Fiji The Big Chill Settles over Paradise

A bloodless coup reveals ethnic tensions in a tropical land

As the clocks on Suva's gray stone government buildings struck 10 a.m., the eleven men moved silently into Parliament. One wore a smart lightweight jacket over a striped shirt and tie and a sulu skirt wrapped around his waist, appropriate attire for the steamy, tropical capital of Fiji. The others, however, wore army fatigues and carried machine guns. Inside the chamber 51 members of the Fijian Parliament sat listening as a colleague expounded on the history of the islands. "Peace and harmony is the governing principle on which the Fijians have been running their lives," said Taniela Veitata. "This is in...

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