“Consumers in Martinique have the right to choose what they eat and to get it at a fair price”insists Gwladys Roger, treasurer of the demonstration for the protection of Afro-Caribbean peoples and resources (RPPRAC), at the entrance to the car park of the Pierre-Aliker stadium in Fort-de-France. In front of a hundred supporters, dressed in red as a sign of concentration, the speakers follow one another under the “carbet” (large shelter that serves as a meeting place in the Antilles) where this group has had its headquarters since the beginning of the century. a protest movement against the high cost of living that was launched on 1Ahem September in Martinique.
A recurring theme of discontent in the Antilles, the cost of living has sparked renewed enthusiasm on the island since this organization, created at the beginning of 2023 and very active on social media, increased calls for demonstrations to demand a drop in prices.
For two weeks now, supermarkets in Martinique have been disrupted by sporadic blockades organised by groups of activists dressed in red. On Wednesday 11 September, the police intervened to evict demonstrators near a hypermarket in Fort-de-France. “They threatened to invade the store to force it to close”The prefecture said in a press release, adding that “The internal security forces had to use seven tear gas grenades”.
“Purely peaceful dynamics”
Apart from the mobilization, nighttime excesses caused riots in Sainte-Thérèse, a district of Fort-de-France that has been the victim of recurrent acts of violence. On the night of 13 to 14 September, “groups of individuals” have “they threw stones at the police”The prefecture said. In the city centre, “The Fort-de-France police station was the target of two shootings with live ammunition committed by two hooded men travelling on motorcycles”adds the state services. Last week, six police officers were slightly injured by gunfire in this same poor neighbourhood.
“We deplore these clashes”reacts Aude Goussard, secretary of the RPPRAC, who reaffirms the “purely peaceful dynamics” of the movement against the high cost of living. “Our first requirement is to align prices with those of mainland France”“This 43-year-old separatist sympathiser stresses, reiterating a written request sent by her group to the distribution companies at the beginning of July. A separatist who asks for the harmonisation of prices between Paris and Martinique? “It is about confronting France with its contradictions: they tell us that we are French, but there is no territorial continuity”M. repliesme Goussard.
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