Richard Ratsimandrava
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Colonel Richard Ratsimandrava (March 21, 1931
Antananarivo – February 11, 1975 Antananarivo) was
President of Madagascar for six days in February 1975. His assassination in 1975 led to a civil war.
Biography
Military career
He was born in 1931 and was a
Merina with a less "aristocratic" background
[1] and thus was more palatable to the population.
[2] A graduate of the
French Saint Cyr military college,
Ratsimandrava served throughout French Africa before returning to
Madagascar when that country gained independence in 1960. He joined the
army, attaining the rank of lieutenant-colonel by 1968; in 1972
President
Gabriel Ramanantsoa established a military government to replace the independence government of
Philibert Tsiranana, and Ratsimandrava was appointed
Minister of the Interior. In this position, he was able to manipulate the army, which led to the ousting of Ramanantsoa on February 5, 1975.
Death
Six days following his taking office, Ratsimandrava was assassinated
at 8 p.m. while driving from the presidential palace to his home.
[3]
His death was announced by the new ruling military committee, it
claimed that the President had been killed by members of the Republican
Security Forces (Groupe Mobile de Police-GMP),
[4] a counterinsurgency outfit dissolved by his predecessor.
[5]
The event nearly plunged the country into civil war between supporters
of the military government and former President Tsiranana; in 2006, on
the 31st anniversary of colonel's murder, a conference was held in
Madagascar.
[6]
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