FRANCE: The Campaigner

In the steaming Ivory Coast capital of Abidjan one morning last week, witch doctors in intricately carved masks and grass skirts threw themselves at the feet of a lofty figure clad in the suntans of a French brigadier general. On the edge of a throng that had been pouring into the city since dawn, three ebony maidens displayed bare breasts painted in the French tricolor blue, white and red. With evident delight at the warmth of his welcome, Charles de Gaulle threw his arms wide in a V-for-Victory sign and cried: "Eh bien, eh bien! The community is made."

This...

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