NEW-CALEDONIA, THE ARCHIPELAGO UNDER HIGH VOLTAGE | M6 | Enquête Exclusive

Broad red bleeds stretch from the mountains of New Caledonia.

If nickel flows from the mountains, it also flows through the veins of the inhabitants, heating their bodies and spirits.

But on May 13, it was a reform of the electoral body, instigated by Paris, that set things alight. In the space of a few days, part of the Kanak population rose up. Nouméa, the capital, was on fire. The Caldoches, descendants of French colonists, barricaded themselves in. The riots left eleven dead and hundreds injured.

Five months later, the city still bears the scars of the violence.

New Caledonia had not experienced such a crisis since the Matignon Accords of the 1980s. Michel Rocard, then Prime Minister, negotiated a new status for the archipelago.

Forty years on, the idea of a “common destiny” promoted at the time by the Kanak and Caldoches seems outdated. Both sides claim a strong sense of belonging to the land and refuse to give in to the political injunctions of their adversaries.

At a time when nickel mining is no longer profitable and the economic crisis is hitting the archipelago hard, is reconciliation still possible? Can Kanak and Caldoches still live together?

For this latest edition of Enquête Exclusive, we’ll be immersing ourselves in the forces of law and order. We’ll also have access to the Caldoches and Kanak communities, in Nouméa and the north of the island.

An investigation into a high-voltage “rock”.