Since the beginning of September, Martinique has once again found itself
with demonstrators setting up roadblocks, blocking roads and theoutskirts of supermarkets to protest against the high cost of living.
---- In the beginning was the RPPRAC. ---- "Bésé les prix, sé pou sa nou
lari, la Matinik debout" - Lowering prices, that's why we're in the
streets, Martinique standing up.. ---- It was following the call of the
RPPRAC (Rally for the Protection of the Afro-Caribbean People and
Resources) that the demonstrators marched peacefully, then set up in
parking lots and blocked the entrances to shopping centers during the
day, or until the repressive forces came to dislodge them. The goal: to
denounce the high cost of living, 40% more than in mainland France.
These actions took place in many shopping centers on the island - the
Leclerc, but especially the Carrefour, symbols of the monopoly of
large-scale distribution on the island, whose brands belong to the
capitalist group of the béké Bernard Hayot. From the first call, which
brought together nearly 700 people, the leaders of the RPPRAC were
arrested, including Rodrigue Petitot who was later released. France saw
the yellow vests parade, red is here the rallying symbol. It is
displayed on the demonstrators: T-shirts, shirts, ribbons on cars, etc.
The slogan: "We are at home here... When we understand that we are
owners, we stop behaving like tenants". The movement denounces the
monopoly of large-scale distribution. Its leader says he represents "the
people" and does not hesitate to speak in the name of the "people". This
movement, which claims to be civic and peaceful, was carried by social
networks, and it was via these networks that the RPPRAC launched the
first mobilizations outside of unions or political movements in
mid-August. Its representatives claim to be part of the RVN
"red-green-black" movement - the emblematic flag that will have to erase
the blue-white-red.
Institutions and employers in fear
At the same time, on September 8, following yet another demonstration
against the high cost of living, the "carrot" of the round tables was
not long in coming. The aim was to make people forget the memory left by
the general strike of 2009, led by the LKP with its leader Elie Domota,
which paralyzed the Antilles but especially Guadeloupe. Also to make
people forget the strikes and the revolt, two years ago, following the
dismissals of caregivers and firefighters who refused the compulsory
vaccination against covid-19. Here again, the protest denounced the
degraded living conditions and the repression of the colonial state. "An
bann bétché, vôlé nou kéyé fouté you dewô" - Bunch of thieving békés,
we're going to throw you out.
This time, before the street gets organized, becomes radicalized, and
the movement spreads, the economic players (politicians, associations
and unionists) meet very quickly. Faced with this deep and structural
problem, they have to gain time, defuse the anger of the neighborhoods
and try to find a solution. The large retailers are accused. Tenacious
and greedy, the bosses want to obtain more and more state aid to
accompany and compensate for the possible reductions granted on the
prices so demanded by the demonstrators. But the big bosses, powerful
and secure, find themselves protected by the forces of colonial
repression with the arrival of CRS reinforcements. The bosses of the
large retailers are not ready to cut back on their margins or on the
profits they make on the backs of the population and employees. It
should be noted that if the RPPRAC left during the first consultation
meeting, following the refusal of the prefect and others present to have
these discussions broadcast and serve as a platform for the leaders of
the movement, it returned to the table later.
At the same time and during these consultations, state and republican
order must reign. The ongoing police repression is accompanied by a
curfew and a ban on gathering and demonstrating in the city until
September 26, then until October 21. Measures that have in no way
discouraged the demonstrators and stopped the blockades. In response,
and while waiting for concrete and rapid solutions, the population on
the move in the streets is becoming more radical.
Against the high cost of living
Generally speaking, the prices of everyday consumption and services paid
by households are 30 to 42% higher than those in mainland France. Milk:
46% more; a packet of pasta: 90%, etc. These differences are due as much
to the prices imposed by the major brands as by CMA CGM - the container
shipping company that has a monopoly on them in the Antilles. According
to the Poverty Observatory (January 2023), extreme poverty hits the
overseas departments (DOM) 5 to 10 times harder than mainland France:
10% in Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion, and 30% in Guyana, compared
to 2% in mainland France. According to INSEE, in 2022 consumer prices
increased more than in metropolitan France: 9% in Réunion and 16% in
Guadeloupe and for all the overseas departments. Martinique remains 87%
still very dependent on the mainland for food imports, according to a
report from the National Assembly. In 1956, Daniel Guérin summarized
this dependence of the Antilles as follows (1): "In short, the Antilles
serve as a virtually exclusive market for foodstuffs and products
manufactured in mainland France, which they exchange for their sugar and
bananas." Today, after the fall of sugar and bananas, this colonialist
policy persists in another form. Because let's not forget the heavy
price paid by the Antilles in the health sector, where 85% of the
population suffers the devastating effects of the pesticide chlordecone:
poisoning of the population but also of the coastline, rivers, etc. Not
to mention the water problem. It is in this framework of imports and
exploitation that monopolistic capitalist groups - such as those of B.
Hayot and R. Saadé (boss of CMA CGM and 8th richest person in France -
inflate prices and ensure comfortable margins for their beneficiaries.
The Bernard Hayot Group
"Hayo toujou sakrifié salaryé aypou féankos plis lajan" - Hayot always
sacrifices employees to make even more money.
The Bernard Hayot Group (GBH) is dominant in mass distribution
(Carrefour, but also Euromarché, Décathlon, etc.). It has also been able
to develop its activities in automobile imports. GBH is present in
Réunion, Guyana, Kanaky... It has extended its tentacles beyond the
colonies, to Morocco and Algeria, and even other countries in Africa.
