A gendarme was injured in Saint-Martin, Thursday, December 2, as part of the violence and roadblocks that have blocked the French West Indies for two weeks. Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint-Martin are experiencing a strong social movement, born from the refusal of the vaccination obligation for caregivers and firefighters, then which has spread to political and social demands.
In Saint-Martin, an island of 35,000 inhabitants which depends on Guadeloupe, clashes on Thursday opposed the gendarmerie to a group of people at Sandy Ground and Nettle bay, where the police were trying to evacuate a car wreck on the road. “We received three rounds of fire in our direction”, specified the police. A soldier received a bullet, which crossed his left leg and lodged in the right. “His days are not in danger”, specified the gendarmerie. The prefect of the island announced the establishment as of Thursday evening, and at least for 24 hours, of a curfew at Sandy Ground.
In Guadeloupe, at night from Wednesday to Thursday “was marked by several attempts to relocate obstacles on the roads”, like “the fire of a stolen school transport bus (…) in order to cut the RN1”, specified the prefecture. “Ten new arrests took place” after these incidents. “In view of the continuing disturbances to public order in certain municipalities, in particular the arrest of armed individuals”, the prefect Alexandre Rochatte decided “the extension of the curfew” in 21 towns “until December 7, at 5 am”.
The curfew was also extended in Martinique, until December 4 at 5 a.m. In this island, the gendarmerie launched on Thursday a major operation to dismantle all the blockades of roundabouts.
Negotiations with Sébastien Lecornu, who arrived in Guadeloupe for an express visit on November 29, had come to an end due to the unions’ refusal to condemn the “assassination attempts against police and gendarmes”. In Martinique, the Minister of Overseas Territories has promised to open discussions on “the adaptation of the modalities of application of the law on the vaccination obligation”, already postponed from November 15 to December 31.