After another night of violence in Guadeloupe on the sidelines of demonstrations against health restrictions, the president of the region Ary Chalus “calls for calm, for negotiation”. Guest of franceinfo on Saturday 20 November, the elected representative regrets not having been invited to the crisis unit chaired by the Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin on Saturday 20 November Place Beauvau. Ary Chalus points out that he “had the courage to call the Minister of Health to quickly find a solution to absolutely avoid what is happening in Guadeloupe” but that he had “a negative return to the limit of contempt”.
franceinfo: What is the situation at the moment?
Ary Chalus: It’s always the same, it’s always young people who break, who burn, who block the roads. The economy of Guadeloupe is in jeopardy and we deplore this. We deplore the looting of stores, the fire that is set in the stores. I call for calm, for negotiation, for consultation. There is a crisis meeting tonight (Saturday November 20) and I hope the relevant authorities will do what is necessary to try to calm things down. We have made proposals so that we can put in place health measures: that firefighters and caregivers can do tests from time to time, that they can respect barrier gestures while waiting for a solution to be found together. appeasement for Guadeloupe which is today one of the most popular tourist islands. But the image that we convey today is not a good thing for our region.
There was live ammunition last night (Friday, November 19) against the police. You confirm ? And are it just young people leading this insurrection?
I learned that there had been live ammunition, it is unacceptable. I appeal to reason because it is Guadeloupe that is being harmed, it is Guadeloupe families who will cry afterwards because many risk losing their jobs when you burn down businesses … have said, I repeat, that I am vaccinated. I advise anyone who wants to be vaccinated to do so by consulting their doctor. I am against the sanctions taken against nursing staff. Today, we have to find a solution. We cannot deprive these people of salary, knowing the difficulties that we encounter in Guadeloupe. We are over 40 years behind France in terms of our economic development. Today we cannot abandon Guadeloupe as it is done. I warned the national authorities, I warned the ministers concerned. I had the courage to call the Minister of Health to quickly find a solution to absolutely avoid what is happening in Guadeloupe. I had a negative feedback bordering on contempt for Guadeloupe.
You were not even aware that a crisis unit was chaired this evening (Saturday) by the Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin?
You tell me that. I am the president of the region anyway. I could have been invited, especially since I am currently in Paris. This again shows how we consider Guadeloupe, how we consider the elected Guadeloupe. We have ideas, we can advise, we can discuss with our unions, with the economic world to find solutions together. We knew how to do it several times, as we knew that things were in danger of exploding. Today, I say that indeed it is not normal.