The picturesque island state of Madagascar located off the western coast of the African continent is an internationally recognized hotspot of biodiversity as well as a nation struggling to attain legitimacy through the electoral process. Presidential elections are scheduled for October 25th of this year and despite a willingness on the part of the Malagasy to take control of their country through democracy; this upcoming election has not been without difficulty. This October date is the 3rd one to be picked since the Madagascan election process began. Internal power struggles and turmoil arose previously over the candidates and their various connections to the current regime which came to power by force in 2009.
The Malagasy people hunger for the legitimacy of sovereign control over their nation. As their forests are plundered and their children go to work without ever considering school, the soul of Madagascar cries out in desperation. The people of Madagascar have struggled long to attain legitimate control over their fate and future. They have been misled, they have been manipulated. They may have lost the international and regional trade agreements necessary to elevate their economy but they have not lost their hope. The people of Madagascar hunger for control over their own destiny.
A recent story to shock the world and bring fear to many investors and willing tourists alike revolves around reports that Europeans had been executed on Nosy Be a resort island northwest of Madagascar. Travel warnings have been issued which will no doubt impact the future tourism of Nosy Be as well Madagascar as a whole but the story being lost between the headlines is the fact that the men executed had allegedly been found with the mutilated corpse of a Malagasy child.
The suggestion has been made that the foreigners were in Madagascar with the express purpose of harvesting organs for transport back to Europe. I was not there and I can only speculate from the comfort of my office but my intuition tells me that this story is the reflection of a much more potent one being told across the African continent and indeed the world itself.
Madagascar is being illegally plundered, lawfully abandoned, and effectively exiled from the International Community. The Malagasy people are struggling to attain freedom and it should be the responsibility of all rational and sane nations to help them self-determine the best outcome for the future success of their children. Democracy is not the only key to freedom but it is one of the ones of which I am most fluent. I can only hope that the government that comes to power through the election process on October 25th, is one that will responsibly be able to steer this beautiful country.
Madagascar deserves restorative justice. Madagascar deserves the expertise of the world. Madagascar deserves the attention of the International Community and the protection of the brightest and boldest minds. Madagascar deserves to be elevated for its immense environmental wonders and incredibly resilient people. Madagascar deserves peace.
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