By: Staff Writer
September 24, 2024
Residents of Martinique are protesting the government over high cost of living after curfew was imposed on the island last week. The citizens are disregarding the curfew and are taking to the streets with guns and weapons.
The restrictions came after violent protests broke out on the island last week over the high cost of living, with gunfire injuring at least six police officers and one civilian. Police launched tear gas and government officials said several stores were also looted.
Officials said the bans were meant “to put an end to the violence and damage committed at gatherings, as well as to the numerous obstacles to daily life and freedom of movement that penalise the entire population, particularly at weekends”.
French anti-riot police are being sent to Martinique to quell the unrest. The measure, not used in the last 65 years, has prompted an outcry from some politicians.
According to Radio France International (RFI), at least 14 people, including 11 police, have been injured – some by firearms – as alarming scenes on social media showed vehicles engulfed in flames, gutted buildings and heavily geared riot police marching towards the protests.
The elite riot police, known as the Companies for Republican Security, were banned in the French territory following bloody riots in December 1959.
The unit had been accused of using disproportionate force against protesters, ending in the deaths of a number of young demonstrators. The force is rarely deployed in French territories in the Caribbean, but was called on during riots and strikes in Guadeloupe in 2009.
The uptick in violence poses a challenge for new centre-right Prime Minister Michel Barnier, who has struggled to form a government following snap parliamentary elections in June, when no party won an absolute majority.
Barnier, the European Union’s former Brexit negotiator, submitted a proposed new cabinet to President Emmanuel Macron late on Thursday, with the list to be officially announced as soon as Friday, the AFP news agency reported.