Martinique licks its wounds Thursday after a night of chaos marked by looting, fires and violence which left 26 police and gendarmes injured, pushing the prefect of this French island in the Antilles to decree a curfew and ban on demonstrations.
A man was shot and killed in circumstances that are still unclear. According to the prefecture of Martinique, he was found injured by the gendarmes who were intervening against the looting of a shopping center and died in hospital.
Since September, the island has experienced a movement against the high cost of living, the cause of recurring protests in the French West Indies, which has degenerated into urban violence.
The situation had calmed down in recent weeks, but incidents broke out on Monday between the police and activists who were carrying out a blocking action in Lamentin, near Fort-de-France, capital of Martinique.
Since then, urban violence has been recorded again every night. As a result, the island’s prefect, Jean-Christophe Bouvier, will decree a curfew from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. on Thursday and a ban on gatherings and demonstrations throughout the territory, AFP learned from ‘a prefectural source.
Twelve gendarmes were injured during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, “including one by gunshot,” this prefectural source told AFP. A police source reports 14 police officers slightly injured and six arrests.
No fewer than 400 vehicles were burned, according to the same source, with a huge parking lot housing new cars imported into Martinique going up in smoke.
Schools closed
The French Overseas Minister, François-Noël Buffet, condemned the night’s violence in a statement and called for “responsibility and appeasement.”
“He urges citizens to avoid any escalation of violence and to favor dialogue,” adds the press release as a fifth round table against the high cost of living began Thursday morning in the premises of the Territorial Collectivity of Martinique (CTM).
Municipal police building burned in a working-class district of Fort-de-France, charred carcasses blocking roundabouts, warehouses gone up in smoke… Thursday morning, Martinique was licking its wounds. Traffic remained very difficult on the city ring road.
The island’s schools remained closed on Thursday, the Martinique rectorate told AFP.
The movement against the high cost of living was launched at the beginning of September by the Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC), a citizen collective, which demands alignment with France of the prices of food products, which are 40 % more expensive in Martinique.