Moruroa is one of the 118 islands of Polynesia, 1,250 kilometres from Tahiti. France began nuclear tests there in the 1960s and shortly thereafter began to suffer the effects of the nuclear explosion.

The Moruro was a wonderful island of Mediterranean climate, to which we were going to fish. And all of a sudden, strange things began to happen: coconuts fell, trees withered, fish were killed… The whole landscape was bitter and signs were placed with the legend “these waters are contaminated”. We look at each other, terrified, without understanding why they're infected. Neither in the news nor anywhere was it reported. Gradually, security measures to access the Moruro area were increasing and no cameras could be carried. When you arrived, you had a pollution measuring device available, but you had to leave it to the exit. We Polynesians love to eat fish and many continued to fish in Moruroa waters. The corpses were found for years and sent to France, where they were required to have an explanation for their exhumation. However, they returned them in the coffins without giving any explanation. In view of all this, I felt a huge need to tell the world what was going on.

Did these facts drive you into politics?

Exactly the policy is not. I did it for our people and for the people, for our health. At that time I met several scientists, including French Marie-Thérese Danielsson and Swedish Bengt Danielsson. This couple of anthropologists and activists knew the place very well, and they offered a number of talks around the world about the case of Moruro. They also published the book Moruroa mon amour. They were the first people to explain to me the causes of the pollution: The French people were being used for nuclear tests. We knew that it was very dangerous to denounce it and that France would do its best to avoid it, but we could not remain silent.

One of his first steps was to report to the United Nations.

In 1978 we organized our first trip to New York, together with representatives of New Caledonia, who are also fighting for the liberation of France. France, however, tried to avoid the appearance. On the eve of the trip, a French official working in Tahiti came to see me in the office and warned me not to pick up the plane I had to go to New York, to put drugs in my suitcase and gendarmes would wait for me to be stopped outside and taken to jail. He told me that he learned about the plan for an extraordinary visit that his master had and that he came to tell me. I thanked him and I didn't go to the airport, of course. The man died three years ago, and that's when I first told this fact. For years I had no news of her, but I took the opportunity to visit her on a trip I made in 2004 to France and thank her once again.

I didn't welcome you.

No, every year in the first week of March we started organizing demonstrations. Sometimes in Tahiti and others in the Marshall Islands, the Americans showed their solidarity with the nuclear tests that were carried out on the Bikini trailer. I remember the first time that protesting on the street, we would only be around fifteen. Some people thought we were crazy. But we kept organizing, and year after year we were more. We gradually organized protests and talks around the world. Once a year, for example, we were going to New York for twenty people to talk to the United Nations. The French delegation did not attend these speeches.

In 1995, a major protest against nuclear tests took place in Papeet, the capital of Tahiti.

It was the last big protest. During his time as French President, François Mitterrand suspended nuclear tests, but in 1995 Jacques Chirac came to power and resumed the tests. We organized great protests, people from all over the world came: Japan, Europe, United States, New Zealand, Australia... Several buildings in the city, including the airport, were burned down by the French regime. So they incarcerated a lot of people and forced them to say that I was the organizer, to re-incarcerate me. However, the detainees stated that the only culprit for what happened was the Government of France.

And after years of struggle, he became president of Polynesia.

The former President of Polynesia, Gaston Floos, was a great friend of Jacques Chirac and the news repeated how good his relationship was and the predictions that he would remain president of our nation for years. To change this situation, we decided to join all the small Polynesian parties, and in 2004 we won the elections for the first time. The French Government did not accept it and stated that the elections in Polynesia had not been completed. They repeated all the votes. The second statement was to say that all sources of income to Polynesia would be cut. I answered: “They’re going to shut us down from the fountain, but the rain will continue to give us water and we will always have something to contribute.” They never accepted the results of the elections and six months later they were reconvened for the independence referendum. From 2004 to 2013, five elections were held and we won the five. They were complicated years, but as Nelson Mandela says, the road to freedom is not easy.

Does Nelson Mandela see Nelson Mandela as a political benchmark?

Yes, of course. In 1996 I had the opportunity to meet myself. One of his first trips to prison was to New Zealand, where he thanked his rugby team, All Blacks, the first to prove that they were facing Apartheid in South Africa at the World Cup final and refused to play against the South African team. I took that journey to be with Mandela and talked to him about the struggle we had against nuclear tests. Then I took the opportunity to say that we would put his name on a street in Tahiti. And on the day of his death we designated the main street of Fa to Nelson Mandela Avenue.

