France declares curfew as second overseas territory erupts with protests over failing services and high cost of living
~ From Contre Attaque ~
A brand new gendarmerie barracks was completely burned down in Martinique on October 9, and yesterday the island’s airport that was invaded by protesters, preventing planes from landing. At the same time, increasingly violent riots are taking place at night, the police are being pushed back, and radars are being set on fire.
For weeks, a revolt against the high cost of living has been shaking the French overseas territory in the Caribbean. Roadblocks, demonstrations, a McDonald’s fire, a Carrefour invasion… actions are multiplying. The French state has decreed a curfew without managing to stifle the anger.
In the French overseas territory, public services are seriously failing, with regular water and electricity cuts. The population has been poisoned by chlordecone, a pesticide used by the banana industry.
Vital foodstuffs are also unaffordable. Supermarkets sell food two to three times more expensive than in mainland France. It is a few large store owners, often from families of settlers and slave owners, who are getting rich.
Earlier this year, a revolt took place in France’s the Pacific territory of New Caledonia, in which settler violence and the nickel industry played an important role.
French CRS troops were sent as reinforcements to Martinique, a heavily colonial symbol: in 1959, three young schoolchildren were killed in Martinique by the CRS, and the elected officials obtained the departure of these forces. Now they have made their return to violently repress the demonstrations.
This additional provocation has rekindled the revolt in recent days. The announcement of an additional 300 CRS planeloads pushed the movement to take over the airport tarmac.
Through his authoritarianism and his colonial contempt, Macron will have succeeded in inflaming all the overseas territories. In Martinique, the movement is therefore gaining momentum, and so is the repression.