By: Staff Writer
October 17, 2024
The French island of Martinique was put under another curfew as continued violence over the cost of living is rocking the island territory.
The curfew, which was ordered from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am last week, has been extended until 21 October, the authorities in Martinique said in a statement on Monday.
The territory’s main airport was targeted by demonstrators in a fresh protest decrying a high cost of living, on Thursday.
During a fresh wave of troubles last week, one person was killed and nearly 30 police received injuries as protesters looted shops, erected burning barricades and clashed with members of law enforcement.
Residents of France’s overseas territories have long complained about the high cost of living. In Martinique, food prices are 40 percent higher than in mainland France.
The protests began in early September by the Assembly for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC), which demands that food prices be aligned with mainland France.
The government has held a series of meetings with activists and retailers to discuss ways to bring down prices. However, new talks would not take place due to a lack of a “new concrete and viable proposal,” the president of Martinique’s governing body, Serge Letchimy, said on Monday evening.
Martinique has seen similar protests in recent years, many of them fueled by anger over what demonstrators say is economic, social and racial inequality.
In 2020, 27 percent of Martinique residents lived under the poverty line, a rate 12 points higher than in mainland France.
The latest in a string of protests began in early September, prompting national authorities to send special anti-riot police to the island.
The French riot police have been dispatched but it has not disquieted the island residents