NEWS
September 26, 1987 | From Times Wire Services
Col. Sitiveni Rabuka, a native Fijian and head of the armed forces, said Friday he staged his second military coup in this South Pacific island nation to block a political comeback by the elected Indian majority he toppled in the first coup May 14. In a radio announcement, Rabuka said he had seized power again because the new government did not meet the goal that motivated his first coup: ensuring that Melanesians would control Fiji's government.
NEWS
June 20, 1987 | DAVID LAMB, Times Staff Writer
Here in the heart of the South Pacific, on an island of gentle breezes and eternal innocence, a noble experiment in democracy and multiracial harmony has met its severest challenge--and has failed. For 17 years, ever since gaining its independence from Britain, this nation of 322 islands and 715,000 people was, as Pope John Paul II put it last November, "a symbol of hope in the world."
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
June 10, 1987
Having lived in the interior of Fiji from 1984-86, I share a sympathy and concern for their situation. I lived in a village, sleeping, eating, and talking as they did. Thus, I believe I understand some of what they are experiencing. Further, I am compelled to support and applaud the efforts of Lt. Col. Sitiveni Rabuka. He rallied for the traditional Fijian--the Fijian who has seen his tropical paradise change at a furious rate within the last hundred years; the Fijian who lives off the land in the bush; the Fijian who has seen ethnic Indians rise in number and economic power at their expense.