Éloi Machoro

Éloi Machoro (1945. Thio – 12 January 1985 Canala) was an independentist New Caledonian Kanak politician.

After he had founded the seminary of Païta, in 1974 he became a teacher. He selected as a party for himself the Caledonian Union which chose in 1977 in the Congress of Bourail under the leadership of Jean-Marie Tjibaou independent of Caledonia as an official position. In the same year he was chosen as a representative of his party in Territorial Assembly of New Caledonia. He just went higher and higher on the ladder as long as in 1981 after the assassination of Pierre Declercq at his own house on 19 September 1981 Machoro has reached the position of UC's general secretary. As a Kanak nationalist, he wished that New Caledonia never will be like it was before.», and among participants of the party's central part he represented the most radical partisans of Socialist Kanak Independence movement. Jean-Marie Tjibaou was the leader of the organisation, which would use armed forces also, if necessary. He and other independentist militants went to Libya-

FLNSK was formed on 18 November 1984 which replaced Independentist Front. Jean-Marie Tjibaou called for the boycott of institutions and the elections. He shattered a ballot with an axe and said the system prefers to Caldoches. On 1 December 1984 Jean-Marie Tjibaou formed a provisional government, of Kanak Socialist Republic and Éloi Machoro became Minister of Security and so he became the leader of independentist armed forces.

At beginning he disarmed the gendarmes of Thio andwithout any violent got control over the village. On 11 January 1985 Melanesians killed Yves Tual, daughter of a European stockbreeder. These events triggered off a series of night rebellions. Next day on 12 January gendarme started an operation for freeing the house of a European which the militant independentist occupied with the leadership of Éloi Machoro in the neighbourhood of Canala. Occupants flow away and found some security for themselves in another house where gendarmes after strong warnings started to catch up everybody. Éloi Machoro and another Kanak have died during the action. Gendarme left Machoro agonise during long hours without giving him any kind of help.

Éloi Machoro is a controversial person of New Caledonia: for population of European Territories among antiindependentists his name was associated with violence against civil armed forces. Among independentists he was one of their characteristic leaders, a hero, who died martyrdom.