Phoenix Foundation

The Phoenix Foundation is a libertarian foundation that has supported numerous attempts to create independent enclaves based on libertarian principles and tax havens. The foundation was a brainchild of US businessman Michael Oliver.

In 1971 the Foundation began to construct a platform in the South Pacific. The Libertarian enclave Minerva declared independence January 19 1972, intending to become a tax haven. However, neighboring Tonga sent men to take down the Minervan flag and to build the platform over, and eventually Tonga annexed the area.

The Foundation's next attempt was in 1973 on the island of Abaco in the Bahamas. The Bahamas were about to gain independence from the United Kingdom, but a number of white settlers did not approve of living under black rule. In June 1973, one month before the intended independence, the Foundation financed an attempt to make Abaco independent from the Bahamas, hoping to create a libertarian region. The Foundation founded a newspaper and funded a militia that was intended to be trained in Georgia. When the would-be-trainer Chuck Hall backed out, the project collapsed.

The Foundation's most recent attempt happened in 1980 when Vanuatu was about to gain its independence. Oliver allied with Jimmy Stevens of the New Hebrides Autonomy Movement, which had been unsuccessful in elections. NHAM (or MANH) declared an independent Republic of Vemarana in the island of Espiritu Santo. The government of Vanuatu applied for aid from Papua New Guinea that sent a battalion of soldiers to stop the rebellion.

During the attempt in Vanuatu, NPR labelled the Phoenix foundation “a sinister right-wing organization”. Supposedly, Jimmy Stevens received $250,000, arms and a radio from the Phoenix Foundation, an ultra-right US organization, in return for concessions to install a casino and, allegedly, cover for illicit activities from Stevens’ Republic of Vemarana. [http://www.vanuatu.usp.ac.fj/library/Online/Texts/Introduction%20to%20Vanuatu/WorldGuide.htm]

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