Protesters picked up arms within the ongoing cost-of-living protests within the French colonial holding of Martinique on Wednesday said the native French authorities.
Based on the Prefecture of Martinique, protesters arrange seven barricades throughout the protest and focused firefighters and law enforcement officials on three events with automated rifle hearth because the authorities tried to dismantle the barricades. The protesters additionally launched Molotov cocktails and different projectiles on the authorities forces. The federal government didn’t touch upon whether or not there had been police or protester casualties.
It is a continuation of the protests that started in September after two highly effective native unions, one representing transportation and one other representing well being staff, native authorities, and the non-public sector, started protests over the excessive price of residing. The transportation union started to dam roads and droop public transportation, whereas well being staff, native authorities, and personal sector staff introduced an indefinite strike. The unions demanded a rise within the minimal wage, retirement pensions and worth controls on fundamental items, amongst different issues.
The French Metropol responded by sending a bunch of particular anti-riot police, Corporations for Republican Safety, which had been banned from working in Martinique after killing protesters within the territory in 1959. The French authorities, represented by the Prefecture of Martinique, additionally imposed a night curfew in September. Final week, Martinique’s authorities said that it had reached an settlement with native authorities and grocery store distributors to decrease the price of some meals gadgets by a mean of 20 %. The Meeting for the Safety of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Assets has rejected the settlement, saying that it doesn’t go far sufficient.
Source / Picture: jurist.org