If you ever visited the Maldives as a tourist, chances are that you landed at the main airport in the capital city, Malé, hopped on a puddle jumper, and then made your way straight to one of the hundred or so islands set aside for use as resorts. And because the regime depends on these resorts for most of its income, Gayoom and his goons made sure to keep them clean and trouble-free; the resorts, for example, remain the only place in the strictly Muslim Maldives where it’s legal to serve and drink alcohol.