The Hayot family is ranked 119th among the richest people in France.
GBH's turnover has doubled in six years: it went from 1 to 2 billion
euros from 2001 to 2008. In 2021, this figure would rise to 3 billion,
and Hayot's personal fortune to 300 million euros. Descendant of
settlers who arrived in Martinique in 1680, Bernard Hayot is therefore
the heir to a fortune built on "white gold": sugar. A fortune made on
the exploitation of slaves and then, over the decades, of employees, and
of course by profiting from prices set on the backs of consumers. So
many facts that will make the boss of this group the natural symbol of
the profiteering repeatedly denounced by the populations during the last
social revolts.
Between the carrot and the stick
It is therefore between consultation and repression that violent clashes
have pitted young people against the forces of repression in the
neighborhoods of Fort-de-France or elsewhere on the island. As in
Kanaky, repression remains the response of the French state to the
population protesting in the streets. Tensions have risen a notch in
Fort-de-France with nights of revolt, cars burned, street lamps and
trees cut down to block roads and roundabouts. The prefectural report is
52 vehicles set on fire and 61 businesses burglarized and some set on
fire. A revolt followed by numerous arrests. Order must reign throughout
the territory of the Republic. It is for this purpose that the former
Minister of the Interior, G. Darmanin, dispatched his CRS to Martinique.
In particular the CRS8, an elite unit specialized in the fight against
urban violence and which was deployed as reinforcements in Mayotte for
the "Wuambushu" operation. For many Martinicans, the arrival of these
CRS is yet another provocation on the part of the French state. Indeed,
in 1959, following a banal road accident between a black Martinican and
a white metropolitan, tensions rose, and three days of violence ensued.
The intervention of the colonial forces caused three deaths, those of
Martinicans aged 15, 19 and 20. Faced with this excessive repression,
the General Council of Martinique decided to withdraw all "CRS and
undesirable racist elements". This event has remained in people's
memories under the name of "Black December". The return of the CRS
sixty-five years later has brought back memories and traumas. "This
measure only aggravates tensions and diverts attention from legitimate
demands", declared the PS MP for Martinique. The return of institutions
Frequent demonstrations and repeated actions to block stores have been
initiated by the RPPRAC since mid-August, sometimes accompanied by
solidarity workers (such as dockers), the shutters of downtown
Fort-de-France stores were lowered on September 19, taxi drivers carried
out slow operations, followed on September 24 by truck drivers... And
yet it was only a month later that the union organizations, including
the CGTM (2) and the CDTM (3), decided to catch up with the movement to
also protest against the high cost of living and the racketeering of the
population.
Radical, the CGTM filed a notice of unlimited strike, but without any
real prospects or concrete objective, while the CDTM was content with a
parade on September 28th. During this period, demonstrations and
blockades continued and intensified, followed by violent nighttime
confrontations with their share of injuries and arrests.
This October 1st, as everywhere in mainland France, will be the
umpteenth union call to mobilize and take to the streets. On that day,
the Martinicans demonstrated against the increase in wages and social
security, for the withdrawal of the pension reform and, of course,
against the high cost of living. The unions even invited the population
to join the mobilizations and blockades that had been going on for over
a month, led by young people, residents and workers. Furthermore,
despite the establishment of the curfew imposed by the colonial forces
of law and order, the clashes continued and led to the riots of October
7th and 8th.
A call without follow-up
"The troublemakers, persisting in taking the population hostage to their
strategy of chaos, continued to sow violence in the night on the night
of October 7 to 8 (...). In accordance with their mission, gendarmes and
police officers intervened to guarantee security throughout the
territory", communicated the prefect.
Following this outbreak of violence, all the unions, associations, etc.,
declared October 9 "Martinique a dead island" and denounced colonial
repression, with a call for a strike and for the mobilization to be as
strong as possible. A way of containing a situation that is beyond their
control. An operation that the mayor of Fort-de-France will fully
support with, of course, a call "for calm and restraint to find lasting
solutions to the structural problems of the high cost of living".
Of course, it is important that workers mobilize in turn. "Together and
united" remains the only way for them, with the population, to push back
the starvers and exploiters of the employers. A "union" already achieved
on the blockades and demonstrations. "Together and united", also the
only tool to push back the colonial State which represses the revolts to
protect the parasitic profiteers and maintain its domination over the
Antilles. But it is still necessary to overcome the union wait-and-see
attitude, it is still necessary for the workers aware of their
collective strength to take hold of their struggles and not let
themselves be held back by the bureaucracies and the wealthy politicians.
To gain time and calm the population, the elected officials set a round
table on October 10 with all the representatives concerned. It was
within the framework of this "Martinique dead island" day, and following
violent clashes in Carbet in the morning between demonstrators and
gendarmes who came to unblock a roadblock, that in the afternoon the
gendarmerie inaugurated in mid-August went up in smoke.
Yes, the workers and the population of the Antilles, as in Kanaky or
elsewhere, are right to revolt. In addition to the profiteers, it is the
colonial order that must be overthrown, and the capitalist system that
produces it.
Decaen, October 15, 2024
Notes
1. Anti-colonialist activist and libertarian communist. Read CA No. 341
(June 2024): "A curfew and then after".
2. General Confederation of Workers of Martinique. Independent of the
French CGT since 1976 and the first union on the island.
3. Democratic Confederation of Martinique Workers. Claims to be part of
the class struggle, but also "the well-being at work of employees".
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4284
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