On the airstrip, French President Emmanuel Macron was greeted with flower garlands and Tahitian dancers as he arrived for his first official trip to French Polynesia on Saturday night.
He intends to debate the territory’s strategic role, the legacy of nuclear tests, and the existential threat of rising seas presented by global warming while in the South Pacific.
Residents in the huge archipelago of more than 100 islands midway between Mexico and Australia are hopeful Macron will guarantee compensation for radiation victims as a result of decades of nuclear testing while France pursued nuclear weapons.
The tests are still a source of profound hatred, as they are perceived as proof of racist colonial views that ignored islanders’ lives.
“During this visit, the president hopes to develop a robust and transparent dialogue by promoting various tangible steps, including the opening of state records and individual compensation,” according to a French presidential official who did not want to be identified.
At a meeting with delegates from the semi-autonomous region convened by President Edouard Fritch earlier this month, French officials denied any cover-up of radiation exposure.
The discussion took place after the investigative website Disclose reported in March that the fallout’s impact was significantly greater than officials had admitted, citing declassified French military data on the roughly 200 experiments.
