New Covid rules spark angry protests
Pointe-à-Pitre, Thursday,
There's trouble in paradise...
Protesters in French overseas territories in the Caribbean have clashed with riot police as the Paris government vowed to reimpose order. Anger sparked by proposals for compulsory vaccination of health workers in Guadeloupe has led to barricades of burning tyres being erected and even the exchange of live rounds between police and crowds in Martinique.
Guadeloupe and Martinique are French Overseas departments whose inhabitants are fully fledged French citizens who can vote in local, national and even European elections and are, by extension, part of the European Union. But even if equality exists in principle, in practice the inhabitants are very dissatisfied with many aspects of their lives.
In Guadeloupe, water, in particular, is a huge issue. The plumbing and pipes are very old and the region is too poor to pay for replacements which means many people live without access to water for almost half the day. The French government is accused of not taking the problem seriously.
The final straw for many islanders came when President Emmanuel Macron (43) made vaccination obligatory and vaccine passports mandatory for health workers back in July. After peaceful protests in the streets of the main cities, the Paris government reacted to the situation by imposing a lockdown on the islands. But when this was lifted, the marches began again only this time much less peaceful. Rioters started to block roads and burn cars. The local police forces were overwhelmed by the scale of the protest prompting the government to impose a curfew. In an attempt to calm things down, the Macron government offered to talk about further autonomy for the islands but surveys show that what the protesters really want is access to water and more recognition within France. Add to this, they now certainly also want plans for vaccine passports and mandatory vaccination of health workers to be withdrawn. And there are still frequent calls for government recognition of the harm caused by the authorization of chlordecone in the French Antilles.
Polling shows that the islands overwhelmingly want to stay French departments and referendums held in 2003 for Guadeloupe and 2010 for Martinique found that about 79% and 72% respectively of the populations did not want more autonomy! The reality is that these far away places want to be as much part of France as, say, the cities of Pau or Lille in Metropolitan France. Nonetheless, what is happening right now might just be the forerunner of the two islands insisting on more integration with their distant fellow countrymen. Either way, by introducing the new health laws, the Macron government has stirred up a lot of old resentments.
The Banana Republic
The island of Guadeloupe is a very touristic Caribbean island near to the country of Dominica. In fact, Guadeloupe is not just one island but an archipelago consisting of seven main islands. The main agricultural activity is the growing of banana plants, the crop which led to the French government allowing the use of a dangerous insecticide named chlordecone right up until 1993 (despite the same chemical having been forbidden in the United States since 1976). This both caused widespread pollution and gave Martinique and Guadeloupe one of the highest rates of prostate cancer infection in the world.
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