capital Territory.
Archaeologists have found cultural traces of the presence of human population on Guadalcanal that have been dated to between 6,500 and 4,000 years before the present (5th millennium BC to the XXI BC) at the site of Vatuluma Posovi Cave (also known as Poha Cave). In the same area, in the Poha Valley, there are remains of the second wave of population that integrates the heritage of the native population of Guadalcanal, the Lapita tradition (Austronesians) dating from 2700 before present (VIII BC). In the XVI Guadalcanal was one of the Pacific islands through which the expedition of Álvaro de Mendaña passed, since then being integrated into Western cartographic knowledge.
The most important historical event that took place on this island was the Battle of Guadalcanal, during World War II. At the beginning of 1942 the island was in the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army. The United States Marine Corps arrived on Guadalcanal on August 7 of that same year. The landing had no setbacks, but the fight became complicated from that moment, unleashing one of the most violent battles of that war. Finally, the American troops communicated on February 9, 1943 the conquest of the island.
In recent decades, ethnic tensions have developed between migrant inhabitants (or their descendants) from neighboring Malaita Island and natives of Guadalcanal, heightened by an economic, social and health crisis. The difficult conditions galvanized stereotypes of local (supposedly lazy and uncompetitive) and Malay (supposedly industrious and competitive) economic interests, masking structural problems of political leadership and economic policy. The tension led to attacks on rural Malay settlements and clashes around Honaira with overtones of civil war, a coup in 2000, and finally the deployment of a peacekeeping force from neighboring countries in 2003 at the request of the local parliament, which stabilized the situation.
History
Discovery
The island was discovered during the expedition of Álvaro de Mendaña from Berciano in 1568 aimed at discovering the legendary Terra Australis Incognita under the reign of Felipe II. The name of the island was given by the explorer Pedro de Ortega Valencia (at the time, a member of the Mendaña expedition) in honor of his hometown, Guadalcanal, currently in the province of Seville.
Colonization and independence
Although the Island was discovered for Spain, Spanish efforts to colonize it failed. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, only missionaries and different groups of Europeans arrived.
In 1885, the German New Guinea Company gained control of the Solomon Islands. However, the German administration was short-lived. In 1893 the south-eastern sector of the Solomons was made a British protectorate and five years later the northern sector was added.
In 1900, Germany transferred its remaining domains (with the exception of Bougainville and Buka) to the United Kingdom in exchange for British withdrawal from Eastern Samoa. Since then, as part of the Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal has been occupied by the British Crown.
In 1920 Bougainville and Buka were placed under an Australian mandate by the League of Nations, while Guadalcanal remained under the British crown until 1942, when it was occupied by forces of the Empire of Japan and later recaptured by American forces in what was the Battle of Guadalcanal.
World War II
The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codified by allies as Operation Watchtower, developed between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943 around the island of Guadalcanal in the framework of the Pacific front of the Second World War. This military campaign was the first major offensive launched by the Allies against the forces of the Empire of Japan.
On August 7, 1942, allied forces, mainly Americans, started landing on the islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi and Florida (Nggela Sule), in the southern Solomon Islands. Its objective was to prevent such islands from being used as a basis for threatening supply routes between the United States, Australia and New Zealand. The Allies also sought to use Guadalcanal and Tulagi as bases that could support a campaign that would allow them to conquer or neutralize the main Japanese bases in Rabaul, in New Britain. Allied forces overwhelmed and overwhelmed the defenders, who had occupied the islands in May 1942, taking over Tulagi and Florida, as well as an airfield that was under construction in Guadalcanal, later renamed "Campo Henderson".
Surprised by the Allied offensive, the Japanese made several attempts between August and November 1942 to recover the Henderson Field. Three major battles on the ground, five major naval battles and almost daily air battles culminated in the decisive naval battle of Guadalcanal in the beginning of November 1942, where an attempt by the Japanese to disembark troops to capture the Henderson Camp failed. In December 1942 the Japanese abandoned their efforts to retake Guadalcanal and evacuated the remaining troops on 7 February 1943.
The Guadalcanal campaign was the first strategically important victory of the combined forces of the Allies in the Pacific theatre. For this reason, it is frequently described as a "inflection point" on the Pacific front. The campaign marked the beginning of the Allies transition from defensive operations to the strategic offensive, while Japan was forced to abandon the offensive and adopt defensive strategies.Civil War
At the beginning of 1999, tensions between the inhabitants of Guadalcanal and the migrants arrived from the neighbouring island of Malaita led to violent clashes. The Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army (in Spanish, Revolutionary Army of Guadalcanal), later known as Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM), which demanded a federal government for the island of Guadalcanal and that the name be changed to that of Isatabu, began to carry out terrorist actions against the Malaysians who lived in rural areas with the intention of leaving their homes. About 20,000 Malaysians left their homes and moved to the capital or Malaita Island.
Meanwhile the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF) to defend the interests of Malaysians. The government had no choice but to seek help from the Commonwealth Secretary-General. On 28 June 1999, the Honiara Peace Agreement was reached. Despite an apparent resolution of the conflict, the problems remained, and in June 2000 the violence broke again in violation of the peace agreement.
On June 5, 2000, the EMF managed to raid parliament with the help of several tanks. Once in power, Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufa’alu was dismissed. On 30 June, the Parliament chose Manasseh Sogavare as a new prime minister. Sogovare established a Coalition for the National Union, Reconciliation and Peace, which had set up a programme of actions to address the ethnic problem, improve the economy and distribute the benefits of development more equitably. However, the Sogarave government was tremendously corrupt and its measures led to a deterioration of the economy, law and order.
The conflict was caused mainly by access to land and other resources, and the riots and fighting focused on the capital, Honiara. The deaths were estimated at a hundred and some 30,000 displaced persons, mainly Malaysians. Due to the fighting, the economic activity in Guadalcanal was deeply affected.
Continuous disturbances caused a collapse of the economy. Officials stopped earning their wages and government meetings should be held in secret to prevent warlords from intervening. The security forces were unable to restore order and many of the security forces took advantage of one or the other side.
In July 2003, the Governor-General of Solomon, with unanimous support from the parliament, called for international assistance to resolve the conflict. The government passed a law to equip international troops with broad powers.
Following the announcement of the dispatch of 300 police and 3000 soldiers by Australia, New Zealand, Fiyi and Papua New Guinea, the warlord Harold Keke announced on 6 July 2003 a ceasefire. The announcement was made by sending a fax signed to Prime Minister Allan Kemakeza. Keke led the Guadalcanal Liberation Front by refusing on the south-west side of that island (Weather Coast). Despite the ceasefire, the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation reported on 11 July 2003 the unconfirmed assault of two villages by Keke supporters.
In mid-July 2003, Solomon ' s parliament voted unanimously for intervention. The international force began to meet in Townsville, in August 2003 to move to the islands. Pacification forces received the name of Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) or Operation Helpem Fren. Australia was the most effective country, knowing its contribution as Operation Anode, although other countries of the South Pacific also contributed troops, such as New Zealand, Fiji and Papua New Guinea among others. The troops acted as a police force and their responsibility was to restore order in the country, due to the inoperability of the local police force (Royal Solomon Islands Police). International troops improved the security of the area and managed to capture Harold Keke in August 2003.Contenido relacionado
Annex: Municipalities of the province of Las Palmas
1471
Villagelanguage