(Pointe-à-Pitre) The French government strongly condemned on Monday urban violence and looting and called for calm in the face of the “very explosive crisis” in Guadeloupe, plagued by a social protest linked to the obligation to be vaccinated against COVID- 19, by recognizing “a necessary dialogue” with elected officials.
After having “condemned with the most extreme firmness” the violence, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced the creation of a “forum for dialogue” in order to “convince and support individually, humanely” the professionals concerned by the vaccination obligation . Finally tested positive for COVID-19, he spoke at the end of a meeting held by videoconference with elected officials from the Caribbean island.
“A mission from the Ministry of the Interior will be hard at work on site from tomorrow to examine with them the ways and means to allow the conditions for the deployment of the vaccination obligation and also discuss subjects specific to the functioning of the departmental service of “fire and rescue of Guadeloupe”, continued the head of government, while the firefighters are part of the living forces of the protest.
Earlier today, Emmanuel Macron assured Guadeloupe of the nation’s “solidarity” and asked “not to give in to lies and manipulation by some of this situation”.
“We cannot use the health of French women and men to wage political battles and public order must be maintained,” he stressed in a soothing tone.
Mitigate “tense” aspects
The executive wants to calm things down especially since the tension is also rising in neighboring Martinique where a call for a general strike launched by 17 trade unions with various demands, including the end of the vaccination obligation for caregivers, has led to blockages that have paralyzed a good part of economic activity.
In Guadeloupe, the prefecture announced in the evening to consider a “measure to limit sales” of fuel in the face of the risk of shortage, backpedaling after indicating the immediate establishment and until November 28 of such a measure, to 20 liters per take.
The president of the Departmental Council of Guadeloupe, Jean-Philippe Courtois, questioned on RCI Guadeloupe after the meeting with Mr. Castex, estimated that the elected officials were “not necessarily satisfied on all points”, but welcomed the fact of “To have been listened to and that there was somewhat a desire to attenuate the government’s point of view on certain aspects which today are tense or blocking on the territory”.
“I can not say that the conditions for a return to calm are met, I think we must continue to work”, for his part declared at the microphone of RCI the deputy Max Mathiasin, who assured that the elected officials had “Did not want to replace the trade unions” by asking to meet the head of government.
The Collective of organizations in the fight against the vaccine obligation and the sanitary passport in Guadeloupe declared Monday in a press release “not to have had any meeting, neither with the parliamentarians, nor with the elected officials of Guadeloupe concerning the demands brought by the collective organizations and confirm that they have not mandated anyone to negotiate anything on their behalf ”.
“Pump-action shotgun”
Guadeloupe, which has a high unemployment rate reaching 35% among young people, is shaken today by a movement, originating from the challenge of the vaccination obligation of caregivers, which degenerated into a social crisis punctuated by numerous violence in the night from Thursday to Friday, when violence and looting began.
Threatened with a “shotgun”, doctor “held in play”, the Regional Health Agency of Guadeloupe castigated “the physical attacks that health professionals have suffered in recent days while they were going to treat fathers, mothers and children of Guadeloupe ”.
Faced with a rapidly deteriorating situation, the government sent 200 police and gendarmes, as well as 50 members of the GIGN and Raid units – deployed as soon as they got off the plane – bringing the forces mobilized there to 2,250, while the Prefect introduced a curfew between 6 p.m. and 5 a.m., until November 23.
The reception of students “in schools, colleges and high schools” was suspended Monday by the rectorate, after a quieter night than the previous according to the prefecture.
Since the summer, the vaccination rate has increased in Guadeloupe, with now a rate of nearly 90% of caregivers vaccinated, and approaching 50% in the general population – far, however, from the more than 75% of vaccinated in metropolitan France.