spotlight madagascar

Protests again, more killed.  There have been lulls in the news over the past couple of weeks, but the violence always leaks back in.  I’ve read in several papers that Rajoelina has issued a warrant for Ravalomanana, who still plans to return to Madagascar in a couple of weeks.  Things are not getting better.

From the BBC:

One person has been killed and at least 13 others injured during anti-government protests in Madagascar, hospital sources say.

…

Security forces used tear gas to break up the crowds, then opened fire.

Our correspondent saw at least one person shot in the back at close range, and says cars have been set on fire close to government buildings.

“The struggle continues. It should go until the end,” said Andry Rajoelina, Antananarivo’s former mayor embroiled in a power struggle with President Marc Ravalomanana.

AFP is reporting this sit-in. The crowds dispersed peacefully.

Afropop reported about similar incidents back in 2002. Check out the language used during that crisis:

Protest in Tana, 2002

The OAU, the United Nations, the United States and former colonial power France have all condemned as unconstitutional the February 22 proclamation by opposition leader and Antananarivo mayor Marc Ravalomanana that he is president. OAU and UN mediators briefly visited early in the two-month-old deadlock but have stayed away for weeks, amid criticism from some residents that the international community has shown a lack of commitment to helping solve the crisis.

Makes you think, doesn’t it?

This just in:

“All this is the response of a population facing economic difficulties and an absence of democracy,” one demonstrator told Reuters, as black flames billowed out of a supermarket behind him.”

Madagascar protestors burn state media, two dead | Industries | Energy | Reuters