Since September 1st, a social movement against the high cost of living
and injustices has been gaining momentum in Martinique, but also in
Guadeloupe and Réunion. This popular anger is being severely repressed
by the French state, which is seeking to silence it and thus maintain
control of its colonial empire. ---- At the initiative of the Rally for
the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC),
hundreds of people demonstrated and organized blockades of supermarkets
to demand that prices be aligned with those in mainland France, because
food products are on average 40% more expensive in the Antilles than in
mainland France.
Fifteen years after the popular uprising in Guadeloupe, Martinique and
Guyana against "pwofitasyon" - that is, "outrageous exploitation" by the
capitalists who control the means of distribution - the problem remains
in the Antilles.
Structural poverty
While the poverty rate in Martinique is more than twice as high as in
mainland France, the few large families controlling the majority of
businesses (the "békés") impose exorbitant prices throughout the French
Antilles. This situation of injustice is all the more striking with
inflation and a territory that imports 87% of its food.
The high cost and undignified living conditions in Martinique and the
overseas territories in general are not insignificant: the colonial
policy of the French state forces these territories to import their
consumer goods from the mainland, via national companies - Carrefour,
Auchan and others - despite the immense distance and the proximity of
the countries of the Caribbean region. This results in the imposition of
the capitalist model, the destruction of Creole gardens, dependence on
the mainland, and structural unemployment. Young people are told that
there is no future there and that they must go and train in the mainland.
A colonial continuum
All this is part of a colonial continuum of the management of the
"overseas territories". More than 1 billion euros to make the Seine
swimmable, but still shortages of drinking water in Guadeloupe,
overcrowded prisons and schools, a ban on the Creole language on
official documents, a racialized society, the continuation of colonial
export monocultures, mass and lasting poisoning with chlordecone (a
pesticide used until 1993) in the Antilles where more than 90% of the
population is contaminated, extraordinary police violence during the
Covid crisis, nuclear tests in Polynesia until the 1990s, a specific
visa for Mayotte with violence and live ammunition during operations
Wuambushu 1 and 2... The Mayotte Regional Health Agency "advises"
sterilization to young women on the island, just as young women were
aborted en masse on Reunion Island without warning in the 1960s and
1970s for colonial control of demography.
The overseas territories did not "choose" France, as evidenced by the
colonial counter-revolution during the decolonization period, which
resulted in the crushing of pro-independence groups and parties. Sixty
years later, France is still a colonial power, whether it has
departementalized, whether its colonies are officially no longer
colonies, or whether the French state maintains its military presence
and cooperation agreements in Africa.
The UCL unconditionally supports the mobilizations, whether in
Martinique or in other overseas communities. We hope for a condemnation
and recognition of the responsibilities of the békés and the French
state in the poisoning of the Antilles with chlordecone, while a trial
is still underway - trial on October 22 with two priority questions of
constitutionality.
Down with French colonialism, and long live the people fighting for
equality, dignity and their freedom!
Libertarian Communist Union, September 17, 2024.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=948515723986331&set=a.298440835660493
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
and injustices has been gaining momentum in Martinique, but also in
Guadeloupe and Réunion. This popular anger is being severely repressed
by the French state, which is seeking to silence it and thus maintain
control of its colonial empire. ---- At the initiative of the Rally for
the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC),
hundreds of people demonstrated and organized blockades of supermarkets
to demand that prices be aligned with those in mainland France, because
food products are on average 40% more expensive in the Antilles than in
mainland France.
Fifteen years after the popular uprising in Guadeloupe, Martinique and
Guyana against "pwofitasyon" - that is, "outrageous exploitation" by the
capitalists who control the means of distribution - the problem remains
in the Antilles.
Structural poverty
While the poverty rate in Martinique is more than twice as high as in
mainland France, the few large families controlling the majority of
businesses (the "békés") impose exorbitant prices throughout the French
Antilles. This situation of injustice is all the more striking with
inflation and a territory that imports 87% of its food.
The high cost and undignified living conditions in Martinique and the
overseas territories in general are not insignificant: the colonial
policy of the French state forces these territories to import their
consumer goods from the mainland, via national companies - Carrefour,
Auchan and others - despite the immense distance and the proximity of
the countries of the Caribbean region. This results in the imposition of
the capitalist model, the destruction of Creole gardens, dependence on
the mainland, and structural unemployment. Young people are told that
there is no future there and that they must go and train in the mainland.
A colonial continuum
All this is part of a colonial continuum of the management of the
"overseas territories". More than 1 billion euros to make the Seine
swimmable, but still shortages of drinking water in Guadeloupe,
overcrowded prisons and schools, a ban on the Creole language on
official documents, a racialized society, the continuation of colonial
export monocultures, mass and lasting poisoning with chlordecone (a
pesticide used until 1993) in the Antilles where more than 90% of the
population is contaminated, extraordinary police violence during the
Covid crisis, nuclear tests in Polynesia until the 1990s, a specific
visa for Mayotte with violence and live ammunition during operations
Wuambushu 1 and 2... The Mayotte Regional Health Agency "advises"
sterilization to young women on the island, just as young women were
aborted en masse on Reunion Island without warning in the 1960s and
1970s for colonial control of demography.
The overseas territories did not "choose" France, as evidenced by the
colonial counter-revolution during the decolonization period, which
resulted in the crushing of pro-independence groups and parties. Sixty
years later, France is still a colonial power, whether it has
departementalized, whether its colonies are officially no longer
colonies, or whether the French state maintains its military presence
and cooperation agreements in Africa.
The UCL unconditionally supports the mobilizations, whether in
Martinique or in other overseas communities. We hope for a condemnation
and recognition of the responsibilities of the békés and the French
state in the poisoning of the Antilles with chlordecone, while a trial
is still underway - trial on October 22 with two priority questions of
constitutionality.
Down with French colonialism, and long live the people fighting for
equality, dignity and their freedom!
Libertarian Communist Union, September 17, 2024.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=948515723986331&set=a.298440835660493
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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