In 2013, you managed to reappear on the list of countries to decolonize from the UN.

In 1946, the UN set up the Decolonization Commission, but it only lasted one year on that list, as France managed to eliminate it. For years we have asked them for help in stopping France’s nuclear tests and we have been told that they cannot help us without being on the list. In the end, thanks to the protests on the street, to the demands of the political leaders and to all the speeches we have made in the world, we have managed to reappear on the list. Just that same year, the Moruroa Nuclear Test Workers Association rose up in demand for compensation for the health damage caused. However, the French Government has asked them for documents demonstrating that health problems are due to nuclear tests.

You've been on that list for four years now. Has the UN taken a step forward? In
2016, the General Assembly issued a resolution stating that Polynesia has the right to manage all the resources of its nation and that France has an obligation to entrust them. On the other hand, the resolution calls on France, for the first time, to know the health problems and economic damage caused by the nuclear tests. France, of course, has taken it very badly, because they very much like to play a moralising role and give advice to the world.

And what is the position of the current Polynesian Government on this issue?

The President of Polynesia, Edouard Fritch, explained to the international community that he visited New York two years ago that the relationship between France and Polynesia is very good and that the subject of nuclear tests is resolved. His father-in-law, Gaston Floose, who has been president of Polynesia for years, has travelled around the world saying that all the contamination of nuclear tests has already been cleared up. They protect and conceal the tests.

But the Polynesians have suffered for years the impact of pollution.

The first nuclear tests were carried out in 1966 and, years later, new and unknown diseases arrived in Polynesia that were unknown. There are many cases of cancer of all kinds. Treatment of patients and cleaning up pollution has cost between FF 50 and 60 trillion a year. We are victims, France should take care of these expenses. In the Moruro, nature was pure and today it is a deserted island full of warships.

You've written a letter to Emmanuel Macron as soon as you get to office.

I first thanked him for saying that the war and colonization of Algeria in his campaign was a crime against humanity. However, the statements of the accused stagnated, as they appeared to have been under pressure from all over France on the route between Algeria and Paris. I took this opportunity to tell him that the UN should begin with a process of decolonization. For example, the Fa airport should move from French control to local community management. Macron, upon receipt of the letter, met with the President of Polynesia and informed him that they will begin a process for the Fa airport to be managed by the Polynesian community. “Great,” I said, “but is France going to follow with the majority in the direction of the airport?” I asked him, and he said yes. Then things do not change; the French will continue to make decisions.

What autonomy does Polynesia have and what do you demand from your political party (the Polynesian Freedom Front)?

The Constitution puts us at the same level as the other French departments; in 1977 we were granted the Statute of Autonomy and that was a great achievement. But, despite everything, France still has full control of our nation and we claim full independence. We are following with great enthusiasm the Catalan process and the three Members we have in the French Parliament launched a manifesto in support of the Catalan process.

Have you ever tried to hold a referendum?

When they came to occupy our people there was no referendum; in 1942 there came and there was war, the struggle between our people and the French soldiers, in the five archipelagos of Polynesia. This nation did not peacefully surrender to the French, as they say. In the main cemetery of Papeet is a monument in honour of the French soldiers and sailors who died in the war. In 1995, we built another one at Fa's cemetery, in tribute to our pioneers who for years lost their lives in this struggle.

On more than one occasion he has denounced that the standard of living is very expensive for the Tahitian people.

Our tax system in Polynesia is not very beneficial to us: here we receive many imported products and because they have a very high tax, the price rises a lot. One of the main points of our political programme is the development of own resources so as not to be so dependent on imported products.

Is Tahiti an official language?

This is another big problem. We have been fighting for years to make it an official language, but the only official language is French. For this reason, there is little talk of Tahitian among the younger generations. They learn French and they have everything in French, as well as the media. It's hard, but it's a reality. That is why, when Macron says that colonization is a crime against humanity, I would remind him that not only in Algeria, but also in Polynesia.

Is there a chance to learn Tahiti in schools?

When we started going to school, it was forbidden to speak in Tahiti. Now you can only learn Tahiti until Elementary. Time is too short, it's not enough. I've talked about it with a number of academics, and it's clear to us that everything can be taught in Tahiti.